I will start at Cologne Cathedral …

Every kilometer counts. On Wednesday, I will set off for my „Power pilgrimage for Nepal“. The starting point of my sponsored hike on the Way of St James is Cologne Cathedral at 8 a.m. MEZ. My aim is to reach Aachen Cathedral, which is about 100 kilometers away, within 36 hours, including an overnight stay halfway. Meanwhile, the donations for each kilometer that I’ll hike have mounted up to seven euros – due to the information I’ve got directly from you. Maybe the sum will be even higher. Of course more sponsors are always welcome, even after I will have got footsore. I am pleased with every cent for our aid project „School up!“ which is aimed to rebuild the school of Thulosirubari in Nepal as soon as possible. The “Ralf and Gerlinde School” in the mountains, 40 kilometers as the crow flies from Kathmandu, had been damaged so badly by the 25 April earthquake that it had to be demolished.

Storm and rain showers

The Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, has wished me “fine weather and above all many sponsors” for my “Power pilgrimage for Nepal”. The latter has already come true, but I’m less optimistic for the former.

… and hopefully finish at Aachen Cathedral

According to the weather forecasts, it will stay dry with a little luck. However, it could be stormy. That is unlikely to change on Thursday, and then, on my second day of hiking, I must expect rain showers too. I’ll inform you via Twitter (have a look at the right side of the blog) where I am and about my physical and mental state while I’m hiking, later probably sneaking or in the end dragging myself. For those who want to read directly on Twitter: My name there is “Springinsfeld”. This character of a mediaval German novel was the pseudonym I used for my first article that I published in a small magazine with a circulation of only 500 copies a few decades ago.

By the way, I already made (for some other reason) a short visit to Aachen Cathedral on Monday. Just at that moment, it began to rain. That was surely a good omen for my “Power pilgrimage for Nepal”, wasn’t it?