Bad Homburg

Bad Homburg
(by Christa)

Sometimes things develop differently from what you thought…..

Friday I drove to Michael, because we had an invitation to visit the family of his brother.

On Saturday morning a little stroll outside the door. After lunch working at the computer. Not having a “computer app” in my head I always again need Michael’s help to put in order the mess on my screen. This took longer than expected – and oh dear, we had an evening program in Bad Homburg for the “Culture Night” with various events.

Michael was suspiciously silent. “Come on, no supper ……”

In Bad Homburg we found a parking lot behind the park. It had started to rain. We walked – a bit dull – into the city to the first venue of the VHS.  Everything dark, doors locked….. a question mark in both faces. So on through the now stronger rain for the next date. On the way a look at the newspaper clipping about the culture night. I had a suspicion: Had we got the right date ??

And the first of October came to my mind when we were in Munich and Michael said that this weekend the clock would be changed. I trusted it and set my inner clock to winter time. I did not realize the mistake until 1 1/2 days later, it was a month too early – but my inner clock remained as set newly !

And lo and behold, we were one week early !! We looked at each other and started to laugh. What to do now ?? I said with a smile: “I would love a really good dinner, come on, I invite you.” No protest from Michael; so let’s go !

We found a quaintly restaurant in the old town. The atmosphere was right and encouraged us to have a deeper conversation, as we have often had in such ‘foreign’ places. The way back to the car was relaxed and cheerfully – without rain. Michael has taken a few photos of the small treasures of foreign visitors scattered throughout the park, such as the Korean pagodas and the Russian church.

So we have made the date mistake a successful evening!

Untersberg and Munich

6 Days on tour at the Untersberg and in Munich, 26. 9. – 2. 10, 2017
(by Christa)

Our second trip to the Untersberg. We are staying in Anger again, this time in a sloping roof apartment. On the first evening we explored our environment and discovered the small church with the crescent moon – a good photo motif. It was getting dark quickly, and so we stayed near the place.

The next morning we had an appointment with Stephan, who has some shamanic training and wanted to lead us to some power places. So we met at the “Marienheilgarten” in Großgmain. We would hardly have discovered this wonderful place without him: A powerful place with a figure of Maria standing in a herb garden, which is arranged as a zodiac with the corresponding planets. On her back is a spring spending healing water. A place to relax and energize. Just as remarkable is the church behind, which we visited the next day.

We then drove to the parking lot of the Hotelrestaurant Dürrlehen near Maria Gern. From here Stephan led us up the Almbachklamm to the Madonna, the section that we had missed during our first walk through the Almbachklamm.

The Madonna has its own history and went a long way. It is the gift of a German artist who has sought a special place for his figure and selected this one. At her feet lay a beautiful lilac flower, which we later found a greater number of in Gartenau, the flower of the artichoke.

We went further up into the gorge, found many cairns in the shallow water, and have waded through to reach – in my case with water in the shoes and wet trousers – a hut, in which Stephan had stayed, when he explored the region for several days. Again a quiet hidden place of power with a view of the gorge. The whole area, including the Madonna, has something magical and a beauty that has held us for a long time.

In the evening then a fancy Michael adventure – again in the parking lot at Maria Gern: Two tripods, a large and my small camera, aligned to the starry sky for a time lapse video. “So, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours,” Michael says. They became 5 hours, until midnight – a hard patience test for me. This was due to the moon, which simply did not want to go down, so that the sky would not become really dark until shortly before midnight.

The next morning we took the Untersbergsahn up to the Salzburger Hochthron. A panorama view and soon it became clear to me: Steep, rocky, narrow paths, if paths at all, alpine requirements! A questioning look from Michael: Do you dare? “Hm, okay, let’s walk to the Mittagsscharte, you may continue to the ice cave without me.”

The times at the markers have not at all been correct for us, they are valid for the young mountaineers who passed us. How does one deal with such a path with a damaged knee? Every now and then on all fours and with a helping hand – and that was even fun!

At the Mittagsscharte again a beautiful view of the mountains, which seem so unattainable. In front of our feet deep in the grass we admired the star-shaped white flowers. Here we did picnic and had a number of jackdaws visiting us, just as brazen, but slightly bigger than the sparrows we fed on our bike tour. The return trip to the mountain station we managed in half the time – so fast one can improve!

Arriving back in the valley we had earned ourselves a good meal and went once again to the rustic secluded place “Esterer” in Fürstenbrunn, to which Stephan had led us the day before. A place with the magical atmosphere of the Untersberg, which obviously also attracts corresponding people. On the previous day, we had been part of such a meeting, where light, energy and ancient events that were going on around the Unterberg were the topic of the conversation, stories that had also attracted some persons around Adolf Hitler.

In the evening up again , this time to the Hochlenzer, a well-visited hotel restaurant. So again setting up tripods and cameras – it was a colored sunset accompanied by clouds. After the sun had set, I in memory of the night before, went to the restaurant nearby and ordered a coffee. The landlady there was very compassionate and offered me during our talk about our photographic undertaking, we could also stay over night with her! But this evening was different. When I went back to Michael, he was already dismantling everything, and the coffee kept me awake in bed instead of under a sky full of stars!!

Part 2

We had arranged the visit to the Untersberg before the seminar with Vishen Lakhiani in Munich. The seminar was for us a continuation of the Mindvalley University in Barcelona and was on the topic “The Code of the Extraordinary Mind – be limitless”. Most of the participants had already spent some time with Vishen and his lectures on the internet and wanted to experience him once life; he was in Germany the first time. Vishen fascinates many people not only through his charisma, but also through his ideas of making the world a bit better and a more viable place. The participants’ commitment was evident in the question-answer parts. Particularly some young ones, including a 10-year-old girl, have shown with their clear expressions how open the young generation is for such a necessary change of our world.

In the evening, a meeting was held in the Fürstenbräu in Munich for those who wanted to experience Vishen in an even more personal atmosphere. The place was very busy and despite the reservation we could not sit all together – it was Oktoberfest! Nevertheless, we had some inspiring and very open-minded conversations with old acquaintances and many new ones. The joy and gratitude for the experience were a good conclusion for the 2-day seminar and also for our trip, which brought us many new impressions and experiences again.

How nice to start again and again to new and unusual experiences!

(Last photo by Alexandra Miu – thank you, Alexandra)