Saturday 30 June 2007

Blog: Greetings from Ostereich

I've arrived in Bad Ischl, thus completing 40% of my walk.
Having enterred the Alps, the scenery has picked up significantly. I am in the region called the Salzkammergut. It is a national park with lakes and mountains. It is still too early to make comments about Austrian people, they are helpful but perhaps not quite as friendly as the people in Bavaria. The section between Munich and Salzburg was one of the best simply because the people were so kind and generous. I got invited to camp in someone's back garden and had a BBQ of various kinds of "wurst"and some fish. I was sad to leave the next day but I know that if I don't keep going I'll never arrive in Istanbul.
Then in the village of Halfing, I was greeted by a myriad of locals in traditional costume: liederhosen for the men and pretty dresses and blouses for the ladies. I asked someone where I could get some bread and we started talking and he invited me to some chicken and a Radler in the beer tent. The villages were celebrating the 100th anniverary of Halfing's brotherhood(?) - an organisation originally set up to help people who were too ill, or unable to work and earn their own living.

Tomorrow I head south deeper into the Alps and to the World Heritage Site of
prehistoric Hallstatt.
Hopefully I'll get to the museum to see the painted skulls before it closes!

Sunday 17 June 2007

Into Bavaria

Two days ago I crossed a major geographical landmark: the Danube. I was already impressed by its size though in this part of Germany it is still relatively narrow, yet to be swollen by the Lech, Isar, Inn and several other rivers. Anyway, crossing the great European river marked my entrance into Bavaria and the land of onion domed towers and churches.
If my feet - and especially my little toe - have been pained by walking twenty miles (thirty kilometres) a day, I have been rewarded in heritage terms. For one day last week I followed the walking path of the German Limes: the Roman frontier that span the hilly hinterland between the Rhine and the Danube. I saw remains of several Roman watchtowers and had my first close encounter with a tick, which I managed to pick off before it started to bite.
The city of Gunzburg's Frauenkirche is a splender-house of Baroque exurberance. I am now in Augsburg, resting my toe and hoping that it recovers so I can make it to Munich.
The people are very kind here. As in the rest of Southern Germany they are a mixture of Protestant and Catholic, and many villages have two churches side by side to accomodate the two faiths. The food is getting more Italian, with various pasts based Swabian dishes on the menu. Finally, the German accent is softer and reminds me of Irish English!
Hopefully photos and another blog from Munich...

Wednesday 6 June 2007

Worms Cathedral


Prum church- stopping point on the Jacobsweg pilgrimage route


View from my tent in a campsite near Remouchamps, Belgium


Me celebrating with a beer after arriving at Beersel castle, next to Brussels


Rough camping in Germany: In a "closed" campsite in Bad Kreznach. Look at the sign!


Very cool doorway in flat flat Flanders, Belgium


My rucksac rests somewhere on the Pilgrim's Way, Kent


Hello from Mannheim

One month after setting off from London I have reached the great river Rhine.
Yesterday, I was in the old city of Worms with its beautiful Romanesque cathedral built in red
stone. Worms was the seat of Charlemagne's Empire and was a great centre of power throughout the Middle Ages. It's a great city, with large chunks of its city walls in tact. It was also the place where Luther made history by presenting his religious ideas to the Worms Diet or Parliament - an event that lead to the reformation in many German cities.
After history and great architecture yesterday, I passed the BASF industrial centre on the way down the Rhine. Mannheim is my first rest day for 200 miles. Amazingly, my blisters have healed and my feet are much better. The next challenge is going to be the heat.
Anyway, I'm making good progress, telling lots of Germans how I'm walking to Istanbul and
enjoying a great deal of the journey. Now I'll try and download some photos!

Paul