Happy Mother's Day! No internet, but got a message out via cell/roaming--really frustrating that I was at a Telekom hit spot, but a private one (even called ATT international thinking something was wrong)!
At only 11 AM and only 11km into the day, I took an early lunch break at a fabulous restaurant in Roda (don't try to find these towns with probably fewer than 500 people). Place was already full with mothers being celebrated, but the owner gave me a special seat as an extension of the bar and a special pilgrim meal--there are some rewards!!!! The owner also explained why so many rapeseed fields: HUGE rapeseed (Raps) oil processing plant a few miles over the hill which I could see from a distance but didn't know what it was.
Several km before the end point, I found myself crossing the Elbe River by ferry--it seemed to be run "on demand." So at 30 km and not much of a climb, I easily found the hostel right next to the church (BTW, these are all Protestant churches), but couldn't find anyone to open it. After several inquisitions and over an hour wait, a nice lady came and saved my day. You can see the pictures of my two-story hostel I had all to myself.
