February News

Published Categorised as News, President's Pen

Welcome | Introduction

As always, we’d like to start by bidding a warm welcome to all our new members. We continue to see significant increases not only in our social media members but, more importantly, in our registered members who through your membership contribute to the projects that XirCammini has embarked on. A heartfelt thank you.

We have now also started the Social Media (FB) Chat-Group to keep our wider community informed of our activities, especially as our projects start catching ground. Most of our activities will continue to be open only for registered / paid up members. The social media chat group is, however, serving to convert social media members to registered members.

Local & Overseas Events in February 2023

5th February, 2023 | Comino

Around 50 people braved the weather for a most enjoyable day trekking both the perimeter as well as the central hill and 2 valleys leading down from the promontory to Santa Marija Bay.

Sicilia Mare Neve & Vino | Feb, 2023

Despite the immense challenges that some of the group faced because of the adverse weather conditions during the weekend of St Paul Shipwrecked, the trekking experience in Sicily proved to be spectacular.

Local & Overseas Events in March 2023

Universal Peace Walk and Camino Maltés 12th March 2023

The guidebook for the Universal Peace Walk 1543AD is currently being printed and work continues on all the other logistical and infrastructural facets surrounding the Universal Peace Walk and the Camino Maltés.

We have also decided to run both walks – the Camino Maltes and the Universal Peace Walk 1543AD simultaneously on the 12th of March. So we will organise ourselves as follows:

07:00 a.m.         Coach pick-up from Birgu for an 08:15 Camino Start in Rabat

07:30 a.m.         Coach Pick up from Zejtun for an 08:30 a.m. Start from Mdina

08:00a.m.           Camino Maltés starts from Rabat

08:30 a.m.         Universal Peace Walk 1543AD starts from Cathedral Square Mdina when the Camino Maltés pilgrims arrive.

Allow time for lunch in Zurrieq, we should be able to make it to Zejtun by 16:00 and Fort St Angelo by 17:30.

Remaining places in overseas events

Most of our overseas events are now fully booked except the following (all the rest are fully booked):

  • March 2023: The Via Del La Plata (Camino de Santiago) from March 25th to March 31st from Ourense to Santiago de Compostela has space for 1 more pilgrim. If you are interested please follow this link to register for it and pay the deposit.
  • June/July 2023:  The Pollino – Sila trip can accommodate more people so there are still quite a few places left on it. This will be a lovely mix of trekking and water rafting plus the usual southern Italian gourmet experiences. If you are interested in this event please follow this link to register and pay the deposit.
  • August 2023: The Irish trekking adventure (Tochar Phadraig, Cliff of Moher, Mean Min Pilgrimage, Church Island/Lough Cara etc.) from the 14th – 21st Aug ( the 21st – 28th Aug is already fully booked) can accommodate just 1 more lady because we have managed to extend 1 room. If you are interested please let us know by email (information@XirCammini.org) because the event on the website is showing as fully booked.
  • September 2023: Transumanza (trekking with the sheep) in Italy will take place in early September (6th – 10th Sept). There are quite a few places left on this trek and you can also invite guests to it. If you are interested in this event please follow this link to register and pay the deposit.

All other treks in Sicily or mainland Italy, Spain or Ireland are fully booked.

Heritage Hiking Projects

In addition to all of the above local and overseas hiking activities we continue to work on a number of heritage hiking projects of local and regional interest.

Regrettably, after having fixed most of the waymarks for the Universal Peace Walk 1543AD, we have already experienced the first at of vandalism on a waymark in Qrendi. If, while you are out walking you notice damage to any waymarks please let us know immediately so that we repair them and/or alert the authorities.

Looking Ahead?

With the sudden increased momentum in what we are doing, it is felt now more than ever that we need to consolidate our activities and processes through our own NGO office. Work on this commenced quite some time ago and (more) slowly but also surely we do foresee that by the end of Q2-2023 a humble office, complete with a small Camino Chapel (il-Kappella tal-Vjaġġ), will be in place. Divine Providence is playing a big part in this.

If any one has any questions on our activities or plans please do not hesitate to get in touch either through email, social media or drop us a line.

Needless to say, we look forward to continue interacting with you on our regular walks.

James & Tucc