Zeeland

Sometimes I do enjoy the beauty of nature in a silent way, living the moment of deceleration during hiking, cycling or just sitting in the sand feeling the warm shafts of sunlight on my skin. Rediscovering another face of our fast rotating world, stopping time for an instant before I proceed my way back to civilasation.

Even end of winter you can find your small paradise and getaway. It is nice to have time for yourself but it is more fun to meet friends. And yes... some people realized that day activities can be real fun when you avoid excessive drinking the night before...

Ruhr valley during winter

Why do I like the Ruhr valley? Because there is always something going on... During wintertime we make use of the lack of light to transform the darkness into a joyful artistic play of colours. 

And yes, even during winter you can go hiking in Winterberg instead of skiing. These hills are too flat for skiing but quite demanding for beginners in hiking.

Alaaf & Helau - Carnival in Maastricht!

If you love carnival but you live in the countryside, you have to find the right people to celebrate this special event with honorableness, colorful costumes, a relaxed happy and funny mood, a little bit of alcohol and for our Dutch friends some wheat and the world changes completely during these days of freakiness.

Special thanks to Frank who decorated his apartment affectionately, with passion and turned it into the castle of carnival for this weekend. The party began civilized and mannered having a nice dinner. After a while more and more guests showed up, the beer and other stuff flowed like water, the music got louder, the room hotter, the photos nutty as a fruitcake and needed to be censored... that's what you call an awesome successful party!

On the other hand the mornings were hard, even though Frank provided us with the good morning coffee while the radio played brass orchestra carnivals songs aloud. 10 people stuffed in the living room on all place available. I was lucky to get a place on an air mattress in a room with only four people. I think it's better not going into detail.

Conclusion: great awesome party with good memories and lots of extraordinary fun with friends from all over the world: carnival reveled/zany - Frank from NL, Gismo/Bambi/robot - Marie from UK, Napoleon/knight - Mark from NL, crusader/clown - Daniel from Mexico, scary geisha/clown/Santa Claus - Milan from Serbia, monk with the holy bible - Marcel from NL, Bavarian/nun/Russian/geisha - Heike from Oer-Erkenschwick. 

By the way, the best and cheapest costume was THE ROBOT! 

Fun for old and young!

Back to Mexico

A nice road trip with camping and a special Christmas dish – fresh fish (from the tin) with nachos... prohibited campfires and some gallery openings from and with friends...
thank you!

Bonjour Paris!

What a beautiful sunny weekend to explore historical and cultural highlights of the city of love and light – Paris. Perfect for sightseeing, taking a close look at the street art, strolling through the flea market, having a picnic in the park with fresh croissants, baguette, cheese and red wine before joining the party. Until Sunday afternoon that weekend was a story of success.

To be punctual at the meeting point to get my lift back home I started my trip quite early. But due to the Tour de France all entries of the subway were closed. Great!  Accordingly the streets were closed for the race and no public transport. After a while running through the cheering crowd a French friend and I could find an entry to the subway making our way to the meeting point. Time was running faster than usual and I was getting nervous as I had to be in the office the next morning. After the arrival I was running up the stairs looking for the black German car that was supposed to bring me home safely. It was not here not there. ‘Maybe in the other street?’A time of waiting began. With each minute that passed I got more and more worried. What if… they don’t come… they want to stay longer… they went without me… can’t be.  I was just 15 minutes late. My cell phone malfunctioned – not for the first time…
Finally I could find their phone number calling them to ask where they are. The answer dumbfounded me as they were already on the way back home. They really left without me! It’s unbelievable. Ok. No Panic! But fuck, I have to be in the office tomorrow morning!
After some minutes of an emotional release I started to look for other options. The last offered lift for this day was full, the train was already gone 5 minutes ago. A bus ticket cannot be booked for the same day. Getting a rental car is kind of expensive. Ok. The last chance was trying to buy a ticket for the night bus at the bus station that was exactly cross-town of Paris.
The waiting hall was full of tourists queuing up for their tickets. We asked at the information desk for available tickets. “I am sorry. There is just one ticket left.” And that was mine.
After the purchase I was released and happy for two reasons: firstly I will arrive on time next morning and secondly I can enjoy the whole beautiful evening in Paris. Therefore I invited my Parisian friend to an Italian restaurant. 

The bus was leaving at 11 p.m.  and arriving at sunrise in Essen where  I caught the train to the railway station I left my motorcycle at to drive to the company. At 7 a.m. I started to work. My work mates were kind of confused to see me that early on a Monday in front of the monitor. 

“Ach. I couldn’t sleep.”

Welcome to Friesland

Let’s visit our neighbors! In Leeuwarden, the capital city of the Dutch province of Friesland which is located in the northern part of the country, we celebrated the beginning of the weekend by dining in a snugly restaurant. 

At 3 a.m. – so in the middle of the night – we woke up in order to get to the coast of the Wadden Sea for mudflat hiking. With the aid of a time table mudflat hikers use a period of low water to walk and wade on the watershed of the mudflats. It was completely dark when we started and with each slippery step in the mud of low tide we got dirtier. After a while we could watch the sunrise over the ebbed sea. People got stuck, fell down, or got completely wet while crossing some small river like currents. It was huge fun.
After a couple of hours (maybe 4) we reached Ameland, one of the West Frisian Islands that consists mostly of sand dunes. There we hiked to the other side of the island and got picked up by a tractor which brought us to the next village where we enjoyed our sweet breakfast before we started our bicycle tour. With the ferry we went back to the mainland. The rest of the weekend got filled by having a nice dinner, listening to international musicians we've invited, kayaking as well as having a picnic with barbecue at a river.
What a weekend!

it`s time for camping...

Belgium: Rendeux, Durbuy, Dinant

Welcome to the next camping destination: Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium. As usual I started the trip right after work looking forward to meet old and new friends from the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Somehow a couple of apparent destinations that are easy to reach, turn out as a real adventure.
I was so happy that my parents have lent me their navigation agent in order to arrive punctual and relaxed at my destination.
Getting to Aachen, the westernmost city of Germany which is located in the border triangle to the Netherlands and Belgium, was no problem. Right before the border I wanted to make use of the navigation and realized that the cartography hasn’t been updated, additionally to that all Benelux maps were missing. Great! So I checked google.maps that marked the way on the map extract, turned off the connection and started the GPS. My smartphone lost the connection when I really needed it and was cruising around until it got dark. With my rusty French I was asking for the direction as soon as I could see someone outside. After narrow winding and unlighted roads up and down some hills I finally reached my destination.
After that late success the next surprise was already waiting, as no one was there - except me. My phone released the connection, the spot was completely dark and quiet. So I decided to search the others early in the morning. Due to my frustration I decided to not pitch up my tent but to sleep in the back of the car.
After sunrise I was pacing up and down the trails close to the river – without effect. With the remaining battery I could find my friends phone number in one of my mails and called him before the battery was completely dead.  He told me that I mixed up the address and got to the place we met last year. Instead of Rendeux we meet in Wéris close to Durbuy. And the odyssey continued…
… in the end, after another quest in the morning (due to a wrong spelling) I was sent back and forth by the locals and reached our camping spot on time. After quick welcome hugs we went kayaking in Dinant followed by a cozy campfire…

Netherlands: Texel 

Texel is the biggest island in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland and has an excellent reputation as a popular holiday destination. Instead of reporting about this place I prefer to describe some emotions that remind me of this island.

Sometimes there is this yearning for being free and  experiencing the pleasurable feeling of being alive, while sensing the grass between my toes and the sand under my feet, breathing the salty air and getting touched by a fresh breeze that is playing with my hair. To feel the warming rays of light on my face while closing my eyes and taking a deep breath - taking a break, is a way of complete satisfaction and happiness.  

Germany: Traben-Trarbach

Dear camping lovers! A perfect summer has started and invites you for camping at Mont Royal which is close to the historical village Traben-Trarbach at the river Mosel that is surrounded by smooth hills. During that weekend friends from all over the world enjoyed a city tour to Trier, hiking in the forest and the nearby vineyards, playing stupid games, having dinner at the campfire and of course vine tasting (the actual reason for coming here). Guys, that weekend was awesome! See you again next year!