The basic idea

Sometimes the simplest pleasures can be awe-inspiring and bring the greatest rewards. Walking for days on end, finding a balanced pace and rhythm, travelling through country lanes or mountain trails can lead to a simple sense of achievement and a sense of wonder.

Walking the Way of St. James in Santiago, Spain, the Way of Le Puy in France, the Francigena and the Anaunia Way in Italy, I came to realise that I could find that same sense of wonder and harmony in my own land. It is a land where man has certainly left his mark but as long as a route could be mapped out where you could walk for several days in complete safety, it could be done.

While there are many mountain trails in our area, there are very few designated walks in the Veneto countryside and hill areas. Creating long trails in the Veneto, discovering secondary routes that pass through quiet towns and villages untouched large-scale urbanisation, and dedicating these walks to the people who have given their lives to conservation and countryside management is, deep down, a very simple idea.

If this simple idea helps people, both Italians and non, to mix the dust of the great European walks with the dust gathered along the Cammini Veneti (Walks in Veneto), then we will have played a small part in creating opportunities to inspire awe and harmony. Is it not a wonderful thing that tree roots can break through the tarmac?

Andrea Cevese (Chairman of the Associazione Cammini Veneti)