So, after a rather long break of not cycling (much) I am now back on the road (or cycle path, depending). Obviously, again nothing turned out like planned - which now is partly due to the fact that my plans were very loose on purpose because I wanted to be flexible and therefore I didn't really look into all the details of my rough plan - which was a mistake maybe, but then, it all turns out fine in the end.

After leaving Kiel and playing one last football match with my old team, I went to Bad Aussee for a week. That was not the original plan but it turned out to be good anyways. I met a lot of my friends there and I could sort out some bureaucratic stuff which would have been difficult from Turkey. Also, I could enjoy the nice and warm weather of the last days of summer in the beautiful landscape, swim in the lakes, and make some interesting observations regarding bird migration again. So even though I was very doubtful about that visit at first in the end it was all worth it.

I boarded the train to the edge of the mountains and started what was supposed to be the last part of my cycling tour from there. I followed the Traun river, which is still an alpine river and very clean and beautiful for the rest of the day, swam in there in the evening and washed my clothes there and then slept on its shore. The next day I turned onto the Danube cycle path which was supposed to take me all the way to the Black Sea. The Danube cycle path is rather funny, as it is more than 3000 km long but clearly only the first 1000 or so (the part in Germany and Austria) are viewed as the "real" Danube route. The rest, downstream from Bratislava, is still not very well developed, unfortunately. This, of course, I had known before but it is very difficult to get detailed information on it. There are books but I did not manage to buy the books in the book shop - which I had not expected. I would have needed to order them online - which, of course, is only possible if you have an address. Which I don't. So I searched the internet a bit more and found that the way is too long and the infrastructure may be not good enough, and either way I still needed to get to Izmir from the Black Sea and I knew there would only be buses. I checked ferry connections from Thessaloniki but they don't exist any more. And, while I know that some buses take bicycles, it is very difficult to get the information especially if you don't speak the language of the country. And finally, I do not know Eastern Europe at all and I decided that probably a few days of cycling through the countries will not give me the chance to learn much about the culture. Rather it would be very difficult because I don't know the culture and I wouldn't know what to expect, what to do and what not. So I decided that travelling by ferry through countries I know would be the better option. This means I have to go to Athens - which is not a bad thing seeing that my original plan was to go to Greece anyways, so having to go to Greece made me quite happy. Only, the best way to get there is through Italy now, which is why I am currently on my way to Italy.

So, I cycled from Linz to Vienna on the Danube Cycle Route for two hot days. It was literally like going on a cycling highway. It was the first time on my trip that I was never worried to find the right way and it was so flat I could actually easily bike 100 and more kilometres even with my luggage. The signage was really good and there were even some drinking wells and free public toilets along the way. It was really amazing and very convenient to bike there. And there was not too much traffic (bikes, I mean) so it was really relaxing. Of course, I did not expect this anywhere else but it clearly shows that in theory it would be possible to make cycling even long distances easy and relaxing rather than what it normally is. I don't praise Austria very often but this little piece of Austria certainly deserves praise.

I had seen several friends while in Bad Aussee and I met some more in Vienna. I could also stay with some friends along the way now, which is very nice and helpful. And while I was in Vienna I searched on the internet to find my best options now and I came to the conclusion that I needed to go to Venice. Of course, Venice is rather the opposite way from what I had just biked, which made me a little bit angry (that I had not done proper research before) but I finally decided that the cycling along the Danube was still worth it. And the fact that I could meet friends in Vienna. And so I took the train from Vienna to Innsbruck where I met some more friends. Clearly, the cycling itself has become not so much a way to cover distances (that's what the trains and ferries do for me) but rather to just relax and take some time to enjoy the countryside in some places. And in this way it just makes so much more sense, it is easier to leave my path to visit more friends and to take it easy and just enjoy without having to bike 100 km every day.

Autumn has finally arrived in Austria, so it clearly is time to leave and move further south. I enjoyed visiting again, but it is also good to leave now.

Maybe this can finally be a short blog entry for once but I will not leave you without sharing my thoughts on a rather different topic: shooting stars. If you sleep outside in the summer in Europe it is almost impossible to not see at least some shooting stars. Watching the night sky has made me very interested in reading the stars and I recognize many more signs now than I did before. I also learn to estimate the time of the night by the stars, which is really cool. But this also means that every now and again I see a star dying. A shooting star, that is. And no matter what other people say, it still is a very special event to witness, because after all, it not only shows us how small and unimportant we are ourselves as tiny little creatures on a small piece of rock that's circling around an unimportant little star on the edge of the solar system. Sometimes, this is good to put things in perspective. But also: Considering the importance that our sun has for us and the possibilities that other stars may be as important to other planets and maybe creatures on them, being allowed to witness the birth or death of such a star still makes you feel special in a way. Like you are this tiny little dot on some unimportant planet with no use to the universe but still you are special enough to be allowed to watch these special events that do have great impacts on the universe, making you maybe not important as such but clearly showing that your life is precious and sacred in a way at least to yourself and that the universe - small as you are - still has a place for you and that you still play a role in something great.

On the other hand, however, people say that you can make a wish when you see a shooting star. I stopped doing that after I saw so many shooting stars the summer before I left for Miami and my only wish was that it would turn out to be good. And I felt like that wish hadn't come true. Now, of course, maybe I should not blame the shooting stars but, more importantly, I have come to the conclusion that, if you believe in the endless power of the universe and in the fact that in the end it will all turn out fine (which is a nice thing to believe for sure, you can also believe in a god of some sort, of course, which is basically the same) then how could it be up to us to judge, what will be good for us. If you leave the decision to the universe then you will also have to accept that you may not always see the complete picture at first. And while I was rather unhappy that my PhD in Miami did not turn out the way I had hoped then, I am now sure that it was for the best and that the shooting stars were right after all. So now I don't make specific wishes any more, I just look at them as signs that everything will be good in the end. It really is up to you how you look at the little bits and pieces of your life.

Oh, and one last thing: It was my birthday a couple days ago, of course. People tend to ask you, if you feel different on that day. I did not. In no way, what so ever, because lately every single day has been special for me. I enjoyed spending time with friends and alone outside in nature so how could a birthday still be special to me?

With this, I will continue my journey south. Probably the next time I write will be on the ferry to Greece. I am looking forward to everything that Italy has in store for me for now. I wish you all a great time and that all your wishes may come true the way they should!