Distance: 26.5km
Duration: 6.15h walk and 2h breaks
Weather: perfect conditions with sun, some clouds, a breeze and max. 27C
This was so far my absolutely favourite day during this trip! Why? It started with an enormous and delicious breakfast with eggs from the owner’s chicken, the path on the dyke started right in front of the house, the weather was perfect, the landscape beautiful, nice river crossing by ferry, coffee and cake in the castle and a charming village to stay over night!
You might wonder about the breakfast and yes – I changed my habits and started having breakfast in the morning when staying at a B&B. I just couldn’t help it when I saw the efforts that went in.
Despite this part being the second longest so far, I didn’t struggle at all in the same way like on the first day. Don’t get me wrong – it was still tiring but this time, I didn’t feel like having a break every 1-2km in the end. It probably is a combination of my body adjusting but also external factors like weather, condition of the path and the surroundings. Also, I started listening to audiobooks when I got bored of a monotone scenery or when I started to get tired physically. This prevents me from checking my tracker every few minutes.
So after 7 days of walking and with 151km below my belt, I am well on track for the 611km in 4 weeks. However, I have two resting days planned for Wittenberg and Magdeburg to look at the cities and some of the sights.
Accommodation: https://pension-fahrradschloss.de/kontakt/
A few take away a after the first week of hiking:
– I need to check carefully where the route takes me and avoid roads at any cost
– The distance on Google Maps can defer quite severely by the signed out cycling path. Foot paths often even are longer as they are closer to the river and therefore follow the natural bend
– Every day is different depending on my physical condition, my mindset, external conditions which requires adaption of pace and breaks
– It is very rare that I come across a bakery, shops or restaurants (that are open!), so I need to organise myself for drink and food for the entire day and carry it with me
– Ideally, I have my accommodation for the next night confirmed by the night before as it can be quite tough to walk for an additional 2-3km if there is no free accommodation
– It’s amazing how easy it is to cut down to the basics if need to be (food, drink, accommodation, daily distance, minimum supplies). AND – it feels so liberating and I love the ease and freedom of it (ok, ask me in 3 weeks again when I was changing the same 2 outfits day in and day out…)
Quite a few people were asking me why I don’t do the trip by bicycle. Those are some of the reasons:
– I have much more freedom regarding the path as I can walk across fields or right along the river if I want to
– It gives me more time to take in the beauty of the scenery, nature and the space
– I love using my own physical strength without any support
– It gives me independence as I can deal better with an aching knee than a broken bicycle
So overall, the first week has been exciting, exhausting and I love the unknown of what the next day will bring. Let’s see how the next days and weeks go.
Sabine's blog 