Turin and Rome – 29th – 31st May

I first took a flight from London to Turin to spend the evening and enjoy dinner with Barbara who I had met last year in San Miniato and we walked together for a few days to Siena. It was wonderful to see her again and to catch up.

The following morning I took a twenty-minute walk to the Torino Porta Nuova train station where I caught the high-speed Frecciarossa train to Rome. It was my first experience of a journey by train in Italy and I was very impressed. It was a very comfortable ride, a journey of 400 miles completed in just over 4 hours travelling at speeds of 300 kilometres per hour, and at times passing close to the Via Francigena route that I walked last year. I had booked into the New Generation Hostel just a 10 minute walk from the train station. I had been invited by Tim Macquiban, the Methodist Minister who had hosted me on my arrival in Rome last year, to the Ascension Day service being held in the Lutheran Christ Church in Via Sicilia. It was just a 20 minute walk but I purposely left the hostel early for an early supper before the service. There are large Anglican and Protestant communities in Rome and the service was well attended. It was good to see Tim and Angela again.

I had decided to take a rest day in Rome before the start of the pilgrimage, first to visit the Anglican Centre to receive a blessing for my pilgrimage from the Revd Dr. Justin Lewis-Anthony who had so kindly welcomed me to Rome when I arrived last year after the first stage of my pilgrimage, and secondly to adjust and prepare for the onward journey. One of my neighbours at home, Deborah, is a tour guide and by chance, she was in Rome leading a large group of American tourists and we were able to catch up over a very pleasant lunch break. After lunch, I completed the first small section of my pilgrimage from St. Peter’s Square to Arco di Costantino where I would begin my journey to Jerusalem the following day. In the evening, I enjoyed a final dinner in Rome and reflected on the journey that led me to this point in my life and where this journey will now take me.