During this long pause between blogs, I have continued to walk walk walk but haven't found too many opportunities to blog blog blog. The landscape is beautiful and the people to match, but somewhere in there I got hold of some bad feta or something and was rather under the weather for many days... days of snow, mostly, ugh! I'm so strongly determined to be in Patras on April 3rd that giving up was never a thought that crossed my mind. I just kept my head down and walked, preoccupied with the search for Mother Nature's powderrooms in response to the constant rumblings of the thunderstorm in my digestive track. I lost my appetite, and thus my energy was drained, but, funny thing, during this time, really nice people kept crossing my path, waving me into a cafe for a cup of tea and making it easy to find places to sleep - sometimes for 12 hours at a go. I walked through a lot of history, too, and took passing note, but didn't get too consumed. I walked by Philippi, but could see from the hillside above that the ruins were completely covered in wet snow, and being a Monday, was closed anyway. Oh well. Onward I trekked.
I recovered fully in the days it took to walk around Mt Olympus, just below the snowline. The sun has returned in force, as has my appetite, and the home of the gods is now behind me. I'm happily in the mountains, green and lush from the recent moisture, a day from the perched monasteries of Meteora. Calculating my actual route, I can eliminate the swing through Corinth and take the bridge or a ferry across the Gulf of Patras and recover my schedule to offset the greater-than-planned distance. Though my Greek language skills are still very limited, using mostly German, I explain to people what I'm doing. 'Patras is too far to walk to,' they tell me, 'you must take a bus.' Isn't that a hoot! I show them my credenziale, completely filled with stamps from so many of the places where I've stayed, and they begin to get it. Otherwise, the concept of pilgrimage by foot is completely foreign. They quickly conclude that I must be Catholic because an Orthodox simply wouldn't do something like this.
More soon, but I'm alive and well and found an internet cafe to post.
The Route Day by Day
Next Pilgrimage - Estimated Start Date 01 November 2016
Pages
- Current Home Page
- 2007-2008 Via Francigena
- 2008-2009 Aachen to Santiago de Compostela
- 2009-2010 Route of St Andrew
- 2010-2011 Royal Road to Mexico
- 2011-2012 Route to Jerusalem
- 2012-2013 Buenos Aires to Mexico City
- 2014 Day by Day Saint Louis to Chimayo
- 2014-2015 The Amber Road
- 2015-2016 North American Martyrs
La Fe Catolica Viva
A wee bit about me...
- Winter Pilgrim
- I love to simply travel, I love to travel simply. I lived in Europe for the last 8 years and learned enough German and French to be adequately conversant. I picked up a bit of Italian while walking to Rome. Languages certainly help make travel simpler.
I became a pilgrim in October 2007
My name is Ann Sieben. I'm American by birth and global in existance. I was in
In December 2007, I began a longer pilgrimage from
After that, I found that there were still many miles in my legs. I chose a route with Aix la Chapelle (aka
The life of a winter pilgrim suits me just fine. As winter approached, I prepared to walk the next ancient path discovering the world at a comfortable pace, meeting people, experiencing an interesting world in a slightly non-traditional way. Another winter, another walk; I walked from Kyiv, Ukraine to Patras, Greece along the general route of St Andrew in the first century.
A silent pilgrim does the world no good, so I've given talks and spoken to many diverse groups about these pilgrimages. A recurring, slightly cynical, comment was often made - 'sure something like this might be able to be done in Europe, but not in the US...it's not in our culture, no one would open their door to a pilgrim.;
It saddened me to hear this, and I disagreed. To demonstrate that North Americans are just as kind as Europeans, I set out last autumn from my home in Denver, Colorado to Mexico City on yet another historical path. The early Spanish settlers established a Royal Road from Mexico City as far north as Taos, New Mexico, a little over 100 miles south of Denver. What a success!! Americans are just as friendly as Europeans. So are Mexicans.
Just when I thought my pilgrim life was a thing of the past, the Arab Spring allowed inspiration to enter my heart with the possibility to walk across the history of North Africa. While full of trials and tribulations - barred from entering Algeria, prematurely expelled from Libya, and hurried across the Sinai - the fact that the world is really full of good people was underscored with more great success.
o City, this time through South and Central America. Follow along...Shortly after arrival at the pilgrim destination, I was inspired again by the Empress of the Americas and am compelled to make a long journey again to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexic
Be a pilgrim =)
Posts
9 comments:
Ann, I was so glad to see your post. I was really getting worried, almost had to call Eileen. Sorry to hear that you were under the weather, glad to hear that you are doing much better. Keeping you in my prayers.
Pittsburgh Suzy
Hard going... but you've come through! Go girl...
Anna, phew, glad to see your post and that you are well. I am amazed that that's the only "little" problem you had...figured you would have callouses in your no-sole boots!
I have no doubt you will make your goal...you are almost there!
You are in my prayers! Nadja
All that horrendous weather you trudged safely through further north.... then the feta gets you! In my much more ordinary pilgrimage I know that the one day I had a huge stomach problem easily rated as my worst day- though there were other issues that day like the forked lightning storm I also had to walk through! But I hope you are over the stomach thing, and are feeling energetic for the last haul. And since you have really hoped for this arrival date for so long, I hope you get there in time!
Margaret
Wonderful to learn that you are feeling better! Keep on treking! Hope for the best. Ultreia!
Margaret Meredith
Those darn microbes! So glad you are better! We raise our glass to you and drink to your health this St. Patty's Day week!
Best wishes and keep on walking you are almost there!
Sylvia
Oh I second..third...fourth etc...I kept checking...even at work, and was starting to get more than a little antsy! So sorry to hear you weren't feeling well, but even more strangely, the malady is apparently being shared by a fellow pilgrim...treking thru the Camnio Frances!! Both of you are truly on my list of "Poster" girls...women whom I'd aspire to be like! Doing it..not just saying it...Will be praying for you esp. as Easter approaches .. Be strong and know that there are a lot of people .. many strangers, thinikng and praying for you and wishing you well. K
We've had that bug here... if you had to walk and go through bad weather + the bug, you have my sincere sympathy and admiration for keeping on keeping on.
Hope you will find a place to blog, blog, blog! Can't wait to see some watercolors and celebrate your "arrival" at destination!
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