dougfitz

COVID Pilgrimage It has been an interesting couple of months for an Australian getting ready to travel to Portugal to walk two of the Christian pilgrimage walks there. Elaine and I had already tested leaving Australia (and returning) when we visited my son and other friends in England right at the end of 2021. It was a wonderful trip, but not without some major changes to what we felt comfortable doing, and what we had to do to meet COVID requirements in different places. I had initially expected that Portugal would be very similar, so it was a little disappointing to find that matters like reciprocal recognition by Australia and Portugal of each others vaccination certificates had not be finalised. Portugal was only accepting Australians flying into the country for essential purposes, which did not include ... read more

We had spoken briefly with the tour director, Jon, on our return to the hotel, Now it was a matter of being in the hotel foyer 15 minutes before the advertised start time to tidy up some administration. We did, only to find the briefing had been underway for a few minutes already by the designated start time. I hope this doesn't mean that punctuality is going to be a one-way street. Frankfurt Christmas Markets Part Two Our first tour excursion was a visit to the Frankfurt Christmas Markets, fortunately to a different section to that which we had visited earlier in the day, and it was in the early evening. We have been equipped with a small radio receiver that allows the tour guide to give their spiel without crowding all 47 of us uncomfortably ... read more

I stood by the final marker in front of Nidarosdomen four days ago. This wasn't the last walk, but it did mark the end of a journey over a month and about 560 km that is the northernmost Christian pilgrimage route in the world. On Friday, I attended the Pilgrim service, where they announce that 58 pilgrims had arrived the previous day, including one Australian. Two more Australians, Jason and Annette from Goulburn had arrived that day and were acknowledged the following day at the last pilgrim service before the St Olav vigil on Olsok eve. There were nearly 160 pilgrims arrive with them. Trondheim celebrates Olsok- St Olav's feast day with a range of events that to an Australian are far more openly religious than would happen at home. Olsok eve starts with a pilgrim ... read more

I'm not sure what I expected from today's walk. I knew it was only about 10 km to get to Stiklestad, and that the road passed the fields where Olav's army rested on the night before they went into battle at Stiklestad. More recently, a massive earth slip one night killed over 100 people in their sleep, a national disaster for Norway. What I wasn't expecting was the smoke haze drifting across the mountains from the bushfires in Sweden. I had read the news reports about the concerns about fire danger in the areas where I was going to walk, and it was regularly mentioned along the way that it was unseasonably hot. So it should not have been a surprise, but it was a little disturbing to realize this was coming from places close to ... read more

Breakfast didn't start till eight, so even though I had a 23 km day, and the temperature was expected to be in the high 20s, I wasn't going to get away early. Even when I was ready, there was another delay getting the bill paid. Lisa, the manager, already had several of her holiday residents sorting out their day'svactivities with her. So it wasn't until about 9:15 that I was on the road. After a short stretch of the main road, the St Olavsleden route takes the Karl Johansvägan. While earlier roads might has been used, this road was built in the 1830s to improve the trading route that had already existed for centuries. On the Swedish side, the gradients aren't too bad. On the Norway side it's quite a different storey. In three or four ... read more