The hike from Schweich to Trier was to be our last day of pilgrimage and we began in high style, with an excellent breakfast buffet. The gracious hotel owner had prepared everything just for us and the two other hikers who were following an alternate Mosel Camino hike that is slightly less challenging. Then we started out, and promptly went a little astray but recovered quickly. The weather didn't look too promising, but was supposed to stay warm so we were not worried.
Somewhere not far from Schweich we came upon a sign that told us the distance from there to Santiago de Compostella, where the grave of St. James is located, is 2,395 km. Much as we had enjoyed this hike, it was a little hard to imagine hiking the whole thing. Many of those miles are on asphalt streets -- as we know from having hiked part of the Camino del Norte in Spain. And we'd heard that some parts are not very well marked so that 20 km can quickly become 30km.
We were even more sure that a two-thousand kilometer hike was probably not for us when it started to rain mid-morning. This wasn't a gentle spring rain but a true downpour. We hastily donned our rain gear and pack cover, but the weather was just too hot for rain pants -- big mistake! Rain ran down our legs and into our shoes, and we both soon started making squishing sounds while walking. What's worse, the waterproofing of my shoes is excellent, so the water had no way of leaking out. Very fortunately, the storm was over quickly. We stopped at a bench under an oak tree to pour out the water from our shoes and to wring out the socks, and have a bite of lunch:
As we sat and ate lunch, our fellow pilgrims from the hotel in Schweich stopped by. The wife told us she put tissues in her shoes to absorb some of the water - it really was quite a downpour.
We were soon off again. From the ridge, we enjoyed the views of Trier, our destination for that day and the final destination of our pilgrimage. It was a surprising amount of up and down before we reach the edge of the city, and then a surprising distance to the hotel walking along the Mosel on city streets. But eventually we made it and were rewarded with an especially good hotel -- they even had a basin for a pine needle footbath and some foot cream waiting for us!
Thus refreshed, we headed out for a bite and to have a first look at the sights. Trier is world famous and we had booked an extra day to see at least a little bit.
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| Fountain at Central Square in Trier |
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| Porta Nigra in Trier |
