Meeting an intern working on the Via Francigena

Soph and I have developed quite a talent for locating the very best Gelateria in each town we come to. We are now treating this as a serious research project. We have some standard flavours used to compare and we then try anything new, unusual or local. The standards are Amarena (cherry), Chiocolato and Tiramisu. We had just finished checking out the Gelateria in Fidenza when a young woman came up and asked if we were pilgrims. We felt a little un-pilgrim like having just polished off a cupette of gelati each. However Francesca introduced herself by assuring us this was in fact very good gelati. She had spent three months in Australia, studying in Perth so her language was great. She is now in Fidenza working as an intern for the International Association of the Via Francigena and finishing a thesis for a Masters in Art History. Francesca was very helpful and we met her after her work to have pizza together and discuss the Via Francigena, our journey and pilgrimage.

We are not alone after all

Everyone tells us how lonely the Via Francigena is compared to the Camino de Santiago. I guess if I was alone I would feel it more. We suspected we might get to Rome without seeing other pilgrims as we are clearly 8 days behind the last people in most of the registers. However after 11 days on the road we met two other pilgrim couples today. We walked quite a bit of the day with a Swedish couple who are doing the Francegina in two week blocks as they have holidays. They are on the same route as us. Sophia and I walk a little faster but seem to take more breaks so we cross-crossed each other through the day. We haven't seen them this evening so not sure if they are in pilgrim accommodation of have gone to a B & B. We just settled in at The Don Bosco pilgrim accommodation when the caretaker came and asked if we minded sharing with two other pilgrims who had just arrived. A bit of a squash in a tiny room but the chance to connect with others has been fun. Francesco and his partner met on the Camino de Santiago in 2006 and have lived and worked together since. He is Spanish and she Italian. They had a break from their work and decided to Walk from Rome to Santiago following the way of St Francis through Assisi and Florence, connected to the Via Francegina for the crossing of the Apennines and will leave it near Vercelli we joined to track through Turin and France. They gave us some great tips on places to stay down the track and we were able to return the favour.

some pics from the walk to Fidenza

A Tale of Two Abbeys

For the last two nights we have stayed in functioning monastic communities. Different places (one isolated in the countryside, then other in the suburbs of a historical town), different orders (Cistercian and Franciscan), different vocations (prayer and social engagement) different histories (one a great Abbey of the 11th century, the other a fairly new complex) but the same faith and commitment. The difference in hospitality was marked to us as pilgrims. In the first we were begrudgingly shown the guest quarters by a very aged monk. If he was the guest master, I think he was well over it in more ways than one. There was only the basics, it was not overly clean or well organised and there were no instructions for guests or indications of where and how things worked. We got what we needed in the village and departed early this morning. No sign of anyone at any point to assist or guide us. We saw a couple of other monks who were also very old. The monastery itself was massive and in good order. Obviously by the buses coming in and out of the place in the afternoon it was now a tourist attraction. Most of the tours could easily have been Probus groups on day trips from MIlan. The Monastery is obviously well known and the joining farm grange complex has been converted to a large hotel convention centre. Amazing space but we felt well out of place.

On arrival in Fidenza we found the Abbey of San Francesco. How different can hospitality be? A younger monk welcomed us, stamped our credentials, showed us to our rooms, explained how everything worked and left us in a spacious, clean and warm area of the monastery set aside for pilgrims. All information in four languages. Sophia and I had separate rooms. Kitchen, lounge and heaps of information for pilgrims. Even the way the "offering" is provided for is tasteful and carefully done. We would give this place "highly recommended" and the other a "only in necessity" pilgrim rating.

Nigerian Refugees in Rural Italy

Rather than complete one of the full stages, we decided to stop over at a remote farmhouse / restaurant / come mini hotel across the Po river before hitting the city of Piacneza. I rang the night before to book and was quietly informed that I could speak English when the hostess heard my completely broken attempts at Italian on the phone. She herself was as English as Jane Austin.

Our next intro to Locanda Masero was when the boatman Danilo asked where we were staying. When we told him, he smiled and said something about the war in Lybia and African refugees.

On arrival at Masero, we noticed quite a group of Africans sitting outside in the sun. We had all ' Buon journo' ed each other when Merran had the brainwave to ask if they spoke English. Their eyes lit up and they came alive. All were Nigerians who had been working in Lybia when the war erupted and they had to flee literally for their lives. It appeared to me as we talked over the afternoon that several of them were still significantly traumatized. There were 7 there, placed in this location along with 6 Tunisians and provided with accommodation and food but little else while their case for refugee status was examined. It had been two months since they had seen or heard from anyone. All were illegal immigrants. It was starting to get cold and they had little to wear, not the best food and nothing to do except sit outside, talk and listen to music on their phones.

While gently giving them the opportunity to tell their stories, it quickly became apparent that these guys have been through some deep trauma. This was especially as a result of Ghadafi arming civilians and telling them to fight for him. Untrained, armed civilians in a situation of war can be very dangerous as few know any rules of justice and combat. They simply become oppressors with the power to inflict death and injury. This appears to have been what happened. The many Africans who were working in Lybia became potential targets through the rebellion and had to flee. Several of these guys spent days hiding the desert without decent food and water. Just trying to stay alive. At least they have not been incarcerated, which is the welcome we would have given them in Australia. But their situation is quite desperate. Merran and I spent some time carefully trying to listen without pretending we had any power to change their situation.

There must be thousands of guys like this scattered throughout Italy. Hopefully they are not completely out of sight and out of the mind of the Italian Govt. They nearly all young men of faith. We add their story to our own and also add our prayer to them for a speedy resolution of their applications for refugee status.

Into Emilia Romagna

Crossing the Po river is a marker event for pilgrims to Rome. The crossing has traditionally been provided by ferrymen who meet you on one bank and row you down stream to the other side. The ferry needs to be arranged the day before. It is a little easier these days with mobile phones and motor boats, however the feel of the experience the Danilo provided for us was pretty well classic. He turned up a few minutes early, much to Merran's relief as she was not sure all the details had been successfully communicated over the phone. With his grandson in tow to assist with docking, he pulled in and we scampered down the steep steel ramp and boarded the small water taxi boat. I was assigned to the front, being 'molto pelligrino' and needing to provide some balance on the water. It was cold and brisk as we cut through the glassy water and also cut 4 kms off our walk. Danilo explained that we could not get off at the normal location as the landing had been silted up with a sandbar for the last two years.

On coming ashore, Danilo stamped our pilgrim credentials and we signed the Pilgrim Register numbers 339, 340 and 341 since 1998. We were the first pilgrims for over a week. We enjoyed coffee with Danilo in what we assumed was his house or a base for his work on the banks of the river. Photos below.

A sad moment for us all

There were a few tears from all of us today as we made the very difficult decision for Merran to return to Milan to get her painful leg looked at. We all felt it would be important for her to have the support of Maddie and her host family to help with medical discussions.

This morning began on quite another note with us all feeling quite good and rearing to go. We walked the short distance to Piacenza in good time although it was all tarmac road walking which is tough on the feet. Coming into Piacenza Merran began to feel a recurrence of some significant pain she had had a couple of days ago. We talked through the options and tried to locate some medial advice. In the end after talking with Maddie it seemed best for Merran to take a few days to get a thorough assessment and do this with Maddie's help. If you can be thankful in these situations, we were relieved that this occurred in a town with a direct high speed train to Milan. Sophie and I nearly returned as well but there was nowhere easy for us to stay and little we could actually do, so we all decided it was best for us to continue the walk and stay in touch to see where Merran will rejoin us.

So we would value your prayers. Sophie and I will be lighting extra candles in the churches we visit. We are now in day 8, just about to leave the plains and begin the long journey up the pass over the Apennines into Tuscany.