Tuesday was the last day of our journey to India. Still tired from the previous day, I woke up, had a short look at the alarm clock, went into the bathroom for the morning wash. When I came out and switched the light on to tell Franz that the bathroom is now free I noticed that it was just 03:10 am – in my confusion I did not notice that the alarm clock was lying topside down and I had mistaken the time… So I went to bed again.

In the morning meditation I felt still a bit drowsy. Before and after breakfast I answered e-mails and tried to pin down the blogpost of two days ago so that the memories don’t fade away too quickly. Selecting photos, formatting, colour adjustments – and then I tried to upload. The internet connection was again very slow. I safeguarded the text in word and decided to publish it when I’m back in Switzerland.

Around 10 am we left the hotel with an auto-rickshaw: “To Sri Ramakrishna Mission”. The rickshaw driver repeated, Ramakrishna.I sat besides the driver on his bench, holding myself tight not to fall out, the other four were in the backside. Indian traffic around. When the driver turned into the first road I told the others, But that is not the right direction…. they replied, he probably knows a side-road. I was sceptical. We ended up in front of the Rajarani temple, where the driver stopped. Miquel explained to him that this is not the right place and explained to him again. He spoke with some other person and then started. A few minutes later we arrived at the Ramakrishna Mission – of course with disputes over the fare. But Miquel remained firm: It is not our fault…

We spend some time in the serene ambiance of the Mission before we called another rickshaw: “To the Mukteswar Temple”. The driver said yes, and started. Again I remarked, That is not the right direction… He stopped in front of the Lingaraj temple to let us out. Miquel explained that foreigners are not allowed there, that we had already been there and repeated “Mukteswar Temple” – a very well known place in Bhubaneswar. We started again. Beggars along the road… I saw a blind man sitting at the street-side steering into the sun and asking for alms, one of many (next to the Mukteswar temple there was a beggar holding his one hand and talking to his mobile with the other). We stopped in front of the temple – and again Miquel cut short the discussions about the fare.

We entered into the Kedara-Gouri temple precincts near the Mukteswar temple where we had been there before.Franz and I placed our glass bead necklaces we had received in the Yogini temple the day before at the statue of a goddess.

Rosa wanted to talk to the owner of a handicraft shop there where she and Franz had bought some artwork a few days ago. The man, a Sai Baba devotee, was very kind, in a non-commercial way. He brought us betelnut leaves for a good digestion and then showed us the way to a nearby vegetarian restaurant. It was a very simple restaurant serving just “Thali” – plates with a selection of sauces, vegetables and rice. I had never been in such a restaurant and it was quite full. But the food was tasty. When we came out of the restaurant, our looks fell on a plate of the “Allen Homoeo Hall. German Quality Made in India.” We smiled.

Another rickshaw brought us back to the hotel – this time without any extra excursion. But the backside of the bench I sat on had a sharp, rusty iron piece strong enough to cut my spine in case of a sudden stop. I thought of what I sometimes felt as over-regulation with traffic security in Europe…

The flight back, originally scheduled for 9 pm was re-scheduled to 9.30, then 10 and 10.30. It was a quarter to 11 when the plane took up from Bhubaneswar airport. I don’t know whether it was from the food served in the plane or from the samosas and paneer sandwich eaten near the departure gate. But when we stood in the long queues of Qatar airways for check-in, I felt an increasing acid reflux. During the flight to Doha I felt the first pangs of vomiting. At Doha airport it became worse. The inner guidance had changed in Delhi during check-in my place and given me a seat at the very last row of the plane. First I felt unhappy with it until I realised that this was my blessings – I ended up sitting alone with a free chair on both sides and the toilet was just around the corner. And the vomiting diarrhoea got very strong. In a matter of seconds the liquids were expelled up and down, together with the medicine they had given me. The stewardesses took great care of me and there was even a doctor sitting right in front of me inspecting my state: “Food poisoning”. An Indian good-bye souvenir.

I spend the flight sleeping and looking a very touching film “Pay it forward” (German: Das Glücksprinzip) about a little boy launching a goodwill movement – very inspiring. Shortly before landing I saw through the windows some fantastic snow panoramas of the Alps. The train journey to Berne then went quite well. A warm welcome of my wife, some words and then I fell into my bed to wake up half a day later.

Now, three days later, I am feeling quite well again, coming slowly back into the world I’m used to. On my arrival I found a letter from an old school friend with whom I had done bicycle tours through Germany end of the 60s/early 70s. He is now the director of Munich airport – and since 2 years I receive his Christmas letter sent to a circle of friends about what has been going on in his life. I like him, though we have not seen for a decade. He is a lot jetting around the world and living in quite different worlds. His words made me think of my path, of what I did experience the last weeks and what was the essence of it. I feel that under the multitude of impressions there is the fire of inner striving, which had been nourished by the journey. And that the gems in the fire will show up a bit clearer in the times to come.

Sunrise over the Gulf of Bengal at Visakhapatnam, seen from the roof of the house of Sri Kumar

Monday morning after breakfast we saw a few temples in Bhubaneswar – “the city of 1000 temples”; I did not count but do not doubt 🙂 – and in one temple joined a small puja ritual. We also saw the famous Lingaraj Temple from the outside – again “for Hindus only”. (The name means “The King of Lingams“, the symbolic form of Lord Shiva). Here you see how they change the flags on top of the temple tower – see in the second image how the man climbs down along a rope…

We afterwards drove through narrow streets, a long congestion at a railway crossing and various villages to the Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves, the abodes of Jain ascetics. There are about 35 caves in two hills, and on the top of one hill there is a Jain temple. They are partly natural and partly carved out from the rock.

One cave looked like a tiger mouth, other structures resembled huge serpents. When we met in the biggest cave for a short meditation, a lady with her daughter asked us if we were meditating and presented herself to be a yoga teacher from the Bihar School of Yoga. Rosa asked her if she would like to lead the meditation. The lady several times asked if we really wanted her to do it, and we said, yes. Then she guided us through a process of visualisation and mantra exercises – a nice experience. After a coconut drink we set out to climb the second hill. On the way up there was a Hindu temple in one of the caves, where the swami performed a ritual and explained about the high age of the encarvings down there, much older than in the other caves or in the Jain sanctuary at the top.

Washing the feet for one rupee before entering the compound of the temple – a boy was spraying water on our feet, and one of our group said, that’s a good business model – very cheap but if all the many visitors have to pay – and can pay – it sums up….

The Jains are completely vegetarian and they also exclude onions, potatoes, eggplants and garlic. So Miquel said at the entrance of the temple, that we also don’t eat onions and garlic – to be allowed to enter – but no photos allowed in and around the temple. There were statues of Mahavira and other Tirthankaras – omniscient teachers.

After returning into the valley we went to the Chausathi Yogini Temple located in a small village on the countryside near a pond. It is an open circular temple with 27.4 m circumference and a wall of 2.4 m – with 64 statuettes of yoginis and Shaivaite goddesses, like Ganeshini, a female form of Ganesha:

Of course, the Brahmin priests which arrived when we came performed a puja, and of course they wanted again rupees. Miquel, the “guardian” of the group cash, remained hard when their demands exceeded what was considered to be “normal”.

After a lunch in a vegetarian restaurant the group wanted to visit more temples in Bhubaneswar. I, however, felt an “overkill” of temple impressions and stayed out during the visit of the Mukteswar temple and other sanctuaries in the surroundings. I said I preferred to be in a meditative place and not go from one place to the other. However, I very much enjoyed when we visited the Shirdi Baba temple in Bhubaneswar – I feel deeply linked to this energy and the short meditation there recharged my system.

The Mukteswar temple, where we had seen a beautiful dance presentation three days before.

Afterwards we went to the site of the Rajarani Temple. It was just the time for the start of the free 3 days “Rajarani Music Festival” with great performances of Indian classical music, again organised by Odisha Tourism.

There were two concerts, one of an Odissi vocal singer, Smt Mohapatra Minati Bhanja, and one of two Hindustani vocal singers, the Wadali Brothers in Sufi tradition. The site was again marvellously decorated, though there was not the magic of the light and movements of the dance performances at the Mukteswar temple.

The first concert was more elegiac, the musical voice of Minati accompanied by a violin, tablas, and string instruments. The second concert rose from yearning vocal patterns to ecstatic rhythms which got the entire audience clapping their hands to the sounds of the two elderly brothers and their group of singers. The sounds rose up into the night-blue sky, from where the moon in his tenth ascending phase shed down his mild light. And the fading of the battery of my camera saved me from taking more pictures of the event…

Sunday, 17 January, we went to the zoological park of Nandankanan about 18 km outside Bhuvaneswar. Our guide took us first to the bear and tiger sections – and it was impressive to see leopards, tigers – even some white ones – and bears in zoo environment quite near to their natural living conditions. At the elephants’ section our guide called one of the zookeepers to come with an elephant. He mounted one of the animals and came directly to our place – a very impressive view. Later we went on a short safari-tour to 4 sections outside the zoo where we could see some tigers, lions, bears and deers outside the zoo walls – a crash-tour without good impressions.

After the tour to the zoo we went to the Rajarani temple in Bhuvaneswar from the 11^th century, where preparations for 3 days of Music Festival were going on (we visited it on the 18^th). On the walls of the temple there are so-called “erotic” carvings of women and couples – today’s advertisements are much more sexualised than these statues. Though there are no images of Gods inside the temple it is associated with Shiva due to its form.

The archaeological sites look nice but there is no active spiritual activity going on and they seemed to me like the outer shells, where the spirit has gone away.

The same was the case with the Sun Temple in Konark, where we went in the afternoon. It is a Unesco World Heritage site – and surrounded by a huge amounts of souvenir shops waiting for some tourists to stop. After lunch in the village we had a coconut drink on the way to the temple. Before we could enter a self-styled guide had cramped to our group and followed us insistently. Rosa finally took him as her guide, and while he explained the intricacies of the architecture and the place, I kept away to align with the place and to take some photos. (I had read a bit about the temple before…) We were the only “white skins” I could remark. It was interesting to observe the Indians flocking everywhere to take selfies or group pictures with the temple – particularly on lawns with the sign “Do not enter”.

There were some huge old banyan and neem trees near the temple. For a while I touched a banyan tree to connect to its energy – a feeling of something very stable and grounded, silently spreading into the surroundings. Again, you could feel that there are no active spiritual activities going on at the temple – a beautiful messenger of times gone by. The temple and the scaffolding around the tower shone in a golden evening light, a true sun temple.

Next to the temple there was a Navagraha-Temple, devoted to the 9 planets, where some “ritual quickies” were going on. When none of the priests looked, I quickly deposited my flower from the Dhauli Shanti Stupa at one of the planetary spirit statues…

Afterwards we went to the sea where the glowing Sun God was shedding his red gold over the water and slowly faded into the mist, while people were enjoying the view of the ocean.

On the way home we stopped at a small ashram on the wayside. We went in for our evening meditation – and yes, in this simple building with the images of their line of gurus you could feel the vibrant purity of continuous spiritual aspiration.

Friday, 15 January early morning after a short morning meditation with Sri Kumar, a bus brought a group of us to the airport. While most of them set out to their journey home, we were a group of 5 persons who flew to Bhubaneswar, the capital of the Indian state of Odisha (Orissa), starting a small pilgrimage for 4 days.

A driver from the hotel came to pick us up but his car was too small for our luggage. So he organised some colleague and soon we were driving through the city to our hotel, our stay for the next 4 days. The breakfast was also our lunch and pre-dinner. Around four o’clock, when the temperature came down, we started our tour walking along a busy road and entered a nearby temple. They were just opening again and we got the blessing of the deities there, being decorated by the priests with red and orange colours on our forehead – it was quite difficult in the evening to wash the colours away, not only the towel became a witness of it.

After a chai at a street coffee shop – boiled with glowing coals – we took an auto rickshaw to bring us to the Sri Ramakrishna Mission. The buildings were surrounded by a beautiful old garden, where the dusk slowly took away the colours. It was quite a contrast to come into this silent, serene ambiance from the noise of the city with the continuous noise of motors and horns. We had a beautiful meditation in the prayer hall and then continued to a nearby temple area.

We came into a road fantastically decorated with beautiful cotton lanterns. And there we saw in front of the Mukteswar temple that the second day of the 3 days Music and Dance Festival was to start in a quarter of an hour at the temple compound, free entry, organised by Odisha Tourism. We were thrilled when we entered the huge compound of the Shiva-temple: Around the temple a big stage was set up. A huge lighting system stood there, cameras to air the show to All India TV – and fantastic light decorations in the trees and bushes. The air was filled with incense to chase away the mosquitoes. We got places in the VIP section not far away from the stage. And soon a huge choir (Dheeraj Mohapatra & Group) in beautiful costumes started with an invocation to Shiva, the Lord of Dance. If was followed by Odissi solo, duet and group dances – outstanding performances with sublime artists of dance and music – we were very deeply touched to be at this presentation in such an incredibly beautiful surrounding of the over thousand years old temple. The dance celebrations were at Makara Sankranti, the traditional lunar winter solstice celebrated from 14 to 16 January.

Afterwards we went to see some other smaller temples in the surroundings. And also there the trees were filled with lampions. Then we were invited to receive a beautiful free Thali dinner sitting on carpets under the trees of a temple – a family had sponsored it on the occasion of a celebration for their young son, which is being done when the child is 4 months and 4 days old.

Then we came into a craft shop where exquisite handicraft was being sold. We saw palm leaf writings, very well done statues and very subtle artwork on a kind of cloth on tamarind backing. Two friends of mine hand a long talk with the owner, a Sai Baba devotee, and finally bought two images.

When we returned to the hotel, we felt overwhelmingly blessed by the sequence of unexpected blessings we experienced during the day.

Sunday morning, the bus brought us to the temple of Simhachalam. The temple compound is located on a hill above the village. It is a temple dedicated to Lord Narasimha, the avatar of Lord Vishnu as the Man-Lion. It is a temple of Vishnu with in its centre a lingam, symbol of Lord Shiva, a unique combination of the energies of the 1^st and 2^nd ray.

Every year before the beginning of the Guru Puja, we go to this temple to be in the presence of the vibrating energies. Together with many other pilgrims, we crossed the outer and inner part of the temple before entering into the innermost part, where the lingam is installed. We chanted the mantra OM Namoh Narayanaya, connecting to the energies of the place. As a blessing, the priests gave us some water and Tulsi leaves.

In the inner compound I spoke some words to the group about the symbolism of the temple. Then we gathered again our belongings which we had to leave outside the temple. While some of the group took the bus to go downhill, I preferred to descend with a friend via the steep stairs through the forest – a most lovely pathway into the valley. It was quite hot and so we were happy to drink some coconut water downhill.

There the Indian brotherhood had again set up a little kitchen for us Westerners in a nearby court, where we had our lunch and relaxed for a while. I then had a look at the ongoing work of setting up the big hall for the Guru Puja celebrations – tents, a stage, and the altar with the pictures of the Masters – a tremendous logistic and organisational work with a great number of volunteer workers who have prepared for this occasion over several months. I walked on to the village lake to see how the area has recovered from the hurricane of autumn 2014. Though there still were palm tree trunks and trees with dead branches, life had returned. Also the nearby little palm forest where we usually go for “siesta” looked nice again, though there were still traces of the huge devastations.

At half past five the Master Kumar opened the Guru Puja with a small ritual to Lord Ganesha, accompanied by chanting of Vedic hymns by pundits. Then there was the evening prayer followed by the first discourse, in Telugu. It was translated into English, and then to Spanish, French and German. I listened to the German translation and re-translated it to English for my notes. taking notes is a good exercise for staying aligned with the flow of the Energy.

The content of the 7 discourses was an old Indian scripture describing in symbolic form the incarnations of a soul through several births, how it got stuck there and how it slowly found the way out of the bondages of the body. A fascinating story but too complex for telling here.

There were again three ritual highlights – Monday the water ritual in honour of the first Logos Shiva; Tuesday, the Lalitha Puja in honour of the divine Mother; and Wednesday the fire ritual in honour of the Second Logos, Vishnu. There were various book presentations and other smaller contributions. Of course it was again a good occasion of exchanging with Indian friends. And I also enjoyed the daily “siestas” in the nearby palm forest – it had quite completely recovered after the big hurricane of 2014.

Late in the nights we were happily falling into our beds only to get up again very early in the mornings. Now is a day of relaxing. Most group members will go back tomorrow, to Europa or the Americas. Together with 4 friends, I will do a small pilgrimage to Bhuvaneshvar and Puri in Orissa (Odisha) and return a little later.

Last Friday in the afternoon the group went to Ramadri, a beautiful temple compound at a hill slope overlooking the Gulf of Bengal. This site has been given to the WTT end of the 90s and had been slowly developed to a vibrant spiritual centre. There is a small school run by the WTT where children from the surrounding villages receive free education, food and clothing as well as spiritual education besides the normal curriculum. There are also a number of small temples and shrines and a cow-shed where by now 72 cows are held in a very good condition. The milk is used for the children, worship activities and free distribution. Above all, for many years the place has been charged with a special ritual related to the sound of cosmic fire, RAM. This has magnetised not only the compound but created a strong influence in the surroundings.

After visiting the various small temples and shrines as well as the cow-shed the school children gathered to recite various Vedic hymns and later received new clothes and school material. While dusk set in and flocks of birds crossed the place we had beautiful meditation before returning to Visakhapatnam.

The next day the seminar closed with a closing ceremony and a beautiful dinner offered by Sri Kumar to the group.

It was quite hot when we left by bus to Rajahmundry last Tuesday afternoon. An Indian friend told me that it is about 7 degrees above the average temperature in January – and we felt it.

I enjoy these bus rides – a good occasion for some in-depth talk to a friend or just looking out to the countryside.The only interruption was a short coffee break somewhere at a palm forest. When dusk set in I saw that quite a number of the “youngsters” in the other bus, which was driving before us had started dancing – I smiled and thought of “Bollywood”…

It took about 5.5 hs – the bus was old and there was quite some traffic on the roads. I asked myself whether in India they drive on the left or the right side – no way to discover…

The WTT brotherhood gave us a warm welcome and a delicious dinner – and we quickly fell to sleep – “camping” in a big hall.

Early next morning I went to the nearby Godavari River to have an early morning “holy bath” in one of the most holy rivers of India. Sri Kumar explained that it is charged with leonine energies and that every 12 years there is a huge Kumbha Mela in the month of Leo. Luckily it was dark when we went into the river – during daylight the water turned out to be more dirty than in the previous years. Nevertheless, the etheric purity and radiance does not depend much on the physical. I hope that soon some people get the idea that it might be good to clear the plastic bottles. In the water I stumbled upon a net and some clothes…

After morning meditation we welcomed the Sun on the roof of the WTT centre before we set out to a journey to Amalavaram. We drove through a lush nature with a lot of plant and tree nurseries. There is an extensive irrigation system and the area is very rich and fertile.

After over 2 hs drive we arrived at the town of Amalavaram, where some old members of the WTT had invited the group. Mr Murti Ganti, a retired professor of nuclear physics and his big family gave Sri Kumar and us a warm welcome with coffee and some sweets. We then set out to a tour by walk through the village. First we walked to the temple of Rajalakshmi, the village goddess. Sri Kumar explained that all town there have a protective deity looking over the well-being of the people and newcomers greeting first this deity.

Then we proceeded to an old Shiva and a Vishnu temple, where small ceremonies were conducted. There was a vibrant energy around. I just stood for a while in a stream of light, thrilled. Afterward we visited the central family house of the Murti’s – a house built over 100 years ago according tot he ancient science of Vastu. Mr. Murti explained the principles of this house and how it protects against the high temperatures – with a covering of dried coconuts, among others. There was no iron used in these houses, iron having the energy of Kali, the dark Iron Age.

After a sumptuous lunch at the family house and some coconuts in a huge coconut plantation we returned to Rajahmundry.

Next morning, after another bath in the river, meditation and breakfast we made a small tour through the temple quarter along the river. Sri Kumar explained us how the whole area had developed over the last 40 years, with the central impulsion coming from the WTT and the substantial services rendered by the local group.

We first visited a Dattatreya temple of the Dattapeetam movement, where a smal ritual was conducted, then proceeded to the Hare Krishna temple, a beautiful construction, a Kartikeya (Mars) temple with very martian energies, the bath place at teh river and anotehr temple dedicated to Gayatri, the World Mother. Then we set out to a 2 hs boatride with some members of the India brotherhood. They made a kind of lotto with us and wanted us to dance. I felt a bit reminded of my disco times in the 70s – though I would have preferred just to enjoy the river ambiance I decided to participate…

After lunch we again started our return journey, arriving quite tired around 7.30 pm.

The seminar of the WTT with Sri Kumar here in Visakhapatnam is going on at full swing. He is speaking on “Female Hierarchy” on the cosmic level and in us – a very sublime topic. The seminar is at the hall in the huge  5 storeys-building of Sri Kumar with an open platform on the roof – with a great view over the surroundings and the ocean. The building was finished some months ago, and there are still some floors where construction work is still on.

Sunday morning, there was a beautiful fire ritual at the basement. Afterwards I had a talk with Mr. Kaligotla, an elderly gentleman. He showed me a newly planted mango tree at the left backside of the building. Near that part there had been a big old mango tree who carried lots of fruits. Mr. Kaligotla told me that before the construction work started, Sri Kumar had a long talk of over an hour with the old tree explaining tot he tree that he felt very sorry that he has to get the tree removed and thanked him for all the tree had given. He felt that the tree gave his consent to be removed. He promised to the tree to plant there another mango tree. And this Sri Kumar did when the house was set up. He got a tree which was brought up at exactly the time of the removal of the old tree. Now this new mango tree is like the rebirth of the old one.

After the talk I went up to the 6th floor and enjoyed the sun reflecting in the ocean…

The time is running by fast, and in less than an hour we are supposed to go to Rajahmundry, a city about 180 km south of Visakhapatnam. There we will stay for 2.5 days, coming back Thursday night.

Mr. Kaligotla and the new mango tree

Last Wednesday early morning my wife brought me to the train station. A few minutes later the lights of the train appeared at a distance and grew bigger until the wagons stopped. When I entered, I thought, now my 21st journey to India starts – what might it bring this time? About 1.5 hs later I was at the check-in of Qatar Airways in Zurich Airport. I was looking around to find my friends Anna and Meini but no one was there. When I entered the plane I thought, it seems that I’m travelling alone. But suddenly they appeared – they were the last ones to get through the check-in… In the afternoon we changes planes in Doha, then arrived past midnight in Hyderabad, where we took a 2hs nap in a transit hotel before going through the check-in controls for the flight to Vizag. And one hour later the voice of the stewardess said: “Welcome to Visakhapatnam airport”. Murthi was already waiting at the entrance and brought us to the taxi.

We were much astonished to see that not only the airport was looking like new – it had been demolished by the hurricane of October 2014 – but also there was a lot of green and new trees, not only around the airport but all along the highway – I could not discover any traces of the severe devastations of 14 months ago.

We stopped at the new house of Sri Kumar where my friends were to be lodged. I waited outside, but an Indian couple came out the house and told me to go up to the 4th place, where Master Kumar and Kumar were just sitting in their living room. They greeted me with a warm smile and some words of welcome – a beautiful surprise.

Later at the WTT retreat centre some Belgian and Spanish friends were smiling – such a cordial ambiance. We were about the first ones to arrive. This time a lot of group members from Europe and Argentina will attend the seminar, so not all could be lodged in the retreat centre – some at apartments near the beach, others at an apartment in Sri Kumar’s house.
In the evening after meditation Sri Kumar addressed some words of welcome; we shared a chocolate cake and sat together for some time before falling into our beds….

Early next morning, 1st of January, we set out to a walk along the beach road to Master EK Sundavaram, a statue of the master set up 20 years ago. Members of the local brotherhood had beautifully decorated the place. After the meditation they were singing some stotrams (holy recitations) followed by a small ceremony. Then breakfast was served to all. When we returned to the retreat centre, the Sun had already increased his power. We were intensely sweating when we were back at our home.

Sunrise at Hyderabad airport when entering the plane to Vizag

It is the first exposition of my paintings which started Sunday morning at the Café Bilderbuch in Berlin. And setting up the exposition was a smooth and inspiring experience.

Last Saturday 5 am. The car windows are frozen. After putting the last luggage into the boot, I have to use the ice-scraper. A few minutes later we are on the highway. On the way to Basel, there are only very few cars around. A quarter past 6 we arrive at the border to Germany. The custom declarations were all ready (it was quite some work beforehand…) and so it takes only some minutes to go through the Swiss and German customs. Then we are heading north, nearly 1000 km of highway drive. It is a beautiful day with a gorgeous sunrise. And when we arrive at Berlin the Sun has already set and it is getting dark again.

Our friends where we stay the two nights give us a warm welcome. After dinner we discuss last details for coordinating the setting-up of the exposition of my paintings. And early Sunday morning, after a short group meditation and a quick breakfast, we are driving through the empty streets of Berlin. The Café Bilderbuch is a huge café located on two floors – we will set up the exposition at the ground floor – and for this we have just two hours, from 7 to 9.

The car access to the Café Bilderbuch is from an inner courtyard. The other helpers are already there. But the previous exposition is still on the walls…. Our helpers take these paintings carefully to a side room. A quarter past seven the artist couple arrive – and get angry that their paintings were already down. They were told that they can take down the paintings till 9 am – and we were told to be ready with the exposition until 9 am… After some “reconciliation work” the artists calm down and we continue the preparations. Time is running fast. We set up two teams and I supervise the work, leaving much freedom to the helpers. And they do a great job. When the first guests enter around 9 am, we are still working and the service team is a bit nervous. But around 9:15  70 paintings are set up. It was an incredible moment – all were feeling like in a dream. I had not thought it would have been possible to arrange all the paintings and in this short time.

A friend, a music teacher and guitar player, arrives with some members of his family to give a vernissage concert. And while we are relaxing with the breakfast he plays a number of songs. In the meantime the café is filled with guest. And while I am going round to control the paintings, a waitress comes to me and says, “These are very beautiful paintings, I like them a lot.” I smile.

Two small paintings cannot be found, neither in the luggage nor in the café (and also not at home – they were in the list for the customs). I also smiled – maybe somebody had taken them. I had decided not to ask for any money for the paintings but to give them, at the end of the exposition, when people want them. I just inform about the costs of the production and the work and leave it to the people to decide whether they give money and how much, feeling inspired for this by the example of my teachers.

There are some nice exchanges in the afternoon and evening followed by a short night. Then yesterday again a highway ride over nearly 1000 km. When we enter our apartment in the evening we are very tired but happy about the whole trip to Berlin.