It’s been a while since my last post. The couple of days after my last post were pretty tough. For no real reason, just that some days are a struggle to even get on the road, so pounding the pavement for an entire day will some days take a toll mentally. Knowing I was about to make it to Rome did certainly help me push through the mental and physical pain!
There were a few challenges I faced on these days and I gave every bit of will power and energy at times to get through, which I did.
Finally, I then made it to ROME! I walked into Rome via the Appia Antica, which is one of the oldest and most historical roads that lead into Rome! It was a beautiful way to enter the city!
I was so fortunate to be invited out to dinner on my first night in Rome by the wonderful Alexandra who lives in Adelaide and also lives with Type One diabetes! I had never met Alexis her partner, however we soon realised we only live down the road from each other! It was so wonderful finally being able to relax and have a real conversation with great people!
The next two days I continued walking, no rest just yet. I left my bag in my accomodation and walked out of Rome, and would return my train at the end of each day, before returning to the same spot the next morning. It was certainly easier without the weight on my back, however this mental exhaustion was still there. After finishing walking Sunday night, I was finally ready to have a day off to explore Rome!
I didn’t sleep much this night, so decided to get up before sunrise to head to the Colosseum and other tourist spots. I arrived at the colosseum just as the sun was up and sat there, almost alone with no other tourists, soaking in this amazing place. It was such a beautiful and peaceful time to be here and I was so glad I decided on getting out of bed.
I went on to visit many of the main tourist spots and stopped at many cafes, to try a lot of the local coffee and pastries. 🤤
I was also then lucky to be crossing paths in Rome with legend Luke Crane and his friend Allan O'sign who had flown in from Tassie that morning. The weather had taken a turn for the worst, so plenty of stops made at bars throughout the rest of the day to get out of the rain ☔️, & to hydrate ☕️🍻🍷. We also made our way back past the main sights before some pasta.
I had another confusing check in at my B&B and was lucky to have the boys there to help me find it (despite jet lag well and truly taking its toll on them by now).
Despite doing over 35,000 steps on my so called “rest day”, it was such a great day to rest the mind and have some fun! After spending so much time alone over the past month, I was so grateful to be able to spend some time and have some fun around such great people.
I was back on the road today, catching the train to where I had finished walking in Anguilla two days earlier. I felt just as tired and sore from walking on my rest day, however I felt a bit more refreshed mentally. 28km later and I made it to Sutri where I will rest up for the night before hitting the road again, and again...
It is now officially my longest walk I’ve ever done, over taking the distance from Adelaide to Melbourne. I am proud of my body for holding strong so far and hope that I can continue to push through this pain and the challenges I will encounter!
Thank you again to all of you for the support! If anyone can think of ways to help promote(media, word of mouth, sharing my page/website, ect) I’d be extremely grateful. I still have a long way to reach my fundraising target and need more and more people aware to help me achieve this! 😘😘
I am also posting more regular daily updates via Instagram story (@elizabart) and also Twitter (@elizabart)
Until next time... ciao xx