On a Family Pilgrimage Trail

Year-long Australia to UK overland travel adventure (200+ entries!)

…and tales of a bungee

Phew. After two or three pretty intensive days agonising over my bungee jumping (and subsequently dead) computer I eventually bit the bullet and bought a cheapie travelling lappie to get me through the last couple of months on the road.

Being Italy that wasn’t as easy as it sounds, but in spite of some more grey hairs we’re back in action and that’s the main thing. The new machine is a little quirky however, especially considering it’s an Italian version of Windows (“Disco Removable”, “Si!” — love it!) so please excuse any little hiccups or technical faux pas that might find their way into the next few entries.

Anyway, back to the pilgrimage I promised. Before the Pringle name became Scottish, a version of it was Norman — those crazy and generally bloodthirsty ‘north men’ that descended from Scandinavia in continental Europe around 900AD and conquered large swathes of it including Britain and much land all the way down to Sicily in the Mediterranean. They led the Crusades and shaped the course of history in the Middle Ages, allowing modern-day countries to coalesce and eventually setting the stage for the Renaissance.

History is a little sketchy but it seems that the Pringles of old were good God-fearing Christians that probably participated in a Crusade or two and definitely embarked on regular pilgrimages to shrines dedicated to their patron saint, St Michael, located in Italy, France and southern England. So to share the old-worldy spirit of the 14th century right now in the 21st century, I thought I might retrace the footsteps of some ancient Pringles and visit the same churches as I wind up my personal journey of enlightenment.

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