We walk and we pray – the earthquake in Italy...the floods in Louisiana

We were over 100 miles from the earthquake – but that didn’t stop it from waking up John in the early morning as we felt the distant aftershocks.

We are so sad.  Many of the small towns we’re walking through are just like those little villiages.  So many dead.  In the night.  The children.  

The towns we walk through are 

small like this...

So many children were lost...

Our friend Jenny, a gifted graphic artist, 
created this banner.  She and her husband 

also organized a truckload of cleaning 
supplies and volunteers to help the

flooding victims in Baton Rouge. 

And then at home, so many suffering as a result of the floods in Louisiana.  Our friends – for whom Hurricane Katrina (the eye of the storm centered in our little community) is still very real – reaching out.  Helping.  Cleaning houses.  Sending supplies.

Flooding in Baton Rouge

So we walk and we pray.  And we ask for mercy in this special year of mercy. 

Survivors escape the water...

Thank you to all who reached out to us – for both the Italy earthquake and the floods.  

We’re OK.  But we walk and we pray…

What is a pilgrimage? Comparing the Camino de Santiago and the Via Francigena

A pilgrimage is a holy journey to a shrine or place of special significance.  The primary pilgrimages of the middle ages were to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, to Rome and to Jerusalem. 

Via Francigena symbol

The Via Francigena is the pilgrim path to Rome.  It begins in Canterbury, England, and leads pilgrims across France, Switzerland, and Italy. We started in Tuscany, about 250 miles north of Rome. 

We weren’t sure what to expect when we started this adventure in Italy – but certainly the 500 miles we walked in Spain were a reference. 

Here’s what we’ve noticed so far...

Each year, at least 250,000 people 

walk the Camino in Spain.  

Last year's walk on the Camino to Santiago de Compostela:

• Well developed with support by local communities and the Catholic Church.

• A quarter million people from around the world walk it every year.

• Villages are about 6-8 miles apart with water fountains, cafes, hostels, and groceries readily available.

• Published guides in English provide detailed information on each stage of the route.

• You walk with many pilgrms – a wonderful part of the  Camino experience is meeting people, walking together, sharing meals and building a "Camino family" of people you see regularly along the way.  

• 

  John and Jonny - 

  part of our Camino family.  

• “Pilgrim meals” are inexpensive 4 course offerings that come with wine and usually cost about 10 Euro.  It’s served early by Spanish standards at 6 pm but sadly, it’s the same menu all across Spain – basic, plain and not very good.  To this day, John cannot look at any dried meat like prosciutto…or dry cheese like manchego.   Breakfasts in the morning are coffee and a piece of dry toast.  When you’re walking for 6 weeks, this same menu gets difficult to eat.  Neither one of us can stand tuna on a salad....even today.  

By contrast, this year's walk on the Via Francigena:

• The pilgrimage route is at a much earlier stage of development. Segments are long and isolated, walkers are few, support facilities along the route are rare, information is limited and usually in Italian.

• 

  Paths through the Tuscan Hills are challenging...

  The paths through the hills of Tuscany are challenging -- constantly up and down steep hillsides, a total of 1500-3000 feet of elevation rise in a typical day.  But the views are breathtaking…

• If we’re not walking in the remote hills, we’re along busy roads with no path or shoulder - where Italian drivers seem to aim at us...demonstrating their driving skills by streaking within 18 inches. There are so few pilgrims, they aren't used to people walking on the roads.  

•  Whether we’re on remote trails or busy roads, there’s little to no support in the way of cafes.Yesterday we walked 17 hot, hard miles before we came to the first spot where we could get a water refill.

• The Via Francigena is a private experience.  Only a few thousand walk it each year, 90% of them Italian. There’s no shared greeting like the “Buen Camino” that everyone cheerily says to each other while walking in Spain, nor any identifying symbol such as the Camino’s scallop shell dangling off pilgrim backpacks. 

Have we mentioned
the Tuscan wines…?

• What the Via Francigena lacks in trekking support, Tuscany makes up for with spectacular dining experiences! No more Spanish pilgrim menus.  And because we’re more relaxed on this walk, we have easily become accustomed to eating at 7:30 pm. There are wonderful local antipasti, pastas, mains, and sweets.  

It’s a time of quiet and peace for us – but if one were a pilgrim walking alone (as were so many we met on the Camino) the Via Francigena might get pretty lonely. 

But we love our time together, and we’re soaking up the Italian villages and restaurants.  It's wonderful that this is such a different experience.  

When we're on paths in Italy, we see how beautiful it is...

How we organize our days of walking

Our days follow the same pattern as when we walked the Camino to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. 

I try to get a little dolled up 

before walking...

I get up before John (usually 5 am or so – it's like getting ready for work!) to get a little dolled up for the day. 

This time I used a packing trick that has made getting ready much easier – all of my clothes are in packing “cubes” specifically identified….dresses, slacks and separates, misc.  No more rooting through the entire suitcase to find socks! 

Packing cubes make changing hotels every day easier...

Matching red 24" ultra light

luggage gets transported

to the next hotel...

 We pack up – get ready for the walk with water and trail snacks, review the route, and go down to breakfast. 

Our luggage is transported forward to the next hotel on our pre-planned itinerary.  We’re usually in a hotel for a single night, but have several two night stops for a more leisurely exploration of Italy. 

We're walking remote 

and beautiful paths

The walks are rugged, remote, and hot.. We arrive at our day’s destination in the early afternoon after about 6-7 hours of tough walking and spend a couple of hours resting, recuperating, and rehydrating. 

We’re staying in beautiful little hotels, several of them converted from 12^th and 13^th century building.  

We see a lovely parts of Italy 

as we walk...

We’ll be staying in 22 different hotels during our time in in Italy. 

We stayed in the middle of this

 village - unchanged for 1000 years...

The organizer of our trip, Camino Ways out of Ireland, has done a great job of selecting hotels and making reservations.  

We’re certain we couldn’t have found them on our own – many are quite small.  Everything is easier because the entire trip was paid for in advance. 

View from our hotel window in Siena

In Siena, we're staying in a hotel that was a monastery for 

700 years...

We’re experiencing local Italy by eating and sleeping in tiny Medieval towns that draw Italian travelers but are off the beaten path for Americans and other Europeans.

Why walk to Rome?

Appreciating the time wealth of 

retirement

After walking 500 miles across Spain on the Camino de Santiago in 2015,  we developed our 30-second response for people who ask ‘why did you do it?’ 

We were transitioning from corporate careers into retirement, we were stripping ourselves down to simplicity for a while, we were bonding together in a shared physical and spiritual challenge.

So a year later, why are we walking on a pilgrimage again? We’ve found ourselves still celebrating in the Camino’s afterglow. It’s nothing we can explain but it’s deeply felt between us.

See that city on the hill? We're 

walking to it...

In a tidy and risk-averse world, we enjoy the unpredictability of stepping out each day into the unknown and navigating a path through crazy challenges and unexpected joys. 

We love getting to know cultures and history at a speed of 2.5 mph, walking through tiny villages and pastoral scenes that are unchanged from 1000 years ago. 

We're willing to trade discomfort for adventure

We’re choosing to walk during the Year of Mercy -- which the world so desperately needs.  

And we’re shaking our fists at aging. 

At this stage in life, we’re healthy and fit, full of wanderlust, willing to trade discomforts for adventures. 

We are trying to use the "time weath" of retirement wisely...

We enjoy the 

unpredictability of stepping

 out each day into the

 unknown

We love getting to know cultures and history at a speed of 2.5 mph.

We’re off! Lord, watch over our every step…. Leaving Bay St Louis

Via Francigena from Lucca to Rome

Since the Middle Ages, pilgrims have been sent off from their home town with a blessing.  Last year, Father Mike O'Connor sent us to Spain with a blessing for the Camino de Santiago -- before we had even moved to Bay St Louis.  So much has happened in a year.

Father Mike gives us a 

blessing before we leave

for Italy.  

Father Mike blessed us

before the Camino 

de Santiago in 2015

Again, Father Mike blessed us as we left Bay St Louis to the Via Francigena.  We were surrounded by a small group of family and dear friends and had a small party afterwards.  There is so much to celebrate!

By chance Cathy and David, who we met in Spain on last year’s Camino, were visiting from the UK and shared the pilgrims’ bond in the ceremony. 

Here are a few lines from that special blessing:

God is the beginning and the end of every road we take. In confidence we call upon him, saying:

Lord, watch over our every step. 

Father all-holy, you gave us your only Son as our way to you; make us follow without faltering wherever he may lead. For this we pray:

Lord, watch over our every step

With that, we packed our bags and traveled to Lucca, in the Tuscan region of Italy. 

What a beautiful way to begin in this ancient walled city, a Medieval pilgrimage stop on the Via Francigena. 

We biked the circumference of the city on its fortress walls and listened to regional artists perform opera by Puccini, who was born in Lucca.

Lucca

Tomorrow, we walk…

John in Lucca

Settling into Bay St Louis, Mississippi...

In 2015, we blogged while walking 500 miles across Spain on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. It’s how we transitioned from 35 years in corporate careers to our new lives in retirement.

Our pink cottage in Bay St Louis --

 Fais Do-Do (means Cajun Dance Party)

Returning to the US in June 2015 after the Camino, we settled into our new cottage home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast near New Orleans.

Our guest house, Garçonnière, 

is right next door.  

We’ve set down roots quickly in our little beach town of Bay St. Louis --  building wonderful new friendships, hosting many visitors (40 stays in our guest cottage in the first year!), throwing lots of parties, and enjoying extended visits with family and grandkids.

John is active in the community. He joined the local Rotary Club and Coast Guard Auxiliary. He has breakfast every Friday with a great group of guys. He crews on a 32-foot Catalina sailboat.  And he walks walks at least 5 miles a day.

2016 Wedding Convalidation on 

our 20th Anniversary

At Easter 2016,  I formally joined the Catholic Church.  I ride my bike to 7 am Daily Mass at Our Lady of the Gulf, just a block from our house.

For our 20^th wedding anniversary, our marriage was sacramentally convalidated in the Church. Together John and I are learning to play bridge with two to four hours of lessons every week.  We’ve joined the Bay Waveland Yacht Club and are in the swirl of the Bay’s fun social scene.

We're up to 7 grandchildren now -- the Vlachs and Jacksons 

were able to come to the Bay this summer.  We missed 

our dear Brocks who just had a new son.  

Babies, babies, babies!

As much as we love our new life in Bay St Louis, we’re still infected with wanderlust – a whole world to explore.

So, in 2016 we’re making another pilgrimage, the Via Francigena, which is 250 miles of walking through Tuscany to Rome.  We’ll cap that off with time in the Swiss Alps and Paris. And so we begin our traveling blog again ….