The first meeting this morning was very far away from our accommodation - at least 20 meters! After we left the hotel we crossed the main square to reach the city hall. Here we were cordially received and waited for the mayor who came shortly. He invited us into his office for some refreshments and of course Turkish chai (tea). He presented us a beautiful book about the city of Corlu, before giving a nice speech and holding the torch.

From the city hall we ran about 1 kilometer to the first school. Arriving at the school, we were immediately taken to the office of the principal for some more chai! The principal stressed the importance Turkey gives to the children and thanked us for bringing our message to them. He said: "You are making the world smaller, by crossing the barriers of culture and religion and bringing the message of friendship and harmony."

We made a dynamic presentation in front of the school where a few hundred children were already waiting and cheering.

We all received a tie that was part of the school uniform, it went very well with our running gear!

We ran around the schoolyard with the principal and the students and afterwards went to the kindergarten children. We sang the World Harmony Run song for them and they also sang for us. Very sweet!

We hurried on to Babaeski where we met with the children of another school. They presented us with a very nice bouquet of flowers. Unfortunately we had very little time to stay but the feeling of friendship definitely came across!

Our journey through Turkey is really coming to an end now. We had an absolutely wonderful time! Special thanks to our Turkish friends and organisers: Banu, Sahatvam and Husniye. They did a really great job with arranging the meetings and providing the team with whatever they needed. Thanks again, we will miss you and we will miss Turkey. It was the first time that the European part of the World Harmony Run entered Turkey and thus Asia. It was a real breakthrough and a great success! Our hearts of gratitude go also to all the Turkish children, officials, athletes and friends that we met the last six days. Your enthusiasm, hospitality and kindness we will not be able to forget! Next year the World Harmony Run will definitely come to Turkey again.

We had to run quickly to the border with Bulgaria. From the border we drove to Burgas - it was here that the two parts of the European team would reunite after a month running through different parts of Europe. The other team had already run this stretch so now we could just drive it. And we had to drive fast too, to make it in time for the ceremony in Burgas. We started running a little outside the city centre and reached the city hall after a few minutes. And there we saw our friends from the other team!! What a happy reunion! We joined the ceremony at the last moment and received a nice flower and a shirt from the deputy mayor of the city of Burgas. Afterwards we had a stroll to the Black Sea coast exchanging all our inspiring stories and adventures. We ate ice cream and had joy, joy and more joy!

---

Distance: 147km

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.

< Turkey 21 May < Ukraine 21 May

Turkey 27 November > Bulgaria 23 May >

Bulgaria 21 May