Nevoscoi - Walking Across Europe - Tumblr Blog

Checked into another hotel a few days ago in Germany. It was even better than the first one, mainly because the minibar was stocked with these cute, tasty, and tiny bottles of wine and chocolate. Guess what I ended up having for dinner... Also, the ashtray sign makes a bit more sense when you know that there's a balcony the size of the room connected to the room. But it's neater taken out of context. And the initial photo is Chanel eating a dental dog bone in the bed. She jumped up there the second she got it, and I think she's unsure of whether I approved or not. I just patted her on the head, and then went and had a long shower.

Today, we crossed the Rhine and entered France.

Chanel finds cardboard boxes irresistible. Unfortunately, I thought about taping her a little late, so the intensity of her attacks on the box isn't as strong as ten minutes before :)

So today was a much better day. Just walking slowly through the woods listening to the sound track of Into the Wild and feeling very relaxed. I could get used to staying at hotels.

So today started out as one of those days that just... suck. I woke up feeling fed up with all this effing walking, with camp grounds, new people, eating readymade food from the supermarket, having to pack and unpack every day, planning my route through Google Maps, etc. I was lying in my sleepingbag, recalling with a groan that my newly washed clothes were still hanging to dry, but that it had also rained heavily that night. I got up to check on them, and found that while all were drenched, half of them had further more been blown to the ground during the night and were now both wet and dirty. My mood didn't improve. I hung everything up, ate some breakfast and passed a few hours watching tv on my phone. I called my mom to tell her that I was fed up and wanted to go home. I have to call my mom in these moments, because my dad, my boyfriend, my sister, my friends, basically anyone else would just agree with me and tell me I should go home if I didn't feel like doing it anymore. Not my mom. After listening to me whine for a while she told me to suck it up, give it a few more days at least, and buy an ice cream. Even though I told her what I thought she should do with her ice cream, I grudgingly had to agree with her. I packed up my stuff, put on my only slightly damp clothes and set off. I had the route planned out on Google maps, but after an hour the route tracks suddenly stopped. According to Google, the tracks were supposed to go on through what seemed like a forest all the way to my next destination. But in front of me was only tall grass and prickly bushes. I felt like throwing my backpack to the ground and setting it on fire, fully aware that I would be forced to go home if I did. My already foul mood flared into a thunderstorm, and I thought I was going to start screaming like a lunatic. I turned around and started walking back the way I had come, not really sure what to do next. I turned on some heavy metal to take the brunt of my aggression. One solution filled my thoughts: Hotel. I wanted my own room, my own bed, my own bathroom, my own shower. Something I hadn't had for about a month now. Through the internet I found a hotel near my intended destination and a route there with public transportation. I called to make sure they had space and placed a reservation. When I arrived I left my backpack and Chanel in the room and went to the nearest supermarket. I bought strawberries, bretzel, iced coffee, chips, candy, a sandwich, beer, cake, ice cream, a luxury dinner for Chanel, and a treat for her also. When I returned I gave an expectant Chanel her snack, and she instantly returned to the bed to sleep. I figured I'd have a quick shower. While standing in the shower and thinking about the groceries, I suddenly felt like doing something I haven't been able to in a long time: drinking beer in the shower. I went back to the room, butt naked and with water dripping everywhere, and got a beer. Back in the shower I remembered that I had an ice cream melting at the bottom of my shopping bag. I went and got that too. I thought about getting my Kindle, but was worried it would get wet. So instead I got my phone, turned on an audio book, put one of the smaller towels on the shower floor and made myself comfortable. Half an hour later I emerged slightly buzzed and with a significantly heightened mood.

Freshly baked bretzel and Hefe. The Germans know how to live.

I should have delayed this walk even more than I already have. Then I could have walked happily through the Rheinland living of off grapes and apples and cherries. And maybe the weather would have been better...

The kindness of strangers. Everyone loves Chanel. This particular gentleman was convinced that I didn't feed her enough, which meant he would use every opportunity to feed her some of the food and treats meant for his own cat. But to be fair, the cat didn't really look like it was going to starve to death any day soon. This is Chanel's favourite kind of attention. I wish the picture could show how fast her tail was wagging.

Today we're taking a rest day. Chanel has so far slept, occasionally getting up to eat some food from the friendly family we are staying with. I am doing exactly the same. We hadn't planned to have a rest day, but my whole body aches and my feet are in more pain than I have experienced yet. I am also incredibly tired. The blister remedy still works, though.

Jakobsweg (Camino de Santiago) from Bingen am Rhein to Worms. So far, not impressed. The last three days have all started out the same, with me finding the Jakobsweg and following it for a few hours before getting lost. It is very badly marked, and most of my initial ability in following it stems from lucky guess work. The arrows point in random directions, often making none or very little sense when there are more than one choice of road to take. So whenever I get lost, I have given up backtracking and have just started walking south, using Google maps to plot a route. Yesterday this resulted in having to cross a small ditch between two fields, as well as forcing myself through a couple of natural hedges. Cuts and scrapes on my bare legs. But at least I didn't have to walk along any highways, or be led around in random snake patterns by whatever morons were designing this #$@&%! trail. Nobody will ever get any use out of that trail, because it is so terrible marked. It just seems like a lot of time and money wasted. Okay, this wasn't meant to be a rant. I guess I'm just spoiled by the Rheinsteig. While the Rheinsteig also did redundant snake patterns, they were along beautiful scenery and with tough climbs. It was always well marked, and the trail was beautiful and upkept, without being along highways or through busy city streets. So now I'm making my own path. So far, interesting and I might have to look into downloading the maps onto my phone, since I'm using a bit too much mobile data. I have 3GBs for 30 days, but I've already used 2.1GBs in 18 days...

Chanel just farted so loudly that she scared herself. Here she is hiding behind my backpack from that terribly loud noice that was right behind her! I was laughing so much I almost cried, and the people at the campsite were staring over their breakfasts. I probably shouldn't have fed her four boiled eggs yesterday.

Goodbye, Rheinsteig. From here on, we will be following a Camino de Santiago path. Where we part is not officially the end of the Rheinsteig, but the last kms are going east and slightly north. The opposite direction of where I'm heading. So as much as I would love to see it through, especially because it seems to be going through wine country, we'll cross the Rhine tomorrow and head south on a more inland camino trail. It will eventually run along the Rhine again, but not for at least a hundred kilometres. The pictures are of the Rheinsteig, including a panoramic picture that I think turned out okay.

I just felt like sharing how my view got gradually better at that place where I was staying a few nights ago. And the pictures really do not do it justice. It's one of the few nights where instead of reading or watching tv on my phone, I just sat with my tent wide open and watched the Rhine, listing to the sounds of birds and water and people, and smelling the fresh air and the wet grass. It had rained heavily a few hours earlier, and so there were fewer bugs and everything felt fresher.

Despite the boring weather, it's hard to beat the place where we're camping tonight on beauty. That's Chanel's football at the lower right corner. It's in a net I made so I could strap it to the backpack. It was the first kind of toy I saw her enjoy, and since then I've only seen her get excited over sticks being thrown and footballs. She will prefer someone else's ball over her own. I had to chase her around a big field once when she found some kids brand new football and of course proceeded to bite into it. She seemed to find the chase simply fantastic, so it took me a while to retrieve their ball. Then I put it up a tree, between three branches, where the kids would be able to see it, and went towards our own ball. When I came back, the ball had fallen out of the tree (I thought), and the whole thing repeated itself. This time, though, as soon as I had put the ball up the tree, thinking I had pushed it firmly in place, Chanel ran up the side of the tree, bopped it out with her nose, grabbed it and ran. I finally got it so far up the tree that she couldn't reach it, and even though I got her to play with our ball, she'd still sometimes return to the tree and look up at the new ball, trying to solve the riddle of how she could get at it. I took a couple of pictures of Chanel and the ball tree, but they were on the phone when it broke, and hadn't been uploaded to Dropbox. So you'll just have to imagine it :)

Today all four of my weather apps said the same thing - rain all day, and lots of it. However, the rain only lasted until around ten, and then I didn’t see a drop the rest of the day. Even now, tucked into my tent, there’s nothing outside. Now the apps are saying the rain is coming tomorrow or tonight. So I’ve placed my tent on a slight ridge, and strung it up pretty tight. I hope it pours tonight, so I can walk in dry weather tomorrow.

Maybe the four-leaf clover I found this morning had something to do with it?

Also, I’m not sure if that lizard is local to the area, or an escaped pet off on a whirlwind adventure.

When it's raining outside, there's really nothing to do but find a little German cafe and have a hot chocolate and a piece of cake for lunch.

Today's hike. A tough stretch with a lot of literal ups and downs. The first picture is of a view I enjoyed while listening to Manowar. I felt very metal, walking through the German forests with the Kings of Metal album blasting through my head. It also sped me up a bit, leaving me completely exhausted when I reached the top. The next two pictures are of a plant that always reminds me of dinosaurs. I don't know why, but every time I see it, that's what pops into my head. I have this memory of either reading or someone telling me that during the time that dinosaurs were alive, these plants also existed. And then I saw a lizard! I kept snapping pictures of it, while going steadily closer to it, afraid it might run away. When I finally got this close, I started getting worried it might pounce on me and that it might be poisonous. I know pretty much nothing about lizards (salamanders?) so as ridiculous as the fear felt, I still drew away and walked on. Then there are some pictures of the trail. Someone pointed out to me that the strange square rocks in a previous post might be caused by natural erosion. So I had to look up what goes into building trails. If you want to know more, just Google it. Basically, I couldn't find any information on a rock-carving machine, but in a lot of places the trail looks like a wedge cut out of the rock in order to form a level road. And then on some dirt roads, like in the picture, the rock seems smoothed down to the level of the dirt. I have no idea how old these roads are, so it could be natural in some places and man-made in others. Or both. But one thing I figured out was the use of the metal ditches dug into the trail. They're to lead the water away from the trail, so the trail doesn't become the next river. I admit, this seems fairly obvious, but I hadn't really given it much thought beside "strange." I honestly don't think very deeply while hiking. My mind seems to clog with the exhaustion. At one point I couldn't remember how to tie my shoelaces. I really had to stop and think about it for what felt like a full minute before I could recall what goes where. As in, how to tie a knot. It was a hot day. And the last is an uplifting photo of Chanel rolling in something that's most likely very gross.

"Dammit, Europe, more work and washingpowder staff?" Another case of my initial German translation upon reading something out of the corner of one eye.

Thunder is a lot more menacing when you're sleeping in a tent.

My sister asked me to put more selfies on my blog, so here goes. The first picture is while hiking. I was almost at the top of a mountain I'd been walking up the previous twenty minutes. So I look quite sweaty. And just before anyone asks, I doubt there'll ever be a full-body picture of me in my hiking gear, especially all strapped up with my backpack on, because I look like a massive dork. Seriously. I would not want that on the internet. It's bad enough that the Germans, famous for wearing socks in sandals and tucking the waistline of their trousers up around their nipples, see me. Okay, I admit that's just a very Danish stereotype of German tourists. Most of the Germans I've seen have been fully capable of dressing like normal people. But since I've pretty much thought "lol, loser" every time I've seen another hiker, I guess it's just impossible to look good in hiking gear. The last four of the pictures are of Chanel and I having arrived at the campground. Chanel enjoys the sun without having to walk in it, while I enjoy my beer, and the chance to free my feet. If I look tired in the last photo, it's because I am.

Considering that it looks like the trail has been cut clean out of the rock, I’m going to insist that what I’ve been unsure of whether to call mountains or hills, are mountains.

Also, how did the rock end up looking like that? What kind of machine did this? I’ll have to remember to ask the Germans. I’m sure if I asked my parents they’d tell me that it’s a bird or lizard specific to the Rhein area that cuts the rock like that in order to lay its eggs in the cracks. They’ve always liked telling ludicrously bullshit stories when asked stupid or meaningless questions. I have to admit, I do the same sometimes.

When a sign has the words "militär", "verboten" and "eigene Gefahr", it's probably best to stay on the trail and not go into the bushes or behind the trees no matter how much you need to pee...

Linz, a view, a church and a friend Chanel made at the campground. Him and his father were hiking the Rheinsteig as well, and while we were sitting at the table and talking, Chanel decided to jump off of my lap, and onto his. She stayed there the rest of the evening, even while I went to the toilet or the kiosk to buy beer. I always feel really proud of her when she trusts other people, and has the confidence to approach them.

Today we crossed the Rhein.

Mostly because I was fed up with mountains (hills) and my legs were really sore. But also because I wanted to walk along the Rhein river instead of just forest. And it was beautiful.

We crossed the river with a small ferry that only cost €0.70. Pretty okay. Luckily it lasted less than a minute, because Chanel was shaking the whole way.

I decided to stop at a camp ground, despite not having walked as far as I had planned. The sun was hot, and we were both lazy. We had had a lot of breaks, and every time Chanel curled up in my lap and slept, not even bothering to inspect the area like she usually does.

So now I’m sitting in the sun in front of my tent, drinking ice cold beer that only cost €1.60. Chanel went to sleep as soon as the tent was set up (and we had bought beer), and now she doesn’t even lift her head when people walk by. She opens her eyes briefly, then goes back to sleep. I think she’s enjoying the privacy of the tent as much as I’m enjoying my beer.