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- Herausgeber: Books on Demand
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
“Notes on the Way of St. James” is his account of that journey which began in the early Spring of 2011. The book chronicles the various stages of the adventure from its uncertain beginning through a doubt plagued stretch in Switzerland where Stephan wondered where he would ever find the fortitude to finish the pilgrimage. This doubt never fully left him until his arrival at the Spanish city of Santa Domingo de la Calzada. A rejuvenated Stephan ended his journey in late June 2011 at Santiago de Compostela, “the end of the world”, where he finally appreciated the full meaning of the words that a millennia of pilgrims before him had also realized: “The way gives you what you need”. Now fully recovered, Stephan is planning his next adventure, a hike from his home in Bavaria to Rome along the Via Francigena.
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Contents
List of snapshots
Credits
Conversions
Actors
Introduction
Preparations
Day 1, Here we go! Memmingerberg to Herlazhofer Pond
Day 2, Herlazhofer Pond to Wangen
Day 3, The First Pilgrim in Lindau: Wangen to Lindau
Day 4, Lindau to St. Gallen
Day 5, St. Gallen to Wald
Day 6, Wald to Rapperswil
Day 7 Rapperswil to Trachselau
Day 8, Trachselau to Ingenbohl
Day 9, Ingenbohl to Bethanien
Day 10, Bethanien to Lungern
Day 11, Lungern to Ringgenberg
Day 11, Ringgenberg to Hilterfingen
Day 12, Hilterfingen to Muribogen
Day 13, Muribogen to Freiburg
Day 14, Freiburg to Romont
Day 15, Romont to Chalet-a-Gobet
Day 16, Chalet-a-Gobet to Rolle
Day 17, Rolle to Gland
Day 18, Gland to Commugny
Day 19 Commugny to Geneva
Day 20, Arrived in France; Geneva to Beaumont
Day 21, Beaumont to Chaumont
Day 22, Chaumont to Seyssel
Day 23 Seyssel to Crémon
Day 24 Crémon to St. Maurice-de-Rotherens
Day 25, Easter Sunday; St Maurice-de-Rotherens to Le Pin
Day 26, Easter Monday; Le Pin to Faramans
Day 27, Faramans to Clonas-sur-Varèze
Day 28, Clonas-sur-Varèze to St. Julien-Molin-Molette
Day 29 St. Julien-Molin-Molette to Les Setoux
Day 30, Les Setoux to La Papeterie
Day 31, La Papeterie to Queyrières
Day 32 Arrived in Le Puy; Queyrières to Le Puy-en-Velay
Day 33, Day of Rest
Day 34, Le Puy-en-Velay to Monistrol-d’Allier
Day 35, Monistrol-d’Allier to La Roch
Day 36, La Roch to Les Estrets
Day 37, Les Estrets to Finieyrols
Day 38, Finieyrols to Saint-Chély-d’Aubrac
Day 39, Saint-Chély-d’Aubrac to Estaing
Day 40 Estaing to Sénergues
Day 41, Sénergues to Decazeville
Day 42 Decazeville to La Cassagnole
Day 43, La Cassagnole to Gaillac
Day 44, Gaillac to Vaylats
Day 45, Vaylats to Caussade
Day 46, Heading for Lourdes; Caussade to Montauban
Day 47, Montauban to Toulouse
Day 48, Toulouse to St. Gaudes
Day 49 St. Gaudes to Tarbes
Day 50, Tarbes to Lourdes
Day 51, Day of Rest!
Day 52, Arrived in Spain; Lourdes to Villanua
Day 53, Santa Villanua to Cilla de Jaca
Day 54, Santa Cilla de Jaca to Ruesta
Day 55, Ruesta to Sangüesa
Day 55 Sangüesa to Monreal
Day 56 Experienced a Place of Power; Monreal to Puenta la Reina
Day 57, Puente la Reina to Los Arcos
Day 58, Los Arcos to Logroño
Day 59, Logroño to Nájera; Here my reason for walking
chicken miracle
Day 60, Nájera to Grañón
Day 61, Grañón to Villafranca Montes de Oca
Day 62, Villafranca Montes de Oca to Burgos
Day 63 Burgos to Hornillos del Camino
Day 63, Hornillos de Camino to Itero de la Vega
Day 64, Itero de la Vega to Carrión de los Condes
Day 65, Carrión de los Condes to Terrdillos de Templarios
Day 66, Terradillos de Templarios to El Burgo Ranero
Day 67, El Burgo Ranero to Puente de Villarent
Black, Red, Gold
Day 68, Puente de Villarent to Villar de Mazarife
Day 69, Villar de Mazarife to Santibánez de Valdeiglesias
Day 70, Santibánez de Valdeiglesias to El Ganso
Day 71, Cruz de Ferro; El Ganso to Riego de Ambos
Day 72, Pentecost Sunday; Riego de Ambos to Cacabelos
Day 73 Pentecost Monday Cacabelos to Herrerias
Day 74, Herrerias to Tricastela
Day 75, Tricastella to Morgade
Day 76, Morgade to Palas de Rei
Day 77, Palas de Rei to Arzúra
Day 78, Arzúra to Santiago
Day 79, One Day in Santiago
Day 80, Santiago to Vilaseno
Day 81, Vilaseno to Oliveiera
Day 82, “The End of the World”; Oliveiera to Fisterra
Day 83, Fisterra to Santiago
Day 84, Santiago to Porto
Day 85, Home Again From Porto
Texts - St. James correspondence between my brother and me
The Way in Numbers
List of snapshots
Figure 1: The first steps
Figure 2: Preparing lunch
Figure 3: First camp at Herlazhofer pond
Figure 4: The first pilgrim in Lindau with Monika
Figure 5: Trail > Memmingerberg - Lindau
Figure 6: In front of the hostel in Lindau
Figure 7: My daughter, Diana and her children
Figure 8: Here with my son-in-law Thomas
Figure 9: Viewpoint of Herisau
Figure 10: Tent in Wald
Figure 11: Trail > Lindau - Rapperswil
Figure 12: View of Lake Zurich with Rapperswil in the background.
Figure 13: A pilgrim in front of the Einsiedeln
Figure 14: At Haggenegg
Figure 15: View over Lake of Vierwaldstetter and Schwyz
Figure 16: The Mountains from Ingenbohl and the Haggenegg
Figure 17: Trail > Rapperswil - Ingenbohl monastery
Figure 18: Trail > Ingenbohl monastery - Lungenersee
Figure 19: Trail > Lungenersee - Hilterfingen
Figure 20: A bed in a haystack
Figure 21: Here I relaxed my feet (barefoot way)
Figure 22: First time the soup is well done
Figure 23: Romont
Figure 24: Trail > Hilterfingen - Romont
Figure 25: A look at the roofs of Lausanne
Figure 26: Last time in tent
Figure 27: A typical breakfast while camping in Switzerland
Figure 28: Trail > Romont - Gland
Figure 29: Trail > Gland - Geneva
Figure 30: First break in France.
Figure 31: Sometimes it’s not worth the time to formulate a goal
Figure 33: First Gîte from the outside & the inside.
Figure 32: Motivational sign
Figure 34: Just a break
Figure 35: The Australians and the German couple
Figure 36: The way forward & a look back
Figure 37: Trail > Geneva - Reval
Figure 38: Here is a great place to pause.
Figure 39: Trail > Reval - Les Setoux
Figure 40: Gîte La Papeterie
Figure 41: Klaus and Peter after clean-up.
Figure 42: The first look at Le Puy.
Figure 43: The defective pants have seen their last day!
Figure 44: Some of the family.
Figure 45: A picture of me for Uschi’s cell phone
Figure 46: Narcissus along the trail, Aubrac
Figure 47: Trail > Les Setoux to Les Estrets.
Figure 48: View of Saint-Come-d'Olt
Figure 49: View of L’Église de Perse
Figure 50: The view!
Figure 51: Portal of the cathedral in Conques
Figure 52: Conques: The path down to the Dourdou river.
Figure 53: Trial > Les Estrets to La Cassagnole.
Figure 54: The front of the sign & the back of the sign.
Figure 55: A bird on the path.
Figure 56: Gabriele and I saying farewell at the monastery!
Figure 57: Trail > La Cassagnole to Montauban
Figure 58: The road to Corbarieu.
Figure 59: A tin of fish with bread and warm beer
Figure 60: Montauban to St. Gaudes.
Figure 61: Lac de l'Arrêt darré
Figure 62: In Bartrès
Figure 63: Carola (assistant parish of Kaufbeuren) and I at dinner
Figure 64: St. Gaudes on Lourdes to Somport pass
Figure 65: First sign in Spain
Figure 66: Distance to Santiago de Compostela
Figure 67: Now I'm in Spain for the first time.
Figure 68: The path ahead & behind
Figure 69: View of Ruesta
Figure 70: Trail > Somportpass - Ruesta
Figure 71: Morning stretching with the Spaniards
Figure 72: Fredy and I enjoying ourselves
Figure 73: Eunate, a place of power!
Figure 74: Puente la Reina
Figure 75: Trail > Ruesta to Puente la Reina
Figure 76: The wine tap & drinking wine
Figure 77: Trail > Puente la Reina - Logroño
Figure 78: Part one
Figure 79: Part two
Figure 80: Part three
Figure 81 Trail > Logroño to Villafranca Montes de Oca
Figure 82: Debra and Lindsey
Figure 83: L to R: me, Lindsey, Debra, the Canadian couple
Figure 84: In Vino Veritas, singing and laughing!
Figure 85: The Alaskan girls ahead.
Figure 86: It goes downhill here.
Figure 87: Villa Franca de Oca to Itero de la Vega
Figure 88: An interesting depiction, Jesus is blonde!
Figure 89: Trail > Itero de la Vega – Puente de Villarent
Figure 90 : Dinner with the Alaskan ladies in El Ganso!
Figure 91: Trail > Puente de Villarent to El Ganso
Figure 92: I'm still laughing at the Iron Cross! But …
Figure 93: Trail > El Ganso—Triacastella
Figure 94: Speechless
Figure 95: A jovial circle in Palas de Rei.
Figure 96: City entrance
Figure 97: The certificate
Figure 98: Triacastela to Santiago
Figure 99: Trail > Santiago to Fisterra
Figure 100: At the entrance to Fisterra, had a quick beer!
Figure 101: The “End of the World”
Figure 102: My pilgrim ID
Figure 103: Back in Memmingerberg
Credits
Stephan Groborsch
Title picture Sahagun
Stephan Groborsch
figure:
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Diana + Thomas Helgeth
figure:
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Nicole Büchli
figure:
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Google Earth
figure:
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Wikipedia
figure:
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Debra
figure:
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Julia Lietz
figure:
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Garmin
All maps in European MetroGuide v4.00 figure:
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Conversions
Distances
Elevation
Temperature
Actors:
Stephan Groborsch
the Pilgrim
Ursula (Uschi) Groborsch
Pilgrim’s wife
Diana Helgeth
Pilgrim’s daughter
Richard (Richy) Groborsch
Pilgrim’s son
Thomas Helgeth
Pilgrim’s son-in-law
Reginhard Groborsch
Pilgrim’s brother
Klemens Groborsch
Pilgrim’s brother
Siegfried Koenig
Pilgrim’s brother-in-law
Ivanka Koenig
Pilgrim’s sister-in-law
Simone Hauenstein
Daughter of brother- in-law
Gerhard Gulde
Former comrade FBW 34
Monika Blank
Matrone in Lindau
Nicole
Pilgrim from Switzerland
Peter
Pilgrim from Switzerland
Klaus
Pilgrim from Germany
Dietmar
Pilgrim from Germany
Gabriel
Pilgrim from France
Carola Schneck
Catholic parish military aide
Fredy
Pilgrim from Germany
Debra
Pilgrim from USA
Lindsey
Pilgrim from USA
Angelika Mercer
Cousin, translator
Emily Mercer
Cousin’s daughter, translator
Introduction
What reasoning could prompt a man to travel 2,500 kilometers by foot? I don’t really have a clear answer. When my parents were still alive they often spoke of the Camino de Santiago trail, but I never took it into consideration; life revolved around my wife and children.
So why did I begin walking? Did the trail appeal to me because it was trendy or was it because my brother had already decided I should do it? I’m not sure. I wanted to do something packed with adventure. I wanted an experience, an experience that most people will never have. At that point I was 48 years old. At 49 years old, I informed my wife, family and friends of my intentions. By my 50th birthday the foundations had been laid and everyone knew of my plans, but no one believed I would go!
I prepared myself one step at a time, paying extra attention to studying maps, though I would discover later that my studies didn’t always result in success. I still can’t properly operate the GPS that I bought for the trip, but that doesn’t bother me because I am continuing to learn about this gadget and still use it.
Why am I even writing this down? Perhaps so that one day my grandchildren will read my story, “Grandpa-Adventure!” More importantly, I had to write it down for myself. I experienced so many wonderful moments that I will remember forever. It’s very important for me to immortalize my story.
Now, I want to give a few words of thanks.
First and foremost, to my lovely wife for giving me the confidence needed to take on this endeavor. I hope I have made you proud, dear Uschi.
I also want to thank my daughter, who took the time and trouble to read my writing from an editorial view. Her efforts have helped to keep my story alive.
Lastly, I would like to give thanks to the many people I met along the way, for giving me so much joy and acceptance.
Now that the introduction is over, you can enjoy the story.
The Pilgrim
Preparations
How did I prepare myself for this adventure? I’d like to write a few sentences on that.
Practical preparation: I tried to buy all the necessary maps with a scale of 1:50,000. For Germany and Switzerland it was no problem. In Germany, French and Spanish maps are difficult to find in this scale. So I reduced the scale to 1:125,000.
The next step was to get a guidebook, which provided plenty of information to plan the route.
The next step was to get a guidebook and plan the route. The guidebooks provided plenty of information to get this done.
A family weekend spent talking about the “Way of St. James”, which was organized by the Catholic military priest from Kaufbeuren airbase, was another step in the preparations.
As of October 2010, more and more time went into the planning. My GPS was loaded with maps and routes, which were being constantly refined. At the time I completed my packing list and checked my equipment again and again.
Physical Preparation:
I had to reach a certain level of physical fitness. To that end I put together a little program.
Monday & Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
> running, 8-10km.
> an hour of swimming
> running again
> hiking 15-20 k with at least 10kg in the backpack.
I stayed on this schedule, by and large, until one week before the start.
Day 1, Here we go! Memmingerberg to Herlazhofer Pond
Diana and the children picked me up at 8:00 am, and we took the short cut to the kindergarten.
Figure 1: The first steps
At Fritsch, a house in the neighborhood, we were met by Gulde Gerhard, who gave me money (in the form of a 100 € chocolate coin) to take on my trip. Before the turnoff to the kindergarten, I said goodbye to my grandchildren and Diana. Then I went to Fielmann, an optician, where I gave my wife a big kiss for goodbye.
When I walked through Volkratshofen I went to Stetter, the butcher, but he was closed, unfortunately. What bad luck, I really needed to buy some meat!
The butcher shop in Aichstetten closes on every Wednesday afternoon, but I arrived just in time. I bought some raw pork belly and sausage.
Right now I’m at N47° 57’: E10° 03’ and attempting to make a fire to cook my lunch. Within half an hour, I have a fire going and meat in the pot! Now I just have to wait for the soup to cook. Lunch was pretty good, and I was able to wash everything in the brook. After that, I strayed from the street, following the forest path instead, where I watched a fox hunt mice until it noticed me and ran off. Later, I saw a C-160 Transall military carrier practice touch-and-go landings at the Leutkirch airfield. I took my first break near the entrance to the town of Leutkirch. I was tired and I still had to walk about 6 kms, as the crow flies, to get to Herlazhofer Pond.
Figure 2: Preparing lunch
Right now it’s another 2 kms to the campsite. I’m tired and anxious to arrive at my destination, but my mood is still good and the weather perfect, though a bit windy. After the break I feel some pain returning, but I hope it will pass! My hip belt has already popped open three times! I have to figure out why this happening.
N47° 46’: E10° 00’
I finally arrived at the campsite, owned by the Riedele family, at Herlazhofer Pond. I was in luck; the assistant was off doing repair work, but had left me a camping space, a toilet and beer for seven euros. My dinner was quite enjoyable. I realize now that I must change tomorrow’s route because I’m on the wrong side of the pond. It doesn’t matter, since there are some good paths to take. Tomorrow I will only go as far as Wangen, so that I don’t arrive in Lindau too soon. My pants are already dirty!!!
It is 8 pm now, and I’m sitting at my dining spot. Around 7:55 pm, a Tornado fighter bomber flew overhead at about 300m above ground level, with a wing sweep of 45° and two under-wing tanks. The sound has passed, and now I hear a fairly large bird warbling in the tall pine tree opposite me. It’s larger than a blackbird or a thrush, but very pretty. I just finished my second beer, and now the day is over. Unfortunately, I can’t send anyone a text message because there is no reception here, so it will have to wait until tomorrow.
Now it’s time to kick-back for the night. I will probably go to bed at 10:30 CEST (Central European Summer Time).
Figure 3: First camp at Herlazhofer pond
Daily kms
Total kms
33.9
33.93
Day 2, Herlazhofer Pond to Wangen
The night was ok. The tent is a little snug, but I’ll get used to it. I was awakened by a light rain. It’s time to wear the Goretex and put the rain cover over my backpack. I’ll find reasonably cheap lodging in Wangen. Maybe an inexpensive hostel or monastery? So far I haven’t read any spiritual text, so let’s see how this goes. It’s now 6:30 am, and it will probably take me until 8am to get everything gathered together.
Uschi has to do inventory today! Oh poor lady, I am thinking of you!
First stop: It’s raining lightly, and there are frequent breaks in the rain — no problem! I can already see that the weather is beautiful to the southwest. In 50 meters, I’ll be back on the planned path. I’ve crossed the lower Argen valley! I had to remove the Goretex; the sun is shining and I’ve become extremely warm. The wind is pleasant and refreshing.
