Category Archives: Pilgrim

100DaysOnTheWay, Pilgrim

Look back and remember

Leave a comment
These days I'm putting hand to gps tracks made during my walk. When I offered to fix it for a pilgrim, I imagined it as a task that I might like. It is actually much more than that.
Anyone who knows me knows that I work everyday on cards, tracks, maps, satellite photos and amenities maps varied, and this often puts me in a position to imagine in my mind's eye the ground I see drawn to the screen of your pc or on a paper "paper". This helps me a lot when I walk: understand that a number of airlines are a dune at the foot of which runs the path that I must follow is critical, if I don't want to end up splattered on a provincial. Follow, step by step, dot after dot, the steps taken two years ago is moving.
Because it is no longer imagine but to relive. Review and breathe the cornfields, ripe in the Sun, the water of large canals, straights as the eye can see, and blinding colours in the Sun and tormented by the rain, feel on the tongue the smell of fresh water, so different from that of seawater. Hear in your ears the screeching of Seagulls that I felt I was going to commit an indiscretion that could cost a lot more than a scare.
Review the white peaks of the mountains that are approaching more and more. The rock on which we did break with Roberto, eating chocolate, as our accompanying dog was waiting for us. The water of the Durance which greet you on a bridge at dawn, after having followed for so many days and crossed several times. Review the giant antenna Repeater that made us a benchmark for 3 days. Feel the warmth of the Sun beat me on the face just before attacking the climb towards Notre Dame du Laus and feel an urgency to get fresh water to a private housing. The reflection of the Lake Serreponçon with the sun still asleep there is reflected inside. The break banana wrought iron of a cemetery at the foot of the cross. The dreadful idea of crossing a Gorge passing on the pipes of a pipe for water and stinging nettles on her legs, once you get there. Taste like cherries, more good because educated people with my own hands. The smell of the Earth of rice paddies, the gray sand of "sabbioni". The warmth of the affection of those who welcomed me into her home. The joy of seeing my parents, sitting in a bar in Peyruis. The frustration of loneliness in Beziers, the great depression. The fear of truck approaching and the relief of the miracle. The direction of magpies that yelling at us while we trudge uphill with Roberto in the footsteps you crawl from the cows in the mud. And where are the cows? MAh! Lost in the Woods and other underwear coming out of a castle … good thing those I recovered, though! The warm and human places including didn't know existed: Argeliers, Homps, Marseillette. Gluten-free bread of Marseillette, so good! The coolness of the House of Georges and the affection of his family. The snails attached to the dry stems of grass in front of a church. The taste of the cheese with the laughing cow spread on a corn cake and topped off with a little magic dust with chili. My shoes greet in front of the Church of St.-Gilles.
Enough of dots on a screen to relive this? Sometimes it takes … Maybe because the places you see walking you are engraved in my soul as you do the little things I enjoy. I will always be grateful for this trip. All the time.
100DaysOnTheWay, Pilgrim, Travelogue

While I’m on break… the pictures and some notes

Leave a comment

While I’m at home, waiting for some news of our car, I started working on the pictures I took along the Way and I thought I’d throw down some reflections I made.

First of all, I’m uploading all the photos I’m taking, HD, on my Flickr set, that you can find clicking here.

During these first four days, I walked about 126km, starting from Milan and going a little zig-zad through Lombardia, until I crossed the border with Piemonte and arriving in Vercelli. Before I left, some friends asked me if I trusted going around alone like this, with only my backpack on my shoulders. If they hadn’t asked me, maybe I would never have wondered, but since they had asked me, I can say yes: it’s possible to trust walking around alone in the fields and on paved roads, even if you are a woman and you don’t have a murderous look. In four days I received only solidarity, love and welcome, even from people that really didn’t know me or who knew me only because of the blog. Of some of them, you have already read in the few lines I posted every evening… for me, it was really a special experience to discover the hospitality spirit that is hidden, but well preserved in Lombardia too. Solidarity and hospitality, even Manzoni wrote it, are inherent in the spirit of people from Lombardia and they become clear even when we elect people who are able only to say “Before the North”… Discovering all these things on my skin was so beautiful and I thank for this reason all those who helped, hosted and walked with me in these days during these first days!

[flickr_set user_id=”124055332@N05″ id=”72157644030497127”]

Another thing that really impressed me was walking “out of the track” and also a bit “off the map”. Indeed, for the first 3 days, from Milan to Mortara, I didn’t follow a “tracked” route, but I almost followed my nose. The first day, with Stefano, we followed the bike path that follows the Naviglio Pavese between Milan and Pavia; on the second day, to meet Katia’s family in Ferrera Erbognone, I looked up in GoogleMaps and then I walked in the middle of paddy fields, passing on the banks between them and cursing the brush and the channels I couldn’t cross.

It was nice to respond to the greetings and questions of curious people who saw me go in places where it is difficult to see a pilgrim or, at least, a backpacker. And, most importantly, I discovered that yes, you can do it: close the door and go walking around the world, without being hit by truck (if you alway pay close attention!). For those who will meet you, it will sound a weird thing, but in 90% of cases, rather than hostility, they will show you admiration and, maybe, even a little envy! Experience definitely taught me that my feet can really take me everywhere, not just where there was no mapped path, but also where no one has ever thought that someone could pass!

Finally, precisely those little villages “off the map”, like Ferrera Erbognone or Nicorvo (some friends asked me where the hell I was finished, because they are not in the Michelin Guide!) that unveil the most welcoming heart of people. These small villages, scattered among the fields and rice paddies, remind me so clearly that Italy is not only Milan, or Rome, or Turin, but it is made by an infinite constellation of very small villages with an agricultural vocation and simple-hearted people. Entering Cernago and Palestro, for example, I came up with the entrance to Belorado, Tardajos and other numerous and equally tiny Spanish pueblos crossed by the French Way. Many pilgrims consider, those villages almost like the paradis: a reality out of the time and of the big noisy cities… we have them, here at home, but we almost don’t even apreciate them!

 

100DaysOnTheWay, Pilgrim, Practical Information

Useful bibliography

Leave a comment

Once that I’ve chosen the route I wanted to follow, I immediately started looking for the necessary information and some bibliography. Obviously, it won’t be possible to follow a single guide, but to join different sources: it will be a long job… But let’s see, for the benefit of those who want to follow the same path in the future. Some of the sources I’ve found can be found in a library and some of them on the Internet.

Of course, we must consider that the Internet is continually updated, and sometimes you can also read the date of the last update: the information can be very precise. In the meanwhile, the paper guide are updated  to the day of the publication. So, it is better that the pilgrim is well attentive to the reliability of the various sources he’s consulting.

guide

Section 1: from Milan to Montgenevre along the Via Francigena

Starting from Milan towards Pavia, you can follow the path that connects these two cities, running along the Naviglio Pavese. From Pavia on, you can follow the Via Francigena backwards, towards the Montgenevre. For information about the route I bought the “Guida alla Via Francigena” edited by Monica d’Atti and Franco Cinti for Terre di Mezzo (4th edition, April 2012). Updates on accommodation offered to the pilgrims  are constantly made available by the authors at the link http://www.confraternitadisanjacopo.it/Francigena/guida/newsospitalita.htm and I recommend to consult this page before leaving.

However, on the Internet you can find several useful things: first, in the Italian section of the website www.camminando.eu, you can find the updated guides of some Italian routes, among which there is the Via Francigena: Flavio Vandoni, walker and hospitalero, is also happy to provide news and suggestions.

Another useful source is the www.viefrancigene.it website: you can download the list of pilgrim accommodation. Unfortunately, this useful list will guide us only to Vercelli, where the “official” Via Francigena goes up to the Great St. Bernard, but we need to go westward to the Montgenevre.

The Associazione Movimento Lento has also created a group, at this link, inside the Couchsurfing website where pilgrims can ask for hospitality to other members of the community.

Section 2: from the Montgenevre to Arles along the Via Domitia

This section, which long less than 500 km, is the first route that I will walk in French land: it’s an itinerary with a great history and I’m very happy of walking it.

To learn something more, I purchased (on Amazon) the guide “La Via Domitia vers Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle ou vers Rome” by Jean-Yves Grégoire, published by Rando éditions. It is a small and light book, equipped with maps, route descriptions, historical notes and cultural information on the places to visit. It seems very good, but I will verify it on the ground. The guide does not slavishly follow the GR653D, which is the hiking trail that connects the Montgenevre to Arles: it leaves the trail here and there to meet the cultural (and physical) needs of the pilgrim, who is not always a professional hiker, and tries to trace as far as possible the old Roman route.

If you want to rely on the GR653D all the way, you can buy its Topoguide, published by FFRandonnée. Currently, there are no Italian guides for this route, but you can find some alternative in English.

Here again, the site www.camminando.eu comes to rescue the pilgrim, making available for free download the guides written by Flavio Vandoni, updated annually, reporting maps, a description of the route and the indication of the accommodation for pilgrims.

In France there are some very active and helpful Associations of Friends of the Camino or Friend of St. James: on their websites they often provide the pilgrims with guides and lists of accommodation, which are very useful to those who decide to travel along these routes. This also applies to the Via Domitia. You can find useful information for the whole stretch from Montgenevre to Arles here:  http://www.compostelle-paca-corse.info/. In the section “Hébergements”, you can download the list of pilgrim accommodation and of the responsible of the single regions. The site shows the date of the update of the published information.

Section 3: From Arles to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

For this stretch of way, I will follow the Voie du Piémont Pyrénéen. Who wish to follow the Via Tolosana, they can refer to the guide “Miam Miam Dodo Saint Jacques de Compostelle, La Voie d’Arles/Camino Aragonés GR653” by Mireille Retail, published by Les Éditions du Vieux Crayon. taking care to look for some information on the historical and cultural places to visit, since the Miam Miam Dodo are great for the itinerary and the accommodation, but don’t cover the cultural aspects. Currently, there are no guides in Italian for this route.

For what is about the Voie du Piémont Pyrénéen, waiting for the guide of this Camino that is going to be published by Rando Édition, I got all the information I wanted on the Internet. The first reference is, once again, the website www.camminando.eu. There, you can find some different guides: one for the route from Arles to Lourdes and than all the choices you can make to rejoin the Camino Francés on the Pyrenees (the Somport Pass along the Camino Aragonés, the Cize Pass to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the Camino of the Baztan). Thanks to this source, we will also be able to go from Arles to Carcassonne (the only section where there is no really consolidated route).

In this case too, the Associations of the Friends of the Camino are precious: the site we need is  http://vppyr.free.fr/vpp.php. In the section Partir>Les étapes, you will find a description stage per stage of the route from Narbonne to Roncesvalles. A list of the accommodation is available from the section Partir>Documents. Among the documents, you can also find a carnet du pèlerin  with the maps and simplest and most useful information.

Section 4: from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela, along the Camino Francés and to Fisterra, along the Camino Fisterrano

From Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port starts the “classic” route of the Camino Francés to Santiago de Compostela, you probably will already know it, but you never know… so… just in case: you will find a lot of guide books to this route in all the libraries around the world and you will need them just to know that you have a guide in your backpack and what you want to visit at the end of the daily walk.  It’s impossible to get lost on the French Way (you need to follow the yellow arrows and the blue and yellow shells!). Besides, when you will arrive in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, at the accueil pèlerins, they will provide you the most useful things: a complete list of the albergues with the distances from one to the next one and the elevation profile of the whole Camino.

If you really want to have a paper guide and you are Italian, you can download it in PDF from the site of the PellegriniBelluno. If you are English native speakers, you can download this version always in PDF (it is made available by Greg, a pilgrim like you and me, who committed himself to the translation of the original Spanish guide by Eroski, that you can find here).

100DaysOnTheWay, History and Legends, Pilgrim, Travelogue

Prologue: from Home to the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan

Leave a comment

It is true that we live in Segrate only since 2012 and I do not really feel to be “from Segrate”, but I always say that I’m from Milan. It is true that I was born 500 metres from the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio and that I’ve always been bound to my diocese, which is particular, autonomist, innovative and often frowned upon… In short, the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, where the Archbishop who did not hesitate to scold the emperors rests, was the natural place from which to start my walk.

But… but… now I live here… and so? So, today I’ve walked from my home to the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio with Alessandro, my husband. It’s only a short prologue of 12 km and something more, but it was important. We went out of the door and we started walking on our Way. It was good and right to start it together, in the same way we will finish it, together, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean…

What did we see?

The Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio was built by Bishop Ambrogio from 379 to 386 AD: the Bishop wanted to dedicate it to the martyrs who suffered persecutions under the Romans and took the name of Basilica Martyrum. Only after the Bishop’s death, when his remains were buried under the main altar along with the remains of the Martyrs Gervaso and Protaso, the church was rededicated in his honor. The Basilica was rebuilt at the end of the XI century, according to the canons of the Romanesque, and the works were wanted by Bishop Anselmo, another great bishop of Milan. The new building maintained three naves and three apses, and didn’t have a transept.

The altar of Sant’Ambrogio is particularly ramarkable: it is a Carolingian masterpiece made in gold, silver gilt, enamels and precious stones. It lies just above the relics of the saints, placed under the altar itself and visible through a window on the back side. The altar was made by the Masters of the Stories of Christ (who decorated the front side), and the Master Vuolvinio (who decoradet the back side), between 824 and 859. The Basilica is, today, an isolated case of the Lombard Romanesque style, as other contemporary examples (such as the Cathedrals of Pavia, Novara and Vercelli are now destroyed or have undergone major transformations.

A curiosity: on a granite column, presumably Roman, inside the Basilica, stands Moses’ Snake, who escaped the inconoclastic wrath of King Hezekiah. It is a bronze sculpture (in the past it was believed to be the Moses’ original one) donated by the Emperor Basil II in 1007. Prayers are directed to the snake to ward off certain types of ailments and it is said that the end of the world will be announced by its descent from this column.

Pilgrim, Practical Information

What should I put in my backpack?

2 Comments

The backpack is the balance between our fears and our desire for freedom… That point usually moves towards the freedom, as long as te backpack rests on our shoulders: and the backpack gets empty.

Personally, my opinion is that what is needed for a week’s walk is neither more nor less than what we need for a month: the essentials.

It is therefore necessary to think that you will spend a long period of time in which everything that you need is to be transported on your shoulders, therefore, all the unnecessary should stay at home! Here is a list of the essentials for those who start walking in spring and summer.  I recommend to  avoid the temptation of adding too many things to this list: remember that the ideal weight should be less than 10% of your body weight!

  • 1 backpack, 40-45 liters , light, should distribute the weight on your hips and possibly be equipped with side pockets for water
  • 1 shell, symbol of the pilgrim
  • 3 short-sleeved shirts (or 2 short-sleeved and 1 long sleeve ) for them as well as everything else, you shall prefer the technical materials, which dry as quickly as possible because the laundry is done at the end of the daily walk and must be dried in the morning before leaving
  • 1 or 2 pairs of shorts
  • 1 pair of throusers (if you find those trekking throusers with the removable lower part of the leg, you can also leave at home the second pair of shorts )
  • 1 fleece or microfleece depending on the season and the regions you want to cross
  • 1 poncho that covers your backpack
  • 3 pairs of technical socks reinforced toes and heels ( not the sponge !)
  • 3 pairs of pants
  • 2 pairs of bras ( for ladies )
  • 1 pair of slippers for the shower
  • 1 pair of hiking shoes for the mountains: there are many solutions on the market; I prefer lightness and protection for my foot. If you start in the spring and summer, in my opinion, you can leave at home the Gore-Tex and prefer breathable materials that dry quickly
  • 1 lightweight sleeping bag (you will hardly sleep outdoors , unless you wish, but the sleeping bag will help protect you from what might be hiding in the mattress ) or 1 sheet sleeping bag
  • 1 mat: if you plan to leave in the summer, sometimes albergues will be crowded enough to force a solution on the floor and a night under the stars could also be an experience you might want to try
  • 1 torch front for departures before sunrise and in the evening so as not to disturb if you want to read before sleeping
  • Marseille soap (both for clothes, shower and hair), wire for hanging (3-4 meters ) and a few safety pins for the laundry
  • the necessary – just enough! – for the toilette (mind the weight: if you set off in 2 or 3, share shower gel and toothpaste! ) In which I include ear plugs , needle, cotton thread, scissors and betadine to treat blisters, arnica cream, ointment feet , electric epilator (or shaving kit but only if you can not help it)
  • 1 shower towel, microfiber , lightweight and compressible
  • a pilgrim’s guide of the Way (bought or packaged by you with the information found on the internet, but do not leave at home information on historical and cultural heritage which you shall not fail to admire! )
  • 1 wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, and sunscreen
  • 1 bottle or 2 lightweight plastic bottles of 0.5 l .
  • pen and notebook for travel notes
  • a case to be kept with them containing identity card, pilgrim’s credential, money, credit cards / debit cards, health cards
  • camera.

Not really essential but still important for someone: cell phone, mp3 player eventually, walking stick or telescopic poles, a pair of hiking sandals for resting time and sometimes even to walk, a handkerchief of cotton or other fabric.

This time I’ll leave in a still fresh period, then I will add it to this list a long sleeve technical shirt and a lightweight waterproof and windproof Gore-Tex jacket.

NB: In case of rain, despite the cloak covering the backpack, it could happen that the clean clothes will get wet, making the pilgrim  feel uncomfortable. To prevent this, it is advisable to close the various clothes into transparent plastic bags (those for garments, which are also less noisy when handled). The same trick is also to be taken to store battery chargers and other electrical items as well as money and documents.

Pilgrim, Poems, songs

The pilgrimage is not a goal but a mean

Quote Leave a comment

“The pilgrimage itself is not a goal but a mean: undoubtedly the best and the most anciently known to get free from all ties that enchain us to our own convenience, our laziness, our habits, ultimately to ourselves.
Walking is good because it makes us tired, because it purifies us: the bag weights, the shoes and the cobblestones of the road bruise your feet, the sun beats down hard, thirst or hunger will afflict the soul held captive in the body too well cared for, and it gradually takes flight”

From Henri Engelmann, Pèlerinages

100DaysOnTheWay, Pilgrim, Practical Information, Travels

Stages and accomodation from Milan to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

Leave a comment

I finally managed to order alle the documentation I’ve collected in the last weeks and so, I made the first Excel sheet where I recap the itinerary that I mean to follow. I mean, since when you are on the Way, you never know what will happen… luckily! Anyway, this document outlines the stages, the foreseen date, total and partial km, difficulty level and the accomodation where I hope to sleep, with its characteristics.

If you cannot visualize the spreadsheet, you can download the PDF version of the document frome this link.

If you need some more information or wish to contact me, can write to sara.pellegrina@gmail.com.

 

 

100DaysOnTheWay, Pilgrim, Practical Information, Travels

From Arles to Palavas les Flots via Saintes Maries de la Mer

Leave a comment

Today I’ve been working on the tracking of the route that we will need to follow (if we will decide to do that) to go from Arles to Saintes Maries de la Mer and, from there, to Palavas les Flots, walking through the heart of the Camargue. I wrote a small guide in Italian, with some detailed maps, that I will translate and publish on this page in the following days.

From this page, you can also access the GPS tracks, but beware: I still couldn’t verify them on the field, so, if you want to use them, be careful! Especially in the second stage, from Saintes Maries de la Mer to Le Grau du Roi it is enough to miss a crossroad and you’ll be on the wrong side of a pond and you’ll have to make a long detour, when you already had a long way to walk.

  1. GPS track from Arles to Saintes Maries de la Mer
  2. GPS track from Saintes Maries de la Mer to Le Grau du Roi
  3. GPS track from Le Grau du Roi to Palavas les Flots
100DaysOnTheWay, Pilgrim, Practical Information, Travels

Descriptive from Milan to Montgenevre

Leave a comment

The most complicated part of the journey that I will do this summer is maybe go backwards the Via Francigena until Monginevro, more complicated, at least conceptually, since there is no guide to this path in the direction I choose. So what? And then I soon the Via Francigena, which I mentioned in the post about the bibliography and I reworked the descriptive of the route from East to West. If anyone needs to follow it, here it is in PDF format:

100GiorniSulCammino-Milan-Montgenevre

Of course it is to be verified, but that will only do so when I get back. Having planned to take me anyway copy of maps of the Guide and the indications on places to visit, I did not include maps provided in this document, apart from some parts missing or unclear in the maps of the Guide, but I will insert them into a more advanced version, so you have it all together. So, if you need, keep in mind that will be coming soon!

Good Journey!