Tuesday 17/04/18

After breakfast, we started our route to Uffenheim around 17 km south of Aub. The route took us out of the village through the main street. At the end of that street, we stopped to visit the Jewish Cemetery. Here we found that there were graves dating from 1939 to 1945, I believe that because this village was in Bavaria it was bombarded by the Allies as this part of Germany was a Hitler stronghold and among other things, some explosives manufacturing took place here.

Jewish cemetery in Aub

Further ahead the track took us to the open fields and forest. We passed the area where the community gardens are located and it was such an invigorating experience to see how seriously these plots were worked. Middle age to older people were obviously very dedicated and the results of their efforts were rewarded.

Track leaving Aub

The track took as throughout beautiful areas and soon we saw on our right hand the most beautiful and amazing park with a big pond and different statues that represented children’s tales. This place is a very rare occurrence we haven’t seen anything similar before.

Park for children on the track outside Hemmersheim

 

Soon after we entered the town that was bigger than expected and surprisingly beautiful and well looked after gardens were manicured and glorious. Every household prides itself on the looks of their gardens. Older people dedicate lots of time to flowers, plants and I am sure that there is a serious competition between neighbours.

Finally, we left the town and walked in the direction of Pfahlenheim but we did not count that before getting to the next destination another pleasant surprise was waiting. There was a small change of direction on the track and suddenly in front of us the most beautiful group of deer –  a mum and her little ones could be seen at the distance, we carefully walked with a hope of a good picture. However, they are extremely sensitive to noise. They are able to hear the steps no matter how careful you are, so they suddenly galloped away so the couple of pictures we have are not representative of their beauty and elegance. Honestly, this has been the cream on the cake for our walk so far.

Plese Find The Deer

Pfahlenheim was a very special place unexpected in its entirety. It looked like any other village neat with their white houses, lovely gardens and their cute churches that emerged in front of our eyes when least expected.

As usual, there was no café or bakery and it was 13:00 hrs. We were dying for a glass of cold water, our bottles by now had only disgusting warm water. The church was closed so there was no hope of having stamps for our pilgrim passports. I was getting a bit disappointed, but someone is looking after us and in front of us were 3 fountains with cold delicious water. The fountains were strategically situated and represented Christianity, Buddhism and Ying/Yang I think.

Water fountain at Pfahlenheim

After filling our bottles with fresh water we took to the road once more feeling fully energised for our next destination was Uffenheim a bigger centre with 6300 people.

Once Pfahlenheim was behind we started to move a bit faster as the way was on a very good track through the forest and suddenly we could see the steeple of the church in Uffenheim

The accommodation was outside the city wall.

The place we were to stay was very basic but we needed no more. The dinner was not the best but was something to eat. After dinner, we went across to the Apotheke and bought shampoo. The day was heavy so we called it a day. I sent emails to Australia hoping that everyone would get them but the system does not always work. Tomorrow will be a an easier day.

The next few days we will walk through small and medium places which don’t offer much information, there is not a café or place to stop and talk to people so lots of details escape the pilgrims.

We left early in the morning after having a very good breakfast. Just before leaving Richard took a picture of the host/owner of the place and said goodbye.

It was a pleasant experience leaving the village and to walk through beautiful nature. There were areas which had been prepared for receiving new seeds rich in brown tones and other areas so green and we could see a rich variety of tones of the colour on the way. Maybe my descriptions are a bit boring but one of the reasons that we walk is to have the time to observe how nature goes about giving mankind the means to feed themselves, their families and animals. These kinds of displays like a soil that has been opened, fed and prepare to receive seeds. Other pieces of land already exhibit green sprouts and as we walk south towards the equator and towards summer the sprouts will develop to become strong plants and so on and so forth and by July/ August wherever we will be walking we will be able to observe how many of these plantations around Europe will be golden colour and ready to harvest. That is one of the little miracles of nature that we experience on the tracks.

A long strip of wildflowers was found when we were getting away from the Uffenheim area. We remember Astrid as she loves wildflowers and captured some happy ones.

We passed some very cute villages, unfortunately, all houses are silent no people to be seen it is like ghost towns only smaller well kept and with amazing gardens. In one of these towns we needed to rest and wanted a coffee and out of the blue a chimneysweep approached us to ask if we needed help with directions and he introduced himself. He informed us that no coffee shop whatsoever was available for many kilometres. We chatted and I could look at him closely. He looked really like jumping from a fairytale book with really blue eyes, a real blond, white skin full of black stains around the eyes as he took off his safety glasses. His clothes were red and had yellow visibility stripes, unfortunately, he was covered with soot all over, his teeth were very white, he smiled a lot and laughed with a contagious tone. We said goodbye and he half turned and reminded us that to find a chimney sweep on your way was good luck, and I believe it because in the next village we found a seat with a table next to the Fire Station and had a sign inviting pilgrims to use the toilet facilities in the Fire Station and to stop for a rest. We did.

 

Rest Place for Pilgrims

While we were there a farmer was coming and going with his tractor down the road and returning with some material. He looked at us and suddenly he crossed the road and offered us coffee. That was unbelievable. We accepted and he brought out a tray of hot coffee sugar cream and biscuits. imagine how people can be so kind and generous.

At the end of that day, we arrived in Steinsfeld and stayed in a Gasthof that accepted pilgrims. It was on the main road. The village was very small and had a very small number of houses and no more than 1000 inhabitants.

The Gasthof in Steinsfeld was clean and recently renovated obviously she gets her clients from the highway travellers.

The problem with the lady was that she did not have dinner as she did not cook and in that little town, there are no restaurants. Unfortunately, we have had breakfast at seven am and the coffee plus biscuits provided by a Good Samaritan. The hostess offered a cold meat platter plus bread that will be lovely at lunchtime but just before bedtime gets a bit difficult for old people with delicate stomachs. After a small negotiation, she prepared some already made tin soup with diced potatoes, it was really nice as she chopped new potatoes and plenty of fresh Parsley. That was what we needed and we felt good after having the simple dinner. Unfortunately, there was no Supermarket in the village and no café or restaurant – the only things there were the church (that was dated to the early 1700) and a lovely cemetery.

 

Steinsfeld  Church  dated  from 200 years ago

 

Local  cemetery

Also, there were some domestic animals such as dogs which were going for the afternoon walk and cats lying in the sun making sure that they took advantage of the last sun rays of the day.

Next morning the breakfast was nice with warm bread and delicious butter, fruit and homemade jams of different fruit. That was all we needed to keep us going. We did all the routine things, getting our pilgrim passports stamped and after that, we went on our way, however before leaving the town a visit to the church which was closed and the cemetery were a must. I love cemeteries I find them interesting. These places tell you a lot about the people that live in the town and they also give you a little look into the wealth and beliefs of the community.

As every morning we felt full of enthusiasm getting ready for the new adventures. Today is special because we have to enter Rothenburg ob der Tauber a beautiful town.

The reason why we have to visit Rothenburg ob der Tauber was due to the fact that Jakobus pilgrims call at the cathedral to receive the blessings and get the stemple (stamp) of the Saint Jakob’s Cathedral. The Pilgrims get this stemple in their credential’s books as it is almost a collector’s item and the ones that follow the pilgrim history know that it would be of benefit when we get to Santiago de Compostela to prove that we had visited this Cathedral.

When we left Steinsfeld we found the sign which advised that the village finished and that Rothenburg ob der Tauber was only 5km away this was exciting.

Only 5 kilometres to Rothenburg ob der Tauber

For the next 2 km, we walked a track used by walkers and cyclists, as usual, we were surrounded by green fields and wildflowers, however, this morning we noticed that the birds were very happy and accompanied us for a while. An hour or so later we joined a new track very close to the main road. The track itself was good however very noisy as trucks and cars were very fast.

The area was very well looked after and we could see that as we got closer to Rothenburg ob der Tauber many buildings that showed light industry, high activity of the construction area. In general, this town has grown in the last 7-8 years and their economy now is not only based on the agriculture that has always been the strength of the area.

Rothenburg (Red village) is part of the River Tauber area and is a very interesting place. The old part of the city is protected by high walls that in the medieval times kept the enemies at bay. Later it became a very important strategic town for Germany during the WW2 and was saved from being bombed by a gentleman’s agreement between Allies and the Germans. The reason for saving this city was mainly to keep the beauty and architecture that was appreciated by the leaders of both sides.
For many years there were many masters dedicating themselves to making incredibly beautiful handmade toys and Christmas decorations.

In Rothenburg ob der Tauber for centuries people have made wooden toys and many specialists have designed the most incredible figures especially the Christmas ornaments which have been considered the best at the world fairs. Today many of these shops have disappeared as technology has taken over. However, a few months before Christmas the displays of decorations and toys revives and people from all over Europe and the rest of the world come to see what the masters have to show.

During our September visit to the area, we would be able to see first hand these extraordinary works of art.

Nevertheless, Rothenburg ob der Tauber has changed and the city is now more dedicated to general tourist trends. Nowadays they cater for all nationalities especially in restaurants, traditional shops and entertainment. It is amazing the number of Eastern Europeans that live in the area. Nowadays you can eat at Russian, Spanish, Italian, Asian etc restaurants which indicate that the city has moved away from its traditions.

Something that took my attention was to see that the tourist buses catered mostly for Asian people. You see lots of Koreans and Chinese nationals travelling in tour buses. Also, there are Americans of the third age that enjoy visiting this amazing place.

We entered the old city and went to the Cathedral. It is impressive, dedicated to Apostle Jakob. It is one of the most visited Cathedrals on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Saint Jakob is the patron saint of the pilgrims.
This Gothic Basilica started to be built in 1311 and finally consecrated in 1485. A note of interest was in this Basilica that Florian Geyer read out the Articles of a petition presented by the revolutionary peasants in 1525. In the 16th century the “German Peasants War” broke out. Soon after and also inspired by the preachings of Lutheranism were joined by the miners. Florian Geyer, an aristocrat Knight of great influence, sided with Martin Luther as did many of the other aristocrats of the time and inspired by him supported the revolution of the peasants and in 1525 Geyer stood in the gallery of the west chancel in the Cathedral of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and read the peasant petition. The petition among other things wanted that the heads of the church and government to be elected by a democratic vote including the peasant and non-aristocracy. Luther thought that Geyer had gone too far and walked away from him qualifying him as a Communist. To which Geyer responded by creating the Black Band regiment and his slogan was “Neither the Cross nor the Crown”

Sometime in 1524, The Reformation took place and the Saint Jakob Basilica in Rothenburg become Lutheran

The Jacob Basilica person that received us wanted to show the last supper representation that is held in this chapel as pilgrims with credentials are able to do the view for free but we declined as we want to have a visit in September.

We left Rothenburg on the Tauber through one of the main streets to get to the arch of the wall that protects the city.

One of the famous streets at Rothenburg ob der Tauber 

From there we started walking south-east by the river. This was a marvellous track, the Tauber River was so beautiful the water was crystal clear, sunlight filtered through the trees giving golden reflections every time that the river jumped through the rocks, forming little cascades.

 

Track  by the  River Tauber

For a long time, we travelled by the river through this incredible track, it was so quiet the sound of silence was all that we could hear but out of the blue we were interrupted by the pecking sound of a woody woodpecker. Unfortunately, we could not see him we only were able to hear his pecking sound.

This walking track is visited by the locals and on the weekends, families go for picnics and take advantage of the beauty that is offered. The Tauber river runs along merrily and freely and all the way it is flanked by trees which are providing shadow and reflecting themselves on the crystalline surface.

Once we left this area we continued our way to cover the distance to Bettenfeld a lovely area. Richard decided that we were to take a shortcut again through the forest, it was a great decision the forest offered protection from the sun that was quite fierce. The walk was cut by at least 3 km and we fully avoided the blistering sun.

Today’s final destination 

The final destination was reached much earlier than expected the address easy to find so there was time to wash some clothes before dinner. It has been really good that Mr H has been using Google. that can help find our way.

Gasthof where we had accommodation 

The dinner was delicious they served a superb salad with many pieces and bits that included radishes from the garden, celery, mushrooms, uncooked beetroot, plus lettuce and other greens also they included wild berries. Well, you may ask what is so delicious about this salad. Let me tell you the dressing was absolutely delicious it had real cream, several kinds of herbs and nuts including chestnuts. I could taste some of the identifiable herbs however there was a lot of forest additives that rounded the fresh spring flavours. It was sad that I could not get the recipe from the chef. After the salad, we had new potatoes with parsley and sour cream and purple kraut.

Since then we have stayed in another two Grüner Baum (Green Tree) guest houses and all of them receive pilgrims at a reasonable price and they give breakfast included. You paid for the evening meal if you want to have it in their restaurant and we can assure you that the food is different. Much more than we as pilgrims expect.

Next morning the breakfast was a bit too late for us but it was very nice, sufficient and balanced and as soon as we finished it we left, however, it was after 09:00 am when we left and we needed to go as far as Wallhausen a good 22.5 km from Bettenfeld. There was a bit of difficulty finding the pilgrim track but at the end we did. There we were not worried as we had the computer to find shortcuts so for sure we planned to make better time than expected. Anyhow our meeting with the owner of the house that was giving us accommodation was at 18:00 hrs that day.

On the road to Wallhausen

The first 9 km were going to be a bit of a challenge but the route was very nice. We followed the shell and went through the forest a lovely forest then we left this track and entered a new one which was a bit shabby and meandering, so we decided to cut the distance a bit as today was going to be long and hot.

A view from the track near Rot am See

At the start, the track selected through the Google maps was looking good and when we came almost to the end of the forest we realised that something was wrong and tried to correct the error and the map sent us to another side and again we could not get out of the loophole. We started to be concerned and we went back finally to the point where we started, so we lost a precious 45 minutes and walked a good 2 km extra.

The issue was that Google was giving wrong info for an unknown reason. It was so good that Richard has that good orientation otherwise we may still be walking around.

Once we found the way again we had to redo a small part and then enter a very nice area which had many plantations of new trees and also new pines which were no more than 20 cm tall ready to put in the preparation area. Soon after we entered an area of trees which were well established. They were tall and the trunks were big with interesting bark. After walking around three km in this forest we went across to the main road for a while.

Soon we found a great bicycle track and we walked along through some nice areas and crossed a couple of different villages, Hausen am Bach, and Reubach which was outstanding for its apple blossom

Our bicycle track was looking longer and longer, we reached a kind of junction and we saw a poultry farm. It was funny to see so many chooks talking to each other also there were some turkeys it was interesting viewing. We briefly stopped to take a picture and continued on our way. Then we found some lovely horses.

Chooks

Horses in the paddock

The bicycle track extended across several fields and finally, we saw in the distance Schainbach which was the village that we were to reach before getting to Wallhausen. By then it was obvious that we were to have a lot of difficulties meeting the house owner by the agreed time. Our 22.5 km were now at least 24.5 and I was feeling the pressure on my back and legs. I am sure that my walking partner was also tired but he would not admit to it. We saw some beautiful flowers growing by the track.

The bicycle track finished and we entered a field of green grass which most probably is used for feed. The time was advancing rapidly and our feet were going slower. Then a big tractor which was pulling a big trailer full of fresh cut grass probably to make silage stopped and the driver asked where we were going, we assumed that was what he was asking because he was German and spoke very little English. Mind you, of course, his English was better than our German. He said something about a drink later and continued on his way. So we also continued walking and praying for a miracle as we needed to walk at least another seven kms. The track did a bit of a turn and we went straight for at least one km. Then we noticed that about 200m ahead was a grey car standing in our path. As we approached it was obvious that the vehicle was in our way, therefore, we may be needed to move to the right side. Well the car in front of us was driven by the gentleman who talked to us about a drink and he asked us to get into his car. I said to Richard well we will need to accept and buy the first round.

Up we went into the car and he drove to Schainbach and stopped at the front of a house where his daughter, wife and granddaughter were waiting for us and invited us into their home prepared coffee and offer drinks of all kind. Ruby the granddaughter was a cheeky little miss that was eating sugar from the sugar pot by the time that the adults were involved in a conversation. Then we sat down to a cup of coffee with a lovely piece of cake what an unexpected treat. The daughter Andrea spoke impeccable English and Ruby was learning English at school too.

This gentleman Helmut was incredible. He had a big heart and did something so special for two people that he had never seen before. I believe that he was working in agriculture all his life and retired but still was doing support work and training others. They were a lovely family Gertrude the mother was lovely and generous. She cooked the most lovely fruit tart and nuts cake.
Not happy with that he asked Andrea to drive us to Wallhausen and show us where the supermarket was. So we did the last three km by car.

Andrea and Ercilia

Andrea said goodbye and we were left in the garden of the family Wasselmann waiting for their arrival.

Precisely at 18:00 hrs Magritte arrived from work. She was riding a bicycle and the front of her bike she had a basket with supermarket stuff, fresh fruit and some sticks of bread. She greeted us with a warm smile however she was aloof. The first thing that she did was to open the door to let the dogs out of her house, they were friendly and jumped full of joy once they were allowed to run over the green area. I can never understand the relationship between dogs and humans it is absolutely a mystery to me. She mentioned that she was a librarian and volunteered at the library in Crailsheim and that when the weather is warm she cycles the 30 km to her job. Then she proceeded to show the accommodation.

Andrea mention to us that Mr Wasselmann was a veterinary surgeon of high reputation. Later while having a cup of tea I was reading some magazines which were on the coffee table, and I found a promotional brochure that had information about the veterinary association. In there was a write up about this fellow who specialised in surgery and his strength was in horses, cows and in general farm stocks. Obviously, he was lecturing at Universities.

They had a magnificent house and consultation rooms that had an accommodation place at the top, clean and comfortable there they had accommodation for five people. Pilgrims are welcomed, you are giving breakfast which is left in a basket and you prepare it. The breakfast consisted of cereal, fresh fruit, dried fruits nuts, ham and local charcuterie an absolute feast. There are facilities for tea and coffee making.

It was obvious that this family was an old established one in the area as I noticed that the street which came around the side of their properties carried their name.

These people had walked the Camino themselves and thus were inspired to help pilgrims and understood very much about the needs that the walkers have. The books that they had around in shelves that you could reach and check were interesting many were about pilgrimage, religion, history of Germany and the area where they live. Unfortunately not much in English, however, there is never time for reading as we finish the day exhausted.

After the hard day, we were very tired so I made my notes and went to rest and Richard worked on planning for the next day’s walk. Magritte came over and was talking to Richard about booking accommodation for the next day. I was too exhausted to participate.

Next day after having the lovely breakfast we left for destination Crailsheim that is a town of the German state of Baden-Württemberg.