European Union entry

After a sleepless night in cramped aircrafts we finally arrive in Berlin to beautiful weather. A clear blue sky and temperatures at 15 degrees is all that one can ask for. Enter immigration and then to a connecting flight but first we need our passports stamped for entering the EU. A long list of Asians like us in front of the line isn't helping. I am well aware of the current refugee crisis in Europe with Germany at the forefront so am well aware that they are going to go over everything with increased scrutiny. Our turn arrives and everything is fine but my passport gets into a loop. Someone at the embassy's has made a clerical error with my name and its an issue. They spend some twenty minutes scanning my passport,putting it through some machine or the other,asking a lot of questions,all the while our connecting flight is inching closer to departure and we are late. Finally while I move heaven and the imigratration officer moves the German system,we are through. We run through Berlin airport to find our terminal is well away but the stress of missing a flight keeps us going. Panting and puffing we pass security only to have me pulled off the line into a separate room. Now this is the stuff of nightmares,what did I have in my bag other than an iPad and a coat but they look through my things not telling me what the problem is. My iPad seems to be the culprit so the officer does some stuff on it then they'd look disappointed and tell me I am free to go. I promise myself never to watch " jailed abroad" as it gets my imagination running wild. We get on our flight happy to leave Berlin with its depressing airport which looks like it's a relic of communist East Germany bing dragged kicking and screaming into modern west Germany. Well we arrive at our destination  and our troubles don't end. The airline has lost our baggage . The husband thus has just a pair of jeans and a t shirt , and a hope and a prayer that they'd will find the suitcase. It takes the shine off the holiday. To me it seems like it's one problem after another but I tell myself that I need to stay positive. So we move on and take the bus to the village we are to stay in and suddenly it's back to familiar ground almost like being at home. We hail a taxi and are surprised to see a girl taxi driver who has been driving for five years. We get into the swank taxi which back in our country would be the car of the rich and famous. We watch while she put on the gps,we reach home and the taxi driver whips out an iPhone 6 to make a call ( in our country this again is not some thing a taxi driver can own). In our country the taxi driver is trying to make ends meet and we then come back to the realisation that we are in one of the richest countries in Europe and have to shift our understanding of rich and poor. Once again it's a learning experience for us. Well settled we rest for the afternoon and enjoy village life. It's five in the evening and everyone is already out drinking beer. The beer garden in full of people. The river is full of boats with people having a grill dinner on board or just drifting past. It's a beautiful day and we drink our beer eat our sausages and are happy to be here enjoying great company of friends,beautiful weather and to watch the world go by. How far removed from our lives in India. For the moment we are happy and that's the only thing that matters.