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January 20 2019 Sunday Independent
San Gimignano, Tuscany
Travel for the soul TRAVEL EDITORS KEVIN FLANAGAN AND CLODAGH DOOLEY WALKED THE ANCIENT VIA FRANCIGENA PILGRIM ROUTE IN TUSCANY AND HERE’S HOW THEY GOT ON
KEVIN
I
t was just spiking 30 degrees and it was still only midday. The open countryside stretched all around me, as far as the eye could see. Rolling Tuscan hills filled with golden fields, dotted with wine groves heavy with dark Chianti grapes. I paused as I waited for my companions to catch up. On an instinct I scooped up two handfuls of the baked hard soil and smelt it, crushing it in my hands and watched the dusty particles fall to the ground. I looked down and noticed that the palms of my hands were stained a russet brown. I felt light and heavy, elemental, suddenly out of time. But oh, so good! Welcome to the life of a modern-day pilgrim. Despite the discomfort, I was enjoying the atmosphere, which was created by the troupe we were travelling with. Led by the motivational presence of Today FM DJ Phil Cawley and guide Anna, most of us were seasoned walkers. Some seasoned pilgrims, having completed part or all of the legendary Camino Way in France and Spain. We were walking the Italian version and I was a newbie to it all. So I allowed myself to go with the flow and the group welcomed me, and my colleague Clodagh, as if we were old friends. It’s simple really. The main thing is walking, and it all starts and ends there. Walking, as we know from the Greeks,
produces thoughtfulness. The great philosopher Aristotle even had a name for it – Peripatetic, named after the peripatoi or “covered walkways”, where the philosopher walked while lecturing. Since then, many others have discovered a deep, intuitive connection between walking and reflection. Now, science has stepped in to bolster the case for going on a modern-day pilgrimage. First up, because we don’t have to devote much conscious effort to walking, our attention is free to wander, and research shows this is linked to the creation of innovative ideas and insight. Studies also suggest that spending time in green spaces – and we were always surrounded by natural beauty of the most amazing kind – can rejuvenate the mental resources that man-made environments destroy. So I was enjoying a doublewhammy!
All walked out!
On our pilgrimage, we covered the breathtaking section of the Via Francigena from Lucca to Siena. It is one of the most spectacular stretches of the Via Francigena. We started in the walled city of Lucca with its amazing Renaissance wall and citadel, and finished in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Siena. And all the time we were walking in the heart of Tuscany, across beautiful rolling hills and woodland, stopping in villages along the way for a welldeserved rest. There are many wonderful sights on this section of the Via Francigena that I will never forget, including the tiny walled hilltop town of Monteriggioni and two impressive UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the breathtaking town of San Gimignano with its medieval towers, and Siena, the historical, artistic, cultural and gastronomic gem. And we arrived there just before one of Italy’s most traditional horse races: the Palio di Siena, and the atmosphere was crackling. On every level this modern-day pilgrimage ticks every box. I experienced friendship, exercise, deep conversations, laughter, fantastic meals, welcome drinks and a feeling of mental and spiritual wellbeing that I cannot put into words. As the week progressed, I noticed what I would call the slough effect. Just as a snake sheds its old and useless skin over several days, so we shed our uncomfortable, everyday state of background stress and anxiety, (which appears to be the lot of most people, with all the constant digital distractions and interruptions). But the profound change did not happen immediately. On the first day, I found my mind still
racing. But by the last day it was in free flow: calm, relaxed and open and ready to receive one of those rare “peak experiences” that come when you are fully immersed in one activity. My peak experience came when we found ourselves wandering alongside a Tuscan river, surrounded by lush vegetation – nature at its best. Birds chirped and sang, and butterflies appeared to magically follow us, their rainbow colours caught in the sunlight that streamed through the forest. And it disarmed me, this moment of unadulterated bliss. It was a moment of joy and clarity, created by the sounds of the river, the sweet smell of the verdant air, the light breeze and the warmth of both nature and companionship. Not many holidays have given me quite such moments. I am grateful for it. Become a modern-day pilgrim – at least once in your life – you won’t regret it! It will help put life, and your place in it, right where it should be.
CLODAGH
T
here was a salty sensation on my lips as I wiped away the beads of sweat that dripped from my forehead. Every muscle in my legs ached, but my final destination appeared hazily from behind the cypress trees in the distance. It was the first day of the Via Francigena pilgrimage walk in Tuscany. The longest trek our group would be doing across our five days of walking the route from Lucca to Siena. We had walked over 20km and I didn’t think I would be able to go on. After words