German Adventures with Friends - and of course with Apra!

It is Sunday and with that time to tell you what is going on in my life – and obviously there is a lot to tell! We have continued our journey through Germany together with Apra and we are enjoying our little holiday a lot!

Last week we reached Wiesbaden and after an exciting weekend, the week started with more activities which we had already planned while in India! On Monday, we went to visit Peter and Heike, who had been at the Ashram just a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful visit, a little bit out in the countryside. We cooked and ate together and Apra thoroughly enjoyed playing with their cat – who is not shy at all and thus let her pet her all the time! Only once she ran away, when Apra got so excited that she accidently stumbled and grabbed the chair on which the cat was lying which made the cat jump away!

On Tuesday, we visited a Kindergarten at which Thomas once worked. For us it was interesting to see how they worked while Apra enjoyed jumping, running and playing with the other children.

Finally, we left Wiesbaden on Wednesday and took a train to Erkelenz. Oh, what a joy! We had taken trains in Germany last year as well but now, one year later, it is again like a new experience for Apra. She got a ‘children’s ticket’ from the ticket checker, colour pencils and a little toy train and made sure we took photos and a video of everything so that she could show it to her Ashram brothers.

In Erkelenz, we enjoyed spending time with our longtime friends Sonja and Peter while Apra chased their two shy cats through the house! The time with them was short though, as we started right the next day towards Lüneburg.

Coming to Lüneburg is always wonderful! Being with my oldest German friend Michael and of course his wife Andrea, remembering old days and adventures, planning new ones and catching up on each other’s development. And as we have several friends up here in the North, we were also already busy on Friday and Saturday with the first visitors! An old school friend of Ramona’s as well as friends who have been to the Ashram in March came to meet and spend a meal with us!

Apra already knows Michael and Andrea and got rid of her initial shyness quite quickly! She explores their whole house and has long conversations with them about her various discoveries! There are many new things for her: the dish washer, supermarkets with huge shelves offering an enourmous choice of things to buy, candles on the dinner table and speakers in the whole house to listen to music literally anywhere you like.

We are so happy that we decided to make this trip still in this year and come in spite of the cold that is inevitable in November in Germany! We are having a great time and so is Apra – the main reason why we didn’t just want to skip it!

Now we are about to start our trip to Hamburg, where we want to spend a few hours today. I will keep you updated!