Via Romea Germanica Day 3: Heeslingen - Gyhum

Mann muss der Leben tanzen

(Man must dance through life)

- Friedrich Nietsche

In the morning I debated asking my hostess, Brigitte, to drive me back into Heeslingen so I could see the inside of the church and start walking again exactly where I left off. But the vicar was not answering his phone, so we assumed the church would be closed this morning too, and I set off on foot from Brigitte and Harald's home in Offensen, about 3 kilometres further down the trail from Heeslingen. I crossed a footbridge and followed a path beside the stream through a forest of incredibly bright green spring foliage.

Kindergarten in the woods - wonderful!

I came into the town of Zeven (population 14,000) at the church of St. Vitus, built in 1158 at a Benedictine convent which was relocated from Heeslingen to Zeven in 1141 to give the nuns a more peaceful location free of worldly distractions, "for the sake of inner discipline". The cloister is now the town museum, but unfortunately both the church and the museum are closed on Saturday morning, so I turned from spiritual and cultural attractions to practical matters, continuing on to the supermarket to stock up on food. German supermarkets are excellent for pilgrims because they often supply not only groceries but washrooms, and a coffee shop/bakery with tables and chairs!

After stocking up on food supplies for the weekend and using the facilities,  I left Zeven behind and followed a cycling track past a horseriding establishment to the farming village of Oldendorf.

Here I paused for a rest before continuing by the side of a quiet paved country road. After a brief stretch on a wider road I turned off into the trees. In the middle of the forest, the Via Romea Germanica and the Jacobsweg, the Via Baltica route to Santiago, parted ways. I shall miss those bright yellow arrows!

Just in case anyone missed the waymark... 😄

I soon found myself walking a tree-lined dirt road, surrounded on either side by wetlands. The route follows a U-shape to get around these boggy areas. After walking most of the way around the U, I was ready to sit down and eat some of that food from the supermarket that was making my pack so heavy! There were no benches anywhere to be seen, so after a while I gave up and sat down on the ground by the road to eat.

I even lay down, used my pack as a pillow and took a brief nap - interrupted by the sound of a horse trailer bouncing and rattling it's way along the dirt road! I got up and continued on my way, and there, less than 500 metres down the road, was the bench I had given up looking for! 😄 Well, it didn't look comfortable enough for a nap,  anyway!

A little further and I came to the farming village of Wehldorf. Only a couple more kilometres and I was in Gyhum, a slighly larger farming village, where Irmela was waiting for me with the key to the church community centre. I have the whole building to myself - kitchen, meeting rooms and games room, where I have a choice of sleeping on one of four sofas, on a beanbag mattress, or on my own inflatable mattress! I also have a vast selection of board games to play... all by myself. 😏

Irmela left the church open so I could go and see it. The stamp for the pilgrim credential is in a box outside the door, so that pilgrims can use it even when no-one is there.

Supper was soup made from a powdered soup mix, bread and cheese - I had eaten all the best things from the supermarket for lunch! 😄

Heeslingen (Offensen) - Gyhum 23 km

Today's accommodation: St. Margarethen Kirchengemeinde