Last 600 kilometres of Via Francigena - Photo journal

[uspn]

Having previously walked the Camino de Santiago and absolutely loved it, I was curious to see how the Via Francigena compares to it. So in June this year I started walking in Fidenza, nearly as far away from Rome as Roncesvalles is from Santiago.

This is what it looked like to me: http://www.pvv.org/~bct/via/

To sum it up, it was a nice walk, although it was nothing at all like the Camino de Santiago:

- I saw only a handful of other pilgrims during my walk. The few I saw were usually on bicycles, not interested in stopping to chat with a walker. Apart from an evening at the hostel in Radicofani, I never had that "Camino feeling".

- The hostels were generally difficult to find and/or closed due to a lack of pilgrims. I often had to resort to getting a room in normal hotels. In Italy that means really poor value for money. You arrive late in the evening and leave before breakfast is served in the morning, and while the beds were comfortable, I could easily have slept well on any coach or bench anyway.

- Just about no Italian I met had any idea of what the Via Francigena is, and most churches along the way were locked up during the day.

- In Rome it was difficult to figure out where to go to finish up and get my "diploma", and I felt I was drowning in an immense mass of noisy tourists who couldn't care less about what the Vatican means and has meant to the world.

- Dogs. Semi-rabid, over-protective guard dogs and stray dogs kept scaring the hell out of me by coming running at me snarling and/or barking madly wherever I went.

So, basically I hope that you enjoy browsing through the photos from my trip, but I really can't recommend walking the Via Francigena to anyone at all. There are too many other great hikes around that deserve your time and effort instead. I'm sorry, but that's just how I feel.

(I know, I know! People have reported exactly this before. It's just that somehow I couldn't understand or accept that Via Francigena could be SO much less rewarding than the Camino de Santiago is. I had to experience it on my own. Now I have.)

Bjørn
http://bjornfree.com/

 

[sillydoll]

Your photographs are wonderful!! What camera do you use?
I'm surprised to see that they didn't number your 'Testimonium'. Mine (from 2006) was No.424.
I agree with you that the VF is nothing like the Camino. Not meeting any other pilgrims is an issue so I think it makes a difference if you walk it with a frfiend or two. Makes sharing rooms cheaper too!

 

[uspn]

Thank you, sillydoll. Your compliments are great, what computer keyboard do you use?

I don't think what camera I used matters much. They could be taken with pretty much any fairly modern pocket camera. The "secret" behind them is mainly that I spend some time working on the photos digitally. Generally I boost the colours a little bit and crop them here and there. You can do it, too, no matter what camera you have. That said, on this trip I used a Sony DSC-HX100V. It's got a fixed lense with great zoom capabilities, but it's not an SLR camera.

I'm guessing they stopped counting the pilgrims because it didn't really make sense. The tourist office counts the number of pilgrims showing up in Rome, and elsewhere along the route, but we're a mixed bunch of people, really. A few walk all the way from Canterbury, while the majority walks from somewhere in Italy. Lots of people do it by bicycle instead of on foot. A great many pilgrims arrive either in their own car or on "pilgrim buses" that stop off in various places to look around and get their passports stamped. Upon arrival it's difficult to tell the different kinds of pilgrims apart, at least without spending a considerable amount of time examining the passport stamps and "interrogating" each person who wants to be a certified pilgrim.

Then there's the problem with figuring out how to get your testimonium. It is issued both by the tourist office and by the guy in the sacristy, seemingly without any kind of cooperation whatsoever. How would you count it? Some people go and get it both places, others don't have the time to figure out where to go, or simply cannot be there during the opening hours of either place.

Also; 424? I'm pretty sure thousands and thousands more people walked to Rome well before 2006, especially back in the old days. So I assume the number just means number 424 since some fairly random starting point in a not very distant past.

All in all, there are lots of good reasons not to count each and every pilgrim very accurately. (This is all guesswork on my part, but it does make sense, too, doesn't it?)

I agree about that it's probably a good idea to bring someone to talk to if you want to walk the Via Francigena without going slightly nuts. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to convince anyone else to come with me.

Bjørn

 

[julie]

(I know, I know! People have reported exactly this before. It's just that somehow I couldn't understand or accept that Via Francigena could be SO much less rewarding than the Camino de Santiago is. I had to experience it on my own ...)

What glorious photos! Unfortunately they made me more desirous of walking the Via Francigena. Thank you for sharing them and also for your tips. Normally I prefer to walk alone but it sounds like a few friends would be a good idea on this one.

 

[LTfit]

Your photo's are indeed impressive. Lots of care and love goes into them I am sure. Also browsed through some of your Camino pictures of 2010 (although I remember seeing them in some distant past). I too was along the route then although in July. I especially liked your preface: "

"Every photo cost me on average more than an hour of walking, so you have better enjoy this!"

Cheers,
LT

 

[walkmag]

Dear LT

I am another silly person that is going to try the VF this year.( but only from Sienna ).I have done a few walks in Spain like a lot of Pilgrims
and now it is on too Italy .

thankyou for you photos...and I hope You are wrong about the VF , but I will need to see it for my self ..

cheers Walkmag