After the long nights in München, I was rather exhausted when I arrived back in Berlin at our friend Andrea’s place. She made us some Spätzle (homemade German pasta) with red wine and I was soon ready for bed.
The next morning after she left for work I got myself ready for the next section of the walk from Berlin to Neustadt. The spare parts for the cart had arrived the day after I had left Berlin for Leipzig. I mounted the new tyres and started to pump them up when BANG, one of the tubes burst! Luckily I still had the old tubes so the delay was not too long.
But with all the packing and sorting and some e-mails, etc, it was midday before I started to walk. The route took me out of Berlin on the track where the Berlin wall used to be, so within minutes I was walking through forests or planted cherry tree alleys or other greenery where people where basking in the sun or taking their dogs for a walk. It is still amazing how much greenery there is in German cities.
My first night back in my hammock in the woods was rainy. But I was prepared with my plastic sheet and makeshift tent and the only part of me that got wet was my nose sticking out into the fresh air.
Just before it got dark I heard a rustling in the trees about 20m away. I was being visited by two wild boars! They sure are impressive animals. But very skittish. I made a little move to get a better look. The sound frightened them and they where off like bullets.
It stayed rainy for the next few days. On the one hand this made nature even more beautiful and fresh, on the other hand it was not always pleasant to walk with a raincoat and pants. They might keep out the rain but they also keep in the sweat so I was wet whichever way.
The second night I found a little picnic hut that I turned into my hotel room. The third night I was longing for a shower but could not find a room in town as they where all booked out for some festivities. I made myself at home behind some bushes only to realise when I was done that the festivities where a mere 200m away. I was so tired that I fell asleep even though some band was trying their best to make good music – they did not succeed. When I woke up they where done and the DJ that played till midnight at least was good.
The next day started lazy but I eventually got myself going as I had to do another 30km stretch. Through beautiful fields, past cows, sheep, storks and deer, through rain and past wind turbines, on roads and paths and stretches that used to be trails I eventually reached Neustadt. Here I did book myself into a room and enjoyed a looong shower.
The following morning I took a train to Nürnberg for my next training seminar. The theme is relaxation techniques. After these days walking in the rain, I hope I don’t fall asleep in class with the first relaxation exercise 🙂
