Werner’s system

[Werner Berghofer]

Bernie,

Whereabouts are you now?

on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, in a small village called Epenwöhrden, located three kilometres from Meldorf, the next city. It takes approximately ten minutes by bicycle to reach the North Sea shore. Wonderful!

[Werner Berghofer]

Marco,

What happened to the WAF and cats, Werner?

they stayed in Tyrol and live there very happy and peacefully. Daniela has her job, her family and friends and is deeply rooted in her homeland. I just needed to move away from the really bad air in Tyrol and the mountains. The air pressed my lungs, the mountains were oppressing my soul, the yearly rising high temperatures in summer (between 95 and 104 °F) in Central Europe became more and more unbearable for me.



During the last few years I was a sad, unpleasant and nervous person. Being from Vienna, I never felt at home in Tyrol. After my illness-related retirement and a previous 18-month trial concerning my justified pension entitlements, I certainly missed my profession as book designer, graphic artist and typesetter. The days I spent in the company of sometimes fighting cats without doing anything, surrounded by threatening, oppressive mountains, were endless. I even could not stand myself anymore and felt a deep desire to live alone in a quiet environment, with an open view into the wide, beautiful landscape without any mountains. The Northern Sea air is salubrious for my lungs.



I plan to visit Daniela every two or three months, but I will spend most of my (remaining) time here in the absolutely flat landscape very close to the shore, reading books, listening to music and riding my bicycle whenever possible. From June 16th to September 20th I cycled approximately 2,500 miles, which is a good thing for my body, my mind and my interest in history, architecture and meeting people.

[montesquieu]

Wow. Magnificent. Definitely need to visit the area on my next trip over.

[brian2957]

That looks stunning Werner . I'm lucky in that I've always liked the area where I live and the home which I have at the moment is surrounded at the rear by fields , trees , and has a small river too . If I want to visit the sea I'm only a 40 minute drive away , or we can take a foreign break .

I think that we have to look after ourselves , not just mentally and physically , but spiritually too . You are very lucky to have found what looks like to be your spiritual home by the North Sea . Good luck and stay well sir

[Werner Berghofer]

Brian,

I think that we have to look after ourselves , not just mentally and physically , but spiritually too .

these are very wise and also very kind words. Many thanks, I really appreciate what you said to me.

After two or three weeks here, at the end of June or the beginning of July, I very much felt at home, safe and secure even when cycling back to my holiday home at 2:30 a.m. I met many interesting, interested, friendly and kind people here. It has been many years since the last time I looked forward to certain plans, explorations and excursions that lie ahead of me as I do now again. Spent 45 minutes this morning chatting with the owner of a tea shop where I purchase my favourite black tea (Darjeeling and Ceylon), although it is raining cats and dogs the whole day long and I was on the road with the bike.

Life is good.

[Macca]

Very flat isn't it? The polar opposite of where you used to live. Glad to hear it is doing it for you, Werner.

[ovlov854]

Tag Werner
I have only just come across your thread....what a fascinating read.
I spent my early years in Hamburg,Schelswig H and Insel Sylt so your pictures bring back floods of happy memories.
I also lived and worked in Mayrhofen which must be nearby to were you in Tyrol.
Daniela works in Innsbruck??
Glad you have found balance in your life
Good music helps too

[Werner Berghofer]

Martin,

I also lived and worked in Mayrhofen which must be nearby to were you in Tyrol.

Mayrhofen is near the end of the Zillertal, approximately 34 miles located from Baumkirchen, where I used to live. i often went there with my bicycle. May I ask what kind of work you did in Mayrhofen?

Daniela works in Innsbruck??

Yes, she’s decorator and shop window designer for five fashion shops in the old town of Innsbruck.

Good music helps too

This is definitely true! I just listen to Diana Krall’s latest album “Turn up the quiet” and enjoy every moment of it playing through my 19 years old amplifier and my 17 years old loudspeakers.

During breakfast most of the time I just listen to music and watch the dawn through my apartment’s large windows. There’s even a small terrace which I use for my daily morning routine of Qi Gong and breathing exercises which my physiotherapist has shown me. I suffer from lung emphysema, but the air here makes it much easier for me to handle it. In the early hours of summer days I have done my exercises directly on the coast, surrounded by salt and iodine fresh sea air and the screaming of the seagulls and other birds. Life here is very close to nature.

Many thanks for your interest in my story, Martin.

[ovlov854]

Mayrhofen was part of my mis-spent past! I worked there as a Holiday Rep and Tour Guide so I got to know the area quite well with all the usual places, and in Italy as well.

There was one particular nightmare airport transfer to Basel and back. Over the Arlberg Pass, Feldkiirch along the Zurichsee finally to Basel and the back after picking up a flight inevitably delayed :
As this was back in the 70's it was well before the present day motorways and fast roads of today.
The first time I made the trip as a green rookie was inthe June of that year and the Arlberg was covered in snow huge drifts either side of the road
The job did have it's compensations!!

[Werner Berghofer]

Martin,

The job did have it's compensations!!

a friend of mine, who used to work as a steward on cruise ships, often says that too when telling stories from his mis-spent past.

Werner.