We've had a fantastic day, so different from what we thought we would be doing.
Yesterday we were contacted by Karin, our host for tonight, who asked if we would like to meet with her and three of her friends and walk together for a while. Karin sent a map and told us when and where to meet.
We set off from Münchenlohra and walked 5 kilometres from there, all of it uphill, 3 kilometres of it were incredibly steep.
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| Saying goodbye to our night's accommodation in Münchenlohra. |
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| Looking back to the Kloster spires. |
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| Beautiful peony flowers. |
I have to take back what I said yesterday about the sad looking villages in former East Germany. The little villages we walked through near Münchenlohra were well kept and beautifully presented.
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A view on our way up.
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At the top of our climb we walked past the remains of Burg Lohra Castle which dates back to the 1100s.
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| Burg Lohra Castle remains. |
Then it was on to the meeting place with Karin and her husband, Joachim. They piled us into their car and drove a few kilometres on where we met with Karin's three friends. Karin and of her friends have walked the Via Romea Germanica, Karin said she started from Trondheim.
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| With Karin and her husband. |
Karin is now a route sponsor but I think she's a route angel. We thought we were booking a pension when we contacted Karin as she and her husband have a lovely pension complex, only when I asked how we can pay her she said that we're her guests and she won't accept any payment. Not only has she given us beautiful rooms but a wonderful tea at her own house after our walk, plus a barbecue dinner and tomorrow morning we're having breakfast we're having breakfast with them.
The walk we went on with Karin her friends went through a valley, past small streams and through a wonderful beech forest.
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The 6 of us setting out on our walk, Karin standing next to Jeff.
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A tree had come down across the path and we had lots of fun getting through the debris.
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| Jeff and Karin. |
Part the way along we came to a picnic table and seats and we stopped for a late morning tea. To our huge surprise the four ladies produced Thuringian version of champagne, a egg-nog type drink (also a local drink) and small ice cream cone shaped cups for the egg-nog - which we later ate, andbfancy chocolates. They were very amused at our reactions.
One of the ladies made this wee video.
Then we merrily carried on with our walk.
We came across a snake and I said, 'Ich habe Angst!' And Karin replied, 'Ich auch.' (I am afraid. Me too) One of Karin's friends tried to move it off the track with her pole and flicked back on her - she quickly jumped away.
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| A snake! |
We ended the walk by visiting
Dietenborn Kloster - just the remains are there. It was a Kloster set up by St Bonifatius - St Boniface.
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| There's pilgrim accommodation near the Kloster remains. |
St Bonifatius carried out many baptisms during his missionary journeys through Thuringia. He used this well, or fountain, for baptisms and it is said that it has never dried up. During times of great droughts - it saved many people and their animals.
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| The St Bonifatius well. |
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| Inside the renovated part of the Kloster. |
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| The Kloster as it was 1100s. |
Joachim, Karin's husband picked us up from the Kloster and on the way to their place in Schernberg they stopped at Weihnachtsmannbüro in Himmelsberg. Weihnachtsmannbüro is Father Christmas' house. Every year children write to him, even those as far away as New Zealand. Last year he received 6,000 letters at this house.
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| At Joachim & Karin's pension. |
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| Joachim & Karin's house. |
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| They have 7 alpaca. |
Schernberg is a former municipality in the district Kyffhäuserkreis, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 December 2007, it is part of the town Sondershausen.
Population 3386
Source: Wikipedia
