Today I walk the seventh day of my seven-day hiking tour, and it’s about time that it will be over for this trip. The strain in my upperleg takes every day more time to fade, and the blisters under my feet are getting bigger and bigger.

Shortly after I started today, I cross the 983-kilometer-point, which equals 50% of the total distance from Amsterdam  to Vienna. I cross through the city of Bad Mergentheim (nice park near the sanatorium in the city centre). I continue to the village of Weikersheim, crossing my last hill for today and this week.  My accumulated distance from Amsterdam is now 996 kilometers.  After I arrive I find that I have a couple of hours left before I will catch the train back home again. I am in doubt what to do now; the sun is beating on the roads again, but it would be a great achievement if I could finalize this E8-week by reaching the 1000-kilometer point. I leave the backpack in a locker in the railway station of Weikersheim and in the summer heat (25º+) I walk to Quekbronn, where I calculate that the 1000-kilometer-point of my E8 is situated. I take the inevitable picture as proof and I limp back to the railwaystation.

After a few hours the train picks me up to take me back home, finally. It was a great week, very rewarding and satisfying, but I am glad it’s over now. The next time I plan a multiple-day trip I have to do some things differently, like: different time of the year, less lugage, less travelling every day, eat more, drink more, relax more. For the rest it was okay.