Day 10 – Riesenbeck

Morning

Waking up before 6am seems to be a thing. And I don’t mind. I slowly woke up and took a nice warm shower.

No problem about thinking what to wear today, a white shirt with Walk to WordCamp Europe logo and a zip-off pants will do just fine. In the hotel restaurant I enjoyed breakfast, and loaded some energy for today’s walk. A 35km walk to Riesenbeck.

The walk

After putting my backpack on, which was definitely much lighter after I ditched some stuff, I started walking. I chose to wear my jacket, since rain was predicted on my route. After about an hour and a half, after walking through beautiful fields, it started raining. I did not yet protect my backpack with it’s own raincoat, so I immediately did. And continued walking. The pace was pretty good, and before I knew I had covered 7km already. The rain did not slow me down. After a while it stopped raining and my pants started to dry. It was a bit wet, but not so bad.

I decided to give my parents a call. We talked about how things went, the weather, how my feet were feeling and what stages I still had to do. Yes, the 40km stage from tomorrow also came along.

Rain gained up on me, and started in a heavier form. I was not letting it keep me from walking, and just kept going on. Nothing I could do about it, so better just deal with it. I stopped at a bus stop to shelter and to dry (just my pants). When the third car drove by and through a puddle of water next to the bus stop, I knew I had to move. So I continued to find another place to shelter. After a few kilometers, I found one. I waited until it nearly stopped raining and continued my way.

With about 6km to go, I walked on a road in the forest. A car stopped next to me, and a friendly elderly couple asked if I wanted to hitch a ride. I declined, and thanked them for the offer. I can only walk to Berlin, and not hitch rides. That’s what I’ve promised my sponsors and donors and that’s what I should do. At 5pm I got to Riesenbeck, and had to wait an half hour for the host to get home, my bad, I walked too fast….

Here are some pictures of today:

The accommodation

I was welcomed by Maria, who showed me my room. In the basement, with car posters, of BMWs, Lamborghini’s and BMWs. Yes lots of BMWs. And a good bed.

We had dinner with her Maria’s husband Ralf, and their daughter Sabina. Rice, veggies and pork. Yummy. At 9.30pm I went to bed, to write this blog, and to get some sleep.

Tomorrow

40 kilometers. To Osnabrück. Let’s do this. See you tomorrow!