Rorschach to St Gallen

8^th October 2020

Having made the decision to walk Jakobsweg, I needed a starting point. As Rorschach was close to home and a ferry landing location for the original pilgrims, it seemed like the place to go. My pilgrimage started at the site of Jakobskapelle, which for about 800 years was a resting place for pilgrims after crossing Lake Constance. However, this was destroyed in 1833 and a fountain was built to commemorate it. A bronze statue of St James stood on Jakobsbrunnen from 1896 until 9^th July 2020, when it was removed for inspection. It is unclear at this point if the original will go back on top or if a new statue will be created. I will simply have to go back once they have made their decision.

Determined to not use technology on my way, I had studied the location of this fountain and how to get to the square from the train station before I started out. If you know me, you will know that this was for naught. The first 2.5 km of my 17.9 km hike were spent looking for this fountain. I missed the bell ringing (which happens at 11am and 6pm), and finally broke down to Google it after about 1.5 km. Gulliver and I posed, refilled my water bottle and officially began our pilgrimage.

From here we began to wend our way through town, trying to ensure we kept to the trail, construction made this difficult in parts. Eventually I got the hang of following the route markers, but it took some practice and I definitely had to pay attention to see the signs. For the most part, in town the route simply followed the Wanderweg and as I knew, generally, which direction I wanted to go, I tried to keep going that direction. Thankfully, there was an explanation sign once the trail entered the countryside. It was very helpful as I learned what to watch for along the way.

The trail leads past the Schloss Sulzberg (Sulzberg Castle), which was originally built as a fortification, as evidenced by the tower, the palace was added later. The castle now contains six apartments and is closed to the public, but has an interesting history which involved the Bishops of Constance and St Gallen, the Appenzell Wars, which I need to learn more about, and the eventual shift to private ownership.

http://www.swisscastles.ch/StGallen/sulzberg_d.html – it is in German and French, but Google translate is a fabulous thing.

From here we started the climb. It had been a few hours since breakfast and was watching for a pretty place to sit and eat, but it was a bit difficult to find a comfortable place to sit. I kept walking until I hit the main road again and two things happened. I decided that the route could not possibly travel along the road, so the correct direction must be up, the sign was sort of pointing that way; and my tummy started to get really demanding, which is never a good thing. So up we went until I reached a crossroad with signage which made it very clear that I was no longer on Jakobsweg. Thankfully, there was a bench with a beautiful view, so we stopped for lunch.

One of my objectives on the pilgrimage is to eat as well as possible, make most meals myself and drink lots of water. I am an omnivore, but I am trying to find tasty, filling vegetarian and vegan recipes because reducing meat and increasing plant based fibre is a good thing – so I keep hearing. Anyway, I found a recipe for chickpea salad and decided it was perfect for my hike. I must say, that it was delicious and very filling, which was wonderful because I loathe being hungry, especially when most restaurants I pass are closed.

After eating, catching our breath, and rereading the route description that I had thankfully downloaded, we were on our way again. Back down the hill we went and along the main road we travelled. Not that far up the road was Untereggen and the baroque church of St. Mary Magdalena, built in 1784. It is a really spectacular place with an amazing view, a beautiful interior and clean toilets. Near the church was a fountain (apparently not drinking water) and a statue of St Gallus and his bear. Legend has it that the bear helped St Gallus when he arrived in the area in 612. I should add here that anytime I say ‘we’ I am referring to Gulliver, my bear, and myself.

From here we really started to head up, up, up towards St Gallen. The trail eventually left the road and went through a forest and then led into a farming area. I was very grateful that it was not an overly hot afternoon and that I had worn layers, because this is about the time they started getting peeled off. At the top of the hill I stopped to admire the view once more before heading down the hill into St Gallen. Honestly, the view was more about me feeling a huge sense of accomplishment, rather than being breathtaking, especially as I was still trying to catch my breath because the ascent was a long rather steep one.

I was excited to be so close to home. I was starting to flag a bit and was uncomfortably sweaty, a sensation I am guessing I will get used to. As the descent into St Gallen started, I was contemplating what I would eat for dinner and how long I would soak my feet. Little did I know that I still had a ways to travel. Yes, the route into town was a gorgeous one, but it certainly was not direct. It seemed to travel along the back of St Gallen, although there really is no such thing. The trail went into a residential area and then behind it and into a wooded area with a pretty creek. Thankfully, it did not go up again. When I was finally able to orient myself as to where I was in the town, I was grateful to know that I was close to my destination, which was not the obvious St Gallen Cathedral.

I had decided that my final destination would be the church closer to my home because it would be quicker to return to for the next leg of the trail and I had never actually been inside it. Not going to lie, by the time I got there, I had ZERO interest in going inside and decided that I would visit it before I started the next walk. Funnily enough, this church is also a St Mary Magdalene Church.

I sat outside the church for a few minutes to relax, enjoy its beauty and simply take in everything I had seen and done that day. I was definitely tired, but after hours of fresh air, (almost) no electronics and beautiful places to see, I was feeling quite contented. Knowing where my next starting point was and that I would not have to spend huge amounts of time trying to find it before the next hike absolutely helped that feeling of contentment along. I was also feeling quite proud of myself as this was the longest hike I had gone on by myself, and it was a wonderful feeling.