The Epilogue
We have now been back home for three weeks. It took at least a week to recover properly from the walk. We didn't realise how tired we were until we really stopped. We have also had a chance to contemplate what we have done and the experiences we have had, and add up the money we have raised (there is still time to donate if you want to). More on all that later. First of all a bit about our days in Rome...
Having completed our pilgrimage to Rome and checked into our Airbnb we celebrated by having a few drinks at the Irish bar in our street and a good meal at the traditional roman restaurant on the corner. Julie had been getting a taste for the popular refreshing aperitif - the spritz. The cheaper, and more common version is made with Aperol, prosecco, and soda but today the Aperol was swapped for Campari making it a more fitting celebratory drink. James opted for the non typical Guinness and a good night was had!
A Campari spritz for Julie and Guinness for James
Next day we had to get up to be at the Vatican by 12 o'clock. All along the route we had been collecting stamps in our pilgrim's credential. Mainly from places we stayed but sometimes from cathedrals, churches, and even the odd cafe or bar.
Our Pilgrim Credentials
It all serves as a nice record for us, but also as proof that we actually walked it so that we can get a certificate at the end. Arriving at the Vatican the Swiss Guards let us in after a security check.
A very young Swiss Guard guarding the Vatican while we waited to get in.
We were then left to wander about to find the right place to get our certificates. After a few incomprehensible directions and arm waving in Italian we arrived at an office with a counter top with a nun behind. Assuming this was the place to get our certificates we waited in the queue. The queue didn't seem to have other pilgrims in it, but as not many people do this pilgrimage we didn't really expect to see any here, so we waited patiently. A few minutes later a priest appeared and took us outside and gesticulated, pointing towards a different building. Here we found another office, this time with a large desk and a man in a suit sitting behind. Another man who was standing nearby took our credentials and then without saying anything disappeared. We were left standing in the corridor for about twenty minutes wondering if we would see our credentials again.
Waiting......
.....and having a sneaky look round while waiting!
Eventually, the man returns with nicely printed certificates and a bit of a disappointing illegible stamp in our credentials.
You have to have walked at least 100kms to get the certificate.......we walked a little bit more!
Now for some sightseeing. The queues for the Vatican museums were too long, as were the queues for St Peter's Cathedral. And it was getting hot so we returned to our apartment and had lunch and rested before venturing out later. It was dark when we got to the Spanish Steps, and also the Trevi Fountain, but both were mobbed with tourists. It was all a bit much after the quietness and isolation along most of our route.
The Spanish Steps
The Trevi fountain looked beautiful ......
.......when you could get anywhere near it!
A slightly smaller but still beautiful fountain with no tourists in the way
The next day we saw some more of Rome's sights
The Colosseum......
Victor Emmanuel Monument with some old Roman ruins in the foreground......
Some more old ruins.....
Another view of old ruins...
And then it rained......and rained......and rained. We hadn't seen much of this during our walk so, not quite sure what to do, we headed for a bar.
Watching the tourists go by as we drank a glass of wine under the awing outside the bar
The Roman Pantheon next.....a good choice in the rain as not too busy and we could see the rain coming in through the hole in the domed roof.
The hole was meant to be there
The water drained away in the centre of the building
Tourists avoiding the wet floor
The rainbow after the rain from our apartment
And then it was time to go home. We travelled by train and ferry over two days, overnighting in a down-market hotel in Paris.
We had another mini celebration of our achievement on the ferry.
Enjoying a glass of bubbly between Calais and Dover
So back home, rested, we contemplate what we have done and do a bit of adding up and statistics. See James's spreadsheet here; - Download Places we stayed and distances spreadsheet
It turns out we had covered a few more kilometres than we had thought 1994.48kms by foot and 85kms by boat. That's 1239 miles by foot in 99 days, an average of 12.5 miles or 20kms a day. We had 7 rest days so our average not counting these is 13.5 miles or 22kms per day. Not bad when you are walking everyday with 12kg packs we think. But huge respect to fellow pilgrims Graham and Laura who we met in France, and who walked from Winchester to Canterbury and then continued to Rome in 75 days and the Man in the Blue Blazer who walked from Holy Isle to Rome (nearly 3000kms) in 112 days. We never met him as he was always a week or two ahead of us but his blog provided us with useful info on what to expect next. It would have been difficult for us physically to have gone as fast as these people even if we wanted to. We were not as fit or seasoned walkers as them. We preferred to go at a pace that we could manage and enjoy the journey. We think we enjoyed it more by taking it easier and not pushing ourselves more than necessary. We still had several days where we had no choice but to walk 30 + kms due to the scarcity of accommodation. The main thing is we made it, and made it in one piece.
Some more statistics;
Longest distance walked in a day 34kms
Highest Altitude reached 2467 metres
Highest recorded temperature - 38 degrees celcius at 9.30 am in Pontarlier, France
Number of hours rain while walking - about 4 hours
Number of hours it rained hard enough to warrant putting waterproofs on - 2 hours
Number of wild swims....
in rivers - 2
in lakes - 2
in the sea - 3
in thermal pools - 1
Number of other pilgrims met along the way
in England - 0
in France - 4
In Switzerland - 3
In Italy - 30 +
Number of pipes lost - 2
Amount of money raised for our charitable causes so far - £1909
Thanks everyone! (By the way its not too late to donate, if you would like to, please follow the link here https://www.gofundme.com/canterbury-to-rome-on-foot We will keep the go fund me page open until November 5th)
Someone asked how it had changed us....well we are fitter and stronger than before. It has made Julie want to simplify her life... After spending day after day with only the next destination to think about, our only possessions being what we had being what we could carry on our backs, the benefits of such a simple life became apparent. The mind doesn't have to be constantly thinking about stuff. We only had one set of clothes for walking and another for the evening so we didn't even have to worry about what to wear, as we had no choice. Back home we have houses and vehicles and all full of things. All those things require looking after, cleaning, repairing, putting somewhere. And then there are the houses themselves as well as vehicles, workshops, land and gardens that all require looking after, insuring etc, Constant decisions, and work, in other words. Julie has decided to simplify, and rationalise, her life by getting rid of lots of stuff. She is giving up her allotment, and throwing out lots of clothes, and other possessions that clutter up her home, workshop, and van. Maybe even a few baskets will go! James on the other handhand found a new interest in walking and is looking forward to another adventure.
It also made us appreciate the small things in life. While walking we were really grateful for things like a drink of water on a hot day, the shade of a tree (or bush) on a sweltering day, a piece of fruit after having walked 10kms before breakfast, things that sometimes weren't that easy to come by but are easy in normal life. We will never take these things for granted again.
And then there was the kindness of strangers....the pilgrim hosts who put us up in their homes, the priest in Robbio who phoned around the village trying to find us accommodation and then drove us to the place he found, the mayor in Orio Litta who welcomed us to his town and took us to a local restaurant for dinner, the angels in Felegara, who appeared out of nowhere to give us much needed water and food, and there were others. It's amazing how kind and generous ordinary people can be.
So what next other people have asked? Well we saw signs for another major pilgrim route when in Italy so who knows...
Another reminder - Last chance to donate to our charitable fundraising effort please follow the link here https://www.gofundme.com/canterbury-to-rome-on-foot (Go Fund Me page closes on 5th November)
