Just a few reflections on this final post. Firstly - how the walk into a big European capital can be so green. We were seeing sheep grazing about 5 mile from the Vatican. The walk has been directed through nature parks and it makes a big difference. We both think the Via Francigena will become hugely popular over the next ten years . The sights along the way have been memorable and Rome makes for a much better end place than Santiago. And for the moment it's...

Look at that for a breakfast. Fresh fruit, cereal with cold milk, ham and cheese toasted sandwich and 6 kinds of cake. And I got to eat with the lovely 9 month old daughter of the owners. She's called Beatrice and luckily the language of peepo is universal so we had a hoot. It was a late start as we had to stop and look at the town's amphitheater - not built with stone but hewn out of a rock hillside. It's still used today for theatre and music events. 16 m...

So here we are in Etruria and just three days walking left to go to Rome. I have to laugh remembering living briefly in Stoke on Trent in Etruria which was such a sh*thole but I thought the name was romantic. Now I have seen what it is really like in Italy with all its history - I just can't think why Stoke had the cheek to even use the name. Fantastic days walking, mainly through orchards and forest. We've gone through at least 10 miles of hazel orchards and...

The photo is me in the distance and I'm sorry it's upside down. I'm among the ancient sites of Viterbo - the city in Italy with the most medieval buildings we are told. But I am feeling pretty sorry for myself as I've had a horrible cold for the last two days and have had do do a day by bus as I was feeling ropey. Surprising to see so many African men who are staying in refuges and who on the streets as we go further south. Gave a few Euros to a young man from ...

The pic shows Roger , sideways for some reason, at the point where we are just 100 km from Rome. We will be there in a week but still have to sort out how we get home as our Monarch flights won't be happening. We walked alongside Lake Bolsena for most of the day but we were most excited by the fact that last night we slept in a room with a real Picasso on the wall. This morning we were given a tour of the palace we stayed in by the young son Francesco and it's b...