11th of July we planned to take a break for a few days. Seven days of being on the bikes and six lectures along the tour can be quite demanding. Packing and unpacking the bike bags is another tiring part of the way of pilgrimage travel. You are always searching for something and it keeps you loading and unloading. We already have a system of bags within bags on which I marked their content, but nevertheless I drive crazy sometimes trying to find things. Especially the camera-material and the strategy of charging batteries gets more and more difficult the less socket outlets are found. But nevertheless Robert stays always relaxed…

10 th of July marks the highest point of our challenge. Also the highest expectations built up in our minds during our long preparations for the “Less-is-more-Tour” will they turn into the biggest disappointment? Due to the United nations declaring this year as “International Year for Glacier Preservation”, we chose the “Alpine way of Saint James” to follow all the way up to the glacier of the Rhone. Already during last night’s dinner our Rotarian friend Urs impressed Robert with the stories of the Oberalp Pass being easy compared to the Furka Pass. But we had no choice than finding out by ourselves. The day appeared perfectly with no cloud…

9th of July the morning prayers of the monks start at 5:30am and I entered the church at the exact time. They were reading texts from the old testament and it reminded me again of how strong the connection of Christianity and Muslim religion is based on the Jewish roots. After the morning prayers I got myself into a little conclave back in our room to finally get my diary updated to the very last day. I was a bit proud of myself, that I got so far. Therefore I was again the last one at breakfast. By ten o’clock we were supposed to leave the room, but brother Benedict…

8th of July Hotel Rätia – that name already showed that we were in a different language region. The Swiss Alps preserved in their valleys and villages many different dialects but also even old individual languages like the “Ladinsch” and “Romansch”. Old Latin based languages, which are still in use nowadays. Rita Holderegger president of the Rotary Club Flims-Laax can switch from Swiss German to Romansch within one sentence to the next. She gave me the translation of the “Less-is-more-tour” in Romansch, which is: „pli pauc-ei-dapli-tura“ She also tried to organize us a meeting with the architect Ramun Fidel Capaul as she has her office just windows to windows with…

7th of July I was the first one to wake up really early and start working on the diary or call it blog as it is linked to the website nowadays. Well as busy as the last days were I had no chance to get anything done and it needs these calm morning hours to find some time to do it. Outside it was still raining, but the sun broke more and more through the clouds and created rainbows. I like this time of the day, when you feel being ahead of everyone else and the world just belongs to you with all the fresh impressions and thoughts. But this…

6th of July we were spoiled with a wonderful “Liechtenstein-style-bredfast”, sorry breakfast. But the Bürli were just delicious with honey and jam from the mothers in law. A good coffee is never missing, because coffee runs through the veins of Peter Demmel. Today we had no lecture and therefore a little bit slower start. I used the early morning to finally write a bit down in our diary to update our blog on our website, because I still had’nt found a minute before to do so. But nevertheless we had to leave, because I had made up an appointment with the Sacristan at 10:15 am at the church of Schaan…

5th of July waking up in a castle with a view over Lake Constance doesn’t make it easier to leave such a beautiful place, but we had to start early to be in time for a lecture at lunch in Schaan / Liechtenstein. We were just making a little detour downtown to Rorschach to get our Saint James stamp before we followed the lake shore to the Altenrhein, which is the old river Rhine still representing the border between Austria and Switzerland. Stopping in the border town by the church of Saint Margrethen we sent a message to my 102 year old grandma Marga. From now on it would be…

4th of July Independence Day – showed me the exact opposite of Independence. It’s a nightmare how dependant we are on our communication devices. To write such a Blog or let’s call it “travel diary” I need to be connected via WiFi or Roaming. So far that shouldn’t be a problem. But as I needed a second cell phone for our navigation the trouble started already there. It needed only a Data SIM card and no telephone service. Waking up this morning I thought I could simply start with loading up some photos and exchange some data from phone to phone, but as I logged into my data phone it…

3rd of July after the hottest day of the year we are trying to start really early at 5:00 am on our way to Kempten. Not only to escape the heat, but we try to avoid the crowd, as we are not allowed with bikes in the rush hour on Munich’s public transport. As we are packing up our bikes during dawn, we were suddenly surprised by Carsten Zehm and our Past Governor Christian Fey. They helped us to get the bikes and luggage up on the train platform at Starnberg station. Arriving in Memmingen we were by coincidence just in time for the raise of the rainbow banner at…

Our first attempt to bike to Kempten was already a perfect day to let us experience what it means to bike in hot summer. We were ready to start towards the monastery of Andechs for getting our first stamp in our pilgrim passes on the way towards Santiago de Compostella. Andechs in the heart of the #regionstarnbergammersee is called the ‘holy mountain’ as the monastery and church is located on the top of a ‘drumlin’ left on the moraine by the glaciers after the last ice age. We will try to find what’s left of present glaciers on our tour later. Andechs is a well known pilgrimage place with its…