Eternally Rome

Thus did Don Bruno bless me in the vatican where history believed Saint Pietro was buried face down and it was the most profound experience and mirrors the blessing i received from Canon clare in canterbury.  the walking pilgrimage from canterbury to rome, La via francigena,  has been the richest journey of my life.  I would like to thank my wife and daughter for their support during  this pilgrimage.  I would also like to thank Lord Jesus Christ who walked besides me during this pilgrimage.

It is fate , too , that I am in rome in time for the canonisation of Sister Mary MacKillop.

Saint Augustine.

Faith is to believe what you do not see.   the reward of faith is to see what you believe.

deus nobiscum in via

Oz Peregrinus

Rainy day Sutri

My cohorts in cultural chaos, dancer and giovanni, think i stroll from one bowl of pasta to the next .  well that is not correct and my 7 hour slog through the rain from vetralla to sutri is part and parcel of the pilgrim life on la via francigena.

Mostly there has been fine and holy welcomes at the ospitalita but not at santa rosa in Viterbo.  avoid it. 

The vf through lazio is mainly farming country with rolling hills.   and dogs.  I surely needed the bastoni which i cut from the woods in northern tuscany.    I shall leave the bastoni in la storta.

Freya stark

this is a great moment when you see, however distant, the goal of your wandering.  the thing which has been living in your imagination suddenly becomes part of the tangible world. 

It is overcast in La storta, on the fringe of the eternal city. 

   Oz Peregrinus

Saint Christina

I had a marvellous time in The Basilica of Saint Christina in Bolsena yesterday.  It is good to slow down and reflect.  How a place builds.  And note the miracle of the eucharist there and the frescoes.  Italy astounds.   Today I walked from Bolsena to this internet cafe in Montefiascone.  I must go on to Viterbo. 
Rome gets closer.  Sister Mary is canonised on 17 Ocotber.   La Prima Santa for Australia.

La Via Francigena has been a remarkable personal journey for me.  It is not over yet of course.  I hope the autumn rains hold off for another week.   I open my arms wide to the glories of Italia.  And try and keep my legs pumping of  course.

Do not wait for the storm to pass.
Learn to dance in the rain.

Whom?

It is cool in  Monefiascone

ciao

Oz Peregrinus

In Tuscany

Tuscany seems to be with me forever from the hill towns to the olive groves to the magic of siena, san gimignano, san miniato where i rollicked with the priests at dinner at the convent of san francesco.   montereggioni is something else.  i open my mind and my heart to Italy.   the body holds up , a bit tired, but then i am no spring chicken.   i crorssed ino Lazio.

it is fine in Aquapendente. 

deus nobiscum in via

oz peregrinus

Fatal beauty

Italy has a fatal beauty which is why conquerors viewed it with hunger.    And none is more fatal than Tuscany which is a huge section of La Via Francigena.  Here in Lucca the city arrests with its prosperity.  I try and negotiate a reprint of Albertos maps, buy a new walking bastoni, for my last one gave up the ghost, and repair stubbed toes.   I thought Italy would be a pleasant stroll from one plate of risotto to the next but that is not so.   it is just as tough as the rest of the journey.   the tuscan hill towns are magical.  there has been light rain in the hills, and there are daily concerts of the music of Giacomo Puccini.

Phil Cousineau

The practice of soulful travel is to discover the overlapping point between history and everyday life. 

oz peregrinus

Sister Mary MacKillop

i AM REASONABLY ON PROGRAMME TO REACH ROME IN TIME FOR THE CANONISATION CEREMONY,    AFTER RICE PADDIES AND MOUNTAINS I AM NOW AT THE SEA , MARINA MASSA.

ULTREYA

OZ PEREGRINUS

AT THE WARM SEASIDE

Rice

Alberto warned me about the rice paddies where I could not sleep savage because of the canals which breed mosquitoes.   Flat country of Lombardy.

And so did it remain for countless miles until past Piacenza and my memory of Piazza Cavilli 12 years ago.   It is plod after plod on La Via Francigena.  Then south and east to the beautiful hill town of Costamezzana and then refuge at Fornovo duomo before the climb and climb and tight trails to Cassio then on to Passo de Cisa.  Take care on the trails, in this alpine region between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany.

Until Pontremoli and the fatal beauty of La Toscana.

Albert Camus

Dont walk behind me I may not lead
Walk besides me and be my friend.,


It is warm in Pontremoli


oz Peregrinus