There’s a great prayer by Alcuin of York who became the chief spiritual adviser to Charlemagne. It’s about a transformative experience and I would hope for that kind of experience on the journey. What Bible verse would you ponder as you walked?įor the same reason, I would have Genesis 33: 24-30, Jacob wrestling with the angel. So I think I’d take the Robert Alter translation of the Psalms and Origen’s Homilies on the Psalms.
It would have for me a metaphorical value as a spiritual journey and I would want to see where that journey would take me – what beliefs, what insights it would give me. I’d be a lot more interested in the Christian context of it. I think pilgrimages work because you don’t know what you’re going to find. I’d be doing this pilgrimage very seriously – I’d be wanting to see what I found on the route. If we could find that and transport it onto the route, that would be fantastic – a pre-glimmering of heaven.Ĭamp under the stars, or find a church hall to sleep in? I can’t remember what we ate, but it was perfect – the greatest Greek meal you’ve ever had but 20 times better. We have never been able to find it again. I don’t know its name but it’s a restaurant outside Epidaurus in Greece my wife and I found down a lane. You can transplant your favourite pub, bar or restaurant onto the route. I might take Alfred the Great as well, because I’d have so many questions for him: did he really burn the cakes? It would be a challenge to see if I could make him smile. Who would be your travelling companions (excluding partner/ children)?Īrchbishop Sigeric (known as Sigeric the Serious) who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 990 to 994. You feel a sense of affinity to these landmarks that are links back to all the people who have taken the pilgrimage before you – it’s incredibly moving and powerful. There would be a whole host of places! What I found doing the Camino in Spain was that you feel quite proprietorial towards sites on the route because of the path that you’re taking. There is Reims, you go through Switzerland up over the Alps, which I’ve never done, you go through Siena.
It’s a fabulous route – there are so many great stops along the way. So I thought that would be a wonderful opportunity to follow in his footsteps. He went to Rome and had a vision of Saint Bartholomew. I’d been vaguely thinking next year would be good because it’s the 900th anniversary of the Priory of the Hospital of Saint Bartholomew, which is said to have been founded by Rahere, reputedly the jester of Henry I. I’ve done the Camino to Santiago and I’ve always wanted to go to Rome (the Via Francigena).
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