I try to find a balance in my writing to you between personal reflections and ‘objective’ experiences. There’s so much happening, both inside and out, that it becomes hard to choose which one to share with you.

I told you I had a hard time being alone. It is still true. But when I wrote you that I was in a hostel in Regensburg, a beautiful German city full of students and tourists. I shared a room with great people of whom one actually studied religious studies as well. “That’s quite exotic” to speak with the words of another room mate. With 3 of the 4 I went to mass in the dome on Sunday morning. The rest of the day I lingered a bit along the Danube and walked a bit through town. I did not plan to be in Regensburg so long, but my newly bought tablet broke and I decided that it was better to fix this issue in the big city rather than taking the thing with me to Passau. So in the evening me and Leiv went out for dinner I and had myself a huge pizza. We played Mensch ärgere dich nicht, and I lost badly.

The next day I dropped my stuff downstairs and took the bus to the big electronics store outside town. It was Monday morning and the woman behind the counter was not amused when I told her the problem. I bought a show model in the other city and it thus had to be retuned there. When I told her I was on foot she made some effort and after an hour she got the clearance from her chef to be supportive to my idea of them sending it back and me getting my money. After another two hours of figuring out the best way to keep my website up to date, I bought a tablet, phone and camera. I’m most happy with the last.

At 1am I was back in the hostel and decided it was better to stay one more night and get everything working. Tuesday morning at 7am I was finally on my way again. I walked through an empty city, light a candle in an empty church for a friend who had her birthday and set out for Walhalla, an odly out of place Greek temple with a great view over the Danube. 15 minutes after leaving the Walhalla I encountered a man with a dog, they were on the Camino. Marc (the man) and Louis (the dog) were on the same campsite as my parents a couple of days ago so we both knew of each others existence. It just never accurred to me that we would meet. After the lunch we shared I walked to Wiesent and tried my luck finding a place to sleep by the church. The priest told me it was impossible and after a short but weird conversation I was send away. I was proud at myself for trying. In the next village I tried again, but no one answered my calls. I camped on a perfect flat spot next to an outdoor swimming pool.

Wednesday I started early and halfway the day me and my dad came to the conclusion that it was possible to meet one last time this day. At 7pm he picked me up in Denkzell. I walked 37.5km and made at least 1k altimeters, a new record! We had a campfire and made a BBQ. I am really happy with not walking along the Danube now. I follow the Goldsteig which goes through the Bavarian forest to Passau. The views are great and the people really friendly. Today I climbed my first 1k mountain and set up my tent at about that height. Its quite cold, about 5 degrees, but the view is worth it!

The coming days I will be going south again slowly and make my way to Passau. So I am still in Germany at the moment! And its getting better by the day!

All the best,
T