The Sins of Others (Part 2)

I admit it I’m a dipper. Mum, I’m sorry. It just happened. As for that song ‘Just one Cornetto’ etc, it’s completely wrong. A cornetto is a croissant, not an ice cream. The marketeers have duped us again. 

I walked from 1/10/24 to 31/10/24, most convenient.  The numbers are:  36932 steps x 31 days equals 1,144,832 steps. I’m guessing I lost around a stone. Not really sure. No harm I hear the masses cry.  Thanks for all the messages of support etc. Joan, as usual, was the standout and kudos to her for picking out Cicero’s tomb in Formia, a great spot. There’s not much that gets by her to be fair.  Vic chipped in with a fair few comments as befits a fellow Camino walker. What he did on the Sanabres in 2019 was truly impressive. Of course, it broke him in the end (that’s what carrying 17 kgs on concrete will do to your shins) but fair play, he went back and took care of those missing stages. Coincidentally, where we walked then is the exact location of those terrible floods in Valencia today that killed over 150 people. Drought for three months earlier this year and then flash floods as ground is to hard to absorb water, it’s all scary stuff. But I digress. Blog dedicated...

Following my post on 23 Oct about the Icelandic Tourist Board’s (ITB) negative comments on my blog and cancelling my contract there has been mass outrage at my treatment. I have received thousands of messages from all over World offering support and condemning the ITBs actions. Links to the blog have gone viral.  It turns out that the trifecta of mental wellness, zero carbon footprint and my comments about big media have struck a chord. And a loud chord at that. The ITB has reversed their decision and many more tourist boards have now signed up. Plus I have signed an even better deal with my Asian affiliates. CNN have been in contact and there is even talk of a President’s Award.  Of course I’m humbled by it all and let me just say that the misunderstanding in Lecce over my speech there has been resolved. The allegation that I only used three words of Italian with different intonations (Pizza, Prego and Pomodoro) is, of course, completely unfounded. I will be addressing a larg...

Although the guides say 30 kms a day for each you’d have to be crazy not to take some of the obvious shortcuts. Otranto nice seaside town full of French tourists. On route to Marittima I diverted to Castro, also a nice, bigger seaside town. Let the pics speak. Where’s the Valium says Mike. 

Walk was fine both days.  Felt like I was in Connemara some of the time on route to Martano They say Lecce is the ‘Florence of the South’ and very hard to argue with that. Very nice spot, especially if you are a foodie.  The Duomo, one of many churches and a familiar sight on the VF. Three days to go…

These Italians, seriously. They spend their lives shrugging to each other. All conversations seem to be high drama, with shrugs, hands waving, a fair bit of yelling and no small amount of disbelief. I like it. The car honk thing is kinda annoying. In these small towns everyone knows everyone else and if they are in a car then they honk each other. That’s a pair of honks per interaction, it all ads up.  I like what they do with the chocolate croissants.They just stuff Nutella into the croissant via a small pump mechanism on the bar counter. Nutella is huge in the South. I’ve since given up on chocolate croissants but pumping chocolate into a croissant, fair play. 

I dreamt that I discovered a body on the beach. That would be exciting. Then I thought how would I tell the cops? I don’t speak Italian. Then I thought what if the body was actually my body. That would also be tricky to explain.  I could shrug a lot I suppose. But if I was on the phone. “I think I have found a body. Yes, he looks dead. I think it’s me.” 

Some of these were new to me, I never clicked the fish sign, sigh… 

Similar days in that on both stages there is nothing in between. So you have to bring extra water and make sure you have a few snacks. The stage to Brindisi was pure road, up to the airport and then you could go around it or in front of it (which I did). Brindisi was ok, nice central street but wouldn’t be rushing back.  Second stage was through a National park, unfortunately I left my water bottle in the B&B so was sort of caught. Got in very early though and was ok but 20 years I’ve had that water bottle. What did I learn today? Look at those melons.  And crime must be huge in Brindisi. Massive cop station for a town whose population is 85k. 

A very different walk today. Mostly on the beach and very little on the road. Walking on soft sand is actually quite tiring but ‘twas well worth it. This is tourist country but very few tourists around. But there were hundreds of tiny beaches weaving in and out. In peak summer I’d say these places are overrun but today it was brilliant. I had a little swim for myself in lovely water. Wonderful. For the record 5 kms north and south of Villanova di Ostuni. An amazing area. So, beach from 9-12, get some lunch, perhaps a little lovin’ after a siesta and then a nice meal somewhere. How bad. But only in mid-late October. When there are no people. 

There was a real whiff of money in the air as I walked today. All the farms had proper perimeter walls, the entrance pillars had crests on them like Southfork; five star B&Bs started appearing (with top-end Mercs). Mansions were everywhere (think Fountainstown to Myrtleville road). And then the thing that proved it all, a golf course. Golf San Domenico - strict dress code, €165 green fee, beautiful stuff. I got chased out of the place for looking like someone who sleeps rough. And as I passed through these small pristine towns I knew I had arrived. This is where the Italian rich hung out. I felt at home. 

The idea behind the blog is that when I get home I take a screenshot of each post, save it as a photograph (gif/jpg) file, and then create a physical photobook using all the pictures. Quite cunning even if I say so myself. And much better than having a bunch of photos on a hard drive somewhere or in the cloud.  The comments are asides as to what I may have been thinking at the time. In the old days I’d keep a small journal and then after creating the photo book of photos I’d stick an envelope at the back and add the journal. Then I noticed I couldn’t read my own writing so now the notes become part of the photo. I’ve noticed that on this trip my comments are not as off the wall. It’s because, I think, I’ve been mulling something else (consciously) and my subconscious is not coming out as much as usual. Which kinda saddens me but there you go. I miss the madness. Yawn, more gripping insights. Ormond loves this blog he was saying. 

Early start and then more dodgy signing cost me a few kms and then into Cozze, no bar, no good, and then through the lettuce fields. I cast a long (and let’s face it , a wide) shadow.  Then the long slog into Monopoli. Houses everywhere. Not overly keen on this spot, the historical centre reminds me a bit of the old quarter in New Orleans but the town is just too big. Bari’s is better as they say in Cork. I treated myself to a nice lunch there rather than the normal cheese/ham roll. 

Besides the kindness of the Italians as I butcher their language, I have noticed that homeless people (or at least people down on their luck) also occasionally receive acts of kindness.  The lads kind of stand still in a café or take away, not in a threatening manner, and when noticed, the person behind the counter says hello and just gives them something, maybe wraps up something for them, and away they go. It could be a slice of pizza, or a piece of chicken or anything at all. It’s a nice thing to do for folk when life has been less than easy. I’ve seen this on a number of occasions and indeed once I was given a chicken wing myself. I do smell a bit after walking to be fair. It’s the heat. 

Those Lidl guys are all heart. Let’s give the lads a break on a Sunday, why thank you very much kind sir. A full hour less than a normal day.  Tbf, all the retailers are the same. Would it kill them to close at 2pm? I’m sure we’d all survive. 

Very civilised walk by the sea through Giovinizzato and Santo Spirito with fish shops everywhere and then a bit of a slog into Bari. The train station and rails divides the city and there are not many overpasses.  The ‘Centro Storico’ in Bari is well worth a visit (although stupidly my accommodation was 35 minutes walk away, amateur mistake).  There’s also a great bookstore with a good international section where I picked up a pocket sized ‘Mystery Tales’ by Edgar Allen Poe. Pretentious, moi!  Mola di Bari most impressive. Massive square near the water and many of the streets off it are marbled. Now we are talking. 

The dream is over. The Iceland Tourist Board have just informed me that based on user feedback they are no longer interested in the blog! Imagine that.  They cite reader feedback as the primary reason. Apparently ‘yawn fest’ was mentioned a lot, as were the phrases ‘what a tosser’ and something about ‘paint drying’. I said back to them that they could stick their award; there are plenty of media interested in my interesting, thoughtful and quirky asides into life on the Via Francigena.  Thing is, though, there isn’t anyone else and this is all bad. My Asian partners have also withdrawn unless I can produce a cat with an Italian accent. Where’s it all going to end in this race to the bottom of the attention span. When quality journalism like this blog finds itself out in the cold like this, well, things are really bad. Of course, I will still continue, the Sins of Others won’t redeem themselves as you know. Suffering is always required. Someone always has to step up. I suppose ...

I think this one is sensational (in Stornara)   From before Canosa di Puglia From Stornara

Early start, careful on the roads in the dark, Canosa di Puglia just like all the other towns, kip mostly, reasonable centre, as previously mentioned, rubbish is everywhere in and out of towns. I think this was my last long stage left, my Air B&B has gone off grid, hopefully not for too long as I need the code to get in. It also turned out to be a kip. Strada del Ollio  Roman Bridge before Canosa di Puglia The following day had a nice three hour walk in the rain on busy road followed by another 2.5 hours to Molfetta. This was the only picture I took all day but I like it. Only in Italy. Narrower than Douglas Street. Feet are killing me, and my boots are starting to disintegrate. They’ll make it though. 

In the land of the flat now. Wind turbines and tractors everywhere. For the first time I saw them use a strimmer (but with a vibrating head on it rather than a strimmer head) to shake the olives off the trees onto nets. Hard work lifting that thing up. They have nets on the ground to catch the almonds. Or were they olives, not sure. Rubbish continues to mount up, real depressing. Only positive was some good murals, see separate post.  And the usual tipping, sorry to say. 

Definitely my favourite place thus far. Even a hint of marble on the footpaths. Only negative is that all the bars seem to have been replaced by upmarket pastry shops with very sweet pastries on offer. I know someone who would likes pastries a lot.  Massive change in conditions on the path now that I’m through the mountains. Temperatures a lot hotter, a lot earlier so I’ll start at six tomorrow, plus I have a long day so best to break the back of it. I know, it doesn’t get any more exciting than this.  And of course, the sweet smell of…

Another hard slog today where I fought the windmills and the windmills won. That’s almost the mountains done with, I hope.  Have to give a big shout out to the hotel owner in Casalbore. He absolutely loves his work and it showed. A most pleasant fellow altogether and a memorable stay (€55 including breakfast and evening meal). This was in sharp contrast to a shocker the following day. She gave me four satsumas and no napkins. Imagine that. B&B La Fondella. One a ten and one a one. 

I actually bumped into one the other day on route to Casalbore. I just picked up a rock and hoped for the best. He legged it. No one really likes bores, do they? Well, look in the mirror Frank I hear you say. 

Rubbish signing again out of Benevento. But Frank you have GPS, don’t you use that, what’s the problem? Well, yes and no. I don’t use it all the time as it drains my five year old phone battery and I always need to have some juice at the end to call the place I’m staying in or whatever. Plus I like to have my hands free, what with the dodgy paths, rabid dogs etc. Anyway, this was deemed a hard stage and while it was and again the path was completely overgrown it was doable. It helps to get 3 hours in before the sun really heats up. Once it gets to 10.30am things become quite unpleasant. 

Interesting day today. Left at 6.05 and timed it nicely to coincide the non-road start with daylight. After that, phew, what a brutal stage in the mountains. I hoped the second part would be easier, what with it being mostly downhill but like the Talking Heads song ‘Road to Nowhere’ I picked such a road. Disaster. I won’t go into the detail but ended up having to force my way through thicket and reed. See the pics below.  Anyway, Benevento at first seemed not up to much but when I was out as bad about this evening in the centre it was buzzing and has lots going on. Finally a place I recommend. Very cool spot but as I say only in the centre. 

Telese is the second town where they use kind of an American style block system. Nothing too impressive here though. And like that Belgium woman commented to me,  all the rubbish in the country is very ugly. Real shame. So far, with few exceptions, most of the villages and towns I’ve been in have been kind of shabby. Sure, the hill top towns are spectacular from afar, but would you live there? Not sure I would.   There definitely is a big difference between the North and the South. I’m in the state of Campania at the moment, maybe Apulia will be better. In case you are wondering, my feet are very sore. I think it’s because my soles are almost worn down. Or it could be that I’m just getting too old for this lark. And maybe the photos can redeem this post. Nope, didn’t think so. 

These are actually two photos from different towns but they sit well together.