Via Francigena and the Cotswold Way - The Plan

So here is the basic plan outline...

On April 29th Lisa and I will leave Vancouver and fly to Pisa, Italy via Gatwick.  After a couple of days there to recover from jet lag we will train to Lucca and from there begin our approximately 400 km walk to Rome.  We will be following the final stage of the ancient Canterbury to Rome pilgrimage route and have planned for 23 walking days.

This is an established walk but no where near as popular as the Spanish Camino route.

https://www.viefrancigene.org/en/

We have booked ahead some nights in the more touristy places but otherwise will will figure this out on the way. 

Rome can be very busy and we have been there before so planning for only a one night stay there at the end of our walk.  After this Lisa will fly to Croatia where she will meet up with a friend for a week of traveling around.  On May 28th I will fly back to Gatwick then train to Chipping Campden where I will start my seven day walk of the Cotswold Way.

https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/cotswold-way




We will then meet up in London for four days before heading home on June 9th. 

E-Bike for Lisa

It has been a busy couple of months this past winter.  We returned home from our Ireland/Malta trip and within a few weeks had purchased a new home in Vancouver.  For some time we had been planning to downsize from our family home in the suburbs and move into the city.  The boys have grown into wonderful and independent young men and it was time to change it up for us.  We put our home on the market and sold it quite quickly. Went through dramatic cycle of sorting, Craigslisting, Value Villaging, purging, recycling and packing prior to our actual move date on Feb 1st.

New digs

Another planned change was for Lisa to buy an E-bike.  We were super impressed after our day riding E-bikes in Malta.  Lisa felt this would extend her range and balance things out between us when we ride.

A couple of weeks ago we dropped into the MEC store in Vancouver just to check out their selection and start the process.  As luck would have it there was one E-bike in her size and configuration on sale from last year's stock.  Regular $3300 for $2200.  This was the very Ghost model we felt would be prefer for her riding style and the large size fit her perfectly.  She wanted a hybrid style, flat bar Euro/city frame with rack, fenders and lighting.  Added wheel and seat post locks, a rocking titanium lock and switched out the saddle for a woman's one.

We bought it and picked it up a few days later after MEC went through the set up and check procedure.

So clean and new....

So far we have been on a couple of 20-30 km rides and Lisa is just thrilled with her new ride.

Malta

After our Ireland walk we wanted to add some contrast to our trip so we flew to Malta where we spent the next ten days.   The first bit was spent in the lovely old town of Birgu, on the south side of the Grand Harbour, directly across from the city of Valletta.  Spent our days wandering the streets, visiting museums, cafes and listening to music.

We next rode the bus to the northern end of the island to catch a ferry to the smaller island of Gozo where we spent four nights.  Gozo seemed much quieter than Malta but, just our luck, Gozo was hit by a bit of a 'Medacane' storm so no swimming for a few days and that was something we were really looking forward to.

The last three nights were spent back on Malta at Saint David's Bay before the final pack up and flights home via Dublin.

Some random pics...

Grand Harbour - looking out to sea, Fort Saint Angelo

Our street in Birgu

Part of Grand Harbour

Our digs in Birgu

Afternoon Rose

Ferry to Gozo

National beer

Our digs on Gozo

View from the windon

E-bike tour

Petra, our guide and Lisa

Hiking on Gozo

Travel uke packed for flight home