If Kees hadn’t stayed with Dutch people who run a B&B in Umbria, while hiking the Via Francigena, we would have never found out about a Dutch church right in Vatican City! We couldn’t believe our ears: a Dutch Reformed church within the Vatican, right across from St. Peter’s Cathedral?! Turns out there are some fascinating historic connections here.
Pisa. Many iconic, world renowned sites can be a let-down when you first see them in person. But the leaning tower of Pisa, to me, was amazing to see in reality. Photos just cannot convey the awe that I felt when I saw the tower. It’s not just leaning… It’s ornate, delicately carved from marble. It’s gleaming white. It’s gorgeous. And it is definitely leaning! Só much so that I am amazed it hasn’t toppled over yet.
Some types of dwellings are specific to only a small region on earth. When we were researching places to visit in Italy, I came across a photo on the internet that blew me away: unusually shaped houses with grey stone, domed roofs. They looked impressive and I studied the websites. It looked like Smurf ville!
After hiking nearly 100 KM on the Via Francigena, and when my toes turned to Fall colours, I stayed in Siena while Kees continued hiking. I had planned a nice little writing retreat in this history city.
As with so much in our lives, this trip, and our interest in it, started with a book. Pompeii by Robert Harris is a fantastic read that has you walking and living in ancient Pompeii, among rich families who have water front homes, who take hot baths, discuss politics and stroll along shops. In the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, it has you hearing the rumblings of the earth with no prior knowledge of such a thing as volcanic eruptions. I found the book riveting since it made me feel as if I was there. And now now we were going there!
I was going to Bari, Italy to help launch the Italian version of my book Stepping Stones, A Refugee Family’s Journey. But Bari, as it turned out, held even more meaning. It is the city where the bones of Saint Nicholas rest in the Basilica di San Nicholas - the patron saint of sailors and children whose birth (or death?) date we have been celebrating in The Netherlands and traditions which have morfed into all aspects of Santa Claus in North America. Come along on a journey to Italy and through time.
We came to Italy to hike a “different camino” - the Via Francigena. Since the 7th century, a passable route across Europe was important to allow for trade, invasions and more. The Italian route crossed the Apennines, followed the Magra Valley and then turned away from the coast towards Lucca - our starting point for this long distance hike across Tuscany.
Twenty years after hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain for the first time, we still like to hike. And Kees especially loves to conquer long distance trails. This time we decided on the Via Francigena: the Italian part of an 1,100 year old pilgrims’ trail leading from Canterbury, England all the way to Rome: 2,000 km.
Before author visits to schools across Europe we planned on doing a portion of this trail. But first we wanted to acclimatize, after flying in from Canada, and warm up our hiking muscles with a visit to Cinque Terre.
