Back and all in one piece

I am pleased to report that Gail returned from her short break in Germany sound in body and limb. 

"What's so remarkable about that?" I hear my readers asking. Surely, she was just sightseeing with her American friend in Berlin and Dresden, which is by no stretch of the imagination a high risk activity. 

Well it turns out that an incident on the fast train to Dresden, in which three armed customs officers strode purposefully down the carriage and engaged in a long and tense debate with the two men on the seats right next to Marse and Gail and then arrested both men, apparently for possession of illegal drugs, was a wee bit unnerving, but was not in fact the most dangerous occurrence of the trip*. (I was just disappointed to learn that no sniffer dogs were involved.)

Dresden skyline

Far more alarming, on so many levels, was the news that Gail and Marse had actually participated in a dance class in Berlin. 

Marse's niece Soroa, pictured above with Marse, is in Berlin carving out a career in contemporary dance. Soroa performs and teaches at the 'Tanzfabrik' (dance factory). She invited her aunt and the English friend to take part in her 'Vibrant Body' class on Thursday morning and assured them no experience was necessary and the age range of participants was typically 20 to 70 years old.

I can't believe that Gail, who last attended a dance class, in which she learnt 'The Dashing White Sergeant', half a century ago, actually agreed, as did Marse. Brave or foolhardy?

So it seems the class involved lots of 'body awareness' exercises and moving around to music in a way that owed something to a Berlin nightclub experience. Gail and Marse, who, notwithstanding Soroa's earlier claims, were decades older that the other participants, emerged mightily relieved that they had not fallen over, crashed into anyone or injured themselves in any way.

Really, it's not safe to let one's human out of sight for even a moment, is it? (Readers of my predecessor Bertie's blog might remember what happened when Gail went to Russia and got caught up in a terrorist incident...)

Friends be reassured, as of tomorrow I am reclaiming my blog, and the next post will be all about me. Meanwhile, I have pinned Gail to her reclining chair and she is not going anywhere.

*Gail says: following this incident on the train, a rather revealing exchange took place between Gail (British), Marse (American), and the friendly lady (German) who was sat at the same table. Marse had apparently been scared that the scene would end up in a violent shoot out, and they might be caught in the cross-fire.  Gail and the German lady, both citizens of countries with very different gun cultures from the USA, had noted that the customs men were armed but were not particularly worried as it had not occurred to either of them that the weapons might actually be used, or that the men arrested might also be carrying guns.