About an intestine without charm, open doors and hearts.

 Jassas! Bravo!


This is how we are greeted joyfully these days in Greece. Since our last sign of life from Croatia, we have experienced an incredible amount. We would like to share our journey with you and invite you to visit us in winter. Below you will find the link to *pictures* from our trip. 


Carsten knew the German book "Intestine with Charme" only from hearsay. But when he found himself in the hospital in Zagreb with an inflamed appendix one day after our last travel update, he was intensively occupied with the miracle of the intestine. Should I really have a surgery here? When Carsten asked for the surgeon and a young man in a FC Basel T-shirt appeared, he took this as a sign from above. Everything went well and the nurses took loving care of him. After two days he was already allowed to leave. 


Thanks to Carsten's disappeared appendix, we took a three-week break in the Croatian mountains. Anna and Katharina learned to ride the horses Jolly and Zwetgo during this time. In the autumnal forests near the Bosnian border, we let our souls dangle. The break did us all good. Since then we have been traveling even more consciously. 


We fell in love with the Croatian islands. On Skolijc we were allowed to share a deserted island with Franciscan monks. Anna happened to meet friends from her school (unbelievable!) and Katharina celebrated her 40th birthday (hurray!). On Brac we camped in the wild and enjoyed the sunrise on the highest mountain of the Adriatic - 780m above sea level after all. On Hvar, Annie lovingly took care of us in her beautiful stone house. We will keep this time deep in our hearts. 


In Albania, Chuck and Susan welcomed us in Skouder. The American couple has been traveling the Balkans on recumbent bikes for many years. In the evening they just knock on doors and ask for a shelter for the night. We wanted to try that out, too. In one village we met three women harvesting corn and asked for a place to stay for the night. A little later Lua, the man of the house, appeared and invited us in. He took us to the village café and told all his friends that we were under his personal protection. In the evening, delicious food was cooked for us. In Italian and with hands and feet we talked and laughed. The next morning he accompanied us with his car for 10 kilometers - so that we would take the right way. All this left us speechless. What a gift!


Door knocking should also bring us luck in Northern Macedonia. Near Bitola, Tony and his partner Natasa opened the door. One dinner and one overnight stay turned into a whole week during which we were allowed to witness their wedding in a beautiful monastery. Anna was even allowed to be the flower girl - a novelty in the Orthodox Church!


We quickly took Greece into our hearts. On the streets, people shouted "Jassa" (Hello!) and Bravo as we drove by. For many it is unimaginable to go so far by bicycle. Every day so far we have been given gifts here. Whether from 12-year-old Dimitrias in Edessa, who bought cucumbers and tomatoes with his pocket money, or from Christo in Sandali or Irina in Kannalia, who spontaneously offered us a room for the night in their house. We can hardly believe this hospitality. It comes from the heart. And that makes us happy. 


Anna is bubbling over with joie de vivre. Again and again she meets children from different backgrounds with whom she plays. She is making great progress in English and learns something new every day - whether it is how to fish for crabs, steer a drone or harvest olives, cotton and oranges. Every encounter enriches her treasure of experiences. We are grateful for all the worlds of life we get to experience with our daughter. 


Our inner journey is also progressing. We value our time together very much. In our morning rounds, the needs of each individual are in the foreground. It does us good to take breaks from driving for several days at a time. This way, each of us can take a bit of freedom. 


Carsten: "Through the intensive experiences I am discovering new sides of me, Katharina and Anna. We are like three onions that are shedding more and more skin. Through this, our relationship grows. That touches me very much."


Katharina: "Constantly new impressions, people and places to sleep lead to my head having to process unknowns around the clock. Staying in one place longer and having a little time to myself now and then are necessary for me to stay in balance. In the past, I have taken care of the needs of those around me first. Often my own have fallen by the wayside. I am learning on this journey to take better care of myself to stay in balance."


Anna: "Cuddling and playing are my favorite things. My highlights were trotting in the forest with my horse Jolly and hoverboard riding with a girl named Matea near Biograd. We even managed to ride a few meters together sitting two by two."


We have been in Crete for 10 days. On the very first day, while looking for a place for our tent, we met Dave and Juliet. They have been living here for 25 years and invited us to their home for a few days. Another exceptional gift. 


If you want to see pictures from our trip, click on the following link to enter our gallery: https://www.flickr.com/gp/112568600@N03/3f5Yi6


In the next weeks we will explore Crete and other islands of the Aegean Sea by bike. During the day it is around 20 degrees and we enjoy the time outside in nature and swimming in the sea. We have even taken a surfing course as a family.


In January and February we will make one of the Greek islands our winter home. You are welcome to visit us. Just write back if you want to come. We will let you know where we are and look forward to seeing you. 


We wish you and your loved ones all the best - especially health - and send sunny greetings from Crete!


Katharina, Anna and Carsten


--

Our trip in numbers


Kilometers cycled: 4,537

Hours in the saddle: 250

Average kilometers per day: 50


Nights in tent: 64

Nights in private homes: 58

Nights in pension: 25


Number of sunny days: 85

Number of cloudy days: 41

Number of rainy days: 21


Number of punctures: 3













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