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Published: October 8th 2018
For the third year in a row I walked a pilgrim trail. My blogs for the Camino de Santiago in 2016 start with
Planning My Camino de Santiago de Compostela Pilgrimage. For four weeks I walked across northern Spain in the footsteps of Roman legions, the early apostles James and Paul, and a million or more pilgrims since then. The movie "The Way" had inspired this pilgrimage as I yearned for the same bonding that took place between the four pilgrims. On my pilgrimage I met and talked to many pilgrims; forming a loose knit family along the way. I was not drawn to this pilgrimage to earn the Compostela, or the certificate for those who walk the last 100 km, which isn't even mentioned in the movie. I only found our about the Compostela when I started researching for the pilgrimage. As a goal oriented person, I like such things as recognition of achievement.
My blog about my St. Olavsleden across Norway in 2017 is at
My St. Olavsleden Pilgrimage. My second pilgrimage was inspired by my first and the fact that my ancestors came from Norway. By now, obtaining a certificate of completion; in this case the St. Olavsbrev, had also become an important goal. This pilgrimage was
made special by all the Norwegian farmer families with whom I stayed as there were few pilgrims.
My blog about planning for the Via Francigena is at
Planning My Via Francigena Pilgrimage. I must admit I was not particularly inspired to walk this pilgrimage, and hence did not train sufficiently before I left. Walking this pilgrimage was more to complete the second most important pilgrimage of medieval times, after Jerusalem and before Santiago. This lack of inspiration was to have its consequences in more ways that lack of training.
10 and 11 September 2018 Monday and Tuesday. I departed Colorado Springs on 10 Sep and transited Chicago O'Hare. The overnight flight landed in Brussels at 9:05 AM allowing an hour to clear customs and buy some Leonidas Belgian chocolates, our favorite when we lived in Belgium from 1984 to 1995. There was no way that I could save them for when I returned home, but they would be a great treat for my son Will and I to celebrate his birthday in four days time. The flight from Brussels to Venice departed at 10:05 AM and arrived at 11:40 AM. My son, who flew from John Wayne airport in Orange County
CA, landed four hours later. We caught the airport bus, which was to drop us off at the at the Piazzale Roma near Venice’s Santa Lucia train station. After arriving at the Mestre train station on the mainland a second time, we asked the driver whether the bus would take us to Santa Lucia train station. His negative reply prompted a mad rush to the train which was about to leave for Venice. In the rush, I left my walking stick which I had bought the year before in Stiklestad, Norway. I would not have this walking stick for this pilgrimage and I grieved my loss. This was a sign to things to come.
At the Santa Lucia station we transferred to the vaparetto that took us down the Grand Canal to the San Vio terminal, a short walk to the Casa Academia, our hotel for the night. By then the time was about 6 PM, and we were scheduled to have dinner at 7:30 PM with Gilberto, a former colleague from NATO, and his wife Maida at their favorite restaurant. We changed and made our way there. A typical Italian dinner can be many courses and take four
hours...not good for someone who has not slept for over 24 hours! It was great to meet them again after 23 years, but I must admit I nodded off occasionally. By 10 PM we took a vaparetto back to our hotel.
12 Sep 2018 Wednesday. We slept in after the late evening. The Venetian Empire ruled the Mediterranean and the western end of the Silk Road until the Ottoman Empire cut off that route in the early 1400s with the conquest of Constantinople. The race was on to find new routes to China and India, with the Portuguese going around southern Africa, and Spain, who sponsored the Italian Christopher Columbus' voyages, heading west. Columbus was certain that the shortest distance was by sailing west, but discovered that two new continents blocked his way to India and China. The Venetians throughout this period maintained their reputation as the master cartographers of the world. I read that several maps showing the outlines of these new continents predating Columbus's discoveries in 1492 could be found at the Doges Palace museum, so that was my specific goal for the day.
After a cappuccino and a pastry we started our touring at the
Gallerie dell'Academia Art Museum as it was just a block away. There were no crowds of tourists so we enjoyed our time there. We then walked to the St. Marks Square, with the hopes of entering the St. Marks Basilica, which was free, and then take a self guided tour of the Doges Palace. However, the square was so full of tour groups that we couldn't get near the basilica or the palace. So we stood in a shorter line to take the elevator to the top of the Campanile tower with its magnificent views of Venice.
We then continued walking around the narrow lanes and across the canals with the arched bridges; and eventually found a very nice restaurant. After lunch we returned to our hotel to pick up our backpacks to relocate to the Academy Hostel with its shared mixed gender dorm room...just to recreate my albergue experience on the Camino de Santiago to show Will what it was like. On the Via Francigena we would be staying at B&Bs in our own room with an en suite bath, as the Italian version of albergues are reputed to be very rustic convents or monasteries and not up
to the minimum standards of even a Spanish municipal albergue.
13 Sep 2108 Thursday. We awoke early and retraced our route back to the airport where we picked up a rental car for two days. By 9 AM we were on the road with the first destination being the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari Formula One race track near San Marino. Will is obsessed with Ferraris, and given that the factory tour was closed this was a good alternative.
Not much was going on so we had lunch and then continued to San Marino. This micro-state was founded in 301 AD by Marinus, a stonemason who built the walls of what was intended as a monastic community. This would be my first visit to a new country since my tour of the Balkans in 2015. So since I was in the area I thought I might being the total countries visited to 85 (or 86...Czechoslovakia is now two countries, and I've been to both parts, so I might have lost count). Fortunately, we found a parking spot near the castle at the top of the mountain. We walked the rest of the way up and toured the castle.
Will commented that my stamina might not be up to walking the Via Francigena. He was right.
Then we crossed the Apennine Mountains to Tuscany, to the Podere Fontecastello agritourismo in Montepulciano. We were too tired to go into town for dinner. I ate some snacks that came with the room. We didn't even have a glass of Montepulciano wine. Oh well, I have a bottle I bought at Costco.
14 Sep 2018 Friday. We had breakfast, accompanied by friendly dogs. We checked out and drove to the main square of Montepulchiano for a walk around to take pictures of the awesome Tuscan countryside.
Then we drove the short distance to Pienza, named after native son Pope Pius II who was elected in 1458. He transformed an anonymous Tuscan village into the ideal Renaissance town in accordance with humanist urban planning concepts. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, but I'm not keeping track of how many of those I've been to. Pienza is the home of the best pecorino cheese. We just missed the cheese festival which was held the previous weekend. We met an American lady who had lived there for decades. She gave us
advice as to what to see. We visited the Cathedral and the Palazzos Piccolomini, Borgia, and Comunale which form the sides of the Piazzi Pio.
We continued to Acquapendente; specifically to the visitor center so that we could purchase Credentials that we would have stamped along the Via Francigena as documentation that we had walked the last 100 Km from Viterbo to Vatican City. We also bought a cheap cell phone with an Italian SIM card, which came in handy when switching to Plan B. There wasn't much to see here, but we found a good restaurant for lunch.
We drove along Lake Bolsena to Montefiasconi with its wonderful views of Lake Bolsena from the castle at the top of the hill. We finished the day in Viterbo where Will dropped me off at the B&B EMC2 and then returned the rental car. He walked the 3.2 km from the rental car agency to the B&B at a much faster pace than I could have.
Here we finally joined the Via Francigena which follows the Via Cassia (Rt2). Cicero mentions the Via Cassia in 45 BC as one of three roads leading from Rome to the north.
Viterbo, as with many of the towns in the area, was founded by the Etruscans and conquered by the Romans as the republic expanded throughout the Italian peninsula. Under Charlemagne the city became the property of the Catholic Church. The Cathedral of San Lorenzo was built in the 1100s. In 1266 a Papal Palace (Palazzo dei Papi) was built as a residence/fortress for when the Popes had to flee Rome; a pretty common occurrence. Several popes were elected here. In 1271, after waiting for three years, the citizens of Viterbo became impatient with the inability of the cardinals to elect a new pope. They locked the cardinals in a room and fed them only bread and water until the bishops made a decision; hence the term conclave (
cum clave meaning under lock and key) was first used in electing popes, and continues to this day.
15 September 2018 Saturday. Walking the Via Francigena from Viterbo towards Vetralla. Today was Will's 29th birthday, and despite the Belgian chocolates, not one of his better ones as the day would turn out. When he asked to join me on my pilgrimage, I thought this would be a great idea. He promised he
would walk my pace for the entire distance. We walked out of Viterbo and along the Etruscan road dug into soft volcanic rock, with tombs in the walls. We eventually reached flat countryside with no scenery. The dirt road followed along side an autostrada. Temperatures were in the 90's. And he couldn't slow down to my pace which was 3 km//hr to his 6 km/hr. After only walking nine kilometers, he was frustrated and told me that he couldn't continue as there were so many better things to do while in Italy.
Initially we planned to separate, with me continuing along the Via Francigena. I was hoping that I might walk with five Danish ladies who were a day behind me. However, it looked like they wouldn't catch up and I also realized that he was right about my condition and the uninteresting countryside and temperatures. I was not experiencing any of the blessings of previous pilgrimages, and only focused on receiving the Testimonium at the end. Why was I nearly killing myself from heat stroke and exhaustion just for a piece of paper? So we agreed to take the bus between towns and stay in Vetralla, Capranica, and
Monterosi, where we had nonrefundable reservations. We would cut out Campagnano, Formello and La Storta, where I would get partial refunds. I particularly wanted to stay at the Casale della Ghiandaia agritourismo in Monterosi. We would go from Monterosi to the Amalfi Coast. We called the owner of the Albergo de Benedetta in Vetralla, gave him our GPS coordinates, and he soon picked us up. We had lunch and dinner at his mother's restaurant.
16 and 17 September 2018. Sunday and Monday. The only place of interest between Vetralla and Monterosi was Sutri, with its extensive Etruscan and early Roman ruins. We took the bus there and walked around the sights. We arrived in Monterosi on Monday, where the owner, Christina, picked us up at the bus stop about noon. Soon we were served an enormous antipasto spread of local cheeses, meats, and vegetables accompanied by her red wine. So in between bites I took a dip in the pool...brrr! She served us the pasta course and dessert for dinner. We never did eat the secondo meat dish.
18 September 2018 Tuesday. After an even more amazing breakfast spread, Christina drove us to the train station where we
caught the train to Rome-Trastevere and on to the Leonardo de Vinci International Airport. Will rented a car for three days to drive to the Amalfi Coast. Will is an aggressive driver so we arrived at the Vesuvian Inn in Castellammare by late afternoon. The hotel has an awesome view over the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. We walked down into the town and along the waterfront for pizza.
19 September 2018 Wednesday. We started the day in Pompeii, arriving at the opening time of 9 AM. The crowds of tourists piling off their busses preceded us, but we made our way around them into the archeological site. Pompeii was buried with volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, encasing bodies as they tried to huddle together. The people and their homes with their mosaic floors and fresco walls were uncovered almost intact. As soon as we entered, Will took off on his own, and I took a more leisurely stroll down the main street to the amphitheater at the far end. I first walked this street with my sisters as an eight year old in 1958, where we chased lizards; and subsequently with Linda in
1974. My last visit was in 1994. This was Will's first visit, so he explored every nook and cranny and every level, well off the tourist routes. I was delighted that he had so much interest in everything he saw.
We then continued to Paestum, a fourth century BC Greek colony with its Doric temples. We had a late lunch and then toured the extensive site.
We then headed for the infamous Amalfi Coast drive from Salerno to Pianillo, where our destination for the day, Hotel le Rocce, is located. This road is one and a half lanes wide and constantly twisting along the shear rock face of the mountains as they meet the sea. So passing oncoming traffic, especially busses and trucks, is fraught with danger. At one point, we rounded a hairpin curve only to find a car parked in the middle of the road with no driver in sight. Will tailgated so his reaction times were at the minimum. Somehow we survived. We ate a late dinner at the hotel where a group of German hikers were also staying.
20 September 2018 Thursday. Our destination today was Sorrento. The traffic was horrible getting there.
We were lucky to find a parking space on the lower level of the town where the beach and ferries to Capri are located. We walked around a bit then decided to get out of this mass of tourists. We took the SS145 road to a monastery on the top of the mountain where there were great views from Naples to Capri to Positano. We then headed to the La Tratoria Restaurant on the hills above Positano. Coincidently, my daughter Rosanna and a friend here in Woodland Park had both recommended this restaurant as serving the best meals they had ever eaten. So we had to try this! The menu is fixed with all vegetables from their own garden and all pasta home made. The food was delicious. As for being the best, as Will once told a chef when he was ten, his food was second best as he was still searching for the best. As for me, by this time I was getting a bit tired of Italian food, no matter how delicious. We then descended to Positano which was so crowded with tourist traffic we decided to continue back along the coast to our hotel...more hair raising
driving and a confrontation between two busses with each driver insisting that the other back up. Miraculously we made it back to our hotel for a light dinner.
21 September 2018 Friday. After breakfast we took the same road as he day before over the mountain to Naples and on to the Leonardo de Vinci International Airport. Will returned the rental car and we caught the train to the Rome-Trastevere station. We then walked to the restaurant where Will used to eat when he attended his year abroad at John Cabot University. Their carbonara wasn't as I remembered as they used rigatoni noodles, but it was good nevertheless. We then walked to our accommodations at Vatican City and relaxed before having dinner nearby.
22 September 2018 Saturday. Will and I went our separate ways, but covered the same sights in reverse order. My first stop was St. Peters Square surrounded by Bernini's colonnade. The line to enter St. Peters Basilica stretched all the way around this enormous square (oval). I continued on and soon passed the Opera Pilgrim Office. I had read on the Via Francigena Facebook page that this office was lenient when handing out the Testimonium,
which documents successful completion at the end of a pilgrimage. I thought I would see how lenient they would be towards a pilgrim who walked nine kilometers (about 1/200th of the distance those who start in Canterbury walk). I told the lady that I hadn't walked 100 km, but did what I could. She took my Credential and told me that I hadn't filled out my name and address. I did and she wrote my name on the Testimonium and handed it to me.
I was flabbergasted and didn't know what to do. I certainly didn't take a picture of me holding it in front of St. Peters as I hadn't earned it! I pondered what to do as I walked to the Piazza Navona. How would those on the Via Francigena Facebook page react to this news! I had been following several pilgrims who started in Canterbury...what would they say!
I sat down for lunch in an almost empty restaurant on the Piazza Navonna. A four piece ensemble was playing Pachelbel's Cannon in D and a couple was ballroom dancing to the music. I asked the waiter to take a picture of me, and once he did,
the restaurant filled up immediately. I told him that his act had brought him luck and we bumped fists.
As I was eating, I was hit with a sudden revelation as to how to understand the Testimonium. I recalled the Parable of the Harvest Workers in Matthew chapter 20 where Jesus tells of a landlord who hires workers to harvest his wheat at the beginning of the day. Throughout the day he hires more. At the end he pays all the workers the same wage. Those who worked the longest hours complained that this was not fair. The landowner replies "‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?." The parable stresses God's unmerited grace in saving us from our sins, rather than earning God's favor to obtain salvation. I realized then that the pilgrim walks were set up by the Catholic Church in medieval times to earn God's favor, with
sins forgiven upon completion. As a Protestant I never walked a pilgrimage to earn salvation. What attracted me to the Camino de Santiago in the movie "The Way" was the bonding of pilgrims into Camino families and the Camino Angels along the way. My greatest lesson was, therefore, to accept God's grace (the Testimonium) despite the few kilometers I walked (hours I worked).
I also recognized that striving to reach a goal (the journey) is also spiritual. II Timothy 4:7-8 states "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day - and not only me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing." We will be rewarded for our journey. My journeys across Spain and Norway, meeting wonderful people and overcoming great difficulties, fed my soul and were reward enough. So my Testimonium joins my St. Olavsbrev in a folder in my file cabinet. Only my Compostela is framed and hanging on my wall.
After lunch I continued my walk from the Piazza Navona to the
Pantheon. Amazingly, there wasn't much of a line so I entered and took a seat to sit an reflect on this lesson. I decided that this would be my final long distance pilgrimage. I might walk shorter day long pilgrimages such as sections of the recently discovered Canterbury Tales trail.
After awhile I left for the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, then walked down the Via del Corso to the Piazza Venezia, where I caught a bus back to the area where our hotel was. I was having a drink when Will also arrived so we had dinner together.
23 September 2018 Sunday. Today I took the hop on/hop off bus. I would meet Will at the Colosseum at 3 PM before he started his tour of Nero's Golden Palace to get our room key as we only got one set. My first stop was the Capitoline Hill which overlooks the Forum. This hill was the religious and political center of ancient Rome. Next I got off at the St. John in Lateran Church, which is the Pope's cathedral (all bishops have a cathedral; some quite modest). I had never visited this church. Inside the twelve apostles are
lined up, six on each side, with Peter and Paul at the front. I would have thought James or John would have placed higher in the pecking order. Then it was on to the Colosseum to meet Will to get the room key. We never made the connection, so I continued back to the restaurant near our hotel to wait his return several hours later. I had drinks, dinner and gelato to pass the time. He finally arrived and I returned to my room.
24 September 2018 Monday. After breakfast we caught a taxi to another hotel near the Villa Borghese. The driver told us about really remarkable sights off the tourist trail, which Will entered into his smart phone. After checking in at the new hotel I was off to meet Sarah, the younger sister of Judy, a girl who was in sixth grade with me in 1962 in Dalat, Vietnam. Judy had seen my Facebook posts about me being in Rome as was her sister, so arranged for us to meet at the fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps. When I met Sarah and Carl, it was as if I had always known them. We
talked and walked on the way to the Pantheon, which they hadn't seen yet. We spent time in the Pantheon; then we had a drink before going our separate ways. I just strolled to the Via Corso and Palazzo Venezia before taking a bus to my hotel.
That evening, after dinner with Will, I took the metro to meet Paula, a Camino Angel who I had met on the Camino De Santiago. We had a beer and over the next hour or so shared what had transpired in the two years since we last met. We then went our separate ways, with me getting back to my locked hotel at 11 PM. Once again, I didn't have the one set of keys to our room and the desk for our hotel closed at 10 PM. Fortunately, there was another hotel in the same building with an attendant on duty who buzzed me in. Will heard my knock on our hotel door and let me in.
25 September 2018 Tuesday. Today was our last day in Italy. We toured the off the beaten path sights recommended by the taxi driver the day before. We took a taxi to the
Roman Water Works under the Trevi Fountain. No tourists were there even though the fountain was just a block away. Will toured the three levels of the Roman aqueduct, while I watched our backpacks.
Then we took a taxi to the Church of the Cross in Jerusalem, which is full of relics from Jerusalem including a piece of the cross, a spike that went through Christ's wrist, the crown of Thornes, the sign stating "This is the King of the Jews", etc. I do not believe in the authenticity of relics, but find their use in church history to be an interesting cultural artifact. Next we walked to St. John Lateran Church as Will had not seen it yet.
Then we caught the metro to the Laurentina station which is near the site where Paul the Apostle was martyred. We had to wait until 3 PM when it opened. The church of St. Paul and the Three Fountains has the stone pillar where Paul was beheaded. As a Roman citizen he could not be crucified. I can believe the pillar might be the real thing, but not the story that his head bounced three times, about 30 feet
apart, and at each place a spring welled up. Again, there was not a tourist in sight.
We then took the metro and train to the airport where we caught a taxi to our hotel near the beach in Fiumicino. After checking in we walked to a seafood restaurant on the beach for an absolutely delicious four course meal. This was our last evening together so we shared a lot of things that needed to be discussed.
26 September 2018 Wednesday. Will left for the airport first as he had an 11:30 AM flight. I left soon after a leisurely breakfast for a 6:30 PM flight. Having flown Norwegian last year from Trondheim to Oslo to JFK without paying for any amenities, I stocked up on reading materials, food and drink for the 9 1/2 hour flight to Newark. No matter how I plan something always goes wrong. First, the 787 was replaced by an old 777. When the cabin lights were turned off for most of the flight, the spot light for my seat didn't work...so much for reading for entertainment. Towards the end of the flight, my water ran out and the flight attendants ignored my
request for water. I then remembered a rule learned on a flight from Bangkok to Cairo in 1978, that one should never take the cheapest flights as those are the ones that countries use to expel hippies who have overstayed their visas, and Moslem pilgrims right off the streets of Pakistan on their Haj.
The flight followed the sunset over Sardinia, then to Barcelona and the Camino de Santiago and beyond. As we passed over Finisterre, I reflected on the end of that pilgrimage two years ago. I was overcome with emotion that both my Camino and this Via were both ending in the same place. I had learned all that pilgrimages could teach me and could now move on.
Next year Linda and I would like to visit where our ancestors came from in Devon, England and Ayrshire, Scotland and the following year do the same in Krakow, Poland and the Tatras Mountains of Slovakia.
27 September - 1 October 2018. Thursday - Monday. I spent this time with my daughter Rosanna, son-in-law Evan and two grandsons Connor and Logan who I was meeting for the first time. We had a great visit sightseeing and talking,
and being overwhelmed with the Kavanaugh hearings and all the other news I had missed over the previous two weeks. On the last day a high school classmate Carolyn and her husband Jay picked me up for lunch and then dropped me off at the Westchester Airport for my flight home. I arrived about 11 PM. It is good to be home!
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s v Tsamaya
Bob & Janice Waller
sounds like the trip changed direction but you still had a good one
thanks for bringing back some great memories from places we visited while in Italy as well as seeing and hearing about new ones. Had heard about that drive along the Amalfi Coast - glad we didn't drive it but instead sailed by it - much less stressful. Sounds like you already have your next trips planned - sound like good ones to me - will be sure to follow along