Via Romea Germanica Day 4: Gyhum - Scheeßel

Ein Tag in deinen vorhöfen ist besser denn sonst tausend

(Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere)

- Psalm 84, quoted on the organ loft in the church in Scheeßel 

In the games room of the Lutheran church community centre in Gyhum, I tried out my "sleeping equipment" for the first time: miniature inflatable mattress (Decathlon, weight: 510 grams), thermal sleeping sack (Sea to Summit Reactor, already well-used, weight: 250 grams) and foil emergency blanket (cost and weight negligible). The inflatable mattress was quite comfortable and the foil emergency kept me toasty warm, though I looked like a fish baking in the oven, had there been anyone to see! Luckily there wasn't, because the blanket also rustled like a Christmas present every time I moved a muscle. Around 4 am I rustled my foil wrapper so loudly I woke myself up, and after that I didn't really sleep soundly any more. At 6:30 I decided I might as well call it a night, and lay practicing my German on Duolingo, rustling away every time I moved so much as a finger muscle to touch my phone. Then I ventured downstairs to make myself some instant porridge and Nescafé instant cappuccino (the only form of caffeinated coffee I could find in the kitchen cupboard). As I waited for the kettle to boil, I looked out the window for the first time today, and was amazed to see that the pastor's car parked in the driveway next door was covered with snow!!

I had an 8 o'clock appointment to return the keys to Irmela at her home on the way out of the village. As I locked the door of the community centre behind me, the church bells began ringing.

When I arrived at Irmela's house, her husband opened the door and invited me to come in and have breakfast. My porridge was still "sticking to my ribs", as porridge does, but I accepted a cup of tea. We sat talking about pilgrimages and Canada and vintage cars... as the day warmed up and the sun began melting the snow.

I think Irmela likes stripes 😄

Irmela gave me a traditional pilgrim blessing outside her door. And then I was off, following the cycling track from Gyhum to the next village, Hesedorf, where the Sunday morning flea market was just getting started. I had a look around, though I couldn't buy anything, except for ein Brötchen mit graved lachs, a sandwich with gravelax (Nordic smoked salmon, very different from the Canadian kind). I stowed it away in the plastic box I keep in my backpack for food, and continued on my way.

19th-century farmers' cottage in Hesedorf

Flohmarkt in Hesedorf

The rest of the way was fairly dull, walking through the forest on a cycling track that turned into a dirt road, where I met some rather dismayed cyclists walking their bikes through the mud - and the sand that had been spread on top of the mud but was no better as a surface for cyclists! It was nice and soft under my feet, though - my turn to enjoy an ideal walking surface, instead of the hard concrete cycling paths and roads I've been walking on these past few days!

Once out of the forest, I followed another cycling path beside a road for a few kilometres,  stopping on a bench in a bus shelter to eat my smoked salmon sandwich. The wind had started blowing from the north and it was quite cold! Once I left the bus shelter there was no protection from the wind, as I turned off the road and onto a dirt track between fields of wheat, rapeseed and potatoes (not yet visible,  but I recognised the form of the fields from the potato fields of northern France last year).

Potato fields - saw lots of those in the north of France!

Kitted out against the wind

I came into the municipality of Scheeßel by an old mill. Just up the next road were my lodgings for the evening, at the home of Krystyna, who has a couple of rooms for rent at very reasonable prices. I showered and rested a bit and then met up with Silke, "route angel" for this part of the trail. She lives 30 kilometres away but came into Scheeßel to show me around... and take me out for a giant ice cream!

The ice cream parlour in Scheeßel is actually run by Portuguese, not Italians, but their restaurant has an Italian theme; they speak Italian, and they do creative things with their ice cream like making ice cream "spaghetti" and ice cream "pizza" 😄. Silke and I settled for amaretto sundaes which came with three flavours of ice cream, whipped cream, crunchy amaretto biscuits and of course plenty of the liqueur! I don't think I'll be needing any dinner tonight!!

We then visited the church of St. Lukas, built in 1755-1758 in North German Baroque and Rococo style. The church was open, but it didn't have a stamp. 😑

Silke brought me back to my lodgings in her flashy red convertible, and we said goodbye after spending a lovely afternoon together.

Krystyna's rooms are very comfortable and her home is only a block off the trail - I highly recommend her establishment for pilgrims looking for lodgings in Scheeßel! She is not on the list of pilgrim accomodations, but I found her through the Scheeßel tourist office website.

I also recommend making sure you do NOT walk into Scheeßel on the dates of the annual Hurricane Festival, or you will find it impossible to get a room anywhere!

Gyhum - Scheeßel 16.5 km

Today's accommodation: Wohnen bei Krystyna