Camino Imperii 2024

It's Not Real 'Til It's Real   Covid forced me in the fall of 2020 to find something new to add to my life. So I started my study of the German language. At the time, I could not imagine that several years later, I would be walking along the shore of the Bergwitzsee in Kemberg, Brandenburg, Germany.   It is January 2024, and it is my second time in Deutschland. I am hiking through small cities and towns. Today I am in Treuenbrietzen. I need a stamp from the town hall for my pilgrim’s pass. They don’t speak English. Grammar lets me properly express my desire, need, want or emergency. Without grammar my request would be “I would stamp need passport of the pilgrim, here receive can I?” Understandable, but offensive to the ears of a native speaker.  I need to order food in restaurants. I need vocabulary to order Hähnchenschnitzel (chicken schnitzel) for protein or Brezel mit Salz (a salted pretzel)  for carbs or eine Bier to sate my thirst.   ********** In 2022 when I hiked alo

A Memoir : When Technology Goes Wrong GPS and GPX and Berlin When experimenting with a new technology, it helps to practice, practice and practice beforehand … like before you use it for real. It is January 3rd, and I am in Berlin on the first day of my 10-day 110-mile hike from Germany’s capital to the city of Leipzig. Only 24-hours ago, I found the Rapid Transit Number 9 line from Tempelhof Airport to the Evangelical (read Lutheran here for that) Pilgrim Hostel to walk the Vía Imperii Pilgrim route, which dates back over a thousand years or more as a trade and travel route between the Baltic Sea and Rome, the seat of the Holy Roman Empire. But I have planned a more modest historical tour of the downfall of the German Democratic Republic (aka Deutsches Demokratisches Republik). Today the goal is 13 miles from the symbol of Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate to the Altstadt (historic part) of Teltow. However today’s memoir is less about the journey and more about the technologies that help t

Day 14: From Berlin to Rochester Date Jan 16, 2024 ( Tuesday )   Total This Camino: 103 miles. Total 2024 Caminos: 103 miles Total All Caminos: 2103 miles Total Lodging: $ 801 Planes: $ 1300 Total Planes / Travel Insurance: $ 1470 Buses / Trains / Taxis: $ 5 Total Buses / Trains / Taxis: $ 189 5 Food: $ 10 Total Food: $ 397 10 Meaningful Moment Leaving Martha's behind. Had four good nights here. Good staff. Good room. Good location. The S9 rapid transit train arrives 2 minutes to take me to Berlin's Templehof airport.  This vacation is coming to an end. Random Thought of the Day Added up my foreign transaction fees: approx $80. On the Road / Notable memories 4:15 a.m. Awake 4:45 a.m. Leave Martas Gästehäuse. 5:00 a.m. Quiet, peaceful lovely walk to the Hauptbahnhof ( main train station ) 5:25 a.m. Train arrives. 6:15 a.m. Arrive Templehof Berlin airport. 6:30 a m. United lines open. 6:45 a.m.   Baggage drop completed. 7:15 a.m. Through security checkpoint and havi

Day 13: Berlin Date Jan 15, 2024 ( Monday )   Total This Camino: 103 miles. Total 2024 Caminos: 103 miles Total All Caminos: 2103 miles Lodging: Martas Gästehaus @ $ 75 Total Lodging: $ 801 Planes: $ 1300 Total Planes / Travel Insurance: $ 1470 Buses / Trains / Taxis: $ 13 Total Buses / Trains / Taxis: $ 189 Food: $42 Total Food: $ 397 Weather: it was cold today, and in the middle of the tour we actually had a pretty good, pretty heavy snowfall for about half an hour. Meaningful Moment Finding the store that my godson really likes in some completely different part of Berlin than where I've been. And doing business in German in order to get him a book that he wanted from the store. Berliner Zinnfiguren Knesebaeckstrasse Ernst-Reuter Platz ( U2 Subway line ) Random Thought of the Day Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.  Just checked the train schedule to the airport.  I have to get up at 4:30 in the morning on Tuesday.  Catch the 5:20 a.m. S9 train from the Hauptba