Trondheim (Nidaros) to Santiago de Compostela

[ksam]

Here's to a New Year and new adventures! Wishing you warmth at the end of each day! And smiles all along the way,
Karin

 

[lovingkindness]

Happy New Year, everyone. Greetings from Osnabrück

 

[lovingkindness]

....and a few photos....

 

[lovingkindness]

...and a few more...

 

[CaroleH]

Happy New Year LK . . . . enjoy the rest of your amazing epic pilgrimage . . .. and please continue to post.

 

[lovingkindness]

...and several more....

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 139 memorials in Osnabrück

 

[Anniesantiago]

Happy New Year!

Brrrrrrr!

 

[Sagalouts]

Hi L
can you please stop posting now its getting far too addictive you are giving me ideas I thought beyond my reach
respect Ian

 

[Anniesantiago]

:::slaps her hand over sagalouts mouth:::

Did you hear something? Nawwww... that was just the wind!
Keep posting! :lol:

 

[RestlessRose]

Lovingkindness,

Ian is right on 2 counts. (1) your blog is addictive. Even when I was travelling and had no access to the web, all I could think of was "where wld LK be and what wld she be experiencing". Could not wait to be online to follow your journey (2) your journey has given me ideas I had not thot possible. Actually I believe it has given a number of us on this forum ideas !!!

I took particular interest in the topics "Caminos in Germany and sourrounding countries" and "Choices in Amsterdam" and I have been thinking ......

So LK, pls pls continue to post and share your beautiful journey with us. So we can dream and maybe for some of us, our dreams may come true.

 

[ksam]

:lol: Too funny...LK you've got all of us thinking and dreaming...and perhaps as Ian said..of things we never thought we'd think of trying! I'm looking at maps and thinking far ahead...and thanks for that!

Brrr those pics are chilly looking! You want to borrow some snow shoes...I'll pop over and give 'em too you! Stay warm! Karin

 

[lovingkindness]

Days 128 to 140 ....zero to minus ten below.....
I think I must be hibernating. The part of me that ‘rabbits on’ like a cracked record (that careers wildly off-track in every conversation enabling me to construct meticulously precise but insanely long tangents, causing others to wilt and eyes to glaze and only the truly faithful to stick around) seems to have frozen. When I sit down to write I produce nothing but slush and all the lovely things that have occurred in a day disappear. It’s not that I don’t want to write or that I don’t make time, I do. Every day I try but I find I just can’t.

For weeks I have been ploughing through snow and viewing frozen expanses and I think that a part of my brain has suddenly hunkered down and switched into survival mode. It has eliminated the crazy, creative side of my thought life and left me hyper alert but still.
- --- --- ---
-- --- --- ---
---
---
---------- ------------- ---- Lovingkindness

 

[Caminando]

Lovely.

Seems like a walking meditation which slides into an extended epiphany.

You communicate much by insisting little.

Walk well.

 

[lovingkindness]

Days 140 to 143 Lengerich via Schmedehausen to Münster
From Osnabrück to Münster the Jacobsweg coincides with the historic Westfälischer Friede-Weg 1648, the route taken by the freedom riders announcing Peace. -L

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 143 Greetings from Münster
The end of the Via Baltica

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 144 ...out and about in Münster
5 C ǀ 12 C
Current: Light rain
Wind: SW at 14 km/h
Humidity: 82%

Greetings from the Münster Friedensaal (Hall of Peace) where S. Jacob de Gr. has pride of place beneath a portrait of Ferdinand Ernst Count Walnstein, one of 37 Sovereigns and Envoys involved in the negotiations which ended the 30 Years War (1648). S. Jacob de Gr. and Ferdinand E. also share this hallowed space with an assortment of biblical characters, classical muses and tourists, a golden goblet in the shape of a rooster, a mouldering satin slipper and a severed, mummified hand –fingernails, bones and sinews intact (not a religious relic). In the foyer next door is a quilt honouring Peace and on the steps outside wailing and strumming for all he’s worth, is one of Münster’s finest.
-Lovingkindness

 

[lovingkindness]

...

 

[lovingkindness]

.....

hey Caminando, friend. Where did the lovely words disappear to???????????????????????????????? -LK :?:

 

[Caminando]

.....

hey Caminando, friend. Where did the lovely words disappear to???????????????????????????????? -LK :?:

PM! And words restored....

 

[ksam]

So my dear...those are marzipan piggies are they not!???! Looks like your having a good time here again...since your in that neighborhoot...Westphalian Schinken!! Yummmmmm Haven't had any this year...the local purveyors were out! So you must eat some for me! Besides..you need those calories more in the cold! I think of you when I walk out in the snow here, all without a pack on my back! Be safe and Gute Reise!

 

[lovingkindness]

Hey, Ksam.
Weather for Münster, Germany
6°C
Current: Cloudy
Wind: SW at 18 km/h
Humidity: 70%

I'm having a delightful time here in Münster staying with the Arnsteiner Patres (Fathers) in Bohlweg. They are such kindly, interesting men and great conversationalists which is just as well, because I can talk the hind leg off an Esel. I have an upper room all to myself, there's an Ethiopian in the room next door and In the cellar there's a piano. What more can a good girl want? -L

 

[Canuck]

Which one do you prefer, the Ethiopian or the piano?

 

[lovingkindness]

Which one do you prefer, the Ethiopian or the piano?

The Esel of course. Then I could tie the Ethiopian and the piano on to it's back along with all my gear, plus a big tent so that all the Arnsteiners could come along too ....and that would be a very fine thing. L

 

[ksam]

Vorsicht! You'll wind up with an entire caravan! You could be one of the Wise Folk??? :shock:

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 146 Münster to Hebern, 30 kilometres...

 

[lovingkindness]

...

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 148 on the way to Lünen...

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 148 Overnighting in Lünen.
As a pilgrim on the move I often notice others living on the peripheries of society and wonder at the journey which has lead them there. So when I was offered an opportunity to spend the night with the homeless I said Yes. I had arrived in town without pre-booking accommodation and decided to ask about Pilgern Unterkunft at the Diakonie Büro. When I produced my Pilgrims Passport they saw that in Norway I had slept in the forests and train stations and thought I might have the courage to consider the Dach über dem Kopf e.V. shelter.

I hiked a few kilometres out of town and not far from the Jacobsweg found a council house by a bridge. There I waited in the drizzling gloom along with several others. At 5.40 pm the Hausmeister arrived and gave us a fantastic welcome. For 20 years Herr XYZ has worked with the homeless. He is a cheerful, relaxed man and exudes pleasantness and calm. He introduced me to the men then found a room where I could sleep by myself. He scouted around and produced a new mattress, a new duvet and pillow then set about cleaning a bathroom just for me. It was fun and very special.

Herr XYZ sleeps on the premises. He assured me that I needn’t be afraid. Usually women and men are housed separately but in this instance he had agreed with the Diakonie, it would be OK for an adventurous Pilgerin to stay. The floors were covered in Linoleum, the shower had hot, hot water and downstairs in the kitchen and lounge were all the utensils and company a Peregrina could want, just like a five-star Albergue.

The next morning after an excellent night’s sleep the men and I had breakfast together. We chatted about this and that over coffee and then I sang them a song. It was an extraordinary experience and one I won’t easily forget. At 9 am I hefted my pack and was out the door ‘on the dot’, ready to face the world.
-Lovingkindness

 

[Caminando]

Yes.

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 149 on the way to Dortmund:
Ninety-three days on flat land and finally the terrain has begun to change. Today I ascended a gentle rise and saw a tree-covered mound in the distance. The temperature has risen, the snow has gone and it has been raining incessantly. It is still too cold to brave the elements in flimsy attire but I am tempted. All about is mud and muck and spending hours encased in Gortex is vexatious.

Now that the paths are clear of snow I am once again attempting to follow the Jacobsweg rather than bicycle paths. From Münster heading south the historic Jacobsweg is the quickest route between destinations. It is a motorway (B54). The modern Jacobsweg on the other hand is full of curves and tangents and sometimes double the distance. Both are predominantly tarmac. Leaving Lünen I intended taking the longer, scenic route but after Bretchen Kirke lost the signs. After two hours of motorway walking I staggered into Dortmund a sodden mess. I headed into the town centre to the PIlger Zentrum office and here I was greeted and welcomed in excellence style.
-Lovingkindness

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 152 Dortmund to Herdecke...crossing the Ruhr

 

[lovingkindness]

...

 

[lovingkindness]

On the way to Gevelsberg

 

[lovingkindness]

Days 153 & 154
In Deutschland the people are so kindly that not only do they provide shelter for homeless people and pilgerins they provide housing for homeless birds as well. As the Jacobsweg wends its way through mulching leaves in the forested foothills above Gevelsberg it lights upon a place named Vogelsang. Here every bird has a well-appointed hut with a glossy ‘street’ number painted on front. Just beyond a bend and a twist one finds the pilgerfreundlichhaus of the Familie Fröhlich , and once you have overnighted in delightful repose, eaten home-baked pies with coffee & cream, had omelette & kartofel with smoked salmon and greens, if the Heavens conspire and schedules permit, down in the Rathaus by a new part of town you may meet the honourable Herr Jacobi, Bürgermeister.
-Lovingkindness

 

[ksam]

With a name like Frohliche it stands to reason that you had a fabulous visit! That really is a hoot!

And the staircase on day 153...my idea of a stairway to heaven!! Thanks again, und Gute Reise! Karin

 

[CaroleH]

LK, love the "honey for a song" and "mini hotel" . . . . . beautiful images! Thanks for sharing.

Buen camino. Carole

PS You've inspired me to try different things with my camera.

 

[lovingkindness]

thanks Ksam & CarolH

Days 155 to 159 eine Pause in Wuppertal ...5 days and nights of luxury in a lovely old town house with a sauna in the basement, a gigantic bath on floor 2, and 81 year old Horst pearched up on floor 3 plying me with chocolates, cakes and goodwill. [Courtesy of a friendly Danish couple I chanced upon in October along the Haervejen Trail]

 

[lovingkindness]

...the very tame adventures of a backsliding pilgrim......

 

[lovingkindness]

...

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 161
When I was a girl I loved to dream and lose myself. I’d meander along winding paths within the pages of an old Family Atlas cycling and hitching to unusual places. I’d float down the Nile and cross entire continents in a mystical phantastical second. I never walked, I was too lazy.Then, when I’d had enough of that I’d set about constructing a hidey-hole out of rugs and chairs and a great nest out of cushions and pillows and laze for hours inside the stuffy gloom. I’d spend my pocket money on chocolate and sticky sweets, pilfer biscuits and puddings from the kitchen then eat and read by the light of a tinny torch.

It is now night number One Hundred and Sixty-One on my epic trek across the World and not a lot has changed in my habits. I am more than half way to geriatrica & SantiaGoDc and and I am still doodling over maps and imagining exotic twists and turns and escapes. I am still constructing beds out of chairs and cushions and consuming vast quantities of fatty food and sweets. Tonight I am sleeping on the floor in a beautiful elegantly designed Gemeinde Haus. It has a kitchen, a toilet and a piano. A religious fantasy in bluish pink swims across the walls and a tropical tree wilts in the corner. I have just discovered that if one upends five padded lounge seats and places the backrests neck to neck there is just enough space between the forest of legs and armrests for an overweight peregrina to wriggle in and sleep. And if I stuff all my smelly clothes and Gortex and plastic shopping bags in the crevices and gaps between the edges then there is not much difference in the dark between this comfy construction and a four poster bed.

Lovingkindness

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 162
Sometimes there is nothing to say, absolutely nothing at all; and as Nothing rolls and curves in an undulating stream what lurks beneath begins to surface. I am now in Bergische Land distracted and struggling, heaving and slithering through mud and slime. After five days living it up in Wuppertal I have forgotten how to be a pilgrim. My emotions are in disarray and yesterday I spent all day wallowing. I have forgotten why I set out on this jaunt and could easily just head home.
-L :|

 

[Anniesantiago]

I've been worried about you... well, not worried, more like wondering how you are... what you are doing... how you are faring?

I think it's ok for a peregrina who has walked for over 90 days to feel a little weary and take a day or two to rest...

You are continually in my prayers...

Try thinking of things that make you laugh, the little kindnesses that people showed you, the goodness of the world... it will uplift you, and once you are again traveling 'downstream' you will feel better... that's what Esther says...

 

[CaroleH]

LK, maybe you just need a little time to get back into the swing of your pilgrimage. Be kind to yourself and remember that it's always hard to restart after a break. . . . or maybe you need a longer break?

Sending you heaps of positive thoughts. :?
Carole

 

[Kitsambler]

You've been struggling so long - and yet the end is still so distant. Is there an intermediate goal that can shine a light on your journey? Or a good book that can lift your spirits?

We are all holding you in our hearts. Go gently.

 

[nellpilgrim]

Thinking of a younger you 'making camp' made me smile and recall similar childhood expeditions. Being able to share, at least vicariously, the realisation of some of those adventures has been a real privilege. Whatever road you decide to take over the next few days, onwards or homewards (& after all don't those sometimes turn out to be the same) we'll be thinking of you.
N

 

[Sagalouts]

I and all of the posters have been where you are now,all I can say is that I would rather be in the mud and the slime where you are than sat in front of my computer here, waiting and planning for my next Camino,if by now you have moved on great if not-da nada take a break a drink a long hot bath whatever you can still be a pilgrim sitting in one place.
besos Ian

 

[ksam]

Ditto Ditto Ditto...all my fellow readers here! Just as AnnieS said...I too was getting a tad concerned! This is a rather bleak winter...we just got another 12.5 inches on Wednesday..and it's snowing here again! Maybe make each section a bit shorter...rather like the winter days are!?! Wishing you the best as you slog along towards ?? a decision or a destination.

Having just gotten laid off this afternoon...I'd give anything, well just about anything, to be over there and walking. Thanks for allowing me to peak over you shoulder! <<HUG>> Karin

 

[pat.holland]

LK, firstly be assured you are not alone on your walk. There are, it is clear, many of us who are walking it with you through your words and beautiful photographs. Every time the email comes in with the last 24 hours of posts I look to see is there a message there from you and then look up at the map of the camino on the wall to imagine where you are. You have friends with you as you walk.

even with instant transmission, I do not know how you are. ARe you stopped or have you continued your Camino. As a pilgrim, I would emotionally want you to continue because I know how strong that pull to Santiago and Finisterre is and yet rationally, finishing may not be the end you intended (no pun intended!)

the end intended, I would respectfully suggest, is whatever change or target you wanted to get to when you started. what did you want from the walk? What change did you want to make? What did you want to get away from ? If these questions can be answered then, yes, maybe you have finished your walk.

On the other hand maybe those nights and days away from the constant routine of the tramp tramp of the feet have given your body a chance to feel the 'good life' of heat and warm and it is hard to go back on the road.

Either way the choice is yours, and please feel supported in which ever way you decide. After all this walk is not a sentence, we can all stop when it feels right

 

[Caminando]

Hi LK

I think of 'Desiderata' where it says something like, "much comes from fatigue and being solitary". On a camino of mine, I had to rest for a while. It was the right thing to do. I forget the Christian writer who spoke of 'the dark night of the soul'. This too will pass.

And consider this - imagine going home now, on a brief impulse; you risk regret and a sense of incompleteness. The low and reduced light of winter can and does drain us. But change is coming soon because.....

Spring is coming - I know, for today I've seen shoots pushing through; I could hear Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring' in my head. With spring will come a reaffirmed energy and optimism for you. It will be warmer, and with the sun, you will be renewed. The dark northern forests of Germany will soon gave way to the brighter woods of France.

Light is all.

 

[lovingkindness]

Liebe Forum Freunde, Thank you for your caring words and sympathetic response. I am sorry for causing concern. Tomorrow I will walk. I will put on my muddy boots. I will heft my soul and ‘hack my way out’ until the jungle within disappears. Yours sincerely……

 

[Anniesantiago]

Enjoy your rest! We will continue to lift you up in our thoughts!

 

[domidum]

I am french and i don t speak english very well, but every days i am looking forum to know where you are and if you go on.
I ve gone to santiago from LePuy but it was easier than you because i walked 3 weeks every year.
i should like to walk so long as you!
i hope all is ok for you .
Thank you because for me you are like a freedom dream in my life.

 

[Caminando]

You write very well, Dom. Welcome.

 

[Caminando]

Hi LK

There is only understanding, and no pressure at all. Be sorry for nothing. It's a hard time of year, and it's long, but you are doing brilliantly.

Here comes the sun! (well, eventually).

Step light and easy.

Liebe Forum Freunde, Thank you for your caring words and sympathetic response. I am sorry for causing concern. Tomorrow I will walk. I will put on my muddy boots. I will heft my soul and ‘hack my way out’ until the jungle within disappears. Yours sincerely……

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 170 Hello there,
The ‘fog has lifted’ and I am plodding through a washed out world. I have climbed out of Bergische Land and am walking on the flats beside the Rhein. Here are a few photos to fill in the gaps. Cheers, Lovingkindness

 

[lovingkindness]

on the way Cologne

 

[lovingkindness]

...und eine Ruhetag or two or three....

 

[lovingkindness]

Days 167 & 168 ...and so to Bonn....

 

[lovingkindness]

...

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 169 leaving Bonn....

 

[ksam]

Hi LK...your moving along well! Thoroughly enjoying your pics as always. Until this forum, and specifically, your trip...I'd never given thought to the Heilige Geist 'spittal in Nurnberg...near my grandparents apt. I suddenly realise...it was probably for pilgrims! May have to do more tromping around there one of these days.

I realize your probably asleep as I type this...so sending you wishes for a good rest and tomorrow eine Gute Reise! Karin

 

[Lillian Rodriguez]

Hello lovingkindness,
I have been silently enjoying your posts admiring your strength and determination to undertake a long and hard, yet beautiful winter camino. I've also enjoyed your excellent photographs taken with the Sony Nex 5. Seems like an excellent choice for my next camino. Are you carrying the 18-55mm zooom only?

Sending good vibrations your way for you to hold on, you've come a long way pilgrim!

Ultreia & suseia! :arrow:

 

[Caminando]

Ultreia & suseia! :arrow:

Hi LR
Nice to see your ultreia & suseia above - I haven't seen (or heard )that for quite a while...

 

[lovingkindness]

in reply...
*Hi there Ksam. In Lübeck there is also a Heilge Geist Hospital (est. 13th century). Close by is an old pilgrims hospice (1365) where frescoes of St Jacobi were recently discovered.

*Hi there Lillian R. I have just had a look at your webpages. What fantastic photos. I particularly liked ‘Skies’ and 'Photoshop' and your photos using the Fractilus lens. Such stunning colours. All day I am staring at snow and washed-out scenes. Yours are dazzling in contrast.

I’m not sure which lens is on my camera. It’s the one which came with it when I purchased it (I could go up three flights and have a look but I haven’t the energy, sorry). I just point and shoot. I never seem to find time to develop beyond that. I don’t have other lenses or camera gear. There isn’t room in my rucksack. I carry the camera in a small canvas zip-up bag around my waist (€10 in a handbag shop), under my coat to keep it warm. In freezing temperatures the battery life is less. The Nex 5 is bigger than I would prefer. Also, it takes a very long time to switch on. This is frustrating as spontaneous shots are lost.

*Thanks, Caminando and everyone else for your kind words.

Ciao. Lovingkindness

 

[lovingkindness]

Days 169 to 171... from Bonn to Neuwied
... some days I walk on the river flats, other days on The Rheinstieg Trail -a high-level path traversing hills, farmland and forests. Occassionally The Rheinstieg descends to quaint villages below. A new Jacobsweg is being developed along the Rhein River and a guide book will be published this year. -L

 

[lovingkindness]

...

 

[lovingkindness]

...

 

[ksam]

River maiden...Die Lorelei?? God does that bring back memories!!! :shock: Had to learn that damn poem in High School, and got called that by my family, because of long hair as a teen!! :lol: Good lord how I hated her!!

Read you comment about just pointing and shooting with your camera...all I can say is you've got the most amazing instincts then! I really do hope you put together a coffe table book when your done...I really want to see them bigger than I'm able to view here on the forum.

I know what you mean about the sort of washed out quality of everything with the snow and the gray light...but those of us in the northern climes so totally appreciate it when spring does finally arrive. You will just get blown over when things begin to warm...and it's coming ... soon!!

Buen Camino, Karin

 

[lovingkindness]

...

 

[lovingkindness]

Days 172 to 176 Schoenstatt to Festung Ehrenbreitstein
...10 kilometers in 5 days, a personal best!

 

[lovingkindness]

....

 

[KiwiNomad06]

I am glad you are doing some dawdling..... there is a lot to see and appreciate in this area if you are in a 'zone' to do it. And all long trips need some dawdling...
Margaret
PS Sunny here today, and shouldn't tell you really, but I am off to the outdoor pool at the Lido for a swim!!!

 

[lovingkindness]

hi there, Margaret.
There are so many directions one can go from in this part of the world that I seem to have drowned in procrastination...... L.

 

[oylero]

Guten Abend, LK ☺
I’m glad you share your lovely and interesting pictures, some words – and it’s very exciting to follow your steps and choice of track. First I thought you might try the new Eifelcamino from Namedy or Miesenheim and West (again). But you maybe don’t choose the ”Mosel” either, from Koblenz to Trier. I can see there are some possibilities… You may go further south.
Well, as long as you post (! - please) now and then, I will wait in excitement. Thanks a lot, or “tusen takk” as we say in Norway

God bless!
Oyvind

 

[Lillian Rodriguez]

hello lk!

Glad to see Mother Nature answered your comments about the snow and the washed-out scenes and is opening up skies to beautiful blues! Take the time to enjoy your once in a lifetime camino and and the many possibilities available along the way!

Regards from a sunny Caribbean,

 

[Gilla]

Lk where are you???
please keep posting we miss you!!!!

 

[ksam]

Hmmm :idea: What say we all chip in and buy a GPS thingy and sew it into her bag!! Then we can know for sure where she is!! Of course that won't give us her beautiful pictures and prose...nor will it tell is that she's ok...but as long as it's moving...we can assume that she is!!

LK...hope all is well and your just quietly making headway! Buen Camino mi amiga!! Gute Reise, meine Freundin!! :arrow:

Karin

 

[lovingkindness]

sorry, no internet access in the forest Now where did i get to....... I think I was stuck in Koblenz.....

Day 176 [Koblenz]: Planning my next Step
or How I came to eat three gourmet dinners in a day.

Possibilities:
a) I could continue down The Rhein to Rudesheim and immerse myself in the fantasies and mystical visions of Hildegard von Bingen (date) – NB: scalped and hacked to pieces then packaged for prayerful adoration throughout Germania.
b) I could acquaint myself with Martin Luther & God’s Divine Grace and visit the mighty cathedral in Worms and see for myself the oldest Jewish Friedhof in Europe. [That would make a colourful story, I could take lots of interesting photos]
c) If I choose this route it will take me another year to get to Santiago dC because after Worms I’d walk to Speyer then through the forests and across the way and after a while I’d find my way to Taize [NB if I get to Taize should I choose the Rule of Silence or sing part-songs for a week? And how do I cope with the thousands of others who might be there at the same time as me?]
d) But once I’d gone that far- I know myself -I’d find myself making further plans and one day, after Silence and Songs I’d escape on a trail to Italy….Greece……
e) I wander how one walks from Jerusalem to Santiago de Compostela ?
f) [I am now sitting at a piano playing Preludes and Fughettas and 2-part Inventions]. If I took off down the Rhein I could write convoluted tales on how the Universe evolved from a single Tone, applying the concepts of Schenkarian analysis [which really only works well on post-Monteverdi/ pre-Wagnerian scores] to the myriad of religious systems and interpretations of systems in this world and hopefully get to their source. I would have oodles of time to construct my own theory of God and convert the whole world to my thinking, but why bother? Why add another system of rituals and meditation to the explosion of do-it-yourself/do-it-together-or do-it-my-way spirituality out there?
g) What is the fastest route home?
h) What is Home? Can one be abstractly at Home whilst in continual motion? Can one be abstractly in continual motion whilst at home yet still hoping for Home? Can one be continually abstract and hopelessly motioning in hope of a Home but never find one?
i) ?

 

[oylero]

Your writings are so fascinating! I think you really are at home – in your heart, and will never leave it. Sitting by the piano, hear you playing, would have been larger than life. But sitting in Norway imagining is not too bad. A pity you won’t pass Taizé (but Luther isn’t worth you visiting Worms :twisted: ) Buen Mosel-Camino!
i) The mass is your home

Ultreia,
Oyvind

 

[Kitsambler]

I think the journey is your home - the place where you are most comfortable and need never explain yourself. Just as it was once the case that "All roads lead to Rome", for you I think "All roads lead to Santiago DC".

I wish for you light on your path

Immer wieder!

 

[lovingkindness]

...

 

[lovingkindness]

Days 177 to 185 …den rechts nach…
I am now following the Mosel Camino, a spectacular route coinciding at times with the Moselhöhenweg. It is a well-marked trail passing through towering forests by dry-stone walls between vertical vineyards on ancient terracing up grand inclines and rocky descents to castles and Fachwerke villages. Pilger Unterkunft is mostly* in pensions, guesthouses, 5 star hotels and palaces but in summer perhaps one might recline on terraced slopes or under the trees by the clucky birds or get sloshed every day on local wines but not at this moment because everything is closed.
- Lovingkindness.

* in Traben-Trarbach there is a lovely new Pilger Herberge in the Alte Lateinschule.

 

[lovingkindness]

...

 

[lovingkindness]

....

 

[lovingkindness]

Once upon a Siesta, in a time that now seems surreal, when the Plains in The South were suffused with flowers and my mind awash in colour, I met a Pilgerman (married,unavailable). He spun and weaved a pretty tale of golden arrows and muschel shells, of roosting boughs and nesting spots and ‘albergues’ for flitting sparrows. He told of Vögel abodes which he’d lovingly made and Camino signs most quaintly placed to guide the way for homing birds and pilgrims. So, one day in the swirling mist I left the Rhein to follow a whim and ‘fly’ with the birds to see for myself his birdy caprice. And when I got to Bruder-Tönnes-Hügel arrows and conch shells lept through the haze from dozens and dozens of bird boxes and trees but my camera just couldn’t seem to see it.
-Lovingkindness

 

[ksam]

Hurray!! Sie sind schon wieder hier! Hmmm I'd vote Rudesheim, if only for the Kaffee!!! A friend made some for me after a long hike last weekend..delicious! Love the picture of the gnarly green tree! Wishing you warm winds to blow you onward...where ever you decide! Karin

 

[lovingkindness]

Hi there & Hey. It is snowing again so I'm huddling by a heater in an internet cafe playing 'cathup with the photos'. Ich wuenche Ihnen einen Guten Tag (My latest new phrase auf Deutsch). Tschuess! -LK

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 185 Monzel to Schweich

 

[lovingkindness]

Day 186 Schweich to Trier (the end of the Mosel Camino)

 

[lovingkindness]

Trier!

Koblenz /\../\../\=========/\../\../\ Alken /\./\../\=========Treis-Karden /\/\=====/\../\../\============/\./\./\Engelport Kloster...Bullay.........Kaimt.....Traben-Trarbach....Monzel ....Schweich /\/\/\/\/\/\/\===============/\../\/\../\ Trier!

 

[jl]

Oh Lovingkindness - your hindrance has been our blessing - we get to see more lovely photos! Thank you and go well. Janet

 

[CaroleH]

Your photos take us along with you, past vineyards and churches and bird houses with yellow arrows showing the 'way'. I can almost feel the "mist on those mountains"......

Buen camino Lk. Stay warm. Carole.

 

[lovingkindness]

EARTHQUAKE
IN CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND....friends...?

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Lovingkindness, the quake is very serious and there are a lot of casualties. 65 confirmed killed today, and at least 200 trapped. The number of the dead is expected to rise. There is a huge amount of damage to buildings.
Here in PN I didn't feel anything, but the people of Christchurch are on everyone's minds and hearts.
Margaret

 

[ksam]

God it's good to see you on here too Margaret! Your blog was the first thing I checked when I woke up this morning. Will have to add all of NZ to my pray for on the Camino list!

LK...wonderful pictures as always, und ihr Deutsch is doch sehr gut! Sorry to warn you a few more snow squalls may be coming across the ocean at you..we got another three inches this morning. :roll:

Buen Camino all, Karin

 

[lovingkindness]

Thanks, Margaret & Ksam

 

[lovingkindness]

In NZ it is often said that there are so few Kiwis in this world that when two meet it takes only seconds to establish that we are Iwi, family. Sometimes it takes a little longer but then it transpires that we share friends of friends of friends and the man next door is related to one of our work colleagues who just happens to be family to that girl in the news and her boyfriend was a cousin of my great-aunt’s stepson who lives in Bluff. With so many deaths and missing persons in Christchurch we are all suffering. My heart is very much with you down there, the NZders on this Forum and others elsewhere. My immediate family are fine.-Lovingkindness

 

[lovingkindness]

Days 191 on the way to Perl

 

[LTfit]

Thanks Lovingkindness for your continued sharing, I am another one of your groupies :wink: !

Curious, what route are you now following or do you plan to meander along the Moselle into France?

I hope that the day is not so dreary and wet as it is here today!

Cheers,
LT