A funny thing happened to me...........

It's hard to believe but this really is the last blog of the journey. Walking into Lazio I was pretty relaxed as I didn't need to be in Rome until 11th September which meant shortish walks in increasingly cooler weather. The water above is one of a number of lakes (this is Bracciano) north of Rome. It was formed in the crater of an extinct volcano. Nice place to walk.

I'm now staying almost every night in a religous hostel. This one is in Bolsena and is run by the sisters of San Sacramento. Very nice they were and the digs were great.

Some of this bit of Italy is still a bit hilly and this is the basillica (right) and papal castle (left) on the hill at Montefiascone.

A place I really loved was Viterbo. It was a town where the popes often lived, especially when the Vatican was under threat or when there was plague in Rome. I was there on the day the current pope came to hold the Eurcharist ceremony, which I watched on a big screen. The locals were out in the medieval garb and these lads were leading a procession.

The pope's palace in Viterbo is beautiful and the town has lots of unspoilt medieval streets and squares with not a souvenir shop in sight.

Sort of a Romeo and Juliet balcony which you see everywhere in the old town.

This is a photo of the staff of "Il Quadrante". I went there for lunch on the Sunday (a rest day)and they invited me back for a meal and drinks on the house in the evening as I was a Via Francigena pilgrim. Great food but I could only manage one meal (so it was vino only in the evening). They are dedicated to keeping the culture and cuisine of the region alive. One of the best places I've eaten.

Lazio province was much greener than Tuscany and the main crop there seemed to be hazel-nuts, so somebody must be eating a lot of nutella. Not only is it more green but has lots of tree cover. Flat countryside with lots of shade and in no real hurry; about as good as it gets for walking.

My last night outside Rome was spent with the Sisters of St Bridgita in La Storta, which is an outer suburb of Rome. Sister Christina had been the Mother Superior of a convent in Buckinghamshire for eight years and knew North Wales. A bit more expensive than most hostels but B and B, own room with en suite, dinner with very nice wine at 35 euros is very good for Rome.

I got an early start on Friday and was walking along the Tiber on the eastern side of Rome by midday. Jill and I had been there for the Wales v Italy rugby a few times so I was in familiar territory. I did have some mixed emotions as I came nearer. I stopped for a beer so that I could savour the moment.

And here it is. The end of the old pilgrim route, where Sigeric came to have his position confirmed by Pope John XV over 1,000 years ago, all 2,000 km. of it. I got my pilgrim passport stamped. At this stage I was just looking forward to seeing Jill who was due to arrive in the evening.

On the Saturday we went out to the Vatican again to re-visit some of our favourite places. We went to a bar/gelateria where they remembered us from the rugby trips and had lunch at a restaurant we had gone to years ago when we first went to the Six Nations with Dai and Vee Jenkins.

And here we are in that restaurant having lunch. The trip finished as it started with Jill and I enjoying ourselves in a beautiful city (Canterbury and Rome).

I feel I should be making some really profound statements at this stage but what I really want to say is that I hope you've enjoyed the blogs and to let you know that the very fact that friends and family have been reading them has really helped. I'm still collecting for the Cobalt Unit and any cheques (made out to that organisation and sent to me) would be very welcome. Va benne.

Lazio

Only have time for one shot of the walk through Lazio (I'm in Viterbo about 80km from Rome). This is the old Via Cassia, the Roman built consular road which was the start of the route north to the Alps and beyond. It's not on bad shape considering it's about 2,000 years old. It has been bypassed in parts and local communities are repairing bits. I should be in Rome on 11th to meet Jill and will blog when I get home.

Machinna blog

This one is for Bob. First and only one I've seen. I must print a retraction about Bob's snoring keeping me awake in Chalons. It was Reims.

Now a few shots of two Fiats I saw in Siena for Dave. The 127 seemed like an everyday run about but the Topolino (I think it's called) was obviously not, but immaculate all the same.

and out again

This is the town of Monteriggioni which I refer to below but for some reason I've put the photo in the wrong place. Read on and you'll get the picture.

Being in Tuscany is a bit like being hit on the head repeatedly with a cultural mallet. It's not just the big cities that are wonderful but even the little places and I hope this shows in this blog. I didn't think the other shot in the last blog of St Gimigiano (the city of towers) did it justice so this is one taken as I left the town. The convent I stayed at there was wonderful and I got a room to myself.

This is a group of hikers from Fidenza. The lady on the left called Anika works in the offices of the VF offices in Fidenza (see earlier blog). She'd also done 16 days living on Swansea marina and studying English at Swansea Uni. "Did I know Ammanford" and "How did you think Joe's icecream in Mumbles compared to the Italian sort" were not the sort of conversation topics I thought I'd meet on this journey. Every time they found me crashed out under a tree they made sure I was ok.

As a result of a bit of a mistake on the monastery front I found myself staying a night in Montriggioni in an apartment. This is nightfall just as the trattorias are opening. As you see the town on the hilltop it is spectacular. See the first picture on this blog.

A sideways shot of the Duomo in Siena. This is the most wonderful city. Not only is it all you'd expect from a great Renaissance city but it is very friendly and you don't get ripped off. For example, I had an early morning coffee in the Piazza del Campo (see later shot) before the crowds arrived and it was o.9 eu which is great when you think of the rip off prices normally charged in this sort of location.

I got a room near the city centre and it looked ok (ish) from the outside. I later found that the back entrance was the old servants entrance and three floors up the front entrance was an old pallazzo. My room opened onto the old entrance hall complete with vaulted ceilings and marble floors. It also had a great roof garden where I sat and eat peaches one afternoon.

And here is the Piazza del Campo where they have the mad, bareback horse races between the different neighbourhoods. I always thought it was flat but there must be a 30 ft drop between the top and bottom of the course, which must make cornering on cobbles a bit difficult. Just stunning in the early morning though.

Of all the places I've stayed this one had probably the best outlook. It's the Hotel Borgo Antico in Lucignano D'Arbia, a day walk from Siena. Paulo, the owner, and his staff made me very welcome. It's a bit more expensive than the places I normally stay but the view from the dining terrace is wonderful (as is the food and at reasonable prices).

Nearly out of Tuscany now. I had a bit of a climb one morning and came over the top of a ridge to see San Castiglioni on the opposite ridge. Without looking at the guide book I had a premonition that I'd have to go down into the valley and back up and I was right. 500m down to 200m and back up to 800m (above sea level) and all in a distance of a km. I was done in.

This is the view from the front gate of a little fortified village on the first ridge which pilgrims would have walked through. Sorry for the orientation but I just liked the photo.

After another day in the hills I came to Piancastagnaio. Down in the valley is Lazio Province. And Rome.

Into Tuscany

Didn't have time the other night so here goes. As you move away from the sea you get into Tuscany travel brochure country. Lots of vines and olives and mountain top villages. I know where the supreme being put all the spare hills now. Nothing huge but a bit like a roller coaster. After miles of lovely countryside you then reach one of the set piece towns. I can't remember even hearing of Lucca but it turned out to be a beautiful place, and in retrospect relatively tourist free.

I'd booked into the Youth Hostel (no cheap shots please) and the lady at the tourist office pointed me in the direction of the tower and church (see above). It was an old convent and was like a 5 star hotel in the foyer (see below). 21 euros a night and right in the middle of the old town. The snoring and flatulence of my 7 room-mates was the downside but I still have a pair of the earplugs Bob brought me in France and was able to get two good nights sleep. Bob bought them for me to protect me from his snoring after I'd spent two nights sleeping in the en-suite in the hotel in Chalons.

As I walked south this farmer stopped and we had a chat about my trip and in the meantime he built up a huge traffic jam. After 20 minutes of horn honking and him waving people on he said he had to water his toms and lettuce and he was off.

There have been a few bits of the walk which have been really special beacuse you know that the old pilgrims had to have travelled down the same bit if road. This bit is the old Via Romana which has been by-passed by more modern roads and is maintained by the local community in Porcari. Underfood are cobbles and on the left is a medieval mile-stone. Some mason has been good enough to build a bench into the wall which has been polished by the bums of countless pilgrims, merchants and soldiers who travelled the Via Francigena (including mine).

One of my favourite pictures is this one looking back at St Miniato in the early morning. I stayed in the convent and was fed along with the lay brothers through a revolving serving hatch. Own room with en suite plus evening meal (unlimited wine) and breakfast all for 30 eu - great.

Last photo is of the centre of St Gimignano. This is the hill top town (everywhere is on a hill)with 17 medieval towers. Two local families decided to outdo each other in tower building rather than fighting (very Freudian) and the result is wonderful.

I'm writing this in Sienna and it may be the last blog until I get to Rome (hopefully by two weeks today when I meet Jill and we fly home). Best wishes to you all for now.

I must go down to the sea again ...........

But first I had to get over another couple of hills. The mountains opposite are higher but the climb up from Aulla was really hard work. I'd come over one crest and down and was going up an old path used by donkey drovers when I met a French lady. She'd done the Via Francigena the year before but as a warm up she'd hopped the islands of north east Scotland, walked to Stonehenge, taken a train to Canterbury and walked to Rome. After this I felt like a bit of a wimp and just got on with it. Sweating still but swearing less.

It always says in guide books that the climbs are worth it for the views. Sometimes this is rubbish but this time coming over the top of the last hill was breath-taking with the Med in the far distance behind the hill town of Ponzano Superiore.

This one is out of order but as I'd shared a hostel in Aulla with two Italian hikers (Marrinelle and Guiseppe) with whom I'd walked down from the Passo Cena a few days earlier I wanted to put it in so that it would remind me of their warmth and for forgiving my awful Italian. They had walked to Compostella before and were now doing the Rome walk. Best wishes to you both if you read this blog.

After passing Ponzano Superiore I came across a dig. A group of archeologists from Pisa were continuing a dig on a castle which had been destroyed during a slight misunderstanding between the local bishop (who owned it) and some local lords who felt he shouldn't. The lady in charge of the dig spoke really good english having studied at Oxford.

The Archbishop of Canterbury who documented his trip (in the year 990) did not record whether he brought his cossie. With a name like "Sygeric the Serious" I doubt it but it wasn't going to stop me getting into the Med. After a couple of hours walk out of Sarzana (on the flat) I took my morning tea and brioche at a beach bar and went on to book a deckchair and enjoy the sun. I had the white feet and body look which Iwanted to get rid of so a few hours in the sun were perfect.

After a night in a hostel (bit communist block but own room, 50 metres from beach and 21 eu a night so pretty good) I set out to walk to Camiore which is the start of the inland bit of Tuscany. I missed the left turn on the coast to Pietransa and ended up doing an extra 7km in the afternoon sun but in the end got there. Pietransa is a really nice (and expensive) place with lots of art and craft type shops set arond a big square and all surrounded by medieval city walls.

There was an art exhibition going on. It explored themes of contemporary bestiary (I hope I got that right and haven't offended anyone). The little girl is not real and is part of the piece. The photo below is of the rest of ther square.

My night stop was in Camiore and I picked a great hotel. It was run by a family and showed the best of what this can mean in Italy. I had the house ravioli and a carafe of wine and it was brill. I said it was great and got invited into the kitchens to meet the chef (the lady on the far left who is part of the family). They were so friendly and I even got a 10 per cent pilgrim discount on the food and room. As I was leaving at 6.30 the next day they made me up a breakfast to eat before I went. Fantastic.

Piacenza to the sea (nearly)

Piacenza is absolutely wonderful and is dominated by the Piazza Cavalli where there are two huge equestrian figures. The city is all about wealth, power and prestige and it does it pretty well. After a couple of days I did feel like getting a move on. When I neededa beer this couple advised me to go down to the retired genteleman's club in their village which turned out to be a swiss chalet type building. Totally out of place but what a view.

The next place of note I got to was Fidenza and was one of the places where you could feel the pilgrims passing through. The cathedral is small but covered with medieval carvings and you can imagine the mostly illiterate pilgrims looking at it like a DVD.

The carving below is of what happens if you are naughty. I love the little Marty Feldman figure on the bottom left. The next one is of a line of pilgrims on their way to Rome.

The HQ of the Via Francigena Association is also in Fidenza. The ladies below help run the association and the information office which is outside the cathedral.

As I moved out of Fidenza the hills started to appear and for the rest of the time I've been steadily climbing towards Passo Cesa, which is just over 1,000m, and coming down the other side towards the sea. This bit of the journey takes you out of the Po Valley and into the northern part of Tuscany and down to the sea. The climb takes you through Fornova up to Cassio, Barcetto and then down to Pontremolli, Aula, Sanrzana which is near to the the coast. It brings you down into Tuscany just on the Ligurian border. The picture below was taken from a bar in Cassio, as nice a place to end a walking day as I can remeber.

One for Dave. I saw this 500 in Fornovo and I know there are hundreds about but this really was in mint so I thought he'd like to see it.

Also in Fornovo I stayed in a three star hotel which was remarkable only for the grumpiness of the lady owner and the fact that it had a pool. I met Martin, a German pilgrim, by the pool and knew him to be a fellow traveller as he shared my tan (white feet and body and the rest well tanned). His daughter and son in law had come down in a hired camper and were acting as a support crew. Martin had walked from Koblenz and his right leg was in a bad state. He was still walking when I last heard. We had a morning walking together and I really hope he makes it to Rome.

In the mountains after Fornovo they really have got into the pilgrim spirit and the signage is brilliant.

The place below is a lovely seminary I stayed in Barcetto. It is probably one of the nicest towns I have stayed in and the seminary was great. Lovely grounds, own room with en suite and nice people running the place.

Walking down from Passo Cesa. This is the border between Emillia Romagna and Tuscany. Kiss goodbye the Parma ham and Parmessan cheese and on to wine country. Sorry, this is the view from the bar having seen it again.

A great bit of this trip is not knowing what the next place is going to be like. I walked into the town of Pontremoli through the old city gates and it was wonderful. The bit of the walk from Fornovo to Pontremoli has probably been the best bit of the walk from a scenic perspective. Lovely villages hanging on to moutain sides and all in the sun.

Hope to be by the sea south of Genoa in a couple of days then back inland to Lucca and Sienna.