sunday, 20th of july - 34 km

a day off

bernd woke me up with the sound of fresh coffee brewing. crusty rolls and strawberry jam completed the breakfast. we had an almost philosophical hour until he had to go to work (driving the town bus) and me riding the bike again.

30 km to chemnitz, where i knew berthold wolf (father of teresa wolf, a good friend from choir) would await me, didn't seem that much to me. so i took the small roads, asking for the way, instead of taking the faster and straighter route. and time to think.

for instance of all the people i met, i didn't talk about yet. most of them very touching.

in passau (quite a while ago) i met a man from london, who had gone just the way i wanted to go, just in the opposite direction. no money as well, but not by choice. he was searching for a place to stay as well and said that it was much easier to find something in the northern germany. he was sad and unhappy, the police had jailed him for beeing homeless the other day. he than spoke to a young man we met, who hopefully provided something for him. it was hard for me to talk to him, suddenly being confronted with my project, but in a real situation. still don't know what to think.

yesterday i had the feeling i should take a rest in the park in zwickau. a rather dark skinned man sat there on a bench by a little lake, where sailing boats are available to rent, all very nice to look at. we sat there and watched. then a young woman on a bike passed by, saying hello to the man. suddenly she turned and tried to invite the guy to a nearby place at the shore where they could meet other people. but the man just understood english - so i translated. then i asked them if they knew a good bikeroute to chemnitz - and told my story. the man, a refugee from libya, gave me all his spare change! the girl, katje (if i remember well, the sächsisch isn't easy to understand), drove me to the place where my cycle path started, and told me her story of starting a new life at the moment.

on the way that katje had shown me, i met a couple that did a 20 km ride, exactly what i still wanted to do. together we went fast and i arrived at plauchau around 7 pm. not a good time to find a place to stay, as i already knew.

i went to the town centre of plauchau, which was a pedestrian area, almost no people there, even though it was saturday night!

only one restaurant was open, a turkish pub with döner. they had tables in the pedestrian area and there was one customer. i asked the owner (his name is ferit), if he had something to eat for me. without a second of doubt he donated a gigantic döner and two bottels of cola and water and all. he thought that was the appropriate thing to do.

i sat down at the table which was taken by jürgen, who looked a bit sad. he said he had been called a nazi in prague the other day and didn't know why. then he told me the entire sad story of his life in the ddr, being a political prisoner, having been a boxer, and later very ill. now he was starting a new life, he had been here for two months - and already had good friends such as ferit.

after listening to my story he promised to find a place for me. he rang up a friend - the busdriver of the town - who should know where to find accomdation.

after a quater of an hour the busdriver, called bernd, showed up. a few moments of conversation, a few minutes of thinking it over, then he said, well, the only place i know would be my own den. and that was that.

what incredibly nice people and what lucky coincidents!

thats why after almost 35 km, all of a sudden, hardly past noon, i was here at berthold's (and adelheid's, who is not home today) place. and very welcomed. i had a shower, berthold cooked for us. laundry will be done and i have to look after the bike - a real day off!

thank you all!