We hit a humongous traffic jam today when coming back from Tating, driving out from Wacken onto the motorway towards Hamburg. Some heavy metal fans had decided to hit the road early to avoid the annual traffic jam on the A23 going South. The variety of ‘vehicles’ was incredible. What they all had in common was that they were driven by people wearing black t-shirts with tattoos up to their necks! Here is a small selection….

So we arrived a bit later than planned, but still at around 2pm at the hospital. Pádraig’s nurse had stopped his ‘Sondennahrung’ an hour earlier to try and make him feel a bit hungry. By the time we had moved him into the wheelchair, she had heated up his dinner and brought it in together with a really nice looking yoghourt. He had some of the dinner but, needless to say, he like the yoghourt so much more that he almost finished it up.

Then, and here is the highlight of the day, the nurse mentioned in passing that a doctor had enquired about the possibility of us taking Pádraig out, I mean OUT, out into the fresh air, the sun, the wind, the grass, the trees, the birds singing, people messing, …. The answer he got was: yes, no problem – as long as there is a nurse with him and his has a mobile oxygen monitor gadget attached. Isn’t this GREAT? (The doctor himself came in later and confirmed it with us!) Now, all we need is a nurse that has an hour or so to spare to accompany us outside, a day with not-so-much heat, and OUT we go! It would be really nice to organise the date in the rose garden now, to have a little get-together with all the great people who have worked so hard and helped so much to get Pádraig to this point! Can’t wait for the day!

Today marks the beginning of WW1. I just checked how many people died. For nothing. The number is 37. Million.

Instead of the usual German phrase or word, tonight here is a picture from an item that is so common in every hospital that I won’t give away what it is. It has some writing on it which really struck me, looking at German writing, but reading it in English – all of a sudden it sounded very much un-German!

And finally, a word about the Poker Night: the Facebook page for the event can now be accessed. Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/events/478688752267844/?ref=2&ref_dashboard_filter=hosting