As a former sports journalist, this past week has been particularly enjoyable.
I have taken in two football matches and played around with a real F1 car - all, of course, in the name of promoting growth in the UK economy.
The sporting week began at the old Fortuna Düsseldorf ground, where alongside representatives of British companies, I took my place in the England team and proudly sung along to our national anthem.
To mark One Year to Go to London 2012 - the Greatest Show on Earth and a huge trade and investment opportunity for the UK economy - UKTI organised an England v Germany businessmen and women footballing showdown.
With the anthems and the handshakes with the Consul General out the way, the team of Germans - from a variety of firms across the region - ruthlessly set about the English and wrote another victorious chapter in their history of footballing achievement.
If the midfielder from Deloitte didn't waltz past you, the defender from GKN was cleaning you out or the strikers from Vodafone or Ernst & Young were banging in another.
The English left back from E.ON did his best but the Germans were simply too good - even from the early exchanges it was clear to us the devil was painted on the wall (as the Germans would say).
It was 4-1 to Germany in the end but the networking bbq conclusion was – ‘just because we can't actually play football, doesn't mean we won't stage an incredible Olympics, showing the very best of the whole country in terms of sport, culture, economy and infrastructure’. You can see photos of the match on the ukingermany site.
Where my playing ended, my watching began and it was off a few days later to Cologne for their pre-season friendly with Arsenal.
This was a chance for an English side to beat a German one (which they did thanks to two goals from an Ivorian) - and for me to meet Tony Woodcock, former Arsenal and England great who had two spells with FC Köln as a player.
Aside from being a footballing legend, he now works with a company called The Challenge of Excellence, who work with schools and universities around the world to run mentoring and counselling programmes.
They are seeking to develop young entrepreneurs of the future, and are another example of a small but growing UK company (and UKTI customer) achieving success through exports.
I also met a group of former Liverpool players from the 1965 European Cup campaign, including Ron Yeats, Scotland international and the captain of the '65 FA Cup final winning side. They were out as guests of the club marking the close relationship between the twin cities of Liverpool and Cologne who will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of this cultural, sporting and economic relationship next year.
It’s all the more impressive that the twinning has survived this long given the 1965 European Cup clash between the two sides was settled, after three draws, by the toss of a coin.
And the week was rounded off at an event with UKTI Business Ambassador and Mercedes F1 CEO Nick Fry.
Nick, who stayed on an extra day following the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, gave a fascinating talk about the strength of Motorsport Valley in the UK and how innovations in F1 benefit automotive, aerospace, defence and marine sectors.
The Business Ambassadors are our network of top business leaders who donate some of their time to spread the good word of the UK economy while on their work-related travels.
And, judging by the level of interest among the gathered German business leaders in what Nick said, it is clearly a network that is beneficial to spreading a positive message about the UK.
The other highlight of the event aside from Nick, who coincidentally was born in the same hospital as me, was the F1 car he brought along.
Nico Rosberg's actual race car from the previous season was quite a hit - even the CEOs of German automotive and engineering companies still get quite excited when they get this close to such an impressive piece of kit.
The car was the perfect example of what Nick was talking about when he said how skilled and innovative British engineers are.
The motorsport industry in the UK, responsible for putting the cars from 8 of the 12 teams on the F1 grid, is something to be proud of.
As was the performance of Lewis Hamilton, who won the Grand Prix so spectacularly - something I would have loved to have written about in my old career.