Foot-talk is a central part of pilgrimage, and any modern pilgrim will relate to Egan’s agony. But the wince-inducing foot-related asides make the book what it is: a personal story of pilgrimage.
Fifty miles later, near Piverone, he reports: “a bloody mess of skin, gauze, blood and pus.”įurther down, in Pavia, Egan’s feet are “hamburger.” While numbering the lessons he learned from completing, mostly by foot, the Via Francigena-a thousand-mile religious pilgrimage spanning four European countries-Egan writes: “I will never hike without blister medication.”Ī Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith is a lofty title, and this book, a travelogue with essayistic interludes, addresses lofty themes in theology, philosophy, history, and politics. “The best I can do is wrap them in tape and treat the skin later with antiseptic and cushions.” That won’t be much help. “The toes on my right foot are a throbbing mess of bubbled blisters.” He can barely move. Hiking somewhere near the Italian mountain town of Aosta, about five hundred miles from Rome, Timothy Egan’s feet began to hurt.
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