1st day and the forced march - from Leipzig to Merseburg

Hello dear ones,

Now I finally want to write a few lines in my blog. Yesterday, after almost 39 km and 12 kilos of luggage, I was too exhausted to do anything else but shower and sleep. So first a few words about the 1st day. After very, very little sleep, we started at 8:30 am. Door closed, key turned in the lock... brief pause... phew... until the end of June (assuming my plan remains to interrupt my pilgrimage briefly for the Fusion :)) or even until the end of October, I won't see the inside of my apartment anymore. That is definitely a really long time. With this thought, I set off from Leipzig to Merseburg. And what can I say, I actually had the first wonderful moment after less than a kilometer. Actually, I wanted to get a 'starting stamp' for my pilgrimage ID at the pharmacy around the corner. Maybe it was fate that I forgot this and spontaneously stopped at a bakery to get it there. When I briefly explained my intention to the saleswoman, the customer behind me suddenly spoke to me and told me that his daughter had done the same thing. So she walked from Leipzig to Santiago de Compostela. Really? It shot out of me. In the short small talk, I learned that his daughter was on the road from March to October last year and also took a route through France. Sometimes there are coincidences that you can hardly believe :D and you will find out if his story is true in the post for day 2.

So it continued on the Via Regia towards Merseburg, always following the scallop shell. And again I had to realize how beautiful it is around Leipzig. So incredibly green and great forest paths. Resolution for the return - discover and explore Leipzig and the surrounding area on foot even more!

I didn't meet many people on the way to Merseburg. Not even other pilgrims. Most of the time I was alone with myself and my thoughts. The path is really beautiful, by the way. Lots of nature and few kilometers along busy roads. Merseburg itself has a small, cute old town and a beautiful park (Südpark - great for families with small children, as there are a few animal enclosures in the park). Definitely worth a visit! However, after the old town, I still had to walk another 4 km to get to my guesthouse. However, my watch already showed 35 km... my feet were burning, my back was in pain and my shoulders and hips were severely aggravated by the 12 kilos on my back. I finally reached the guesthouse around 6 pm... and as I described at the beginning, I was only capable of taking a shower and fell into a deep sleep around 7 pm, which could have competed with Sleeping Beauty.