Guest Blog Joe Mellett, Swinford
ROMA or Bust
Below is an account from my great friend Joe Mellett who recently took the time to come out and jin me on my walk from Canterbury to Rome with another great friend Noel Smith,
Joe & Noel joined me in Pavia on the morning of Tuesday 3 September where we immediately hit the path and walked together over the next 6 days (being joined by our great friend John Culhane from Ballinrobe for the weekend)
Last year in June 2023 myself and Joe walked the famine way walk from Strokestown to Dublin (160Kms) so it was very special for me to have come out and experience the VF with me.
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As Cathal approaches the final stages of his momentous journey ,i want
to thank him for giving me the opportunity to be part of his epic trip
from CANTERBURY to ROME and to have played some small part in helping
him to raise much needed funding for the MAYO PARKINSONS ASSOC and
CHILDRENS HEALTH FOUNDATION ,CRUMLIN.With NOELand JOHN we had lots of
laughs with CATHAL on the VIA FRANCIGENA .While we might have sore
feet and limbs on the way ,the walk was most enjoyable and memorable
,like the day we were walking through a small village ,where. it was
bucketing down with better rain than we ever had at home .There were
some locals watching us pass and when i pointed my stick and shouted
to a man .ROMA -ROMA -PAPA FRANCES ,he stared blankly at me and turned
to the woman beside him to translate ,and nodded back SI ,ROMA -ROMA
but at the same time laughing and scratching his head and wondering
where we had come from?After all it was still another 750KM to ROME
,This was just one of the many laughs we had and i look forward to
recalling many more when CATHAL arrives home next week ..JOE