Little Green Tracs

Interview with Pilgrims to Rome - Julie Burk and Neville Tencer

Anna-Marie Krahn, a Canadian woman who has wonderful new blog called Pilgrim Roads, recently interviewed us.

She discovered us via our Facebook page, which if had not had the opportunity, please feel free to visit our Facebook page here: “An Italian Odyssey”. Dont forget to "like" our page.

Anna-Marie is writer, photographer and website designer who walked the Camino de Santiago from Le Puy-en-Velay, France to Santiago, Spain, in 2008.

She is quickly discovering as we have already, that there are numerous pilgrim trails in Europe and around the world, other than the well-known Camino Frances route in Spain.

Anna-Marie was curious about our walk along the Via Francigena in Italy. We exchanged some quick emails, and ultimately she agreed to send us a list of 10 questions she wanted to ask.

We gladly responded, and answered her questions as best as we could. You can read the full interview here.

An Italian Odyssey - C-FAX Radio interview

We had the pleasure of being interviewed by Erick Thompson of C-FAX Radio Victoria about our book An Italian Odyssey: One Couple's Culinary & Cultural Pilgrimage

During the 25 minute interview, Erick asked us a number of questions about our walk through Italy along the ancient pilgrim trail called the Via Francigena. He was especially interested in how we prepared for this seven week journey and we managed as a couple being together, day after day. We also discussed some of the special culinary and cultural elements of the walk and the need for travelers to take time to explore the region they are passing through.

Overall it was a lot of fun and we are pleased to have had the opportunity to share some of our stories with him and his listeners.

To hear more from the show, please click on the following link

Download 02 20101118 103533 CFAX AM

 

Camino Portugués in Portugal

The most popular pilgrim trail after the famous Camino Frances in Spain is the Camino Portugués or Caminho Português in Portugal.

The recently opened and longer route in Portugal is approximately 612 km (380 miles) that starts in Lisbon and passes through stunning unspoiled countryside before arriving in Santiago in Spain. It takes 23-26 days to complete.

Between Lisbon and Santarém, and between Ansião and Porto, this route is coincides with the routes to Fátima being developed by the Centro Nacional de Cultura. It is marked with blue arrows in the direction of Fátima and yellow in the direction of Santiago. Between Santarém and Ansião, pilgrims have a choice between a blue/yellow route via Fátima and a yellow route via Tomar.

Alternatively, one can chose to start further north in the medieval heart of Porto and wind their way up through northern Portugal, cross over the Rio Minho into Spain at Tui, and then continue north to Santiago for a distance of 241 km (150 miles). It takes approximately 10 days to walk this shorter section.

From Porto, there are two routes to Ponte de Lima and on to the border at Valença de Minho, the Central one via Barcelos (126km), and a variant via Braga, called the Caminho Português do Interior (140km).

For an outline of this northern section, visit the website of the Associação dos Amigos do Caminho de Santiago do Norte de Portugal.

For detailed maps, description and photos of the entire route visit the website of the ASOCIACIÓN GALEGA DE AMIGOS DO CAMIÑO DE SANTIAGO

The best English guide of the entire route is, “A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino Portugués” by John Brierley.

Published by the Findhorn Press, this guide includes detailed maps of the main routes, and descriptions of alterative routes and information about accommodation. It covers the entire route from Lisbon to Oporto (13 stages) and Oporto to Santiago Spain (10 stages). The book is available through Amazon or directly from the publisher Findhorn Press.

Second edition published in 2009
ISBN-10: 1844091570
ISBN-13: 978-1844091577

More information about the guide is at this site.

Between May and June it can be wet and windy, while summer is hot and busy. September and October the weather is most stable and this is considered the most ideal time to walk it. Accommodation is a mixture of pilgrims hostels (least expensive), bed and breakfast, small pensions and quintas (most expensive). There is no or little pilgrim style accommodation from Lisbon to Porto.