Guest Blog John Culhane, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo
Below is an account from my friend John Culhane from Ballinrobe who recently took the time to come out and jin me on my walk from Canterbury to Rome. John Joined Noel Smith, Joe Mellett and myself in Oria Litta on Thursday 5 September and we all enjoyed the next few days walking before the lads all returned home.
Joined Cathal and the Swinford stalwarts Joe Mellet and Noel Smith for a wander through the central plain of Emiligia Romano through various fifedoms and dukedoms till we arrived on Sunday afternoon in Fiorenzuola on a wet afternoon.
While we didn’t cross the Rubicon either physically or mentally we did cross the River Po with a group of fellow pilgrims from Holland and Germany. Our pilot was a veteran of many crossings and dropped us off on a rickety set of stairs on the riverbank and we headed for Piacenza 20 km in the distance. The walk itself was lovely and flat through farmland till we had to follow the main road into Piacenza for the last 5km. We threw our self upon the mercy of an Ecuadorian restaurant in the town who fed and watered us before we retired for a rest.
The next day was a 17k walk to Castello di Paderna where we planned to get a taxi back to our digs. Castello di Paderna is remote as in even the phone signal does not get out there. We were stuck at a country crossroads which Joe reckoned was quieter than Kinaffe crossroads. Luckily a bunch of florists from Milan took us under their collective wings and got a taxi to.come and collect us and said they would visit us in Ireland. While we waited for the taxi to come Stefano who lived there kindly gave us the use of his garden furniture. As Cathal said “The road will provide” and indeed it did. The taxi took us back to the best Ecuadorian restaurant in Piacenza and Guiseppe recommended Pizza Sophia for our dinner that evening. An excellent recommendation.
Sunday morning was much cooler and the walk to Fiorenzuola was through acres and acres of corn and tomatoes and beautiful old villages that seemed uninhabited. We met up with some fellow pilgrims from Tuscany. Our way was blocked by a flood that our Tuscana comrades waded through after taking of their shoes and socks. The Irish contingent decided discretion was the better part of valour and and embarked upon the 5k detour that took alongside fields of sunflowers bowing in obeisance to the Sun.
We freewheeled the last few km into Fiorenzuola just as the promised rain began to fall. We found ourselves a bar and spent the afternoon solving the problems of the world and recalling our heroics of the week.
Good luck to Cathal on the rest of his walk. An amazing achievement.
Thanks to John for writing this account of his experience with me on the Via Francigena.
I am undertaking this 2200Kms walk from Canterbury to Rome in aid of 2 charities.
Mayo Parkinson’s Association
and
Children’s Health Foundation Crumlin
All donations will go 100% to the 2 charities as my walk is fully self funded.
If you wish to donate please click on the donate button on my website www.kellyswalk2rome.ie
You can follow my daily journey on my social media channels Kellys Walk 2 Rome
Thank you
Cathal