As I flow-limped along and steadily got closer & closer to the Swiss border, an odd mix of excitement and nostalgia welled up from within. After all, it appeared more & more likely that on this day I would enter the second country on my Great Journey homeward, AND as such would leave Germany — […]
There were supposedly three primary Camino tributaries that flowed through Weil am Rhein to the German-Swiss border, and one of them — the one I intended to take — supposedly led to a pedestrians-only bridge (named the “Peace Bridge”, fittingly). Of course, as is so often the case when plans are made, God begins chuckling […]
And then, after all the warnings I had received about the sternness of the Swiss border patrol and all the consternation I had felt about encountering the same, I set out from Ingrid & Edmund’s house that afternoon and within five minutes smoothly crossed a bridge into Switzerland — a bridge that had no border […]
As uplifted as I was over the ease at which I had crossed into Switzerland, I couldn’t help but feel an immense wave of disappointment wash over me when the first Swiss “business” I encountered proved to be a zoo — a zoo, in the most cruel twist of ironies, that charged no entry fee […]
I make it without major incident into the city of Basel, and am flowing smoothly towards the majestic towers of the famous Basel Munster already seen on the horizon when I come across a delightfully odd series of artist-stalls and sage-like slogans* graffitied nearby … 🙂 “There is a fundamental stubbornness within me that cannot […]
It’s hard enough trying to follow pilgrimage routes through larger cities in general, and yet I soon discovered that Switzerland made this task even harder still — by not having any Camino-specific waymarkers at all (at least not on the Basel to Geneva route I was treading*). That having been said, I did make my […]
One of the most important logistical lessons to be learned on any pilgrimage is the simple fact that the strangers you meet along the way are for the most part NOT effective providers of distance or direction. Indeed, the vast majority of the people I met along the way had no idea whatsoever which direction […]
Up early after a surprisingly restful sleep on the cold, hard floor of the lodging that was provided the night before (a trailer-turned-playroom located behind a neighboring farmstead) and head slowly but surely onward through the crisp, foggy morn. Notice as I do so that the massive swelling in my ankles had dissipated during the […]
Finally, after wobble-limping along what turned out to be the shortest leg of my entire Walk (just covering 11 km), the beautiful town of Mariastein, with its stunningly beautiful monastery, came into view. “Though life is mostly froth and bubble,Two things stand like stone:Kindness to another’s trouble,and Courage through your own.” ~ via Adam Lindsay […]
Well, even though the town’s rumored pilgrim-friendly hostel turned out to be a solely-pay-to-stay bed & breakfast — and even though the local monastery (quite contrary to a similarly vehement rumor relayed to me on more than one occasion previous) in fact did NOT maintain the habit of taking in anyone other than officially pre-registered […]
In pilgrimage (as in Life, and as in Love) it is considered prudent and even proper to prepare for the unexpected; to carry along items (or, in Life & Love, possessions &/or backup plans) “just in case” anything goes wrong. And even though I had intentionally organized my own Walk to be a radically minimalist […]
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