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Ja, Seba and me left the European rainbow gathering on the evening of the full moon. We drove four hours underneath the eclipsing moon until I found ourselves a spot for the night at the end of a dead end in a little village. After a moment there a man arrived in a car and looked suspiciously at my car. I greeted him, introduced us and asked if we could stay. He was very friendly and we had a quiet night and beautiful morning walk in the surrounding nature.
In the morning an elderly woman (supposedly the mom of the guy) comes out and tries to talk to me in Polish. After some failed attempts she waves me inside where she hands me a bottle of water, tomatoes and bananas. She proceeds to give us bread and cheese and asks the three of us – as Seba and Ja had made their way in in the meantime as well – if we wanted tea or coffee. The Italians almost had their eyes fall out. Shortly afterwards we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast on the front porch of this family, sharing travellng stories and contacts with the son, who had introduced himself as Krzysztof. The mother leaves by bike and comes back, handing us a whole loaf of bread.
Happy and really grateful we continue our journey west, interrupted by a break, walking through west Polish forests, swimming in a river and collecting beautiful rocks.

 

After many hours of driving we have a stopover in my former shared appartment in Potsdam. We leave Raki there and continue with the train to Berlin. There we dive into the night of the big city, riding on waves of the aftermath of Berlin’s Christopher Street Day surrounded by glitter and colourful people. We meet up with more Italians, one of them Alessandro, an old friend, schoolmate and fellow musician of Seba and Ja, another one beautiful, joyful Charlotta who we met at the rainbow. We spent hours of joy, chatter and game before I ride the train to what once was my home and still is in some ways.

The next day is Sunday – with the legendary Mauerpark calling us. I take Raki and the car and we ride into the big city, finally arriving in the heat of summer.
I feel instantly back home at this colourful and international place – the Mauerpark. Raki and me walk around, marveling at handmade jewellery, listening to singing people at the Karaoke held in this wonderful outside amphietheatre and talking to a Canadian couple, drinking a shot with them (me, Raki didn’t get one).

I continue walking around and stumble upon this guy singing about Italian wine while drumming on pots, buckets and a metal iron board. He is catchy and I dance a bit. Around him a few more people. I sit down and we chat, make music, enjoy.

Ja, Seba and Alessandro wanted to meet me at the Mauerpark and I tell them where I am. I tell the people around me about those three talented musicians and everyone gets excited.

 

What follows is the most epic jam session. Everyone there had come with no expectations, some just out for a lazy sunday afternoon walk. The more grateful we all were for this diverse, international get together of talent, passion and joy. We sang, played and danced together until it got dark. Then some of us went and enjoyed some shawarma.
Me, Seba and Raki spent a quiet night in the Beast in the streets of Berlin. The others – Ja, Alessandro and our new found Italian friends Fede and Pietro enjoyed showers and a crowded night in Fedes student appartment.

 

 

 

The next day we all – Seba, me, Raki and Ja, Alessandro met up again. We have lunch with Charlotta and say goodbye to her. Then we proceed to walk to Alexanderplatz to meet Fede and Pietro for some basking.
Our journey there is one of a kind. The cart for Alessandro’s amplifyer breaks, we try to fix it a few times but with little success. We find a shopping trolly in the street and take that. It has a safety on one of the wheels and we continue on our way, very loud and with a lot of MacGyver action.

We spent some awesome time in the middle of the crowded Alexanderplatz, surrounded by a crowd, making music, dancing in the heat of the big city summer.

It is already late when we drop of Alessandro at the bus station – he goes home to Italy and the rest of us ride the empty Berlin city autobahn back to my former appartment in Potsdam.

A journey, a lot lof music, many kilometres, many wonderful people. What a blast we had. Now we were tired and we spent the day doing resting, repairing drum tired hands and saxophone carrying backs, cooking Italian food.
The next day I drop my two Italian friends off at Autobahnrastplatz and we say goodbye, knowing we’ll meet again somewhere, some place.
They go South  – destination Spain, I go North – destination Ideenwiese.

Thank you! See you next time.

Coming from east Austria and going to south east Poland, my way brought me through Slovakia. My plan was to just drive through the country and get to Poland in one day. I had absolutely no clue what would await me in Slovakia. All I knew about the country was its name and its geographical location.

I was blown away. At first I found wide plains with rolling hills everpresent in the distance and cute villages with a rustic charm that spoke of a simple life. Soon I was driving through mountainous areas with street signs that told tales of cold winters with a lot of snow. I enjoyed maneuvering the serpentines and the forests around me.
And then she was there – the Tatry – aw-inducing, humbeling, mighty and rugged.

It was getting late and I decided to stay for the night. I found a spot at the foot of the Tatry. I could here a river in the valley and enjoyed a beautiful sunset and a quiet night. In the morning the mighty mountains greated me again with beautiful views. Me and Raki explored the area, munched on wild blueberries and raspberries and I wanted to have a skinny dip in the bubbeling river. Only the river was freezing cold and I reduced my bath to a quick wash.

We spent a few more hours in this beautiful country, driving North East before we leave for Poland.

Slovakia you were beautiful and charming. I will surely be back for a longer visit.

Austria
While I was in Sweden, I received a request to come and work in an animal sanctuary in Austria – something I had been wanting to do for a while. It was a small place with horses and a donkey and as my urge to be with horses again was growing, this was a wonderful opportunity. I arrived in the “Dreiländereck” – the triangle in between Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic in the beginning of July.My host and boss – Jobst was my age and lived together with his parents and two brothers on a beautiful farm, the last house before the forest started. The place was absolutely stunning with beautiful views and the vast Bömer Forest right at the doorstep. The inhabitants of the sanctuary were Mario, a donkey, Schecki, a pony, Dorina, a 32 year old show jumping retiree and Carina and Stella two elderly horse ladies – mother and daughter. All of them beautiful souls with a lot of energy still in them, sensitive and unspoiled. Once more I learned to trust, listen and had a few firsts – bareback with only a rope around the neck was a beautiful one, making hay one for the muscles and endurance. I spent a lot of peaceful time pealing tree trunks, drove a tractor and rode a man powered wheel barrow.
Jobst quickly became a good friend and we shared many intimate talks. Always a smile and a joke on his lips and always changing plans. He was eager to learn from me and to teach me. His family provided me with wonderful food and good company. A special place in my heart and memory is taken by Dominik – Jobst’s best friend and neighbour. This guy with his garden and shed, a house full of art, wood and cozy mess. An idealist with passion for life and what is just – we shared moments of intimacy and closeness. We laughed and worked and ate many good meals.
Thank you Austria and you beautiful people.

Surely I will be back some day.

My last blog post was in March. I was about to leave my last winter sanctuary in Vika, Sweden to set out on my first winter camping trip with the Beast. I met this amazing, soothing, calming place – Bäcken – and it’s awesome owner Jan Johanson with his two Leika. I heard crazy stories about hunting, dogs, travelling . . . I watched wind and snow pass by, walked on icebergs and photo hunted a crane.
I travelled down the Swedish coast, met up with the Katergat and went back to two wonderful places we met on our way up – Höllviken and this little coastal strip somewhere close to Copenhagen.

Sweden had given us a lot – sanctuary, peace, friends, beaches, ice, winter, conflicts, new and old friends. . . Raki and me ice skated together. We recharged our batteries after a turbulent year of travelling, learning, conflicts, meeting new and old friends, finding and searching. Now we were ready for a new period, new challenges, more soulsearching, more learning . . .

And damn, what we found

Germany
We spent a cleansing Easter with my dear friends Johanna and Filou, accopanied by spring’s first arrival. We met the family again and then I moved out of my shared apartment. I had moved in there in February of 2014 and lived there for pretty much exactly three  years. What a journey it had been. I lived it all there – the freedom, lightness, parties, get togethers, friends, family, amazing food, nakedness, healing and the conflicts, jealousy, depression, suffering, relationships, sadness…
I had subletted my room for a year and a half, now it was time to let go and cut this string. After spending signifcant amounts of time on sorting and getting rid of stuff, I have little possesions left and carried most of it around by myself, secured it in my own car and drove it two hours north to my friends attic. It felt incredible liberating and empowering. Up there I spent more time sorting, getting rid of stuff and enjoying the spring with Raki and Filou.

 

Kassel
While I was in Sweden, I received a request to come and work in an animal sanctuary in Austria – something I had been wanting to do for a while. So that was our next destination. But before, we went on a holidays with my mom. We chose Kassel because it was halfway to Austria and I had been in contact with Boba who welcomed us into his home. This was the first holiday me and my mom took with just us. We rented a wonderful cozy and colourful air bnb and spent some relaxing days there – walking, reading, talking and eating. For a weekend we visited Boba in his giant and beautiful garden and met his friends and children. Our holiday ended back in the air bnb and we finished with a long talk, accompanied by tears and hugs, raising our relationship to a new level. Thank you

. . . and then we leave for the next step on our journey

Getting up at 6 in the morning, I took off from Gerês and drove 4 hours to Lisbon to pick up Tommy. For the first two hours I was driving through clouds from wildfires – a mesmerizing and sad experience. They make a very special and beautiful light, especially with sunsets and sun rises.

Tommy and me spent two more days exploring Lisboa while staying in a beautiful and cozy air bnb.
Our next destination was the South coast – the Algarve. We had booked an Air bnb in Carvoeira. The place had some old time charme and a beautiful ocean view. The coast line was stunning with steep limestone cliffs that lined with caves and grottoes. I had been warned that the Algarve is very touristic and so we found big hotels and the kind of tourists that are super happy when they hear someone speaking in their mother tongue. At some point I pondered why they bother me and if they aren’t just part of the whole and told myself to let go and accept without judging.
We enjoyed hiking along the coastline, swimming in the ocean and soaking up the sun. There I met another beautiful soul that will stay in my memories. In our neighbourhood a street dog was walking around. She was a beautiful mid size podengo portuguese, just about shy of a year old and had a jolly, happy attitude. We played on the beach and she quickly trusted me. Even though she seemed pretty healthy (besides being a bit on the skinny side) the beforementioned tourists pittied her “I think she is close to dying” while she was sleeping in a cave. I laughed to myself. She didn’t leave my thoughts and I tried to contact a Portuguese organization when I got back home but never heard back from them. I hope she is enjoying her life.

After four days we left Carvoeira, driving west along the south coast. We payed Sagres Fortress a visit where we experienced strong winds and had a look around the fortress.
From there we went north. The area felt much different to the southern coast with its touristic towns and square hotel blocks. Here it was much more rugged and empty. It felt good. We arrived in Aljezur where we had a little stop. I really enjoyed the vibes of this little town. I saw backpackers around and their seemed to be an artsy community. We got some groceries and continued to our next destination – a yurt a few kilometres inland. To get there we turned off the main road and followed a sandy, slightly scary path down into a valley of corck and eucalyptus. Our host was a british guy who was developing his land into a “glamping” destination. Spread out on a big piece of land there were a little tree house, a farm house, a stone house, a little swimming pond and our yurt. Together with it came a roofed outdoorkitchen, an outdoor shower, a beautiful deck and a compost toilet. Our host himself was living in a trailer further down the valley. He was an interesting guy and we shared some talks about society, the education systems and nature. The place was tranquil and wonderfully peaceful. I could have stayed much longer but I enjoyed the four days as it was. I enjoyed the deck, the peace and not having to wear that much clothes. One evening we went back to the coast where we had a meal at the Taberna do Gabriel II, overlooking the ribeira de Aljezur mouthing into the Atlantic Ocean. The meal was one of the best once I have had and the grumpy waiter just added to the experience, as he was very charming in his own grumpy way.
Even though we had already put in quite a few hours, this valley, the deck in front of our yurt was the place we spent a lot of time talking about us, our relationship, how and if we should continue. We went through anger and tears. In the end we decided we didn’t want to give up just yet. We decided that I should come and stay in the USA to see how we work in an every day life. Part of me knew then that this wasn’t going to work but I also knew that decisions come when it is time for them.

Our last day was spent at the beach of Odeceixe. From there we drove back to Lisbon, where we had booked a room at a shared apartment.

We said goodbye – to each other and to Portugal. Tommy with a sense of “good to have been here”, me with a sense of “Portugal, what a stunning place you were, I’ll surely be back.”

 

After a bit of city life in Oporto I was ready to go back to nature and headed north to Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês. Again I realized I was ill prepared for driving. In the Braga area I got badly lost. Getting some directions in Portugues at a café didn’t help me and on top of it all I drove through the wrong lane at a toll station and had to pay 20€ as a consequence. After driving in circles for 45 minutes my anger and frustration needed to get out and I elbowed the door of my car so hard that I had a massive bruise for two weeks. After I cried a bit at a parking lot (being frustrated and desperate, not from pain), I pulled myself together and came up with another strategy. I made a detour through another city that was on my shitty map and finally made it to Gerês and the campground I had looked at before.

After this rough start I had the most amazing time in this beautiful and stunning place.
I put up my hammock in a nice spot and went to check out the reservoir of the river Homem that was just up the road. Thinking back to those moments just now, gives me a feeling of deep peace and warmth. The river is nestled in a valley. From the main road you have get a great view – the kind that makes you gasp and be deeply grateful for being able to experience this beauty. A few people were enjoying the water and I followed something that can’t be described as a path and reached a little peninsula with pine trees. Here I was all alone and recharged with a peaceful nap. The water was of a mesmerizing blue and very clear. I took a swim around the corner, took some dives from the big rocks and walked back to my spot over land – barefoot and in my bikini. This afternoon I felt absolute freedom, I felt absolute.
The sun was setting in company of some eery and strange clouds. I later learned that those clouds stemed from wild fire. At the time they were utterly fascinating and gave the sunset the most stunning colours.

The next morning – just like the ones that followed I watched the sun rise over the hills from my hammock – the best way of waking up (even though I fell back asleep and stayed “in bed” until 9). When I came back from the bathroom. My neighbours invited me for coffee. I didn’t take that but I took their company. They turned out to be some of the most amazing people I have met and we would spent most of the next two days together. They were a couple from Israel – Dahlia and Barack. Dahlia had just finished her masters in Mathmatics, they quit their appartment, brought all their stuff to friends and took off travelling with their backpacks. Dahlia earned a well-deserved rank in my mental group of Amazons. She is a powerful, independent and very smart woman who is eager to share her wisdom and joy for life. Barak impressed with his stoic calmness and grounding ways of being. They seemed to balance each other in a wonderful way. We went on a beautiful and nicely demanding hike in the hills together. They were strong hiking partners and knew how to have a good hiking lunch. We had a wonderful time. After some refreshments, namely ice cream, at a little café, we took a detour to escape the road which brought us on an old roman path. We took another detour in the village of Campo do Gerês and found a beautiful little bar – Chamadouro Bar – and a had glass of wine/beer. In the evening we cooked together and met a group of people. They were Dutch and Portuguese Astronomers and we had interesting and inspiring talks.

The next day was a slow one. I found Barak and Dahlia around noon and we decided to get a bottle of wine and hang out at the river. We had a tranquil time at the same peninsula I had enjoyed by myself. I was in aw by their sense of adventure that felt similar to my own. We jumped rocks, drank wine, exchanged thoughts and ideas and napped in the shade of the pines.
Our time together came to an end watching the Perseid meteor shower, lying on a big boulder, overlooking the beautiful Homem river valley. We had joined our fellow travellers from the Netherlands and Portugal on that boulder, who entlightened us with interesting details about the night sky and space.