Zoo-ed at Frankfurt

Zoo is a place I always like to visit. While it is sometimes a sad affair to see the wild animals tied up within the confinement of a closed place, however, it is heartening to see that some of the zoos take special care of the animals and provide them as much as a natural habitat as possible. Last week when I had absolutely nothing to do, I thought of wandering about and pay a visit to a zoo here. Here are some of the choicest snaps I could click.

Day end at the Main

Christmas is coming and celebration is in the air and among the people here. I thought of visiting the Christmas Market at Romerberg in the evening. After spending sometime there, I proceeded to be on the beautiful banks of the river Main. The sun setting down far in the west was a a fantastic capture.

Sun setting at in far west on the Main

  The feeling is similar of what we see in Bengal in Set-Oct, in anticipation of the Durga Puja. Some more pictures at the Main river.

And then there is this picture that was being drawn by an artist on the S-Bahn station at Hauptwache. Fantastic, isn't it? What a talent?

The Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci

  

Visit to Ramakrishna Mission at Muhlheim

I was fortunate to get an opportunity to visit the Ramakrishna Mission at Muhlheim yesterday. It was one of the three centers in Germany and also the smallest one. Muhlheim is a suburb some 20 kms from Frankfurt and it takes barely 22 minutes by train from the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, the Central Station.

I started early in the morning and reached Hauptbahnhof at 8:30 am to catch a train to Muhlheim at 9 am. It barely took me 20 odd minutes to reach the Muhlheim am Main station. From the station, it was another 15 minutes walk to the Ashram building. For sometime I was completely flummoxed since I didn't see anything structure that would look like an Ashram ( as we see in India). I was in the friendly neighborhood with single houses though Google Maps was suggesting that I has reached the destination. On looking carefully, I saw a very small signboard which made me realize that the building I was looking at was the Ashram itself.

I entered and was greeted by Swami Bhaswatananda ji. Swami Bhaswatanandaji is the resident Swami of the Ashram and has been living in this Ashram building for the last 9 years. He is from South India and speaks fluently in German and English. He showed me the shrine of the Master, Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsha Dev and was also kind enough to let me take a picture.

The Shrine of the Master at the Ashram

I had a brief conversation with the Swamiji over tea and took his leave. Swamiji had informed me that there will be Satsang in the evening, from 4:30 pm. I came back to Frankfurt by noon and again took a trip to the Ashram in the afternoon. I attended Satsang for 3 hours before returning back to Frankfurt again by late evening.

More details on the Ashrama is available here.