After finishing my Bachelor Degree in Educational Science in 1980 I left my home town of Dortmund and came to Ithaca to join the alternative community “Sarakiniko “
Here I lived with about 70 other people in an eco friendly environment.
I was focused on bee keeping, organic gardening and olive wood products. In the summertime I jobbed as a waitress or as a chamber maid in Vathy.
In 1986 I left Ithaca and went to the Canarian Islands/ La Palma where I ran my own restaurant business until 2003.
My son was born there in 1993.
After 16 years of hard work I decided to take a break from this busy lifestyle.
Ithaca was always on my mind. So I packed my belongings and travelled with my son to Ithaca.
The turquoise blue sea, the quiet nature and more quality time for me and my child, was very important at that time.
I opened a small shop in Vathy called Atlantida, where I sold organic food and Greek traditional art.
In 2009 we moved to Germany. My son finished High school and started studying at university.
I was called back to Odysseus homeland in 2015. Connecting with nature always makes me happier, healthier and smarter and I love to discover the island on foot.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
So you are old by the time you reach the island,
Wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
Not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
C.P. Cavafy, Ithaca, Collected Poems
Translated by Edmund Keeley/ Philip Sherrard
