Page 18 - Issue 5

The Via Francigena passes Bagnaccio, one of the natural geysers with its alkaline water at 40 degrees Mooney was delighted to wash his tired feet there The walk continued south towards the Etruscan town of Caprani- ca to stop overnight at the Inn La Locanda Monticelli As Mooney come to the end of his journey, philosophical thoughts passed through his mind “We are just part of a pro- cess I think that is why I walk: it holds back time and, perhaps, also helps me understand how small we are” A question he asked him- self was “...why is it that that I have to walk, and what, for that matter, impels anyone in an age of easy transport to walk long distances” He confessed: “I set out a contented soul, and for the most part remained so I had loved virtually every day and almost every hour of my journey I had only once thought of giving up; and now there remained just this slight nagging tug in me to nish...”.
A thought hovering over Mooney’s mind was how would he adjust to normal life: “The next stage is when you cannot stop...” By now he was coming to the last two days of his journey, going from Campagnano to Formello, where “...the Via Francigena winds through the pastures and woodland of the Parco di Veio, where wild horses, and white chianina cattle grazed”, reaching La Storta on the out- skirts of Rome to relax and get ready the next day for the grand entry into the eternal city: “From La Storta, the Via Francigena follows the side of the busy Via Cassia..., and then it leads to a section where there is only a hard shoulder as it joins the Via Trionfale...”, lead- ing to Monte Mario where Mooney is greeted by a panoramic view of the City of Rome Once down at St Peter’s Square where Brian Mooney’s wife Gail was waiting for him, it was time to collect the certi cate of pilgrimage, the Testimonium, from the Holy See’s Pil- grim O ce. It was 11th August and the nal destination after 76 days was the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli (St Peter in chains) after walking “2,115 kilometres (or in Saxon miles, 1,322) from its sister church in Coggeshall”, called St Peter ad Vincula It was certainly “A long way for a pizza”!
BOOk 3
Brian Mooney
Thorogood Publishing Ltd £1499
Brian Mooney did not
need much prompting
to take up the journey
again in the opposite
direction two years later
in 2012, this time from
Rome to his home-
town in Coggeshall, as he himself admitted
in the Foreword: “I savoured the moment: all those long, parched days; the hill climbs; the country roads; waymarked tracks and canal towpaths; all the diverse human habitations from hamlets to metropolis; the churches and cathedrals; all the people I had encountered – I had enjoyed it all so much that I would have done it again”
However, he was also prompted by a friend: “In the Middles Ages...pilgrims walked home They didn’t have the luxury of Ryanair” So Mooney ew to Rome On landing in Rome
to start his journey on foot in the peak of the summer He admitted it was “Un pò pazzo”, to which an Italian cab driver replied “Al con- trario, è molto avventuroso” Those readers who followed the author along his rst walk in A Long Way for a Pizza will enjoy travel- ling with him again. As in his rst book, it is absorbing and light hearted
Georgina Jinks
Living Italy Past & Present 18