Week 7 – The Six Sestieri of Venice
Santa Croce It seems a very ordinary show Until you sit and slowly look around, It still won’t be salubrious I know But pearls are in their shells when they are found. Once opened [...]
Week 2 Juliana Alps
Bohinj and Most an Soci After a very comfortable, lively, and personal time with our Slovenian friends we had a train to catch but due to the line being under repair we had to leave [...]
Week 1 Ljubljana
An eventful train trip to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, had us meeting a young Sicilian boy called Roberto and a Venezuelan man called Renee, a delightful time, as we uncovered bits of each other [...]
Day 47 Althiem (Hess)
We were collected from the station by our German friends from Altheim. Our first foray was, you guessed it, the town church, and yet another type of architecture, this time Gothic dating back to [...]
Day 46 Munich
Last day on tour with the famous world walking duo, Corrie and Will on their final lap today. I haven’t talked about food much because it’s nothing special but I must tell you about [...]
Day 45 Munich
We started the day by going to church, an unusual event for us, but we were looking for something special. We love Gregorian chanting so we went at 10.30 to the yellow Theatine Church [...]
Day 44 Munich
The train usually takes you to the mountains but we had to take the bus. The reason for this is due to a train accident just outside the town where we stayed. It was a [...]
Day 43 Garmisch-Partenkirchen
It was time. I had a mountain to climb, and my main purpose for this was to put my research into action. I’ve been walking uphill slowly so I don’t put too much pressure [...]
Day 42 Garmisch-Partenkirchen
We like walking, sometimes love it, but to walk two kms to the wrong end of town to see the info officer who told us to go back if we wanted a difficult walk. [...]
Day 41 Garmisch Partenkirchen
We said goodbye to our gorgeous hosts: Briggite and Richard, they were superb, he for giving me detailed information re places I asked him about, giving me burners on a stick to find our way [...]
Day 41Jachenau
We left late for our mountain at midday on a warm, short shirt sleeve day. We were feeling great. Up the river which had already lost most of its wildness but still had that lovely [...]
Day 40 Jachenau
It rained all last night and this morning, so we set out to climb a hill. Gorgeous hill, and very steep meaning we left the river way down below a hundred metres or so [...]
Day 39 Jachenau
Okay, no hiding it, let’s get it out, I’ll be honest with you - no sunset, no the world hasn’t come to end, well, nearly! The sun did set but not for us, it wasn’t [...]
Day 38 Jauchenau
It rained all night and seemed to have gotten that out of its system for there was just a dribble and by early afternoon it was off on a slow walk because we are [...]
Day 37 Jachenau
We were saving our last night in our hotel-restaurant called Milano to have dinner there, but alas it was closed for the first time the owner said, in 40 years. Why? The chef left with [...]
Day 36 Bad Tolz
Another German couple in for breakfast, minding their own business until we said hello. From a nearby village they were here for shopping and loved meeting people especially Australians. He knows us well and [...]
Day 35 Lenggries
Running out of good original photos so I took the opportunity of a typical standoff between a small and large dog. The funny part of this fantasy fight was the little one saying come out [...]
Day 34 Lenggries
Our biking friends arrived for breakfast, he very chirpy and she a little tired. It sounded like a good day though for both of them. Yesterday there was a table between us but Irene [...]
Day 34 Bad Tolz
At breakfast we met a delightful German couple, followed by our delightful hostess Irene. They were here for a few days of biking while we were here for a few days of hiking. She is [...]
Day 33 Bad Tolz
Still travelling and walking close to the same kms., just a little more relaxed. We’re in Bad Tolz in Bavaria and had an interesting journey to get here. To get to this place we first [...]
Day 32 River Lech
Up into the mountains to find the source of the Lech River yielded very little for when we arrived well short of our goal we were told we were out of season. For a while [...]
Day 30 Fussen – our last day
We were going to end with a bang, a good bang, but it wasn’t to be. We had planned to climb a 2000 metre mountain – Mt. Tegelberg, and I won’t bore you with the [...]
Day 29 Fussen
We followed the river Lech into Fussen although it was coming the other way. I imagine it is only a river you can do this with cause it’s always there, so you are always [...]
Day 28 Ammerschlucht Gorge
While we were fairly certain of the bus route, I had to make sure so at 0820 (bus expected at 0836) I walked to the bus stop I thought was the right one but [...]
Day 27 A South-West hike and a river hike
We don’t get.our room cleaned for various reasons, the first being a cleaner stole our computer; secondly we don’t clean at home every day; the Ukrainian cleaner woman still gets paid and it pays [...]
Day 26 Hohenpeissenberg on the Lech
We walked up the platform for the short trip to Mount Hohenpeissenberg and said hullo to a train-waiting man. He appeared to have seen better days by his clothes, his demeanour and his voice, [...]
Day 25 Peiting
The mountain is for tomorrow. We are in Peiting but it was all about Shongau today. Rain was predicted for the afternoon so we packed our ‘rather be dry gear’. The ‘half as huge’ as [...]
Day 24 Augsburg
Our landlord Albert takes a while to remember to be nice and this morning was the same pattern. I asked for towels only and not to clean the room. Once again he seemed to be [...]
Day 23 Augsburg
Well there was more to this river, a lot more water, and if it was an actor it could play many parts. I went down to the river at 0700 as I thought I might [...]
Day 22 Harburg
A little creek washes itself as it splashes gently against the rocks clearly seen through its crystal clear water. It makes small sounds as though trying not to be noticed, but as it swings past [...]
Day 21 Harburg
I took my usual early morning walk out of town, my weather vanes (fingers) telling me it was close to zero at 0700. On my return we chatted to other patrons who were, as we [...]
Day 20 The Tauber Valley and River
A last early morning walk. There are eight different roads leading out of this Rothenburg village of Schienfeld, I have been along six of them so I’ll be able to complete all roads out by [...]
Day 19 Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Well it’s raining and it’s 100% as per the weather bureau’s strange language. Maybe I’m being too hard and what they really mean is ‘you may have rain for one hour or you could [...]
Day 18 Bad Mergentheim – Rothenburg ob der Tauber
‘Dog friendly’ was the sign at reception. I’m not too sure whether it was ‘kids friendly’ also because there were none there which to me often changes the dynamics, but out of fifty tenants [...]
Day 17 Bad Mergentheim
As we went to breakfast I passed a painting on the wall. It was a single Poppy, and I love these bright red weeds. So I asked the manager about it. She told me [...]
Day 16 Bad Mergentheim
We chose the cycle path for my pack day because it was shorter and flatter. The only problem is you have to be very alert for some unforgiving riders although most are over sixty [...]
Day 15 Lauda
I went to bed very sore last night and woke up a lot better. As I got up I remembered my friend in the mountains who, following a poor result from an operation on his back, decided [...]
Day 14 Lauda
The cheapest places to stay are often around the railway station as most of you would know. They’re cheap because they are often in poor shape, they are 1-2 star, there is the noise [...]
Day 13 Wurzburg
By the way, it rains every day in Germany but not real rain, and I stand by that until we have a dropless day. Today another very grey cloud came to town but it [...]
Day 12 Wurzburg
No bus trips today, just one train and an older woman attempting to stop me sitting down a insisted that I get another seat away from Corrie so she could sit there. I was [...]
Day 11 Fulda
The usual pre croissant walk took us to another part of town and passed two beautiful houses, one lived in by the town architect. His house personifies those grand old mansions. Then it was [...]
Day 10 Fulda
To find good walks we sometimes take trains to towns that have a few towns in between. Today was one of those days. The German trains always come into sight a minute before arrival time [...]
Day 9 Weimar
We have made changes to our walking plans because of a range of factors. Firstly there was no camino trail starting in Berlin and my old back injury had a poor relationship with my pack. [...]
Day 8 Weimar
Yet another beautiful German town also situated close to the Thuringian Forest and iconic as it was where Germany’s first democratic constitution was signed after the First World War. It became in 1999 the [...]
Day 7 Gotha
So Luisa (from day 6) has been called the grandmother of German Classicism by transforming Gotha into one of the most important cultural centres of central Germany. Goethe travelled there frequently to engage with [...]
Day 6 Gotha
Gotha is another town on the edge of the beautiful Thuringian Forest. One of the German caminos is from Leipzig to Eisenach and the information office had a map. Great that it was perfect [...]
Day 5 Eisenach
Still here. When the accomodation is superb and the price is right why wouldn’t we stay for a while. And the bonus of three days of great walking. We walked around the rest of this [...]
Day 4 Eisenach
Corrie was afraid she would not be walking tomorrow because it will be raining all day, so she crawled out of bed and up the swiss hill with me for a second time. Set [...]
Day 3 Erfurt and Eisenach
We were offered a lift to virtually anywhere by this older couple who slept next door to us last night. When this man called from the stairway I thought that I was in trouble [...]
Day 2 Naumburg
A long early morning walk along the River Saale whose motto is: everything flows, in this case meaning there is lots to do in, on and around this idyllic river. Ours was walking but it doesn’t [...]
A German Walk
Sorry I’ve been late in sending the posts. I hope to send daily from now on, wifi willing. A long steep walk up to the castle produced a rare hill climb that took my [...]
Day 30 – Mount Maria
Well, we got a full and proper mountain for the last day - Mt Maria - not too big, not too small, just right. Once again we have a different character altogether. We walked through [...]
Day 29 – Telowie Gorge
It said: “only experienced bushwalkers beyond this point” - this was after we had walked 700 metres through this delightful gorge. It had a feeling about it and where Corrie would say: “I think this [...]
Day 28 – Alligator Gorge Mountain
Now the gorge has become a mountain. We had to climb down it first to Blue Gum Flat to then join the Kingfisher Trail which took us nearly out to Hidden Camp. We followed a [...]
Day 27 – The Terraces and the Narrows
You may not believe me if I tell you we were back at Alligator Gorge today but a new location and this is where all the action is. Trails go everywhere here - Hidden Gorge; [...]
Day 26 – Alligator Gorge
We went to Hidden Gorge yesterday, expecting of course, a gorge, (but it was hours away and the evening was upon us), and we got a mountain - wahoo! Today we went to Alligator Gorge, [...]
Day 25 – Hidden Gorge Mountain
We’re back down in the Southern Flinders Ranges (parked at Port Augusta because it is closest to these mountains) where we planned to be because we’re on our way home. There are mountains here we [...]
Day 24 – Mount Jarvis
I found a mountain!!! And it’s a beauty. Eight kilometres away across a flat expanse of red earth lies Mount Jarvis. As I walked towards it I could see the rocks on the side and [...]
Day 23 – Aroona Dam
Some days ago I got lost because I missed a sign. Below is my third attempt to get it right. I tried the newly opened walk at Leigh Creek this morning because I think I [...]
Day 22 -Parachilna
As I explained earlier, my experience here in SA is that there have been two types of gorges - a long gorge that you admire on a ‘journey’ through it; and a gorge that you [...]
Day 21 – Leigh Creek
We’ve come back down to earth after leaving the relatively pristine environs of Wilpena Pound. As soon as we hit the long, dry, flat plains of what I hear some people call, the real Australia, [...]
Day 20 – Bunyeroo Gorge and Trig Hill
Last dinner was with our new friends from Rozelle. They followed us on the Bridle Path yesterday because they thought their initial lookout hike was not enough and if us two oldies could mess with [...]
Day 19 – Rawnsley Bluff
One article said this was a very difficult climb; another said it was rocky but only difficult for a short way and then flattened out; another said it was straight forward for most hikers. [...]
Day 18 – The Bridle Gap
We met them by the pond while talking to a tree. We looked up at the tree and saw a tiny bird that she was conversing with. We chatted a little and then decided [...]
Day 17 – St Mary’s alternate – Heysen trail
On my morning walk I discovered two tracks that we hadn’t been on so I did a small recce of these and determined after our difficult day yesterday we would stay relatively closer to [...]
Day 16 – St Mary’s Peak – Malloga Falls
It’s the highest Mountain in the Flinders Ranges but walkers can only walk to Tanderra Saddle just below the summit. We acknowledge that the peak of this mountain is sacred and local elders would [...]
Day 15 – Wilpena Pound
We were supposed to go on a walk that meant driving to the start. It had rained all night so we put off a major walk to St Marys Summit because we were advised of [...]
Day 14 – Mount Ohlssen-Bagge and Wangara Lookout
We’re in Wilpena Pound, the heart of the Flinders Ranges, and once again my booking.com genius has done it again - last minute vacancies. A cosy quiet little collection of huts - similar to motel [...]
Day 13 – Waukarie Creek
I finished my early walk and arrived at the coffee shop at five to eight first in line, or so I thought. There were two doors, damn it!. The door opened, but it wasn’t my [...]
Day 12 – Mount Brown
It seemed the longest mountain we had climbed to date and a popular one. Lots of mostly older couples with a few young ones. Adelaidians are so friendly, we have to show some urgency because [...]
Day 11 – Warren Gorge – Devil’s Peak
An Aboriginal man spilt his beer as he tripped on the curb close to me, and I thought I was the one supposed to do that. “Ow are you goin?” he said. “Terrific”, I said. [...]
Day 10 – Dutchman’s Stern – Quorn
There’s been a lot of rain about in the last week, mostly at night time, which for us has been a stroke of luck. But here in Quorn it is not when it rains that [...]
Day 9 – Sugar Gum Hike – Mambray Creek
My polar walks still continue as do my town circuits. Besides the superb disused railway station, the post office, and an old glorious pub, I also walked past a church - the Uniting. These days [...]
Day 8 – Mt Remarkable
The polar air mass was the reason my fingers and ears were hurting so much on my morning walk. South Australia as a whole was getting these massive cold winds and rumour had it that [...]
Day 7 – Warren Conservation Park
This was classed as a hard walk but the hardest thing was finding it. We had many helpers: the GPS woman (very kind and polite); shop owners (polite but ‘what about asking the [...]
Day 6 – Black Hill
Another glorious walking day in South Australia. Cool but sunny with clouds coming and going and so far it has rained nearly every night, stopping at 0600 just before my early walk. I called in [...]
Day 5 – Anstey Hill
My usual early morning walk, but a dark start as our destinations become further and further away. Anstey Hill is a range of hills that offer numerous walking options, though simpler facilities than the others. [...]
Day 4 – Morialta Gorge
Superb. It was a gorge, but a lot more as well. The Conservation Park calls it a gorge but I would call it gorgeous. As usual in these parks there are paths going everywhere, and [...]
Day 3 – Mt Lofty – south
We walked the southern Mt Lofty Range this morning - up it, down it, and around it, on home made paths, on gravel ones, stony, wide and steep narrow ones with sheer drops. We both [...]
Day 2 – Hallet Cove walk
I walked in to the tourist office, I thought, and was surprised they had no maps, or information about walks in the area, so I pulled out a book of walks that were in the [...]
Day 1 – Hahndorf
Well, we’re here in Hahndorf, named after a town in Germany. It also has many original buildings with the traditional fachwerk architecture that gives the town a decidedly German look and feel. Just as Covid [...]
Preamble to our South Australian Adventure
Corrie and I will officially begin our blog on our walks in the Adelaide Hills and Flinders Ranges on June 1. We hope you can join us.
Day 30 – Wentworth Falls to Sydney
On our final day it was great to be in our little shack in Wentworth Falls. With the sun rising in a gap left by the greyish clouds, the Magpies were the first I saw [...]
Day 29- Mudgee to Wentworth Falls
We leave the busy, seemingly properous town of Mudgee. I usually judge a town's prosperity by its numbers of coffee shops, and this town has lots. Maybe this isn't scientifically acceptable, so I'll listen to [...]
Day 28 – Gunnedah to Mudgee
I'm trialling some different approaches to my medications and documenting the results. In conjunction with this I am noting changes to my energy states on different levels. The primary reason for this documentation is because [...]
Day 27 -Glen Innes to Gunnedah
I've never been given the keys to a bank before so I'll treasure them greatly. A delightful place to spend a night and apart from the owners, we were the only ones there. They were [...]
Day 26 – Lismore to Glen Innes
Roadworks have been a large feature of our trip so far. Sometimes the roadworks are longer than the non-roadwork part where it seems to be a giant yard of vehicles and machines. I was wondering [...]
Day 25 – Murwillumbah to Lismore
Mount Warning was one of our two main goals today. A three kilometre walk to the top of this mountain had a sense of a volcano about it. A little research shows it was once [...]
Day 24 – Ballina to Murwillumbah
We're on our way to the third border that won't let us in, so fortunately for us we don't need to get in, there's plenty for us to see in NSW. We took as many [...]
Day 23 – Ballina
A driving free day today which is a regular weekly event. Since Tuesday is my Zoom exercise day starting at 10.30, we need to stay an extra night in the same place, because lodging departure [...]
Day 22 – Yamba to Ballina
I am going for pre-breakfast walks now so am walking closer to 15kms daily. It was great finding our way up the rugged reef to view a large natural pool edged with that shiny green [...]
Day 21 – Bellingen to Yamba
We leave the high steep slopes of the rolling green hills joinng the rainforest mountains of Dorrigo to the lush valley below. A final walk along the Bellinger River was a lovely way to say [...]
Day 20 – Bellingen
My morning pre breakfast walk was around the quite substantial 16 acre property owned by the motel (we learnt the boundaries the hard way by trespassing on a neighbour's land). I've found that to complete [...]
Day 19 – Bellingen
"Bellingen is all about restaurants, there's not much else here, and they're very expensive". Not really what we wanted to hear from our tourist information person. "But outside there are lovely walks", she said, as [...]
Day 18 – Port Macquarie to Bellingen
A dinner with old friends whom we had not seen for a while was very joyful, as we swapped stories and joked and laughed like naughty teenagers. They also shared bits of knowledge about Port [...]
Day 17 – Bulahdelah to Port Macquarie
What? Is an old bloke like you going to climb Mount Alum? And, I said, my old wife is joining me too. Nah, it wasn't really like that but there was an intimation that we [...]
Day 16 – Sydney to Bulahdelah
We took Corrie's toothache as an opportunity to also bring the red rally car into the pits. The pits however are in Mortdale, so it's like another rally in itself. A clean bill of health [...]
Day 15: Sydney
I walked a lot today because we weren't driving, it was such a beautiful day, and I had lots of energy, so I was able to double my daily target. It was a great start [...]
Day 14 – Mollymook to Sydney
I missed the sunrise because the clouds wanted exclusive viewing rights, but the rain was finished so no need to get my poncho out for its first run. another long reef walk round a cliff [...]
Day 13 – Braidwood to Mollymook
A morning walk took me down to a small creek where Platypus are sometimes seen but not this time, and because private properties took the creek frontage, I walked the streets. A few oldies were [...]
Day 12 – Wagga Wagga to Braidwood
Outside our lodgings is a substantial levy that goes for kilometres around Wagga. There is a hefty steel fence made from large steel girders that are dug deep into the ground, the wall being one [...]
Day 11 – Hay to Wagga Wagga
Our first hotel (the rest have been motels which I didn't think existed any more). It was good to stay in one of these majestic icons of the outback and these flat planes seem to [...]
Day 10 – Wentworth to Hay
It's official, the world or at least Australia, is flat. In the outback it was flat but it's also flat everywhere else especially in Hay, where I heard a local on the radio saying it [...]
Day 9 – Wentworth – Mungo National Park
An early walk along the Darling River (Barka) to its meeting with the Murray River ( Tongala) was a great way to warm up to the world and for my zoom PD exercise hour. Our [...]
Day 8 – Broken Hill to Wentworth
We promised a friend that we would visit the 'Silly Goat' for a coffee but did not check opening times. So alas they were closed the day we were leaving, now who's the Silly Goat?The [...]
Day 7 – Broken Hill
One of the challenges we set ourselves on this journey was to fast walk for 10kms daily. I discovered this fast walking exercise after reading about someone with PD reducing his symptoms considerably. While Corrie [...]
Day 6 – Wilcannia to Broken Hill
We didn't even take our shoes off as we trampled through his lounge, sitting or dining room, not sure. His bed and bath rooms were some distance away.He sat back in his wheelchair seemingly unperturbed [...]
Day 5 – Bourke to Wilcannia
The noise was deafening. I had wandered down to the Darling River for a morning walk. Momentarily standing to take a photo, I must have invaded their privacy. Hundreds of white cockatoos were screaming about [...]
Day 4 – Lightning Ridge to Bourke
'Everything's on the table', or that's what some would have us believe. But it was today. Our Lightning Ridger friend and family laid out a morning tea feast on a 'converted door' - 20mm deep, [...]
Day 3 – Dubbo to Lightning Ridge
It was supposed to be a three rivers walk but ended up two rivers and a late night walk. The first river was the Castlereagh in Gilgandra. As I was perusing the river, an older [...]
Day 2 – Dubbo Zoo
I had to zoom my PD Warrior class today so what to do with my class at 1030 and I, needing to leave my room at 10 - checkout time. So we decided to stay [...]
Day 1: Wentworth Falls to Dubbo
A strange feeling, at home in Australia but not feeling at home. We have been so used to just walking at this time of the year and, in foreign countries. There was a sense of [...]
Toledo to Madrid
It was nourishing to sit on our outdoor patio, looking down and over this old city, the three cultures spread out before us unnoticed in this blended town on our last morning. This was after [...]
Toledo: Day 2
Toledo is a city of twisted streets, where it is difficult to find one where you can see 50 metres ahead. Not only are there infinite corners but because it is on a sharp hilltop, [...]
Toledo: Day 1
Last stop before Madrid is Toledo even though it’s after. The bus took us through typical Extremadura countryside that I talked about some days ago where poor quality soil gains extra attention through thoughtful land [...]
Caceres: Day 3
The common denominator today was rock, just in different forms and ages. In the morning we went to look at rock art, the world’s oldest cave paintings at over 67,000 years old. It took a [...]
Caceres: Day 2
This is the home of 28 palaces, not all built for royal families but also wealthy families built them as their home. There are 30 medieval towers, others, older, are a mixture of Roman, Islamic, [...]
Caceres: Day 1
Our train from Merida to Caceres took us through the unique region of Extremadura. It is unique in the sense that it is farmed and grazed to benefit the land, rather than to make huge [...]
Merida: Day 3
Rome today. We walked across the world’s longest Roman bridge with the typical arches below while looking at a very modern one with one arch above where the pedestrians walk along through the centre. I [...]
Merida: Day 2
On the roof of our hotel at sunrise, but buildings hid the golden view. It was fascinating though to see the light suddenly appear on the eastern olive groves, then on the nearby stork tower, [...]
Merida: Day 1
A palace in a plaza is our home for the next three nights. Like in Cadiz, we have a large roof deck which gives a different aspect to the place and we see different things. [...]
Cadiz: Day 12
It often happens. When things appear to be going wrong, and it appears we can do nothing about it, a resignation comes. Then we start to make alternate plans and nothing seems to be good [...]
Cadiz: Day 11
We’re near to a school, so we rise at around 7.00 with the sun and the sons and daughters that arrive at school across the way. Our home is one of those three-storey terraces that [...]
Cadiz: Day 10
Explored a further neighbourhood today and enjoyed connecting up the different ‘barrios’ of Cadiz and relishing in its antiquity and the non-touched-up feel about the place. Just staying in our small Hostal, hardly seeing anyone, [...]
Cadiz: Day 9
A reading day today, combined with our mandatory 5+kms walk through now familiar areas combined with some new discoveries. Being in the centre of the old part can get a bit busy at times and [...]
Cadiz: Day 8
It was time to buy train tickets for when we leave on Saturday. After weeks of changing our lodgings every night, it is great to just stop in one place to wind down, get back [...]
Cadiz: Day 7
We went for a walk today along the 3km shoreline of Cadiz, or was it Cadiz? Various names have been given to the continent’s oldest city but it’s been Cadiz now for a very long [...]
Cadiz: Day 6
It was viewing time already in the cobbled street gallery, as the sun had been busy painting the buildings and cobbles slowly, while continually adding more light, creating changing combinations of light and dark in [...]
Cadiz: Day 5
We paid our seven euros and were led across a dimly lit room of 50 tables with seating for around 200 to a table where ‘Coralie 2’ and 2 Ukrainian names were written, against a [...]
Cadiz: Day 4
Corrie’s knees don’t like the hills like I do so I climbed the spiral hill (like a real outdoor hill - no steps) on my own. I realised when I got to the top that [...]
Cadiz: Day 3
Today it was a bookshop/cafe tour to find a ‘good book’ and the ‘best croissant’. We googled the bookshops and received advice about croissants from the best hostal owner in Spain. We’re staying here for [...]
Cadiz: Day 2
We never go on a walking tour, but today we did. Pablo was very entertaining as he led us with his pink umbrella through the tall and narrow streets of Western Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited [...]
Train to Faro
Someone said to me the other day that Spanish is similar to Portuguese but Corrie tells me differently. She says it is easier for a Spanish speaker to read Portuguese, than to understand the spoken [...]
Day 30: Santiago de Compostela
The Dutch girls were the first we met on track Cemented friends once we had smashed our wine, Another Dutch, she rarely saw our back We wished, with her, that we had spent more time. [...]
Day 29: Faramello to Santiago de Compostela
Not a good start to our last day ... but they say the camino is about learning, about our reactions, how we could have behaved differently. In the pilgrim places where the cost is very [...]
Day 28: Padron to Faramello
The penultimate day of our walk and it had a different feel about it. We have been so used to a regular routine that requires little thinking or planning, that to then have to use [...]
Day 27: Caldas de Reis to Padron
Looking down on two deep river valleys, we could just hear the waters echoing their different sounds as they made their never pausing way through this, our first major rainforest. A very long gentle slope [...]
Day 26: Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis
Started early today but being Monday, the cafe bars open late but fortunately we found an old original one on the outskirts. As Corrie was ordering breakfast happily in Spanish now, I looked out to [...]
Day 25: Cesantes to Pontevedra
Dinner with our Dutch friends was fun as we told stories, shared ‘life parts’, and amused ourselves with the local live entertainment. The first part was an older family member who seemed to have a [...]
Day 24: Porrino to Cesantes
Darker when we leave now because of the time change in Spain. I like this because for me it is such a special time of day. That feeling of aloneness, the explorer, seeing things before [...]
Day 23: Valenca to Porrino
We dressed for rain because, after all, it is Portugal, well this morning it is but after about 10 it will be Spain but it will be 11 because of the time difference which means [...]
Day 22: Sao Roque to Valenca
We awoke to a misty window with small piles of ice made up of tiny rice-sized balls, which we were later to feel as light hail. Breakfast with a busload of German tourists and 4 [...]
Day 21: Ponte de Lima to Sao Roque
Today is the first time the rain isn’t having a break so we won’t be having one either, so it’s off over a very long medieval bridge, pristine because it seems the weather has everyone [...]
Day 20: Sao Bento to Ponte de Lima
A friend of mine in Sydney suggested I try the Bacalhau or Cod fish as most know it by and have it with a white wine, so I did. I firstly tried the whole fish [...]
Day 19: Barcelos to Sao Bento
We left town on Easter Monday where the celebration of Christ was in full swing. There were older people dancing in the square where the main street’s decorations culminated. The fireworks that sounded like large [...]
Day 18: Arcos to Barcelos
Dinner was very expensive at our hotel even though we get a huge discount on our lodgings, so decided to look around this small village. We found the one place in town on the village [...]
Day 17: Vilarinho to Arcos
We left this unusual village with a multitude of roads meeting in the grassy town square. Our lodgings were the only reason we needed many exits in case some were blocked. It was freezing cold [...]
Day 16: Moreira da Maia to Vilarinho
It was an out of the way village and Dolores seemed to be the only restaurant in town. This was a good thing because the food was the best cooked food we have experienced in [...]
Day 15: Porto to Moreira da Maia
No more washing today, the streets are clean but wet, and the big dryer is about to emerge from its slow shifting cover. We’re on the move again venturing out into a perfect day. As [...]
Day 14: Porto
The streets of Porto were washed for us once again as we searched for a special cafe. We walked in and out of our first one, but soon returned after failing to find a decent [...]
Day 13: Coimbra to Porto
There was no accommodation inside 25 kms and at this stage we decided that it would be too risky to walk with a leg well below full capacity. We scanned the maps eager to see [...]
Day 12: Tomar to Coimbra
Another misty morning greeted us as we opened the curtains on Tomar’s last performance. We had balcony seats so we also felt the touch of the cool air as we strained to see the castle [...]
Day 11: Tomar
Well we explored a bit of Tomar and started to get an idea of why it is most revered. First it must be noted that Portugal has a very large catholic population dedicated to the [...]
Day 10: Vila Nova Barquina to Tomar
We are catching up with our English/Australian friends today so our walk will be a 4 km walk to the station to catch a train to Tomar, a medieval town, so crucial in the Portuguese [...]
Day 9: Golega to Vila Nova Da Barquina
We’ve just left the best bathroom in the world. A huge shower room with a huge shower head that tries to drown you, a loo with the same space, you could dance in the ‘cleaning [...]
Day 8: Golega
Today our host arranged a visit to Golega’s Natural Reserve with Fernando who is in charge. The area is about 5kms square and we spent the morning walking through mostly ‘untouched by human hands country’. [...]
Day 7: Santarem to Golega
So, a bus back to Santarem and it was off walking again as we headed back to familiar camino territory. Through copious vineyards with ‘just planted vines’ to still young ones, planted so methodically, divided [...]
Day 6: Santarem to Fatima
A steep hill to the bus station provided our morning fast walk as we walked from our hotel to the bus station way up in the village of Santarem. It was curious knowing the place [...]
Day 5: Azambuja to Santarem
There wasn’t a distance I could confidently complete - ie. ending up in a village with lodgings or a train station - so we decided on a ‘two village walk’. We looked in on a [...]
Day 4: Vilafranca-de-Xira to Azambuja
Another short day as my legs are finding different things to entertain themselves with. Firstly a small ache in the left before it jerks a little and then tentatively reaches out. The right one tries [...]
Day 3: Vilafranca-de-Xira
We are having a stopover in Vilafranca-de-Xira. Early for us, but our situation has made it so. This town is so pretty and our accomodation so delightful, it was not such a difficult decision and [...]
Day 2: Alverca to Vilafranca-de-Xira
It was back to where we would have been after the second day, to continue our walk. A bit embarrassing but it’s done now and quite relaxing having a train ride before our days walk. [...]
Day 1: Lisbon to Moscavides
We met Vanda at the starting point of the Portuguese Camino. She is the female part of our Portuguese friends and had decided to come with us on our first leg. It was wonderful as [...]
Les Coquelicots
At first I saw you standing by the road Just one, to let the world know: ‘I am here’, That glance that stole my heart and really showed The power of that beauty when so [...]
Our Florac hideaway
Sabine was there to greet us and to drive us from Nimes to her plentiful old stone house near Florac. Her family have had this mountainside getaway for three generations so it is in her [...]
Florac in Southern France
On our way, 1st class now (price is similar to 2nd class??) to FLORAC to spend a few days with our friend Sabine in her country home. Because of continual strikes, one can only travel [...]
Day 49 Vuillecin to Pontarlier
Our home was on a busy highway and well off the Via Francigena track, so google maps showed us a nearly non-car road that would cut across a field and join up with our camino [...]
Day 48 Mouthier-Haut-Pierre to Vuillecin
Six kilometres from our final French village, Pontarlier, seemed like a good plan so there wouldn’t be a long strenuous day to finish with tomorrow. Climbing steeply out of our valley home was a great [...]
Day 47 Ornans to Mouthier-Haute-Pierre
A wafting mist gazed through our window from the mountain tops replacing the sparks and roars from the night before. A little chill in the air indicating the coming of mountain country enticed us out [...]
Day 46 Trepot to Ornans
Two whole floors to ourselves, a covered balcony displaying the sunset, and lovely hosts. They waved us off the next day along a glorious route that none of our guide books referred to. After a [...]
Day 45 Besancon to Trepot
Would love to spend more time here in Besancon, it seems an interesting place - maybe I just got caught up in a ‘tram city’ which I love. Then there are the steps up over [...]
Day 44 Cussey-sur L’Ognon to Besancon
Leaving our vine covered home in this gorgeous tucked away village, reminded me of how lucky I am to be having these experiences, and with my very best friend. So lucky to be walking; so [...]
Day 42 Dampierre-sur-Salon to Gy
We left ‘school’ early in case the kids arrived early, really not sure when they start. The kids I’d say are preschoolers and the building has a large inside activities area rather than a gym [...]
Day 41 Champlitte to Dampiere-sur-Salon
With our busy social life out of the way, it’s back to the hard slog. It’s been raining all night amid the huge light and sound show so there’s a bit of a worry about [...]
Day 40 Chalindrey to Champlitte
No! it wasn’t Veronique who was cooking and singing, it was Serge, while Veronique looked after our welcome beers, aperitifs and wine. It was worth the 2kms walk off track to this now isolated Chambre [...]
Day 39 Langres to Chalindrey
A slippery Roman street had us carefully making our way to breakfast in this medieval fortress high above the surrounding countryside, its renaissance look appealing in the misty light. The Boulangerie was very small but [...]
Day 38 Langres
Sitting down to our luxurious ‘tuna rice dish’ decorated with avocado, lettuce and baby tomato salad, garnished with mayonnaise and balsamic vinegar, in companionship with a pretty white wine, we, or maybe I, leant myself [...]
Day 37 Mormant to Langres
The first village I can remember without a church but it had an Abbey in need of love and some money. There were some old paintings painted on to the walls but were slowly disappearing, [...]
Day 36 Chateauvillain to Mormont
Another home to ourselves and this time supplied not by the church but by the local council. Cooking facilities, lounge and 3 bedrooms to choose from, and once again paid by donation. There was time [...]
Day 35 Clairvaux to Chateauvillain
There were 3 women in this pretty 2 storey home on the Rue Abbaye. These nuns welcomed us into their home like no other. While one chatted to us about the abbaye’s long history, another [...]
Day 34 Bar-sur-Aube to Clairvaux
A man in a hat called out from the top balcony as he rested his arm on a piece of metal. On the floor below, a young woman looked curiously over the shoulder of a [...]
Day 33 Dolancourt to Bar-sur-Aube
Our home last night was once a flour mill and has been cleverly converted into a smart hotel. Dinner was over a noisy stream, and the view was of the same river, a weir, and [...]
Day 32 Brienne-le-Chateau to Dolancourt
A big day so we left very early. An enormous chateau dominates this Napoleonic town - a large celebration bringing crowds of devotees. It so happens that this well known soldier joined the army here [...]
Day 31 Chavanges to Brienne-le-Chateau
A broken cafe awaited us at the end of a very long and straight entrance to our village for the night. An older woman first knocked on a house for sale and then at a [...]
Day 30 Outines to Chavanges
A lazy walk through a lazy village (or better still, a laid back one), with a tiny and falling population, we had a smorgasbord of PdB houses. A chance now to take in more sunsets, [...]
Day 29 Saint-Rémy-en-Bouzement to Outines
She told us she didn’t speak much English even though her father sent her to England to learn it. “The English speak so fast and there was no way I could ever understand” our host [...]
Day 28 De-Vitry-Le-Francois to Saint-Rémy-en-Bouzement
A small red ball reminded us that three things have been happening. Primarily there’s too much comfort in bed to go looking for it; our lodgings are not facing that way; or the mist and [...]
Day 27 Saint-Armand-sur-Fion to Vitry-Le-Francois
His mum was there but with no English, so she showed us to our grand room in this ‘2 large courtyard’ mansion renovated carefully back to its original look. Her boy, the mayor, who spoke [...]
Day 26 Saint-Germain-la-Ville to Saint-Amand-sur-Fion
Another wet night, light rain brought out our plastic attire in the morning. The chicken farmer came back to see us off, after saying goodbye to his 20,000 long term guests 2km away. He will [...]
Day 25 Chalons-en-Champagne to Saint-Germain-la-Ville
Walking the streets of CeC was an ongoing delight. There were crooked houses, many leaning against the other for support (we know how it feels, our empathy now extends to old buildings); rivers, canals and [...]
Day 24 Reims to Chalons-en-Champagne
Dinner with our new Canadian friends was fun. A busy bar became non busy in the blink of an eye as what seemed like a protest march was for a moment more interesting than a [...]
Day 23 Saint Thierry to Reims
As you can see from yesterday’s photos, the first grapes have been sighted. A little bit of Tuscany, and lots of champagne as we see the signs of large wine producers appearing regularly. No champagne [...]
Day 22 Berry-au-Bac to Saint Thierry
Close to the half way mark and I thought it was time to share what is happening for me in the ‘Parkinsons Sphere’. Pathology: It has been obvious that I have slowed down and it [...]
Day 21 Corbeny to Berry-au-Bac
Well, would you know? There are people at our place - 5 older French couples and an English couple, the latter had dinner with us, ie they were at the next table. He should have [...]
Day 20 Cheret to Corbeny
Laon seems to mark the end (maybe temporary), of the wide open fields where you can see for miles. Part of the reason this vista exists is because there are very few trees, except the [...]
Day 19 Laon to Cheret
Les Chevaliers was our Laon home for the night and the 2 young Frenchmen were the personification of its title. These knights cared for us from the very start, offering both of us carriage of [...]
Day 18 Tergnier to Laon
Tergnier is a town still rebuilding after the war but mostly around the edges. Not far from our hotel, Le Paon, is a silent, unpeopled square. There are no cafes, no residences, no shops, so [...]
Day 17 Seraucourt-le-Grand to Tergnier
The idea of a camping ground appeals to neither of us for so many reasons. A tent is okay but getting up from ground level is becoming very difficult, especially when the loo is an [...]
Day 16 Trefcon to Seraucourt-le-Grand
The kitchen was huge, an enormous stove in one corner, our large table looking out on the grand courtyard off the horse stables (an aside, I didn’t realise at the time but in my horse [...]
Day 15 Peronne to Trefcon
St Jean the Baptiste was responsible for our small ‘by donation cottage’ last night. It was quite austere, clean and warm, however he only provided us with single beds and no tea bags. His apartment [...]
Day 14 Bapaume to Perrone
During tea I asked Odile why all the churches are closed and the main reason she gave was vandalism. It’s easier said than done but it sounds like the vandals have won out and surely [...]
Day 13 Arras to Bapaume
The tourist information office in Arras is quite exquisite. It is in the Hotel de Ville, those special buildings you find in most larger towns, with their gorgeous architecture and a tall bell tower that [...]
Day 12 Ablain-Saint-Nazaire to Arras
Big decision - Walk another long wet muddy day or take up our hosts’ offer of a tour of what a lot of the north is famous for. No chance to visit these enormous memorials [...]
Day 11 Bruay-la-Buissière to Ablain-Saint-Nazaire
A real people day today, as we began on our now familiar unused rail track high above the surrounding fields, exquisite in its appearance and offering shade if needed. So far no, as the shade [...]
Day 10 Amettes to Bruay-la-Buissiere
Our Chambre d’hôtel within a beautiful courtyard was just what we wanted as we were entertained by Lulu the poodle who performed a few steps for us on his back paws, as we searched deep [...]
Day 9 Therouanne to Amettes
We returned to see Silvia ‘cause she had the only wifi in town. She also had the only violin that she played in the local symphony orchestra. As we looked around her office she played [...]
Day 8 Wisques to Therouanne
Dinner was basic but their seemingly lack of fastidious etiquette for how they eat impresses me. Maybe the rich and famous are a little more critical, not sure. Depending on the food, it can be [...]
Day 7 Tournehem-sur-la-Hem to Wisques
Another huge breakfast allowed us to also make lunch again for there will be no shops on the way. Our walk seems to be more well known as villages become smaller and walkers more noticeable. [...]
Day 6 Licques to Tournehem-sur-la-Hem
Beds are becoming hard to find so we are taking a big step and booking ahead. Ominous clouds are gathered early to wish me well for another year, as we exit our night room where [...]
Day 5 Guines to Licques
Our moated home was enough incentive to have a bath. The idea to be surrounded by water twice in the one night was appealing. And because we couldn’t direct the water from the bath to [...]
Day 4 Calais to Guines
Calais I am sure has lots to offer but a pilgrim’s way is often taken up with basic needs, minutia, the unkind might say. Looking for a bed did not take long, looking for our [...]
Day 3 Dover to Calais
A short walk to the ferry today so a chance to gaze out at the rows of similar English cottages from our comfortable bed. So comfortable I forgot to take a photo from our second [...]
Days 1 to 2 Walthamstow to Dover
The three beat sound of the pigeons was accompanied by the seagull cry as we woke in our private loft three stories up in our London friends’ busy home. We were treated like celebrities as [...]
Changing your Brain
To change your brain, it takes a lot of work, Some hours per day and every day you need Tense focus, it is not a job to shirk, The Brain - it’s hunger cries for [...]
The PD Reward
In most, it’s just a very normal thing, Receiving plaudits as you strive to reach A goal, that life has helped us all to bring, To focus on, to learn and then to teach. For [...]
Reward yourself
The Reward In most, it’s just a very normal thing, Receiving plaudits as you strive to reach A goal, that life has helped us all to bring, To focus on, to learn and then to [...]
Just across the border in Germany
Walking in the hills of Freiburg there was a sense of what this flat open valley city values most in life. Trees aren’t cut down so tourists can put pretty pictures in their albums, instead [...]
Just across the border in France
Sandy and Yoli drove us high into the forested hills that look down on Munster. They took us to a large old farmhouse restaurant with rustic chairs and tables where a few ducks gathered in [...]
Bern and Basel
If you’re lucky to meet an English speaking Swiss couple in a park and start chatting, you might find out some secret information. We asked the hotel person, who said go to the rail people, [...]
After the walk
I will now post each time we visit a new place. Posting times will be between 2-4 days and can be accessed on the home page link 'Switzerland 2017'. Photos may be delayed as the [...]
Day 31 Aosta to Nus
The Aosta valley villages wove into each other on a cloud shaded day. A friendly Frenchman joined us for our first few kms beside the grape vines, through the forests and along a variety of [...]
Day 30 Etroubles to Aosta
The long gentle downhill slopes continue along shady pine needle paths. Our pace is closely mimicked by a small canal streamed off to follow the same contours. This gentle slope allows a metre wide and [...]
Day 29 Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard to Etroubles
It was not far off t-shirt weather, an Alps' chill not able to compete with our brisk walking. Walking down now past some over-keen day explorers, who ran past us as cars swerved and jumped [...]
Day 28 Bourg-St-Pierre to Col du Grand-St-Bernard
A continual climb today from around 1400 metres to 2480 metres, through the heart of the Alps, hardly a need for signs anymore. The track is narrow but their are no points where walkers would [...]
Day 27 Orsieres to Bourg-Saint-Pierre
Tumbling water greeted us as this huge stream from the myriad of mountains gathered in the valley beside us. It met us in the lower valleys as it pushed against its banks, slowly eating into [...]
Day 26 Martigny to Orsieres
Breakfast with 5 priests at our table and 6 at another was something I could never have imagined - how could this be? Firstly it is a pilgrimage although you would never know it from [...]
Day 25 St Maurice to Martigny
Our last day with Philip who has been great company and very easy to walk and stay with. He will catch a train in the morning to his home in Waalre, Holland, with hope that [...]
Day 24 Villeneuve to St Maurice
Into a long valley with mountains on all sides, snow strips on the peaks, and down a little, the previously cut grasses now glistening after the recently vacated snow. The mountains coming closer each step [...]
Day 23 Lausanne to Villeneuve
We walked two big days with the two metre Dutchman because the next day, today, we cross Lake Geneva in a very crowded boat. It was strange to not be walking and it felt like [...]
Day 22 Moudon to Lausanne
People were everywhere in the streets of this old Swiss village. It's Saturday market day and all ages are setting up stalls from the valley of the village, winding up like a stretched 's' and [...]
Day 21 Autigny to Moudon
A long day's walking today and now seeing a few more walkers. We met our first Australian, a woman from Sydney; we had a quick chat. She was married to a Swiss and finding it [...]
Day 20 Fribourg/Freiberg to Autigny
We left without breakfast today because we were hoping to eat with our Dutch friend 10kms down the track. We were also conscious of the fact that he had driven to our meeting town, so [...]
Day 19 Heitenried to Fribourg/Freiberg
Jacques the dog sat on my foot, leaned up against my leg (as many Swiss dogs seem to do), and kept his eyes focussed on the front door. His dad, the retired psychologist owner, was [...]
Day 18 Rueggisberg to Heitenried
Doris was delightful, her doors were always open to us so we could simply wander across the road to use her wifi and bathroom. She also did our washing and drying which is a big [...]
Day 17 Wattenwil to Rueggisberg
Margrit's breakfast setting was exquisite with thin folded cheese, cheese designed like pieces of broccoli, fine rhubarb jam, and other foods decorated with flowers, basil and mint. The four white sentinels joined us for breakfast [...]
Day 16 Thun to Wattenwil
Marcel had brought a huge long table and two benches outside this church onto an equally huge area and had our breakfast laid out for us. I think Ermanno had said it would be a [...]
Day 15 Merligan to Thun
Probably the earliest European dinner ever at 5.30 in this magnificent house run by a friendly, interesting and engaging Lutheran minister. When I welcomed Ermanno after he arrived by bus (stop right outside our new [...]
Day 14 Interlaken to Merligen
A howling wind, hard and heavy rain had sort of overdone my prayer for cool weather. But we had the right gear except for my soft, kind shoes that just let any water come in, [...]
Day 13 Brienzwiler to Interlaken
A light low ceiling of cloud barely kept the sun hidden as it attempted to break free at any time. The cloud kept its cool and hovered over us as we climbed - very long [...]
Day 12 Lungern to Brienzwiler
Susan was a hoot, loved a joke, very engaging as she took us to her small one room chalet out the back. In one of our talks she mentioned her daughter who lived in Randwick, [...]
Day 11 Flueli Ranft to Lungern
Another regular morning climb took us past some older day walkers, dozens of bike riders with similar variegated paths and landscape. We came down from the forests and the cows to see a lake in [...]
Day 10 Stans to Flueli-Ranft
Off and up into the now sunny hills, but with just enough chIll to keep us happy on track. Long hills today but after nearly losing our breath yesterday, most hills are fine now, or [...]
Day 9 Brunnen to Stans
Doris, the breakfast nun, thrust out her hand and before I could recall Dorita's handshake of the night before, she crushed it again (all 40 kilos of her). Apart from the damage she was doing [...]
Day 8 Alpthal to Brunnen
As we trialled our new bed in a real house it rained heavily and all night. Switzerland's weather has followed this pattern ever since we've been here, never raining after 9-10am. Previously we had been [...]
Day 7 Pfaffikon to Alpthal
It's the cows' shed. They sauntered out underneath our dorm of 16 beds - and only us. As they moved out from being milked they paused below our window, not to welcome us, but to [...]
Day 6 Eschenbach to Pfaffikon
We know now from our hosts that there is no official Swiss language though roughly, it is German to the east, French to the west, Italian to the south, and drawing a line from north [...]
Day 4 St Peterzell to Wattwil
A stream of cloudy light woke me as I climbed up from the floor where our 5 mattresses covered the entire floor. Our new young German friend Brigitte slept on mattress no. 5 under the [...]
Day 3 Herisau to St. Peterzell
Very steep but smaller hills at present, leaning forward seems pretty important because balance for pd people wavers over time so important that we practice it. I also need to become confident with smaller hills [...]
Day 2 St Gallen to Herisau
I picked up a forgotten umbrella and slipped out to look for a croissant shop - bakerie. 'More than usual' bells rang a bell for me that many shops might be closed. An hour before [...]
Day 1 Rorschach to St Gallen
Rorschach was bed-free so at midday we changed plans and decided to start walking as we really had no choice, and lucky for us it was cool, so our journey had inadvertently began. It was [...]
Nearly ready
Walking up Balmain mountain for final preparation
“When” – a poem
I have taken license with Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" to help me make sense of my disease. Hope there is something useful in it for you as well: “When” When you can make some sense [...]
Aosta – Milan 2016
We had to catch 3 trains from Milano, but I would have caught more if I had known what was at the end. The first 2 trains took us through the rice fields of northern [...]
Venice 2016
Is there anything like this nearly underwater city - its intricate canals of course, varying in size from ‘Gondola width to a ‘good hit of a tennis ball distance’? These are the life blood of [...]
Florence 2016
Florence has the look of a giant artist’s gallery and studio: the street painters sitting quietly going about their work, the art shops silent as the artist waits for last minute purchases, the footpaths outside [...]
Assisi 2016
Assisi is a beautiful village clinging to the western side of Monte Subasio. Steep and long winding narrow streets (a common feature of so many villages) carve through the village dipping off into cave-like crevices, [...]
Day 44 La Storga to Roma
The rain has left us a freshly washed path as the sun tempered the morning chill. We had our last breakfast with the flying Italian Ermanno, with his natural ease and his ready smile, and [...]
Day 43 Campagnano-di-Roma to La Storga
Home was a 300 bed parrochia split into 6-10 bed bunk rooms that were not actually for walkers but for young people, which we were obviously not. However, only a young German biker arrived (and [...]
Day 42 Sutri to Campagnano di Roma
The Bronze age village of Sutri has a very long history as you can see by my first words. The unusual caves they lived in; the amphitheatre they built; and so much more lay the [...]
Day 41 Vetralla to Sutri
We left the Swiss couple, the Englishman, Phillip from Holland who all began in Canterbury, England and the Canadian foursome at home, and went looking for our path. It was superb, like a huge stately [...]
Day 40 Viterbo to Vetralla
The big light had the sky all to itself today and painted the few whispers of cloud with those fiery colours only it can do. Along the ubiquitous gravel tracks deep down in eroded earth [...]
Day 39 Montefiascone to Viterbo
It rained all night but it was only a dense fog that blurred the steep cobblestoned lanes as we walked past the hazy lit shops. Once again just a few people wandering the sloping streets [...]
Day 38 Bolseno to Montefiascone
Dinner in a lantern lit street - ahhh - I’m in heaven - where no-one much seems to sit - just watching locals wander in and out of these doors in a wall. Behind them [...]
Day 37 Aquapendente to Bolsena
I’m at that stage where I see the finish but don’t really want it to stop. I’ve found a type of emptiness before on these trips when I wake up and there’s nowhere to go [...]
Day 36 Ponte a Rigo to Acquapendente
Putting our donation in the tin, we turned off the a/c and lights and left the nursing home. Around the corner there was coffee with some truckies and a few early motorists, and stamping of [...]
Day 35 Radicofani to Ponte a Rigo
A short walk today so a sort of sleep in, the fog obscuring the nearest house. We are on the top of a high hill, so we’re in that place where we mostly and recently [...]
Day 34 Gallina to Radicofani
It rained all night but at 5.00 the stars could be seen, so rain pants on as a precaution (not needed) and on to a quiet tar road with my tiny torch our headlight. The [...]
Day 33 San Quirico d’Orcia to Gallina
We re-met the honeymooners in San Quirico and had a fun catch-up - wished Stephania a happy birthday - explored the local streets - then home to our mansion for the night. Up late - [...]
Day 32 Ponte d’Arbia to San Quirico d’Orcia
Sergio (our host) is up early to prepare our breakfast, feed his 4 donkeys and get ready for his day as bank manager in San Quirico. He directed me to the back seat and Corrie [...]
Day 31 Siena to Ponte d’Arbia
It was strange, but lovely to walk out of Siena with just a few people wandering about - some wheelies off to their next holiday destination; 5-10 others going somewhere; delivery trucks miraculously finding a [...]
Day 30 Monteriggioni to Siena
No early opening bars these days as we enter the heart of popular tourist towns, so no need to open for the locals - they all own shops, they’re open well into the night and [...]
Day 29 Colle di Val d’Elsa to Monteriggioni
A late start because it meant a giant breakfast and it will be another short day. Because we went on an alternate route yesterday it was impossible to follow the guide book, so we asked [...]
Day 28 San Gimignano to Colle di Val d’Elsa
Left the feuding towers of San Gimignano in the dark, with the corridor of street lights illuminating our footings on our way past the monastery that sits proudly admiring the UNESCO town from afar. We [...]
Day 27 Sunday in San Gimignano
On a back street, via San Matteo, where the sun wasn’t shining, we sat at the sort of table I love with the girl that I love and searched for a poem by the 14th [...]
Day 26 Gambassi-Terme to San Gimignano
Our wonderful hosts had decorated the breakfast table with flowers and laid out breakfast beautifully for us. ‘Believe in your selfie’ and her sister had said they wouldn’t be there and to help ourself at [...]
Day 25 San Miniato to Gambessi-Terme
Dinner with 10 others in the Convento de San Francesco, including our 2 French fellow walkers, 3 Italian men and a Dutchman. The Dutchman has walked from Holland - his partner doesn’t like to walk [...]
Day 24 Altopascio to San Miniato Alta
It was an eclectic walk. We started on a ‘5 car a minute road’ for a short while, then off on those various ‘exit to avoid the traffic pathways’, all the way to our next [...]
Day 23 Lucca to Altopascio
We had to walk 2-3 kilometres this morning to find a bar (if I didn’t tell you before or you didn’t know) a bar sells alcohol, coffee and croissant variations. As usual, men between 40 [...]
Day 22 Camaiore to Lucca
At dinner last night we caught up with ‘an earlier met young Australian couple’. We had fun swapping stories, a lovely twosome who we hope to see again. We also keep in daily contact with [...]
Day 21 Massa to Camaiore
We walked as though we were nearly 7 not 70 - a day off and cool, we were renewed. Along a highway for a short distance past early bar openers, a couple of locals, lots [...]
Days 19 & 20 Sarzana to Massa
Help from the polizia I love thunder and lightning, especially when I’m not out in it, and tonight the thunder seemed to shake our little room, while our window was in a position [...]
Day 18 Aulla to Sarzana
The great bonus with staying in a parrocchia or donative is because not only are they cheap (mostly what you can afford), but it is a chance to meet others doing the same walk, swap [...]
Day 17 Villafranca in Lunigiana to Aulla
It’s raining so wet gear on except for my non waterproof new balance shoes - but so far in the rain my wet feet have not caused me any concern - the risk I took [...]
Day 16 Pontremoli to Villafranca-in-Lunigiana
We stayed in a quiet and quaint village by a rocky river. After a small sleep-in we walked slowly out of town, glancing about us at the ancient buildings huddled together while a few locals [...]
Day 15 Berceto to Pontremoli
Up into the mountains again through villages, high up and low down in the valley, with spectacular views from 1000 metres on Cisa Pass, we relished the spectrum of this intriguing mountain range. The steep [...]
Day 14 Sivizzano to Berceto
The kitchen is an extension of our sleeping quarters so the 4 of us simply moved our packs into the kitchen so as not to disturb the Germans who were having a sleep in on [...]
Day 13 Medesano to Sivizzano
We’re in the mountains and their cool breezes and shaded sanctuaries draw us up easily into their welcoming embrace. We walk along the highway for a while until a familiar sign leads us off one [...]
Day 12 Fidenza to Medesano
Onto the street once more, the sun rising unimpeded in its bright red glow an hour down the track. We were soon into the lower hills of the Apennines and for the first time being [...]
Day 11 Fiorenzuola d’Arda to Fidenza
No-one was opening for coffee before 6.30 tomorrow so I asked the owner of a cafe if he could open at 6.00 and there he was with his freshly baked croissants at 5.45. We started [...]
Day 10 Piacenza to Fiorenzuola d’Arda
And what a mystery it was. We met in the piazza at 6.00 am with a bar well into the day’s work and then we left under the light of the street lamps and out [...]
Day 9 Orio Litta to Piacenza
We climbed down from our bell tower to begin a new day with our vibrant and entertaining new French friends. We walked along highways again, some fields, this time heavy with acres of Roma tomatoes, [...]
Day 8 Santa Christina to Orio Litta
We ate pasta with Sabine and Bertrand from the south of France, and had a wonderful time with these avid walkers. So easy to be with, and with enough English to communicate with us, two [...]
Day 7 Belgioioso to Santa Christina
With our ineffective a/c still chugging out warm air, I collected the breakfast they had left for us - fruit, fruit juice, cakes and biscuits - and ate on our new a/c balcony down the [...]
Day 6 Pavia to Belgioioso
After superb pasta next door, Angela invited us to chat with her, her husband and a young pharmacist in the courtyard near the peach tree under the lights of the sky - it was delightful. [...]
Day 5 Gropello-Cairoli to Pavia
Quietly we crept out and down flights of stairs - gate would not open but luckily someone starts work the same time as us and bonjourno’d to us from another gate - phew! The early [...]
Day 4 Tromello to Gropello-Cairoli
Breakfast in the plaza of a little village at 5.30 was a gorgeous start to our day. The locals were all there, drinking coffee, talking - in the cool of the early morning. We continued [...]
Day 3 Mortara to Tromello
Corrie's failed interview in the Tromello nursing home. She's still with me! Our alternate route ---- Get over it, Corrie! When we got lost, this is the bridge we built to get [...]
Via Francigena – Days 1 & 2
Leaving Vercelli in the rain. Great. It was later than I expected to get going, 6.20. I felt a little tired but thought that was normal. We showered, Corrie asked for her watch [...]
April walk postponed
An update on our walk through Italy on the via francigena. We have postponed our walk until September 2016 due to a stress fracture in my left foot. I have also been diagnosed with osteoporosis [...]
L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue
L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue was our destination today and what a find. Friends had told us about it, but when the word ‘Venice’ creeps into a town’s name, I become concerned. Of course it is nothing like Venice, [...]
Eguilles – a village
We arrived in Eguille (20 minutes from Aix) in a state of the art local coach/bus with 6 other passengers. Maybe at 1 euro it was too expensive for some, but as usual we just [...]
Aix-en-Provence
We stayed in Aix-en-Provence, a university town and the most important educational centre in the region. It is a major city-commune along with Nice, Avignon, Toulon and Marseilles, of the region today known as Provence-Alpes-Cote [...]
Leaving Barcelona
The Barcelona Inside Me Robin Becker Give me, again, the fairy tale grotto with the portico-vaulting overhead. Let me walk beneath the canted columns of Gaudí’s rookery, spiral along his crenelated Jerusalem of broken tiles, [...]
Shadow of the wind
Some years ago now, Corrie and I were staying in our friend Maddie’s room in England and came across a book that looked very interesting. It was a novel set in post war Barcelona and [...]
Barcelona – ‘rapera’
It was on again last night! The busking stars under a full moon. There were 20 people there at 8.00 and it had not yet begun. Maestro was setting up the accompanying music as a [...]
Pamplona – last day
We spent the day walking around the outskirts of Pamplona admiring this ‘green’ city. Pamplona went to a lot of trouble to protect itself from invaders over the centuries, and not only built a fort, [...]
Pamplona fiestas
We are staying in Calle San Nicolas a popular bar street in medieval Pamplona where the bar tops are decorated with a bounty of brightly coloured tapas treats. The street is awash with pink decorations [...]
Pamplona – the next day
Well, I read Hemmingway’s book ‘Fiesta: The Sun also rises’ and it failed to give me an insight into the soul of Pamplona. It talked about his unrequited love, other relationships, and his efforts to [...]
Day 37 Zubiri to Pamplona
Our Albergue (called a gite in France) was like a hospital following the walk over the Pyrenees and a further 25 kms. Damaged knees were the main injury and there were 3 in our place [...]
Day 36 Roncesvalles to Zubiri
To keep you up to speed, the French route that we were on is called the ‘Chemin du Puy’ and goes from Le Puy en Velay to St Jean Pied de Port at the base [...]
Day 35 St Jean Pied de Port to Roncevalles
We’re 2 hours up the hill, a good start - we’re yearning for a clear day but the Pyrenees doesn’t cater for all and as any mountain climber will know, things work in a different [...]
Day 34 Larceveau to St Jean Pied de Port
Back to the good old days - breakfast not included so we caught the sun by surprise even though s/he would have been shrouded anyway. The landscape is starting to change as is the human [...]
Day 33 Aroue to Larceveau
The dinner party did not eventuate because the expected couple did not arrive. When you’re off the track in the middle of a paddock this can happen, because a walker may see a gite on [...]
Day 32 Navarrenx to Aroue
We were joined at Breakfast by 2 middle aged Germans whom we are seeing regularly now. We were waiting for the owner who was buying fresh bread so time to chat with these women and [...]
Day 31 Argagnon to Navarrenx
My apologies to the pig, her name is Raquel named after someone whose closest identity to a pig would be eating a ham sandwich. Raquel did not eat with us, our French friend (who we [...]
Day 30 Larreule to Argagnon
It’s all happening. Other walkers are getting growled at but new measures are in place since the Aussie had complained - the owner now growls at the dog, and a big man follows up if [...]
Day 29 Pimbo to Larreule
There was a change over of baggage carriers today and a holiday as well so our case was forgotten, so instead of having that obligatory shower, we looked around. We saw a beautifully designed twelfth [...]
Day 28 Aire-sur-L’Adour to Pimbo
There were so many walkers in the Gite last night that a young French woman had to sleep in the passageway outside our door. The main problem with this was (being highly trained Gite people) [...]
Day 27 Nagaro to Aire-sur-L’Adour
Yvonne was so much fun. I told her about Elena, (owner of our room last night) and the care she took with my big toe. She looked at me suspiciously and said: “Atencion William, atencion”. [...]
Day 26 Lamothe to Nagaro
Elena was superb. As she was seeing to the large cut on my big toe, a group of 8 walkers turned up for drinks. I told her they were waiting and she said: “your toe [...]
Day 25 Condom to Lamothe
We ate Italian pasta in a French village with a Swiss man. This was the ‘might be friends with man’ but after ‘deep dinner discourses’, we are now friends. A delightfully gentle, astute and warm [...]
Day 24 Marsolan to Condom
Dinner time has now doubled to 16 - our Canadian friends from the canal walk - a Swiss man ‘becoming a friend’ , who is interested in my Parkinson’s walk and ‘wants to be keen’ [...]
Day 23 Castet-Arrouy to Marsolan
We ate dinner in the gorgeous triangular park. The cafe owners brought it over to the eight of us - 3 French men, 1 with a daughter, 1 French woman, 1 Polish Frenchman and us. [...]
Day 22 Auvillar to Castet-Arrouy
No signs again of modernity as we left this old town with its circular market place, a gorgeous array of plantains, their branches reaching out to their brothers and sisters as if to say - [...]
Day 21 Moissac to Auvillar
A delightful dinner with our Capetown companions. We talked of the special people we have met; walks from the Himalayas to the Turkish coast; relationships; how tears can make you strong; situations and your response [...]
Day 20 Lauzerte to Moissac
We climbed the hill to the stunning medieval village of Lauzerte. Some street lights still on, the first person was setting up for market day, but no-one or nothing else could show that it was [...]
Day 19 Lascabanes to Lauzerte
La Grange de Grizou had only one guest tonight - us. Alain asked us to leave our case where pilgrims have to leave their dirty shoes to help keep these Gites clean. The owner here [...]
Day 18 Cahors to Lascabanes
Bit scary leaving (Pierre had left breakfast out for us) as we witnessed an attempted assault on a local kid by 2 others, young men gathered in loud groups and the police arriving to sort [...]
Day 17 Cahors
Our "day-off-breakfast" started at 8.30 with a French Canadian couple and Pierre - in Pierre's luxurious dining room ... fun. Pierre, the owner of all knowledge was also interested in the bits we had to [...]
Day 16 Vaylats to Cahors
Final instructions from Sylvie - how to lock the main door, where to leave the key, the best way to join the track, led to more discoveries about our rafter room. Our fascinating lodgings are [...]
Day 15 Limogne-en-Quercy to Vaylats
Geraldine drove us to the shops for our dinner options - pizza bar, kebab shop, or restaurant in this old village being restored to good health, so still not ready for tourists but just right [...]
Day 14 Cajarc to Limogne-en-Quercy
We met up with our Korean friends at Dinner and talked about his broken cart (gone to the grave now), their work for the government in Paris where they learnt French and Korean culture. At [...]
Day 13 Figeac to Cajarc
Meeting with our friends was wonderful, and useful, seeing they both speak French, especially when you’re dining 5 star at La dinee du Viguier where your coats are taken (but given back), where your meals [...]
Day 12 May day in Figeac
A Boulangerie petit déjeuner started our day and probably the only thing that could take us out into the rain. A short walk around this beautiful riverside town and back to make more bookings, catching [...]
Day 11 Livinhac to Figeac
Main course was a beautiful French dish - Cassoulet, a rich, slow-cooked casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat, pork skin and white beans. The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, [...]
Day 10 Conques to Livinhac
Our first night in an Abbey. The 60 or so of us sat at 8 tables of about 8. Our table had a close knit group so Corrie and I just imagined what they were [...]
Day 9 Golinhac to Conques
Breakfast served at Regina’s (says she is the queen of the village) table - another breakfast feast and lunch made (no charge) to take with us. She took us up to their backyard between 2 [...]
Day 8 Espalion to Golinhac
Breakfast just out of bed was delivered at 5.25am by the owner in her maid guise. She then went back to bed. Chambre owners (those who let rooms in their home) have gone out of [...]
Day 7 Saint-Chely-d’Aubrac to Espalion
Patricia and Michel from Belgium hosted us in their 4 room Gite last night. It was a full house where they wine and dined us along with 3 middle aged Frenchmen. Classical music wafted throughout [...]
Day 6 Nasbinals to Saint Chely-d’Aubrac
Six thousand people attended the service at Villiers-Bretonneux, the site of one of the key battles on the Western Front. The battle saved the town and changed the course of the war. Pascale Boistard, France's [...]
Day 5 Aumont Aubrac to Nasbinals
No bars or cafes for 12kms so what to do, no breakfast supplied today, but we could have cooked in this well organised friendly Gite. These are lodgings which cost between 15 and 30 Euros [...]
Day 4 Les Faux to Aumont-Aubrac
The icy cold has retreated with the welcome cloud cover warming us up and staying with us for the most part of the day. We turned off the track for breakfast after 7kms. After croissants [...]
Day 3 Saugues to Les Faux
We left the spectacular views from yesterday's hilly walk as we prepared for today. Lots of walkers mingled, ate, drank and were loud together. Our news to Brigitte that we were leaving early threw her [...]
Day 2 Le St Privat d’Allier to Saugues
Fortified with last night's meal of local produce - the famous Puy lentils, asparagus and mushroom risotto, a scrumptious pear cake and the discovery that Alphonso 'was' too young to snore, we set off to [...]
Day 1 Le Puy En Velay to Saint-Privat-d’Allier
We crept out of the ancient town as Le Puy slept, its lanterns bringing the cobblestones to life, their worn surfaces telling us of times gone by. Up into the surrounding hills leaving behind echoes [...]
We are lucky
No rain, no pain, we're ready to go. I've reconnoitred our route out tomorrow so we're not fooled by the dark - I've seen. We've had Patrick - "I'm not Irish" find our first bed [...]
We leave Lyon for Le Puy en Velay
Before we walk, our journey starts by exploring its beginning in the town of Le Puy en Velay. This is where the pilgrimage begins (I define pilgrims as those walking for spiritual or adventurous reasons [...]
Restaurant facades
We left this morning in a new direction a part of the old city away from the central very busy part and discovered a quieter part of Madrid and while it's not the Prado, there [...]
A park, two artists and a river
We sauntered down to the river on a crisp summer’s morning; it doesn’t get to its hottest until about 6pm and then not too bad at 29. Madrid will start to scare the 40’s next [...]
Goya – Debod – Plazas
Debod We went for our morning walk down to the Temple of Debod, In 1968 the Egyptian government gave the Temple of Debod to Spain in gratitude for helping to save the Abu Simbel Temple [...]
Cervantes – Velazquez – Assisi
Cervantes - Velazquez - Asisi. A walk around town took us past Cervantes’ home and a door or so away there were 4 small cushioned chairs with a small sign saying "you can sit and [...]
Corrie and Mingote
Instead of looking for a Spanish painter, we went looking for Corrie’s Spanish home not far from the city centre. On the way we came across a block of traditional wrought iron balcony apartments with [...]
Jardines and Prado
Another walk around the stunning Jardines. I’m not usually a fan of manicured trees but these were done branch by branch and I thought they looked great. It’s also lovely to look at the city [...]
The Dance of the Gypsy
A young woman stood at the door smoking an already smoked cigarette. There was a near laughter smile when I asked for two tickets, she thought I might make some enquiry first. We entered a [...]
Back to ‘The Jardines’
Well, I was wrong. On further exploration there are bitumen roads, wider and straighter than New York, lots of bikes, runners and walkers, exercise group in one section, yoga in another, little hide-away areas with [...]
Madrid’s central park
We wake up in our ‘spoiling us hotel’ to find that it was not us after all but the large hotel we were in that was ‘being spoilt’ ie a water pipe had burst and [...]
Sun, walk and sing
I set my alarm for 6.30 am to watch the slow reddening of the sky as the sun once again plays with our visual senses. This morning a few whispery clouds excited even more of [...]
A little history
I’m sending another sunrise because I think it’s a bit different and it’s from our balcony so I didn’t have to go far. The domed building where the stork is flying from (by the way [...]
Royal routine
In a good routine of writing and discussing writing and doing emails before breakfast in our Royal room; breakfast in the Palace; a walk around or outside town through older and newer, rich and poorer [...]
Bus of 12 to Cascares
A quick walk to say goodbye to St Juan of the Bardojos festival and we thought, the Light festival, that’s another story 12 locals accompanied us on the bus to the medieval city of Cascares [...]
Two Festivals
The festival continues today with a parade and feast in the old Arabic fort, not so much Flamenco today, a bit more sombre and reflection on this Spanish saint. Another festival continues in great spirits [...]
From Fado to Flamenco
We were happy to have only seven people on our very smart bus to Badazos as we travelled through flat wine growing areas and undulation parts dotted with these beautiful trimmed like trees and grey [...]
Back to Spain
Another stroll down now familiar streets knowing there will be a little ‘saudade’ for us when we have left tomorrow for other familiar territory in Spain. I am having trouble contacting our Portuguese friends from [...]
Tiles again and surprises
Down to the river and turned left for some way, the river’s edge (unlike Porto's beautiful and dramatic Duoro river in a steep valley) was occupied by the defence forces and container vessels, not pretty [...]
Back in town
Our Canadian friend sent us an email saying that a good example for her of ‘Saudade’ might be something like: “even though she misses the Camino a lot, the memory of it is often enough”. [...]
Monserrate
This is a palace and while it is a shack in comparison to yesterday's, this neo gothic beauty has that old Indian Raj feel about it. But the jewels in its crown are the eclectic [...]
Last day in Lisboa
Our last full day in Lisboa, so down the hill across Rua Avenida and right, through the theatre district which is built on a river, a small culvert down the centre may signify this. Now [...]
Santo Antonio’s Day
We went to the festival about 9.30pm; this is a major celebration and night parades flowed into a city strolling day. The night parade had a strong emphasis on the young and the ethnic Portuguese [...]
Paints and tiles
Went for a walk early (to miss the mid 30s) up behind us and down towards the water via another street - and there was Pedro, who painted our type of art: simple, local and [...]
A walk in the park
Even though we are up on a hill we are close to Rua (street) Avenida the central avenue that comes down from a hill in the north to the main shopping area and the river [...]
Walking about day
Uphill today because that is where artists are meant to be as at market days but they showed up at neither place. On a later walk we found them accidentally in downhill places. I was [...]
Botanico Day
Moving uphill moved us closer to other interesting sites. Behind us there is a graceful set of steps but unlike the Spanish steps in Rome which are wide and go straight, these are more narrow [...]
Market Day
Awoke to a sunrise, a mild day and a huge breakfast before heading off to Santa Apolina and market day. Fairly ordinary eclectic market day offerings but high up on a hill the setting and [...]
Wet Lisboa
Went further uphill today, There must be more cobblestone roads, footpaths, parkways and squares than anywhere in Europe. We’ve walked for hours up so many pathways with as many designs as their are streets, along [...]
Moving uphill
Getting a bit choosy after the Camino ao decided to move instead of a downgrade. Our Ukrainian manager tried to help us but couldn’t so instead of climbing 50 stairs many times daily we have [...]
Where no-one goes
Some back streets are similar to many tourist spots but without all the shops, local people replacing the tourists, houses in their original condition, and that feeling of quiet. That is where we went today, [...]
Dinner at the palace
We met up with our Portuguese friends who we shared our first room with on the Camino and walked through the beautiful streets of Lisboa as they told us how it had all been rebuilt [...]
More Camino meetings
I’ve started the book and it confirms the warm and endearing nature of the Portuguese. Our Portuguese friends had already told us so but I put it down to 'parochial culture bias' but I was [...]
Room with a view
We are staying in what would be equal to a large country hotel in Australia, a three story old worldly mansion with wide stairways shiny bannisters and a strip of carpet down the centre run [...]
Leaving Santiago
We walked quietly around the ancient streets of this city of St James, the Saint for whom all the fuss is about. There are as many stories about James as there are pilgrims and as [...]
Some wonderful surprises
Walking to breakfast we were exuberantly greeted by our wonderful friend from Sweden who burst out on to the street with great emotion. We had begun our journey with her and now we finished with [...]
Finisterra
For centuries it was thought that the earth was flat and that the sun rose in the east in China and set in the west at the westernmost part of Spain on the Galician coast [...]
Day doing little
Camera is huddled together with my feet, shuffling further and further under the bed as I reach out for just one more shot, one more step. Canon, with its shutters closed firmly over its lens [...]
Day 42 -800kms later-
The lights came out from their cosy shelter. First we saw the familiar twinkle of the stars, then a slither of moon and soon after, the fire in the sky, walking mostly through long, misty [...]
leaving Bayonne for the Pyrenees
We're leaving this peaceful town with its stunning architecture and colours, where the magnificent river Ardour slices it in two, while the pretty Nive caresses its side as they then together sweep on to the [...]
Our camino begins
Well it's not really the beginning of the walk, but Bayonne has long been a staging post where many walkers have a reflective start to the camino, contemplating what lies ahead This is a perfect [...]
Banner
Below are photos displayed in Bayonne, France on Parkinson's Day where the majority of locals and visitors can view it clearly as they cross the Adour River
World Parkinson’s Day
World Parkinson’s Day - a Sonnet by Will Boag The world has set aside a day to share What it means to live with this disease Reflecting now to make us all aware Of symptoms: [...]
Birchgrove Public School Artistry
Pupils from this school have designed and illustrated this beautiful banner and have obviously done their research (the tulip is the emblem for Parkinsons) Thank you so very much for all the work and creativity [...]
the social camino
It is great to hear from old friends and new whom we will meet at certain stages along the way Sean, who will be staying for some time in a village not far from Pamplona, [...]
Speech Therapy and Parkinsons
I visited Colleen, a speech therapist today, and found it fascinating as I stared down someone's throat (I Pad) and studied their voice box, read and spoke out loudly thoroughly enjoying being educated by a [...]
reasons for walking the Camino Frances
The original reason is as a pilgrimage to replace the pilgrimage to Rome and many continue in this vein Many use it as an adventure, to explore the Spanish peoples and countryside Books I have [...]
journey times
A few take under 30 days to travel the Camino Frances enjoying the thrill of the fast pace and the physical challenge A common timeline is 33 days for the more fit and those who [...]
modes of travel along the Camino
There are many ways to travel the Camino that are acceptable for receiving your document of completion You can travel by bike, on horse or mule, maybe on any animal One has pushed a trolley [...]
school support
I am fortunate to have a local state of the art local public school design a banner for World Parkinson's Day April 11, which they will present to me at school assembly I hope also [...]
My first ever post
Welcome to my first blog and my first post. There are a few categories here that talk about me, my interests and goals including why my wife and I are pursuing this walk across Spain, [...]