The whole point of doing a pilgrimage - or, for that matter, of going on holiday - is to bring back something with you into your daily life. A new outlook on life, distance to everyday turmoil, is probably the main goal. So we have our little escapes. Some of them are culinary. Not every day has enough time to cook something special, but we try to on most weekends. We try to recapture tastes we liked. Some will be forever unattainable, like a tirami su we were served in a small, probably old, roadside trattoria not too far from Bologna. First we had tagliatelle bolognese (no, the original is not with spaghetti), then dessert, zuppa inglese and the said tirami su. I vowed not to eat any other until I couldn't remember this one clearly any more. It was that good.
But further north, still in the mountains, we were served polenta with different types of goulash. I tried to re-create these a few times, and last Sunday, I was successful. Here's the recipe:
Meat Stew "Monte Peller"
(serves 3-4)
Ingredients:
1 Tbs butterfat
1 pound stew beef, not too lean
5 spareribs
1 medium sized onion, finely diced
4 carrots, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
fresh herbs (I used lovage and thyme)
pepper and allspice, freshly ground
pinch of salt
1/2 cup water, more if needed
for the roux:
3 Tbs Butterfat
3 Tbs flour
1/2 cup rosé wine
water as needed
Preparation:
Heat the butterfat in a large pot. Brown the spareribs, take them out, then brown the beef in two portions to get a crisp crust. Take the meat out, then brown the onions. Put all meat back in, then the carrots and the herbs. Season and toss, then add the water. Cover and let simmer over low heat for an hour, then add the bell pepper and let simmer for another half hour. Make sure there's always some liquid left.
Drain into a coarse sieve, collect the fluid. To make the sauce, you can boil the fluid to make it thicken, but that might give very little in the end and takes a lot of time. Or you can make a roux:
Melt the butterfat in a skillet over medium heat. Add the flour and stir well. It should make a ball that leaves a sticky residue as it is moved about in the skillet. Add the fluid from the stew, a little at a time, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add the wine in like manner. Cold liquids must be added more slowly than warm ones to avoid lumps. Add water do make a thickly sauce. Normally, no additional seasoning is needed.
Put the meat and vegetables back into the sauce and serve the stew with polenta.
Monte Peller is a peak in the Brenta Dolomites, where we tasted this type of dish for the first time.
Thanks to Mary and Jason for their help in setting the recipe up.
Dienstag, 16. August 2011
Samstag, 13. August 2011
What makes this special II
But what drives us on and on has become something different: it's people's reaction to us, the encounters we live.
People generally have seen backpackers before, but generally, these are young adults. A family hiking long-distance together is much rarer. Not so much on the well-traveled E5/Via Alpina, but almost everywhere else, the four of us are such an unusual sight that people stop and ask us where we come from and where we go.
And of course, nothing feels as good as people being positively interested in what you're doing... So we tell our tale, basking in people's attention and admiration. Quite a lot of people have asked us to pray for them to St. Francis when we arrive in Assisi, and I've noted every one of them. Of some of them, I don't even know the name, so I will pray "for the lady at the tabacchio where we bought the bus tickets into Bologna", for example.
It's not that I believe that praying for them will actually change something in their lives, but I find it important to keep my promises. Doing the pilgrimage changes something in my, in our lives. I feel enriched by the many, many encounters, with people, with landscapes, with cuisine, with history and customs... and perhaps talking to us gives people an idea that some unusual ideas can actually be put into practice. Perhaps we can enrich their lives, too.
People generally have seen backpackers before, but generally, these are young adults. A family hiking long-distance together is much rarer. Not so much on the well-traveled E5/Via Alpina, but almost everywhere else, the four of us are such an unusual sight that people stop and ask us where we come from and where we go.
And of course, nothing feels as good as people being positively interested in what you're doing... So we tell our tale, basking in people's attention and admiration. Quite a lot of people have asked us to pray for them to St. Francis when we arrive in Assisi, and I've noted every one of them. Of some of them, I don't even know the name, so I will pray "for the lady at the tabacchio where we bought the bus tickets into Bologna", for example.
It's not that I believe that praying for them will actually change something in their lives, but I find it important to keep my promises. Doing the pilgrimage changes something in my, in our lives. I feel enriched by the many, many encounters, with people, with landscapes, with cuisine, with history and customs... and perhaps talking to us gives people an idea that some unusual ideas can actually be put into practice. Perhaps we can enrich their lives, too.
Montag, 4. Juli 2011
What makes this special I
You may ask: why take the trouble and do all this on foot? After all, there are, on the one hand, guided pilgrimages whith a lot of qualified information and spiritual guidance. On the other hand, if that's a little too much, why not take the trip by car and stop at all the interesting places? Or take the bicycle, which allows to make some 100 km a day and not just 20-30, depending on the terrain.
Well, it's simply not the same. On foot, everything moves at an almost leisurely pace. Almost, because it can be strenous, especially uphill. It mustn't bee too much, because if you begin too fast, you can't keep that up all day. So there generally is a lot of time to talk about all that you never have time to talk about during the year. Daddy has explained quite a lot of physics to the kids, and Sonny could make up a whole fantasy game world in his mind. OK, some passages are so narrow and difficult you have to walk single file, but every day, there are a few gravel or little-traveled paved roads that make conversation at least in twos possible.
And of course, on foot you can reach beautiful places in the mountains that are inacessible to vehicle travel, such as the Malga Spora in the Dolomitit di Brenta picutred above. Simple accomodation, but a spaghetti bolognese we'll never forget. The only other way to get to many such places is by helicopter, and for the general public, that means you had an accident or a medical emergency and the only direction is down to the nearest hospital... luckily we were spared that.
Well, it's simply not the same. On foot, everything moves at an almost leisurely pace. Almost, because it can be strenous, especially uphill. It mustn't bee too much, because if you begin too fast, you can't keep that up all day. So there generally is a lot of time to talk about all that you never have time to talk about during the year. Daddy has explained quite a lot of physics to the kids, and Sonny could make up a whole fantasy game world in his mind. OK, some passages are so narrow and difficult you have to walk single file, but every day, there are a few gravel or little-traveled paved roads that make conversation at least in twos possible.
And of course, on foot you can reach beautiful places in the mountains that are inacessible to vehicle travel, such as the Malga Spora in the Dolomitit di Brenta picutred above. Simple accomodation, but a spaghetti bolognese we'll never forget. The only other way to get to many such places is by helicopter, and for the general public, that means you had an accident or a medical emergency and the only direction is down to the nearest hospital... luckily we were spared that.
Samstag, 4. Juni 2011
Equipment
The most important about equipment is: finding a good supplier. I'm not going to give an internet address, because many things needed cannot be bought online. Oh, they're sold there all right. But for a pair of shoes, a rucksack or rainwear that you keep on daily for two weeks or more, heavily loaded, you need a qualified salesperson. We learned it the hard way, we had to buy a few things twice.
Now we've found a supplier who is a mountaineer himself and who really takes his time to find the right stuff for us. He made Dad try on four rucksacks before he was satisfied, and that choice was absolutely right. Only after that did Mom realize how lucky she had been with her rucksack bought in a sports department store, which fits well, too.
So the most important advice I have is: Test yourself and your equipment on day or weekend trips, preferably so close to home that you can call a friend to pick you up from the roadside if something goes wrong. And don't do it only on fair-weather days, because you are going to encounter foul weather.
One example: I had bought myself a new pair of summer hiking boots, perfectly breathable. They were wonderful, until a thunderstorm drenched us on a day hike. We found shelter in an inn, and I changed my clothes. The next part of the hike went through tigh-high vegetation, so the new pants were soon as wet as the old ones. We were only two hours or so from home, but all the same, I spent the evening in my bed, shivering, feverish, my feet raw from the wet cotton socks.
A few weeks later, with new, watertight shoes and pants, I could walk through an afternoon of downpour with no ill effects.
Now we've found a supplier who is a mountaineer himself and who really takes his time to find the right stuff for us. He made Dad try on four rucksacks before he was satisfied, and that choice was absolutely right. Only after that did Mom realize how lucky she had been with her rucksack bought in a sports department store, which fits well, too.
So the most important advice I have is: Test yourself and your equipment on day or weekend trips, preferably so close to home that you can call a friend to pick you up from the roadside if something goes wrong. And don't do it only on fair-weather days, because you are going to encounter foul weather.
One example: I had bought myself a new pair of summer hiking boots, perfectly breathable. They were wonderful, until a thunderstorm drenched us on a day hike. We found shelter in an inn, and I changed my clothes. The next part of the hike went through tigh-high vegetation, so the new pants were soon as wet as the old ones. We were only two hours or so from home, but all the same, I spent the evening in my bed, shivering, feverish, my feet raw from the wet cotton socks.
A few weeks later, with new, watertight shoes and pants, I could walk through an afternoon of downpour with no ill effects.
Mittwoch, 18. Mai 2011
Places to stay III: Hotels, B&Bs...
Commercial overnight accomodation comes in all shapes and sizes. I guess it's clear to everybody reading this that we didn't use the four-star plus categories of business hotels.
I tried to find smaller places, B&Bs or traditional inns. As described above, I often tried to get the addresses through the internet sites of the respective towns, because they generally list all the existing accomodations. Commercial sites often only list those that pay for it. At some point, I came across a site that wanted me to pay a few Euros by credit card just for giving me internet or e-mail addresses that I could get for free elsewhere. Wether it was just an attempt to rip off or a phishing attempt, I don't know.
Two sites that helped me greatly were: www.visittrentino.it and bed-and-breakfast.it.
The good thing about these long-distance hikes is that even if the place isn't that great, you only have to stay one night. If the place is really, really nice, you can come back another time. This summer, we are going to stay in one place we discovered in our first year, taking along Mom's sister and her family:www.geratser-hof.de. It's just outside the Alps, with a private beach at a lake, many opportunities to hike, bike, do sightseeing and the mountains are close, too... looking forward to it!
I tried to find smaller places, B&Bs or traditional inns. As described above, I often tried to get the addresses through the internet sites of the respective towns, because they generally list all the existing accomodations. Commercial sites often only list those that pay for it. At some point, I came across a site that wanted me to pay a few Euros by credit card just for giving me internet or e-mail addresses that I could get for free elsewhere. Wether it was just an attempt to rip off or a phishing attempt, I don't know.
Two sites that helped me greatly were: www.visittrentino.it and bed-and-breakfast.it.
The good thing about these long-distance hikes is that even if the place isn't that great, you only have to stay one night. If the place is really, really nice, you can come back another time. This summer, we are going to stay in one place we discovered in our first year, taking along Mom's sister and her family:www.geratser-hof.de. It's just outside the Alps, with a private beach at a lake, many opportunities to hike, bike, do sightseeing and the mountains are close, too... looking forward to it!
Mittwoch, 11. Mai 2011
Finding places to stay II: Huts and Hostels
Soon after the beginning of alpinism, enthusiasts built the first huts in which to stay before and after the ascent to the summits. Towns and villages were too far down in the valleys, and the alps were chosen to allow good grazing for the cattle and goats, not to allow good access to the summits. So the alpine clubs raised funds, bought ground and built the huts to provide food and shelter to alpinists.
To this day, many of the huts belong to chapters of the alpine clubs, named for the chapter they belong to. So you find the names of cities far away in the lowlands in the heart of the Alps. The Brunswick Hut, for instance, is a base camp for glacier tours close to Sölden, Tirol. The huts are run by professional gastronomers, with the help of volounteers.
The huts are open to everyone, but alpine club members get a discount on fees and some prices. Since it is the clubs that maintain and mark a large part of the trails, and provide a lot of information, it is advisable to become a member if you plan to spend more than just a few days in the Alps.
Outside the Alps, Youth Hostels are a good place to stay. They were founded a little more than a hundred years ago to provide food and shelter for travellers on foot, especially school groups and scout-like organizations. The goal was to provide a hostel every 30 km / 20 miles or so, but because foot travelling has declined, the network is thinner, depending on demand. Today, they're open to individual travellers and families, too. In most places, there's no age limit, just Bavaria accepts people over 26 only as guardians of minors.
To stay in the Youth hostel, you must be a member of a youth hostelling organization such as DJH (www.djh.de, click on the Union Jack to get the english version). In most cases, you can join directly at the hostel during check-in.
To this day, many of the huts belong to chapters of the alpine clubs, named for the chapter they belong to. So you find the names of cities far away in the lowlands in the heart of the Alps. The Brunswick Hut, for instance, is a base camp for glacier tours close to Sölden, Tirol. The huts are run by professional gastronomers, with the help of volounteers.
The huts are open to everyone, but alpine club members get a discount on fees and some prices. Since it is the clubs that maintain and mark a large part of the trails, and provide a lot of information, it is advisable to become a member if you plan to spend more than just a few days in the Alps.
Outside the Alps, Youth Hostels are a good place to stay. They were founded a little more than a hundred years ago to provide food and shelter for travellers on foot, especially school groups and scout-like organizations. The goal was to provide a hostel every 30 km / 20 miles or so, but because foot travelling has declined, the network is thinner, depending on demand. Today, they're open to individual travellers and families, too. In most places, there's no age limit, just Bavaria accepts people over 26 only as guardians of minors.
To stay in the Youth hostel, you must be a member of a youth hostelling organization such as DJH (www.djh.de, click on the Union Jack to get the english version). In most cases, you can join directly at the hostel during check-in.
Donnerstag, 5. Mai 2011
Finding Places to stay I: cloisters
Pilgrim who use "classical" routes can rely on infrastructure dedicated to them, such as pilgrim's hostels, and in the cities, towns and villages, hotels, B&Bs and the like are prepared for them.
For us, it was a different matter. I know one man who walked from his home near Würzburg all the way to Rome, always along the roads, and looked for places to stay every afternoon. It was difficult enough for him alone. For a family of four, this seemed too risky for me. After all, with our Sonny being only 9 years old when we began, and Daughty 11, we couldn't bring bedrolls and tent, because they could only carry their clothes and nightthings. Anyway, pitching up a tent just anywhere is not allowed in most of continental Europe.
So we used the information in maps and internet to find places to stay overnight. I had to adapt the route a few times, because not all small towns have inns with beds anymore. In the lush hills of the Allgäu, many farms offer guest appartments, but they generally don't rent them for just one night, and we preferred accomodations where dinner and breakfast could be had, so we needed to carry less provisions.
Valuable clues came from the maps, e.g., they showed where cloisters were. Two of them were still active, and as they often make a living these days by providing rooms and accomodation for timeouts or conferences, I mailed them to ask if they could accomodate us. Both were welcoming us. We had good encounters with the nuns living there and the other guests, like two young patres who were preparing a summer camp for youths.
In Bonlanden, we arrived late and drenched because it had been raining most of the day. We were first fed with their organic produce - a simple yet delicious meal - and then led over to what normally is the guest house for visiting priests. It's an Art Nouveau building still with its original furniture (not as ornate as in a secular builing, but beautifully crafted nonetheless) and modern kitchen and sanitation carefully fitted in. We were overwhelmed by that VIP treatment. The nect morning, we followed the sisters through their refectory and into the Church for Sunday Mass.
For us, it was a different matter. I know one man who walked from his home near Würzburg all the way to Rome, always along the roads, and looked for places to stay every afternoon. It was difficult enough for him alone. For a family of four, this seemed too risky for me. After all, with our Sonny being only 9 years old when we began, and Daughty 11, we couldn't bring bedrolls and tent, because they could only carry their clothes and nightthings. Anyway, pitching up a tent just anywhere is not allowed in most of continental Europe.
So we used the information in maps and internet to find places to stay overnight. I had to adapt the route a few times, because not all small towns have inns with beds anymore. In the lush hills of the Allgäu, many farms offer guest appartments, but they generally don't rent them for just one night, and we preferred accomodations where dinner and breakfast could be had, so we needed to carry less provisions.
Valuable clues came from the maps, e.g., they showed where cloisters were. Two of them were still active, and as they often make a living these days by providing rooms and accomodation for timeouts or conferences, I mailed them to ask if they could accomodate us. Both were welcoming us. We had good encounters with the nuns living there and the other guests, like two young patres who were preparing a summer camp for youths.
In Bonlanden, we arrived late and drenched because it had been raining most of the day. We were first fed with their organic produce - a simple yet delicious meal - and then led over to what normally is the guest house for visiting priests. It's an Art Nouveau building still with its original furniture (not as ornate as in a secular builing, but beautifully crafted nonetheless) and modern kitchen and sanitation carefully fitted in. We were overwhelmed by that VIP treatment. The nect morning, we followed the sisters through their refectory and into the Church for Sunday Mass.
Dienstag, 3. Mai 2011
Finding the way
Long live the Internet! Planning a trip like this would take such a lot more time without it, if it was even possible.
First, it's getting the relevant maps. For close to home, the local bookstore is a good address. But they don't have more information on places further away that are not common tourist destinations. The survey agency site mentioned in the last post has links to its sister organizations in many places of the world, that helps. But the Italians only sell to resellers. Luckily, I found someone on the internet who runs a one-man business specialized in this...
With the maps at hand, I set out to plan tracks and places to rest and to sleep. Tourist topographical maps often show restaurants and hotels that are outside towns. The websites of towns generally have links to these places, especially in tourist areas (and if you go by the town sites, you get all the places, not just those that payed to be shown on a touristic site).
To judge distances, I generally go by the old-fashioned string method: Take some sewing thread and lay it as closely as possible over the chosen track, marking the end. When you're done, measure the length against the scale marked on the map. This underestimates the length by app. 10%, but is a good first approach.
I don't generally use google maps because they know only roads suitable for vehicle use and open to the general traffic. These I want to avoid... but I occasionally check the satellite images to see if a track that's not marked as a hiking/biking trail really exists. Also, I need terrain information (how steep is a trail?) that I don't get in good quality from there.
I own a GPS, but I use it only to confirm that I really am where I think I am. I haven't yet bought any maps for it. I'm not a digital native, that's probably one reason why. The other is that I love to spread out a square meter of paper map on my bed. Then I can, without time lapses or errors, see the whole picture or a tiny detail by just moving my head.
First, it's getting the relevant maps. For close to home, the local bookstore is a good address. But they don't have more information on places further away that are not common tourist destinations. The survey agency site mentioned in the last post has links to its sister organizations in many places of the world, that helps. But the Italians only sell to resellers. Luckily, I found someone on the internet who runs a one-man business specialized in this...
With the maps at hand, I set out to plan tracks and places to rest and to sleep. Tourist topographical maps often show restaurants and hotels that are outside towns. The websites of towns generally have links to these places, especially in tourist areas (and if you go by the town sites, you get all the places, not just those that payed to be shown on a touristic site).
To judge distances, I generally go by the old-fashioned string method: Take some sewing thread and lay it as closely as possible over the chosen track, marking the end. When you're done, measure the length against the scale marked on the map. This underestimates the length by app. 10%, but is a good first approach.
I don't generally use google maps because they know only roads suitable for vehicle use and open to the general traffic. These I want to avoid... but I occasionally check the satellite images to see if a track that's not marked as a hiking/biking trail really exists. Also, I need terrain information (how steep is a trail?) that I don't get in good quality from there.
I own a GPS, but I use it only to confirm that I really am where I think I am. I haven't yet bought any maps for it. I'm not a digital native, that's probably one reason why. The other is that I love to spread out a square meter of paper map on my bed. Then I can, without time lapses or errors, see the whole picture or a tiny detail by just moving my head.
Montag, 2. Mai 2011
Planning
The first thing that comes to the mind when thinking about a trip from Germany to Italy is that there are the Alps to cross. Of course, we'd done that a number of times before, but always by car, train or plane. Dad had even done it on his racing bike in the past, together with his father, with his mother driving the "support car". But on foot?
We had spent nearly all our family holidays in the Alps and so knew we would be able to use any footpath that didn't ask for climbing gear. But I didn't feel expert enough to try to find a route myself. So I scanned the internet and bookstores for information on alpine crossings for moderately skilled hikers. The one that runs from Munich to Venice was out of the question, as both cities lie far to the east of the shortest route. The Via Mala/Via Spluga route in eastern Switzerland was an option. But the paths seemed to be quite wide, well suited for people with little alpine experience, but ill suited to our children, who tend to get bored if the path is more than a meter wide and well-traveled. They prefer small paths with lots of rocks, plants and animal prints to look at.
So the decision fell on the E5/Via Alpina route (www.via-alpina.org; the north part of the yellow route). This meant that the finishing line for the first year of hiking was the door of the train station in Oberstdorf.
The first challenge then was to find a route from home to Oberstdorf. The first stage had been easy: as told before, find a village to the south from which we could get back. As Oberstdorf is on the headwaters of the river Iller, which runs to the Danube, meeting it in Ulm, it was logical to choose this old free town as first goal. Luckily, good maps are available from the survey service of Baden-Württemberg (www.lgl-bw.de, unfortunately in German only, but their maps are availalbe in bookstores).
With a daytrip ending in Geislingen in the valley just south to ours, and a weekend trip from Geislingen to Ulm, we reached that goal safely.
We had spent nearly all our family holidays in the Alps and so knew we would be able to use any footpath that didn't ask for climbing gear. But I didn't feel expert enough to try to find a route myself. So I scanned the internet and bookstores for information on alpine crossings for moderately skilled hikers. The one that runs from Munich to Venice was out of the question, as both cities lie far to the east of the shortest route. The Via Mala/Via Spluga route in eastern Switzerland was an option. But the paths seemed to be quite wide, well suited for people with little alpine experience, but ill suited to our children, who tend to get bored if the path is more than a meter wide and well-traveled. They prefer small paths with lots of rocks, plants and animal prints to look at.
So the decision fell on the E5/Via Alpina route (www.via-alpina.org; the north part of the yellow route). This meant that the finishing line for the first year of hiking was the door of the train station in Oberstdorf.
The first challenge then was to find a route from home to Oberstdorf. The first stage had been easy: as told before, find a village to the south from which we could get back. As Oberstdorf is on the headwaters of the river Iller, which runs to the Danube, meeting it in Ulm, it was logical to choose this old free town as first goal. Luckily, good maps are available from the survey service of Baden-Württemberg (www.lgl-bw.de, unfortunately in German only, but their maps are availalbe in bookstores).
With a daytrip ending in Geislingen in the valley just south to ours, and a weekend trip from Geislingen to Ulm, we reached that goal safely.
Why and How
Why should a family from the Southwest of Germany walk through a good part of Europe into Central Italy? More precisely, why should a Mom want to do it (as it is she who's telling this story)?
Well, pilgrimages have become a kind of fashion in Germany these days. Most people choose the "Camino", the way to Santiago de Compostela on the Northwest coast of Spain. But somehow, nothing seemed to connect me/us to Santiago or St. Jake. And after reading the account of Hape Kerkeling, a well-known comedian, I was sure this wasn't my way. I'm not exactly shy of people, but wary of crowds. And there are crowds on the Camino, especially towards the end. So many people that some decide to walk during the night so that they surely have a bed to sleep in during the day... no, that's not my cup of tea.
Then, in the spring of 2008, Daughty, who is in a school run by the Franciscan nuns where Berta Hummel, creator of the drawings that are models for the famous Hummel figurines, was a member of the congregation in the 1920's, went to Assisi with her class. She came back all inspired. That set our goal.
Now, how to achieve it? We had always been hikers, but had done only day trips so far. So we scouted the Internet to find out from which of the villages in the hills to the South of our little town we could come back by bus and train on Sundays after 6p.m. And one fine morning, we set off to try if we could walk the 25 km/16 miles a day needed for such a trip.
All went well, only Mum's old shoes broke, their soles crumbled.
During the next months, we did more hikes and bought new equipment, doing another day trip from the end point of the first, then a weekend trip, and then a whole week, always finding places to stay via internet and using topographic maps with hiking trail overlays. As this is no established pilgrim route, finding the way is part of the quest...
Well, pilgrimages have become a kind of fashion in Germany these days. Most people choose the "Camino", the way to Santiago de Compostela on the Northwest coast of Spain. But somehow, nothing seemed to connect me/us to Santiago or St. Jake. And after reading the account of Hape Kerkeling, a well-known comedian, I was sure this wasn't my way. I'm not exactly shy of people, but wary of crowds. And there are crowds on the Camino, especially towards the end. So many people that some decide to walk during the night so that they surely have a bed to sleep in during the day... no, that's not my cup of tea.
Then, in the spring of 2008, Daughty, who is in a school run by the Franciscan nuns where Berta Hummel, creator of the drawings that are models for the famous Hummel figurines, was a member of the congregation in the 1920's, went to Assisi with her class. She came back all inspired. That set our goal.
Now, how to achieve it? We had always been hikers, but had done only day trips so far. So we scouted the Internet to find out from which of the villages in the hills to the South of our little town we could come back by bus and train on Sundays after 6p.m. And one fine morning, we set off to try if we could walk the 25 km/16 miles a day needed for such a trip.
All went well, only Mum's old shoes broke, their soles crumbled.
During the next months, we did more hikes and bought new equipment, doing another day trip from the end point of the first, then a weekend trip, and then a whole week, always finding places to stay via internet and using topographic maps with hiking trail overlays. As this is no established pilgrim route, finding the way is part of the quest...
Abonnieren
Posts (Atom)