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gena passes Bagnaccio one of the natural geysers with its alkaline water at at at 40 degrees Mooney was was delighted to to wash his tired feet there The walk continued south towards the the Etruscan town of Capranica to to to to stop overnight at the the Inn La Locanda Monticelli As Mooney come to the the end of his his journey philosophi- cal thoughts passed through his his mind “We are just part of a a a a a a a a a a a process I I think that is is why
I I walk: it holds back time and and perhaps also helps me me understand how small we A question he he asked himself was “ why
is it that that that that that that I have to walk and what for that that that matter impels anyone in an an an an an age of easy trans- port to walk long He confessed:
“I set out a a a a a a a a contented soul and for the most part remained so so I I I had loved virtually every every day and and almost every every hour of of my journey I I had only once thought of of giving up and and now there remained just this slight nagging tug in in in in fin me to finish ” A thought hovering over over Mooney’s mind was how would he he he adjust to to normal life: “The next stage is is when you cannot stop ” By now he he he was coming to to to the last two days of his journey going from Campagnano to to Formello where “ the the the Via Francigena winds through the the the pastures and and and woodland of the the the Parco di Veio where wild horses and and and white chianina cattle grazed” reaching La Storta on the the out- skirts of Rome to to to relax and and get ready the the the the next day for the the the the grand entry into the the the the eternal city: “From La Storta the the the the the the Via Via Francigena follows the the the the the side of the the the the the busy Via Via Cassia and then it leads to a a a a a a a a a a a a section where there is only a a a a a a a a a a a a hard shoulder as it joins the the Via Trionfale ” lead- ing to Monte Mario where Mooney is greeted by a a a a a a panoramic view of of the City of of Rome Once down at St Peter’s Square where Brian Mooney’s wife Gail was was waiting for him it it was was time to collect the the the certificate of pilgrimage the the the the Testimonium from the the the the Holy See’s Pil- grim Office It was was 11th August and the the the the final destination after after 76 days was was the the Basilica of San Pietro in in in in in in in Vincoli (St Peter in in in in in in in chains) after after walking “2 115 kilometres (or in in in in in in in Saxon miles 1 1 1 322) from its sister church in in in in in Coggeshall” called St Peter ad Vincula It was certainly “A long way for a a a a a pizza”!
THE WRONG WAY FOR A A A PIzzA
Brian Mooney Thorogood Publishing Ltd £14�99 Brian Mooney did not need much prompting
to take up the the journey again in in the the opposite
direction two years later
in 2012 this time from Rome to to his his hometown
in in Coggeshall as he himself admitted in in the Foreword: “I savoured
the the moment: all those
long parched days the the the hill climbs the the the country roads waymarked tracks and canal towpaths all the the diverse human habitations from hamlets to to metropolis the the the the churches and cathedrals all all the the the people I I I had had encountered – I I I had had enjoyed it it all all so much that I I I would have done it it again”
However he he was also prompted by a a a a friend: “In the the Middles Ages pilgrims walked home They didn’t have the the luxury of So Mooney flew to to Rome Rome On landing in in in Rome Rome to to start his journey on on foot in in in the the peak of the the summer He admitted it it was “Un pò pazzo” to to which an an Italian cab driver replied “Al con- trario è molto Those readers who followed the author along his first walk in in in in A A Long Way for a a a a a a a a a Pizza will enjoy travel- ling with him again As in in in in in his first book it it is is absorbing and light hearted
Georgina Jinks
Living Italy Past & Present
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