Sunday 3 November 2013

....post pilgrimage

Exactly one month ago today, after a whooping 85 days of trekking I walked into Rome. The journey was a long one with moments of weakness, exhilaration, uncontrollable crying and laughter all rolled into one, making it an experience I will definitely never forget. To all those I met along the way, THANK YOU! you've changed my life forever and I will cherish you always.


Monday 28 October 2013

Video # 5

http://youtu.be/Lp5A_zcg8xQ

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful parents - Malgorzata and Wladyslaw Lizon - for their support through out this whole process. Thank you for all your words of encouragement, your belief in this project and faith that I would make it to the end. I know I'm full of CRAZY ideas but You always find it in your hearts to support whatever I choose to do, THANK YOU!!!

Monday 7 October 2013

Day 85 - ROMA

As I woke up on the morning of my 85th day of walking I was surprised but extremely happy to see blue skies with little clouds. 


After four hours of walking I reached Monte Mario and saw the city I've been walking towards since July 14th!


After a few tears and lots of laughter my two companions and I kept on walking towards our finally destination of St. Peter's Square, where we celebrated even more.




....tired but content I lay down and thought of all the kilometres behind me and all the lifetime ahead of me and I smiled knowing how lucky I have been to complete this extraordinary adventure.



I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has helped me along this very long and strenuous pilgrimage to Rome. Your generosity and support is greatly appreciated, THANK YOU!!! :-)

Sunday 6 October 2013

Day 81/82/83/84 - ...it's the final countdown!

As we get closer and closer to Rome the landscape changes as bit.


We come across hazelnut groves, which probably help make Italy's well known Nuttella ;-)


Unfortunately our last two days on the trail have been full of crazy rain showers.....


....even though the weather has been a little mean to us, we keep our spirits hight!


We also came across some interesting new friends on our way.....


.....and soon after found ourselves very close to our final destination!



Thursday 3 October 2013

Day 78/79/80 - ....only 100km between me and Rome!

There are only 100 km left between me and Rome, which makes me excited but sad at the same time.


Walking has actually become harder now since my body knows that I'm almost at the finish line of this amazing adventure.


The last couple of days have been spent among beautiful architecture....


....nature...


...and some amazing pilgrims from around the world.


I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful Kasia and Ania Pazik for their generous contribution during my Indigogo campaign. THANK YOU for your support throughout this whole experience and for helping make this adventure reality ;-)

Sunday 29 September 2013

Day 76/77 - ...on to the region of Lazio

Everywhere I look there are signs teeling me that I'm getting closer and closer to my final destination.


As I walked into the region of Lazio, the scenery and weather changed a bit...


...such a difference from the barren and dry hills of Tuscany.


As everyone said, the closer one gets to Rome the more pilgrims one encounters, which I'm glad is true! 


I though that Ania's departure would leave me walking in solitude but thankfully I ran into some happy pilgrims and we continued on together :-)

Saturday 28 September 2013

Day 74/75 - ...walking in the Tuscan desert!

Tuscany is beautiful but it's also one of the most barren places I've ever visited.


...it's very hot and dry which makes walking extremely hard, especially when one is accompanied by dogs such as one of the pilgrims Ania and I encountered that has been on the road for the past two years!


...vegetation is scarce though once in a while a lonely tree appears in the distance...


...though we've seen a few houses here and there we haven't seen many people which makes us think that maybe we're the only ones crazy enough to walk in this desert like region.


As we enter the village of San Quirico d'Orcia we're surprised by the change of the scenery around us and are both very happy to find a bar with some much needed cold beverages!


I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my amazing friend Ania Szaflarska for her contribution during my Indigogo campaign and for accompanying me for the past two weeks. Thank you for helping make this adventure a reality and for all the wonderful memories that I'm sure we'll be laughing about for years to come :-)

Tuesday 24 September 2013

Day 72 - Monteriggioni

We started our day by coming across a remainder of why I'm on this journey in the first place... as we passed by I though of all those affected by war/racism/prejudice and I bowed my head in silence.


After a little while we finally saw the magnificent medieval town of Monteriggioni. A town which is completely walled and looks basically the same as it did when it was built back in the 13th Century.


Ania and I found this place absolutely stunning and though we wished we could have stayed longer we had to get going as we had another 20km to walk that day!


Feeling strong we put our backpacks back on and set off in the direction of Siena.

Day 73 - Siena

Since we've been walking non stop for a few days now, Ania and I decided to take a day of rest in the amazing town of Siena.


As we set on the beautiful Piazza del Campo we both felt so lucky to have the opportunity to visit this magnificent city.


 As ifnot remembering that we were suppose to take it easy, we walked manu hours discovering the city.....


....and sometimes ended up in places we didn't even know existed.


As we took a little break before visiting the Cattedrale I discovered that my coke had come to Italy all the way from Poland ;-) 


.....and thought how very little this world really is!


Tired but happy we spent the evening sitting back on the Piazza del Campo and enjoying the wonderful energy around us!


I would like to take this opportunity to thank Milena Owsicka for her generous contribution during my indigog campaign. You've helped make this adventure come to life. THANK YOU!!!

Day 71 - Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Celebrating my birthday on this extraordinary adventure has been an experience I will never forget.


First off Ania and I somehow ended up taking the wrong route which was actually great because that brought us to the town of Colle di Val d'Elsa where we had a yummy lunch and strolled among the stands of the Sunday market and car show.


After that we ended up taking yet another wrong turn and spent some time finding our way through the Chianti Vineyards that seemed to stretch out in every direction surrounding us like the Mediterranean  sea.


Thankfully all turned out well and we arrived safely at the Ospitale dei Santi Cirino e Giacomo at the Abbey of Abbadia Isola...


...where we kept celebrating among other pilgrims with good food, wine and songs, followed by some much deserved bed rest.

Sunday 22 September 2013

Day 69/70 - ...more Tuscan beauty and San Gimignano

Walking has been interesting since we some how managed to get lost ...... but I guess this is what happens when two blondes are let loose on the trail.


Though sweaty and tired we were pleasantly surprised as we entered the medieval town of San Gimignano.



As we entered the Piazza Della Cisterna you could definitely spot us in the crowd.


Founded by the Etruscan's the town stands 334m above sea level and was home to 72 towers of which 14 remain standing today.



Since I am walking for world peace and equality for all it was a privilege to witness an artistic protest against Violence Against Women organized on the steps of the Duomo.


For the past couple of days we have been spending our evenings with the lovely Pauline from France, here the three of us stand together below some great women of the past.

Saturday 21 September 2013

Day 67/68 - Under The Tuscan Sun

Tuscany is just magnificent!!!


Though it is SUPER HOT and almost desert like dry - making hiking a bit of a pain in the ??? ...


...the landscape around us is breathtaking.


As we make our way through the ever changing country side we pass many vineyards and olive groves.


As we pass through different villages we are memorized by the local architecture.



There are many moments when I think that it may be amazing to move here and live under the warmth of the Tuscan sun ;-)