Day 21 – 29 Kilometres walked today – total walked: 447 Kilometres – Kreuzau

The weather was absolutely beautiful today. The walk was flat, pleasant and further than we realised it would be.

Unfortunately, we could not find a hotel in Kreuzau , our target destination. Having already walked 29 Km, we were in no shape to walk anywhere else and had to hop on a small commuter train, much like the Docklands Light Railway, to take us off of our route, a few stops southwards. This took us to a beautiful spot named Obermaubach which is right on the edge of a large lake, nestling within large wooded hills – or perhaps mountains – I have never been sure what qualifies. The area is stunning and very reminiscent of The Lake District in England – it is the Nordeifel National Park.

We has intended to tiptoe around most of this area, to avoid having to tackle the very big hills. But having been, unintentionally, thrown into it, we have decided that leaving without a fight would be bad form. So although our target destination tomorrow is unchanged, we are going to try to walk from here rather than getting the train back up to Kreuzau, as originally intended. It will be challenging but will hopefully also be rewarding.

And although our hotel is the cheapest we have stayed in so far, it served up huge bowls of chunky, home-made soups, a very welcome change from menus that consist mainly of schnitzel and spargel. Eating on the road is getting trying. It is not German food per se, as I am fairly certain that one would get the same experience, with different dishes, at home. The problem is that of essentially the same menu in every place. And I cannot tell you how much bread, cheese and ham I have eaten, for breakfast and lunch. Whilst talking about food, I feel I should also mention that, since we left Bavaria, Bratwurst and Suaerkraut have been totally, and sadly, absent from the menus. A great shame as, together with Weizenbier, it was one of the things I was looking forward to getting a lot of.

Today's musical choice, in honour of the chunky soup, is The Rolling Stones and “You Can't Always Get What You Want”.