Balance Sheet • Rheinberg (6,068 km)

(Rheinberg, 11.07.2025) A summary with some photo snapshots that have not yet been published, but which would be a waste not to share.

• We traveled together for 43 days in 20 stages, from May 30, 2025, to July 11, 2025.

• During this time, we visited ten countries: Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Romania, Hungary, and Poland, covering 5% of the world.

• We spent overnight in Malbun at 1,614 m above sea level. We then crossed the Spülgen Pass between Switzerland and Italy at 2,114 m above sea level with its 75 hairpin bends in temperatures close to freezing.

• Otherwise, it was warmest in Rome at 36°C and coldest in Malbun at 16°C.

• We traveled 6,421 kilometers, 6,068 of which were by motorcycle; the rest by ferry, tourist train, e-bike, e-scooter, and on foot. We behaved exemplary in traffic and did not receive a single ticket.

• We took over 2,500 photos and published 200 of them on FindPenguins and Blogger.

• We met up with friends in Villingen again after 42 years and made new acquaintances on the ferry from Bari to Dubrovnik.

• The only setback was that I had packed the wrong vehicle registration document before the trip and was therefore traveling without valid vehicle papers for practically the entire time. This was only noticed after several border crossings, at the Serbian-Romanian border, even by myself, and would have led to serious complications if the friendly Romanian border guard had not been so understanding.

• Was the trip fun? Was it affordable? Would you do it again? In my case, I would answer yes to all three questions. What do you think?

At the Periphery • Berlin (5,432 km)

East or West? • Poznań (5,095 km)

East of Culture • Lublin (4,600 km)

High Noon • Rzeszów (4,386 km)

Lenin Steelworks • Miskolc (4,050 km)

Biennial • Timișoara (3,653 km)

Brutalism • Belgrade (3,399 km)

Lost Places • Sarajevo (3,034 km)

Overtourism • Dubrovnik (2,764 km)

Bella Italia • Bari (2,742 km)

Gomorrha • Naples (2,380 km)

Shalom San Lorenzo • Rome (2,121 km)

Panoramas • Siena (1,847 km)

Trallalla • Modena (1,593 km)

Green City • Milan (1,373 km)

Three Oases • Malbun (1,088 km)

City of Art • Basel (861 km)

Juan on the Roof • Villingen-Schwenningen (697 km)

Karl & Carl • Saarbrücken (342 km)

At the Periphery • Berlin (5,432 km)

(Berlin, 09.07.2025-11.07.2025) Anyone who has participated in this tour thus far is already aware of the attractions: lost places, Jewish cemeteries, street art, and Soviet memorials. Berlin naturally has all of this to offer. While not located in Mitte or Prenzlauer Berg, these sites are found on the periphery and, as one would expect from a metropolis, they are monumental in scale. With an area of 3.55 square kilometers, Tempelhofer Feld, which is used as a park and recreational area, is even slightly larger than Central Park in New York. The adjacent Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, built by the Nazis in the 1930s, was the largest building in the world at the time and is still the largest architectural monument in Europe. The Jewish Cemetery Berlin-Weißensee covers an area of about 42 hectares and, with 116,000 graves, is the largest preserved Jewish cemetery in Europe. The East Side Gallery is 1.3 kilometers long, making it the longest intact section of the Berlin Wall, which was transformed into an open-air gallery by artists after the fall of the Wall. The Soviet Memorial in Berlin-Tiergarten was the first large memorial erected in Berlin after the end of World War II. With all this gigantism, isn't it a little comforting that two boys are improving their shooting technique in basketball on the huge Tempelhof field? "Take care!" they called out to me—I'll do my best, even on the last leg of our tour!

Additional photos of the Jewish Cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee:

https://www.amazon.de/photos/share/ok7I6f7MRxZJoBFEXWJj5IqDPtj7djD8I9f5QKJjbZQ

East or West? • Poznań (5,095 km)

(06.07.2025-09.07.2025) On Sunday, I—along with 35 million other residents of Poland—received the following text message from the RCB Disaster Management Center: "Starting July 7, the Border Guard will implement controls at the German and Lithuanian borders for entry into Poland." Hmm, a year ago, the RCB warned me about a severe storm with strong winds and heavy rainfall, but now the upcoming border controls are being listed alongside earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, etc.? It doesn't affect me, as I'm traveling west from Lublin. One would think so, but when I arrive in Poznań, I notice the relatively high number of kebab shops, barber shops, and Orient markets. Obviously, there is a demand for them, and the streetscape has indeed changed; it is much more diverse than elsewhere in Poland—too diverse, many would say, and the announced border controls have something to do with it. However, a striking number of German senior citizen groups have come to Poznań unmolested and populate the Old Market Square and the Old Town, which is therefore better visited in the early morning hours. As a contrast, lost places offer exactly the opposite, and you can even find them in the center of Poznań. It's one minute to midnight, because the areas of the old gasworks and the old slaughterhouse are cordoned off and construction is in full swing. The weather is deteriorating. Rain, diversity, German senior citizens, large construction sites – it all seems very familiar to me, so I might as well drive further west, says my wife!

East of Culture • Lublin (4,600 km)

(Lublin, 03.07.2025-06.07.2025) Except for Timișoara, all of the previous stops on my journey were new territory for me. Either I had never been there before, or if I had, it was so long ago that it was long forgotten. Not so Lublin—I was here three years ago, and there are good reasons why I came back. Is it the people, who are so friendly, down-to-earth, and unpretentiously self-confident? Yes, but that's generally the case in Poland. Is it the colorful old town with its Mediterranean flair? Yes, but there are beautiful old towns elsewhere in Poland too. Is it the East of Culture Festival, beneath Lublin Castle? Yes, that's what it is. This international cultural hotspot has dominated my schedule over the last few days:

Music: NFNR (UKR), Laraaji (USA), The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis (USA), Mitsune (JAP/GRC/AUS), Zamilska (POL), Flower & Pines (BLR/POL), Yonatan Gat (USA)

Film: Uppercase Print by Radu Jude (ROM)

Literature: Igor Pomeranzew (UKR) from Czernowitz

All of this is gratis and outdoors, located beneath Lublin Castle, in a relaxed atmosphere with a predominantly young audience. Lublin refers to itself as the "City of Inspiration" and will be the European Capital of Culture in 2029 – for me, it already is today!

https://innebrzmienia.eu/en/festiwal/line-up/

High Noon • Rzeszów (4,386 km)

(Rzeszów, 01.07.2025-03.07.2025) We begin our tour at the historic market square in Rzeszów and discover the birthplace of Fred Zinnemann (1907-1997), the legendary Hollywood director who spent his childhood here. His greatest success was the western "High Noon," and it is now five minutes to high noon for Ukraine and Rzeszów. The "City of Rescuers," as it is referred to by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has taken in about 100,000 Ukrainian war refugees since the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine, despite having a population of only 200,000. Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport is a hub for military aid from the West. If, instead of the biplane, I had photographed the military installations and the numerous American Patriot missile systems at the airport, my tour would probably have ended here; we certainly don't want that. The fact is that a few weeks ago, the US announced the withdrawal of its forces from Rzeszów and has now announced a halt to deliveries of Patriots. The Old Jewish Cemetery in the city center was devastated during the Nazi era. The Red Army Memorial was built on its ruins, and today its existence is just as threatened as the Monument to Revolutionary Deeds, which dates from the communist era. Just one hundred kilometers from the Ukrainian border, the dangers posed by an aggressive and revisionist Russia are not taken lightly—it's high noon!