Tag Archives: friends

Day 25 – To the Donkey!

Good for us, Leonie is a champion of planning ahead. She had a few great options for us to avoid the “we should really not sit on our bums all day” trap ready last night, but we intentionally left the last choice between a fun park and a petting zoo-type place open until breakfast, so that Number 3 could give some input. Interestingly, he went for the “farm animals” option over the playground.

After a very nice and leisurely breakfast we still had time left to sort the kids out and let them go through some of their morning routines. Of course as always, I ratcheted the stress level up a notch. Instead of going in the two cars of our dear hosts, I thought it a great idea to finally show off puru hiko to someone else. That meant breaking the tent down – something that did not sit entirely well with Nina for a little while …

We got over it, though – and I got to both show off how quick the tent can come down as well as the fun to be had with an EV. Peter and our kids were with me, while Nina went with Leonie and their two rascals. Off to the Kinderparadijs Malkenschoten.

A bit of sunscreen and we were starting with some sheep and then straight for the petting zoo full of goats. Number 3 has a love-hate relation with them, this time apprehension won out for the most part. It has been over a year, to be fair to him.

So we made our way, leisurely, from enclosure to enclosure gazing at sheep, ponies and the odd chicken. All the while, we took the time to stop in between to give the kids time to explore the playgrounds and equipment along the way.

Unfortunately, around lunch time, we had to adapt a bit more. One of us felt quite unwell, and we hustled to get food into all the kids and get them moving towards the exit. The magic phrase was “go look at the donkeys” – since we knew they were near the entrance of the site. There was a bit of severe discomfort, to which I could thoroughly relate after having joined the 10% of people with this particular chronic ailment about two years ago.

Given the need for rest and the excitement for our little team of adventurers this morning, we all retired to an extended nap-time into the early afternoon. I took the tent setup as another challenge and had it up and ready for bedding before our hosts had their front door unlocked 😀

The rest of the day was pretty much perfect for what we expected out of a visit like that – the kids were mostly good, playing well together. Everyone felt much better after naptime and there was plenty of time to catch up and feel comfortable around each other. Even though we all communicated in our second or third language, there is a closeness we feel to Peter and Leonie, based on shared similar experiences, that is quite unique. It turned out it only incresed in the last few years, with all of us going through the experience of having two kids still sort of in the aftermath of our “big trips”.

The day closed out with lovely cold (non-alcoholic) beers and way too much Indonesian food. We were delighted and might have gotten carried away with the order, but it is really hard to come by Indonesian food in Germany (even though this batch was Chinese-cooked). We have fallen in love with the Indonesian cuisine on our “Home to Home” trip and tucked in until there was not room for a single extra bite.

We sat outside, enjoying the mild summer evening until the last light had set behind our tent. Thank you Peter, Leonie – what an excellent way to end another (little) adventure.

Day 4 – Old friends in new places

Our original plan was to leave for Italy today but when yesterday turned out to be…substandard, we decided to stay the whole day at Christine’s place to relax and catch up with one of our oldest friends. Luckily, Christine, Torsten and their little one were able to host us longer than they had expected. J

The day started off with Flo making pancakes for everyone (such a treat!) and they were devoured in record time. To be fair, we haven’t had enough sleep as the catching up part started yesterday evening which stretched into the night and then our two rascals were awake from 5.50am onwards when the Agent of Entropy crashed into the wooden train set with gusto and woke us up with a start. The best thing to do to remedy some of the effects of a night with not enough hours of shut-eye was to immediately plan our second breakfast. At 8pm, Flo, Christine and the Agent of Entropy left for the bakery to buy more baked goods for our indulging shenanigans.

Second breakfast started around 9.20am and after so much yummy food we all agreed to go on a walk before taking advantage of the more relaxed Swiss Corona rules and eat out for lunch. As it is with kids though, it took forever to get three of them ready to leave so by the time we were outside we had about 40 minutes left before the aforementioned kids would demand lunch. -.-

Our walk was postponed until after even more food and we headed straight to the restaurant in the next village up. Neither Christine nor Torsten had been there before so it was nice to explore something new with our hosts. This part (or maybe many parts) of Switzerland are very rural so we passed sheep and chickens and a picturesque fountain on the way. All three kids absolutely loved it.

The restauarant…what can I say?…it’s been almost a year since we went out for food. It was a celebration in itself to be able to do this again. Also, the food was delicious, the place kid-friendly (Number 3 had a Pizza Batman and a scoopf of mango ice cream) and our outside seating had just the right combination of sunshine and shade.

On the way back, we then had to hurry to be home in time to get the kids to bed for their midday nap. Well, two out of three kids had to nap. We still took the scenic route home with time for cows, a tractor and all things Swiss. It was a bit of a task to get the kids to calm down enough to sleep but once the Agent of Entropy slept there even was time to play a boardgame with Number 3.

In the late afternoon we went to the playground where much fun was had.

Back home we opted for more food followed vy a much earlier bedtime. J Tomorrow, we’ll head off to Italy…with a detour (back to Germany o.ô) to refresh our rapid Covid tests first.

Day 56 – Slow paced

Today, the weather seemed to be okay. No more tent attacks were anticipated.

We got up and somehow, breakfast just went on and on while we decided if we have enough energy to move. Or just to make plans for today, really. It was very nice just to sit and watch the kids.

Around 11 am, we’d decided to go on a short walk through the nature park today. However, with lunch and kids’ naps coming up, we pushed it to the afternoon.

Both kids were fascinated by the horses next to our campsite

Flo made another round of his silky scrambled eggs for lunch and then, it was bedtime for a few of us. Number 3’s nap was rather short with 45min but Mini van Bartang slept well over an hour and a half.

Afterwards, it took two cars to transport four adults and two toddlers to the sand dunes in the natural park near Harskamp. The landscape was surprisingly similar to the Schwanheimer Dünen back home, probably as they are both relics from the ice age.

There is a restaurant close by where we headed for a drink after the walk. Well, a “drink” turned into a piece of cake for me. XD We spent a good hour there just chatting while the kids explored or munched on some raisins. And from here, we also went straight to our restaurant for dinner. 🙂

The kids were really quite hungry so we opted for this early dinner. Flo and Peter both chose the three course menu so we enjoyed dinner and I even got a dessert that I didn’t order…ice cream with stroopwaffel.

Back at the tent, when both kids were asleep, we still sat and talked until the sun had gone down. What a great relaxed Sunday full of food and friends. 🙂

It’s a good way to spend some time 🙂
Both kids were fascinated by the horses next to our campsite
Horse with foal
Seats with a view
…keeps the hunger away
Waiting to be picked up for a walk
Thirsty Number 3
“What could this be? Looks like a small one could ride it!”
My drink after the walk turned into something more solid…
Going for the prawn cocktail
And then, Number 3 found a steed
Once the kids were in bed, we talked until the sun was down

Day 39 – Watching the green grapes grow

To think that one minute earlier or later, we would have driven off again for another campsite. What were we thinking? A proper, do (almost) nothing rest day was the least we could do to appreciate the spectacular site.

This time we were armed with at least a little foresight and had restocked our pantry with fresh goods. Therefore lunch was an old summertime favourite: Potatoes with Tzatziki. I made it from memory, but I must have nailed it the way the rest of my family devoured it 😉

With that much time, there were, of course, some chores, but only the washing was much bother. We even had convenient washing lines already set up in the form of the supports for the vines all around us. We also got back up to date with the blog.

The day just flowed – with perfect temperatures and our prime spot on our terrace shaded by the huge awning for our Skycamp. If there were highlights, it would be the set of lovely encounters we had in the afternoon. We went up for drinks (and to sample the vino verde from this very vineyard) and as is sort of custom on these Dutch run sites had a good chat with first the owner and later with other guests. Number 3 got a good amount of dog training in with Moos and Monte, the two excellently trained dogs of the house. We learned a bit about the “green wine”, which is made from unripe or green grapes and reminded me a lot of Weißweinschorle. A dry white with a bit of sparkle. Just that here the carbon dioxide came not from sparkling water added but from natural fermentation – a bit like flat bubbly.

We also got to talk a bit to Tom – probably one of the top 5 nicest Australian I have met so far (dear Tom, be in a good mood when you read some of our Australia blogs). Since I still had a good half bottle of vino verde to finish, I invited him and his German partner back to our tent after Number 3 was put to bed. They came down, his partner Celine joining Tom. We had a good long chat, only slightly marred by Number 3 waking up around 10 pm and insisting on hanging out with us until we came to bed. He was pretty good when he was out, so we gave it a try. If he is anything like me, there will come the day when it will be pointless trying to put him to bed when company is around anyway.

Late and tired, but with some satisfaction we went to bed that night, wishing both Celine and Tom farewell (we were all leaving the next morning). Encounters like this, meeting what feels like good people (including the lovely owners) is right at the heart of why I travel. This is how we met so many of those we now call friends. First and foremost Peter and Leonie. We are really looking forward to those two in two weeks’ time as well.

Great light early in the morning
reason enough to open the window …
… and enjoy the view from bed
mist lay in the vally below us
I mentioned we did not a lot … oh, and Number 3 has a chair now
Flowers and Ants were the objects of todays study
.. oh, and dogs
not just the camps dogs …
… also the neighbours when they came over …
… to help out work the vinyard (and get distracted)
number 3 trying his skills

Day 309 – The Day of the Food Hipsters

The camp ground was lovely. The weather was lovely. And Flo had been pointed towards a job that he just needed to apply for. So we quickly decided to stay put another day so Flo could put his application together. Which in turn meant, I’ll have the whole day to myself…with my book. 🙂

Hipster food shot

After the food disasters yesterday, we carefully made sure to have appropriate food hipster food today. At 2pm, slightly late for lunch, we went into a vegetarian café close to the camp ground. It was brand new, in fact yesterday they had still painted some of the outdoor furniture, but it looked cosy and just like our thing. Which it was. 🙂 I had the bread platter while Flo took the falafel plate and we shared equally. It was fantastic food. It made us wonder a little bit on how much amazing food we were missing out because we cook ourselves when we camp.

Going back, more laying in the sun followed for me. In the evening, when Flo had finished his documents, we went out for a real dinner. The Lonely Planet recommends Saraphane which is the Turkish word for “wine house”. This seemed like the right place to celebrate that Flo started

Frist wine since Sohar – offically since Kuala Lumpur

on the application process already. Again, it was amazing. The super friendly cook took me into the kitchen because the menu didn’t feature a vegetarian main and gave me option what she could make for me. She spoke more German than English so with a mix of languages I ordered a cold yoghurt soup as a starter which is refreshing and a great summer dish and got a custom-made pasta plate as a main. The pasta is home-made, too, and with cheese, walnuts and rocket…it was delicious.

But the main attraction is definitely the wine menu. Choosing chicken as a main which will go with red wine, Flo was superbly advised while picking the wine to go with it. A local Turkish red wine. Can’t get much better. It reminded us of so many evenings in Wellington but also in Frankfurt when you have good food and are able to share with friends. Slightly home-sick, we contacted at least one of the ones we thought of.

To round things off, we went for coffee and tea afterwards. Also, superbly done and yummy. Paying, we realized that those drinks were not on the bill and when I asked about it the lovely lady said it was on the house. Happy, we walked back to our tent.

: A vegetarian restaurant – very hipster, very tasty

: all fancy and new in this place

: Hipster food shot

: Lekker schnittchen

: This guy crawled past 1m behind our tent

: wohoo … the sea!

: Frist wine since Sohar – offically since Kuala Lumpur

: That gives me memories of Greece from 20 years ago

Day 296 – The bear necessities

It was cold. Even with a real roof over our heads, the night was cold. Given that the temperature in Kars was shown as 9 degrees last evening, it might well have been below zero in the night. Without heating, that’s cold even in a house.

much better weather this morning

So we took our time in the morning, hoping for things to warm up a little before we left. Our hotel didn’t include breakfast so we ate bread with all sorts of remaining things (cream cheese, honey) in our room. The plan was to ride to Ani, the former Armenian capital, about 45km from Kars before heading further north and towards the Black Sea.

Kars, however, had charm when we stepped outside in the sunny morning. What looked grey and dreary in the rain and cold last night, now looked friendly and busy. Flo decided to fix our problem with mobile data right here and then so we searched for a Turkcel shop. Driving up and down one of the main roads, many honey and cheese (real cheese!) shops caught our eye. We just finished our pot of honey this morning and when was the last time we had real cheese? Not cream cheese, not feta, but the real thing? I sent Flo in one of the bigger shops where he purchased a 500g jar of honey and two different cheeses for all of NZ$10. He jumped out once to give me some cheese to try which was very nice and then suddenly, the owner looked out of the door, beckoned to me and said “çay!”. Again, we were invited to a glass of tea after a successful transaction. Slightly odd for the taste, we got more slices of cheese to try with our tea. Buying a fresh loaf of bread at the store on the opposite side, we were all set for a great lunch at Ani today. Continue reading →

Day 189 – Privilege

It is hard for me to fathom, and is actually getting harder as we get on with our trip, how immensely privileged we are. The insane randomness to be born white and male, as a German in the most peaceful and prosperous age Europe has know in its existence. To have had all the opportunities that I have and all the doors that are open to us.

How? Well, let’s start with the obvious. Yesterday, we basically ran out of money. What we have in cash on us is pretty much all we have, and it may last us a month. For the majority of people we interact with daily, heck, for the majority of people, that is an existential everyday issue. But not for us – we are privileged. We have a network of friends and family that will support us, lend us money. Understand that there is no existential issue here – we do not need money to survive or get out of a dire straight. We are able to peruse happiness as we see fit, due to the incredible friends and families we are lucky to have.

More important, we grew up not knowing the realities of real large scale violence and war, yet we got to grow up not fully ignorant to such things. As it is a remarkable thing Germans do. I have stood in the field of graves at Verdun and have been terrified by the silence that lies over Buchenwald as part of my publicly funded education. Glimpses of horror and chances given to us to become weary without ever really being threatened to suffer any such things ourselves.

High school turned torture prison turned museum…it looks so innocent from the courtyard

Today we went to visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum located in what has become known as the S-21 prison of the Khmer Rouge. Once again, we got a glimps of horror into a world that we will never have to truly understand. But we have to try. Because the perpetrators, in all these cases, from the Mongol rider to the KZ prison guard, are not some other beings. These were all humans, just like us. It is in us to commit unthinkable acts of violence. A shift in morals or ideology can happen any time, any where. All individual steps to insanity are … understandable in some way.

Rules for “interrogation”

The horror lies in the ordinarity with which atrocities are committed. For me and in this place, it is the obsession with the confession. Most vile acts were committed by the Khmer Rouge and millions of people died. The machine soon ate its own children as well. Yet this insane system could not just be OK with killing the prisoners or “enemies”. Everyone had to confess first. People were tortured for weeks, to get the confession. Confessions were obviously bullshit, full of lies. Heck, most of the time people would not even have anything to confess to begin with and just not know what their tormentors wanted from them. Everybody would be killed in the end anyway, but so much pain was induced to just “follow the rules” and oblige to the internal logic of this devilish farce.

I am privileged without end to be able to learn in these places without ever having to suffer anything remotely close to the horrors that happened here. I feel deeply for the Cambodians and am utterly impressed with how positive and lovely everyone is that we encounter.

Random tourists in a roadside eatery =P

Right there and then though, we got reminded once more how we are privileged in a whole different way again. We were somberly making our way through the former high school turned torture camp turned museum listening to the very well done audio guide. Then, I see someone wholly unexpected. Right here, of all places, we ran into Celia and Tig, or hosts from Darwin again. It was the strangest of moments that can only really come from a trip like this. To see someone else we know and care for, admit the horrors that surround us was elevating and humbling at the same time.

We chatted a bit awkwardly over the first surprise of reunion and then agreed to meet after we were through with the audio tour to hang out a bit more. So we did, and it became a lovely evening of reminiscing, catching up on travel plans and some engine talk. If both our plans go as we think, this will be the last time we see the two of them before Germany (the invitation to stay with us is already issued). Never say never, though …

So yeah, we are privileged. No point being ashamed of it, same as there is none to be ashamed of being born into less privilege. We try to make the best of it, seize the opportunities that we got and stay as humble about it as we can.

: High school turned torture prison turned museum…it looks so innocent from the courtyard

: Though the barbed wire still remains

: Rules for “interrogation”

: The memorial for the victims. S-21 was just one torture prison of about 200 after all

: Random tourists in a roadside eatery =P

Day 21 – Chores and tears

We spent the day at our friends’ place to get as many things on our new (Nina updated it while I was not looking with more boxes to tick) list of things to do.

I guess the most important thing was to get the shipping of the bike sorted out and payed. After a little exchange to ensure that we do not have to pay a particular service twice, the final number still came out way over the original quote. The two reasons here were: MCL did a great job at packing my bike secure, but with little concern for packing it down. Compared to the crate I have build myself for airlifting the bike to NZ, this one is 33% larger with less gear in it.

The other reason is that the exchange rates of the NZD vs. USD and AUD have plummeted – something that will hurt our funds continuously from here on out. All in all, this lead to an invoice about 15% over the original quote. Not Mondiale’s fault, but painful nonetheless. I’ll post final numbers for shipping once the bike is customs and bio security cleared.

Theme song for a lot of NZ for me

And the tears: Well, this was the last step, we were leaving our new home NZ for real for a while now, leaving behind new and good friends, colleagues and amazing places (side note, saying goodbye and then going to bed is weird). It was a calm and warm goodbye this one though. I cooked for the three of us in the house, something that for me tied the last three years together quite poetically. Me cooking for friends (and getting a lot better at it) is definitively something that will forever be linked to our time in NZ.

P.S.: And just for Brendan – a new Favicon!

Chaos roaming the world

random pieces of life of Nina and Florian