I’m becoming a car-hater and there’s nothing I wanna do about it
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This post is about a 13km walk from Lingenfeld to Speyer. We reach the Imperial Cathedral of Speyer, and so do a bunch of cars.
We had spent the night on a lot for motorhomes. It was next to a campground that had closed for the season, and there were no amenities except for a trash container and a paid power outlet.
bumps and lumps
The spot itself wasn’t too bad, but the mosquitoes! We had ended up in mosquitoria, mosquitania, mosquitorama. I usually don’t eat my dinner in the tent, but this time I made an exception. Still, when we got up I had all kinds of weird bumps and lumps on my face and hands and neck.
Fucking mosquitoes.
towers
We walked through some fields for a few hours, then we reached the city of Speyer. Or rather: we saw Speyer Cathedral in the distance. It was four towers and two domes protruding from the land. The scene reminded me of that cold winter day in Turkey when I had seen the silhouette of the Cedid-Ali-Paşa Mosque looming over Babaeski for the first time. Or of arriving in Esztergom with Brad earlier this year, when the Basilica of Esztergom had appeared between the trees.
It was like travelling through a different time.
what’s with the cars?
It took us another hour or two until we had arrived at the foot of the cathedral. There was a large square that was swarming with tourists – and cars. It seemed weird: I didn’t even notice any road markings on the ground, just cobblestone pavement with a bunch of vehicles going back and forth on it. Why? Was there no other way for them to go?
Did they really have to pass right in front of the Imperial Cathedral of Speyer, one of the most significant Romanesque buildings in all of Europe, where kings and emperors were buried?
pictures
the walk from Lingenfeld to Speyer:
mosquito bites galore
fat cat
tiny cow
the fields near Lingenfeld
the bicycle path to Speyer
Speyer Cathedral seen from a distance
an odd way into Speyer
mobile home in front of a supermarket in Speyer
Speyer Cathedral with traffic
Jesus in the middle
Mary in the middle
Speyer Cathedral
benjamin k.
We were brought up to think that cars are normal.
Now we wake up to find they are not. They are in deed a nuisance, a 1000kg-weapon in the wrong hands and they leave no room for actual living.
I need a “cars are not normal”-T-shirt!!!