Our stay with the Schoenstatt Sisters in Haus Rosengart was so special. We slept well and went down for breakfast at 7 am. Carla, the German woman walking the Via Romea Germanica, stayed in Haus Rosengart too amd we had breakfast together.
Breakfast was once again wonderful, a full German breakfast - so much choice and the Sister in charge this morning told us to make a packed lunch from the breakfast things for to take with us. And an added surprise was our serviettes were rolled around two snack bars with a Marienkäfer, a ladybird, sitting on top - a little foil wrapped chocolate. Carla said that they mean good luck in Germany.
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| Haus Rosengart, our home for the night. |
We walked away from the Schoenstatt Zentrum and down into Friedrichroda. In contrast to yesterday, the sun was shining and it was quite mild. We didn't see a great deal of Friedrichroda but what we did see was lovely.
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| A hearty welcome to Friedrichroda. |
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| A maypole in the main square in Friedrichroda. |
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| Walking through the town. |
Once out of the town environs we had a continuous climb up into the hills, finally reaching 755 m. Initially the track was through pine forests but by the time we neared the high point of today's walk we were walking through mainly beech trees.
For some time we were walking on the Rennsteig, a 170 km walk which runs along the ridge of the Thuringian Forest. The Rennsteig has been in use since the Middle Ahes - it was first mentioned in 1330 as the Rynnestig.
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| Tracks run in every direction. |
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| Some of the mammals we could have seen ...but didn't. |
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| Some of the many ancient markers we saw today. |
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| Our lunch spot. |
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A rarity - a toilet on the way
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| This paddock was covered in wildflowers - hard to see in this photo. |
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| A view out. |
Coming down from the hills was on sealed roads for about 10 km, and the descent was steep all the way.
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| Looking down tieards Floh-Seligenthal, the only village of today, 5 or so kilometres before Schmalkalden. |
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| From Floh-Seligenthal it was a long slog into Schmalkalden. |
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| Coming into Schmalkalden. |
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The Rathaus, Schmalkalden.
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| Gästehaus Liebaug, our home for tonight. |
Unfortunately my left foot has been troubling me for a week or so and today was very hard, I don't think I'll be able to walk tomorrow. We may have to transport ahead as tomorrow's walk is longer than today's and is said to be intense. It's very disappointing.
Schmalkalden is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwest of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. As of 31 November 2022, the town had a population of 20,065.
Source: Wikipedia
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| Our view tonight. |
