Column: to Rome on foot – part 2

And there I went, on my way to Rome. I walked through Hilversum, up the heath towards Utrecht. On the heath a lady got off her bicycle. "You're using your sticks wrong," she said. She took them from me and gave me a demonstration. "Using them like this will put less strain on your knees and ankles," she assured me. When I told her the purpose of my trip, she was impressed. She got back on the bike and said, 'I'll light a candle for you!' And that while I hadn't even left Hilversum yet!

I soon noticed that I had made a slightly too romantic idea of ​​the journey. In Hollandsche Rading I couldn't say porridge anymore. I sat down in a bus shelter. Suddenly I noticed that I was being photographed. My friend Wil's boyfriend was standing on the other side of the road, grinning broadly. "And that has to go to Rome?" he laughed. I was embarrassed, gathered myself back together and continued on. The first overnight stay was in the town of Westbroek.

“The beer, or the wine in the evening, always made up for it!”

Coffee with a filled cookie

The next day I was also confronted with my own fantasies. You see yourself happily walking through the landscape, pausing now and then for a cup of coffee, but the reality is different. I soon ended up in the outskirts of Utrecht, with industrial estates, businesses such as Gamma, garages.

After hours of walking, I went into a gas station in a hurry. Apparently I looked so tired and hot that the young man standing behind the cash register went to get me a stool so that I could sit between the shelves and have a cup of coffee with a filled biscuit.

Later it also started to rain. I had to go to IJsselstein, where I had booked the next hotel. Because it was Easter I had discussed hotels and B&B's for the first few nights. My goal that day was hotel Epping in IJsselstein.

Wet to the bone

I lost my way, got wet to the bone, at a certain point I walked through a border with daffodils along a highway and threatened to get lost in Nieuwegein. After a lot of searching and detours, I finally ended up in IJsselstein that second evening.

Luckily my room was well heated and I was able to dry my soggy clothes and shoes. Luckily I didn't know how often I would arrive at my destination in such an exhausted state in the coming months. The beer, or the wine in the evening, always made up for a lot!

To be continued…