....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.

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!!!

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!!! :-)

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!

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 ;-)

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 :-)

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 :-)