Tomorrow I will walk into St. Peter's Square at the Vatican and receive my testimonium....the certificate authenticating I have walked at least 100 kilometers To Rome. From Lucca to Rome, having missed five days of walking due to a fall, I can claim 300 kilometers.
Last year at this same time I was three days away from walking into Santiago de Compostela after having completed an 800 kilometer walk. The excitement was palpable. I felt the overwhelming joy of the completion at odds with the Solemnity of the trek coming to a close.....almost a mourning. Today, a year later, I am aware of the great gift of being able to do what I have learned to love: carry a pack on my back and walk......Take in the sights and sounds of experiencing countryside and cultures unfamiliar to me....and share with friends and family some of this amazing world through photos and words. I feel calm, thankful.....blessed.
This time my walk encompasses fewer kilometers, yet feels to have been much tougher in many ways. Certainly the fall resulting in what I am sure is a mild crack in the rib has not helped......five days of walking were lost to healing time.
Perhaps the Via Francigena feels tougher as the infrastructure of the Camino Frances, the portion of the Camino de Santiago I walked, is not yet in place. Villages are spread at greater distances; vendors offering fresh fruit or cold drinks for an inexpensive price, or even donotivo, are non existent. Locals seem to have a more blasé attitude. Walkers are few and far between in most instances. The first seven days of this trek I saw only five other pelligrini ( pilgrims). The most I have seen in a day is the twelve I saw today......one day outside of Rome. Many days I saw none. It is a far more lonely existence.
Tomorrow however, into Rome! St. Peter's Square will be crowded, as always. The sights of the Vatican will take my breath away, as they did two years ago.....and this time I will be arriving as I have planned to do for months.....on foot, with my pack and a prayer of thanks for all I have been given. Okay, just got a shiver.......the excitement is bubbling!
https://www.amazon.com/Camino-Soul-Learning-Universe-Whispers-ebook/dp/B01DTAKQUG
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