Reid and Mark are going for a walk, and invite you to follow along.
This May and June we are walking a centuries-old path across Switzerland from the shore of the Bodensee to the French border beyond Geneva: the Way of St James, the Jakobsweg, the Via Jacobi, a way followed by pilgrims since the Middle Ages. Crossing Lake Constance by boat from Germany, as we will do, pilgrims continued southwest along the foothills of the Alps through St. Gallen, Einsiedeln, Spiez, Interlaken, Fribourg, Lausanne, Geneva and so on to France…only to then realize that they still had 1850 kilometers more to walk to reach their goal: Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, the resting place of the Apostle St. James.
But not us. Reaching the French border will be enough: our pilgrimage is about Switzerland. We grew up here and have wonderful memories of that experience, but have only visited occasionally over the years. Now we are following the medieval pilgrim’s way, paying attention as best we can to the history, culture and spirit of the places we pass. Most importantly, we hope to rediscover and reconnect with this beautiful country.
And of course we will post photos as we go along!
So, we hope to succeed (and not get rained on too much), and if you choose to follow along…we hope you enjoy the walk!
We begin on Monday, May 14, so look for new posts any time after that.
Jakobsweg, Switzerland 