I had to take the train from Passau to Pfarrkirchen to reach my next workaway. I was not so much nervous, but cautious of the workaway scheme. I’d spent a week in Galacia, Spain on my last workaway and it didn’t turn out the way I desired. I hoped this time would be better. I was keen to discover what Bavaria was all about.
It was also a good opportunity to ground myself. The chance to unpack my bag properly, lay my belongings out and live with a disciplined routine again. I felt the absence of a morning routine, involving a short workout and a strong breakfast.
It’s a little weird to roll out of a hostel bed and start performing press-ups and sit-ups at seven in the morning.
A disciplined diet is a whole new level of difficulty whilst travelling.
Bavaria. Knowing that English heritage comes from Saxony and attending Oktoberfest, I was sure there would be some common characteristics with local, traditional, warm-hearted pubs. Unfortunately, I was wrong and it was more beer tent vibes or modern-day clubs and bars.
Though, pub entertainment isn’t everything and I was at my new workaway to learn more about horses.
I speak in Latin to God, Italian to Women, French to Men, and German to my Horse.
– Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
According to our dear old Holy Roman Emperor, I was in the best place to work with horses and in fairness, I was walking horses out to pasture only three days into my stay.
I was cautious about working with the horses at first. These were only small, but could still tower over me if they desired.
Over time I built a connection with the horses and we learned to trust one another. It’s a funny thing building a connection with an animal other than humans.
Humans just talk, share experiences or tell jokes to create an initial connection. For all the brain-blowing science of talking, it’s a very simple method of communication.
With the animals, you need more than your voice. To give just a few examples, you need a calm demeanor, respect for both parties and an ability to tune into the spiritual frequencies.
“The Universe is one indivisible, dynamic whole in which energy and matter are so deeply entangled it is impossible to consider them as independent elements.”
– Bruce H. Lipton
Every day I cleaned the stables, and do you know what?
I enjoyed shovelling shit.
It was honest. We (humans) have taken horses out of their natural habitat and stuck them into a concrete building, so it’s only fair that we clean up after them. In the wild, horses designate an area to drop the kids off by the pool, and they graze on the rest of the grass.
They don’t have that choice in the stables. They literally shit where they eat.
A week into my stay I picked up a strange necessity for Bohemian Rhapsody – I think because the wifi was called “mama”.
I helped out a fair amount on my first week and didn’t take any days off. The man of the house, Gerhard, was sick and in hospital. Actually, this continued for a couple of worrying weeks.
Amongst cleaning the stables and caring for the horses, other chores would be picking apples, plums or helping around the house, cooking and cleaning, that sort of thing.
I also helped flatten ground with a wacker plate in preparation for a new paddock.
Bavaria’s Autumn landscape was incredibly beautiful. Fields surrounded by evergreens, neighbouring deciduous trees, shedding their fiery yellow, orange and brown leaves. The forests were truly magical. At first, I’d be inadvertently wandering amongst tall tall trees, completely surrounded by different shades of green, each footstep crunching on the moss-covered flooring, before reaching an entirely new personality of the forest, each footstep creating a rustle below in a circumambient Autumn Bayern forest.
Bavaria and Bayern are the same state, but I like to utilize the English and German spellings as the syllables allow sentences to flow fluently.
The forests weren’t all fairytale however, as many were cut down due to a recent infestation of bark beetles. Again due to the idiocy of human convenience, but I’ll save that rant for a later post.
In fact, I’ll leave this post here. I spent over seven weeks in Germany and so I have a lot more to tell.
The next story will involve a week working in Hannover.
