DAY 185 - SOMMA LOMBARDO TO STRESA

24 October, 2011

22.2 miles (Total 1795.7 miles) 44,400 steps (Total: 3,895, 001 steps)

The weather is certainly changing now—much colder, around 11 degrees and today I had to wear my gloves for the first time. The days are shorter too—it doesn’t get light until 8AM and closes in around 5PM. It is damp/drizzle weather—the type you would expect in the Lake District at this time of year and I suppose that was appropriate as I was in the northern Italian lakes walking along the side of Lake Maggiore, not that I could see a great deal of it because of the low cloud and fog. One of the advantages of the low cloud was that it obscured the Alps—I knew that Mount Blanc was just to the west of me and the Jungfrau was straight ahead—I knew this because they dominated the skyline on a clear day seventy miles away east of Milan. They must be towering over me now so I am grateful my visibility is limited.

During my day catching up on blog entries and correspondence I spend some time catching up on the political news from the past week—I miss politics and the opportunity to debate current affairs with colleagues at Westminster, so I thought I would compensate for another routine day with some thoughts on the current political scene—those who are fortunate enough to ‘have a life’ may want to navigate away to Flikr images at this point:

Liam Fox: I was sorry to see the departure of Liam Fox as Secretary of State for Defence. We are the same age and had begun our political careers at the same time. We were both conviction Conservatives rather than cultural Conservatives, in other words we had come from non-traditional Conservative backgrounds. Whilst my political career peaked somewhere mid-table in Division III, Liam’s deservedly went on to the top of the Premiership, almost winning the title one year. Liam has a great brain, a wonderful sense of humour, is incredibly articulate and very loyal. In many ways it may have been this last quality which was in part his undoing, but I saw a different side: When I was touting around the idea of observing the Olympic truce I normally received standard replies from Cabinet ministers after six weeks referring me to the Olympics minister who in turn said he was too busy to see me, but Liam responded personally within a few days and invited me to come in to the Ministry of Defence to discuss the truce with him and officials. We had a robust meeting the culmination of which was that Liam agreed to explore whether a truce might be offered in Afghanistan to allow in humanitarian aid on two conditions: First that the initiative was led by the Afghan government and second, that British forces were not put in danger. Even though we were unable to secure buy-in from the Afghans at that stage, this remains the only initiative on the truce offered by any Cabinet minister. Clearly Liam thinks that he has fallen short of his own high standards and therefore needed to resign, but we all make mistakes and I am sure Liam will learn from this. I hope that he will use his time on the backbenches constructively and return to high office soon.

EU debate: Everyone seems to be getting wound up over Europe again. Understandable I suppose given the turmoil. Viewed from this side of the English Channel the debate does seem a tad indulgent – a bit like the senior crew on the Titanic, seeing an iceberg suddenly complaining that they had not had a recent vote whether they should be on the Titanic or not. Whether we like it or not we are all in this together at the moment and if the Euro sinks, then we need to be manning the lifeboats to rescue the survivors, for it is in our enlightened self interest so to do. I have never quite understood why some of my colleagues are so stanchly in favour of the United Kingdom declaring themselves as Unionists and yet so implacably opposed to the European Union, which we asked to join on more than one occasion. I am not a European enthusiast, the bureaucracy and waste should offend all Conservatives, but remember this—the point of the EU was to bring peace in Europe by having a political and economic community to try and halt the perpetual state of war which had existed hitherto. I would much rather be arguing about silly EU directives on the labelling of marmalade from the Women’s Institute or whether Scouts have to wear protective eyewear to play Conkers, than to be arguing about the labelling of the Rhineland and asking our young men and women to wear gas masks as they head off to war.

Libya: Watching the footage of rebel gunfire off the back of trucks and the savage lynching of Gadaffi and reading reports that the intervention in Libya has already cost over 30,000 lives—please, please don’t tell me that somehow this was a victory and a sound basis for a civilised democracy to emerge from. There may well have been no alternative, but this is not Tunisia where a peaceful protest by the people led to the overthrow of the government and the excitement of multi-party free elections.  What happened next door in Libya was utter carnage. It is important to remember that the effectiveness of many of the protests as part of the ‘Arab Spring’ was that they were non-violent and as such had moral authority; the uprising in Libya was violent almost from the start with well-armed militias doing battle and allowing Gadaffi to seek to justify his brutal response as being a civil war rather than a peaceful, popular uprising. It was another north African, St. Augustine, who called even just wars, “ Miseries” and “evils” and wrote that if anyone could think of them “without mental pain” that person “has lost human feeling.”

The blood thirsty images of Gadaffi’s last minutes were justified by hand wringing journalists as necessary to show to the Arab world and his supporters that he was actually dead—what nonsense; it was a judgement based on ratings. Millions of Americans still believe Elvis is alive, but he ain’t playing Vegas anymore. When Bin-Laden was killed President Obama took the statesmanlike and courageous decision not to release images and within hours even al-Qaeda were confirming that this was the case. As a county we do not believe in lynching’s or even have capital punishment, so to suggest that the summary execution of Gadaffi was somehow a ‘closure’ is ridiculous – even the Nazi’s had their day in Court at Nuremburg. The problem is that once you start justifying killing as an instrument of political change then unwittingly you give licence to the opponents of that political change to use violence in order to change it back.

What we stand for are the freedom and rights of the individual, not by virtue of the fact that they are Libyan or British, but because they are human.  Amongst these rights, is the right to elect their own rulers and agree their own rules, the right to a fair trial, the responsibility to care for the weak and poor and to play a peaceful and constructive role in the international society of nation states by respecting the sovereignty of other nations and by adhering to internationally agreed conventions, treaties and resolutions. This was what Gadaffi, as dictator failed to do, but should be the example of those who seek to change.

Civil Marriage: I have received a number of very aggressive emails from people purporting to be Evangelical, Bible believing Christians about David Cameron’s conference speech in which he re-affirmed his commitment to gay marriage. Of course I understand where they are coming from, but the greatest moral challenge facing humanity is not that two men say they love each other and want to get married to each other, it is that two men say they hate each other and want to kill each other.

DAY 183 - SAN VITTORE OLANA TO SOMMA LOMBARDO: 19.5 MILES (39,000 STEPS)

22 October, 2011

19.5 miles (Total 1773.5 miles) 39,000 steps (Total: 3,850, 601 steps)

This was about as routine a day as it is possible to have, with a couple of exceptions. I had lost my map, in fact having lost very little on the walk so far I must have had a memory lapse and left my maps, my pedometer, my camera case, my two wooden clothes pegs and my red sun hat somewhere in one go. I had travelled for six months and had only lost one item, my headphones, but I left them in Starbucks, Athens when we were literally thrown out onto the street during a riot as stones began to be hurled at Starbuck’s—when I returned the headphones were gone. To lose six/seven items in one place was a bit unnerving: was my mind beginning to go or had it finally gone (don’t answer that for now, just humour me till I get home and then break the news).

To add to my woes I purchased a cheap pedometer, only to find the instructions were only in Chinese and Italian (what happened to the EU Language Directive there guys?) and then the map I bought, which had a cellophane cover to stop people opening it in the shop, actually ended at the point where I was.  I realised this only on Sunday when of course the shop and Italy itself are closed and I couldn’t buy another one.  So I decided to carry on, thinking I only have to stick with the SS 33 and that will take me straight to Somma Lombardo, but I took a wrong turn in Gallarate and it was 4km before I realised.  Those 4km back were some of the longest kilometres of the walk as I began to blame the shop that had sold me the map, the hotel which had lost my original map (‘Oh, it was the hotel that lost the map Sir did they? Was the hotel lost, or perhaps after standing in the same place for a hundred years it woke up one morning and was curious to find out where it was relative to San Vittore Olana ’ I hear a Basil Fawlty type voice uttering). Then I heard someone say in a very gentle voice, sounding rather little like my mum—‘As you didn’t have a map, might it have been a good idea to perhaps ask someone to make sure you were on the right road?’ This is of course true, but sometimes when you do take a wrong turn in your travels or in life generally there is nothing like a bit of blame to give you the spit to turn around and get back on the right path.

I arrived in Somma Lombardo and found that there was a McDonalds, who of course never close and are fully staffed with burgers on the grill even when there are no customers because they are all at home with their friends and family (that’s great American productivity for you). I drowned my sorrows in a Diet Coke and Chicken Nugget ‘Happy meal’. I wasn’t so sure about the curry and salsa dip, but it was warm, dry and had wi-fi, so I could tap the Italian instructions for the pedometer into Google translate and check my wrong turn on Google maps—things were looking up..

DAY 181 - MILAN TO SAN VITTORE OLANA: 18 MILES (36,000 STEPS)

20 October, 2011

18 miles (Total 1753 miles) 36,000 steps ( Total: 3,811, 601 steps)

I had rushed from the International to catch the direct train from Geneva back to Milan, which was of more than a passing interest because the train route followed the path I intended to take back to Lausanne over the next few weeks. Before boarding the train there was time for one last interview with World Radio Switzerland, a highly respected English language news station and their experienced and perceptive journalist, Lucia Walton—it was an enjoyable interview because Lucia was well versed in the strengths and weaknesses of the international institutions, therefore it was enjoyable because I learnt something as a result of the questions. The interview can be listened to at:http://worldradio.ch/wrs/news/switzerland/uks-lord-bates-walks-over-3000-miles-for-olympic-t.shtml?27089

The journey back from Geneva was a very uncomfortable and draining one, as we passed through the Alps and I was thinking with every turn of the wheels, I need to pass this way on foot. There is a joy which comes of ignorance of the way ahead—you can believe that the maps have it wrong and the mountain passes are not that high and the snow isn’t really falling yet, but this journey was to dispel myths and bring me face to face with the awesome reality of the challenge ahead.

I arrived into Milan station to be met by Maurizio the driver for the HM Consul General who was to take me back to their apartment where I had been generously offered accommodation for the evening. Truth be known, after the highs of Geneva and the rather depressing journey back along my line of route, I wasn’t in great shape and the idea of a formal dinner was just a bit of a challenge, but I was to be immediately put at ease by our Consul General, Vic Annells and his wife Barbara who were the perfect hosts for a very relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable evening with homemade lasagne, Italian red wine, great conversation and we ended up watching the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. It was the perfect ending to the day, but I was in for a very big surprise:

I arrived at the British consulate, to be greeted by a flurry of activity as preparations were being finalised for meeting the mayor of Milan. This was a rare privilege as the mayor is a very high profile figure, a cross between Boris Johnson and Mike Bloomberg, more Bloomberg that Boris though. Not only was I to be afforded this honour of a send off by the mayor, but there were going to be about fifty ‘supporters’ all dressed in ‘Walk for Truce’ t-shirts drawn from the Consulate, the British-Italian Chamber of Commerce in Milan and the International School of Milan. The organisation had all been pulled together by the remarkable Head of Communications at the British Consulate: Raffaella Previtera and her team overseen by Vic Annells our highly effective HM Consul General. I wish more people could see the tireless work which our Consuls and Embassies around the world do in promoting British trade and investment.  It is probably the most effective spending across Whitehall and the Milan Consulate is a ‘best in class’ example of what can be achieved by a well-led, highly talented team of professionals batting for Britain. Recent successes included persuading Banca Intessa the most prestigious of Italian financial institutions to move their global headquarters to London, creating many jobs and reinforcing the City of London’s position as the global financial capital.

I was to be dressed in my walking gear with back-pack and we were to wait under the portico of the world renowned La Scala opera house until the mayor arrived; then we were to walk across the square to meet the mayor and the accompanying band of supporters before the press. Along with Vic Annells,  we were to be joined by Kyle Scott, the American Consul General who had heard about the walk from Vic and had asked to come along. The excitement was building as we waited for Raffa to get the all clear to walk us across the square to the city hall, but it was also a great opportunity to discuss with Kyle and Vic how the truce might be rolled out and built upon.

After about thirty minutes the call came through and we were off to be greeted by more photographers and news cameras than I had witnessed on the entire trip so far. The mayor of Milan, Giuliano Pisapia, is a thoughtful and gracious man who explained some of the history of the city hall and surrounding buildings through our translator for the day. We then walked under the arch into the courtyard where we are greeted by the massed ranks of ‘the ‘Walk for Truce’ supporters club. It was an amazing sight and slightly difficult to take in, given the fact that most of my days are spent in splendid isolation and anonymity plodding along side busy roads.

There followed a round of interviews and meetings with young athletes, who were hoping to compete for places at the Rio Games in 2016, and with members of the Olympic Committee of Milan with whom I spoke about the potential for find a strong place for the Olympic truce in the Rome 2020 bid, and the president of the British Chamber of Commerce in Milan, John Law, who is with HSBC and does a tremendous job along with Vic Annells in promoting British business in this major financial and business centre.

We then set off through the The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and to the famous Duomo di Milano, which even as a resident of the great cathedral city of Durham, the Duomo just took my breath away with its majesty and intricate design. I instantly resolved that I must return here as soon as possible. We then walked up towards the castle, where we ended our walk with a final photo-call for the loyal fans who had walked all the way with us and then I was off, alone again, reflecting on a truly amazing week in the ‘Walk for Truce’ but increasingly mindful of the task ahead.