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Journal: |
I stayed up late researching another potential change to my
itinerary on the web. During the day I had begun thinking that
it might be worth staying on the E1 (one of the European Long
Distance Footpaths), which I'm currently following, all the way down
into Italy near Rome. The route goes via the Amalfi Coast,
Tuscany and Umbria, so would be very interesting. If I did
that, I would leave the whole Via Alpina for another year.
However, getting detailed information about the E1 route in Italy
proved difficult on the web, so maybe I'll save that for another
year with more planning.
Another reason for staying up late
was that I overate at the All You Can Eat buffet last night and
ended up with indigestion and a bad night's sleep. My mood
wasn't helped much in the morning by the ominous looking clouds and
the day-old rolls I was given for breakfast (I've become picky).
Sure enough, within five minutes of my departure at 9am, it
started raining and I had to stop and get my raincoat out. My
first task was to go to the post office in Singen to mail a few
things, but en route I passed a shoe repairers and, on the spur of
the moment, dropped in to ask whether he could repair a cloth eyelet
on my right hiking boot that broke a few days ago. He was keen
to help and 15 minutes and 5 Euros later I walked out with what
looks like an excellent repair job. After the post office my
route required me to walk the length of Singen which turned out to
have a very large shopping district and I enjoyed watching everybody
going about their business at the start of a new week. It
continued to rain as I headed into a forest on the city's outskirts
to follow one of the many forest roads. Too many, as it turned
out, because I missed a turn and didn't realise until a few
kilometres later. I tried to navigate my way back the most
time- and distance-effective way in very heavy rain, but it still
probably cost me an extra hour and five unnecessary kilometres.
Back on the correct track, I splashed along sodden paths in wet
boots, glad that I hadn't planned a long day anyway. The rain
stopped and I took off my wet-weather gear because I was getting too
warm, but before long it was raining again and this remained the
pattern until about 3pm. During this time the trail crossed a
couple of low rural valleys and climbed up to small outcrops with
castle ruins on them. After the first of these, I descended to
the town of Steisslingen and just as it started spitting with rain
again, I passed a small supermarket and went in to see whether they
had anything for lunch. They had a small snack bar with a few
tables in the supermarket foyer and I bought and ate my lunch there,
watching torrential rain fall on shoppers scurrying through the car
park. Good timing on my part. At the next castle, I made
a short detour and climbed up on to the ramparts to get good views
in all directions. I think the castle dated from the 15th
Century.
After a steep and slippery descent I reached
Stahringen, the first of several villages I was to pass through in
the next 8 kilometres. I decided I would start looking for
somewhere to stay even though it was only 4pm. I was now only
about 25km from Konstanz, where I plan to stay tomorrow night.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I walked all of those next eight
kilometres and didn't find anywhere to stay, apart from one
over-priced offer of a double room (I hope they later rued not
giving it to me at the single room price, especially since I would
have eaten at their restaurant as well). Three places were
closed on Mondays and another was full. Finally, at the small
village of Liggeringen at about 5:30pm, with no more villages in my
near walking future, I caught a bus to the town of Radolfzell, 15
minutes away, which wasn't on my route, but looked large enough to
have plenty of accommodation.
It turned out to be an
interesting city with a very historic and well-preserved old town,
but it took me some time, and about another three kilometres of
walking, to find a reasonably-priced hotel. After the usual
shower and washing, I went for an admiring walk around the old
town's narrow cobbled lanes, street cafes and market square before
ordering a cheap take-away pizza and salad near the railway station
and taking it back to my room to eat while watching the French Open
on TV. I've checked the bus timetables and will have no
problem catching one back to Liggeringen to resume walking from
there tomorrow morning.
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