The saga of Jeff's missing jacket continued this morning.
After a good night's sleep we woke early as usual - sunrise is around 5.50 and our room didn't have curtains. Early starts suit us and, being in a family home, we didn't want to disrupt their work and school morning routine.
When Jeff stepped out of our room he was greeted by Anna who said she had good news about his jacket. She had been told that a neighbour's daughter had found a jacket on the side of the road yesterday afternoon had taken it home. A few text messages between Anna and the girl's mother and Jeff was off on the bike again, with a hand drawn map to find the house where his jacket had spent the night. All was good again.
Needless to say, we were a later than usual setting out. Anna had taken the children to school - school is from 7.30 until 12.30 - and Udal was already in his workshop near door. We waved out to him as we walked off.
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| Leaving the Wiederhold family home - wearing his jacket. |
It was another really pretty morning. Bright sunlight hitting the fresh spring-green leaves, small birds chirping, a cuckoo calling and a woodpecker busy at work. It was quite a cool start once again, around 5° but soon warmed up.
We left without having breakfast as the family had been busy with their's so we stopped at little way down the road to eat our breakfast things.
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| Our breakfast stop. |
Today, once again, there was a lot of machinery work going on in the paddocks. The ground was being prepared for planting in many places and then we saw potatoes being planted.
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| Potatoes bring loaded into planter hopper. |
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| Then it was off planting the potatoes. Acres and acres were being planted. |
We rerouted a little, possibly saving a kilometre or two, and walked through an interesting area of old buildings.
Roughly half way through our day's walk was Neuenkirchen where we had a break.
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| The information centre in Neuenkirchen where we got our pilgrim passports stamped. |
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| We stopped for hot chocolates and some tasty treats in a cafe near the information centre. |
While we were at the cafe we chatted to a German couple who were on a biking holiday. They had walked two caminos in Spain.
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The 'new' church at Neuenkirchen which gave the town it's name was built in 1879-1880.
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Then we were on our way to Soltau, most of the way on lovely soft tracks.
Passing through a farmyard at one stage.
We had another short stop where we ate slices of bread that Anna had buttered for us. She made the bread grinding grain in the small mill in her kitchen. She said that it was red rye. It certainly was lovely bread.
Udal told us that the green crops we are seeing were rye and not wheat as the German ladies had told us a few days earlier. He said he grows rye and spelt on his land.
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| Anna's bread with the addition of a plum conserve was perfect. |
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| Our picnic spot. |
And on into Soltau a busy spread out town.
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| A Lutheran church in Soltau. |
We try to be in bed by 8.30 but getting off to sleep then seems odd as our rooms are always light as sunset isn't until around 8.45 pm.
Soltau is a mid-sized town in the Lüneburg Heath in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has around 22,000 inhabitants. The city is centrally located in the Lüneburg Heath and is known nationwide especially for its tourist attractions like the Heide-Park and the Soltau-Therme.
Population 22,040.
Source: Wikipedia
