First I went with Frida to her parents place on the countryside. We were there for over two weeks and also visited a friend at Gotland, a small island in front of the Swedish coast. Relaxing, reflecting, finally seeing this beautiful Swedish lake with a sunset.. And looking forward; where do we want to be together, and how, and what do we want to do? On Gotland I finally saw some real sea again! The Swedish coasts are nothing compared to the Netherlands, just rocky. Interesting to look at but not that much enjoyable as the Dutch ones. But at Gotland I got to experience it more. Gotland was strange, Sweden in small it is called. Flat in the south, cold in the north. And a lot of rocks :)

Then my brother Tijl came by and we went backpacking into the forests. As we both never did such a thing before we started carefully, but already within 24 hours we came back and repacked our backpacks :) Then it went better, but I now know I’m more a cyclist.. Canoing on the Swedish lakes with Tijl was fantastic. We went for a full day and slept on one of the islands. We also went to Stockholm, which was a bit strange.. and a lot of fun.

When Tijl went back to the Netherlands, the last week for me and Frida physically together started.. That was a lot harder one. With al the plans in our heads, it still wasn’t easy to cope with. I tried with a party on the last day, which helped a lot in making it a happy after-halfyear-party. Nonetheless, saying goodbye was almost horrible.

Then I traveled to Berlin. A nice trip on a train and ferry where I met a Japanese guy with which I later spent a day in Berlin with. Berlin was really nice. A good atmosphere, lots of bio shops and not such a busy center as for example Amsterdam.

After two days of Berlin I went on to France. There was a nice park in Lyon where I ate my lunch. And then the wonderful week in Rancy, France. I was there with a group from Mens en Spirit (Human and spirit) at La Ripe Blance. Also a lot of ‘down to earth’ stuff, which is really necessary for a spiritual heavy week :) I could reflect a lot on the last half year and life in general. I started a new company which I wanted to do already for some time, Frida helped me knowing that, and the France week helped me starting it. When I left there I knew I would just start. More on that later via the website and maybe the blog as well.

And then at last, the travel back to the Netherlands. Seeing the Eiffel tower in the distance as the train came past Paris and via a beautiful station of Antwerp. Having traveled a lot, I could finally write destination Alkmaar in my interrail log..

He wanted to see the museum für film und fernseher (movie and television). The exhibition was not that interesting to me, but the building was pretty interesting, and there were some other nice things.

Then we went to the museum of communication. It had some nice things, good interaction as well, but it was too bad that most descriptions and explanations were only in German. And a nice thought on diaries and blogs. Are the diaries of today (the weblogs) still as private as they were? And, is there a difference between how the writers and readers see that privacy?

In the evening we went to a vegetarian Japanese restaurant. I found one before, and, it seemed to be a very good choice. Masa said it was so good that they could easily open a shop in Japan as well :) And he was really happy reading some Japanese again (on the menu) after three weeks of Europe trip. The restaurant was called Susuru, which means slurping. It was advised to do that as, according to the menu, it made for a better taste. And, it was good anyway to be able to eat the udon, a special kind of noodles. And, really tasty it was! You should go there when you’re in Berlin!

I’ve been thinking about Frida all day.. Only three days ago now.

Next stop, Tournus. The train leaves in an hour. For a week with Mens en Spirit (human and spirit).

There can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator (Thea von Harbou)

And then I saw this, here in Berlin. Wikitravel calls this neighborhood one with students, artists and left-wing people. The streets are big, large apartments, people on the streets everywhere. In the shopping street there are all these small shops. Goods from all over the world, people from all cultures. Semi-old style buildings, open windows, music and talking coming through them. Whole gardens on the balconies. People smiling, even if they don’t know you. A very alive atmosphere.

Not houses with plants growing on the walls, but whole cars and bikes covered with plants! A student house, Chateau Manteuffel, named after the street, where the students had set up their own dream organization as well. Living, working, partying, together, in the same place.

The park and playground in the middle had a complete biological market. At first I thought “that is a waste of energy, two bio grocery stands opposite each other”. But then everything was bio. Three groceries, two cheese stands, a bakery, five clothing stands, a shoe stand, two with household stuff and an ice cream stand! Oh, ad one with flowers and one with juice and wine. I’ve probably forgot some more :)

At the playgrounds the mothers and some fathers were talking and watching their children. The women, about half of them, without bras. No limitations for the body anymore? When the children couldn’t make up who’s turn it was now, one of the mothers took care of it. In a perfect and calm way. As if every child was her child. No need for a “how to raise your child” reality tv show here, no “I only care about my own child” mentality.

In the evening I ate at the vegetarian restaurant next to the park. Really good food, nice juice (rhubarb!) and not expensive. In the whole neighborhood I found five bio shops, a vegetarian café and this vegetarian restaurant. And I’ve only spent half a day there. The closest bio shops in Eskilstuna were an hour and a half away by train.

I knew it can be like this. In Alkmaar we also had three bio shops. I’ve seen such streets and atmosphere in The Hague before. In Eskilstuna there were also always people talking and children playing in front of the apartment.

But somewhere, I forgot this longing. To have all this, all around you. I forgot, while knowing it unconsciously, that I wish to live in such a place.

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Update: I’ve uploaded some photos

I really have to get used to the new place, changing my habits. I already can’t count the times I’ve said “tack” (thanks in Swedish) and “hej”.. Here “guten Morgen” is more used by “the local people” :)

Apparently, the Germans don’t really trust the Swedes. The EuroNight from Malmö to Berlin goes, unexpected by me, on a ferry, and skips all Denmark’s islands. At the harbor, half an hour under Malmö, we stopped. Since our departure from Malmö our tickets were checked by a conductor from SJ (the Swedish railway company). During the stop, two conductors walked by the train, spoke a bit about which wagons they already checked and then the second conductor came in and started checking tickets.. Then I noticed his name tag, Deutsche Bahn.

Further everything went nice. I met a nice guy from Japan, doing a roundtrip through Europe. It was a good way to talk about (and verify) the things I learned about Japanese culture in the last half year. It is strange to hear that it is really true that they have about 5 vacation days a year. Officially more in the better companies, but nobody dares to take them because they get looked upon by their co-workers. Co-workers, or indeed their group members. Because he said it was true that they were more group oriented than individualistic. But how this was in reality was hard to tell.. I guess you have to experience that for yourself. And he said that these restaurants “you have here” is something unseen in Japan. In Japan, restaurants are standing restaurants. You eat diner in 5 minutes. I told that it may be because when we go out for food (which is more expensive) we want to make sure that it was worth the money, so we stay longer and enjoy the good time there. But in Japan eating out was not that much more expensive he said. Still, even at home, I take some 20 to 30 minutes for a casual day diner. He is going to stay in Berlin for some days as well, so we decided to meet tomorrow morning at the Hauptbahnhof, so go in the city together.

I can now go back to the central station to pick up my reservation for the CityNightLine towards Basel (on my way to France). I picked up the original reservation this morning already, but then the date was wrong. Luckily they could provide me with a new reservation right away.

So, off from the computer, into the city, now that I have my new ticket :)

Why is Berlin so far from Eskilstuna? I want to be closer to you Frida.