Exploring the unlikely intersections of walking, photography and making
Oki, Shikoku, Japan, 2017 Saijō City, Shikoku,Japan, 2017 Varanasi, India, 2011 On the ghats of Varanasi, India, 2011 Wedding procession, New Delhi, India, 2011 Wedding procession, New Delhi, India, 2011 Black Valley on the Kerry Way, Ireland, 2016 On the Avondhu Way near Killavullen, Ireland, 2016
This is the last walking day of our first stage of the Via Francigena. If the photos seem familiar, it is because we completed this day’s walk on September 24. I wanted to report the successful completion on that day even though I had only posted days 1 to 11 by that time. The missing... Continue Reading →
Péronne. A lovely town richly endowed with post-war Art Deco architecture. And, set within the walls of the town’s 13 C. castle, is the modern Historial of the Great War, designed by architect Henri-Edouard Ciriani. Thankfully, our walking day to nearby Trefcon would be a short one, leaving us the morning to explore this museum... Continue Reading →
Bapaume Beaulencourt British Commonwealth Cemetery Thilloy Road Commonwealth Cemetery Manchester Commonwealth Cemetery Église Saint-Pierre, Villers au Flos Église catholique Notre-Dame de Rocquigny, architect Jean-Louis Sourdeau, 1929-32 Necropole Nationale, Moislains Église Paroissiale, Moislains, architect Louis Faille, 1928-32 Canal du Nord Australian Remembrance Trail of the Battle of Mont-Saint-Quentin Péronne
The Via Francigena may have originated as a religious pilgrimage dating back to the 900s (if not earlier). But here, today, as Gail and I walk through the rolling farmland of northern France, we are reminded over and over again that the line we follow is as much informed by the Great War as it... Continue Reading →
It’s November, 2019. Gail and I have been back in Winnipeg for six weeks. I’ve been occupied with a book project, just now completed. So it’s time to get back to our Via Francigena pilgrimage, starting where you last saw us. Back to September 29 as we leave the coal mining town of Bruay le... Continue Reading →
2 HOME ASSINIBOINE PARK ASSINIBOINE FOREST IKEA SWEDISH MEATBALLS HOME 24 KM 09/04/19
The 26-kilometre path to Burgos crosses a vast swath of human history. It starts with a midday traverse of Atapuerca. Here, in limestone caves below the Atapuerca Massif, archaeologists uncovered (in 1994) a cache of human remains stretching across a pre-Christian era of 127,000 to 1,000,000 years ago. These are the oldest human remains in... Continue Reading →
The 23-kilometre trek from Santo Domingo to Belorado contrasted two worlds. To one side ran the slick, modern national highway N-120. Its twin ribbons of factory-fresh asphalt crossed the flat, brown landscape, requiring costly overpasses to lead pilgrims from one side to the other. Cars fly through this flat land, missing the details of an agricultural... Continue Reading →
Today’s 24-kilometre walk would lead us to three unique religious experiences. We left Nájera at first light on another beautiful blue-sky day, the sun rising over our shoulders, casting its long shadows towards our destination, Santo Domingo de la Calzada. We soon arrived at the 500-person hamlet of Azofra and made the proper decision to... Continue Reading →