Day 20 – A pleasant day in Bavaria

Wernfels to Gunzenhausen, 22Km

It was a decent breakfast in the Wernfels castle youth hostel this morning. The highlight was an amazing coffee machine which made every type of coffee that young people have come to expect, grinding the beans as it went. Naturally the bread was fresh and delicious so that was me sorted. I would have liked to include a photo of the happy children having so much fun but nowadays one has to keep the camera packed away.

The walk today was incredible. It was a pilgrimage through the Kalbensteinberg and Grafensteinberg into the Franconian Lake District where Gunzenhausen houses the tourists. If I went home tomorrow I’d feel I’d sampled Bavaria in all its glory. Beautiful half timbered villages, each with a church offering the precious pilgrim stamp, and a mixture of corn, fruit trees and cattle. Talk about low hanging fruit, the apple and pear trees were begging me to relieve them of the weight. I was nervous about being shot but tomorrow, caution will be thrown to the wind.

And my words about farmers needing to educate city boys like me were barely out of my mouth when I passed a field where the farmer had labelled every variety of corn and its intended use which was animal feed for cattle and pigs. Now we know.

Onwards tomorrow to Heidenheim where a nunnery awaits although they draw the line about accommodating me for the night.