Walking Der Ökumenische Pilgerweg – Gröditz to Kamenz

On the morning of Friday 21st August 2015, Sybille and I set out from the Pilgerherberge at Gröditz, to walk 20km to the large town of Bautzen. As you can see from the photographs, we were blessed with fine sunny weather.

Our route took us along a series of tracks and minor roads across undulating countryside.

The Pilgerweg approaching Drehsa © Ricky Yates

Here is the way approaching the village of Drehsa.

Flying pigs in Drehsa © Ricky Yates

Within Drehsa, there was this fun mural of a flying pig and piglet 🙂

Pilgerweg with shade © Ricky Yates

In view of the sunny weather, we both appreciated the shade provided by trees along parts of the route.

As on many pilgrim routes that I’ve walked, the approach to . . . → Read More: Walking Der Ökumenische Pilgerweg – Gröditz to Kamenz

Walking Der Ökumenische Pilgerweg – Görlitz to Gröditz

Peregrinus Herberge, Görlitz © Ricky Yates

 

 

 

As explained in the opening two paragraphs of my previous post, back on Tuesday 18th August 2015, Sybille and I drove from Prague to Görlitz, in order to spend the following week walking the first part of Der Ökumenische Pilgerweg. We stayed overnight in the Peregrinus Herberge, where we were also able to leave the ‘Carly’ securely parked, before setting out along the Pilgerweg the next morning.

 

 

With Görlitz being located in the valley of the Neiße river, it was inevitable that initially walking westwards to leave the town, involved walking uphill! However, we were soon out into open countryside and having covered 5km……

 

 

 

 

 

Ebersbach © Ricky Yates

……reached the attractive village of Ebersbach.

Path . . . → Read More: Walking Der Ökumenische Pilgerweg – Görlitz to Gröditz

Görlitz

The twin spires of St Peter & St Paul’s Church, Görlitz © Ricky Yates

 

The town of Görlitz is located in the far south-eastern corner of Germany and is about two-and-a-half hours drive directly north from Prague. Back on Tuesday 18th August 2015, Sybille and I drove to Görlitz, in order to spend the following week walking the first part of Der Ökumenische Pilgerweg. This is the first of three long-promised posts about that week mentioned in my summary post entitled ‘All those things in the second half of 2015 that got missed‘.

 

Having securely parked the ‘Carly’ in the gated backyard of the Peregrinus Herberge, we spent the rest of Tuesday 18th August, exploring Görlitz, before setting out walking along our pilgrimage route the following morning. On Monday 24th August, we returned to Görlitz . . . → Read More: Görlitz

Wroclaw

Wroclaw Town Hall © Sybille Yates

We spent the final two nights of our October Polish adventure, staying in the city of Wroclaw, and used the intervening day to discover some of the delights it has to offer. Until 1945, Wroclaw was part of Germany and known as Breslau. In the last few months of the Second World War, it suffered serious destruction, with the Nazi forces seeking to defend the city, only surrendering to the Soviet Red Army on 6th May 1945, just two days before the official end of the war.

As Sybille had organised advance booking of our accommodation for the two previous nights, she declared it was my turn to both find and pay, for somewhere for us to stay in Wroclaw. So, whilst enjoying a mid-morning coffee, sitting in the central market square of Poznan, I got online and . . . → Read More: Wroclaw

The Ökumenische Pilgerweg, Vacha and the Inner German Border

Here Germany & Europe were divided until 08.00, 12th November 1989 © Ricky Yates

Observant readers of this blog may have noticed that my wife Sybille, has not had a mention in any of my recent posts. This is because on Maundy Thursday 2nd April, Sybille travelled by train from Prague to Görlitz, a town lying in the south-eastern corner of the former East Germany on the border with Poland. Then on Good Friday morning, she set out to walk from Görlitz, 470 km along Der Ökumenische Pilgerweg, to the small town of Vacha, which lies on the former Inner German Border.

Der Ökumenische Pilgerweg was established in 2002-3, almost solely by the efforts of one lady, Esther Zeiher. It follows the line of the ancient Via Regia passing through Leipzig, Erfurt and . . . → Read More: The Ökumenische Pilgerweg, Vacha and the Inner German Border