These last few days in Thessaloniki has more or less been about trying to activate myself to see things, somehow it kind of feels like I've already left Greece and gone home to Sundbyberg, Sweden.
A part of me knows what will come of going home, it will roll back to routine and work. Don't get me wrong, that's not bad, I actually miss the guys and girls and my job, I miss my brother and my best friend Henrik and I miss Jennifer, my ex girlfriend who I hold very dear. But I will also miss the constant changes, when you reach a new town, the people and the spectacular sights I've seen.
You know this whole trip has reinforced my belief in two things, people and beauty.
The first part is that people are kind at heart, I despise racism and those who don't fight the easy road and judge masses of people by the actions or experiences of a few. What I have experienced on this trip is people who have walked with me for 10-20 minutes to show me the way to a hotel, people have called their english speaking relatives to come down just so I can order food, they have helped pushed the back of bike up 200 meter long alleyway with steps just to get me where I was going. They have offered shelter for my bike in the private homes and rushed up to me to help when I've fallen over. I've had two tough looking guys express genuine concern about my well being on the Road.
It reinforces my love for this quote, it's from the movie American History X;
So I guess this is where I tell you what I learned - my conclusion, right? Well, my conclusion is: Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time. It's just not worth it. Derek says it's always good to end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if you can't top it, steal from them and go out strong. So I picked a guy I thought you'd like. 'We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature
What I also have loved about this trip is the amount of beautiful things in this world, it can be a shabby house in a field of green grass, a snow covered mountain, a little turtle or flowers along the road, it can be an child smiling, a green lake in the clouds or a palm tree outside my hotel window.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if you think about it and don't let is pass you by it's everywhere, always, remember to live in the moment, not yesterday or tomorrow - that's probably the biggest thing I have experienced while on the road, that you feel awake and focused on the now, you don't dream ahead or think about things that has happened. At least I didn't do that.
Another of my favorite quotes is a fitting end to this post, I will make a summary of my days in Thessaloniki during Wednesday.
The quote is from American Beauty;
I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars... And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined our street... Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper... And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird... And Janie... And Janie... And... Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday.