Friday, March 13, 2009

Small update

Hey everybody,
So later that evening I went to a hotel, because I thought my chances of finding someone to sleep over very small (with a hotel next door). It was pretty good, a bit expensive, and lonely, because I didn't have a family to talk with ;). So the next morning I had breakfast and then set out again. So I folowed the Hermansweg for a long time, and after a while I thought: maybe I should stop now? But then I walked some more to find there was no house nearby. So after cruizing downhill, straight through the forest I found a nice house where I rang. The old lady who opened the door said that I should try in the house behind hers, because they where younger/had more place. So I did and was welcomed by a father and 2 sweet children. They said it was okay, but I had to sleep in a thing in the garden, because they both had to leave that evening. But after a while of introduction, eating dinner and talking, and after the wife came home from work they discussed a bit, and decided that it wouldn't be a problem to stay inside if the grandmother would come over to watch over the children (and me ;)).

Day 9 I had to wake up early, and have a nice breakfast with the family. Then I covered my blister (which had become huge by now) with a regular plaster thingie and set out again. Then I was brought to the beginning of the Hermansweg by car, because that was a boring asphalt piece, and I think that now in total 200 to 400 meters where cheated, and my having been lost now and than compensates for that. I walked to Tecklenburg and farther, to somewhere east of Leeden and rang some doors there. I got either rejected, or there was nobody there for more than an hour, but finally I rang on a door of a farmhouse with a man and his mother. They where really nice people, and we talked about a lot of interesting things like why the Turkish people in Germany can't speak German as well as they used to (=sattelite television) and so on. The local priest and some other people where there when I arrived, so I got blessed. Then we went to bed.

Day 10 After waking up, having a nice shower and eating breakfast with the family I stayed a bit longer because I was early. There where some nice deer in the fields which I tried to photograph, but they where too far away for that. It was really misty and a rainy so I walked 27 or so kilometres. The forest was really quiet and beautiful though. Then I was in a small place north of Dissen, and rang some doors. The people said I should try the Nature Protection House thingie nextdoor, so I did but there was nobody there. Then I tried a house, and the people there said they just had to be there, so the old man went with me and opened the door for me. We walked up to the office, and there where two business men discussing something. The old man told them about me, and demanded that I be helped for free, and said that he guaranteed my good behaviour (even though I just met him a couple of minutes ago!). So the other guys could do nothing but agree, and we worked out some kind of deal where I’d post their logo on my site. I’ll do that later though, because I don’t have a digital image of their logo yet, and this internet café costs me 0,90 for half an hour. (and I’m already here for 43 minutes).
So I had a place to stay, but no people to talk to, so I drew some characters and then went to bed early.
Day 11 I slept a little over 13 hours and then woke up and packed my bags. I went downstairs, but I was early, so I went to a little office where some people where writing applications/cv’s. I then found out that this interesting centre does not only inform school classes and such about the environment, but actually helps students that got kicked out of school, or wouldn’t cope with the regular learning system.
I met a man during lunch who was really interested in what I was going to do, and it was good to have someone to talk to. He mentioned that it would be interesting to distinguish the different kind of birds and such while walking, so after I set out again (after having thanked the centre properly) I couldn’t help but try and figure out what bird mad what sounds. I don’t know the English names for them, but I got pretty far, and I even saw some predator birds (maybe they’re called Buzzards in English? In Dutch they where Buizerds).
So I walked to Bad Iburg and had lunch there in the local bakery. Lots of mothers buying bread where inspired and wished me good luck J. Then I set out again and didn’t really feel like walking.. but I did, and after having walked around 23 km I rang a door because it was already half past 5. (I started later today). There was a mother and a child, and the mother immediately said yes! She said she had travelled in the same kind of way when she was younger, and therefore she wanted to help. It was really good and nice, and I had a good bed and shower again!
Day 12 I woke up and had a nice breakfast with the family. I thankfully received 2 apples, a banana and some cookies for lunch, and then played some football (soccer) with the little kid Julian. Then we went out together, because they had to bring Julian to his “Forest Kindergarden” (which I believe is great), and then I walked to Bielefeld. I met some nice walkers and mountainbikers along the way, and now I am here in an internet café and will have to see if I buy a map of the eastern part of the hermansweg or just follow the signs. So that’s it for now! I love you all and I’m doing great, and I just noticed the sun came through so now I’m doing even better.

Oh and I really don't mind if you reply in Dutch, English, German or anything I can understand :). I doubt anyone else will read these comments anyways :D.

I have loads of pictures again. If anyone could patch the first couple together to make a 360 view from a tower that'd be nice, otherwise I'll have to do that when I get back home. I can't comment on the pics individually because blogger lets me upload 5 at a time, and then they become some sort of bundle. I might do that later though.











































4 comments:

Roosje said...

hoooi il!! blij weer wat van je te horen, want t was alweer een paar dagen geleden.. gelukkig vertelde mama net wel over je smsjes, dus wist ik al dat t nog goed gaat.
t heet idd een buzzard int engels. ben niet zo goed met photoshop nog dus denk niet dat die 360view mij lukt, maar miss kan iemand anders dat wel.
wat veel mooie heuvels al in het landschap! echt heel anders dan in nederland lijkt het. en mooie foto's verder ook, alleen er staan wel vaak dubbelen op, iets beter opletten met uploaden.
heb ook op facebook foto's gezet, van ons (jou mij papa mama mamma's nieuwe haar!!!) maar weet niet of je die kunt zien omdat je geen facebook hebt.

succes met lopen, ik volg je route (zoek de plaatsnamen die je zegt op op google maps)
haha mama komt net binnen en is helemaal blij met een berichtje, en we gaan je route opslaan in google maps zodat we weten wat je doet en waar je bent, erg cool! nou ik ga nu snel weg want mama en papa willen je verhalen lezen, dikke knuf en kus en succes!! stoere broer! xoxoxox jezus

jolanda said...

Lieve stoere lopert,
Wat een mooie verhalen en ook mooie fotoos. Fijn ook al die lieve mensen die voor je zorgen., en ook jij die voor jou zorgt vind ik supertof. Je doet het geweldig!
Hele dikke kus,
Moems.

Anonymous said...

crappy 2 minutes in photoshop:
http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=panoramanjue.jpg

Sterre de Jong said...

Hej Ilja!

Mag het ook in het Zweeds?

Ett mycket välskrivet ny post, jag läste din blog värje vecka, och är nyfiken vad som kommer att hända snart!

Haha, succes ;)

Sterre