Part 1: Ruhr and Pécs mission accomplished

Today I visited the Tile Museum in the town of Erzsébet, just outside of Pécs. This may sound a little boring, but once you see the collection of colorful mosaics and original old floors it is actually quite beautiful. In general I very much enjoy the Hungarian decoration, houses and furniture.

You see a lot of old wooden handmade cabinets, tables, beds and other furniture. Quite a change from the regular IKEA stuff. Unfortunately the caravan is stuffed with things already, otherwise I would have loved to bring a nice Hungarian table back to Utrecht.

Later this day we drove through the hills to Székelyszabar, where Kata and Simon have a winehouse. The Pécs district is known for its wines, so there are lots of vineyards and many different winehouses. And in case you are looking for a nice Hungarian holiday home: it is for sale. Underneath the house is a deep and long cellar, with small and large bins stacked on either side. However, the winehouse stopped producing wines a few years ago. I found out why when I tasted some wine from one of the bins. It unfortunately had gone bad a long time ago.

Today Remco Timmermans arrived in Pécs. He brought presents for the Wintermans family in the shape of a 13-kilo Gouda cheese and seven boxes of chocolate sprinkles. He also brought a tuba for for a local musician. Remco and I met first when I was looking for a ride from Arnhem to Nijmegen, a long time ago (it seems). At that point Remco offered to also do the last leg of part I of the project. So tomorrow we take the caravan to Prague, and then on to Utrecht on Sunday. Trees for Travel compensates the CO2-footprint of the return trip to Pecs.

After having been on the road for almost two consecutive months, after many special experiences, encounters and stories I will work out my musical inspiration back home in Utrecht. In May I will travel to the Shanghai World Expo 2010 to present my new songs, as part of the Utrecht presentation.

This is not the end of the Tow Bar Wanted project. Back home we will continue to prepare part II of the project. The plan is to arrive in the third European Capital of Culture, Istanbul, in June 2010. So, this is no goodbye…to be continued!