Day 19 – Tuesday, April 19
(Garden)-Lohmen – Waren (55 km)
Cycled with Daan today from our residence in Garden-Lohmen, overlooking the lake, to Waren, fifty-eight kilometers. Richard follows us with the car and batteries. Sanne will recharge the bus and do some more shopping. We cycle with sunlit skies through a varied rolling landscape that seems a bit more grandiose than the previous days, again with several kilometers of beautiful Circle4Change trails. It goes at a nice pace today, by noon we have already covered twenty-five kilometers. We drink coffee at Gutshaus Neugaarz, a beautiful stately villa as a hotel-restaurant where Sanne and I also passed by two years ago. Another place on the route that is a nice contact for us. We give some birthday trees and promise to visit again in three years. Just outside Neugaarz we find a nice spot, overlooking the landscape with a lake in the distance, for our lunch. We enjoy the tranquility of the landscape here and the many birds such as the majestic red kite. This region seems sparsely populated, few people on the road and we also see few people at the homes. The silence is striking. Where is everyone anyway? The last twenty kilometers to Waren are mostly through the forest. And the last three along the lake on a narrow forest path with low branches. We tilt the tree and ride carefully. Then we come to a long flat wooden bicycle bridge almost stuck on it. Turning is impossible. We eventually manage to get our tree bike under a low branch hanging over the bridge. Our tree doesn’t like it. And so we enter Waren tilted over. Here, too, everyone responds enthusiastically, thumbs up, smiles. We are nicely in time for our appointment with the group of Rotary representatives at the Paulshöhe Hotel around six o’clock. I give a brief explanation next to the tree bike and we walk inside. There we all introduce ourselves and I tell about Bosk and Circle4Change, the why and what Circle4Change can also do for Waren. We are invited to join us for dinner and talk further about the opportunities and possibilities. Mayor Möller is also there and it turns out that Thursday is his birthday. I offer him sixty-six tree saplings, his age, which we will bring to our presentation at the European Academy on Thursday, May 1. We go over Thursday’s program with Sandra, our contact from the Rotary, and happily cycle back to our overnight stay just outside the Altstadt of Waren. Here we will stay for two days. I am looking forward to it. Even though I know there is still a lot to do. We have reached the 750 kilometers! Totally great!
Day 20 – Wednesday, April 30
We are in Waren, a beautiful little town surrounded by lakes and forests. It also seems to be quite touristy with a nice boulevard along the water. Despite the beautiful weather, more than 20 degrees on April 30, we spent a lot of time inside today. Prepared the presentation for tomorrow in the ‘Europäische Akademie – Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’ and together with Sanne cycled by to consult with Matthew Heidtmann, the manager there. It is an independent learning institute on politics and democracy. Maybe we can do something with this in connection with our idea of the Circle4Change Academy.
Cycled back through the center where they are busy preparing for the May 1 activities. Back home I comment on the interview of the ‘Movement of Mercy’. And together with Sanne I submit an application for the ‘Sustainable Tuesday’. Am curious. And also significantly modified the design for the Birthday Forest on A10 because the location has shifted. The road width has become less and the length longer. I do hope that the forest image remains intact. Enough for today. Good night.
Day 21 – Thursday, May 1
It is wonderfully quiet on the road as I cycle to the European Academy with Richard and the tree bike. May 1 is a day off here. Just before we cycle away it shoots Daan in the back. Aaii … not nice. Careful now, we can hardly take it. Happens often he says. Obligatory rest today and hopefully it will be better tomorrow.
Today is the mayor of Waren Norbert Möller’s birthday, he turns 66, just like me in 16 days. Therefore, together next to the building, under the watchful eye of a group of youth “Konigs-Kinder” and a group of older youth from the Rotary, we plant two trees in one planting hole, a field maple and a hornbeam, symbolic of the importance of working together, even if you are not equal. Then inside where I give a presentation, in my best German, about Bosk and Circle4Change. It is well received. Top. Then outside there is a concert by the “Konigs-Kinder” led by Sandra, our contact from Rotary. What a wonderful enthusiasm. There are sandwiches with sausage and we hand out little trees. I agree with the mayor that we will officially invite the municipality of Waren via email to become a partner municipality of Circle4Change, and to Matthew I make the proposal that, for example, sometime at the end of September next year here at the Europäische Akademie, we will organize a Circle4Change seminar for the entire North-East region of Germany. He responds enthusiastically. This is a great opportunity through the Europäische Akademie, together with the municipality of Waren and the Rotary, to activate the neighboring municipalities on the circle line to also participate, at least from Itzehoe to Angermunde (approx. 400 km of the route), and maybe even a part of Poland as well. With Sanne I cycle back and Richard takes the trailer again, sixty-six trees lighter. Fine. In the afternoon we sit in the garden. Full of sunshine. It seems like a vacation. Daan has mandatory rest even though it is hard for him. Let’s cross our fingers that tomorrow he will be okay again. Tomorrow the journey continues towards Poland, where we hope to arrive in three days.