One day I decided to go for a walk...

THE WORD OF THE DAY IS “WOW”

The Way of St. Francis

May 1, 2026

Monteluco to Scheggino

Miles walked 13.13 miles

There’s a French song I learned as a little girl and it’s been in my head all day in a good way. I’ll try to translate it for you…

Dominic-a nica nica

Simply set out one day,

A poor traveler singing.

In every road and everywhere,

He only speaks of God.

WOW! That pretty much sums up today. The sign says to Ceselli, but I actually went a little farther to Scheggino.

Today was a big down hill from Monteluco into the valley. It was a hard day but the sites and the events of the day made it so worth while.

It was a difficult and steep downhill. However when I stopped to look around the views were so amazing. I know my photos don’t do it justice. I think I would have to print them out as a mural to begin to capture the grandeur of it all.

I’m sure that those of you who know me are thinking, “This is crazy! Why would anyone walk like this?”. Perhaps it’s because I took yesterday off. Today I feel strong. And I will admit some days are very tough and I ask myself those questions as well.

AND THEN THERE WAS MARIO…

Farther on the trail I met two Italian men who told me that on down the path was a man who lives alone on the mountain. They called him “the lonely man”. I think in their translation it would be better to call him the “solitary man”. Hmmm…did I just hear Neil Diamond singing? These two men gave me a bag of food that they had forgotten to give Mario and asked me to deliver it. About half a kilometer I came across this…

And then I met Mario…

There are a few abandoned villages in the mountains and Mario found himself a little home and outfitted it with a wood burning stove and solar panels and he lives up there. He even has wifi and his own stamp for pilgrims.

Mario told me that he worked 22 years in IT and one day he had had enough. He came to the mountains camping for one night, then two, then three, then four and stayed. He even has his own Camino stamp.

He has a nice little set up, running water and solar panels. I don’t think I could live this kind of life though. OTOH it was the highlight of my day.

Even though it was a slow struggle I made it down the mountain and was rewarded by a flat paved road into Ceselli and afterward a 2 mile walk through a park into Scheggino.

The hotel was high up on a hill from the town center, but they had a golf cart to transport me up to the top.

The view from the hotel.

My other stamp

Buon Cammino

MONTELUCO

The Way of St. Francis

April 30, 2026

Spoleto to Monteluco

Miles walked 3.01

So you’re probably wondering why my walking miles is so low. Well it’s because I took a taxi. Yesterday’s walk was so challenging and the climb today was very difficult (that’s what the guide said “very difficult”) and in combination with a poor night’s sleep (I was hurtin’ for certain) I decided there is no shame in taking a taxi.

Monteluco is beautiful. There is a monastery with an actual working group of monks. They are in another part of the building away from the places open for visitation. At one time it was also a convent.

To the right of me is the doorway into one of the cells. That is what the sleeping rooms are referred to. I’m only 5’2” and you can see that I am a head taller than the top of the door. That is because when one enters the room it is with head bowed and praying.

Tradition says that is is the rock Francis was sitting on when God called him to a life of poverty and service. The rock is what’s below the altar.

The owner of the hotel which is 100 years old, had a fascination with old motorcycles. These are just a few.

It might be a little hard to see, but this is the way they grilled meat for dinner. The waiter scoops hot coals out of the fire then places a grill over them and the meat on top. They must be well practiced at the timing of the cooking as nothing looked burned and no one sent food back.

We chose the vegetable soup. It was really good.

My stamp for the day.

Buon Cammino

A QUIET DAY ON THE WAY

The Way of St. Francis

April 29, 2026

Clitunno to Spoleto

Miles walked 12.47

Because the town is so high above the city it is also above the Way of St. Francis path. My friend has injured her leg so she is taking a taxi to Spoleto. I’m riding along the roughly 2 miles before starting the route.

Poreta, about 2 kilometers along the route to Spoleto

It’s a beautiful day. The sun is bright and it’s not too hot. In some ways I want to say it was uneventful. I guess it would be more accurate to say it was a good opportunity to get lost in my thoughts and not in the road like yesterday 😉😊.

I was intrigued by the way the shadows were cast by the trees across the road

To the left is the path bit to the right is a house with beautiful poppies growi growing in the yard. Luckily I didn’t stray to far to see them.

My stamp for the day.

Buon Cammino

DIRECTIONS CAN BE CONFUSING

The Way of St. Francis

April 28, 2026

Trevi to Clitunno

Miles walked 7.29 miles

It’s another beautiful day in Italy and now ready to leave Trevi and head to the next destination.

Things seem to be going well. We’ve walked out of Trevi and are heading to Clitunno which is just shy of Poreta.

The day is going well. And then…well the road just wasn’t marked as well as I thought it should be. You see I have no sense of direction. My daughter has negative sense of direction so if she thinks she should go right, she should turn left. For me every turn is a crap shoot and today was one of those days.

Here again are the differences between the Camino de Santiago and the Way of St. Francis. The map showed me walking along a trafficked road. A rather busy trafficked I might add. But there was a little path following the road so I took it. This happens a lot in Spain. It’s a safer way to walk. However my little path started curving to the left and going up and up until I was walking through an olive grove. Pleasant but not where I was supposed to be. So I backtracked.

I followed the road until I saw the blue and yellow marker that moved me on to a safer path.

Next the guide book said to go past the iron cross. The iron cross in Spain is a large formidable structure with piles of stones that people have left

Again the road was not marked well and after a few starts and backtracks my friend and I stopped at a corner to try and get our bearings when she looked up and said, “There’s the iron cross.“

Eventually we walked into the town of Clitunno and found a place for lunch.

Arancini: rice ball with meat and cheese stuffed inside and deep fried. One of Italy’s best creations.

After lunch we switched to gps to find our hotel. Don’t tell Google Maps, but sometimes it’s confusing. We meandered through a neighborhood getting lost and finally asked a young girl sunbathing and she gave us completely different directions. So we gave up and went back to the cafe to call a taxi.

We asked the owner, Fabio about a cab and he jumped up and said he’d take us. His car was a little dirty because he said he’d been driving the tractor earlier. But he got us to our hotel and insisted that we not pay him.

We were so grateful because our hotel was at the top of the mountain next to a beautiful castle. It was originally two monasteries. The older of the two was built in the twelfth century and the newer in the fourteenth century. Eventually they merged. I doubt it was a hostile takeover, probably so few monks that it made sense to become one monastery.

On our hotel we celebrated our arrival with a limoncello spritz

Buon Cammino

LOOK, A PRIEST!

The way of St. Francis

Foligno to Trevi

April 27, 2026

Miles walked 9.78 miles

Today was a long walk out of Foligno along a main street. I came to a place with a little church but the doors were locked. This is a big difference between the Camino Frances, and the Camino Portugues & the Way of St. Francis. In Spain all the churches seem to be open and every bar and hotel has a stamp for the pilgrim passport. So I was disappointed and decided to go across the street for second breakfast.

My disappointment was compounded when I saw that the bar had little more than drinks, coffee , and chips. So I settled for a cappuccino.

Just when I was about to get on my way 2 priests walked into the bar. It’s true, not a joke. So I asked if they could stamp my passport. We went back to the church.

I not only got a beautiful stamp, but the priest if he could give me a blessing.

Today was a tough walk but somehow when someone blesses you it can’t be all that bad.

Buon Camino

A SHORT DAY

The Way of St. Francis

April 26, 2026

Spello to Foligno

Miles walked 8.62 miles

Spello to Foligno was a short walk. The distance was shorter, about five miles but I accumulated a lot of steps just walking to the cathedral.

I was surprised when we stopped in the Church of San Feliciano and they were unable to stamp my pilgrim passport. They said I had to go to San Francesco. unfortunately San Francesco was closed and I had to wait until 5:00 pm. When the priest stamped my passport I asked if only Churches of San Francesco would stamp and he assured me it would be fine.

Welcome to Zuccarelli Ristorante

We had one of the best meals here. My appetizer was a slow cooked egg with a crispy crust and pork jowl in a saffron cream.

For me I had clams and pasta

And Laura had Paparadelle with asparagus

As you can see from the first picture and chef and the service were very nice and very proficient. It really was a most excellent meal.

The address is…

Via Della Zecca, 9

06034, Foligno

If you are ever in Foligno this is a no can miss! 😋

Buon Cammino

You never see a sign like this with a Shuh-Tzu

Believe it or not, this was lunch at the gas station ⛽️

TODAY WE BEGIN OUR WALK

The Way of Saint Francis

Saturday, April 25th

Assisi to Spello

Miles walked 8.68

Last night was the pilgrim’s mass at the Basilica of St. Francis. It’s amazing how the despite not understand the language the meaning can be felt. During the Eucharist I went forward, arms crossed for a blessing. The priest held a wafer and looked confused so I said “Protestant”. Then he smiled knowingly and blessed me.

And so it begins. Up early and ready to walk. The day is bright and sunny with a nip in the air. To be honest I am a little scared. I don’t know this route and I don’t know the language and I know I’m called to walk. Caught in the middle.

All in all it has been a great day. Perhaps I didn’t pick the best B&B as it is about a mile outside of Spello with no restaurants nearby. However signora graciously offered to drive us in to town and pick us up. And she recommended a great place to eat.

Our B&B in Assisi

My stamps for today. Sorry I seem to be unable to rotate the images

IS BEGGING AKIN TO GRACE?

St. Francis worked for his father as a young man. His father was a cloth merchant and as such was a wealthy man. One day when Francis was delivering cloth he stopped at a ruined cathedral. There he heard the voice of God telling him to rebuild God’s church. So Francis sold the cloth, pocketed the money (some might say embezzled) and began rebuilding the church. His father threw him out of the business for stealing.

Later on God called Francis to give up all worldly goods and become a beggar.

Here’s where I run into a problem. I understand vows of poverty, to live on only the barest necessities. Enough to feed, clothe, and shelter yourself and give the rest away. Begging for those necessities when one is capable of work seems beyond comprehension. I’m not talking about the disabled, the addicted, or the mentally ill. Clearly Francis was able to work and did so for his father.

Then I thought about Grace. Grace is a gift from God. It is freely given to all and totally unmerited. If we can rely on God’s generous gift of Grace, is there also a time when we should totally rely on the generosity of others to fill our needs?

Buon Cammino

WHEN DOES YOUR CAMINO START?

This morning my husband asked me when my camino will start. Will it start when I leave the house? Will it start when my plane takes off? Or will it start on the 25th when I begin walking from Assisi toward Rome?

I have read that a camino begins when one leaves one’s house. Of course a thousand years ago that is how people began their caminos. They packed a sack and departed from their doorsteps and headed to their pilgrimage destination. After I walked my first camino in 2019 I was told that my camino had not ended when I reached Santiago de Compostela, but rather this was just the beginning.

I have pondered this question a lot. Pilgrimage, much like a sacrament, is an outward and visible sign of an inward journey. It is motivated by penance, devotion, and spiritual growth. The Way of St. Francis is often referred as the Tau to the Keys as it traces St. Francis’ journey of penance from Assisi to Rome where the Apostle Peter, whom Jesus gave the Keys to the Kingdom, is recognized as the first Pope.

But when does my camino start? I have come to believe that my camino began when I took my first breath. Every day is an outward sign of my journey, spiritual

and otherwise. As I get older my days begin to feel more spiritual in nature. Except perhaps when I’m in traffic ;-).

I’m leaving my house in three hours, at 6:30 pm my plane will depart, and on April 25th I will begin walking toward Rome. And I’ve been on this camino for a long time already. This is just another step along the way.

Buon Cammino

TWO HILLS AND 16 MILES

October 7, 2025

Camino Portuguese, Day 17

Total miles walked today

Padron to Santiago de Compostela

Here it is, the last day of walking. It’s the longest walk and as you can see there are two significant ascents. In fact, the second ascent is continually upward until one reaches the plaza in front of the Cathedral de Santiago. Yes, the last part is up up up.

It was a relatively uneventful walk. There were certainly more pilgrims on the road as we neared Santiago de Compostella, but it didn’t bother me. Certainly the camino from Tui to Santiago is much less crowded than Sarria to Santiago on the Camino Frances. Inside I felt quiet, still. More than halfway there I even stopped worrying that I wouldn’t make the long walk and the climbs. I just kept going, putting one foot in front of the other. Then there came a moment when I saw the spires of the cathedral. I paused and I knew in my heart that I was going to make it.

Every camino I had walked before this there were days that I couldn’t finish because I was exhausted and needed a cab. Heat so oppressive that I couldn’t take another step. I fainted outside of our hotel about 30 feet from the door. The next day I took a cab. Rain that came down in a deluge so I took a cab. Later I learned that a couple who braved the rain said they walked through places where the water came up to their knees. I thought them very courageous.

Not this camino. Sure I had heat, a moderately unpleasant day of rain, and I was tired along the way. But I never stopped. Never took a cab. Never skipped a day. And now I had seen the spires. Suddenly I told Glen that I needed to sit down…quickly. There was a bench along the sidewalk and we sat. He asked if I was ok. I didn’t need to sit because I was fatigued or hurting in anyway; I needed to check in with my spirit. I never stopped, I kept going, and now I was .9 miles from the cathedral. Notice I didn’t say my “goal” or “the end”, because there is no “end” to a pilgrimage. This is just one more part of my spiritual journey that I will be on until I die. Even then I think I will just be on a new part of my camino.