Leaving Gerhard and Heike’s this morning was bittersweet. We have been so loved there, but we also knew it was time to continue the pilgrimage.

Allison

We had to say goodbye to Heike last evening since she had to go to work early this morning. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Gerhard and said our goodbyes. We hit the road about 8 am which is quite late for pilgrims, but we are not going far today.

The weather is no longer cool. Today the sun is heating up everything, including us. We even applied sunscreen.

Kronach Castle is very impressive! The outer fort is the oldest part built in the 1700s. It is the same style as Fort McHenry in the United States. The interior buildings were massive and huge. My favorite parts were the guard houses and the views.

Because we had been visiting with our friends for the last couple of days, we had to make many stops along our way. Visiting the Bio Market for food for breakfast and locating a bank for some needed cash. The city of Kronach had it all! It even had a church with a cool diorama. I made a video for our grands about it.

We are now officially walking along Jacob’s Weg. Seeing the first marking for the path was exciting.

The views along the way were once again beautiful. God makes such beautiful art work.

Walking to our lodging, we discovered that the 2 restaurant options in the town are closed on Mondays. Thank God that our host for the evening generously drove us to a grocery store, so we could pick up food. God is good.

Mark Here

We were supposed to be staying in a trailer tonight, but there was a mix up in the reservation and we are now staying in a large room with a balcony. This is an interesting place. Our host is German, but speaks English with a distinctive Indian cadence. He is a master Yoga instructor and spiritualist.

I remarked to Nadine and Allison that it is NOT the kind of place that would appeal to many of our friends. It is odd to our standards, but as a pilgrim I’ve become used to differences and maybe I actually appreciate them more. It is safe and friendly and interesting. We don’t have fancy soaps and monogrammed hotel towels, but we were offered access to their kitchen, a ride to the store for groceries and interesting conversation. So many times I’ve used the word REAL when describing our pilgrimages.

It all reminds me of a time I was in Dubai on a business trip. I was sitting in a fancy hotel with gold and glitz and 4-star amenities. I was waiting for a colleague in the lobby and became board. I walked up to a beautiful gold statue. It effused wealth and opulence. I stared. To get a complete look I tried to look around the back of the statue which was tight up against a wall. Peaking behind the statue there were 2×4’s and a chicken-wire mesh. The wall entire statue was a plaster fake. All that glitz and glamour was an illusion.

This place is like many others we stay. There are no gold painted plaster statues. It is Real.

This evening we met Ellie, our host’s mother. She is 92 and reminds me of my mom. Spicy.

Tomorrow we set off early. It might be a tough day.