All set to go!
After a wait of about two anxious weeks, it was a thrilling moment to receive my passport with the multi-entry Schengen visa stamp. The biggest hurdle was thus completed. It was a matter of a exciting countdown since then until the last day of the month; the first day of my travel holiday. Finally when the day arrived, some of my friends joined to drop us at the airport like in the movies, it felt wonderful. Back in the past, going to airport was always associated with staying at sea for months, away from friends and family, however now I had changed the entire feeling to a happy and exciting one. I rejoiced my decision and reassured that no joy is comparable to the happiness of that of travelling to a far away land!
Wilkommen Deutschland!
Surprises did not end there. Apparently today was the first direct KLM service from Bangalore to Amsterdam and thus every passenger was gifted with a keychain and a serving of one of the most delicious Dutch chocolate truffle pastries I have ever had. It was indeed a very cozy over night flight to Amsterdam and later to Frankfurt after a short transit. It was interesting to note that the ticket price for 2 flights combined was cheaper than the first flight to Amsterdam alone. Strange, right? After arriving in Frankfurt I figured my way to the city centre, which was about an hour’s bus ride. Autumn season indeed has the best sunsets and I was right in time to witness a splendid sunset across the river while strolling alongside the boulevard. I wished that at least in my lifetime some-day I could see Indian cities too with this kind of landscaping, all this greenery and pristine river water without floating garbage. By night, I had plans to meet up with my friend Andrei who was actually a Colombian by birth but had been living in Frankfurt for more than 15 years. We had met each other just two weeks ago in Thekkady, India and now once again in a different continent. Small world, right??!! Three of us chilled while having some tasty burger and beer. At this point I felt I was in some pub in Bangalore. I realized Bangalore had become global that the beer and burger I could get there and here was 90% the same except the price.
Destination Hamburg!
The Bla-Bla bus I was supposed to take was 40 minutes late and this was quite a shock for me considering how punctual German reputation is! However, both Andrei and our Italian friend waited with me until the bus arrived. This was a very kind gesture from their side considering they barely knew me and had met only once before. One more over-night seated bus journey finally took me to my primary destination Hamburg. This was my 3rd visit to this lovely city. The first one being in 2010, second one being in 2015 and now in 2019 made it feel like an Olympic or World cup cycle. It happens only once in 4 years, but when it does it is happening and eventful. Hanna was waiting for me at the bus station in her car. We hugged very tight even though it did not feel at all like we were seeing each other after 4 years. It was so heart-warming to see that everything was still the same, the streets, the houses, her family. It felt like coming back home after so many years! But this time, unlike the previous visits I had a lot more time to spend i.e. two weeks. This was the best part. However, few weeks earlier Hanna’s mother had slipped and injured her knee, thus we had be staying in and around home and were forced to cancel our plans to do a road trip across Germany. This was very unfortunate and disappointing but a friend in need is a friend indeed right? So we decided to ‘GO WITH THE FLOW’ and take thing the way it comes, one day at a time. We had fun at home and Hanna kept singing a really funny and silly Pineapple song. But that’s how friendship is isn’t it? You can be your raw self and chill without any fear of prejudice and judgments, but your complete self. This is indeed the real Freedom!
Each day we had a different plan. It was great to meet her best friend Janina finally and her girl-friend in the nearby town with quite a funny name’ quick-born.’ We played lot of Darts in a pub and some awesome table fussball-my favorite indoor game. The night was amazing and memorable.
Another day was kept for a day road trip. This is what I love the most; a road trip into the country and woods finally stopping at the sea. Beautiful country-side is passing by, highways with lush greenery around, hands on the steering wheel, little towns with cobble stone roads passing by, pristine lakes in the sight at a distance, century old churches and chill music playing in the car. Nothing can beat the fun of a road trip indeed. This time Hanna’s parents joined us too. As a matter of fact, every day I was getting closer to Sounke, Hanna’s dad as we work in similar fields of safety management and had lots of technical and philosophical topics to talk about.
Over the days, we had long breakfasts with lot of conversations and interaction while during the day we stepped out to the city and visited various areas in Hamburg such as the miniature museum, the new philharmonic building at the bay, the world famous reeperbahn etc and I got reminded about the past visits I had to this place years ago. One of the days, I joined Sounke to the gym and it felt so good to finally do a proper workout while I was realizing that gyms were also very global these-days and looked pretty much the same irrespective of which country you are at. One of the days, we both even went for a run. I felt so good. He is like father to me and his personality is very gentle, funny, matured at the same time values fitness and sports and is enthusiastic and energetic. Thus a lot of fun and home based activities kept happening and the day I had to leave arrived so soon. I had to catch a Ryan air flight from Hamburg to Milan and Hanna dropped me at the airport. It was such a sad moment to say good bye and we exchanged post cards with small gifts. Hanna was so thoughtful she wrote a wonderful postcard and customized present keeping in mind how small my backpack was and that I had two months more of travel ahead of me! As she left, I killed my waiting time at the airport playing the gorgeous grand piano at the departure hall.
Thus my 3rd German trip came to an end. It was so memorable and like always I am so grateful to the Hinkelmann family- my German Family! ❤
jakeorpheus 