Switzerland - Bern and Bern again

We spend the time until our final departure in November (which will be December) with friends, family and again and again in hospital.

Gerd is still working hard. I'm taking on a few more jobs again. We often spend the evenings and weekends in autumnal, colourful places in the forest, by the Aare, on Lake Murten or quite unpretentiously in the car park in front of Gerd's office.

We give two more travel lectures, stroll through the castle gardens of Münchenwiler, receive visits from travelling friends and a old friend from Berlin (who also took some of the great pictures in this post). We stroll through Bern, admire the light show at the Bundeshaus several times and suddenly find cosy harvest festivals in the mountains instead of quiet parking spaces.

And as if our friend had planned it that way, we are also spending her birthday with her. When we arrived here in May, we never thought that we would be able to celebrate her new year with her in November. Now we are all the more delighted. Especially because she wanted to go on a trip to Schwarzsee with us. And we can do excursions professionally.

In addition to the anticipation, the late autumn colours and the time spent together, it is above all a sad time. A serious, incurable and long-term illness of a beloved family member makes us feel sad. We talk about letting go. We, especially Gerd, often sit at the hospital bedside for hours on end. We postpone our travel plans. From day to day. Until Gerd says: "Let's go now." The decision is entirely up to him. That's very important to both of us.

We've packed everything, the last visit to the hospice was just a few minutes ago, the first snow is falling, we're sitting in Felix and the tears are rolling. We let them flow. That's important too. Saying goodbye sucks. Whether for a brief moment, for six months or perhaps forever. The slush on the streets, the grey in grey of Bern today matches our mood.

Meanwhile, Felix's bookshelf is full of new travel guides from warmer climes. South, here we come. And while we are all lost in thought, completely silent - even the radio remains mute - Gerd steers our little house onto the motorway. And off we go. A little spark of joy brightens our souls and colours the dark mood of grief a little lighter. And Gerd's aunt's chocolate cake seems to have a comforting effect just in time. Thank you, Yvonne!

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Merci for "travelling with us

We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.

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