VF Five Pilgrims to Rome book

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.

GPS MAPS AND GUIDE BOOKS FOR THE VF IN ITALY

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

SATURDAY, JUNE 24: - DAY NINE - Settimo Vittone - Casio (Train/taxi)

SATURDAY, JUNE 24: DAY TEN - Settimo Vittone - Casio (Train/taxi) 3kms

Kathy: Covered over 200km today - no, not walking in case you were wondering! But, by train and taxi. We left Settimo Vittone at about 8am this morning with Moreno (host's son) kindly driving us to Ivrea by car. A really spacious Fiat Ulysses. We then bought tickets, validated them as required and caught the 9.35 train to Torino (Turin) a distance of 62km. As this train was "retardo" - late !! - we didn’t have too long to wait in Turin for our next train. This trip cost ± E4 each. After a yucky cup of station coffee, we set off for Parma in the next train. On this train we had allocated seats - coach 6, seats 111 - 115. This trip cost about E19 each. The first train we travelled in had open seats but these had compartments with 6 seats in each compartment - this train was going through to Bari- long distance - so was obviously an overnight train.
We finally arrive in Parma at 3pm and as it was very hot and we had a long way to go so we opted for a taxi to the Hostel Cassio instead of walking. This trip took 1 hour in another suitable vehicle (a Renault Espace) and it was luckily air-conditioned. The temp leaving Parma was 35oC but we climbed up and up to Cassio with the temp dropping to 25oC by the time we arrived at our youth hostel. What a welcome sight!

Marion: We’ve had a few different loo stops on our walk. The normal conventional toilet, a long drop which Val used, the bushes where one has to be careful where you choose to go otherwise if you choose the wrong spot like Rayna did, you end up crouching on a stinging nettle bush - EINA!! Today after changing trains at Turin we went to the station loo. First of all you had to put 70cents (± R7) into a gate to get into the loo area and WHOOSH - sliding glass doors opened and you stepped into a disco! Purple fluorescent lights! As soon as you sat down the loo flushed - what a fright I got! Upon leaving the loo one had to push a button and - whoosh - the glass doors opened. I wonder what other loos we will find.

Sil: There is something very special about waking up in a castle surrounded by beautiful objects and padding through to a gorgeous bathroom with marble tiles, glass and brass, I stood looking around me and thought "I can't afford this!" But it was only E23 each! And then breakfast - what a beautiful spread. I'm sure Val will do it justice. The owners of this beautiful place are very artistic - Senora Clementine Nicoletta is a painter, potter, gardener and baker. She has made all of the ceramics in the Casa - crockery, light fittings vases etc. as well as paintings and murals all in a very romantic style eg each room has the name of a flower and we were in the IRIS room. Her beautiful son Moreno, is a photographer of note and she showed us one of his photographs that won 2nd prize in a national competition.
When we planned this walk we asked the advice of Joe Patterson, Carol Welch and others about walking a 30 day Via F. All recommended skipping the section between Ivrea and Fidenza or even Fornovo di Taro. So today Moreno drove us into town and we left Ivrea by train for Parma. As we left the Valle D'Aosta the mountains on either side became hills and we entered into the flat plains of the Po Valley. The scenery was rather bleak and industrial. We spent an hour at the station in Turin waiting for a connecting train to Parma. It is a large station and we were able to buy Val another peaked cap – this one with handy scarf attached to the back. As we neared Parma the vineyards returned, green fields and rising forested hills in the distance.
Due to train delays we’d arrived later than planned so we decided to get a taxi to the Cassio Youth Hostel. Climbing the hills from Parma was a little like driving to Cato Ridge from Durban - the further we got the more rural the landscape and then "The Valley of 1000 Hills" (or lower 'berg) with few settlements and heavily wooded hillsides.
One thing that has really paid dividends is the daily info sheet prepared before we left with a photograph of the town or village, a photo of the B&B/hotel/hostel, a copy of the confirmation of the accommodation booked, a map of where to find it and a short précis of the history of the town and area. The driver recognized the hostel right away from the photograph on the info sheet.
It is the job of the Group Leader of the day to read the info to us and tell us the distance to be walked each day, what the terrain will be like and approx how many hours we can expect to walk. Tomorrow we walk about 20kms, beyond Berceto, and Rayna will be the group leader.
After the IRIS room in a castle, we will spend the night in a youth hostel dorm tonight! Val was to sleep alone in the attic room so we carried her bed down to the main dorm to join us. This YH is clean and the ablutions are modern and we had it to ourselves. We were able to buy a couple of VF souvenirs and Kathy and Rayna each bought a shirt. The fellow who booked us in even showed us a catalogue of VF memorabilia that one can order. This is Parma-Fidenza country and the Associazione Europea VF is very active in this area.
Although our windows face the road there is no other building close by besides the tavern across the road so I doubt there will be much traffic and we should all have a good night's sleep. Buona Notte for now.

FRIDAY, JUNE 23:- DAY EIGHT - Pont St Martin to Settimo Vitonne

“Sitting at home and meditating on the divine presence
is not enough for our time. We [must] come to the end of a long journey and see that the stranger we meet there is no other than ourselves - which is the same as saying
we find Christ in him."
Thomas Merton


FRIDAY, JUNE 23: DAY NINE - Pont St Martin to Settimo Vitonne 20kms
Kathy: - aka Motoring Reporter (“guidare a passo d’uomo” – driving at walking pace!)

Really interesting to see the types of vehicles people use here! Every Italian home seems to have a Fiat of some kind. We have seen hundreds of Pandas of all kinds, shapes and sizes colours and ages, also Multiplas, Ulysses, Stilios. Lovely little Lancia Ypselons, Peugeots, and Suzukis. Our favourites however are the little three wheel scooter cum bakkie things that seem to zoot all over town. They are Italian made judging by the name and we would each like one to zoot around Westville, Bothas Hill, Kloof or Durban North. On a more serious note - walked from Pont St Martin this morining after a fanatastic breakfast at Fabio’s B&B. Have been really spoilt. Once again a hot humid day.

Rayna: Tonight we sleep at the L’Ospitalita el Castello. Opposite is a very old church that is a National Monument, the Pieve Di St Lorenzo e Bapttisterio D S Giovani. The murals on the walls date back to the 12th C. The shame is that the paintings are crumbling. There was a group of youths visiting the church who are here for 15 days touring and helping to repair the pedestrian route across the Alps.

Marion: Fab accommodation last night in the centre of town and a charming host. The only problem was the flies. This morning we found out why we had so many - two doors away there was a small herd of goats in the yard. The goats were cute to look at - the flies were not. Again we walked the whole day with mountains on either side of us. A very pleasant easy walk with lots to see, again it was very hot and humid. We had a long steep walk up to the castle but it was well worth the effort.

Sil: It was warm even at 6.30am when we all got up. Left Pont St Martin at ± 8.15am after a great breakfast and had an easy walk through little villages and vineyards mostly on side paths parallel to the main road. We are almost out of the Aosta Valley - Ivrea being the end of the Valley. Our B&B today was in a castle on a hilltop. There was a very steep climb to reach it – once again passing stations of the cross- this time sculptures in niches in the walls - but WOW, was it worth it! We rang the bell at a high, elaborately wrought iron gate and a bronzed young man, washing out a water trough (the upturned lid of an ancient sarcophagus) looked up, saw us and crossed himself before coming over to let us in. This was Moreno – son of Clementine and owners of the L’Ospitalita el Castelo B&B. We are in a renovated section of an old castle complex, the new B&B having been grafted onto the castle walls, the church, the pillars, the terraced vineyards right outside our windows.
After settling in we walked back down the steep cobbled path to the main road passing the 16 Stations of the Cross (knowing that it would be quite a climb going back up again) and got a bus into Ivrea. Walked along the river for a while and then a local directed us to an internet cafe where we were able to post two days on our blog. We were a little concerned about not being able to find our way back to the river and find the right bus stop to get our bus back to Settimo Vittone but once again a Blessing Moment - the bus stop for Settimo was right across the road from the Internet Cafe.
We have had many blessing moments! Even losing our box in Zurich was a blessing because we didn’t have to carry all that stuff to Vevey. Meeting the cyclist in Martigny (who had worked in JHB 20 years ago) and who put us on the right path was a blessing moment. And then coming upon a selection of walking sticks leaning against the wall of a closed and shuttered stone cottage with an honesty box for donations. Even having Bernd help Rayna carry our excess baggage when we walked down the mountain was a blessing. We seem to find just the right people to help us when we need them the most. I say thanks to Kathy who prays for us each day. We are crossing a country on foot without a guide or even proper way marks and need all the help we can get.

Val: Arrived at our accommodation - a castle on top of a hill - whilst we are not yet into Tuscany - one can't help but be reminded of the film "Under a Tuscan Sky". This place is too incredible for words (and we felt sorry for her when she was dumped by her man!) We have our song - It is James' Brown "I feel good" - we adapt it occasionally.

♫ We feel good
'cos Sil says we should
We feel Fine
When we are walking in Line ♫

Introducing the Via Francigena Five

Here begins the Journey
Now begins the Day.
With one step upon the Road
Our Souls are on the Way.

The Via Francigena Five” will soon be on their way.



WHERE ARE THEY GOING?
To Switzerland & Italy to walk the Via Francigena – the old pilgrimage road to Rome.


They start walking on Lake Geneva on Friday 16th June and will walk ± 210kms - 4 days crossing the Swiss Alps at the Grand St Bernard Pass (where the famous dogs are kept) and then 4 days in the Italian Alps, through the Aosta Valley as far as Ivrea.

On 24th June they will get a train from Ivrea to Parma and then walk for two days, over the Cisa Pass as far as Pontremoli. Another train will take them to Lucca in the north of Tuscany and from there they will walk ± 360kms to Rome, arriving at St Peter’s Square on Thursday 13th July.


♦ They will carry everything they need for 28 days of walking in their backpacks (± 6kgs)
♦ They will wear boots and/or hiking sandals depending on cross country paths or tarred roads.
♦ The longest distance will be ± 32kms and the shortest 14kms.
♦ They will stay in pensions, backpackers, a Gité, youth hostels, B&Bs, monasteries, a convent, camp site dorm, a castle, on a farm, small hotels and apartments. (Most of these were booked in advance.)
♦ Their journey begins on 14th June and they return on Monday 17th July.

You can send them messages/encouragement/questions on this Blogger.