Today, I hopped a train south to Fidenza in Emilia-Romagna.

With this shortcut and a couple others later on, I can complete this pilgrimage in 6 weeks rather than 10 weeks. Also, I can miss some of the less scenic areas and focus my time on Italy’s most beautiful regions.

Q: Now that it’s over, what did Scott think of his first pilgrimage?

He really enjoyed it. He called it a “blast.”

He walked for 2 weeks, and he said “Given the choice of walking one less week, or one more week, I would have walked more.”

He said he definitely wants to do another similar hike in the future, but when asked if he would do one on his own, he said “no,” he’d prefer to take on the journey with one or more friends or family members.

And where would he like to do his next hike? He said he’d really like to do the Camino in Spain, and he’d also be interested in walking through Sweden or Norway (since his ancestors are from that region).