La Via Francigena…..the adventure’s about to begin!

Haha…another journey is about to begin : ) This time, my friend Jo and her sister Jill and I are hoping to walk a 2000 km, ancient pilgrims route from Canterbury to Rome.

This route was first documented when the Archbishop of Canterbury in 990 AD, Sigeric, needed to do some business in Rome. On his return from Rome, he listed the villages that he passed through and this route became known as La Via Francigena , the way to France. During the Middle Ages, this route was used extensively by pilgrims, merchants and travellers. It was abandoned as the years progressed but in the 90’s it was recognised as one of the great pilgrims walks in Europe. There has been a resurgence in recent times to resurrect the pilgrimage and make it accessible to walkers from all corners of the world : ) Sadly at this stage, there’s not the flood of pilgrims that one encounters on the Camino Frances, where friendships abound and loneliness is an unknown word : ) La Via Francigena, is gaining very steadily in popularity…. and I think in a few short years will be attracting the same volume of walkers that The Camino in Spain now does.

However in the meantime…… La Via Francigena ( affectionally known..in this blog, as the VF) is a way, travelled by a relative few….I think 2500 per year.

Now getting down to tin tacks : )
When we decided to partake on this epic journey, we knew that our efforts would be devoted to an organisation. That was a given. CanTeen totally inspired us, when we learned of their complete dedication to helping improve and support the lives of young people and their families, who are living with cancer. This is a cause very dear to my heart in particular, as recently, I have experienced the trauma of 2 young people, in my neighbourhood stricken with this terrible disease and I’ve often reflected on how their burden and indeed, that of their families, could be lightened. Canteen provides a warm, nurturing environment of love and support and most importantly FUN, for young people and their families who are living with cancer.

We would be so grateful to all, who are reading this blog, to give what you are able, to support our cause : ) Any donations, will be gratefully received at
http://www.everydayhero.com.au/La_Via_Francigena

Well…it’s only a few short days now until we fly from Melbourne for London then on April 21st head down to Canterbury, in order to start an amazing journey to Rome on April 22nd.

I think on this walk, you may not read as many posts from ‘a happy Netia’ as you did on my walk across Spain: ) There’s going to be some tough sections, especially in France….and more than likely I’ll get lost…you know me, hmmmmm but I’m going to do my absolute best to arrive in Rome, happy and hopefully with a real feeling of self accomplishment.

Here’s to a walk of a lifetime…. !!!

Love Netia X