Sauerland - on my way to Rome!
Are you having a cool summer out there in the world? I am. Back again from a four week vacation, including a lot of good old trekking. As you remember, I have this odd project of going all the way to Rome, and this summer the scene for my next step was set in Sauerland, Germany. The dome of St. Peter’s is not at all in sight yet, so I had to accept other views, deep forests, blue lakes, pretty villages as taken out of the fairytales of the Grimm’s brothers. And, very impressive, a lot of natural fountains all over the landscape with the cleanest and most delicious water! It is not a problem to get decent accommodation down there: b&b’s with low prices and clean sleaves, but you have to be prepared for the special German culture. Most of the places are run by proud and very strict ladies, and you are treated like a guest in their houses. Nevertheless the "hausfrauen" serve you a solid and healthy breakfast, so a good day of trekking is absolutely necessary afterwards!
The last night was spend in a "Jugendherberge", a German youth hostel, but I could not imagine that even a youth hostel could be filled with so many Jugend’s! Placed in a medieval castle on a hill overlooking the Sieg-valley, the Freusburg hostel must be one of the most romantic and fascinating of its kind in Europe. But with around 800 schoolchildren all over the place some of the romantic impression disappeared - next time I will begin my walk from there and hope to find a more silent castle…
Rome is still a long way southwards, but it’s coming closer, and in the first days of October I will continue from Freusburg through Westerwald, the next exciting part of my German crossing, and I hope to learn a lot more about German culture - and German "hausfrauen"!
