We felt
home in Berlin, in the way it allowed us to fit in, in the way people spoke German
at us assuming we could speak it despite our looks, and in the kindness given to us once we disclosed we were tourist
and just passing by. How refreshing I thought,
how wonderful experience just being there, to see no landmarks and just observe
life among these eclectic mix of people none of them wearing straw hats.
We spent the
following day at one of the Berlin lakes,
something I wished to do very much and Berliners seem to greatly enjoy. We took
the efficient metro and tram system to the other side of the city in search of
lake Muggelsee, it was a great
experience and we spent most of the day there, swimming and lying under the
sun. My friend Sam invited her friend Karianne from Stavanger, who also lives
in Berlin, a very down to earth person who both Aleksander and I enjoyed
meeting. Seldom it is in fact to meet a woman so kind and fun to be around that
seems so unaware of her physical beauty, the tall Viking woman from Rogaland
with her long strawberry blond hair, piercing blue eyes and freckles like
grains of sand splashed all over her made people turn their heads to catch a
glimpse of her.
Despite our
age difference, I can still recognize something about me in both Karianne and
Sam, and the similarities of our lives, both of them are young women in their
30’s, looking for meaning elsewhere; I have walked longer than them, and I have
found my place for now, the place where I can tap from my reality in Norway a greater
meaning to my life, but the seeker of new experiences that lives inside of me is
neither dead or dormant. I feel alive and vibrant.
The days
since we arrived home in Stavanger have been hectic with visits from Namsos and
Bergen, my home is full of life, there has been no time to sit down and digest in
silence the end of this journey, find a thought, a small but personal meaning
in which this trip has redefined me.
As to us, a
son and a mother, the journey was unique, busy, it was hard work and it was
also fun. We learned to trust each other more; we learned to compromise, we
both have grown much individually and as a family. I have seen sides of my son that
have made me very proud. I have seen sides of him that also tell me we are
doing something right in the way we both, his father and I are raising him. I have also seen the sides of me that need to
improve as a parent, but for those sides I have apologized to him when
necessary, and have corrected my ways.
To forgive
is to love, and to love is to live. There is no doubt, we are living! And that is
perhaps the greatest realization of this trip.
With a special dedication to Geir Arne Aarre father of my #youngbackpacker and supporter of our adventures. |
Thank you Sam for the perfect and tiny bit of Berlin
Distre Backpacker Europe
From Stavanger 25.07.2015
.