During our last few days in Greece, much of our time was spent preparing for our upcoming pilgrimage on the Via Francigena in Italy. Last fall we found a storage facility in Sofia, Bulgaria for Bijou, so we began making lists of everything we needed to do to store her safely and then get ourselves to Italy.
Leaving Athens, we made our way to Sofia with only two stops along the way. One was just an overnight in a little town off the highway right on the Aegean Sea. It was quiet and peaceful, with lots of waterfowl to watch as the sun set. Our second stop was the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria. At just under 4000 feet elevation, it was a freezing cold place to boondock. Thankfully, Bijou has a very effective heater which we ran overnight for the first time ever. We actually stayed quite toasty, but we were ready to hit the road for Sofia very early in the morning.
We had two stops to make in Sofia, one was the sporting goods store, Decathlon, and the other, Kaufland, a grocery store. With last minute purchases made, we drove to the storage facility to settle in. At one end of the storage place there are spaces with electrical hookups, water and black and grey water disposals. There is also a hot shower just slightly bigger than a phone booth, and a washing machine that we desperately needed.
We had not done any laundry for over two weeks and the situation was getting dire. Plus, Bijou needed a good clean top to bottom before we said our goodbyes to her. There is no better feeling to me than returning to a clean Bijou after being away for a while. We had given ourselves six days to clean, wash, fill our backpacks and finish last minute tasks before moving Bijou into her storage spot where she will stay for the next two months.
What we did not factor in to all these well-thought out plans was the fact that Sofia gets flipping cold, and it gets snow, and the washing machine, which is outside, does not function in freezing temperatures. In fairness to us, we did not know the washing machine was installed outside and therefore unusable in the winter. In our last two days, the water at the storage facilities had to be turned off due to the freezing overnight temps which is forecast to go down to 12 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrrrr, man! Plus, it snowed every day, sometimes sticking to the ground, and other times melting away. We actually love snow, so we enjoyed it.
Getting everything done was a bit more challenging than we had anticipated. Our little washer Max came to our rescue. Even though we hadn’t used him in a long time, he had no problem taking all the clothes we could stuff into him each day. We divided up all our laundry so that we could get it all done in four large-ish loads, except for the bedding and really heavy items such as jeans.
To wash, Steven had to haul buckets of water from the tap (cold) and the shower (hot) and hand them inside for me to pour into Max. After three cycles, wash, rinse and softener, we had to hand-wring all the clothes before hanging them up to dry in Bijou’s shower. It was cumbersome, but we got into a rhythm and got it all done.
Once the clothes were hung we turned our attention to cleaning, organizing, packing our gear and planning for our trip. We will fly out of Sofia to Milan, then take a combo of bus and trains to get to Aosta, the capital of the Valle d’Aosta region in northwestern Italy. In fact, by the time you are reading this blog post, we will already be in Italy.
It is from the beautiful town of Aosta, surrounded by Europe’s tallest peaks – the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, Mont Blanc and Gran Paradiso – that we will begin our journey on the Italian portion of the Via Francigena. We will walk nearly 1,000 kilometers through seven regions, down valleys and through rice fields, We will ferry across the Po, Italy’s largest river, and hike over the Apennines mountains as we make our way to Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.
The Via Francigena is an ancient route, an important collection of roads used for general travel, trade and pilgrimages. The current stages of the VF follow those recorded by Archbishop Segeric in 990 upon his return trip to Canterbury after walking to Rome to receive his pallim (Y-shaped garment hung around the priest’s robes) from the Pope. Today, the official VF begins at the cathedral in Canterbury and stretches 2,000 kilometers through four countries, ending in Rome. Our decision to walk just the Italian section is due to distance, time, weather, and logistics. Also, if I’m perfectly honest, we had zero desire to walk through France.
Three years ago we completed the Camino Frances, walking 800 kilometers from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. On that trip we set a personal goal to walk the entire way, ignoring taxi signs and resisting the temptation to jump on a train to get us further down the road. We will not be as rigid on the Via Francigena, for a couple of reasons.
First, the VF does not have the same robust infrastructure for pilgrims that is found on the Camino Frances. It can be challenging to find accommodations along the route within the distance we are comfortable walking each day. We don’t mind a longer day every now and again, but we don’t plan to make a habit of walking an ungodly distance to the next town for accommodations.
Second, a long-distance pilgrimage comes with challenges, both physical and mental. We are okay with a bit of physical discomfort and mental boredom, but we draw the line at misery or danger. I can’t think of too many dangers, except maybe weather-related events such as snow, mudslides, lightning, those kinds of things. But I can think of countless misery-inducing events, two of which are the reason we are walking in March instead of May – heat and mosquitoes. But we ultimately don’t know what we will encounter or what we are willing to endure until we get out there. We just know and have agreed ahead of time that we are not averse to catching a train or bus, or hailing a taxi if it becomes necessary or even just desirable.
Barring injury or illness (both of which fall into the misery and/or danger category), we figure the trip will take around 50-55 days, give or take and depending on how many rest days we take and how much we jump ahead. For example, if we take a train from Aosta to Rome, it will take only one day. 🙂 I jest.
As for staying in touch with you over the next two months, in our minds we will have the energy and be in the right frame of mind to put up a weekly blog post, but if we don’t, just assume we are suffering and take pity on us. Wish us luck and keep us in your thoughts, we need all the mojo we can get!
And, as always, a little artwork from Steven. This harkens back to our trip to Morocco a couple of years ago. It’s a nice contrast to all this cold weather! You can keep up with what he is doing by following his Visual Art page here. He is taking along a little sketchbook on our walk and will be posting his drawings on his page.
Next Up: On the trail to Rome!
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Best wishes for a successful journey. Keep us in your pockets as you trek the VF, especially if you can’t keep us posted.
Thank you, Nickie! We are going to do our best to stay in touch!
All my best for a misery and pain-free trip that includes a minimum of necessary buses and taxis! May they only be used for pleasure! AND I’m hoping that there will be a long photo and art blog post when you arrive in Rome and have had time to recuperate! (Maybe a bit self-centered as I’m heading to Rome in a few months and I look forward to learning through your experiences. I’m going to go back through your blog and look for past trips.) Buona fortuna! And ciao for now!
How fun that you are going to Rome! Such a beautiful city! Yes, take a look back as we spent five weeks in Rome at the end of last year. I’m sure we wrote something! 🙂 Thank you for your well wishes!
Wishing you well and looking forward to your reports, whenever you feel you can do them!
Thank you, Liz! I am not used to typing on my phone, but I am going to do my best to peck out a blog post every now and again so we can stay in touch!
Hope you have an enriching and memorable experience on the VF ! Keep us posted, please, I enjoy your posts and pictures so much !
Thank you for such a lovely comment. I can promise whatever our experience turns out to be we will enjoy it to the fullest! And, make some beautiful photos along the way so we can share them here! Stay tuned!
Wishing you two a safe journey!
Thank you, Connie!
Have a wonderful adventure….safe and healthy travels ❌⭕️🤠
Thank you for your well wishes, Mary!
I salute your moxy and applaud your tenacity. Coolest couple in Europe!
Awww, thanks! I hope our moxie and tenacity doesn’t fall out of our backpacks somewhere along the trail! We will need every ounce and then some!
Wow! Beautiful monastery. The artwork is amazing. Also love the cover photo and Steven’s drawing…looks like a Christmas card. Looking forward to walking on the VF.
I have seen lots of photo of the monastery and I always thought it was made of marble, but it’s painted! Really beautiful and elaborate. Glad to have you along for the walk!
To my way of thinking n living, you guys are fearless!!!! So many adventures!!!!
Lol, I’d say our detailed planning takes a lot of the unknowns away, but sometimes we take a leap into the abyss. So far it has worked out for us! Good to hear from you and have you along for the walk!
Safe travels and wonderful Journey
Thanks so much, Vern! Good to hear from you, hope you are doing well!
Be safe, stay healthy and above all ENJOY!!
Thanks, Kim! We try hard to enjoy each day, but sometimes it is most enjoyable when it is over and we look back at what we have accomplished! Thanks for commenting!
As fellow motorhomers and avid readers of your blog and currently making our way south in Italy, we are looking forward to hearing of your adventures on the Via Francigena. We have crossed it a few times this week, and made a point of following the Monteriggioni to Siena section yesterday on our bikes (although much of the bike option was on road). We can promise you a wonderful walk on this section, especially when you come through. It has been exceptionally cold here for the time of year and nature still wears it’s winter colours but it will be greening up in time for you. Siena is gorgeous, but I expect you have visited it. We admire and envy you your grit and determination, what organisational skills this hike must have entailed! All the best, take care.
Thank you so much for reaching out, it’s good to know you are out there! We are looking forward to Tuscany and hope you are right that spring will have found its way there by the time we get near. It will be a while, lol. Please do stay in touch!
Hope you have a good trip, a sensible attitude to such a trip 👍
Thanks so much! Are you by any chance related to Alan Gow?
That sounds so exciting. Lucky you.💙💛
It is very nice exciting, at least now in the early days. Might be less so after a month, we’ll see! 🙂
Enjoy reading about your travels and especially enjoy the pictures. Safe travels and godspeed on your pilgrimage. Best wishes from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Pat, thank you so much for taking time to comment! We appreciate your well wishes, we need all we can get! We love New Mexico, btw! 🙂
Oh, another fabulous adventure for you two! I’m looking forward to reading all about it, and hoping you’ll have the time and energy to post. That monastery in Bulgaria is absolutely gorgeous—magical, as you said. I love visiting monasteries. Wishing you a safe and glorious journey.
I love monasteries, too! There is something slightly mysterious and intriguing about them!
“A walk…” Ha! You two amaze me. But you’re going to see and experience things you never would any other way. That header of the roof tops is exceptional – such amazing light and texture. Love the beautiful monastery – so bright and alive at such an old age (gives me hope!). The More colorful artwork pic is really wonderful too. Keeping you in our thoughts as you make the latest trek, hoping for lovely weather and the best kind of surprises!
Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts!