My intent was to walk from Mortara to Garlasco - a stroll of about 20km - and reassess energy levels. The next stop along the way is Pavia where there is plenty to see, so a shorter day fifty-two would be ideal. As it transpired the decision was made for me. I was not paying … Continue reading Day fifty-one: Mortara to Gropello Cairolli →

Day fifty and still going. I also caculated that the distance to Rome is the same as the entire Camino Frances starting from St Jean PdP. Yeesh! Today got off to a rough start as did not feel at all well after waking up during the night with a nasty headache. I think I'd slept … Continue reading Day fifty: Vercelli to Mortara →

The only hills today were over-bridges. This part of Italy is famed for its rice, so walking among the paddies will be the standard for the next couple of days. But there is lots to contemplate as the snow caps of Northern Italy recede into the distance. (See photo.) And being rice paddies, there is … Continue reading Day forty-eight: Santhia to Vercelli →

For the first time on a Camino, I set out from the accommodation in heavy rain. The complete set of dry bags was pressed into action and proved their worth. The new boots are labeled 'waterproof', which I can now verify through field testing. Unfortunately what it means is that one water gets into the … Continue reading Day forty-seven: Ivrea to Santhia →

Last night I tried posting directly using WordPress. Tonight I'm returning to posting by email: watching the 'donut of despair' spinning for five minutes to upload a photo (and then to have the caption obscure the photo in my mobile view of the blog) was too much to bear. WordPress Isa piece of crap when … Continue reading Day forty-six: Hône to Ivrea →

Another beautiful day walking down the Aosta valley - although there were so.e significant ups as well, as the valley is extremely narrow in places, and the available real estate on the valley floor is taken up with the river, the autostrada, local highway and railway. So the footpath is forced to climb up around … Continue reading Day forty-six: Chatillon to Hône →

The Aosta valley is a very beautiful walk, even if the path signs seem to conspire against you by endlessly indicating "Chatillon 1hr,40m". The valley becomes very narrow, guarded by sundry castles on both sides of the river, and the path needs to climb up, over and around rock outcrops and sometimes deep river gorges. … Continue reading Day forty-five: Aosta to Chatillon →

Downhill all the way.... almost. The top of the pass was socked in with cloud as we left, but that didn't stop the two other couples in my dorm from getting up at 0530, rustling their plastic bags like rats trapped in a dumpster, and leaving in the pitch dark at 0600 to get ahead … Continue reading Day forty-four: Grand St Bernard to Aosta →

Yay! I made it half way. The Col Grand St. Bernard is generally recognized as halfway from Canterbury to Rome. By my reckoning, I've traveled 1,030 km and have 1,007 km to go. The weather forecast for today was not brilliant, calling for showers in the afternoon, so I left early from Orsieres to try … Continue reading Day forty-three: Orsieres to Grand St Bernard →

A day so short it almost felt like a rest day - a mere 18km from my hotel to the train station in Orsieres. I had to go to the train station, as that is also where the tourist office is. The is a pilgrim gite in Orsieres with three ways of getting the key: … Continue reading Day forty-two: Martigny to Orsieres →