Poggio Bustone to Rieti (3h/14km)

Verrückt will ich sein und dich lieben!
TdL

Verrückt will ich sein und dich lieben
Dir nachts vom Lokus versponnene Zeilen senden
Deine Wege will ich mit Blumen schmücken
Und dein Herz mit Jauchzen besingen 
Will durch den Dschungel wie die Großstadt mit dir schreiten 
Und dabei der Stimme der Stille lauschen
Wo hin uns der Wind auch treiben mag
Welcher Strömung wir auch folgen
Wünsch ich doch die Nächte und die Tage wären ungezählte
Die neben dir beginnen und auch enden
Bist mir wie ein Geschenk
Ich hoff es klingt nicht zu vermessen
Geht's nur nach mir
Ich  wünscht du bist die Eine
Ich hoff so sehr
Du hast den Mut
An meiner Seite zu bestehen
Ich weiß ich bin verrückt 
Doch kann und will ich niemals mehr zurück...
Lass uns die Ängste lieben 
und gemeinsam die Dunkelheit in uns erleuchten
Denn retten wir erst uns
So retten wir die Welt
Da bin ich überzeugt
Freu mich auf dich
Auf heute, morgen, übermorgen
Auf nächste Woche, nächsten Monat
Nächstes Jahr 
Im Jetzt kann ich aus vollem Herz versprechen
Verrückt will ich sein und dich lieben!

Tuesday, 30.05.2017, Rieti

I did write this lines end of April under different circumstances but it feels right to share them with you now.
As I mentioned yesterday, today was special because my lovely girlfriend joined me on my trip.
We planned to meet at the days goal, what influenced my schedule as I planned to reach Rieti already at noon.
So I did not walked following my guide but looked for the fastest way to reach the city instead.
That meant mainly following main roads instead winding paths through the valley. Walked quite fast but still had the chance to enjoy the scenery, looking back at the mountains I passed during the last days.
Of course the encounters were different, instead of meeting bulls and butterflies, cars and bicycles crossed my way. Had a lot of fun greeting all passing cyclists with a "la ola" wave, supporting them as they had to climb up to Poggio while I was walking down. Regarding to their smiles they liked it too.
When I finally reached the place we planned to stay at, it turned out to be some kilometres outside of the city, located beautifully in a forest near a small river. Unfortunately I walked to fast and arrived to early, so nobody was there to let me in, only some dogs with their puppies greeted me with loud barking.
So I decided to walk into the city and pick her up at the bus station. Had to pass the outer parts of Rieti and that I don't share any pictures of this has the simple reason that there was nothing to see except roads, roads and roads.
Together we went back to our Refugio and were warmly welcomed by our host, who let us feel as if we're part of the family.  Without our backpacks we then started back into the city, which is the geographical centre of Italy. It's not one of the common tourist destinations, but full of interesting places. The old medieval city walls and the even older cathedral, narrow streets and houses covered with flowers, little restaurants and delicious Italian food. But most impressing was our late night walk back to our stay. As we left the city and came to the dark street leading into the forest, suddenly we were surrounded by blinking lights.
On the way and the surrounding fields fireflies were dancing all around while over us we could look at a clear star spangled sky. Amazing, beautiful and something I have never seen before.
So I'm now writing my report sitting on the balcony, listening to the sounds of the night and the gushing of the near river.   I'm feeling happy and I'm looking forward to tomorrow...

Ferentillo to Don Bosco (6h/16km)

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Old Irish blessing

Sunday, 28.5.2017, Don Bosco

I'm here! I'm happy! I'm in love!
What a wonderful day!But let me start at the beginning... which was yesterday evening.
Shortly after me the "German guys" arrived at my stay too and it turned out that only one of them was really from Germany, the others were from Canada and Austria. I had a long talk in the garden with the German and he told me about the amazing trips he already did together with his Canadian friend. They crossed the USA from north to south and wandered along the Olafs trail in Norway just to mention two of their journeys. They invited me to join them for diner, but we didn't find a restaurant. So we decided to buy just vine, beer, bread and ham and eat together in the beautiful garden. Was better then any restaurant could have been!
Next morning I left an hour after them, the cute maybe five year old girl of the house saying "bye bye" to me.
Although I was a little bit afraid of the tough carpio mountain passage it turned out to be an easy way. The beginning was quite steep, but quite beautiful too. As I arrived at my first goal and wanted to have a break, the dutch pilgrims already waited at this spot.They invited me to join and soon the first talks started, exchanging stories and experiences.I stayed with them for maybe half of the distance and it turned out that they had a lot to tell. And every one of them had a important piece of information for me. Dirk told me about the Israel trail, a path that I was searching information about since my last Camino, because there is still the third big catholic pilgrimage to Jerusalem in my head. Marco shared his knowledge bout plants and flowers with me, now I have to dig deeper and not only find out about the "pulmonaria officinalis". And finally, at our lunch break, I had the spontaneous idea of reciting my pilgrimage poem to them. Then Ike mentioned that it reminds her of an old irish blessing and sang parts of it to us in her beautiful voice.
Of course that were just some of the precious pieces we shared!
I told them a little bit of my story, about what brought me on the way to search for love.
Sharing my life with them filled me once again with a deep feeling of thankfulness for every moment of my life. I feel rewarded, I feel pride and I feel humility...
After this break I decided to walk a little bit on my own, to be able to let my thoughts fly - and with the music of DubFx and James Blunt they carried me like on wings easily uphill to Don Bosco.
What beauty around, what beauty within... all feels right and matching!

Patrico to Ferentillo (5h/17km)

Solis Invicti - Oh Deus Gloria

Sprachlos bin ich
Will dir Vollmacht geben
Wie du mir Liebe schenkst
Dem findend Sünder
Punkt Punkt Punkt

Allein in dir stillt sich mein Durst
Was könnt die Fülle übertreffen
Allein in dir komm ich zur Ruh
Wie könnt ich anders wollen sein

Den wahren Wunsch erfüllst du
Nicht den bloßen Willen
Und bist der Fels
Auf dem nur einmal ich muss bauen
Bist Leuchte mir in weißem Rauch wie auch in schwarzer Nacht

Dein Wort will ich verkünden
Wie ich es hör und ich es fühl
Dein Wunderwerk zu rühmen und zu preisen
Das scheint mir jedes Wagnis wert
Erst recht auch alle Torheit 
Lachend bin ich Wanderer und Narr

Saturday, 27.5.2017, Ferentillo

Today started with a surprise - I met other pilgrims!! When I joined the breakfast table, there were also a dutch couple and some German guys. All of then took some slightly other routes, starting earlier or planning to end before Rome. Was quite nice to share some experiences and talk about our ways. Nonetheless I left and walked alone and today once again was marvellous. Although I have to confess that there were some moments when I tried to cross the wild forest when I asked myself why I'm doing this instead of sitting home and enjoying being comfortable and lazy. But then I rested on top of the mountain and had a look around... then I knew!
The first part of the way was still easy to walk and find but soon it started to be a challenging experience. Now or then the path completely vanished and I had to find my way on my own. There was a moment close to the Monte Fionchi, when I had doubts that I'm still right but as I looked into my guide, I was standing exactly at the position where the author did take the describing picture. When it started to go downhill it was similar and some of the mentioned marks I couldn't find... But somehow it seemed that I stayed on the right way.
Which lead along the mountain side and reminded me strongly that normally I'm afraid of heights... my excuse is that I'm born at the coast, the highest mountain of the island I'm from is just a hill with a size of barely 100 metres.
And as long as I remember my worst nightmares are about falling... from cliffs, from towers, from whatever!
Today I had to arrange with it again and again as I followed the narrow stony path while to my right I could look down for a few hundred metres. That's the disadvantage of a vivid imagination, it always felt like I'm close to losing balance and start bouncing down...
But fortunately I didn't :) ! When I thought about this fear I realized that it's maybe a necessary step to face this fear, cause some of the places I want to go in future are located quite high - Tiahuanaco in the Andes or the Buddhist monasteries of Nepal I'll  not find on plain ground ;)!
The second half of the todays way were boring streets, winding endless down towards Ferentillo. So I decided to plug in my earphones and listen to an audiobook while I walked kilometre and kilometre. Listening to the adventures of the dwarfs in the middle of the mountains somehow felt matching... and now and then I even burst out laughing, can't remember that I did this when I read the book first years ago.
So time and distance passed by fast and soon I reached the little town Ferentillo, where I was witness of a beautiful wedding ceremony.
As I sat down at the main place to drink a birra and a cappuccino as walking reward, a lady asked me if I'm a pilgrim too and soon I was in the middle of a talk about our trips . She was a 58 year old woman from Würzburg, walking the Via Roma step by step every year, planning to finish in the coming week.
Central in our conversation was the experience that all you really have to do is to trust... it will turn out right in the end! Maybe that's by far the most important thing!
I told her about the one thing, I'm really convinced about by now.
Life is simple and incredibly difficult at the same moment, cause we have to make one decision in every instant anew... if you go down to the core it's always a choice between love and fear.
Choosing fear means erecting borders around you, choosing love means tearing them down. The tricky thing is only to find out what you're doing... But a seemingly good advice is that fear is always giving you a reason, love just feels right without.
When I look back at my (short) life I would say that it always was better to listen to my heart then my head...my life would have been dusty and boring otherwise. I'm feeling free and loved... and with this words I'll end for now and let you look at todays pictures without any further comments.
May love guide your way and lighten the burden you're carrying.

Spoleto to Patrico (6h/17km)

The hidden key

If you lonely in dark night
If you're to weak to face the fight
If you're lost and out of sight
If you can't see any light
If you're afraid to start the day
If you're prefer to hide and stay
If you don't know to whom to pray
If you're missing words you want to say

Take my promise, take my hand
Together we will find the land
Only one can set you free
It's a secret, hidden key
beyond fear and behind sin
Believe my friend - that love will win

Friday, 26.5.2017, Patrico

I started the fifth day of my journey with the announced visit of the old cathedral.
But no surprise - I wasn't really inside as I already felt the urge to turn around and leave again. It's to much for me...i prefer the simple things. But at least I took a nice picture of the artful architecture and interior.
Leaving Spoleto on the described way turned out to be a problem, because the beautiful old Roman bridge was closed due of reconstruction.
My search for the alternative route brought me in circles back to the monastery where I started from and finally I already walked 4km without gaining any distance.
But that gave me the chance to get some money and eat again in the nice pizzeria  I discovered yesterday. And it turned out that I needed both - the energy of the food and the money for shelter.
The path went uphill very steep again, bordered by beautiful flowers and giving a spectacular view over the city and the valley I crossed the last days.
Funnily there were a number of constructions for sport activities along the way... didn't tried it out, carrying my backpack uphill was sport enough for me.
It took a while until I finally arrived at the other side of the closed bridge but the view was worth it.
Another hour later I reached the monastery of Monteluca, embedded in deep forest at the mountain side. Close nearby the silence ended suddenly, because a large picnic area interrupted the solitude. I didn't stop but continued my way further uphill, now following a small street. Fortunately not as steep as before, but for long lasting kilometres.
At first the street was winding higher and higher until suddenly I left the forest and could look around... and was stunned! The reward for climbing under the burning sun was a spectacular view to all sides, even Assisi I could see I  the far distance
Nearly on top of the mountain I arrived at my goal, a charming agriturism.
Now I'm enjoying freshly showered my self cooked Minestrone and looking forward to see the sunrise.
Tomorrow will lead me downhill again, will be a long and difficult walk, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it.