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Flight from the Place of Intolerance and Hatred...

05. Sep 2026 · Agios Andreas, Greece · 8 min read

...and arrival where I like to be...

...what had happened? So I was standing in this huge parking lot in the middle of Strofylia National Park between the Apallu and the Sahara Beach Bar, having assumed I'd stay a few days. The national park is great, as it's right by the sea, crisscrossed by rivers and lakes. Some of it felt like the Everglades. All framed by the wonderful mountains that possess an omnipresence that's slowly making me understand... Anyway, the beauty of a country, a region, a place is influenced by the people who "linger" there! I've been able to experience this in so many different ways over the last few months. And apart from Serbia, everything was wonderful! So now I've been traveling through Greece for a few weeks, impressed by what the country has to offer in terms of "landscape." So after my workout, with a towel around my hips, I walked from the parking lot through the dunes to the beach, as there were 2 showers near the Appallu bar, one of which I intended to use, as I'd clarified with the owner the evening before. So I look around, 2 guys at the bar who were just finalizing the preparations for opening. 2 beach guests at the opposite end of the deck chair areas were sitting relaxed with their backs to me, as they were looking out at the sea. So I put down my towel and joyfully soaped myself up under the shower....NAKED...obviously. The water was glorious, it was cold, it was fresh and it was sweet....and I was finally able to free my skin from the "eternal" salt again 🥰👍

And then an angry scream directly behind me!!! 😳

I turn around and standing in front of me is a slavering, angry, ugly man, early 60s, with a beer belly, gold chain with a fat golden (Christian?) cross on his chest, a bling-bling watch on his wrist, Armani swimming trunks and matching flip-flops on his deformed feet, a "Gucci" cooler bag in one hand and a Versace beach towel in the other...and SCREAMING at me!!!

My first reaction was to simply close the 2 steps of distance between us and "knock him out" to put an end to this screaming! I didn't do it! 🤷

Rinsed off the last of the foam, took my towel and wrapped it around my hips, turned around to face him and the situation and fully grasped the situation. 2 more guys, roughly the same age and outfit, were standing next to him, around him, who by now was screaming so much that saliva was spraying from his mouth, vigorously supporting him verbally. At the same time, I noticed that the 3 "married" wives, I'm assuming now, were also approaching this spot. All 6 had followed the wooden boardwalk from the parking lot and thus appeared behind me. Since I'd already experienced in Bosnia how people react to human nudity in nature, it was clear to me that once again it was about my nakedness!

With my towel around my hips, my modesty was more than covered! In a calm tone and in English, I now tried to meet the man, the group, kindly in the face of his/their hatred. I apologized! Asked him to react a little more kindly! NO LUCK!

He got more and more worked up and took his crew with him! So there I stood, dripping wet, facing an agitated group of people whose hatred, whose anger, whose intolerance I could physically feel. And in that moment I felt the threat from human beings so intensely that I froze in shock in everything. THAT WAS INTENSE! I didn't want to use violence and SMILED at the 6 "people" again to apologize once more. No chance!

One of the bartenders saved the situation by calling over the guy, who by now was beet red in the face and still screaming at me in Greek, now something about "Policia," and waving him to the bar! The group reluctantly started moving toward the bar...as I headed toward Frankie, I saw out of the corner of my eye how even the 3 women turned around a few times as they walked away and shouted something in my direction with poisonous looks! What an encounter!?

I spontaneously decided to leave this inhospitable place! Not because I thought the police would come (there is no Greek law that forbids nudity on the beach, but rather an "ordinance" that states to be considerate of local conditions) or because of these 6 people who reacted so unspeakably, no, because of the accompanying change in frequencies/vibrations at the location.

Pinged Gaios, told him I was heading south, leaving the west coast, and then I set off...

Relaxed journey, beautiful thoughts, spontaneous stopover...

Beach at Georgi's Farm...😍

Spoken Note

Georgis Farm, that was a super beautiful place, really is a very old farm, third generation, they do everything from olives to melons, figs, they've sown potatoes. I was actually scheduled to help out there, but his friend, who had cancelled before, then spontaneously came through and so I had time to myself, was in the water, kind of arrived a bit, was able to shake off the morning, the forenoon and actually also found the time to talk with Georgi. And that was, like all the encounters with the Greeks so far who are somehow nice, because the other six in the morning were also Greeks, he told me what has changed in the last 15 years from his perspective and that is crazy. They all tell the same thing, it's wild. And to my question whether I could spend the night there at the place, he was sad to have to tell me that that wasn't possible, since he's controlled by the police. He has no license to allow any campers, tents, whatever on his property and still gave me three tips, in nearby bays, the shortest was 400 meters, the longest just under two and a half kilometers, where he said, you can definitely stay there, you'll be alone there, no police come there, it's super beautiful there and that works. What I decided against though, was that Gaius got in touch in the meantime, meaning Dieter, and offered me that we meet in Gaius Andreas down at the harbor. And as a result of that I then actually set off just before sunset and was on the road for another good hour. Pictures from the road will follow, though I didn't really get the huge prickly pear cacti on my phone, which stand partly like fields on the left and right at the roadside, because it was winding and the roads are narrow and not necessarily in the best condition.

Sunset on the way...on the way to Agios Andreas...

Sunrise from my "sleeping perspective" 😍🙏❤️

Parking and training spot 🙏

Spoken Note

Right in the middle of my training yesterday, Gaius came down to pick me up, since I had offered my help, as the four of them wanted to pour more columns with concrete, there was still quite a bit of reed to straighten, deburr, and various other small tasks, and as a result only jumped briefly into the water, brought Frenki back to the front to the main parking lot, then with Gaius until, I don't even know when we were back here, 1830 or so, so that I could then move Frenki again, back into this eucalyptus forest, you have to imagine, it smells like eucalyptus here, in a fine mix with the smell and taste of sea salt, incredibly beautiful, magnificent, exactly and since I hadn't paid attention the evening before and overlooked the protruding branch of one of the gigantic trees and pressed my bicycle handlebar into Frenki's roof, which I have to fix this morning or which I will fix today, so yesterday it worked out that we actually got a special adhesive for plastic in outdoor areas, yesterday when moving I actually also broke off my bicycle seat, the rear supports, because I overlooked something again, totally stupid. Anyway, the look back is what the universe intends to show me, which has also manifested itself to some extent in the fact that yesterday, actually yesterday, I spoke with someone I've known for over 30 years I think, who was my best man and I think also my friend, perhaps also is again or will be again, no idea, with whom I hadn't had contact for over six months, that phone call was pretty interesting. So exciting in everything, regardless of the current moment, which couldn't be more fitting in the context, since exactly ten years ago this week the love of my life came to me with the news, after I had tried for four years to get to know this person, that this would now probably happen. So I currently have quite a few internal issues to work through, which don't arise exclusively from my thoughts alone, but are also brought to me from outside. That's pretty exciting and so certainly not surprising that Gaius, who actually just wanted to take a photo yesterday, engaged me in a slightly philosophical conversation, which he recorded as a video without me noticing. I'll see, maybe it can be uploaded. Although at 5 minutes 32 and with the extremely exciting internet here, it might be a challenge for the technology after all. Nevertheless, there are definitely one or two photos including of the place where we worked and where I also showered again, without having to be aware of being harassed, yelled at or anything else by any people. That was an enclosed shower. Yesterday I was a surprise guest at the birthday of a friend of Gaius, who with two other friendly couples and her husband at a small restaurant in a town, 17 kilometers from here, celebrated her birthday, with a subsequent classical concert, which however I opted out of and was driven back to Agios Andrias with three of the others. Exactly, pictures to follow, video, we'll see.

Gaios

Konstantin, who, in addition to his work on the construction site, also cooked for us... Penne al aioli...

Cool guy who works with Dieter the first week and appreciates earning his money in such a peaceful and relaxed, natural environment. He misses his wife, who's picking him up today so they can spend a weekend together in Kalamata (where they live together). I like him because he's really a fine person ❤️

View of my work....