Via Francigena Pilgrims

VF Five Pilgrims to Rome book

2011-08-14T17:30:00.000+02:00

In May 2007 I announced that I had transferred all of our blog posts to a word doc and had it printed as a book. We even got an ISBN number for our book.
The printer did 5 soft copies each for us and one hardback copy.
We had a special book "L [a] unch" in a castle near Shongweni (about 25km from my home) where we signed all the copies of the books before sharing them out.
Four years down the line we have decided to put our book out there and I will reformat it and make it available on Kindle.
I'm quite looking forward to sharing it with wanna-be Via Francigena pilgrims and although a few things have changed since we walked the VF, I think there is a lot of useful information, insights and advice from the five different peregrinos who contributed to the book.

New VF Website

2011-07-03T08:28:00.000+02:00

Posted on the VF Yahoo Group Forum

Hi everyone!

I want to suggest a new italian web site by the group "Camminando sulla Via Francigena".

http://www.camminandosullaviafrancigena.com/

There, you can find all the maps and the tracks of the official path of Via Francigena and many other information. The web is in italian language but you can translate by gogle traductor component :)
Cristina, the creator of the group, has just finished to signalized the whole path (from Pont Saint Martin to Rome) with the new white and red signs with a black pilgrim in the middle, after three months of hard work by the help of some volunteers pilgrims...

You can find her testimoniance about this work on

http://www.occhiali3d.com/lavia/?cat=7&option=com_wordpress&Itemid=44

Cheers

Camminandosullaviafrancigena.com Staff

The VF in Switzerland

2011-02-06T08:47:00.000+02:00

When I was planning our VF trip we only had a month to walk so I asked other VF pilgrims to recommend the best sections. All agreed that the most beautiful was the route through Switzerland, the Aosta Valley, Tuscany and Lazio.
So we planned to walk from Lake Lausanne to Ivrea. (We skipped a 200km section in the north across the rice paddies of the Po Valley and continued from Parma and Luca to Rome). The Swiss section was the most beautiful and the most memorable. The hiking was rated 'easy' but the conditions rated 'difficult'.
This website has all the information a hiker would need to walk 215km of the VF in Switzerland including transport (how to get there), profile maps, stages, accommodation, guide books, etc, http://www.wanderland.ch/fr/buecher_karten.cfm

It lists 12 sections starting from Ste-Croix

Section 1 Ste-Croix

Section 2 Ste-Croix–Yverdon-les-Bains
Section 3 Yverdon-les-Bains–Orbe
Section 4 Orbe–Cossonay
Section 5 Cossonay–Lausanne
Section 6 Lausanne–Vevey
Section 7 Vevey–Aigle
Section 8 Aigle–St-Maurice
Section 9 St-Maurice–Martigny
Section 10 Martigny–Orsières
Section 11 Orsières–Bourg-St-Pierre
Section 12 Bourg-St-Pierre–Col du Gd St-Bernard

Profile photos from http://www.wanderland.ch/

"The Swiss stage runs through a variety of landscapes and is without doubt also one of the most spectacular pilgrims’ paths in Europe. The route from Sainte-Croix to Vuiteboeuf leads past unique sections of cart tracks then alongside the quiet Venoge to Lac Léman. Stops at Romainmôtier Abbey and the Roman mosaics in Orbe are highly recommended.
From Lausanne, the Via Francigena runs through the vineyards of Lavaux to the bend in the Rhone. From the ancient city of Octodurus, it winds through the narrow pass shaped by the wild waters of the Drance to the northern slopes of the Grossen Sant Bernhard-Pass. In Val d’Entremont, medieval villages line the route, which peaks in the aptly-named Combe des Morts."

2011 JANUARY NEWSLETTER OF 'SLOW MOVEMENT'

2011-01-26T09:05:00.000+02:00

English translation (with permission) from http://www.itineraria.eu/

Newsletter for traveling without haste, walking and cycling

The importance of hospitality
The House of the Slow Movement from 8 to April 10 will host the second course “Hospitallers for volunteers”. In addition, we included in our maps interactive workplaces for hospitality "poor."
Signs and accommodation are the main weaknesses of the Via Francigena, and as usual the slow movement seeking to help measures to improve the situation. By partnering with Ad Limina Petri, the Association of the Church dealing with the Catholic Via Francigena, the census of structures host
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/accoglienza-via-francigena/
Carried out by the CEI in the last year has been included in the database geographic site
http://www.camminafrancigena.it/ www.camminafrancigena.it/it/.
This will allow pilgrims to see on our interactive map nearly 150 places of accommodation "poor", including many parishes that have not yet appeared in the lists currently available.

Hospitaleros VoluntariosAlso, after the success of the course for volunteers is Hospitaller held in Monteriggioni in 2010, this year we decided to repeat the wonderful experience at the newly formed House of the Slow Movement, which will host a free course devoted to volunteers wishing to operate a hostel on the Camino de Santiago and Via Francigena.
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/blog/AlbertoConte/la-cronaca-del-corso-degli-hospitaleros/
The course will also be a time of celebration and meeting of the Hospitaller Spanish and Italian communities living along the Via Francigena Piedmont. Probably we will organize a second course in Tuscany. I will confirm as soon as possible. If you are interested in attending the course please contact us in the next newsletter will give you the details ull'iniziativa.
www.movimentolento.it/it/about/contacts/
Alberto Conte

News
World Day of Slowness - "Ambitious and altruistic"
The art of living with slow non-profit organization presents the Fifth Day of the World Slow to reflect on the damage of economic, environmental and social live at breakneck speed. The event will be celebrated in Italy and around the world February 28, 2011 and we are all invited to participate in our cities, with friends, colleagues or family creating our small but great event.
Go slow, be happy!
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/giornata-mondiale-della-lentezza/

Also in Liguria bike for free on local trains
The agreement between Regione Liguria and Trenitalia has been officially officially confirmed and another example of the concreteness dissemination of sustainable mobility. The entire list of trains identified can be viewed and downloaded from the website of the Liguria Region.
For advice on how to place the bike on trains can be downloaded from the site Fiab driving "Train + bike".
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/anche-liguria-bici-gratis-sui-treni-regionali/

National Day of the Railways Forget - "A window on the landscape "
Preparations for the Fifth National Day of the Railways Forget, in program March 6, 2011, proceed with great enthusiasm. On the website 24 events already present. The sponsors of the Alpine Pearls Association committed to the promotion of sustainable tourism, invites you to attend the photo competition "A window on the landscape, and win a weekend with accommodation and tours of soft mobility.
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/giornata-nazionale-ferrovie-dimenticate/>

Read all news
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/

Appointments - Lenses
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/appuntamenti-lenti-seminari-e-corsi/
"WORDS ON THE WAY: Travelling tell, tells the journey
From Friday 11 to Sunday, February 13, at the home of the Slow Movement, actor John Balzaretti reveal the secrets of the story. Watch the video that introduces the course and its contents.
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/parole-cammino/
The "Appointments lenses" are a series of seminars and residential courses have in common the journey on foot and by bicycle.
Photography, use of GPS, storytelling, painting, walking deep, and a seminar for aspiring travelers on foot are some of the topics will be treated between February and March.
Read the schedule of courses and programs.
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/appuntamenti-lenti-seminari-e-corsi/

Blogs
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/blog/>
"Pilgrim becomes" Carla De Bernardi
And that's how I came July 31 in Rome with fellow pilgrims from Triumphal Way, which has nothing triumphant. It was almost one o'clock and we were hungry. The Roman road from the capital had Campagnano through forests and golden fields ...
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/blog/CarladeBernardi/pellegrini-si-diventa-iii/

"Around the corner, hit by the sun", by Claudio Jaccarino
Don Milan from the overpass can I watch long brush-strokes of green Canal flowing or the row of old chimneys and signs pubbliciarie that dot the rooftops ...
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/blog/ClaudioJaccarino/giro-langolo-investito-dal-sole/

"The Rio Bovina, according to the goats," Richard Carnovalini
From large rivers in a small stream below the house with a leap of twenty years. Paths are not always sought and desired. Sometimes you live in the country and to choose an animal to breed more that there are naughty ...
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/blog/RiccardoCarnovalini/il-rio-bovina-seguendo-le-capre/
Read all articles in the blog
www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/blog/

Travels
www.compagniadeicammini.it/it/>
Dunes to salt lake of Sidi Naji - 6 to 13 March 2011
A fascinating trek over the dunes that surround the Great Depression clay that is named after the marabout buried one of its banks. A journey through the ancient beliefs and traditions Sahrawi. Stories to listen to crouch around the campfire, after a day's walk, enjoying a strong green tea, a fragrant "pain de sable "and the delicious dates of this land.
www.compagniadeicammini.it/it/resource/blog/WebmasterCdC/dalle-dune-al-lago-salato-di-sidi-naji/
Visit the new website of the Society of the Ways and read your calendar complete travel.
www.compagniadeicammini.it/it/

Traveling slowly along the ancient roads
www.camminafrancigena.it/it
Year on record ViaFrancigena
Already passed the first pilgrim in 2010 were 210. Are you a good morning starts in the morning, the new year promises to be a record: come on 4 January 2011 of the first pilgrim to the host via Francigena Benedictine grange in Orio Litta.
www.camminafrancigena.it/it/resource/news/anno-di-record-la-francigena/

The CamminAttori visit the extraordinary artistic laboratory of Mark Guglielmi, Viterbo
www.francigenalazio.it/it/resource/poi/laboratorio-artistico/>

Watch the video of the stage from Viterbo and download the Montefiascone roadbook
www.francigenalazio.it/it/resource/track/vf-39-da-montefiascone-viterbo/

Follow the advice of Cammina Francigena videoracconti and 2010 on
www.francigenalazio.it/it/ and join Facebook group "Via Francigena in Lazio to share photos and Information on the treatment of Lazio ViaFrancigena.
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=197804468054

Subscribe to "CamminaFrancigena" to keep you informed about the news of Major Cultural Route! www.facebook.com/camminafrancigena>

The slow movement in social networks
Join our community on Facebook, join us and write about
Leave your comments of the Slow Movement.
www.facebook.com/cultura.del.viaggio
We provide all lovers of travel and walking Cycling a place where to meet and talk about their experiences.
Become our friend on Twitter!
twitter.com/#%21/movimentolento>

Visit our website to read more news Articles and itineraries for those traveling slowly
www.movimentolento.it/

The slow movement is an initiative organized by the cultural route, disclose the journey on foot and by bicycle. www.itineraria.eu
The newsletter goes out without periodicity, is free and open to members of the list of the Slow Movement.

UP-DATES FROM THE WWW GRAPE VINE

2010-12-23T16:09:00.006+02:00

From: http://www.viafrancigena.eu/

The President Massimo Tedeschi AEVF awarded honorary citizenship of Canterbury. The event was held at the presentation of the twelfth edition of the journal ViaFrancigena

On the route:
Although not located along the official route, we note that the bridge over the Po in San Rocco al Porto (Lodi) is broken. For Orio Litta (Lodi) pilgrims in St. Andrew's Court to direct bicycle do not have access embankment.
Coming to Bicester, the ford of the river Stirone is no longer passable, but you can use the road bridge Sigerico and, pending the new official surveys, indicate an alternative route to cross the river and rejoin the path Stirone ministry. After the village of Bastelli, turn left and go straight for about 1,200 m, then turn immediately right towards Bicester, on a bridge in excess of the A1. After about 1,500 meters, turn left and walk along the bridge Sigerico. We descend, turn right towards compulsory and pass under the bypass and then get behind the cemetery and find the location of Bicester ministry. In an annex to the photo and the map shows in red the alternative route that is temporarily advised to follow.

The section of trail that leads to the Pieve di San Miniato Coiano Castelfiorentino is interrupted for landslide and also precluded the pedestrians. Due to reports of a pilgrim, we suggest an alternative route: via the intersection of Mellicciano, because of Poggiarella Meleto and so, due to take Meleto, to our left. From here you reach a paved country road, where you must go right, towards the local customs and then to Castelfiorentino. Before entering the country, at the roundabout, continue for Gambassi Terme and from there take the Via Francigena.

About the French section of the Via Francigena may be required to the Association des Pèlerins de Compostella et de Rome, to the email address ass-pèlerinscompostellerome@hotmail.fr.

You can download the GPS tracks of the section that crosses the French Champagne-Ardenne on the following link: http://www.tourisme-champagne-ardenne.com/balades/voyageurs/via-francigena.aspx

A variation on the section from Fidenza to Bastelli
http://www.viafrancigena.eu/public/documents/variantebastelli_fidenza.pdf

Accommodation Guide updated on 3 December 2010-12-20

Events:
14 and 15 January 2011 Novoli (LE) : ViaFrancigena. Journey of faith and cultural tourism
Workshop
"Via Francigena. Journey of faith and cultural tourism "is the title of the workshop offering the Department of Heritage, Arts and History at the University of Salento, the City of Novoli Association Vie Francigena Pugliese. The aim is to promote a project whose purpose is to recover the ancient historical role of an ancient path of a religious nature, which represents an important opportunity for knowledge of the area. Will be involved in the agro-food and local crafts, there are a panel discussion on the possibility of enjoying ViaFrancigena and a guided walk along the stretch of the Adriatic ViaFrancigena Salento.

Credencial
Download the application form.
Fees for requests from abroad
A credential: € 7.05 - 11 x 23 cm bag
2 or 3 credentials: € 7.65 - 11 x 23 cm bag
up to 8 Credentials: € 9.15 - 23 x 33 cm bag
up to 10 credentials: € 10.15 - 23 cm x 33 envelope
more than 10 credentials: € 13.65 - 23 x 33 envelope or larger
Post it to Piazza Duomo, 16-43036 Bicester (Pr) a letter containing the request form, duly completed, including a pre-paid envelope with a quantity of stamps corresponding to 5.35 €. This amount, in fact, it is necessary to cover the shipping cost A / R (+ registered return receipt) for a credential

Other organizations distribute their credentials: Theubilantes, Brotherhood of Romei, ViaFrancigena Association, Confraternity of St James of Compostela, Eurovia, Ad Limina Petri.
In France, the credentials can be requested to the Association des Pèlerins de Compostella et de Rome: ass-pèlerinscompostellerome@hotmail.fr

The Magazine Via Francigena
Order from the website: http://www.rivistaviafrancigena.it/
Read a summary of the latest edition;
From http://www.francigenalazio.movimentolento.it/

http://www.movimentolento.it/
The Way of Art now on line
Art is now a constant presence in our walk, so we decided to dedicate a website to CamminArtisti and CamminAttori.
The project began through the work of Blessed herbicides, the communicator of our environmental journey Ge-Mi-To through the industrial triangle, and the financing of Farework, a project of the Province of Milan, which was intended to accompany the artistic talents in via entrepreneurship.
Benedict played the key work in media, publishing on the site www.camminarte.movimentolento.it videos that tell the artistic realities encountered during our trip, as well as photographs, music, paintings, travel notebooks of artists that we accompanied it.
This is just the start again next year we will organize "travel artist", as we believe that the arts can be a powerful vehicle to communicate the beauty of a slow journey. The site will be enhanced, also expect your contributions!
Alberto Conte

News
Seminar on the integration of data paths Bicitalia
Saturday, December 11 the tale at its headquarters in Milan offers a training meeting in view of the mapping of over 16,000 km of paths Bicitalia. We discuss techniques for data entry. Participation, Fiab reserved for members is free but places limited. Reservations are recommended.

Way and art along "paths of Monet Bordighera
On the occasion of the exhibition "Mediterranean from Courbet to Monet to Matisse" (Palazzo Ducale, Genoa), the Coop Liguria Roads to Discover invites us all to Bordighera, to participate in a series of guided walks. Every Saturday will be organized between escurisioni landscapes, exotic gardens, and forests that are illuminated by the intense Mediterranean light inspired many artists and painters during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Gianluca Bonazzi presents his travel diary in San Benigno Canavese

L 'Association Smile, sponsored by the City of San Benigno Canavese organized a series of "Meet the Author" and Friday, December 17, at 21:00, at the Library "Pierre Octave Fasani, Gianluca Bonazzi will talk about his travel diary born after the trip-event that brought him groan to walk along three sides of the industrial triangle Genoa-Milan-Turin.

Read all news
The blog
Stop the killing!, Alberto Conte
Once again it comes to the safety of cyclists and users 'weak' of the road just after a serious car accident. Seven deaths together is an enormous, as they were three years ago, the seven deaths on the work of Thyssen ...

Pellegrini becomes, Carla de Bernardi
On foot? These are crazy, it was my first thought. And then? On July 31? A month of walking? Come on ... On second thought was .... But I went with them. And so one morning I left the house ...

Winter in the Celtic huts Apennines, Gianfranco Bracci
After leaving behind the beautiful refuge of the Celtic huts, am going to walk alone, "the costume and I" (me and my jacket), as they said when they wanted to emphasize the old Tuscan to be his alone ...

Proposal for a co-housing on the Frankish Road of Courage Immaculate
We would like to create a co-housing/eco village along a path (preferably along the Via Francigena Lake Bolsena) which converge in the satisfaction of various needs / desideri.Ci seems important that arise along the way ...

Read all articles in the blog
Traveling slowly along the ancient roads

Discovering Via Francigena - second meeting of pilgrims Aulla
In the marvelous Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, Saturday 11 and Sunday, December 12 will be held the second in a series of meetings among the pilgrims. A meeting for all lovers of the "way" to know, "walk" and discuss the problems and opportunities for intervention on the route of the Via Francigena.

Monteriggioni - new project of "poor reception" for the pilgrims
The municipality of Monteriggioni decided to create a new hostel in the service of pilgrims. A small guest house "low-cost" (8 / 10 beds) inspired by the ancient hospitable, allowing for modern pilgrims to stay overnight in comfort at low cost, simply by showing the credentials of the sections covered.

Interview with Renato Trap, a great lover of ViaFrancigena
Between Bolsena and Montefiascone the ViaFrancigena flows between olive groves and patches of woodland, with a path of ups and downs and stunning views of the lake, which covers some features in basalt of the ancient Via Cassia. Upon arrival we met Renato Trap, a great lover of Via Cassia, tells us his views on the current path and the qualities that in his opinion less considered are the value added of the Central European pilgrimage.

Watch the video and download the road book of the stage
Follow the advice of CamminaFrancigena videoracconti and 2010 on http://www.francigenalazio.it/ and subscribe to the group on Facebook "ViaFrancigena in Lazio to share photos and information regarding treatment of Lazio ViaFrancigena.

Subscribe to "CamminaFrancigena" to keep you informed about news of the great cultural itinerary!

The slow movement in social networks

Join our community on Facebook, join us and write on the board of the Movement Slow your comments.

We provide all lovers of walking and cycling trip to a place where to meet and talk about their experiences.

Become our friend also on Twitter !

http://www.movimentolento.it/ Visit our website to read more news, articles and itineraries for those traveling slowly.

From http://www.walkingplaces.co.uk/
A couple set off from Canterbury on 2 August and arrived in Rome on 3 November.
Read about it here: http://ifalutin.blogspot.com/

From http://www.laviadiromalaviafrancigenadisanfrancesco.com/

La Via Francigena di San Francesco

From: http://ebookpedia.net/La-via-francigena-the-francigena-road.html

An Italian Odyssey: One Couple's Culinary and Cultural Pilgrimage: Julie Burk & Neville Tencer

2010-11-17T21:27:00.007+02:00

A couple of years ago I sent Neville and Julie a CD with maps, our daily guides translated from the Italian AEVF website and copies of our daily info sheets compiled for our walk on the VF in 2006. Many of the maps had been sent to me by another VF Pilgrim, Jeff McDonald, who walked the VF in 2004. The others were downloaded from the AEVF website. Neville and Julie were planning their walk on the VF from Martingy to Rome.

In August 2010, Neville announced the release of a book about their VF adventure - "An Italian Odyssey: One Couple's Culinary and Cultural Pilgrimage". I couldn't wait to read it! We had blogged about our walk and Val had written a whole section about food on the blog.

Neville very kindly sent me a copy of the book and asked if I would write a review.

Last week, I posted this review on the Amazon website.

"To be honest, I found it difficult to review this book objectively. Not because it isn't well written - it is. It is fast moving, with lots of interesting history and delicious food reports thrown in. It makes fascinating reading, especially for anyone contemplating walking the Via Francigena through Italy. The authors took more time out to visit places of historic interest than most pilgrims do and delighted in sharing their enjoyment of regional foods and delicacies. However, Neville and Julie's experience was so different from my Via Francigena trek that I found it hard to identify with their tales of hardships and their constant bickering and squabbling brought on by getting lost, searching for places to stay, often blamed on demons and trickery. When the going turned tough, the tough turned on each other!

Unlike them, we climbed up to the Gr St Bernard in beautiful June sunshine and although it wasn't easy traversing melting glaciers and detouring around large banks of snow, we managed the 11 hour haul to the pass with no dramas or extreme physical challenges and no fall-out.

I must admit that in 2006 when I and four friends walked the Via Francigena from Lake Leman in Switzerland to Rome, we were often bemused and confused by the signs and directions but we never actually got lost, not once.

Perhaps this is because we listened to experienced pilgrims' advice and skipped a 200km section in the north and took a train from Ivrea to Parma.

We booked every night's accommodation ahead and, amazingly for 5 very different women walking together, we didn't have any heated disagreements or arguments even when the going got tough. I loved their idea of writing the story from a cultural and culinary perspective. This sets the book apart from scores of similar pilgrimage tales, which by their very nature, are often merely day to day accounts of getting up, packing the back pack, walking all day, arriving, eating and sleeping. This book is much more than that. In Julie's words, theirs was "an extraordinary experience with a bitter undertone but with time, sweet, spicy and delicious."

PS: I've been asked about the 3 Star rating. I don't like fights, especially between couples and when they nearly gave up walking because of them, I nearly gave up on the book. I'm glad I didn't because as the terrain inproved so did their disposition and the story!"

Neville explained to me that the worst part of the VF through Italy is the section we skipped - the section from Ivrea to Fidenza. It is this tough, difficult section that is a source of grief for many. While there are other locations along the VF that could be improved, this ± 200km section was a source of lot of pain for them and hence represented their “hell” of a Dante 3-act play. They did not want to sugar coat their experience and hence the second section of the book focuses on the hellish experiences of this stage of the walk. I take his point. We followed the advice of Joe Paterson and Andrew and Carol Walsh who walked the VF the year before me and skipped that section altogether.
Another source of aggravation for almost everyone who has walked the VF is finding accommodation. As far back as 2003 when I was researching the Via for our planned walk, the only written accounts were Veronica O'Connors short diary of her walk in 2002, Brandon Wilson's diary of his walk from the Gr St Bernard to Rome and Jeff McDonald's diary of his walk in 2004.
Jeff often referred to his frustration in trying to find a hotel at the end of a day. His diary gives the time taken for each stage, and in it he writes: 'The times include finding accommodation each day, sometimes that could take an hour or so.'

My friend John, who is a seasoned pilgrimage walker, walked the VF in 2005 and on his return said that he would never recommend it to anyone. He struggled to find accommodation, sometimes having to sleep on a park bench, in a cardboard box, on the portico of a church and one night, in a police station. He also got hopelessly lost on numerous occasions and said that he felt he was committing suicide walking on some of the busy roads with huge trucks and heavy traffic hurtling down on him.

Because of these tales of woe, we decided not to risk trying to find beds at night for five middle-aged women so I laboriously booked beds for every night before we left South Africa. And, we were so pleased we'd done that. No matter how far we had to walk; no matter how tired we were; no matter how incorrect the mileages were (some days we thought we'd be walking 23km and ended up walking over 30km) we always knew that there was a hot shower and a clean bed waiting for us at the end of the day. It took the anxiety and panic out of the walk and gave us the lee-way to take our time, enjoy the scenery and interact with the locals.

The Via Francigena today is probably what the Camino was like 30 years ago. We only met two pilgrims. One at the Gr St Bernard hospice who was not walking to Rome, and a couple of cyclists in Sienna. We bundu-bashed our way through ploughed fields, tall rows of corn, over dry stone walls and waded through rivers where the bridges had fallen down. It was tough. It was hot - sometimes over 40oC in the shade. And, there was very little pilgrim accommodation - only two albergues which were not only for pilgrims.

What's it like now? Reading Neville and Julie's book, I don't think much has changed. There are guide books available in English and more pilgrim accommodation in monasteries and convents. Perhaps VF pilgrims are no longer the 'pioneers' we were described as by Adelaide Trezzini when we joined the AIVF, but it is still a difficult walk made more so by the lack of infrastructure and accommodation.

(Tarta d' Erbe - made by Nona Norina in Pentremoli)

NEWSLETTER FROM THE AEVF

2010-08-26T19:47:00.005+02:00

News and photos from: Associazione Europea delle Vie Francigene September 2010

Day of Cultural Routes scheduled in Brussels
Vice President of the European Commission, Antonio Tajani, promotes the Council of Europe Cultural Routes

August 2010
Journeying through the Way of St. Olav
A journey of pilgrimage in northern Europe, including Norway, Sweden and Denmark

August 3, 2010

26/08/2010 Canterbury and km zero ViaFrancigena

Pending the official presentation of ViaFrancigena at the European Commission within the day devoted to other Council of Europe Cultural Routes, the ancient path of Sigeric is attracting millions of pilgrims and enthusiasts who have walked this summer - and are still walking - along the Via Francigena.

There has been an increase in the numbers of those starting in the English city of Canterbury, in the heart of Kent, which starts in front of the magnificent cathedral the stone indicating the kilometer zero of the route. The English section that accompanies the pilgrims to the dramatic cliffs of Dover, where you can sail to the French city of Calais, has finally been fitted with new signs by the Kent County Council. Twenty-eight km route attractive to combine art, history and nature.

This newsletter offers some phtographs of the English course, A whole new signage for the ViaFrancigena English
New signs were placed at the beginning of July
http://www.associazioneviafrancigena.it//default.asp?s=27&o=5447&c=0

Event - Fidenza From Rome
40 pilgrims on their way : Those who wish can join the group for short distance

Event - the Great St. Bernard in Pont-Saint-Martin : Discovering ViaFrancigena Aosta Valley
Interesting proposals for the 2010 walk

Event - Santiago de Compostela and Le-Puy-En-Velay : Formal closure of the relay International Europe-Compostela 2010 : The event will take place on 18 and 25 September 2010 the first in Santiago de Compostela and then to Le-Puy-En-Velay

Photogallery: Canterbury (UK)

http://www.associazioneviafrancigena.it//default.asp?s=73&o=4708&c=0
See photos of the consecration of the altar dedicated to Saint Anselm
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, blesses the new altar in the Chapel of Sant'Alselmo in Canterbury Cathedral , with the Rev. Jonathan Goodall and Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi of Aosta bishop .

Photogallery: Canterbury, the English stage of ViaFrancigena : http://www.associazioneviafrancigena.it//default.asp?s=27&o=5447&c=0

A visit to the place of Archbishop Sigeric
Photos of the cathedral, the town, the boys choir singing at the inauguration of km zero, of the route between Canterbury and the sea as well as photographs of Dover, the Dover Castle etc.

Photogallery: From Rome to the Great Saint Bernard

Relay-Europe International Compostela 2010

Photogallery: ViaFrancigena Morenic Canavesana;

http://www.associazioneviafrancigena.it//default.asp?s=27&o=7445&c=0

The ViaFrancigena in Piedmont (Chiesa di Santa Maria Maddalena_Burolo)

Great up-date and comments on the waymarking and signage along the VF

2010-08-18T21:23:00.075+02:00

Copied with permission of Dave Whitson, leader of a group of students on the VF from Montreux to Montjovet and Fidenza to Roma, and Paul Chinn, co-author of the Lightfoot Guides to the Via Francigena

The complete 2010 LightFoot Guide to the via Francigena consists of three books:

Vol. One Canterbury to Besançon

Vol. Two Besançon to Vercelli

Vol. Three Vercelli to Rome

Information provided in each section:

Instruction sheet/s comprising:

Detailed directions corresponding to GPS way point numbers on the maps Distance (in metres) between each way point

Verification Point - additional verification of current position

Compass direction

Maps comprising:

A visual representation of the route with way point numbers and adjacent details

Altitude Profile for the section
Icons indicating places to stay, monuments etc Relevant signs to look out for along the route
Map reference number/s for the section.

In this 2010 edition the authors continue to use the official route in Italy, as approved and signed by the Italian Minister of Culture, but also offer dditional opportunities where it is too challenging for one or more groups. This density of information has increased the number of instruction sheets and the decision has been taken to transfer all cultural and historical information to the Companion to the via Francigena.

Dave Whitson

My group of 9 successfully completed our pilgrimage on the Via Francigena on August 4. We walked from Montreux to Montjovet, hopped on a train, and then continued walking from Fidenza to Rome. Having skimmed through emails on the list while I was gone, I realize I'm going a little against consensus when I write this, but I remain very positive and excited about waymarking on the VF.

Now, the Lightfoot Guides remain critical, both for the occasional stretches when the WM dry up and for places where the authors' recommended route alternative is superior to the WM one. But, we typically felt very comfortable allowing our students to walk without a teacher-guide, leaving them to find their way along the route.

There are a handful of exceptions worth noting, though. It's possible that these were addressed in the 2010 version of the Lightfoot Guide - I'm still working out of the 2009 edition.

Paul Chinn (Lightfoot Guides for the Via Francigena)

On the general issue of signing the situation has greatly improved over the years, but there remain provinces, principally in areas of the north which you were lucky to skip, where the situation remains poor.

It seems that you have also encountered the issue of what I think of as the Tower of Babel of signing. The 2009 edition of the book generally follows the "official route" as defined by the Ministry of Culture. The ministry, via the communes intended to fully sign this route, however the work is incomplete, and many of the WM's that you describe relate to other/prior views of the route and can and do conflict with the "official route". Hence some of the angst we have expressed on the issue.

Dave:

1) On the walk from Villeneuve to St. Maurice, the book instructs you to stay on the canal at 37.14. WM guide you away from it, towards the small town of Chessel. I would follow the WM, as this is your last good chance at a fountain for a while.

Paul: It is often a tough call between distance and amenity. I think the WMs that you mention must lead to the Rhone and then rejoin our route a couple of waypoints further on. If this is the case it would add about 1500m to the section. Happy to add a comment on this to the next edition, do you recall the style of WM - we are well off the official/70 route at this point?

2) On the walk from Martigny to Orsieres, soon after Chamoille d'Orsieres, yellow arrows will lead you sharply downhill on a footpath, past a house on your right, eventually taking you to the

highway. Ignore these and stay on the flat, paved road. The approach to Orsieres is much more pleasant.

Paul: Agree. The current edition sticks with the small road.

3) Our students were not pleased with the "official" route from Aosta to Chatillon. The assorted uphills seemed unnecessary and particularly frustrating given the toll the previous two days of walking had taken on their bodies. I would probably follow the authors' alternative in the future.

Paul: I am afraid this is an example of the challenges that face the route designer. The Ministry, I think, were very insistent on minimizing the amount of tarmac used - perhaps an over simplification of safety concerns. The official route then searches for pathways. In general these are not new paths but ones used by day walkers that are out for a short burst of vigorous exercise, but that also go in the right general direction. We have been lobbying, so far with no great impact, that the official route should reflect the specific needs of the (very) long distance pilgrim - so we come back to having to respect the "official route" but offer alternates.

This situation also applies between the Cisa pass and Pontremoli and around Massa where CAI paths have been subsumed into the VF

4) On the walk from Chatillon to Montjovet, take note on 42.045 the point about ignoring the turn to the R. Insistent yellow arrows will try to convince you to turn R downhill. This route just buys you a

lot of highway walking. Stick with the book.

Paul: I think this might be an example of the Tower of Babel of signing.

5) Last time, I wrote that the Felegara area had no WM. It is now fully waymarked.

Paul: The province of Parma have done a great job in signing. However, in Fornovo it seems that their job was too good. The pretty metal signs with the pilgrim have now become souvenirs - we have photos that show the existence of signs 2 years ago where there are no signs now and even a photo of a bracket minus its sign. There is a nice piece of research to be done here on the optimum capital cost/aesthetic/frequency/maintenance interval for signs - I am from the school in favour of cheap,easily maintained, vandal proof(ish), but frequent painted signs. Unfortunately I suspect the ministry would not wish to be associated with graffiti.

Very interestingly the VF route from Montgenevre to Vercelli is generally excellently signed with the painted yellow pilgrim and yellow/white arrows while the many CAI and Italian walking association routes also successfully follow this convention.

6) IMPORTANT - A shiny new WM has been added on the walk from Berceto to Cisa Pass, encouraging you to turn R off the route towards a hostel. This is one place where our students erred and I can easily understand. Without a careful look and knowledge of the route, I would believe the official route went that way. I'm not happy about this marker.

Paul: It does say Ostello on the sign, but it is (shades of the Camino) remarkably like an official route sign. I will try and strengthen the words of warning in the book.

7) The walk from Pietrasanta to Lucca involves some stretches badly overgrown with blackberry / sticker bushes. In particular, right after 59.007 and just before Montemagno are really, really bad.On the latter, I would just follow the road.

Paul: 59.037? I know that thicket well. Despite having dragged a bike through it and ripped my shins, there were signs of some extra efforts to cut it back and so I had preferred it to the risk of the busy road. I gather that it must not have improved and so will note and offer the road with safety caveats.

8) The WM continue to disagree with the book on the walk from Siena to Isola d'Arbia, turning L instead of R at 64.014 (the WM route goes through Isola d'Arbia while the book's route bypasses it), from Bagno Vignoni to Gallina (the WM lead you past a spa, along a gravel road, and eventually deposit you on the Via Cassia, leading you through Gallina, which the book bypasses), and from Ponte a Rigo to Acquapendente (the book calls for you to turn R on the Via Cassia, while many insistent WM call for a L)

Paul: The book route is/was signed with the fancy new ministry signs. The prior route through Isola d'Arbia (where there is a nice watering hole) also involved the crossing of a muddy maize field of which I have other fond memories with the bike. Did you take the book route? Of course no one has taken responsibility to remove the old signs. On the route through Gallina this is a similar story, but I would argue strongly for keeping away from the via Cassia.

Ponte a Rigo to Aquapendente ditto.

9) The WM have changed slightly on the walk from Acquapendente to San Lorenzo, pulling you back to the Via Cassia a little sooner than they used to. The WM from San Lorenzo to Bolsena were unreliable in places. Fortunately, that lake serves as a handy navigational aid.

Paul: The book route, after leaving San Lorenzo, involves just 150m of the Cassia - did you follow the book here?

10) I have now twice tried and failed to find the Strada Sasso San Pellegrino called for on 70.027 on the walk from Viterbo to Vetralla. I've looked really diligently. I find it hard to believe, at this point, that the street exists. Instead, we followed the WM along the Cassia for probably 2km (maybe more) before WM took us L off of the Cassia shortly before arriving in Vetralla.

Paul: Our error the instruction is not clear - there is a bridge over the via Cassia before you take the ramp down to meet the road proper. You need to take the bridge to find Strada Sasso San Pellegrino on the far side. We will put this right in the 2011 edition.

11) The book instructs you to turn L on Via Dante before entering Monterosi, just missing all facilities in town - and getting an ugly walk out of the deal. Instead, walk straight into the center of town. At the central piazza, you'll find WM calling for a L. Proceed along that road, over a bridge, and eventually onto the highway. Very soon after, you'll fork left off of it. Again, soon after, you'll hit an inter-section with WM pointing you both L and straight ahead. Turn L. You'll be on a white road, the same one that the book instructs you to turn L onto at 71.030

Paul: This stretch of the highway/via Cassia for me is one of the most dangerous parts of the entire journey . We have stuck with the official route to give it the widest possible berth.

12) IMPORTANT - 71.031 is one of the most important route choices on the walk. WM will instruct you to turn L onto the paved road. This will result in you spending most of the rest of your walk to Campagnano on pavement and often on highway. Ignore these and follow the book, continuing straight on the dirt road. Eventually, WM will start up again. I can't understand why they don't have one at this

pivotal moment.

Paul: Agreed

13) IMPORTANT - They have, for some unknown and bizarre reason, to add a shiny new WM in the Madonna del Sorbo park, instructing you to turn R off of the dirt road and walk through the park. I followed this last year. It was a near disaster. Maybe they've developed the route and it's nicer now, but it was a total fiasco 9 months ago. This is one of those frustrating VF spots where one group seems to have decided that they know better than everyone else and so they inserted a definitive WM, instead of indicating that both options are possible. Follow the book and continue straight. WM will resume in 100m.

Paul: As you know we have battling to try and get some rationalization of the signing

14) IMPORTANT AGAIN - Sorry for three straight importants, but there's a lot going on along these final stretches! A new VF route was just opened in Formello and it's really nice! As you arrive on the edge of town, follow the old VF sign along the steeply descending road into town. Shiny new WM will lead you into the historic center and then out the other side. Purpose-built gravel roads follow, eventually transitioning onto dirt roads. It's a great walk, really pleasant scenery, and it eventually reconnects with the old route at Via Monte Michele. I enthusiastically encourage you to follow this instead of the older approach.
More than anything, I was struck this time by the incredible level of hospitality offered in many of the stops along the way. My greatest concern with taking my students on the VF instead of the Camino is that they won't get the full sense of the pilgrimage experience with so many fewer pilgrims in Italy. Certainly, we missed the pilgrim community. But, the upshot of a more intimate route is that the level of hospitality offered can potentially be much higher and that it can be much more deeply personal, especially in Tuscany and Lazio. In Altopascio, the mayor actually welcomed us and asked to have his

picture taken with us. In Monteriggioni, Siena, Radicofani, Campagnano, and Rome pilgrim dinners (and sometimes breakfasts) were prepared by the hospitaleros or the community. When our hosts in

Siena and Bolsena learned we were leaving early in the morning, they stayed up and prepared sack breakfasts for the kids. Even in places where the accommodations were very simple, the priests or nuns were often very enthusiastic to have us, extracting all of the conversation they could out of our limited Italian. On the Camino, quite often the popularity prompts the need for streamlining and efficiency in the albergues. On the VF, we were really touched by just how welcomed we were made to feel.

Paul: Thanks for this. The new route was inaugurated at the end of July and we have written to the municipality for more detail on its routing. If anyone has a GPS trace of this section we would be very grateful to receive it.

I think you have the sense of the VF experience just about right - for us the engagement with the communities en route has been the great joy of the route.

Paul Chinn and Babette Gallard - http://www.pilgrimagepublications.com/

SANTIAGO TO ROME

2010-08-08T20:37:00.000+02:00

I have added a new post on walking from Santiago de Compostela to Rome

on my Amawalker blog. You can find it here:

www.amawalker.blogspot.com

SLOW MOVEMENT - NEWSLETTER NO.10

2010-08-02T20:02:00.002+02:00

Copied in English with permission:
To view this newsletter in its original Italian, and to see the photos on your browser, click here:
http://www.itineraria.eu/newsletter/10-10.html

Newsletter for travelers of leisurely walking and cycling

Technology , "tells you "the path

Travel continues to be part of this summer's slow movement, after the conclusion of the Franco Way two very interesting trips are starting: the first group will walk along an unpublished route between Rome and Assisi , while a second will be on the classic cycling routes - the Road to Santiago .

Again follow the daily adventures of travelers who detect the route with GPS, to make it available to Visitors to our site.

If technology fascinates you and you’d like to try the latest in the field of media guides, do not miss a visit to Introd, in Valle d' Aosta. Visiting the interesting ecomuseum Maison Bruil run Fondation Grand Paradis, you can borrow one of the iPhone GPS guides that will guide you to discover five splendid walks to the gate of the Grand Paradiso National Park . Also you can use the iPhone to "read "the landscape thanks to a software "augmented reality " iPhone display , indicating the names of the mountains and villages at which it is pointed .

Géoguide Grand Paradis: http://www.grandparadis.movimentolento.it/it/page/geoguide/

Augmented Reality iPhone: http://www.grandparadis.movimentolento.it/it/page/realtaumentata/

Travel Diaries

Occitan quits the ring of " Lou Tsamin Francoprovensal "
After about a month's journey through the paths of the Western Alps "Lou Tsamin Francoprovensal " is back in Susa closing his circle - Piedmont, Savoy , Upper Savoy, Swiss Valais , Valle d' Aosta. A path of 500 kilometers to discover the genius loci of a territory which in centuries has shaped the spirit of Franco culture. Retrace the stages of the great expedition here:
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/trip/chambra-doc-lou-tsamin-francoprovensal/

A new route: "The Way of the Angels "
Put on your boots in St. Peter's Square and start the country roads and paths to discover 500 km of Italy 'Child ', see where pilgrims with the backpack has not yet become familiar. From Rome to Assisi along the sites of origins of Christianity. In his diary Mario Fazion will tell us about his steps along a fascinating historical and cultural journey .
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/trip/il-cammino-degli-angeli/

The Pilgrimage by bike

Saint Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela by Mountain Bike. Two Tuscan youths with a passion for travel by bike and interest in the ancient pilgrim paths, we raconter with video and photos illustrating their adventure. As usual post tracks GPS route.
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/trip/pedalando-lungo-il-cammino-di-santiago/

Thoughts of pilgrims along the Via Francigena

Continuing the diary Cristina from Canterbury to start July on the way between the hills and vineyards of France, and through her stories makes us live "her" ViaFrancigena . 27 days of travel pages of her diary have been enriched with images and traces: GPS download. Continue to follow the footsteps of Christina in her long journey.
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/trip/cristina-menghi-francigena-high-tech/

Other news

Corsica is a pure joy !

A fascinating trek into the wilderness of the Park of Corsica. From August 9 to 20 a route on High Road in Corsica, the famous GR20, with Gianotti accompanying groups of 25 in Corsica years.
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/la-corsica-e-pura-gioia/

Pianotrip - the ecological piano on two wheels
A young French couple (she is 25 years and a pianist, he is 24 years and a photographer) travel Europe with two bikes and an upright piano of 200kg for towing. Their goal? To launch an ecological message through language of universal music.
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/pianotrip-un-pianoforte-che-viaggia-su-due-ruote/

Lepontika - the great trek in the Alps Lepontine

And, from the top of the first edition of Mottarone Lepontika the great hiking in 19 stages connecting the two most beautiful views of the Alps; Mottarone Rigi south and north .
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/lepontika-il-grande-trekking-lepontino/

Ciclopoetica - the magic ride on the banks of the Po

The festival begins on August 2 travelling along the route of the River Po, across Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Veneto, combining Cycling and poetry. The meetings and lectures are open to everyone who wishes to participate.
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/ciclopoetica2010-la-poesia-delle-due-ruote/

Walking in the legends

Many initiatives among the Dolomites, UNESCO historical, nature trails and guided along the paths of legend. Summer 2010 Dolomites is full of proposals for walkers of all ages.
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/camminare-nelle-leggende/

Read all news: http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/news/

The blog

One year of rivers , Richard Carnovalini
After crossing the Apennines my new goal was simple living several months in close contact with Italian rivers that the most interesting ...

Before the summit, Roberta Ferraris
When summer flushed the plains is the only appropriate time to climbing at high altitude. In July, the anticyclone of the Azores with his place you can cross ...
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/blog/RobertaFerraris/prima-della-vetta-di-r-ferraris/

New thoughts travellers, G. Bonazzi
Acrostics, thoughts and reflections on walking investigating so ever trivial relationship between the art of walking and modern society in which we find ourselves ...
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/blog/GianlucaBonazzi/pensieri-viandanti-di-g-bonazzi/

The engine begins to slow, Nicola Comazzetto
Begin by telling the blog of the slow movement the "Mythical Northeast" that did not exactly slow imaginary connotations Collective...
http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/blog/NicolaComazzetto/la-locomotiva-comincia-rallentare-di-n-comazzetto/

Read all blog articles L: http://www.movimentolento.it/it/resource/blog/

The slow movement in social networks
The slow movement spread its ideas and content even in the leading social network where , in addition to staying abreast of initiatives and events , you can share ideas and proposals with us and with all our network of friends.

Become a friend of the slow movement on Facebook and Twitter !
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/pages/il-Movimento-Lento/123263001029732
Twitter : http://twitter.com/movimentolento

Every day we publish news, articles and itineraries for travellers who go slowly.

Visit our website to keep you informed: http://www.movimentolento.it/

http://www.itineraria.eu/

http://www.francigenalibrari.beniculturali.it/

The slow movement is a cultural initiative organized by route, disclose the journey on foot and by bicycle.
The newsletter goes out without periodicity, is free and reserved for members of the list of the Slow Movement .

Via Francigena 'live' blogs and websites

2010-08-02T16:15:00.000+02:00

This is a great blog and I just loved her latest post:

Part Trois – If it’s Monday, it’s closed
http://tapascoe.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/part-trois-if-its-monday-its-closed/

Oz Pilgrim

http://stepstorome.blogspot.com/2010/07/polish-ballroom-dancer.html

Cathy’s blog
http://www.ballofdirt.com/entries/22361/296339.html

girolamo777
http://jeromesitaly.blogspot.com/2010/07/la-via-francigena-or-robbers-and.html

New Book
http://littlegreentracs.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/07/index.html

Confraternity of Pilgrims to Jerusalem
http://sites.google.com/site/pilgrimstojerusalem/Home

CYCLING THE VIA FRANCIGENA

2010-03-08T09:10:00.000+02:00

I came across this great website where you can download the cycle route from London to Rome and Brindisi (EV 5) - part of EuroVelo.

http://www.routeyou.com/route/view/197145/cycling-route-via-romea-francigena-ev5.en

EuroVelo is the European cycle route network, a project of the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF).

Lightfoot Guides to the Via Francigena

2010-01-24T20:31:00.004+02:00

When we walked the Via Francigena in 2006 there were no guide books in English.
I bought an Italian guide book and also downloaded daily stages from the AEVF website - which we translated into English using Google translate. The result was sometimes so cryptic that it wasn't until we actually in the locality that we could work out which way to go.

The AIVF had a short list of places to stay but no email addresses so I spent hours, weeks, trying to find accommodation along the way.

Pilgrims to Rome have it easier today since Babette Gallard and Paul Chinn started publishing their Lightfoot guides to walking, cycling (or going on horseback) on the Via Francigena. These books form part of a three volume guide for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders travelling the via Francigena.

Vol. One Canterbury to Besançon

Vol. Two Besançon to Vercelli

Vol. Three Vercelli to Rome

Vol One covers the route from Canterbury to the Summit of the Great St Bernard Pass.

Vol Two covers 453 km from Besançon - the Capital of Franche-Comte - to Vercelli and the intersection with the Road from Santiago.

Vol Three covers 863 kilometres from Vercelli at the intersection with the Road from Santiago to Saint Peter's.

Each volume contains detailed routing instructions, route schematics, listings of accommodation and services and descriptions of the history of key locations along the route. Purchasers of the book are entitled to receive GPS waypoint data and periodic route updates.

NB: Update from the editors:
"The route has been updated to take into account a number of modifications, and the guides themselves have been stripped down to instructions and route information, with a great deal more detailed historical and cultural information available in a new publication - Companion to the via Francigena. I would advise people who do not need the guides immediately to wait until the 2010 editions are out in March."

Another resource for accommodation in English, is the AEVF list - HOSPITALITY ALONG VIA FRANCIGENA - which can be downloaded from the Cultural Routes of Europe website or from:
http://www.viefrancigene.eu/default.asp?s=5&o=6889&c=0
(The link to the pdf file is on the right.)

"On the streets of Peace"

2010-01-10T21:43:00.000+02:00

I received this link from a French pilgrim who walked the journey of St. Francis "On the streets of Peace"

Florence - Assisi - Rome

"I finally finished the descriptions of the stages of my pilgrimage, with more than 200 photos."

http://www.randoalp.com/rome2009/cammino_di_san_francesco.html

National Geographic Photos of the VF

2010-01-06T09:53:00.000+02:00

Antonio Politano - http://www.antoniopolitano.com - provides links to his photogallery - with 60 images - on Via Francigena and 16 pages on National Geographic Italy:

http://www.antoniopolitano.com/galleryfrancigena60.htm

http://www.antoniopolitano.com/files/media_files/ng/ngi.htm

Posted on the http://groups.yahoo.com/group/via-francigena/message/2041 by Neville Tencer

Walking the Via Francigena backwards!

2009-12-24T23:56:00.000+02:00

http://www.backwardsfrancigena.wordpress.com/

Read Paolo's blog as he walks from his home near Rome to his girlfriend at Cambridge along the Via Francigena. He even has an upside down photo of the route as his blog header!

Via Francigena pdf. free downloads

2009-12-09T18:17:00.000+02:00

Google is doing some amazing stuff!
An alert landed in my gmail today with a link to this website where you can download dozens of pdf. files - brochures, articles and even a few books - on the Via Francigena. There are 8 pages fo downloads, each with about 8 pdf. files.
http://www.osun.org/francigena-pdf.html

And then there are the Power Point downloads on the same website (about 20 files - some are organisationa presentations)
http://www.osun.org/francigena-ppt.html

And, about 64 documents - http://www.osun.org/francigena-doc.html

Francesco cares for pilgrims in Pavia

2009-12-09T10:29:00.003+02:00

I had a email from Francesco Grosso who says that she cares for The Way and for the pilgrims in Nicorvo province of Pavia. So, if you are walking that way, do contact her.

ciao,

abito sulla via francigena a Nicorvo provincia di Pavia e come volontaria mi occupo della Via e dei pellegrini.
ti invio alcune foto da inserire sul sito.
se vuoi dare info su di me a futuri pellegrini, francesca.groso@guidafrancigena.it
grazie !!
Francesca Grosso
uff. 0321/668526
fax 0321/668536
mobile 313/8083303

for info on the hospitality and / or other tract Robbi-Nicorvo please contact me at this email address or cell numbers below.

Francesca Grosso

Via Roma 16
27020th Nicorvo (PV)
Tel 0384 524024 Cell 338 3785706
No.: 0321 668526 Cell 313 8083303

fra.grosso @ rfi.it
uk.focalpoint @ guidafrancigena.it

Via Francigena in the South

2009-11-30T20:53:00.000+02:00

Pictures and text from: http://www.viefrancigenedelsud.it/it

http://www.viefrancigenedelsud.it/it/map

Go on a virtual journey along the roads of the South Francigene: the ancient ways and modern walking routes, the most interesting attractions, the most beautiful images can be easily located on the interactive map. Simultaneously activating the various channels you can correlate different geographic resources: for example, the attractions closer to the route you want to walk.
The ancient streets have been revisited by local associations to develop modern walks and cycling. Download road book. Ancient Ways, Paths of pilgrimage, Guide to the routes and road book.

Also, download "Rome-Jerusalem. Along the streets of South Francigene" in two pdf files.
http://www.viefrancigenedelsud.it/it/page/romagerusalemme_lungo_le_vie_francigene_del_sud

Create your own guide:
http://www.viefrancigenedelsud.it/it/guida

Historical Centres, monasteries, monuments etc
http://www.viefrancigenedelsud.it/it/luogo

GPS MAPS AND GUIDE BOOKS FOR THE VF IN ITALY

2009-11-30T20:24:00.003+02:00

Guide books for each stage, Google Earth maps of the trails are available for free download from this website; (Also Photo Galleries for each stage)/

http://www.francigenalibrari.beniculturali.it/news1_en.html

From Gran San Bernardo to Ivrea

Stage: from Gran San Bernardo to Echevennoz - 14,9 km
Stage: from Echevennoz to Aosta - 13,6 km
Stage: from Aosta to Chatillon - 30,1 km
Stage: from Chatillon to Verres - 20,8 km
Stage: from Verres to Pont Saint Martin - 17,7 km
Stage: from Pont Saint Martin to Ivrea - 22,1 km

From Ivrea to Pavia

Stage: from Ivrea to Viverone - 21,7 km
Stage: from Viverone to Santhià - 16,1 km
Stage: from Santhià to Vercelli - 27,4 km
Stage: from Vercelli to Robbio - 19,7 km
Stage: from Robbio to Mortara - 14,3 km
Stage: from Mortara to Garlasco - 23,6 km
Stage: from Garlasco to Pavia - 25,9 km

From Pavia to Passo della Cisa

Stage: from Pavia to Santa Cristina - 28,5 km

Stage: from Santa Cristina to Orio Litta - 16,9 km
Stage: from Orio Litta to Piacenza - 17,5 km
Stage: from Piacenza to Fiorenzuola - 32,8 km
Stage: from Fiorenzuola to Fidenza - 22,6 km
Stage: from Fidenza to Fornovo - 34,2 km
Stage: from Fornovo to Cassio - 22,6 km
Stage: from Cassio to Passo della Cisa - 19,2 km

From Passo della Cisa to Siena

Stage: from Passo della Cisa to Pontremoli - 19,4 km
Stage: from Pontremoli to Aulla - 32,9 km
Stage: from Aulla to Avenza - 32,4 km
Stage: from Avenza to Pietrasanta - 27,8 km
Stage: from Pietrasanta to Lucca - 32,3 km
Stage: from Lucca to Altopascio - 17,8 km
Stage: from Altopascio to San Miniato - 23,5 km
Stage: from San Miniato to Gambassi Terme - 25,6 km
Stage: from Gambassi Terme to San Gimignano - 13,4 km
Stage: from San Gimignano to Monteriggioni - 29,8 km
Stage: from Monteriggioni to Siena - 20,5 km

From Siena to Roma

Stage: from Siena to Ponte D'Arbia - 28,5 km
Stage: from Ponte D'Arbia to S. Quirico d'Orcia - 27,4 km
Stage: from S. Quirico d'Orcia to Radicofani - 32,7 km
Stage: from Radicofani to Acquapendente - 31,8 km
Stage: from Acquapendente to Bolsena - 22,1 km
Stage: from Bolsena to Montefiascone - 18,3 km
Stage: from Montefiascone to Viterbo - 17,7 km
Stage: from Viterbo to Vetralla - 20,0 km
Stage: from Vetralla to Sutri - 22,5 km
Stage: from Sutri to Campagnano - 24,3 km
Stage: from Campagnano to La Storta - 24,4 km
Stage: from La Storta to Roma - 15,8 km

Associations on the ViaFrancigena in Italy

2009-11-30T20:07:00.002+02:00

International VF Associations:

http://www.francigenalibrari.beniculturali.it/news3_en.html

Italian volunteer organizations involved in the valorisation of the Via Francigena are more and more numerous and active. The General Direction for Book Heritage, Cultural Institutes, and Copyright of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities has recently made a census of them, with aim to give visibility to their activities, to Establish a direct contact with the territory and to create a mutual information exchange. All the information collected is published in the following section, organized by area and equipped with an interactive map.

Gran San Bernardo (Montgenevre) - Rome stretch

•Association "Young Mountain"
Association of Young Mountain

The Association is not for profit and is based on the activity staff, spontaneous and free of the members. Currently the Young Mountain has 14 sections. "Activities for the enhancement and promotion of ViaFrancigena: "From the Alps to Rome, coming from the west and east, having as a point of convergence Modena. And 'This is the historical and spiritual journey that the young Mountain has run during the Jubilee of the century, precisely in the autumn of 1999, with the expectation that it remains as part of a traveler who is eager to dive into an experience, stripped and essential metaphor of the same path of life. It was chosen deliberately to create an entirely new way, different from both traditional medieval ViaFrancigena Sigerico frequently swallowed dall'asfalto and traffic, both by well marked, publicized and crowded routes crossing the Alps and the Apennines. He then attempted to drive an Italy "" child "," the Italy of old farm villages, rolling hills, mountains, unexplored artistic treasures more or less famous.The tour draws a great Y, which starts from two notes abbeys in northern Italy: that of Novalesa near Mont Cenis west (Branch A) and that of Aquileia in the east (Branch B).The two branches of the trail meet in Modena and then to Rome (Branch C).The branch is composed of 31 stages, 13 stages of the branch B, branch C of 28 stages.The latter is what is aligned more closely the historic Via Francigena."Tract Francigena on which the organization operates (from / to): After tracing the route in 1999, today the Young Mountain, through the section of Rome, is engaged primarily in the stretch Tuscan-Latium.Name: Young Mountain
City: TURIN
E-mail: info@giovanemontagna.org
Aims and activities of the organization
rom the ground state
Article 1 - E 'consists in Turin since 1914, the Association' YOUNG MOUNTAIN ', which aims to promote and encourage the practice and study of events both on mountain climbing and cultural, including editing periodical (magazine Alpine life) and other publications-cultural wilderness.
2 - The Association is apolitical and is inspired by Catholic principles without being part of sectarian organizations. In homage to these principles offers a view of mountaineering, as well as technical, rich in human and Christian values, ensuring that in its manifestations participants have the opportunity to observe religious duties and to find a morally healthy environment.
3 - The Association is not for profit and is based on the activity staff, spontaneous and free of the members. Currently the Young Mountain has 14 sections.
Activities for the enhancement and promotion of ViaFrancigena
From the Alps to Rome, coming from the west and east, having as a point of convergence Modena. And 'This is the historical and spiritual journey that the young Mountain has run during the Jubilee of the century, precisely in the autumn of 1999, with the expectation that it remains as part of a traveler who is eager to dive into an experience, stripped and essential metaphor of the same path of life. It was chosen deliberately to create an entirely new way, different from both traditional medieval ViaFrancigena Sigerico frequently swallowed dall'asfalto and traffic, both by well marked, publicized and crowded routes crossing the Alps and the Apennines. He then attempted to drive an Italy "" child "," the Italy of old farm villages, rolling hills, mountains, unexplored artistic treasures more or less famous.
The tour draws a great Y, which starts from two notes abbeys in northern Italy: that of Novalesa near Mont Cenis west (Branch A) and that of Aquileia in the east (Branch B). The two branches of the trail meet in Modena and then to Rome (Branch C). The branch is composed of 31 stages, 13 stages of the branch B, branch C in 28 stages. This is what follows more closely the historical ViaFrancigena.

•Association Internationale ViaFrancigena (AIVF)
At the European tourism promotes the VF with a specific website since 1998 (now in 5 languages), with conferences, speeches in Europe. In 10 years, has informed the VF more than 3000 people in 4 languages. Since 2000 he has published (including 10 editions) Guide-Vademecum, Topofrancigena (geo cards with cultural and historical routes recommended) and Dormifrancigena (list of budget accommodation for pilgrims) for a pedestrian route of 2000km, with the cooperation of the most reliable and specific associations in Europe. Since 2001, the AIVF has created and provided the first credentials VF, the Testimonium (certificate of end pilgrimage), organized by the Vatican City, the reception and registration of pilgrims VF. Has produced 5 articles VF (pennants, pins with keys of St. Peter, T'shirt, coat of arms) to give VF its own identity, compared to Santiago.

Tract Francigena on which the organization operates
VF from Canterbury to Rome, since 2007 only Vallorbe-CH in Rome, Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Lazio, with the collaboration of provincial police, and local associations. His commitment focuses on compliance, restoration of historic features or traces of VF, where they are safer for the traveler.

•Association of Light Bridges
A path to peace: the way from Canterbury to Rome in the summer of 2008, advertised on the network on the site http://www.pontidiluce.org/ and on other sites with the support of other associations. In this way joined several people who shared with Immaculate different stages. Also during the whole journey has been published an diary in real time by sending postcards daily and their dissemination on the Blog by the pilgrim Oriano Rinaldo (http://www.pellegrinibelluno.it/).
After returning the photographs were made publice on the site. Year 2009 photo exposition to greet the world: pictures and texts of the way Canterbury-Rome have been prepared by professional photographer Mark Degli Esposti and with the help and collaboration of various associations present on Italian territory derivantene the exhibition was presented in various locations (Viserba of Rimini, Rome, Viterbo, Assisi, Orio Litta, Terranova dei Passerini, Rovetta, Vetralla Calolziocorte).
The inauguration was the first day of the paths that francigena Pontidiluce joined as a member of the Network of Way. During the various exposures Immaculate has lectured on prorpio experience and on the paths in general. It intends to continue carrying the show in other venues. In the summer of 2009: design, identification and travel the Way of the Goddess along Lake Bolsena and partly coincident with the ViaFrancigena Lazio. Again postcards daily on blogs have done to the disclosure of the experience

•Italian Catholic Scout Movement (MALE)
With the involvement of our Community members, in the territory, we made the guide "ViaFrancigena" 1st ed. 2004, 2nd ed. 2007 with detailed coverage by the Great St. Bernard, Mont Cenis and Montgenevre in Rome. We create experiences of pilgrims walk the Via Francigena to live the experience of pilgrimage, make known the history, culture, art, faith, nature, territory and population present on the Way.
We drove up to now whether GSBernardo - Vercelli, Vercelli, Vercelli-Montgenevre-Wertheim. In the coming years we traits Wertheim-Lucca, Lucca-S.Antimo and S.Antimo-Roma. We realized on our own initiative or on request external meetings for the presentation of the VF. We gave our contribution to the Ass: European Inland Francigene. We are part of the working group "ViaFrancigena and ancient pilgrimage routes" of the CEI - Pastoral leisure, tourism and sports for the promotion and enhancement of the experience of the pilgrimage on foot

Piedmont stretch

•Friends of ViaFrancigena - Vercelli

- Guide to ViaFrancigena of Vercelli

- Projections of images of ViaFrancigena in neighboring countries and schools
- 3 Festival ViaFrancigena involving the people of Vercelli in conferences and in ways to promote ViaFrancigena
- Involvement of schools by creating contests and treasure hunts to discover the places francigena of Vercelli.
- Involvement of voluntary organizations working in charitable mission in Tanzania or working with handicapped members to highlight the values of which ViaFrancigena Solidarity Reception-Accept-Attention to the other, attention to the "foreigner".
- Construction of the hostel for pilgrims near the community of Father Alberto Biliemme.
- Organization of pilgrimages on foot which Vercelli-Lucca in 2009, Vercelli-Santiago de Compostela in 2008, Mont-Cenis-Vercelli in 2007, Gran San Bernardo-Vercelli in 2006.
Tract Francigena on which the organization operates
Santhià-Vercelli: Lamporo-Vercelli, Vercelli-Fitness

•The Association of ViaFrancigena Sigerico - Ivrea (TO)

Activities for the enhancement and promotion of ViaFrancigena

•Detection and mapping of the trail with G.P.S.
•Study of installation of road signs on behalf of Regione Piemonte, Provincia di Torino
•Evaluation of transactions security, passing ability and comfort for the execution of works relating to the LR4
•Support studies for various municipalities in order to upgrade the paths, parking areas equipped and construction of new hostels
•Cultural events, music and sports in general for the use and knowledge of the route
•Propaganda in the Schools of all levels at regional level and beyond, accompanying groups of students with the use of our volunteers
•Accompanying groups of various groups of pilgrims and interested individuals
•Signatures of the route with spray paint signs in the absence of definitive
•Excursions on whether the path is not within our competence to promote exchanges and understanding.

•Association Serra Morena - Ivrea (TO)
Tracing the route, construction of a meeting in Ivrea, organizing a photo exhibition of the entire route from Canterbury to Rome, accompanied by various groups and schools, information and dissemination, promotion of tourism packages for the ViaFrancigena with operators local tourism.

Emilia stretch

•Association Transitum Padi - Piacenza
Collaboration with institutions, associations and institutions to promote the knowledge of Francigena, in this case the local press accounts of voyages and pilgrimages. Organization of cultural and social activities during the day nazionele paths francigena / 3 May 2009) Re-discovery, exploitation and signature of a stretch of Francigena alternative: the way posthumously by Castelsangiovanni Piacenza.

•Circolo Culturale Biffulus - Calendasco (PC)
Crossing the Po Soprarivo Calendasco at Court of St. Andrew Senna Lodigiana and vice versa, at the motor boat at the disposal of the pilgrims continuously since 1998 phone call at 0523 771607.
Hospitality, catering and overnight on the premises of the pilgrim's Circle Biffulus and planted permanently in tents near the Po.
Stamping credentials and records of all the steps. Delivery of materials. Installation and maintenance of signs. Free access to the library of the club, rich in historical documentation local geography. Organizing the annual conference of pilgrims (Convenium Peregrinorum), with the presence of musicians and poets and the staging of plays originals. Symposia on topics historic religious ethics. Short local pilgrimage (Low Itinera). Celebration of holy mass.

Tuscany stretch

•Association of Inland Francigene Tuscany - Pisa
Partnership and collaboration the event "vigils Francigena 2009, agreement with the municipalities of vald'orcia for resolving the critical path francigena, partnership and organizational support for the training seminar" Sustainable tourism and regional development: the ViaFrancigena as an opportunity for Tuscany "at Universita 'di Pisa, supporting maintenance, mapping, geotagging, monitoring the quality of the welcome and hospitality' on the stretch of Tuscan francigena; partnership in the event" rally excursion International ViaFrancigena "collaboration with local authorities to resolve Criticality 'of the track; Atvf is made up of associations and other bodies operating at Tuscany "ass.cult.Attuttambiente", "Old Mint foundation of Lucca", "coop nature tourism", "Etruria trekking, CAI (Club Alpino Italian) Tuscany, communities' mountainous Garfagnana, "Sesame communication", "fitetrec ante Tuscany", "theater of agriculture, the town of Monteriggioni, the town of altopascio, City of castelfiorentino. members are also pilgrims and activities along the route that have services to the pilgrims. Municipalities and public bodies are honorary member

•The Pilgrim community Tuscany - Florence
Our Association has done and is doing many activities on Francigena in Tuscany as assistance to the pilgrims, the distribution of credentials, route information, service, opening of two churches on the route. The work of far more important is the creation of a Web GIS francigena track of all historical information, logistics and location, and also the identification of other cartographic 7 historic streets of Tuscany, linked to Francigena. All this will be published during the month of November Minutes The association is sponsoring NETWORK OF ROADS to collaborate with other Italian associations to achieve the common objectives including the completion of the historic streets to the borders of the state.

•Cooperativa Sociale Colors - Empoli
Social cooperative COLORS - Empoli E-mail: colori@terzosettore.it Website: www.terzosettore.it
Aims and activities of the organization..
The cooperative social COLORS aims to pursue the general interest of the community to promote human and social integration of citizens. From here two particular challenges of those working, employee or volunteer, in a cooperative society. Failure to pursue the private interest of an individual or group but the general interest of collective Dall 'experience of management services for government agencies concerned that summer holidays for disabled people, drug addicts and their parents, were added over the years new policy areas: home care, the project Barzini, for young people with drug problems, plan to live together, day centers, sports activities, after us, preformation professional activities, social tourism for the disabled, school tourism, trekking along the Via Francigena signs ViaFrancigena management.
For 15 years, organized the event and a cultural hiking recipes ALONG THE ROAD IN TUSCANY FRANCIGENA, an event created in 1994 along the Via Francigena in Valdelsa and we always organized. This event always sees the cultural hiking participance of 350/400 people who participate in three days always planned, the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday in October. In these 15 years of programming have made known to some 6000 people who participated in the wonderful land that is crossed by the Via Francigena in Tuscany.
In 2007, we activated the education project, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Review Trekking and the Professional Institute of Enriques Castelfiorentino called "In the Footsteps of ... Sigerico" project which sees schools join the program to walk along the Via Francigena in Val d'Elsa Florentine and Sienese. Since many years we cooperate with our Province of Florence under the environmental education project "walk in the green," with which more than 2500 school children in the province who subscribe to walk and develop teaching on the VF.
This year with a group of children with disabilities of our cooperative, we placed 500 directional signs along the Via Francigena, first in Europe to be in Monteriggioni Castelfiorentino pe run of about 80 Km Many have been all these years since 1992 the projects and actions made in favor of ViaFrancigena, the collaboration with Rai Tre, the trips with European tourists, conferences and rehabilitation projects.
Tract Francigena on which the organization operates is from San Miniato Siena

•Etruria Trekking - San Miniato
We participated in the vigil Francigene, the National Day of the Walk Francigene 03/05/2009 and initiatives in collaboration with the City of Fucecchio.

•Fraternal Mercy - San Miniato
The fraternity, since 2000, offers hospitality to pilgrims passing through on ViaFrancigena, by providing a room with heating and air conditioning with four beds and attached toilet with shower and hot water. In case of necessity can accommodate up to twelve people in a more local level, adjacent to the first, which also has a heating and air conditioning and attached toilet with shower and hot water. In this second room there are only a mattress on the floor. Since 2000 has been given hospitality to 1486 pilgrims. Tract Francigena on which the organization operates is from Altopascio in Gambassi Terme

•Pellegrinando.it http://www.pellegrinando.it/
The original purpose was to provide information on the various roads to Santiago de Compostela. Subsequently, the site will be open to information about the paths to Rome. Soon it will be for the roads to Jerusalem and other paths and pilgrimages in Italy. Other activities of the site is to provide a space to accommodate contributions written by pilgrims (diaries, testimonies, prayers, poems)

Lazio stretch

•Association Altair - Rome
Trekking along stretches of the road in Tuscany and Lazio

•Association Ing Cecchini - Proceno
Concerts and cultural

•Association Points of View - Bolsena (VT)
The intersection of roads to Rome-Viterbo and Orvieto, the Convent of St. Maria del Giglio, operational headquarters of the Association, seems to have been, since its founding in the seventeenth century a great place to stop for the pilgrims of Francigena

•Association Thesan - Viterbo
Cleaning and marking the route, from Montefiascone and Viterbo, from Viterbo to Vetralla and Viterbo Ronciglione. Information and assistance to pilgrims in transit who request them. As of August 2009 two cots available free of charge, with use of bathroom and shower for any meals pellegrini.Per requesting a quote libera.Percorsa several times in the stretch between Via Acquapendente / Orvieto and Rome.

Variations and alternative routes

Friends of St. Columban - Bobbio (PC)
For several years the association has been engaged in discovery and exploitation of the Way of the Abbots, an ancient route linking the Langobardia and Tuscia, sponsored by the Lombard rulers at the dawn of the VF. L 'journey was a milestone in the abbey of Bobbio, where the tomb of St. Columban was a place of international pilgrimage, especially for travelers coming from the British Isles and to Rome. This historic route has continued to be used as long as a variant of the Via Franci Cartagena Montana for the crossing of the Apennines, not only by pilgrims but also by the Abbot of Bobbio way to Rome, where the abbey directly depended. For his promotion is being held to an international conference, followed by several publications, has been marked all the path, were sponsored many school trips and group etc..

•Association Amporium - Lamporo (VC)
Event Lamporo on the VF. Ultreya "2007, 2008. Event Lamporo walks Party ", 2009. Publication of the book "on Lamporo ViaFrancigena. Releases territory: towards Vercelli, Lucedio, San Genuario, Rocca di Savoia Verrua, Roppolo and CellaGrande, Bose, Santhià, Livorno Ferraris. See website http://www.amporium.it

•Association Pietra Verde
Meetings, tours along the stretches of the Via Francigena

•Association Pietra Verde - Brignano F.ta (AL)
Meetings, tours along the stretches of the Via Francigena

The Roads Francigene in the South

•Caving Trekking Salento - Lecce
Go ahead, even short routes aimed at understanding the reality of local religious traditions but which remain confined to Salento. PILGRIMAGE from Brindisi to Lecce to Santa Maria di Leuca, de finibus terrae. 88 km in 4 stages of spring. Study of the route, identifying the Mansi and places of rest and observation of votive chapels and cultural. Route annually from 2004 to 2009 to the first shrine of Europe and the world to Marian devotion through the territories of over 23 municipalities Salento. Advertising via the Internet and printing and publication of our volume-document "The Way of the Pilgrim." Among our positive results indicate our extensive and persistent search for fragments of the eighteenth century ERMA ANCIENT we did, placed in its ancient site, just 1 km from Leuca . We want them to become religious symbol.

ROUTE UPDATE FROM LAUSANNE TO ROME

2009-10-25T15:17:00.000+02:00

Originally posted on : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/via-francigena/message/1941
by Dave Witson - walkingthroughtime.com and copied here with permission.

What follows is a summary of notes I took while walking the Via Francigena from Lausanne to Roma, from 16 September to 13 October.
This is not a trip diary and probably not of general interest to read straight through, but I hope it might prove to be of use to those as they plan their own walk.
Beyond my personal motivations to be on the trail, I walked this time with the specific intent of checking the route in anticipation of returning with a group of students next summer. As such, I had certain points of emphasis on which my notes focused:
1) Where do the waymarks (WM) work and where do they get you into trouble. Thus, while I read through the Lightfoot Guide (LG) before each stage and during bar stops, I generally consulted it while walking only in times of difficulty (I did not carry a GPS or bring additional route-finding materials or guides);
2) Where supplies are available and, more importantly, where they aren't; and
3) Accommodation.

I think it's also useful to know a little of the personal background of the writer when considering their advice, so: I'm 31, can communicate the basics in Italian and understand the response reasonably well (knowing Spanish helps a lot), train extensively for these walks, and have spent a lot of time on waymarked pilgrimage trails. I think I am probably above-average at finding WM, given that I spoke with a number of pilgrims who were much more frustrated with the route than I was, but I am definitely still more than capable of getting myself into trouble. I walked the VF from Lucca to Roma in 2005 and thus had some familiarity with that part of the route. I only had a month to make the trek this time, which necessitated some longer days.
Before I get to the daily summary, here are some general thoughts on the current state of the VF (from Lausanne to Roma):

1) There have been dramatic improvements over the last four years. Waymarking is significantly better, much more of the route is off-road or at least off highway. Between the WM and the LG, I spent each day walking in confidence, not nervousness. In 2005, I told the students walking with me who had walked the Camino with me the previous year that in Italy they needed to think more like pioneers than pilgrims. Now, it's much easier to be a pilgrim.

2) The unrolling of new VF signs has definitely been uneven. In some places, particularly in the area around Vercelli and Calendasco, the pretty new wooden signs are everywhere, as are larger brown road
signs. In others, though... I was stunned that, in many parts of the last 200km, the waymarks from four years ago were still the only options - even when they lead you on to a sub-optimal route. It is important to know going in that the types of markers you follow will change daily, even hourly. The most consistent and reliable markers were often little stickers on the backs of traffic poles.

3) I found accommodation options to be plentiful, affordable, and quite nice. While I arrived mildly frustrated by the idea of having to call a day in advance, I actually ended up finding this to be very
relaxing when compared with walking in Spain. There were no races for beds, there were no questions about the albergue being filled upon arrival. I had a bed, it was almost always oferta, and it almost always came with a hot shower. Kitchens, sadly, are largely a pipe dream. I stayed primarily in parishes, monasteries, and pilgrim-specific spedales, though I did end up in a few hotels as well. While I don't speak much Italian, the phone calls were never a problem. I basically just said the following: Sono un pelligrino.
Posso dormire nella sua parrochia domani? And generally a "si!" followed. Most commonly, they also wanted to know my name and the time I expected to arrive, so I started just volunteering those after "si,' to preempt the questions and avoid potential misinterpretation (Mi chiamo David e arrivo a quindici. Va bene?). That was, by and large, sufficient, and after seeming a little intimidating the first couple of times it became a simple matter of habit. And, as I'll discuss further later, this 24-hour notice matters.

4) I met a total of 20 other pilgrims, though 6 of them I met only in Rome after I arrived. This included four other Americans who, I believe, are also members of this list and I hope will share their experiences as well. Of those four, remarkably, it included an American couple who I had met previously on the Camino de Santiago in 2002, on what was all of our first pilgrimage. That was a surprising day!

5) I don't think I'm going out on a limb here when I say that I expect the VF will skyrocket in use over the next five years. The Camino vets in particular are looking for more, yet also turned off by Camino crowds. At this moment, the VF has good guidebooks, sufficient WM, a gorgeous route, access to great food, good accommodation. I realize it doesn't have 20 yellow arrows to steer you away from every potentially misleading driveway, but it otherwise has a great deal of appeal. That said, there is definitely growing tension surrounding the growing pilgrim crowds in some places. I heard about this most clearly in San Gimignano's Augustine Convent, from speaking with Father Brian, an American. When I first arrived, Father Ian told me they are now demanding introductory letters from parish priests to identify potential lodgers as pilgrims (though he didn't actually turn anyone away). But, given that most of the non-hotel/agriturismo lodging is offered on the VF by parishes and monasteries, places which are definitely not hotels and are dedicated to other (more important) work, there is some concern and dialogue over the sense that the people walking are increasingly there for a cheap, active holiday and not there for pilgrimage. Obviously, I'm not looking to start another "Who is a pilgrim?" discussion, but it's enough to say that some are having that discussion on the VF and perhaps considering just how much they want to be in the walker-lodging business. On the flipside, though, there are others quite excited about it. I'm told the priest in Gambassi Terme hopes to have a new pilgrim-specific spedale completed by next summer (*with* showers).
OK, on with the daily outline: BUT FIRST: A disclaimer - every time I mention failed WM or bad directions, or any other route-related problems below, it is worth assuming that "user error" may have also been at work. In other words, it is entirely possible, and in some cases quite probable, that I just blew it. Still, I mention it in the hopes that others will have better luck.

LAUSANNE-VEVEY

-WM are generally yellow "Tourisme pedestre" stickers on poles

-Lake Geneva obviously provides the major WM, since you're following it for a couple of days. But, it can be mildly tricky to know when to follow its edge directly and when to switch back over to the road. Not a big deal, though.

-The LG is missing "Useful Info" on the Lausanne-Villeneuve stretch.

-I stayed in Vevey at the Notre Dame church. Very friendly reception after having set this up via email. They have a two-bed room around the corner, next to the community center. Bathrooms in the community
center and the priest allowed me to shower in the parish house. He also offered me dinner, great leftovers from an earlier community meeting. The Notre Dame church is on the main road towards the end of town. Upon leaving, continue very briefly down the road and then it is quite easy to rejoin the lake. For those interested in such matters, Vevey has a Starbucks (these are the things my students really want to know).

VEVEY-ST MAURICE

-Easy walk from Vevey to Villeneuve along lake

-Around 9km you arrive at Chateau Chillon, which is well worth a visit

-Montreux has an HI hostel - http://www.hihostels.com/dba/hostels-Montreux-Territet-055006.en.htm

-The WM in Villeneuve might be a little dicey, though I did leave to hit a supermarket. I just worked my way back to the main road from which I was able to catch the left-turn on to the WM footpath through
the trees.

-I got spoiled by the abundance of resources from Lausanne to Villeneuve, where it seemed like public restrooms and water faucets were available every 200m. Well, be warned - there aren't a lot of options for water between Villeneuve and St Maurice. Fill up (or empty out!) before you leave.

-It wasn't clear to me from the WM exactly when I needed to leave the canal after Villeneuve and transition over to the Rhone River. Again, fortunately the geographic WM were obvious here when the man-made ones were insufficient

-St Maurice has a surprising amount of things to see, including a "Fairy Grotto"

-I stayed at the abbey, which is almost a hotel, with a set price list, a full floor of rooms and nice bathroom facilities. 30fr/50fr for a single/double. I booked by email.

ST MAURICE-ORSIERES

-WM was generally good out of St Maurice, though the train station is a helpful landmark to work from - get to it and then continue past it

-Take care when following the trails downhill in this stage - some "steps" are held in place by rebar which actually extends a couple of inches beyond the boards and can be hard to see

-I had some route-finding issues around the Pissevache waterfall, but it is easy to just double back to the road briefly

-In Martigny, WM are often missing, but just followe the Grand StBernard road signs

-I stayed with the parish in Orsieres. In their community center, they have four foam mats for pilgrims and a potential kitchen downstairs. No shower here and the only bathroom is the public restroom across the street (it is open 24 hours)

ORSIERES-GRAND ST BERNARD

-A little uncertainty when the trail splits. A Le Monin/Dranse sign goes downhill, yellow markers (including VF markers) point uphill. The downhill is probably preferable. The uphill buys you a lot of
extra uphill which you'll just give back on the downhill soon after (and today already has plenty of uphill).

-Water is available in Dranse

-In Bourg St Bernard, the one potential stop with facilities along the way (though it is 1km off the route), the little grocery store was closed and the bar along the route was closed. But, another was open and seemed the more reliable - when you join the main road in BSB, turn left and you'll see it.

GRAND ST BERNARD-CHATILLON

-I took the shorter option after St Rhemy and found it quite advisable. There are some briefer sharp downhills, but nothing too bad

-There are no WM in Aoste, but the LG has a helpful map that makes it easy

-The main VF does not enter Nus proper, skipping all facilities (and it is a steep downhill into town and those facilities)

-The Nus parish was under extensive renovation and not available to pilgrims

-I took the variant via Fenis (the castle really is spectacular) and Pontey. All pavement, but very little traffic. Easy walking. The route from Pontey to Chatillon is quite tricky - don't just follow the road-marked route into Chatillon as it's much longer

-Facilities: Gagnod-Bar (B), Aoste-All Facilities (AF), Nus-Bar/Grocery (G), Fenis-B/G, Chatillon-AF

-I stayed at the Hotel Verger (35E) as I had plans change and didn't want to bother the Cappucini late. I know others who stayed there and liked it.

CHATILLON-PONT ST MARTIN

-The VF does not enter St Vincent proper, but it does pass a convenient bar

-WM problematic soon after the bar - I tried and failed to find the right turn where the road curves left (42.018 - these numbers always correspond to the specific turn in the LG). Thought I found it, but
oh boy did I not...a fun adventure followed, eventually leading me back to the WM. I think I just blew this one.
-I took the option via Issogne. All paved and Issogne is pleasant, but not a must-see by any means. Saving 2.6km is nice, though. WM is limited so follow the book closely.

-Hone and Donnas both have sizable parishes, but I couldn't get a hold of anyone in either of them.

-Bard is stunning. I didn't know anything about it beforehand, but I would consider that a must visit.

-Facilities: St Vincent-AF (only B on route), Montjovet-B/G, Issogne-B/G, Hone-AF, Bard-B, Donnas-AF, PSM-AF

-Stayed at Hotel Grabun (45E), again because I arrived later and without reaching the parish. Americans might like to know that this hotel has Sky Satellite tv, on which one can watch the NFL...

PONT ST MARTIN-IVREA

-In PSM and other parts of this route, white pilgrim silhouettes serve as WM, often painted on the curb. Keep a sharp eye out...

-In Montestrutto, when you arrive in the piazza, turn left

-The WM follow a different route out of Montalto, taking a wider loop that leads you along the old route out of town and towards an imposing castle, before arcing back.

-Ivrea was a pain for me - no tourist info center and a challenge to find things in general. The LG tells you to turn R at the city walls and leads you to the center. If your destination is the Ostello Canoe Club, I recommend turning L instead and following the road around the old town (along the way, you will pass an internet point on your R) and then eventually proceeding along the river (Dora Baltea). Turn L on the bridge over the river, and then turn L again on Dora Baltea. The Ostello is kind of hidden - take the first left, past the check point, and go all the way to the back.

-Facilities: Carema-B, Settimo-Restaurant, Borgofranco d'Avrea-B/G, Montalto-B/G, Ivrea-AF

-Stayed at Ostello Canoe Club (15E, Kitchen)

IVREA-SANTHIA

-There were no WM of any kind from 44.008 until Viverone, but plenty before and after. Did they change the official route or does the LG just disagree?

-44.026 tells you to turn R before the San Rocco chapel in Carema and then L soon after. This ended up confusing me at the next crossroads and I suggest ignoring it. Continue straight past San Rocco, keeping it on your R, and then proceed straight on the main road as you merge with it.

-The turnoff to the San Pietro Church (44.032) was unclear - if it is what I think it was, it was badly overgrown. I stayed on the road.

-At 44.042, the guide advises you to turn R after the B&B. The turn is actually immediately before the B&B and very easily missed. I got the feeling that the B&B's owner is used to bailing out pilgrims who
are poking confusedly around his property...

-As you proceed through the next stretch, it would be easy to miss 44.045 - there really are no WM and the poplar trees are your best landmark

-Not sure what happened, but I ended up on the wrong path in the woods several km before Santhia and ended up on the highway. I closely followed the brand new signs - I wonder if one of them is misplaced...follow the book carefully here.

-Facilities: Bollengo-B/G, Palazzo Canavese-B/G, Piverone-G/B/Farmacia, Cavaglia-B/SM (Supermarket) at end of town, Santhia-AF

-Santhia has a new pilgrim ostello right in the Piazza de Roma. Keys from Caffe della Piazza. 5E minimum donation, 8 beds, shower, and they have arranged for a pilgrim menu at a nearby restaurant. Very
pilgrim friendly town.

SANTHIA-VERCELLI

-Santhia to San Germano Vercellese is very clear, easy to follow

-Leaving SGV, the WM and book lead you south briefly and then double-back to the highway and across it. There is one critical WM (the one telling you to double-back missing) and without the book you would be very sad. I recommend skipping this little section all together - follow the highway out of SGV and then, half a km later, follow the WM left off of it.

-New WM call for a L prior to the LG's 45.043. This is advisable - it gets you to Montonero more directly

-Montonero has a "pilgrim rest-stop" which is a couple of benches and a fountain.

-Facilities: SGV-B/G, Vercelli-AF

-Slept at Ostello Biliemme, in the Convento Biliemme (10E minimum donation, dinner and breakfast offered). It has 6 beds and a kitchen available. If you want to stay there, follow these directions (from a
local Vercelli VF publication) as you arrive in Vercelli (it's at least 1km from the center of Vercelli and longer from the TI):

Follow the LG to Via Trino. At the roundabout, turn L on the long bridge over the railway (Corso Avogadro di Quaregna) and proceed straight for 1.5km. At the second traffic light (Piazza Sardegna), proceed right along Corso Salamano towards the graveyard. Biliemme is on your left after 400m

VERCELLI-TROMELLO

-Apparently a bridge is out, so prior to arriving in Palestro, VF detour signs lead you on a somewhat maddening backtrack to the highway, which you follow into Palestro. Sadly, this also results in missing the 720km marker. The detour signs look like they've been there for a little while...

-In Palestro, it's easy to find your way to Via Garibaldi, rejoining the VF proper. But, a brown VF road sign then misleads, guiding you back towards the highway. Ignore this and continue along Via Rosasco -46.023 mentions a footpath. That is stretching the meaning of the word footpath at first, but trust the route - it gets better in a little bit...

-Nicorvo's church has a timbro in it

-Somewhere around 47.023 = Doom. The rice paddies are brutal. No landmarks, mosquitoes everywhere, and during this stage in particular the WM fail (or I really screwed up). Hold the book tightly in one hand and a rosary in the other...

-Facilities: The VF bypasses services in Palestro and Robbio, though both have B/G and more; Nicorvo-B, Mortara-AF (SM to R after last roundabout), Tromello-AF

-Slept at the parish in Tromello - 3 camp beds, hot shower, bar downstairs. Father Carlo is very pilgrim friendly - he was waiting for me in the morning and walked with me to the town limit.

TROMELLO-PAVIA

-Not sure if I missed something, but the WM led me to Madonna della Bozzola, not Garlasco

-I think Alt Route #5 should read "with the water on your right" not left. That, or I took a couple of wrong turns...

-After Madonna, WM is quite clear and reliable the rest of the way

-Facilities: Madonna-B, Gropello Cairoli-B, Villanova-B, Canarazzo-B, there are also bars on the river, Pavia-AF

-Slept in Casa della Carita (nice room, oferta). You're locked in until 7am. To reach it, turn R after passing through the covered bridge, then left on Pedotti.

PAVIA-CALENDASCO

-In San Leonardo, new WM call for a R turn off of the main road through town. I ignored this and followed the book instead, as it could only make the route longer...

-Once again, the book and WM disagree at 49.020. I followed the WM this time and unfortunately so, as they deposited me on the SS234.

Follow the book.

-After Campo Rinaldo, I lost the WM and couldn't find the route called for in the book. It was right around 50.014 - the route seemed to end near the canal. I must have just missed it...

-Danilo's ferry is awesome (5E) - call in advance to coordinate a time and then reconfirm in Orio Litta. He also has one of the finest timbros of the route

-Facilities: Albertano-B, San Leonardo-B/G/F, Ospedaletto-B, San Giacomo-B, Belgioiso-AF (@ on L as you enter town), Santa Cristina-B/G/F, Mirandolo-B, Campo Rinaldo-B, Orio Litta - B/G/F, Calendasco-B/G/F

-Slept in Ostello Le Tre Corone (10E). Very nice hostel that is pilgrim-friendly. They have a 10E pilgrim menu which was one of the best meals I had all trip. English-speaking and can be reserved via email

CALENDASCO-FIORENZUOLA D'ARDA

-Calendasco to Piacenza is all on the road and clear -After following the highway out of Piacenza, the R turn on to Mussina is not marked at all, which stunned me. There are no WM until the exit from I Vaccara , has the route been changed?

-I Vaccara was very tricky for me. I followed the highway into town until reaching a T-junction with Via Rocci. Following the book I turned R and then curved to the L. At another junction, I turned L on what turned out to be Strada I Vaccari. After, to the R, on a pole, I could see an old VF marker, but that didn't jibe at all with the book. I followed the road instead. It curved to the L. Then a R turn kept me on Strada I Vaccari, after which the WM resumed for the first time since before Piacenza.

-I Vaccari is your last chance at water until Fiorenzuola.

-There has been significant work in the Nure River, which makes the fording significantly more difficult. Much of the river-side road on the other side has been wiped out so ford as far to the right as you can. Good luck.

-WM follow a new route beginning at 51.035 and it skips Montanaro, reconnecting with the book's route in Zena though entering from the other side of the village (thus 51.039 becomes a L). This route seemed significantly shorter

-Castello di Paderna has a restaurant, but sadly it is only open nights...

-Facilities: Cotrebbia Nuova-B, Piacenza-AF (4km out of Piacenza there is a SM)

-Slept in the parish in Fiorenzuola, which has 4 beds, a cot, and good showers. I emailed in advance

FIORENZUOLA-MEDESANO

-The route is totally clear to San Rocco, where the WM evaporate

-There is a new VF sign at 52.018, and then nothing more the rest of the way to Fidenza

-Three other pilgrims I met were following a different route from Chiaravalle, south of the freeway and via Saliceto. No idea if this is WM or better, but it must be shorter

-Fidenza has a great VF-friendly TI across from the Duomo, with a timbro. They'll call ahead for you for your next lodging and even take your picture and email it to you, as a "memento" of your time in Fidenza...

-Fidenza to Medesano is perfectly WM

-The VF doesn't enter Costamezzana proper, though a fountain is available at the cemetery

-Facilities: Chiaravalle-B/G, San Rocco-B (limited hours), Castione-G/B/F, Fidenza-AF, Osteria del Sole-B, Cella-B

-Slept in parish - very nice facilities including a great bathroom. 4 beds.

MEDESANO-BERCETO

-No idea what happened, but I got totally confused between 53.054 and 53.057. If you have the same trouble, you'll end up passing through a farm, down a driveway, and come out on a T-junction with a paved road heading downhill to your L. Turn R uphill and you'll eventually hit a WM

-WM is limited from Felegara through to the end of the park, but the footpath is fairly intuitive

-Beginning near Sivizzano are concrete roadside markers containing ceramic pilgrims

-A couple of WM changes - after Sivizzano, the WM lead you L off the road, rejoining it eventually. It's longer, but at least it gets you off the road for a bit. Then, after 54.013, when the road turns L, continue straight on a footpath. This will lead you directly to Bardone and save you some walking

-Facilities: Felegara-AF, Fornova-AF (@ near Piazza Tarasconi), Sivizzano-B,G, Cassio-B/G/Ostello Via Francigena and a Hotel with 25E singles, Berceto-AF

-Slept in Casa della Gioventu, run by the parish. Berceto has a VF-TI on the route through town which should be able to place you in the room, but it was closed when I came through (when the hours said it would be open). This was a little scruffier than most of the places I stayed, though I might have had poor timing...

BERCETO-PONTREMOLI

-Great walk, great WM, great old bridges. Awesome day.

-Facilities: Cisa Pass-B/G, Arzengio-B/G (long stretch between those), Pontremoli-AF

-Slept in the castle. So cool. They just gave me the keys to the gate when it closed for the day. Lots of beds, good showers, 18E. A sign in town indicated a pilgrim hostel in the Seminario Vescovile, but I had no luck reaching anyone there
PONTREMOLI-AULLA

-Pontremoli to Villafranca was all clear, though you do need to ignore an old AIVF sticker calling for you to leave the highway too soon after Pontremoli

-In the woods between VFL and Aulla, I made three wrong turns. Not sure why. Might have just gotten off the wrong side of the bed. WM are not always in consistent locations - some are on wrongs and partially obscured. Take care

-Facilities: Filattiera-B/SM, VFL-AF, Filetto-B/G, Terrarosa-B/G, Aulla-AF (@ around corner from ostello)

-Aulla has a VF Museum near the end of town that is quite nice. They also oversee the parish ostello

-Slept in the parish ostello - it's huge! 25 beds, a great shower, located right at the VF exit to town by the arch

AULLA-PIETRASANTA

-Aulla to Sarzana has very good WM and probably the trickiest downhill walking of the route -I followed the seaside alternate. I don't recommend it. No WM (though it's not necessary), but more to the point it's all pavement, actual views of the Mediterranean are really limited, and facilities are largely overpriced fare. But, it might be worth it if you plan to spend the night there. A grocery store is available around 6km into the alternate route description

-Facilities: Ponzano-B (not on VF), Sarzana-AF, 58.020-B, constant bar-restaurants along the coast, Pietrasanta-AF

-Slept in Casa Diocesana La Rocca in a pilgrim ostello, a very nice 4-bed little building. It's just uphill from the duomo

PIETRASANTA-ALTOPASCIO

-Bad WM from Pietrasanta. Look for the little white and yellow stickers and tiny neon green arrows, along with VF tape

-Particularly tricky for me was 59.005-9. 59.006 calls for taking the R fork; it's actually the middle of three tines. You will be walking past private property signs

-Red/white markers appear near Via Aquarella, which makes me wonder if there's a new route leading to this point. When they do join, though, it's easy to make a wrong turn - ignore a possible R turn where the first R/W are visible

-In Camaiore, turn R on Oberdan, not L

-The R-turn off of the river-side trail leading to Lucca is not marked. Look for a soft, paved fork. This road will make a U-turnand then another L soon after, leading straight away from the river. Right before a soccer field, turn L (you may be able to see an old VF sticker at this point) - this is 59.059

-WM out of Lucca stinks. It exists, but you're better off just following the book closely

-The 2km shortcut to Porcari seems to be the standard, WM option at this point

-The R at 60.023 is almost totally unmarked and easily missed

-Facilities: Camaiore-AF, San Macario Piano-B, Lucca-AF, constant food options between Lucca and Altopascio, Cappanori-G/B, Porcari-B/SM, Torchetto-B/SM, Altopascio-AF

-Slept in Altopascio's pilgrim hostel - access through TI behind church, phone numbers on door if closed. Great, great timbro. 8 beds in 3 rooms

ALTOPASCIO-SAN MINIATO BASSO

-Timbro available in Galleno at Cartolibreria Felix

-WM is not always clear, but generally follow the canal to Fucecchio and then the embankment from there

-Prior to arriving in SMB, at 61.021 the route calls for a big arc to avoid the highway. I understand the desire to not follow the highway here, as there's a minimal shoulder. I still think I would prefer the highway here, as the detour seems to double the distance

-Slept at Misericordia - 7 beds, more foam pads, cold shower, friendly reception including pilgrim certificate

-Facilities: Galleno-B/G, Ponte a Cappiano-B/G, Fucecchio-AF, SMB-AF

SAN MINIATO BASSO-SAN GIMIGNANO

-Worth noting that the VF in San Miniato Alto doesn't pass through the nicest part of town - well worth seeing

-Beware some potentially misleading R/W stripes. Make sure you're following VF markers

-Timbro at bar in Calenzano - also your last chance for water until Borgoforte

-The WM is excellent in this section - a huge, huge improvement overfour years ago

-The VF in Gambassi Terme skips the commercial center

-The 1km shortcut en route to San Gimignano seemed well worth it-Facilities: SMA-B/G, Calenzano-B/G, Borgoforte-B, Gambassi Terme-AF, SG-AF

-Slept in Augustinian Convent - nice room, great company with the priests. A letter from a priest may be required. Can be coordinated over email - be sure to contact in advance

SAN GIMIGNANO-MONTARONI D'ARBIA

-The recommended route to Gracciano is an excellent walk and worth the extra km

-WM to Abbadia Cuneo is excellent, but then they evaporate. Proceed to the R of the abbey. Follow the dirt road (not paved, as the book says) on the right side of the lot downhill through a livestock fence. At the bottom, there are dirt roads at 2 o'clock, 5 o'clock, and 9 o'clock. You want the 2 o'clock option; WM will reappear in a km or so.

-I took the shorter option to Siena since I already had a long dayahead of me. Extra pavement, but it generally seemed fine

-The L turn immediately after the Ponte Romano leaving Siena would be easy to miss

-Big disagreement between the WM and book at 64.014. The book calls for a R, the WM call for a L. I followed the WM - they eventually lead you around the fringes of a farmer's fields, making for tricky walking as many of the footpaths have been wiped out. It drops you in central Isola d'Arbia. At the end of town, after the last bar, WM lead you back to the VF proper. I would recommend following the book

-Facilities: Quartaia-B/G, Gracciano-AF (thought not on the VF), Abbadia Isola-B, 63.028-B (probably a better option for a snack than eating in Monteriggioni), Monteriggioni-Restaurants, Alt #3-B, Alt #6-B/F, Isola d'Arbia - AF, Montaroni - AF (VF skips entirely)

-I arrived in Montaroni late, so I stayed in Albergo Bella Napoli (20E). The city of Naples should sue.

MONTARONI D'ARBIA-SAN QUIRICO D'ORCIA

-In Buonconvento, the book calls for a L on Via Roma and R on Via Percena, which have you going directly against the WM. Nonetheless, soon after the WM are with you again

-WM call for you to stay on Via Cassia at 65.011. Better to follow the book unless you're in a hurry

-Near where the Via Romana and Via Cassia draw close en route to San Quirico, insistent WM call insistently for a R turn, leading you on a gravel road under the Via Cassia and then to the L. I really like this route, as it takes you offroad all the way to San Quirico. It's probably longer, but much nicer

-Slept in the parish - a great facility with lots of beds, good shower, and an excellent kitchen. The priest speaks English

-Facilities: Ponte d'Arbia-AF (VF skips entirely), Buonconvento-AF, Torrenieri-B/SM, San Quirico-AF

SAN QUIRICO-ACQUAPENDENTE

-In Bagno Vignoni, WM lead you L around a spa, through the parking lot, and then along a jogging trail, eventually dropping you much later on the Via Cassia. After a few km of highway, you end up in Gallina and soon after reconnect with the book's trajectory. The book's option is advisable, I think - follow it closely in Bagno

-Route to Radicofani is quite clear, and remains clear to Ponte a Rigo

-In Ponte a Rigo, newer WM tell you to go L on the highway, the book calls for a R. Follow the book's instructions; you will eventually follow older WM along this route

-67.027 is hard to catch, so take care

-Facilities: Gallina-B (not on book's route), On Cassia, before turn-off to Radicofani - Bar, Radicofani-AF, Ponte a Rigo-B, Proceno-B/G, Acquapendente-AF

-Acquapendente has a great pilgrim hostel - 8 beds in three rooms, very well-equipped. They even have signs advertising this as you enter town. Phone numbers are on the door and they respond quickly! It's on Via Roma 51. Follow the VF through town. Eventually, it will lead you on to Via Roma - turn L there and it's on your L

ACQUAPENDENTE-MONTEFIASCONE

-Acqua to San Lorenzo Nuovo is very clear

-Leaving SLN, take great care - old VF signs take you on an earlier route, down to Lake Bolsena and then following the Via Cassia from there. This is not advisable; the route in the book is far superior

-When leaving Bolsena, LG calls for taking the first left. It is not the first left, but it is clearly WM

-The alternative shortcut described in LG again seems to be the official, WM option now

-In Montefiascone, the route is a little maddening and circuitous, but it will eventually deliver you to the historic core - take care not to miss the R turn into the historic center, which is uphill at a church and easily passed

-Going to Montefiascone was a late change in plans, so I couldn't contact a parish in advance. Instead, I stayed at Albergo Dante, just off the central piazza (30E)

-Facilities: SLN-B/G, Bolsena-AF (@ in Libreria in old town and MIT Computer after the arch), Montefiascone-AF
MONTEFIASCONE-VITERBO

-WM is very limited after reaching the cemetery in Viterbo and non-existent in town

-Facilities: There is a SM leaving Montefiascone and then nothing until Viterbo aside from one fountain. Take plenty of water for this route in the summer as you are totally exposed

-Stayed at Hotel Tuscia - a great breakfast included, but otherwise didn't seem worth it

VITERBO-SUTRI

-A confusing day, with often disagreeing WM and limited facilities -After crossing the Via Cassia (70.027) is tricky - WM directs you to follow the Via Cassia for a number of km; the book's recommendation was hard to catch but would be far superior.

-Before Vetralla, the WM split. Take the L option and you miss the city (though you still have access to a Coop/Bar combo)

-WM also splits before 70.066 - white arrows with yellow pilgrim silhouettes guide you through an orchard and alongside the railroad

-The WM also split before Botte

-Just hold the book right in front of your face all day today

-The VF does not enter Sutri, but there are roadside bars

-Facilities: Vetralla-AF, Capranica-AF, Sutri-AF

-Slept in Carmellite Monastery - nice room, 20E

SUTRI-ROMA

-Sutri to Montarosi has good WM

-At 71.031, WM tell you to turn R. Eventually, the WM on road guide you to join the Via Amerina, a 3rd century road which seems to be in the process of being cleared. Some stretches are more clear than others. At its best, it's a glorious walk and highly enjoyable. At it's worst, you're wading through sticker bushes. It drops you on a local road, which you follow to the Via Cassia, which you walk along briefly before turning on to the highway toward Campagnano. Eventually, you will turn R on to a gravel road. Follow the book's suggested route instead.

-The route is all clear from Campagnano to Veio Park. There, it is very easy to get into trouble. In Veio Park, R/W stripes (and a printed VF sign) call for a turn off of the main road and deep into the park. I decided to follow the markers. Eventually, these led me across a river (at which point the route seemed partially blocked, but I couldn't determine if this was intentional and continued), across a second river (pretty deep), through sticker bushes, and ultimately deposited me on a gravel road where the markers evaporated. I found someone and asked how to get to central Formello (the next stop on the itinerary) - he described a circuitous 8km route (in Veio I was within

a couple of km of Formello). Anyway, I finally figured out a better option, reaching Formello's commercial center on the New/Old Via Cassia interchange and then just following the Cassia to La Storta from there. All told, it was probably a short-cut and the route through Veio was a heck of an adventure and I had a lot of fun. More

Via Cassia in the end, but I was mainly laughing about my good fortune having ended up so close to La Storta. As is probably clear, I thus can't advise on the route between Veio Park and La Storta, though I walked through there in 2005 and had no difficulty at that time. The main point here - don't take that right turn in Veio Park!

-I couldn't really figure out what the LG wanted me to do in Monte Mario Park. Here's what I did (and what the WM suggest) – upon reaching the entrance, I followed the steps uphill and then the path to the viewpoint. After enjoying the spectacular view, I turned around and turned left down the road, rejoining Triunfale and then continuing on that into Rome (though be sure to take advantage of the steps cutting downhill through the Triunfale). WM quickly disappear. When you hit Andrea Doria, continue straight on Via Leone IV. Eventually you'll reach the Vatican's walls and you can figure it out from there...

-Facilities: Montarosi-AF (but none on VF, which skips the town), Campagnano-AF

That's it for the day-to-day. Finally, here are some general thoughts on the Lightfoot Guides:

What was great...

1) Reliable directions! Such a huge difference. The authors show their expertise in particular when they guide the walker away from the WM, as their recommendations are almost always superior to the official option

2) The maps - accurate, reliable, and (particularly important to me) provide a lot of detail for the surrounding area, making it easier to correct a mistake if you do make one. No need to also purchase the Topofrancigena - this guide has you covered. The altitude chart is also quite handy

3) The timeliness. It is clear that this guide is as up-to-the-moment as a guide can get. Making a guide is hard enough - annual updates that provide the details this guide does is a massive commitment.

4) GPS coordinates - I don't use them, but that's a heck of a feature.

5) Accommodation lists - while changes are frequent in this area, they have a great collection of places to crash.

What I didn't like as much / would change / or is worth noting...

1) Make the arrival in each town/village explicit in the list of directions and put the name in bold.

2) Explicitly indicate when their recommended route runs counter to the existing waymarks. I don't want to walk with the book always in my hand - it would help greatly if I knew that, say, 6km into the walk I needed to ignore the WM. It might also be nice if they could present these other routes with a subtle outline on their maps, just so that one could consider the option or place himself when he follows those marks by mistake. No need to include turn-by-turn directions, of course

3) As noted above, I wasn't fond of how they dealt with facilities in each town, with some identified and others apparently non-existent. They have a Grocery icon, but it's not used at all in the Vercelli-Roma book, after being used quite regularly in the Besancon-Vercelli book. Not sure that the icon is necessary, but they might consider a subtle way of noting where food (or, more importantly, coffee) is or is not available.

4) Arrival in big towns was always tricky. Waymarks often disappear and finding the preferred accommodation can also be difficult. Perhaps they could include walking directions to the tourist info office - once you have a map in hand, those cities become simple.

5) Make sure you get the newest edition (or the updates). I met some other pilgrims who had the 2008 edition (I had 2009). Some huge differences.

6) I hesitate to mention this, but the "cultural and historical overview of the region" advertised in each section is often non-existent and what does come is generally quite limited. I'm not complaining, though - a guidebook's size is a huge concern and the necessary step-by-step instructions take up a lot of space. I don't want the guides to be much thicker and so some things have to go. It's just worth noting that you won't learn much at all about sights worth seeing or the region's history from these guidebooks. They are almost exclusively route-finding and bed-finding tools but they excel in those areas.

7) The distances don't always add up and there are a lot of errors in this particular area in general. It's not a crisis, but it's always a little discouraging when a secret, additional km appears during your walk. It would be nice to get this tidied up.

As a whole, though, this is such a fantastic and necessary tool. It's more expensive, certainly, than what those walking the Camino are used to paying, but I think the reasons for the cost are understandable and, when you consider what you are spending on the rest of the trip, $45 (or whatever it was) to dramatically improve the quality of the experience is a very small price to pay. I'm very grateful to these books and the authors.
That's it. If anything is unclear, let me know. I hope this is of use to some.
Dave

A pilgrim's world is a small world

2009-05-29T20:44:00.007+02:00

In 2006 when I walked to Rome I discovered Ann Milner who was walking over 1600 miles (2800 kms) across 3 countries and 2 mountain ranges from Santiago de Compostela in Spain to Rome. Annie was behind us by a few weeks and didn't have the benefit of our 'Cryptic Clues' (Google translated Italian daily guides). I emailed her the guides a few at a time while she was walking, giving suggestions about accommodation on the way and finally in Rome. (Read more about this amazing pilgrim here.) http://www.walk2rome.me.uk/

Ann and I have stayed in touch through email and through our blogs.

The other day Ann mailed me about some CPR business (Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome) and mentioned that she was off to walk a week on the Voie d'Arles from Oloron to Somport then Somport to Lourdes. I told her that I was leaving for Lourdes next week to walk from Lourdes to Spain and then on the Camino Ingles to Santiago, the Fistera route to Finisterre and would be a hospitalero in Corcubion for 2 weeks at the end of the week. I told her that I would be in Oloron on the 8th June.

This was her reply:

Sil I really cannot believe this! I arrive in Ororon on 8th June to start walking on 9th. After all this time we might meet!!
Send me a txt on 8th and let me know where you are. Am looking forward to seeing you hopfully in Oloron - what a blast! Unfortunately I am travelling all the way from England that day so will not arrive in Oloron til about 20:30. Still that will give us time for a drink no doubt!! Also I'm very interested that you are working in Corcubion. Last year I walked Santiago to Finisterre and met Judith Edward, a lovely lovely woman. I would love to work in Corcubion but my Spanish is far too limited. However last year I fell in love with that part of Spain and have promised myself I will walk Santiago to Finisterre to Muxia every year for as long as I am able!
Please say 'Hello' to Judith from me. I must email her. I will be walking the Camino Portuguese in September and will get out to Corcubion about 26/27 September.

I walked my first camino in May 2002. Ann walked her first camino in November 2002.

In 2006 I walked to Rome - Annie also did the Via Francigena in 2006.

In 2008 she walked from London to Assissi and then to Rome.

I walked the Camino Frances again in 2007.

Now this year we will finally meet in the south of France in Oloron Ste Marie.

Our paths have crossed many times - at different times - each following in the other's footsteps, now we get to meet!

Watch this space!

9th June 2009 - Oloron Ste Marie

When we came down from the room there was Ann. We were so excited to meet each other at last and talked flat out for about half an hour. She was planning on walking with Jim and Gerry as far as Somport and was not intending to walk as far as Sarrance today but when I told them about the monastery accommodation we´d booked in for the night they called in at the tourist office who phoned ahead and booked them in too. We left before them and although the first couple of kms on the road was dry, as soon as we turned into the forest we started the ´Slippy-slippy-shake´on mud as thick as custard. When we did finally come out onto the road we dithered about a bit trying to decide whether to continue on the path or stick to the road. ¨The rest of the way can´t be as wet as the first part´we said, but it was! Val sent an SMS to Ann warning them about the mud and they thanked us later when we happened upon them sitting on the roadside having a snack .

When we arrived at Les Fonatines deÉscot I was amazed to find only one couple running the whole place. On the website it looked like a huge complex, with smart hotel and a few ´simple´rooms for pilgrims who had use of the grounds. Well, it is a run-down but gracious old building that once housed the St James Study Centre, was a monastery of the Knights of Santiago and still contains a few books and statues from the past.

We had a good sleep - Annie and I sharing a room with a secret toilet that we were asked not to use at night as it is electric and every noisy!

We said goodbye to each other and we left the complex before them as we had a long day's walk to Borce.

2009-05-17T19:04:00.002+02:00

From Euro News24:
http://www.euronews24.org/italy/italian-news-web-help-for-medieval-pilgrim-route/

Rome, May 15 - Modern hikers following a medieval route once used by pilgrims travelling from Canterbury to Rome are to get an international web portal to help them en route. The new site will provide detailed guidance on the 1,000-kilometre Italian stretch of the Via Francigena, running from the Valle d'Aosta to Lazio. ''The portal will provide all the information currently available to pilgrims considering tackling this section,'' Florence Tourism Councillor Paolo Cocchi said. It will contain details on places to stay, services en route, places to eat and other information about the path. Cocchi also unveiled a series of national guidelines, aimed at ensuring the route offers more consistent services throughout its length. The route to Rome from Canterbury in southeast England meanders down through France, crosses the Alps near Aosta, then winds down through Parma to Tuscany before reaching Rome. The itinerary was first documented in the 10th century when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sigeric the Serious, travelled to Rome to see the pope in order to be consecrated. Walking it took about three months. Few people nowadays are expected to do the entire length on foot but governments in Italy and France are keen to promote the old road as a vehicle for religious and cultural tourism. The success of Spain's Camino de Santiago pilgrim route, revived in the 1970s, prompted the idea of resurrecting the Via Francigena. Moves to clean up the Via Francigena began in the 1990s and a Via Francigena Association was set up in Fidenza, one of the towns on the route. The Via Francigena was designated a cultural route by the Council of Europe in 1994 and in 2007, then premier Romano Prodi unveiled the first of 1,544 signposts marking the way for modern travellers. Cocchi said work on the route was ongoing at a regional level but the main goal is to ensure hikers and cyclists can travel the entire length without any detours. Efforts are also under way to encourage more budget accommodation at regular intervals and move sections of the route away from heavily trafficked highways. Over three million euros has been invested in improving the trail over the last three years.

Omnes viae Romam perducunt - All roads lead to Rome

2009-03-27T20:27:00.004+02:00

This walking holidays website has some good info on what to see when walking the VF from the Swiss Alps to Roma.
http://www.pilgrimroutes.com/italy.aspx
(Picture from the website)

"All roads lead to Rome' (Omnes viae Romam perducunt) - once upon a time this was not so far from the truth. In the Middle Ages pilgrims converged on the spiritual home of European christianity from all over the continent, upon arrival in Italy following the route that linked Rome with Canterbury - the Via Francigena, which, together with the Camino de Santiago, was the principal spiritual route of the great era of pilgrimage. We offer the entire route in eight manageable self-guided sections, each a week long. Guided group departures also available."

Distances for each section is about 120km.

Price: £675 per person based on 2 people sharing. Single supplement: £150

Included: accommodation in hotel**/***, hostels and agriturismo in double rooms with private facilities; bed & breakfast service; 6 dinners; luggage transfer; eventual transfer as described in the program; detailed description of the route and informative material.

2009-03-25T21:00:00.002+02:00

Peter Robins posted this update on the Benevento-Monte Sant'Angelo. Details of the inaugural walk along the Cammino dell'Arcangelo on the AEVF site
http://www.associaz ioneviafrancigen a.it//default. asp?s=75& o=6725&c= 0

Pilgrim blessing at the beginning of each day, a simple meal at midday, and what's described as a "spettacolo musicale-teatrale- religioso" each evening organised by the locals. Sounds fun. I'm sure they'd be delighted to welcome people from outside Italy if anyone fancies going along. It seems the website will be www.camminodellarca ngelo.it - watch this space!

PS. The CAI's press release also confirms what Alberto was reporting: that they hope to open the rest of the route Rome-Benevento "in the near future".

Paris and Lyon to Jerusalem

2009-03-20T17:51:00.001+02:00

PILGRIM OF EAST
Walking to Jerusalem
François-Xavier de Villemagne
Editions Transboréale
368 pages. 2003

6400 kilometers between Paris and Jerusalem from May to December 2000. This is the story of a journey through Eastern Europe, a path strewn with meetings, travel through time and space, an expedition on foot to Jerusalem . http://www.villemagne.net/

..........................................................................................................................

LYON - JERUSALEM A PIED !
Un pèlerin raconte...
José ROMAN
Edité à compte d'auteur
2ème édition - 128 pages.

Disponible chez l'auteur :
José ROMAN - 5, rue des Bleuets - FR-69720 SAINT-LAURENT-DE-MURE

Aventure de 6 mois de marche de Lyon à Jérusalem d'un pèlerin en compagnie de son chien.

2009-03-16T16:34:00.001+02:00

FROM:
http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/article/default.aspx?objid=57475

Charity tandem cycle ride to Rome sets off on Friday 13th!
Accountancy student with PEM Sean McCann and Jesus College student Peter Banks set off on their tandem cycle from Cambridge last Friday (13th March) – destination Rome. The pair are raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust, East Anglia appeal to build a Teenage Cancer unit at Addenbooke's hospital, Cambridge.

This epic journey will take them approximately three weeks, and their route will take them down to Dover where they will catch the ferry to Calais, cycling through France, over the Swiss Alps and then finally to Rome following the pilgrim route Via Francigena.

Carrying all their camping gear, clothes and provisions on the bike within them, the pair who have been firm friends throughout their school years, will be camping and cooking for themselves while cycling around 80 – 100 miles a day whilst they aim to raise around £15,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust, East Anglia appeal. Following a “Bon Voyage” breakfast laid on by Sean’s employers accountants Peters Elworthy & Moore (PEM), who are sponsoring the boys, the pair were waved off on their journey by around 100 friends, family and colleagues.

Having been diagnosed with and treated for cancer at just 18 years of age, Sean knows only too well how the disease and its treatment affects every inch of life as a teenager. No longer a child, but then again not quite an adult, teenage cancer patients need a very different environment and where they can continue to be … just Teenagers. Says Sean, “It was very difficult both physically and emotionally coping with the disease and the radical treatment needed, but on a ward full of adults I felt isolated and wanted to be around people my own age. I just want to be able to support this fantastic appeal and give future teenage cancer sufferers the opportunity to be treated in a more suitable environment”.

Adds Helen Bearfield Smith of the Teenage Cancer Trust, East Anglia Appeal -“Teenagers are vastly different from children and adults and need to be treated in dedicated wards. A Teenage Cancer Trust unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge will give young people in East Anglia with cancer the support they need to help fight this terrible disease. We were delighted to be invited to Sean’s “bon voyage” breakfast and enlightened to see that Sean and Peter have the backing and full support of family, friends, colleagues and PEM whilst they raise money for this great cause.

Teenage Cancer Trust’s East Anglia Appeal has to raise £1m by the end of 2009 to ensure the project goes ahead and PEM is committed to supporting them in achieving their goal by hosting a variety of events and activities throughout the year. Adds Toni Munro, Head of HR at PEM, “Whilst the care Sean received from the staff at Addenbrooke’s was first class, Sean found himself on wards with older, sometimes terminally ill adults for long periods of time and this is not ideal. Sean has asked PEM to support him in his fundraising efforts so that in the future, teenagers with cancer can spend what is a very difficult time in their lives, in an environment conducive to being a teenager and we are delighted to help.

Peter continues “Seeing my friend suffer from Cancer was obviously very hard for me, so when the idea arose to raise money for a good cause of this nature, I couldn't say no. So now I've been roped into cycling half way across Europe - and I have to give up the beer and crisps!”

If you would like to sponsor Sean or Peter and help them reach their target for Teenage Cancer Trust’s East Anglia Appeal you can go straight to their justgiving page on www.justgiving.com/cambridge-to-rome-cycle or via the PEM website at www.pem.co.uk and visit events

Adds Managing Partner Paul Chapman, “We are delighted to be supporting this worthwhile cause and helping Sean to achieve his fundraising goal. We are however a little concerned that when they set off they looked at each other and asked “which way?” and the fact that it is Friday the thirteenth!'

*******

For further information contact Pippa Corbett on 01223 728288 or email pcorbett@pem.co.uk.

2009-03-15T20:55:00.003+02:00

From Little Green Tracs: http://littlegreentracs.typepad.com/my_weblog/

The complete 2009 LightFoot Guide to the Via Francigena consists of three books:

Vol. One Canterbury to Besançon ISBN:978-2-917183-06-9

Vol. Two Besançon to Vercelli ISBN:978-2-917183-07-6

Vol. Three Vercelli to Rome ISBN 978-2-917183-03-8

The decision to divide the Italian section over two books (as opposed to the single 2008 edition) has been taken for the following reasons:

In this 2009 edition the authors have exclusively adopted the official route, as approved and signed by the Italian Minister of Culture, where there is clear advantage for all groups (hikers, bikers and horse-riders). But where the official route is too challenging for one or more group, alternatives are offered. This density of information has increased the number of instruction sheets provided for certain sections and makes a single book large and unwieldy for travelling pilgrims.

The authors have taken into account the increasing number of pilgrims choosing to return from Santiago de Compostela and proceed onto Rome, via Arles. This route crosses the Italian border at Montgenèvre and ultimately joins the Via Francigena in Vercelli.

The authors have divided the books on the basis of evidence gathered with regard to the most popular starting points along the via Francigena.

The entire distance is divided into manageable sections of approximately 25 km. In most cases this distance amounts to a comfortable walk for the majority of people, though of course it will also depend on the terrain. For the cyclist, 2, 3 or maybe even 4 stages will represent a day's travel, while for the horse rider a great deal will depend on fitness and the route itself, but accommodation is listed along the length of the route and it is entirely up to you and your body where you decide to stop.

Information provided in each section

Instruction sheet/s comprising:

1. Detailed directions corresponding to GPS way point numbers on the maps

2. Distance (in metres) between each way point

3. Verification Point - additional verification of current position

4. Compass direction

Maps comprising:

1. A visual representation of the route with way point numbers and adjacent details

2. Altitude Profile for the section

3. Icons indicating places to stay, monuments etc

4. Relevant signs to look out for along the route

5. Map reference number/s for the section

http://www.pilgrimagepublications.com/via_francigena1.htm

LightFoot guides to the via Francigena can be bought from some bookshops , either on order or directly off the shelf. To see where our books are currently stocked go to the Retailers page

To make an advance purchase online click on the link below. Note: expect up to 28 days delivery time after publication date - 01 March 2009

http://pilgrimagepublications.com/EUShop/PayPal/ppvfbooks.html

Guest Post by Neville - Little Green Tracs

2009-03-13T09:21:00.002+02:00

Back in the spring of 2007 we decided to walk the famous Camino de Santiago in Spain. Walking the Camino could be described as one of those “life changing events”. Excited about our success of walking 800km across the top of Spain, we became hooked on walking long distance medieval trails and wanted to do more.

By the spring of 2008 we were ready to tackle another pilgrim route. This time we selected Italy as our next destination, and so began our epic journey along the ancient pilgrim and medieval route call the Via Francigena.

The Via Francigena is an ancient network of paths from Canterbury to Rome, passing through France, Switzerland and Italy. It was an important medieval route used by pilgrims, soldiers, merchants, travelers and wayfarers.

Before starting off we knew that the Via Francigena even today is undergoing changes, and that there were a number of possible alternative routes in various regions. At the time of our decision to go, there were only a limited number of guidebooks and only one English guidebook; though it was somewhat outdated. (Since returning home, an excellent guidebook in English has been published by Pilgrimage Publications).

Therefore as preparation for our journey we developed our personal guide book using information from a number of sources. This included downloading the maps from the Italian Associazione Europea delle Vie Francigene based in Fidenza, Italy, converting these maps and putting them into an easy to carry booklet.

Even though the same site provided a list of accommodations that one could stay at we made our personal accommodation guide using information from a number of sources. We stayed in variety of places including bed & breakfast, agriturismo, small hotels, ostellos, albergos, and conventos. Mostly we stayed in the places listed in the Ospitalita lungo Via Francigena.

We elected to start our walk from Martigny, Switzerland leaving on September 2 and finishing in Rome, Italy on October 24. The total journey was approximately 1,000 km and we took 53 days to complete it. This included approximately 10 days of extended stays in some of Italy’s greatest cities like Aosta, Ivrea, Pavia, Lucca, Siena, and of course Rome.

Our journey required us to climb and cross over the Swiss/Italian Alps through the Gran San Bernardo Pass (2472m), then descend into the Valle d’Aosta and pass through the most western reaches of the Po River valley. We would then have to head south west and this time cross over the Apennine Mountains through the Cisa Pass into the most northern section of Tuscany before arriving in Lucca. From Lucca to Siena and south we would walk through the rolling hills of Tuscany and Val d’Orcia and further south alongside the ancient volcanic lakes of Lazio before finally arriving in Rome.

Unlike the Camino de Santiago most of the route was hilly especially in places like Tuscany thus physically more demanding. The average walk day was longer. In a number of places the route was not well marked, resulting in us getting lost a number of times. But being able to understand and speak some Italian helped us to get back on track.

Our reward for all this work was plenty. We passed through some wonderful regions with small villages and towns. Some sections of the route were extremely beautiful to walk through, including the Valle d’Aosta, the Cisa Pass and of course Tuscany, especially south of San Minato through Siena to the Val d’Orcia into Lazio. Sections before and after Vercelli, near Pavia and crossing the Po River were extremely beautiful in part because we had luckily decided to cross this region just prior to the rice harvest in mid September. Golden fields of rice and corn were especially pretty in the early morning when the sun was shining.

Many Italians especially the older Italians were generally interested, in fact excited, about what we were doing. Many were surprised to learn that we were Canadians walking from Switzerland to Rome. Many people were generally very helpful. Some even drove us to nearby places where we had booked to stay.

We originally had great plans to blog and record our thoughts and comments throughout the hike. However finding internet points throughout Italy in many of the smaller towns and villages was nearly impossible. Our walking days were long starting normally at 7.00am and finishing at about 5.00pm giving us only an hour or two to clean up and write some notes before heading off to dinner, and then bed. Obviously, finding an internet point rarely made it to the top of the list.

However, we have set up a blog whereby today we are recording and posting our daily thoughts, musing and experiences from our little long walk along the Via Francigena.

The blog is called Little Green Tracs: http://littlegreentracs.typepad.com

We welcome you to our blog and hope you enjoy it and have the opportunity to live some of our special experiences along the Via Francigena.

Buon Viaggio

Giulia

NEW ENGLISH GUIDES TO THE VF

2009-03-02T20:09:00.003+02:00

Message from Paul and Babette of Lightfoot Guides to the VF Yahoo Group:

This brief message is to let you know that we have just completed a major revision to the guides to include the "official via Francigena route" as defined by the Italian Ministry of Culture, additional route options and route changes in northern France and adoption of parts of SwissMobility route 70 in Switzerland.
We have also included revised accommodation data based on feed back from pilgrims travelling in 2008.
Additionally we have made format changes in line with comments from a number of members of this group. The changes include enlarged maps and altitude profiles; more Way Point locations on each map; more route options; cumulative distance measures; additional altitude data and deletion of our personal blog.
Unfortunately these changes have driven up the "official" distance to 2076 kilometres and the overall page count in the books. As a result we have restructured the books into 3 volumes: Canterbury to Besançon (196 pages), Besançon to Vercelli (160 pages) and Verçelli to Rome (240 pages).
We have deleted the prior guide from our site and are in the final stages of submitting the new (Edition 2) guides to our printers and expect it to be ready to be shipped by the end of March.
The 2008 edition is in the process of being deleted from the lists of Amazon and its partners.

We would like to thank everyone for their constructive input.
For those that have purchased the 2008 guide from our site or registered with us we will be distributing instructions on how to obtain the updates by Email and offering a reduced price printed and bound version of the appropriate volumes of Edition 2. For any others who have purchased the guides through other channels then again if they register with us we will provide the same service.
Paul and Babette

www.pilgrimagepublications.com

TUSCAN TRAMPS

2009-02-20T18:25:00.004+02:00

My article on our walk to Rome is in the March issue of FEMINA magazine. They gave it 5 pages and used 8 photographs - a really nice feature.
I took a copy of the mag to dinner with us last night and everyone laughed when they read the opening paragraphs!

"Oh - my - God! Oh - that was really good! Mmm….mm!”

We watch fascinated as Val slumps in her chair, eyes closed, bosom heaving, giving the best imitation of a female orgasm since Harry met Sally. And what brought on this public display of orgasmic pleasure? Cinghiale al pepe verde - wild boar cooked in a creamy peppercorn sauce.

“That’s the best pork I’ve ever tasted,” she sighs, sipping her Chianti Riserva. We are in the Hotel Ill Postiglione, a 400 year-old inn on the Via Cassia Antica outside the medieval village of Campagnano di Roma, 50 kilometers north of Rome. Wild boar is vermin in Italy. With rampant reproduction and no natural predators they are widely hunted and appear on menus from the Valle d’Aosta to Rome. We know this because for the past four weeks we have been chomping our way through regional delicacies from Switzerland to Rome along the ancient Via Francigena pilgrimage trail."

The other girls have all rushed out to buy a few copies and have told all their friends and families to buy one.
I sent them an email and said, "When I read the story I felt really envious of those women! I felt like packing my backpack and going to Switzerland to start walking!"
Kathy emailed back: "Yup - weren't they just amazing! Walking 700km and they still had smile on their faces at 500km. Were they crazy or what!"
Val emailed too: Her company wants to put a shortened version into the company newsletter, with a picture.

2009 UPDATES

2009-01-12T09:05:00.009+02:00

This website has some interesting data on the VF and the Via Romea. http://www.rometravels.com/via_francigena.html

The official magazine of the AEVF is Revista Francigena. Their articles are in Italian and English. The next issue will be June 2009.
http://www.rivistaviafrancigena.it/pdf/Sommario_28.pdf

The contents of the latest issue includes:

Promotion of the Historical
The opinion of Gianni Alemanno, Mayor of Rome
An interview with Paolo Cocchi, Councillor of Regione Toscana
P.D.O.-P.G.I. and Local Products along theVia Francigena: Focus on Lunigiana
Present and future of Parmigiano-Reggiano (Food Culture)
The Voice of Pilgrims: Enrico Brizzi, writer, Virginio Bettini, university professor,
Immacolata Coraggio - a pilgrim woman, Profiles and faces along the Francigena
Focus on: The Via Francigena in Siena
La strada Lubecca - Roma
The Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome

There is also a link to the http://www.associazioneviafrancigena.it/ where you can click on the English link to read up-dates and news of happenings.

The Via Appia:

The Via Appia Traiana was one of the greatest thoroughfares of the past centuries. Documents show that the Via Appia and Via Casilina were the natural continuation of the Via Francigena through the South of Italy. Beyond Rome, it headed towards Capua and then onto Benevento, Canosa, where it headed towards the ports of Puglia. From here (Brindisi) merchants and travellers set sail for the eastern Mediterranean. During the Middle Ages, it was used by pilgrims going to the Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo on Mount Gargano, and to St. Nicolas of Bari (San Nicola di Bari), as well as those heading to the Holy Land via the sea.

Via Micaelica

"The 400km Via Micaelica is so named because it connects Rome with Monte S. Angelo, where lies the ancient underground sanctuary of San Michele. It is also called "Via dell'Angelo or Francigena South" because it is the ideal continuation of the road linking northern Europe with Rome.
This route follows the route of the Roman Via Latina (known more commonly Casilina) or the Appian Way to Capua and along the Via Appia Traiana. Between 1151 and 1154 Nikulas of Munkathvera, abbot of the monastery of Icelandic Thingor, went on a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem and wrote a detailed diary in which he described routes, alternate route, the places visited. After Rome, the abbot chose the
Via Latina as the Via Appia ....."

"This route was not only used by pilgrims coming to Rome from southern Italy and the Mediterranean countries, but especially for the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. "

The way in not yet all signed. Two associations are planning to sign soon and will be specifying the refuges.

http://compostela.pellegrinando.it/sezioni.php?seid=1921

There are two guides - one by Romano Stopani:
"Guide to the Via Francigena routes in southern Italy" 2005 - pp. 112
14.50 euro and the other
Verso il Monte dell'Angelo - A piedi sulla Via Francigena del Sud, da
Roma a Monte Sant'Angelo" - Ikona edizioni, Como 2004.

New Pilgrim refuge in Rome: The Confraternita di San Jacopo officially signed an agreement withthe Suore Figlie della Divina Provvidenza last month, essentially to take over a wing of their convent for use as offices and as a pilgrim refuge. The facilities are described as 'vast'.It is in the via Galvani in the south of the city, about 3km SE of St Peter's, and will be officially opened in Holy Week withwardens/ospedalieri from the Confraternity. It occurs to me that they might welcome ospedalieri from other countries too.See report on their website http://www.confraternitadisanjacopo.it/Notizie/Ultimissime/SpedaleProvvidenza.ht/m Well done, them! (Peter Robins on the VF Yahoo Group)

LATEST VF IN ITALY GUIDE - FREE DOWNLOAD

2008-11-07T08:11:00.001+02:00

This message from Alberto was posted on the Yahoo-VF-Group Forum.

Today I delivered to Italian Culture Ministry the new version of
walking route between Gran San Bernardo and Rome.

It is already published online at the following address:
http://www.librari. beniculturali. it/generaNews. jsp?id=98

You can download free of charge road books, maps, GPS tracks and
Google map tracks.
The road books are in Italian, but they are very schematic, with an
arrow for every crossing so if you process them with an automatic
translator they should be useful.
I suggest you to print road books in A5 format, (2 pages per A4
sheet), on both sides of the sheet to decrease weight (they are about
300 A4 pages that can be reduced to 80-90).

The new route is an evolution of the one published in 2006 by AEVF (I
was the author of that job too). I worked as consultant of Ministry,
cooperating with AEVF members like municipalities, provinces,
regions, and with local associations and agencies to solve the safety
issues of 2006 route. So the new route avoids most of busy roads and
as much as possible stays far from traffic noise and pollution.
The price we are paying is an increasing in route length (about 5%
more than previous version).

I worked also in the preliminary project of simple works that could
improve safety: sidewalks, road crossings, and some major works as
bridges and protected cyclepaths. They could also help in decreasing
route length.

Signs installation has started, and I hope they will complete it
within spring 2009 from Gran San bernardo to Rome. Anyway I suggest
to travel always with the maps (better and lighter a GPS), because
often vandals damage signs.

I hope that this job will be useful for all the future pilgrims on
Via Francigena, and I invite you to contact me to have more
information on the route.

See you soon in Italy!

Alberto Conte
www.camminafrancigena.it

The Road Books (Guides) can be downloaded in sections:

Dal Gran San Bernardo a Ivrea
(Visualizza le tappe su Google Earth)

Tappa: dal Gran San Bernardo a Echevennoz - 14,9 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Echevennoz ad Aosta - 13,6 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Aosta a Chatillon - 30,1 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Chatillon a Verres - 20,8 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Verres a Pont Saint Martin - 17,7 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Pont Saint Martin a Ivrea - 22,1 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Da Ivrea a Pavia
(Visualizza le tappe su Google Earth)

Tappa: da Ivrea a Viverone - 21,7 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Viverone a Santhia' - 16,1 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Santhia' a Vercelli - 27,4 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Vercelli a Robbio - 19,7 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Robbio a Mortara - 14,3 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Mortara a Garlasco - 23,6 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Tappa: da Garlasco a Pavia - 25,9 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS

Da Pavia al Passo della Cisa
(Visualizza le tappe su Google Earth)

Tappa: da Pavia a Santa Cristina - 28,5 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS
Galleria fotografica

Tappa: da Santa Cristina a Orio Litta - 16,9 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS
Galleria fotografica

Tappa: da Orio Litta a Piacenza - 17,5 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS
Galleria fotografica

Tappa: da Piacenza a Fiorenzuola - 32,8 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS
Galleria fotografica

Tappa: da Fiorenzuola a Fidenza - 22,6 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS
Galleria fotografica

Tappa: da Fidenza a Fornovo - 34,2 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS
Galleria fotografica

Tappa: da Fornovo a Cassio - 22,6 km
Road Book (pdf)
Tracce Google Earth e GPS
Galleria fotografica

Tappa: da Cassio al Passo della Cisa - 19,2 km
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Dal Passo della Cisa a Siena
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Tappa: da Passo della Cisa a Pontremoli - 19,4 km
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Tappa: da Pontremoli ad Aulla - 32,9 km
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Tappa: da Aulla a Avenza - 32,4 km
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Tappa: da Avenza a Pietrasanta - 27,8 km
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Tappa: da Pietrasanta a Lucca - 32,3 km
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Tappa: da Lucca a Altopascio - 17,8 km
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Tappa: da Altopascio a San Miniato - 23,5 km
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Tappa: da San Miniato a Gambassi Terme - 25,6 km
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Tappa: da Gambassi Terme a San Gimignano - 13,4 km
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Tappa: da San Gimignano a Monteriggioni - 29,8 km
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Tappa: da Monteriggioni a Siena - 20,5 km
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Da Siena a Roma
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Tappa: da Siena a Ponte D'Arbia - 28,5 km
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Tappa: da Ponte D'Arbia a S. Quirico d'Orcia - 27,4 km
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Tappa: da S. Quirico d'Orcia a Radicofani - 32,7 km
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Tappa: da Radicofani a Acquapendente - 31,8 km
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Tappa: da Acquapendente a Bolsena - 22,1 km
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Tappa: da Bolsena a Montefiascone - 18,3 km
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Tappa: da Montefiascone a Viterbo - 17,7 km
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Tappa: da Viterbo a Vetralla - 20,0 km
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Tappa: da Vetralla a Sutri - 22,5 km
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Tappa: da Sutri a Campagnano - 24,3 km
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Tappa: da Campagnano a La Storta - 24,4 km
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Tappa: da La Storta a Roma - 15,8 km
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PILGRIMS FROM NON EU COUNTRIES WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WALK THE ENTIRE VF

2008-11-05T18:49:00.002+02:00

Since 1987, the Cultural-Routes of Europe committees have worked tirelessly to establish and extend pilgrimage trails in Europe. Some are between 1900km (Canterbury to Rome) or even 5000km (Jerusalem).
When Switzerland joins the Schengen zone on 5th December, pilgrims from the Non-EU countries will no longer have sufficient time to walk these routes. 90 days is not ehough time for anyone to walk nearly 2000km. It was sufficient when one spent 10 days walking in Switzerland, but from 5th December this will change.
Although more and more countries have joined the Schengen zone - and further expansions are planned - the time allowed to visitors has not been increased.
The EU and the Schengen zone countries should consider extending the period allowed for people to walk across Europe along the old pilgrimage trails that are so painstakingly being re-annimated.
There are a number of pilgrimage routes that non-EU pilgrims will be able to walk

VF from Canterbury to Rome ± 1900km
Via Turonensis, Paris to Santiago ± 1800km
Via Lemovensis from Vezelay to Santiago ± 1750km

A new VF Route through Italy

2008-10-27T17:16:00.002+02:00

Visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/via-francigena/ for up-to-date news on the Via Francigena.

Alberto Conti joined the VF Yahoo group this week. This is his introduction:

I joined the group because Via Francigena is my passion, and my main job application: I work on walking and cycling routes, analyzing the country, walking on routes recording GPS tracks, processing them to obtain guides, maps and information useful for my customers. In 2005-2006 I worked for the European Association of Via Francigena (AEVF) collecting material, verifying on the ground the complete route (walking and biking) and preparing the maps published on website www.viafrancigena.eu.

From 2006 to 2008 I worked for Italian Culture Ministry on route upgrade, cooperating with local agencies and municipalities to improve safety and to go as far as possible from traffic roads. The result is a new guide, published free of charge on internet with GPS and Google Earth tracks, on the following link: http://www.librari.beniculturali.it/generaNews.jsp?id=98 . The route shall be definitively approved by the evaluation board (Consulta), within the end of 2008, and then it will become the official route for the government, on which they will install signposts etc.

The headquarter of my company, called itinerAria, is in a country house in Roppolo, in Piemonte, on Via Francigena. We have space and rooms, so I am pleased to host pilgrims free of charge, if they contact me in advance and I am not traveling. I know all Italian route very well, so please do not hesitate to contact me to have up to date information on the Via Francigena. Buon Cammino, Alberto Conte
itinerAria www.itineraria.eu

In response to a query re maps and routes, Alberto had this to say:

The AEVF maps have been replaced by the maps and road-book you can download by the following link: http://www.itineraria.eu/wp-content/gpx-viewer.php?gpxfile=http://www.itineraria\ .eu/wp-content/uploads/francigena/gpx/Francige_index0.xml By clicking on the pilgrims you can open more detailed maps of 5 different areas of Via Francigena: clicking again on the pilgrim you can choose to download the road book in pdf, the GPX track or the KMZ. The maps are about 1:25.000, but they are not very detailed because are obtained by Garmin vector maps. I hope that next year new paper topo maps will be prepared.

I went onto his website and although it has an English link, there is no English on the site as yet.

I also opened the link he gave and clicked on the pilgrims and downloaded one of the 'road-books' - a pdf. file with 10 pages of instructions and directions for using gps and other info.

I wonder how this new route affects the existing guide books by Monica D'Atti and Franco Cinti as well as the Engloish guide books by Lightfoot?

I also found this link for a Via Leona Romea trail which is a 300kms route that starts at Venice and connects with the VF at Altopascio
http://www.amicidisantiago.it/romea/leona .htm

In June 2008 a group of pilgrims walked the path specifically to check the feasibility. The consensus was that that the route identified is feasible and interesting, indeed it could hardly have been imagined that in this part of Italy so urbanized, industrialized inhabited, that there could be paths so quiet.

During the journey they added yellow arrows (where possible) to assist those who will come later. Moreover, the path was also created with GPS for those who want to use this modern guidance system.
They talk about a lack of signs, infrastructure and accommodation but hope that the popularity of the trail will grow so that the relative authorities will consider supporting the route.

2008 UPDATES

2008-07-18T15:37:00.027+02:00

A few updates since I last posted.

Since we walked to Rome - two years ago this month - another ± 450 pilgrims have received the certificate of completion. That doesn't mean that only this number walked the VF routes - only that this small number received the certificate. Over 214 000 pilgrims received the Compostela in Santiago in 2006/2007. Many more thousands walked parts of the caminos but did not collect a certificate in Santiago.

PILGRIMS TO ROME

www.pilgrimstorome.org.uk

The Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome 1st AGM was held on 27th April 2008 where they adopted a Constitution and formally elected a Steering Group which meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every 4th month. General Meetings open to all will continue on a regular basis - the next one is Saturday 1st November.

For now, membership is free but this will change in 2009. Members can order a ‘Pilgrim Record’ from the website

Pilgrim Practical Day

They will have their first Pilgrim Practical Day on Saturday 7th February 2009. It will be a half day running from 10:00 to 14:00. Venue will be either St James’s Church Picccadilly or St Alphage Church Hall - to be confirmed. (St Alphage was a former Bishop of Canterbury)

Ann Milner, webmaster for the Confraternity of Pilgrims To Rome, is walking on the VF right now - from London to Rome and then up to Assisi. Follow her blog here: www.walk2assis.blogspot.com

Guides in English

http://www.pilgrimagepublications.com/UKShop/PayPal/ppbooks.html

This is the first volume in a two volume guide for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders travelling the Via Francigena. The first volume covers the 1030 kilometres from Canterbury to the summit of the Great Saint Bernard Pass on the Swiss-Italian border. Each volume contains detailed routing instructions, route schematics, listings of accommodation and services and descriptions of the history of key locations along the route. Purchasers of the book are entitled to receive GPS waypoint data and periodic route updates for area covered.

The second volume covers the 942 kilometres from the summit of the Great Saint Bernard Pass on the Swiss-Italian border to St Peter's Square in Rome. Purchasers of the book are entitled to receive GPS waypoint data and periodic route updates for area covered.

WEBSITES:

News from the AIVF: http://www.francigena-international.org/

MEMBERSHIP FEES for 12 months

Individual 26 €
Family or Couple 40 €
Under 25 16 €
Supporter organisation 120 €

I don’t know what the benefit of becoming a member is as you still have to pay 7 € each for a badge or flag and 5 € for the brooch: 5 € and 8 € for a list of accommodations between Canterbury and Gr St Bernard and Aosta to Rome: 16 € for maps from Gr St Bernard to Rome (if they are the same set that we bought, I must say that they are practically useless to use for walking)

GUIDES by AMIS PILGRIMS

- Riding the Roman Way GB Babette & Paul Chinn 2007

- Walking with Awareness + VF by Michael Metras USA

- Die Via Francigena 2007 DE von Birgit Goetzmann Stein Verlag-DE Kulturelle Beschreibung des Weges 14,90€

The Testimonium:

TESTIMONIUM Peregrinatoris ad Limina Petri (IV) -the only original since 6.2001- a parchment in limited edition, created by AIVF, will be given at the sacristy of St-Peter's Basilica, if possible in the Grottoes by Mons. Bruno Vercesi to pilgrims that have walked at least from Acquapendente to St Peter’s (150km) or cycled from Lucca (400km)

News from the AEVF website: http://www.viafrancigena.eu/

Near the office of Saint Peter of the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, anyone is yearning to face the adventure to travel on foot, by bus or by car the historical ways of the Faith, will be able to receive all the useful informations and a series of catalogues containing deepenings and proposals.
This is where you will get your "Romea" or "Testimonium" after walking the last 100kms to Rome.

They offer a Credential: Pilgrim's credential

The Credentials of the Pilgrim are a collapsible page, a “identity card” that the pilgrim will compile during its travel, to test and memory of the completed way

You can order it at the Tourist Office in Fidenza. You simply have to send a letter containing a self-addressed stamped priority mail envelope (2,80 € + return receipt 0,60 €) to the following address: Associazione Europea Vie Francigene: Piazza Duomo, 16 -43036 Fidenza – PR.

- or you can get it directly at the Central Office of the European Association of Vie Francigene in Fidenza (Pr) – Piazza Duomo, 16 . Opening hours: Every day from 9.00 to 12.30, and from 15.00 to 17.00)

The Credential is available also by other Associations: Iubilantes, Confraternita dei Romei, Association Via Francigena, Confraternita di San Jacopo di Compostela, Eurovia.

Via Francigena: The latest 6 monthly glossy newsletter is now available from the Revista website. It costs 6 euro + 4 euro postage.

http://www.rivistaviafrancigena.it/eng_frames_ok.htm

VF Souvenirs are now available in (the form of Cammini de Europe items)

http://www.camminideuropaline.eu/ita/souvenir.asp

Other news:

UPDATES ON THE ROUTES

The province of Imperia have published a leaflet on their 83km
section of the coastal route linking Menton with Sarzana.
http://www.confraternitadisanjacopo.it/Francigena/viafrancigena/ViaDellaCosta_Im\
peria.htm
Infuriatingly, I can't find any mention of it on their website, but
there's an overview profile of the route at
http://www.provincia.imperia.it/Turismo/Escursioni/LaViaDellaCosta.htm
It's partly along the coast, and partly inland a bit, visiting the
shrines of the Porrine and Montegrazie (where there are frescoes
related to the Golden Legend story of St James).

This route was officially opened in March as part of their Paths
Festival, when 3 sections of the route were walked
http://www.provincia.imperia.it/site/10583/default.aspx

Submitted by Peter Robins to the Yahoo!Groups - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/via-francigena

AND - WHAT HAPPENED TO THE VF FIVE PILGRIMS?

Sil and Marion walked the Camino Frances from Roncesvalles to Santiago from end of August to end of September 2007.

This photo was taken with a nun from the convent of Santa Clara in Castrojeriz. It is a closed order but this nun was happy to come out after we'd bought a couple of boxes of biscuits, and have her photo taken with us.

In 2009, Sil, Marion, Val, Kathy - and a new addition, Linda - will walk parts of the Chemin du Piemont in France and the Aragones in Spain.

2007-11-28T13:04:00.000+02:00

http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy_regions/tuscany/2007/general/prodi-unveils-medieval-pilgrimage-route/

30th October 2007

Premier Romano Prodi on Monday unveiled the first of 1,544 signposts which will soon show modern-day walkers the paths used by medieval pilgrims travelling from Canterbury to Rome.
The brown sign, marked Via Francigena, stands outside the castle in the Tuscan village of Monteriggioni, once a regular stopping place for pilgrims doing the 1,800-km walk. Marking out the 900-km Italian section of the Via Francigena, the Way of the Franks, is a key part of Prodi’s longstanding project to revive the old pilgrimage paths and render them usable for tourists and Italians themselves.
“It’s about the rediscovery of our identity: we need to revisit the itineraries of the past,” the Premier said at a ceremony held outside the gate of the Monteriggioni castle, which overlooks Sienese hills.
The idea is to re-establish footpaths and rights of way, tidying up the landscape and ensuring that modern-day pilgrims have access to inexpensive hostels.
Prodi said the best approach to the Via Francigena was to tackle it “slowly, with a lot of people,” in such as way as to allow casual meetings with “people you’ve never seen before”.
The route to Rome from Canterbury in southeast England meanders down through France, crosses the Alps near Aosta, then winds down through Parma to Tuscany before reaching Rome.
The itinerary was first documented in the 10th Century when the Archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric the Serious travelled to Rome to see the Pope in order to be consecrated. Walking it took about three months.
Few people nowadays are expected to do the entire length on foot but governments in Italy and France are keen to promote the old road as a vehicle for religious and cultural tourism.
“Cultural tourism is different from the usual invasions of consumer tourism. Here you can see the real Italy,” said Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli.
Prodi, a devout Catholic, got the idea 13 years ago when he cycled along the pilgrimage route to Santiago di Compostela in Spain and realised that his own country had many pilgrim ways as well.
The Via Francigena was designated a cultural route by the Council of Europe in 1994.
An American journalist, Eric Sylvers, walked the 900 km stretch from the Alps to Rome earlier this year for charity and is writing a book about his experiences along the way.
“Many towns keep their bit of the path in good condition but what’s needed is a broader project to rehabilitate the whole thing,” said Sylvers in an interview.
He also warned that some sections were practically unusable because they ran alongside heavily trafficked highways.
Moves to clean up the Via Francigena began in the 1990s and a Via Francigena Association was set up in Fidenza, one of the towns on the route. But signposting remained inadequate in many sections.

Vals VF Food Report - Now on the Blog

2007-06-09T20:36:00.000+02:00

Here is the long-awaited Food Report from our VF Pilgrim reporter!

FOOD REPORTER …Val McGreal

“Whilst we might seem to have a preoccupation with food it is not surprising given the demanding days we are having - we average 7 -10 hours of off road climbing in high temperatures. It is hot by 8am until late evening. We are drinking coke and water to replace the electrolytes regularly. We are also carrying heavy backpacks, supposed to be maximum of 6-7kg - mine however weighed 8.5kg at the airport check-in.
(Surely a little black number cannot weigh that much?) Not surprising then that my highlight and reward is a cool glass of wine and an espresso nightcap and of course something special to eat - our stomachs rumble all day as we burn up the calories so quickly”.

It was never my intention to write so much on food, although I knew I was looking forward to trying as much as possible. So what started out as just a comment in my blog reports became my all consuming passion, I would think about food all day, with every step….heaven!

LET’S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING………
It is Friday morning and we are at the travel agents to confirm our tickets. We have a photo taken on my camera but this crashed before I managed to download the pics but we can all remember it very well. The travel agent enquires as to any special meal requirements.
“Yes” says Sil, “I am a vegetarian.”
“I’m also fine with that” says Marion.
“Oh what the hell”, I say, “Count me in.”
Kathy and Rayna follow suit.

FLIGHTS TO ZURICH AND GENEVA
Economy Class Vegetarian…..no bread or cheese and biscuits for us, no yoghurt, no milk for our coffee – we have been classified as vegans and have very little other than a stew of vegetables and some nuts and seeds. This is too much for Kathy in the next aisle who pleads with the Air Hostess that there has been a serious mistake! Marion shares in her alarm and the (single) gentleman next to her offers up his cheese and biscuits. In the morning, he demands yoghurt from the Air Hostess for her. A sparkling wine takes the place of my supper and I feel very content indeed.

PADDLE STEAMER ACROSS LAC LEMAN FROM GENEVA TO VEVEY
What a pleasant surprise, expecting Styrofoam cups of coffee and 3 day old sandwiches from a dispensing machine, we have (as only the Europeans can do) a full selection of coffees made to order, I have my first espresso since leaving JHB Airport. And what is this? A beautiful restaurant with starched white tablecloths, waiters and a view over the lake.
We book in for lunch and enjoy an excellent array of fresh fish and vegetables and pastas. The fish is fresh pink steaks of salmon with an exciting light sauce. We all try to guess what the ingredients are and Rayna gets it right, Pistachios. I asked the Chef for the recipe, a butter sauce with saffron, turmeric and pistachios. It was the first meal I tried when I got back into my kitchen. As I didn’t get the precise recipe, I used a very light wine and butter sauce that one might make for a delicate fish dish and included the turmeric at the beginning and added saffron, seeped in hot water, and then the pistachios which Martin sat and shelled. (Take a 250g of Pistachios, ask your husband to shell them and you should end up with 100g for your recipe!) Whilst mentioning saffron, I have been taught two ways, steam the saffron on a plate over a saucepan of boiling water to bring out the vibrant colour and heighten the flavour or steep in a little boiling water…..be warned - saffron will not dissolve in oil.

Monday, June 19, 2006 DAY FIVE La Douay to Gr San Bernado
I couldn’t cope with the dinner at the Hospice and decided to try out the local restaurant where I enjoyed "Polenta grille a la Valaisannne" - polenta with cheese and speck (bacon) - chf 22 (R110) Rayna joined me for glass of house wine. Then I spoke to Martin and had a few “long distance” toots with him. I had to creep into the dorm and in the dark could just make out a shape sleeping at the bottom of my bunk which did not resemble one of our team….an interloper?

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - DAY SIX Gr San Bernado to Aosta
We were forced onto the road due to the snow and ice so we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at Entroubles. Pretty little place with a very friendly Tourism office.
Determined to try something different for my first meal in Italy I chose "Pappardella al sugo di Capriolo" - pasta with Roe Deer Sauce" € 9.30 (plus R100) Belissimo!! As one would expect, I ate a lot of pasta dishes but only because they were just so different and obviously authentic. Can you imagine having Pappardella with Roe Deer Sauce at the local Italian restaurant in SA? Other favourites were Rigatoni with Italian sausage and artichokes and cream. Wonderful combination and somewhat easier to make at home than “first hunt one Roe Deer”.
Recipe – the real thing
The River Café cookbook 2 has a recipe for loins of venison wrapped in coppa – they use Roe Deer. It’s a lovely recipe and would taste fantastic.
Recipe – just as good
Similar to the texture of the roe deer I had an equally tasty ragu – Delia Smith has a wonderful recipe in her Winter Collection - “Authentic Ragu Bolognese. Not for the faint hearted or those with cholesterol it contains pork, beef, bacon and chicken livers. Martin makes this every winter and we keep tubs in the freezer for an easy but great meal in minutes. It’s really worth a try – “spag bogs” will never taste the same again.
Recipe – exceptionally good
Another take on the authentic bolognese is a recipe from Australian Chef and my food hero – Neil Perry – his book Neil Perry – the Food I Love. Duck Ragu with Papparedelle – Fantastic!! Again I must state that this is what the Italians eat and look amazing on it…they are definitely part of the Beautiful People Club.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - DAY SEVEN Aosta to St Vincent
Wednesday seems to be early closing day with many restaurants remaining closed in the evening. As such we finally came to an "IRISH PUB". Expecting the Italian version of Guinness Pie, the menu turned out to be pure Italian, the music Country and Western. Somewhere around here is a very mixed up proprietor. I chose the Crespelle Alla Valdostana €7.50, crepe with ham and cheese and it appeared to be swimming in cream; however this was soon absorbed by the generous coating of freshly grated parmesan. Rayna and Kathy took the Toertellini Panna Prosciutto € 6.50 also with a light addition of cream - very good. Syl had a pizza with a generous coating of Italian cheeses € 6.50 literally dripping with Gorgonzola. Marion had a tuna salad, very fresh with lots of vegetables (good girl!) Our wine was local Le Rime 2004 Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio €10. The Italians it would appear have not been drawn into the rest of the world’s preoccupation with cholesterol testing....delicious!

Thursday, June 22, 2006 - DAY EIGHT St Vincent to Pont St Martin
Faced with a supper of instant soup and Melba toast (pinched from the Breakfast table) Kathy and I headed for the supermarket where we found excellent minestrone soup, bought some parmesan and fresh bread and cheese. Very Good! Following on from Sil's comments about the accommodation - the standards are exceptionally high. To gain a license the owner must invest substantially in upgrading the amenities. No 1970's shagpile carpets and old furniture which isn't wanted anywhere else in the house. Considerably less is expected of his culinary skills - just the ability to slice a loaf of bread and open a jar of jam will give him the right to advertise as a bed AND BREAKFAST establishment. A lot can be said for the Great British or SA Breakfast - no Wors, chops and curried mince to be found here!

Friday, June 23, 2006 - DAY NINE Pont St Martin to Settimo Vitonne (“Il potremmo avere ancora un po’di – Can I have some more Please?”)
Word must have spread throughout the B&B community that the "Gourmet Girls" were 'chowing' their way through Italy. Our first true Italian B-fast served by our first male host - sorry girls but have to admit that this one was the first to get it right. Salami, block of beautifully matured Parmesan, pasties, yoghurt, cereal and really good coffee - well done Fabio. And a kitchen to die for - true Italian design - Marty you will be pleased to know I have found my next kitchen!
Dinner: This eating experience deserved a special mention...On arrival in Settimo Vittone we stopped at a restaurant for coffee to prepare us for the climb to the castle which would be our rest place for the night. The owner, Signor Antonella greeted us and we looked at photos of him on the wall - he turned out to be the conductor of the local band. We looked at the menu and said we would return for supper. Osteria La Sosta was well worth the 2km round trip. When we arrived in the evening the daughter greeted us and handed a postcard from the owner. He had written a personal message to us:

" Ladies - from the "Ospitality Il Castello"
Dear Ladies, Unfortunately (for me, at least) I won't be there when you're coming tonight. I just want to give you some information about the way to have good food and not to spend too much. The PRIMI PIATTI and also the SECONDI are portioned for two people. The antipasti can be shared as well. The Spontine del Viandante is the Pilgrims Dish. Have a Good time and good luck for your trip."

Accompanying the postcard was a brochure and menu with the family history and a Dolci recipe. I collect menus and this will become part of my collection.
Sil chose the grill di zucchini, melanzane - a selection of grilled vegetables. Kathy insisted on the ravioli cooked in the copper pan and said the sauce was delicious and spicy - she didn't offer a tasting - Kathy says she doesn't share!!
Val, Rayna and Marion decided to try the Proposte Di Menu De Gerstazione (€18) each. (The degustation menu). We had no idea what we were getting into.
Antipasti were served in two courses.Sausage - red, could have been blood but we told ourselves it was beetroot.Lard - literally strips of bacon lard - it tasted good but was spoiled by the voice in my head which was that of Chef Michelle of the Christina Martin School of Cookery lecturing us on the reasons NOT to cook with duck fat or lard..."it goes straight to the arteries!”
Dried beef - Biltong?Bowl of Salsa...which reminded us of Chakalka.
Second course of AntipastiCarpaccio - deliciousEggs on bruschetta - like eggs benedict without the spinachSpicy sausage in yellow peppers
PrimoRavioli meatRisotto - cheeseGnocchi Verde
DolciPanna cotta al caffee con salsina alla branda (disappointing - too much gelantine?)Sorbetto al limone - lemon sorbet - excellentTiramisu - because you have to! It is one of those dishes that became fashionable about 15 years ago and few of us probably would recognise the real thing. We went on to taste a Tiramisu made in heaven at the Hostel in Berceto - but remain unsure if it was the real thing. I need to look it up in Elizabeth David’s diaries of Northern Italy. (note: Elizabeth David’s makes no mention of this dish, however I believe translated it means “pick me up” – yes could certainly agree with that).
Saturday, June 24, 2006 - DAY TEN Settimo Vittone to Casio
Breakfast at the Castle deservers a mention: Our host and hostess at the Castle excelled with breakfast…I doubt that anyone could beat this. Everything you could ever want from freshly baked bread and pastries, cheeses, hams, homemade yoghurt, jams and great coffee. I cannot do it justice so Rayna took photos. Reading the guest book, everyone raved about the breakfast and we can understand why.
Supper: On the food front - we ate at the tavern over the road before the Saturday night locals arrived. We had some very non-descript pasta. The locals obviously patronize this establishment for the atmosphere but certainly not for the food.

Sunday, June 25, 2006 - DAY ELEVEN Cassio to Berceto & Tugo
We are in Parma country - Parma ham and porcini mushrooms and of course the real Parmesan - but the mushrooms are only in season from September. The restaurant is part of the hostel and has a real "Mama" in the cupboard. Good menu of home cooked dishes featuring lamb, wild boar and guinea fowl. The body however needs a break so will be choosing something a little lighter tonight. Tugo Hostel …. Just before Berceto. Tonight we chose:
Antipasti selection of tort di patate, (potato tart), frittata con Zucchini, Mortadella di Cinghiale (rolls of mortadella meat - apparently Wild
Boar?) all three for €5.
Primi - Polenta ai funghi porcini €7: Contori - Inslata, pomodor, verdure grigliate €2 - salad with grilled vegetables - beautiful veggies with olive oil served warm. (like ours Marty!) We find roasted veggies are always better if you can cook them in a single layer – using a large flat baking sheet.
Room for Puds! - Crostata di cioccolato e ricotta, di marmellata di pesche (peach), or di marmellata di lamponi, Tiramisu - delicious - if this is authentic then we love it! Real dark chocolate and layered firmly not mushy.

Monday, June 26, 2006 - DAY TWELVE Cisa ostello Tugo to Pontremoli
Mama Norina takes us to our seats, she will cook especially for us the two specialities of Pontremoli. The first is Testaroli – this is believed to be the very first ever pasta, thin, eggless, wheat flour pancakes are cooked in large terracotta or cast iron pans called Testi. Cooked like an omelet, then cut into pieces and dropped into boiling water and served with pesto, or olive oil and parmesan.

A carafe of wine appears, we nod appreciatively and she pinches my cheek! We enjoy our first course of Testaroli and mop up the green rich olive oil and herbs with bread - our plates are clean and Mama Norina is very pleased.Next we are served the Torta d'Erbe - edible field grasses, leeks and mushrooms. Mama tells us proudly that she makes the pastry - only she can do this! It is very similar to a Greek Spinach and Feta pie but the pastry is really special and not as flakey as Filo. It is delicious and we finish it all. She is pleased and I get a hug! We ask Mama to recommend Dolci.We are served Ricotta and Apple Cake - much lighter than it looks - excellent.She offers coffee - I ask for Espresso - obviously the right choice - she pinches my cheek and I get another hug! We take a photo of our Mama and me! I have been married twice so I've had two chances to win over "Mama-in-Laws" (you know...those Mothers of Sons) - I should have married an Italian - I would have been very fat but the Mother in Law would have loved me!
Recipe –whilst not using the Italian cheese Ricotta, Sprigs have an amazing Lavender (or substituted with Ginger), Orange and Olive Oil Cake – it reminds me of Mama’s cake because it has the same unexpected lightness. The recipe is in their latest cook book and they also include it in their cookery classes. (For those of you who are not fortunate enough to live in SA and especially in Kloof – Sprigs is THE ladies coffee and lunch venue where you should be seen!) (Carole – you will agree, I’m sure).

FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2006 - DAY FIFTEEN San Miniato to Gambassi Terme
The ristorante served fish and specialised in seafood. The first we have seen. As such we had a lovely spread of salads, seafood kebabs and delicious grilled vegetables. We felt in need of chips - he bought us a huge platter of fresh crisp chips - he offered us tomato sauce (Ketchup), he looked relieved that we were not of the tomato sauce variety. He then came to the table with a bottle of liquor. This he tells us is made by his wife - he gives us the recipe, it is made from oranges that have no chemicals - you cannot buy it in the shops and you cannot buy it from him - you must be invited by the owner to sample it! We are honoured, it tastes like cointreau but better.

Saturday, July 1, 2006 – day seventeen - Gambassi Terme to St Gimignano
Breakfast ….Well today we all agreed that in the name of the Real Food Movement we would be true Italians for the day so, forget the yoghurt and fruit - it was straight to the "La Pasticceria and savoury and sweet croissants, pastries and cappuccino and hot chocolate.
Lunch "when in Rome" - Crostini €3 - € 3.50 -toasted bread with a selection of toppings, olives, capers, cheese, aubergines and mushrooms - washed down with a glass of Vino Bianco Frizzante (becoming rather partial to this!) followed by Espresso and Cappuccino and English Breakfast Tea (as the only Pommie, I don't drink tea). Marion and I decided to mark our Cappuccino’s out of 5 - they have been getting progressively worse as we left the North....today however, we got to 4 out of 5. Most have been Luke warm milk but today's was hot with a good flavour and a top froth, yes very good indeed.

Recipe: What is the difference between Crostini and Bruschetta? – well as far as I can make out is the type of bread used and the angle at which it is cut. Sourdough bread would normally be used for Bruschetta (sourdough resembling a good honest crusty country loaf) and cut straight, Ciabatta bread for Crostini cut at an angle, both types are cut approx half inch thick. Toast, rub with garlic and drizzle with olive oil and serve with your chosen topping. Tuscan purists will tell you that bread and oil and salt compose the best “Bruschette”. Correct pronunciation is “brew-sket’ –ah). The ‘c’ is sharp in this case and not a ‘ch’ sound like French. Italian is an easy language in as much as you pronounce all letters, almost like reading phonetically. It is always tempting though to use the soft sounds of French.
Dinner: For tonight’s meal we needed to escape the Tourists - out of interest I read a number of menu's outside the "posh" places - admittedly divine sounding food but it was 'tourist food'. We opted for a ristorante in a back street, family run with only 6 tables. The "smells of real food" reached us as we opened the door. We didn't get to meet Mama but she was definitely in the kitchen.Rayna and Marion had the Crespellas, light pancakes with spinach and ricotta - really good. Kathy chose spaghetti with a meat sauce (it must have been good because she wouldn't talk to us until she had finished). Rayna is my photographic food stylist and we are irritating the others because they have to wait for us to photograph their food before they can eat it!) Kathy just gives us that look which says "don't mess with my food!" Sil had gnocchi with tomato and cream - "the best ever" was her verdict. I had Ossobuco in crema di oderce (Ossobucco - shin cooked in the most delicious mixture of herbs, vegetables - it fell away from the bone - I moped up the juices with bread but the finale was to put the marrow on another piece of bread - just as well we walk again tomorrow.Dolci - Rayna had Tiramisu - like our Cappuccino’s we are marking these - this one got a big thumbs down - it was just like a weak custard. Kathy had Apple torte – an authentic dish of sliced apples with a "batter" poured over and baked - very good. A true torte!. I had Panna Cotta with Chocolate - as it was set down before me it wobbled on the plate - that was a good sign. "Heaven, I'm in Heaven!" it was perfection. So light, hint of vanilla and dark, pure chocolate across the top - 10 out of 10. The latest trend is to make this desert with yoghurt instead of cream to appeal to the more health conscious - I am of the school that you either have this desert as it is intended or don't have it at all. I am always amazed at Diet Cook Books that go to great lengths to give recipes for deserts so you can eat one every day. Rather go without and enjoy just one real one occasionally.

Sunday, July 02, 2006 - DAY EIGHTEEN San Gimignano to Monteriggione.
From around 1213 the fortified village of Monteriggione was one of a series of Sienese Ghibelline hill forts - and is described by Dante in the "Divine Comedy". Here we had a good food day (in other words…no ice creams, cakes etc.) we opted for salads - a huge mixed salad including tuna was €6 , the desserts were fit for a king - only Sil was tempted and had a pastry lined torte, confectioners custard topped with figs and nuts - gorgeous. I am getting withdrawal symptoms from the lack of a sparkling glass so I had a couple of glasses - equivalent to a Pongraz or Graham Beck €3.50 a glass, the real thing €6.50 per glass - my drinks bill was more than the cost of my food tonight!

Monday, July 03, 2006 – DAY NINETEEN Monteriggione to Sienna
Lunch: We cannot shop so we hit the restaurant - we probably won't eat out tonight as we are 6km from the Centre so....I had a glass of Sparkling and Carpaccio Bresaola, rucola e grana (cured meat with rocket salad and parmesan €7 - delicious 'Heaven'!The girls had Tremazzinis - which were white (very dry) bread sandwiches - not toasted as we are used to and Kathy and Rayna two really good salads for €5.50. We hadn't intended to eat supper out but,,,, we found a restaurant with a real Pizza oven where they made the pizza bases in front of us- this was a first! So, we decided "to support the locals" Boost the Italian economy. We walked into a restaurant full of men! Men in groups men in pairs - we were eyed with suspicion. I assured the girls that European men do this sort of thing. Eventually a male & female couple walked in and we all relaxed. We had fantastic pizzas - not paper thin, not double crust, just light as a feather dough, lovely friendly waiter - such a contrast to Sienna - even brought a plate of anchovies to Kathy and me. We had 1/2 a lt of wine for €3.50 We have been paying more for a glass in the tourist areas. We walked back to the hostel singing: “We feel good, like a fat pilgrim should” “We feel fine after a bottle of wine”. Marion and I crept into our room trying hard not to wake Sil.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006 - DAY TWENtY Sienna to Lucignano D'Ariba
Kathy and I offered to shop for supper - we found a really good Minestrone, croutons, fresh shavings of grand Parmesan (so cheap) followed by huge Tuna, salad with bread - the bread was once again weighed and not sold per loaf - wine of the evening was from Castelplanio - a crisp white Verdicchio.Rayna and I are going to have a bottle of really good Merlot when we reach Roma. Safe in the knowledge we do not have to walk the next day!
Wednesday, July 5, 2006 - day twenty-one Lucignano DArbia to Saint Quirico D Orcia.
Supper: Another side road restaurant, very attractive inside, but few people. A lot of restaurants were closed until mid July but we couldn't find out why. Some had salads and potato chips, lasagna. Rayna and I had ricotta and spinach ravioli with sage butter. Homemade large squares (3 to a dish) with really good flavour. I was expecting a burnt butter, brown and nutty with crisp sage, but it was more like an oil poured over with 2 plain sage leaves. So the dish although tasting great looked insipid. However, just because the chef on BBC food uses brown butter doesn't mean its authentic, I guess?

Thursday, July 06, 2006 - DAY TWENTY-TWO - San Quirico to Abbadia San Salvatore.
Lunch was in the only place open! San Marco. It turned out to be a lovely, homely place with Mama making us feel very welcome indeed. As soon as we sat, she announced with a shake of her head “NO PIZZA!” She had laid out a buffet (Cadauno) which included Polenta cake and "Polpettone" Meat loaf €6.50. This was surprisingly tasty, perhaps a cross between a meat loaf and a good pate. Usually made from a mixture of finely minced veal, chicken, pork, mortadella and bound together with eggs, Parmigiano, garlic and parsley. Slices of salami and egg are laid on the “loaf” and rolled like a swiss roll and baked.
A few of us had a bug and as this affected the food writer, shock and horror - she went to bed without supper!!
Friday, July 7, 2006 - day twenty-three Abbadia San Salvatore to Aquapendente
Lunch - we made the most wonderful discovery today. A little restaurant on a corner and run by a young couple. Both the decor and the food had a fresh approach but still retained the authenticity of its origin. To start, we were given a Chef's complimentary tasting of crostini with the freshest tasting tomatoes, basil, marjoram and olive oil, black pepper. (The first peppermill we have seen). Followed by Kathy and Marion - Rigatoni con formaggio misto, pomodoro and basilico €6.50. Sylvia had Petti di tacchino all origano €7.00 (vegetarian dish of courgettes and potatoes with cheese. In the market today we saw "salt cod" "Bacaala" so I asked if they served it. It wasn't on the menu but the Chef had some prepared and made me a dish of salt cod, fresh tomatoes and herbs - delicious, light and served with a very light wine. We realised we had found a very special place so we just had to try Dolci della cassa (deserts of the house) We shared:Tortino Di coccolata cou Panna (chocolate mousse)Mille Fogli con crema di Mascarpone (layers of the most amazing pastry, with a mascarpone cream with chocolate)Mouse di RicottaRicotta with chocolate sauceBest ever deserts!
Speaking to the young chef, he explained that he had not been professionally trained but had grown up in the kitchen. His style was to add a fresh twist to traditional dishes and this he has most certainly achieved without copying the trends. The owner signed the handwritten menu and gave it to me to add to my collection. "Lacapracampa Trattoria" in Acquapendente, Lazio Province - worth a visit! Tel 0763.734546, Via Marconi, 100, Acquapendente (lacapracampa2003@vizgilio.it.

Saturday, July 8, 2006 – DAY TWENTY-FOUR Acquapendente to Bolsena.
Lunch: Today was indeed a food day. Bolsena lake has an abundance of fish. The local fish is called 'Coregore', a white fish, usually served filleted and for you 'when-we's' - it is just like Kariba Lake bream.The local and famous wine is called Est! Est! Est! – The story is that in about 1110 a Bishop was on his way to Rome for the coronation of Henry V . He sent an aide ahead to try out the wines along the way and write ‘Est!’ ('It is' in Italian) on places where the wine was particularly good. In Montefiascione, the aide found somewhere so good he wrote the words Est! Est! Est! on the door!. We tried a 'locale' one - just €3.50 for a bottle - and we agreed with the wine taster - it was Excellent! Other prices for the wine vary from €5 - 11. We took full advantage of the fish on offer, and at lunch we had the COREGORE ARROSSo - grilled lake fish €6.50, which was very good. As it was Sunday we had pud - Tiramisu - very rich but good. The waiter had relations in JHB and he gave us free coffee and a shooter each - he called it Limone - Limone with alcohol definitely! He said he made the best Cappuccino in Italy - it was like warm froth so we guess that is how it should be?!
Dinner: We decided wherever we had the opportunity to eat lunch we would either go without supper or only have a light salad – we would hopefully loose more weight that way. BUT by the evening we couldn't resist the restaurant built on stilts over the lake, surrounded by the black sand. We had a table on the deck, watched the ducks and boats and got eaten alive by midges. Tea tree oil worked really well. Bearing in mind the earth-tremors the day before we probably didn't choose the safest place to eat! We all wanted to try some more fish so we had FILLETTO DI BACCALA PASTELLATO – battered salt cod €6.20.
Kathy said it was moist and just like Kingklip. Rayna had FILLETTE DE PERSICO - fillets of Perch €7.80 also in batter. I had FITTORA MISTA DI CALAMARI E GAMBER - €7. The translation on the menu read 'Cryfishes and squashfry' - it was calamari , squid and 3 prawns which had not had the veins removed. I also ordered FLORIDIZUCCA ALLA ROMANA - pumpkin flowers Roman style - awful- the batter was thick , the flowers soggy and the stuffing was scraps of fish. Marlena De Blasi in her book entitled “A thousand days in Tuscany” describes how beautiful Zucchini Blossoms are when dipped in a beer batter, fried to a gentle crisp and then sprayed with sea-salted water. Can’t help feeling that our pumpkin blossoms should have been similar. The menu was translated into German and English - ie Portchops and Beffsteack!! You can visit their website on http://www.trattoriadelmoro.it/

Sunday, July 9, 2006 – DAY TWENTY-FIVE - Bolsena to Viterbo
Dinner: Tonight we are 2 kms away from Town so we are eating in the Hotel Restaurant. Italy plays France in the finals tonight so we are not expecting to get too much sleep. They have put a TV in the Dining Room and we also have one in the room. The Waiter looks and acts as if he is very fed up about having drawn the “short straw” and has to work tonight – he makes little attempt to communicate with us, which is fine as we can pretty much work out the menu’s ourselves these days.
Water and red and white wine appear on the table, open without having requested it. Wines are Fattoria Madonna Delle Macchie, Red - Renaro and White Fonte Vionica. We only drink the white, crisp and dry - really have not had a bad white since we've been here. Rayna and I are going to have a good Merlot when we get to Rome, safe in the knowledge that we don't have to walk the next morning. Therefore the Red remains untouched.
The menu has prices by each item and we order. Strozzapreti con crema di Carcifi - pasta twirls with Italian spicy sausage and artichoke - €9 - excellent. Mezze Lune Burro e Salvia €8 - pasta ravioli of ricotta with sage butter, again not a brown butter. Arle cchino di Verdure €3.50 - vegetable selection moulded in a ring - beautifully presented. Sylvia is a vegetarian and has been pleased with the selection of vegetables and pastas available. The salads are on most occasions just lettuce and tomato. We were then presented with bowls of grapes and cherries and mandarin sorbets. We were charged a set fee of €15 each so we imagine we could have ordered the whole lot!

Monday, July 10, 2006 – DAY TWENTY-SIX Viterbo to Capranica
Faced with Sil’s packet soup, our spirits lifted when a local woman told us to go down the road and turn right. We see a doorway with curtains, it doesn’t look promising. But we push through and there are tables with checked cloths! We are shown to a table by the owner. He has a picture of an African woman on the wall and says he knows about Johannesburg. He brings us water and wine. We see an extensive menu on the wall and are already deciding what we might have. He arrives without menus - you can have pasta, pasta or pasta he says. He is quite suave and confident. You can have pasta with tomato and basil or with mushrooms. The variations of pasta fall off his tongue but we can't quite catch the meaning.
I ask if I can have olives - no olives he says (after all this is Italy). I ask if I can have Anchovies but my pronunciation of "acciughe" is obviously not too good and I have to show him the word in my Phrase book. He looks outraged "No!!" He then starts to recite the choices again and I pick up "sausage" and I say I do not understand the other word. He looks up the word in my phrase book and it is baby artichokes. Yes I say "Italian sausage and artichokes would be good". He raises his eyes to the ceiling, shrugs his shoulders and marches off to the kitchen.
Within moments the girl’s pasta's arrive, two with tomato and two with mushroom. A while later a plate arrives with 4 halves of artichokes. Oops! What have I ordered? Much later he comes to the table and says your order is coming. I have by now eaten my artichokes because I gather he would not lower his standards to include it in my dish of pasta. We then see him take a dish from the kitchen hatch. It is a plate, not a bowl - so no pasta for me. He sets before me a plate with two boiled sausages, Wild Boar me thinks! But also on the plate are delicious white butter beans which have been cooked in a flavourful sauce of herbs with just a hint of tomato. I really enjoy it. He arrives to clear the plates and looks disappointed that I have eaten it and even moped up the juices with the bread!We ask for the bill - he gets up from the table where he is eating with a customer and shrugs and says €35.

TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2006 – DAY TWENTY SEVEN Capranica to Campagnano Di Roma
“The Restaurant Il Postiglione – one of a kind” run by Mama Ida, her son, daughter, and daughter-in-law.
This is the first restaurant that we have seen fresh fish laid out on ice and boxes of field mushrooms on display. Campagnano is famous for Proscuitto ham and the kitchen produced platters of melon and hams, mushrooms and other delicacies. (one must remember that whilst this sounds like a grand restaurant, it is not - it’s almost humble). Marion and Sil had Linguine with mushrooms, an array of those fresh mushrooms we saw - wow, taste, texture and aroma, say no more....we all have to taste each others for the food report (remember - Kathy - don't mess with my food) so it is hard for some! Rayna had fresh grilled fish, we think it was a Sea bass or similar - Manwell was unable to tell us. Kathy had her first steak, it was huge and tender and many of the locals were eating the steak so it was highly recommended. (Bi Stecca €10) I decided this could be my last chance to have Wild Boar cooked in a different way.
So I chose the Cinghiale al pepe verde €8 - It doesn't taste like pork, it looks and tastes like the most tender, tasty beef - it was cubed and cooked in a very light cream sauce with peppercorns, very similar to a Steak au poivre (sorry spelling?) (by the way, you must know how mixed up we are, we have had to speak French, now Italian and we are staying in the Chinatown region of Rome so now our entire internet is in Chinese!). All vegetables are served cold, not warm, cold straight from the fridge - so we had cold green beans (Fagiolini €3) and cold spinach - not good).
Recipe: I am sad that this may be the last time I will ever taste Wild Boar so was thrilled on arriving home when Kathy introduced me to a book by Marlene De Blasi – “A thousand days in Tuscany” in which she gives a recipe “Braised Pork to Taste Like Wild Boar” using leg or shoulder of pork. She cooks it with the traditional juniper berries and for hours until the meat falls off the bone, in a red wine sauce. I will definitely be trying this!
Meanwhile, our good friend and Chef, John Field (Brother in Law to the “locally famous” food critic, Derek Taylor) has promised a cook out one Sunday where we will cook the best ever Wild Boar (Wild Pig – available in SA). Can’t wait!Dolci: We all raved about our meals and all opted for desert...Fresh Strawberries, Lemon Tart, wow the pastry chef knows what he is doing, and the freshness of the lemon €3, only disappointment was the Tiramisu - but given the quality of the food, perhaps this is how it should be...it was very much a sponge. A culinary experience to savor forever.

WEDNESDAY, 12 JULY, 2006 - DAY TWENTY EIGHT Campagnano di Roma to La Storta:
Supper with the Nun’s
We went down for supper and what a pleasant surprise. Wine on the table....thank goodness! How civilized these people are. A lovely platter of pasta, beef olives and probably the best salad we've had. Without question the best bread we've had. A big bowl of fruit for desert. The Monks from St Bernard's would do well to come and take a few cookery lessons from the Nun's that's for sure. Breakfast was equally top notch. As much coffee and hot milk as we could possibly want, gorgeous bread rolls with butter (yes butter), cheese, honey, jams, juice - not a melba toast or croissant with a 6 month shelf life in sight. Then as we were finishing, we were invited to fill our water bottles from this nifty little machine which served iced water, natural, with gas or room temperature.

Friday, July 14, 2006 – DAY TWENTY-NINE La Storta to Rome
“When in Rome – have the most expensive ice cream and pizza you will probably ever have in your life!”
So once we arrived we needed to celebrate so we broke all the rules (Co you did warn us) and we ate not far from the square, we were so excited. Here it goes, Coke €5, Fanta €5, half litre of their cheapest wine €12 (I've been paying €4), a pizza €12 - the topping if you can call it that...anchovy - one cut into two pieces and placed on a pizza base with minimal cheese, I had salmon, take a tail of salmon (left over from another dish) cut it into 5 and lay over a pizza. Sil had an ice cream €8!! Cover charge was €10. The final bill came to €100.......we have arrived in Rome.

►On Cappuccinos
We have tasted Cappuccino's from the Italian Alps to Rome, in back street bars, Mama's ristorantes, pizzeria, trattoria and a 4 Star hotel. So its official - A true Italian Cappuccino is a cup of luke warm froth, no chocolate or cocoa on top, not a biscuit on the side and not a newspaper in sight. We are keen to know who sets the criteria for the Sunday Tribune's Great Cappuccino Competition - meanwhile the first thing we are going to do when we get to JHB airport is get a "real" Cappuccino!!

► On Pilgrim’s breakfast.
I thought I'd tell you about breakfast. We have given up with the B & B breakfast because they are too late (07.30pm) and too predictable (bread and jam) so we ask for a ‘picnic’ packet to eat on the go. Lunch is always bread if we are eating on the run so try to make breakfast healthy. Take one metal mug which has been hanging on your backpack and is probably full of dust. Fill up with water from bath tap. Place immersion heater into water careful not to electrocute yourself due to damaged plug socket. Add tea bag or coffee from jar (shared by Val and Marion). who take it in turns to carry) use spoon from yesterday's ice cream. Add sugar "pinched" the day before. Add milk from carton shared by Val, Rayna and Kathy. Drinks as quickly as possible so you can begin with the next course. Take packet of cereal (shared by Val, Rayna and Kathy) tip into mug (best to rinse first but a personal choice) add milk. Take one yoghurt brought day before add sachet of honey "pinched" day before from Cafe, stir and add to cereal. Eat banana. Now walk!

VF FIVE PILGRIMS TO ROME - IN PRINT!!

2007-05-10T20:37:00.000+02:00

Halleluiah! I collected our books today!

When we returned home from walking the ViaF I downloaded all the entries posted onto this blog whilst we were away. The blog posts needed numerous spell checks (all those foreign keyboards resulted in many odd spellings!) so I printed out three hard copies - each one was edited by each of us in turn; then I re-formatted the chapters which meant re-checking and editing; added Val's Food Report - re-editing - choosing from over 2 000 photopgraphs - re-checking - and the final product was copied onto a CD and taken to the printers a month ago. And today - almost 10 months since our return, I collected the finished product - our beautiful "VF Five Pilgrims to Rome" book!

As with most 'first issues' there are a few mistakes - an upside down 'mirror image' photograph and a few skewed pages - and, the gremlins got in and rearranged the pages of the Food Report resulting in the new chapter colour page being in the wrong place. But, overall, we are thrilled with the result, a 130 page journal, written by all five as we walked the Via for 28 days.

We have each had a hard cover copy done for ourselves and a few soft-covered copies to give to family. We will send one to the new 'Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome' which was recently formed in England and to the Via Francigena Association in Italy. We are planning on having a 'Book Lunch' soon!

R50 000 RAISED - IT'S OFFICIAL!!

2007-03-08T21:58:00.000+02:00

The VF Five Pilgrims raised R50 000 for Homenet's Children's Welfare! This is a picture of some of the children receiving their toy JR puppies at Christmas.

These are the certificates presented to each of the 5 pilgrims by Homenet.