Living a Colourful Life
I was missing for several months….not in the normal sense but in a way, missing from “normal life.”
Was I lost? Yes. Lost in an adventure with my husband Paul, that took 4 months to achieve and just as many months to “come down” from.
I was living a colourful life of walking, landscapes, history, art, architecture, sea, sun and language. Living a colourful life of friendship, love, commitment, endurance and challenge.
A colourful life walking the Via Francigena as the Goddess Walks to Rome!
The Via Francigena – Canterbury to Rome
The trip was inspired by a certain bishop Sigeric, who in 990AD walked to Rome and back from Canterbury to receive his pallium from the pope and become Archbishop of Canterbury. This walk, over time, became the Pilgrim Walk the Via Francigena.
Paul started it. After reading a book “Like a Tramp, Like a Pilgrim” written by an English guy Harry Bucknall he was hooked. I immediately read the book and felt the same. What an adventure it would be….it then became a matter of “when” not “if.”
The Journey
In early October 2019 we returned home after completing the ancient Via Francigena pilgrim route from Canterbury in south eastern England to Rome on foot.
We walked the 2,193 klms in 93 days plus a few days to recover and rest our feet. We were two of a very small number in the world that complete the whole walk from Canterbury to Rome, in one go. Paul, my husband who is 61 and myself 58 (plus me, having Osteo Arthritis in my right knee) were significantly older than the majority of walkers we met along the way. This gave us a very special feeling and added to our sense of achievement.
The Via Francigena took us through 4 countries. Starting from Canterbury we walked the 32 klms to Dover in England before crossing the channel by ferry to Calais in France. From here we crossed northern and central France into Switzerland around Lake Geneva, up the Alps and over the 2,473m high Grand St Bernard’s Pass then into northern Italy and onto Rome.
Each day was exciting and new with fresh challenges to overcome. As the weeks passed we realised the journey became less about what we saw each day and more about experiencing the journey itself. Long distance walking takes you into a headspace of simplicity and calmness. Everything is intensified. Life is slowed down. Day to day activities of experiencing each special sunrise, walking the kilometres, finding food and accommodation take up most of the day. Of course, there is also many amazing things to see.
We battled heatwaves in France, Switzerland and parts of Italy, rain and wind, swarms of mosquitoes and biting flies, sore feet, barking dogs, variable accommodation, language barriers and were always on the search for water, food, and coffee! We carried everything we needed in our small backpacks, including water and food, discarding unnecessary items as we went along.
Whilst we only met a small handful of intrepid walkers doing the complete Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome, we met a lot of friendly and helpful people throughout our travels, some of whom welcomed us into their homes and offered us comfort and refreshments.
We were immersed in history on a daily basis walking on trails used by pilgrims, travellers and armies for more than 1,000 years passing many, amazing monuments, castles, towns, churches and ancient roads. The first two weeks walking across the plains of northern France we were frequently confronted with the remnants, mass graves and monuments commemorating the wasted lives of millions of men and women over two world wars.
Apart from historical places we spent a lot of time walking through the rural landscapes across 4 countries now dominated by industrial agriculture. As a consequence a lot of the small towns and villages are de-populated and lacked even the most basic services required.
There were many smaller achievements along the way…walking from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, walking from one side of France to the other, crossing Grand St Bernard’s Pass, walking over the Cisa Pass, traversing the hot, humid, mosquito infested rice fields on the Po Valley in northern Italy (the largest in Europe) to name just a few.
We arrived in St Peters Square in Vatican City at 11.30am on September 10th with mixed emotions of elation, relief and sadness that the walk was now finished. Although for us, it was a non- religious pilgrimage, a priest presented us with a Testimonium from the Vatican acknowledging the completion of our epic journey to Rome.
We then traveled for three weeks through southern Italy and then onto Istanbul in Turkey before returning home to Hobart ( with a lot of Turkish tiles I might add!!)
So what is next? Ohhh…. you will have to stay tuned for that!
Listen to an interview we did on ABC radio
You can see lots of photos and videos on Instagram @thegoddesswalkstorome
Kaye xx
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