Gelnhausen ... so far?

Day three begins in another Happ. At 5:30 I was very much awake as the church bell rang in the hours. By six it added back the quarter chimes too. It is not such a bad thing: I've got quite used to the quarter and hourly chimes from so many years sleeping in and around monasteries, churches, abbeys and cathedrals.

Last night I discovered that there is a special pilgrim gathering in Frankfurt and I was invited by the main organiser for the Jakobus Hessen association in Salmünster which suggests I won't be walking on Saturday - unless I get to within Frankfurt suburbia by lunchtime tomorrow. 

On Sunday there is also a concert in the same venue, which is part of this weekend's gathering, but I was hoping to be leaving Frankfurt for Mainz then. I'm obviously in a little quandary. The coincidence of the meeting these folk in the local Brauhaus last night and all possibilities envisioned by meeting other pilgrims and pilgrim hosts tomorrow means I may have to hang about until Monday morning to leave for Trier (not that I care for a concert).

...

That was a long morning, probably covering the distance expected in the whole day by lunchtime, but now I'm cradling a Apfelwein in a pub!

Gosh it's hard to find anywhere just for a drink. Getting a little desperate for a piss I'd walked all round the bottom of town, into Kaiserberg and back up to the top of the Altstadt by the Inneres Holztor and back to where I'd originally gone to find a bed for the evening - Laden Stadt - and I'm finally in a Kneipe. It's a smoky den, so I've sat further away than I'd like to! It's an Eintracht Frankfurt supporters bar Bier Brunnen is it's name and I've still not been for a piss!

With nowhere to walk tomorrow I'm a little caught by cider. Twenty something kilometres this morning, and a full stomach in Zum Lowen (pork cutlet in a tarragon sauce with a mountain of onions, fried sliced potatoes and a massive bowl of slaw salad), I stumbled out after two glasses of HAAS Apfelwein falling into cider karma.

The Syrian gentleman in the Stadt Laden didn't look like he exactly trusted me but, eventually, he showed me to where I can sleep tonight. It's clean, I've fresh sheets and it's a massive single bed. Mustapha probably smelt my apple breath. - alles clart? It's Hofmann Apfelwein they have here. Like last night all the music is stuck in the era of the Wall coming down and currently it's Take On Me. 

...

I'm definitely carrying on from Sunday. Mike and Steffi are willing to accommodate me tomorrow evening. We'll get to see the horse (Jenny) and Werner in the afternoon, after I've been to the Vamonos and feel a little better about finding pilgerherbergen after Frankfurt (although I do find not knowing what's around the corner essential on a Weg/Chemin/Way/Camino). And suddenly ELO is flowing from the airwaves - Livin' Thing!