Encore Day 042 somewhere on the Baltic Sea - Leipzig

Now my trip is really really really over. Early in the morning our ferry arrived in Rostock. I had to say goodbye to Alex, who had been a wonderful cycling companion. It was her first cycling trip and though she did complain every now and then she always kept going :o). Let's see, it is very well possible that some part of the world will see us cycling again.
I went home by train. First thing at home after unpacking my bike: finally a shave. Now I have only one day left until I am back to normal life - on Monday at 8:30 I will start working again :-O
But it is good that way - I had a extremely, exceptionally, extraordinarily great time, but after more than a year it is good to be back home. Here I can see my family and friends, here I can make music and here I will actually have time to think about all the wonderful experiences of the last year.

Encore Day 041 Floating on the Baltic Sea

The ferry is smaller than expected. Which is a good thing. There is only
one shop, which isn't even open very much. But there is a free sauna and
whirlpool. And a lot of good food. So we spent the day relaxing, eating,
talking, reading and looking at the sea.

Encore Day 040 Helsinki - somewhere on the Baltic Sea

Oh nooo, it's time to day goodbye again. That is goodbye to my dear dear
friends and goodbye to travelling. From now on I only go home. I spent the
morning talking with Yesmith. Once I had checked the location of the ferry
terminal I was shocked: it wasn't one of the terminals near to old town,
but it was way out of town. But there was still enough time to organize
everything and to call Alex back early from her trip to the center. Once we
had to say goodbye, Yesmith, Thomas and Luna promised me to visit Leipzig
next year - so this time it won't be 5 years until we meet again :o) We had
shared an important time in our lives, probably one of the times which
shaped us the most. It is great that even after nearly a decade, meeting up
with them feels as if these times were just yesterday.
The ride to the ferry was long: train to the main station, metro all the
way to the end station and another 3km of walking. But everything no
problem, we made it on time. I hadn't booked a cabin, just reclining seats,
but there is enough space for our camping mattresses in the reclining seats
area. I had however booked full meals, which was definitely a good idea:
very tasty, all-you-can-eat and even for vegetarians many options. Whatever
weight we might have lost on the cycling trip, we will definitely gain
again during the next 2 days!

Encore Day 039 Helsinki

Wellness day! Yesmith and Alex talked the morning away. Than we cycled into
the city to do the most finnish thing of all: Sauna. It was not fancy at
all, just a room with a huge metal oven - but due to the lack of fancyness
the experience felt much more real. Afterwards we were very relaxed and
considerably exhausted. We went to a cute, friendly, colourful cafe nearby
where we met up with Jenny, who had been couchsurfing at my place about 2
years ago. After cycling back I fulfilled my duty as the apprentice of
cooking master Thomas. In the evening a movie showed us the very scary
reality behind the fairytale Santa Claus.