Sparbrücken - by devious means

As expected, today dawned grey and rainy.  We began the day with rain gear on, but fortunately by mid morning we were able to put it all away for the day.  

Today was a much easier day as none of the uphills were as steep as on previous days.  In fact, all in all, the inclines, both up and down were quite gentle.   That is not to say that the day was without adventures.
Passing the church as we leave Waldboeckelheim

Early this morning I lost the ability to open any emails, and so a phone call in the rain to Emrys, the downloading of an app, and sharing a screen with him resolved the problem  - some done under the umbrella while walking,  then the task being finished in a conveniently placed Hildegard shelter.  
In the rain
Edith has learnt the value of perching for a few minutes rest.

Edith set off walking on her own, and I followed 20minutes or so later.  I was really enjoying striding out on a flat road, checking out the electric fence surrounding several fields of newly sprouted grain - presumably to protect the crop from deer, or maybe pigs.  After a while, I became aware that Hildergard was absent, and had been for quite a while.  Checking the map, I discovered I had gone about a kilometre in the wrong direction.   Retracing my steps I eventually caught up with Edith,  and we headed into the village of Sponheim.  

Sponheim is an important village in Hildergard's story as it is here that Jutta looked after her from the age of 8.  Jutta was her teacher, a highly educated woman, who imparted her knowledge to the young Hildegard.  We were going to bypass the church, assuming it would be closed like almost every other one we had passed, but fortunately a lady stopped us and sent us in.  We were even able to get a stamp here, as well as have a sing.
Sponheim, with the church on the left

Part of the church and associated monastery 

After leaving the church our next adventure started.  We took a wrong turn, and rather than going back, we pushed on around a wheat field, eventually joining the track again.  But, we were tired, and so opted to catch a bus for the final few kilometres, arriving just before a big thunderstorm  - not a lot of rain,  but plenty of thunder.
Our diversion started off well, but then turned into a tiny track between the field and forest.
The church in Spabrücken, closed unfortunately because the priest is ill.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cambridge - again!

Image
Well, at the end of the last post I  said that my walking came to halt just before reaching the Red Lion Hotel.  In fact since that time I have only hopped, and only in the last two days!  Why?  Well.... This is long and tedious, with only a couple of photos, so don't feel compelled to read it.  I am trying to make it brief, but I know some people want the detail.  Last Saturday evening, a week ago, as I walked down the path on the side of the road, to the hotel, my feet went from under me.  I had slipped on a frozen puddle, which in a momentary lapse of concentration I failed to see.  My momentum, and the weight of my pack flipped me over like a turtle, but in the process my right arm and leg got stuck, while I continued to move.  The result? A broken wrist, and a broken ankle!  A passing dog walker stopped to offer help by carrying my pack, but I had a better idea when I saw someone get into a car opposite.   I asked him to a...
Read more

From Herrstein to Kirn - 14.5kms, our way!

Image
 Today was a much easier day, except for a long hill which seemed to go up, and up, and up. However, we had a very pleasant time, walking through forests, walking alongside fields of ripening grain, and best of all, walking alongside gurgling streams. I was even reminded of the verse from "The Happy Wanderer" - I love to wander by the stream, the gurgles in the sun ...." A couple of dog walkers, from Munich, having a rest. Having had a restorative nights sleep, a substantial breakfast, and made lunch from the leftovers (at our hosts suggestion), we were able to wander around the beautiful historical town of Herrstein, something we were incapable of doing last night.  It truly is a lovely town, as you can see from the photos.    The bendy beams! Having ambled along to our destination of Kirn, and arriving so early, we couldn't access our accommodation, we had a pick me up of a coke for me and a beer for Edith.  We had a delicious meal of a traditional German past...
Read more

Continuing to improve

Image
I don't have much of interest to report, as each of my days are spent moving from my room to the restaurant and back.  Having said that though, I have been meeting some interesting people.  I bailed up Gareth, a Welsh microscope salesman, telling him that I'm not usually so brazen, but would love his company while we ate.  I learnt that he trains people from all sorts of fields on microscopes, not just medical.   Once he was in Europe training people from a chocolate factory, as they investigated the cocoa beans they were using, and at another factory in Glasgow which was researching the biodegradable containers they were about to manufacture.   His hobby, with his telescope, was time lapse space photography.  The other night I met Jim and Lynn.  They were here for Lynn's Cochlear implant, which had been inserted before Christmas, and was to be turned on the next day. Then I met Jackie over breakfast, a retired physiotherapist,  who was ...
Read more