Dear Friends,
"tous les Chemins menent a Rome"
it s time to give you some news
Now i m in Toscana, Italy, with Lutshan. In beautiful landscape, hilly, wild
Indeed, after few weeks in Czech Republic, in Pribram, 1 hour from Praha, where I could enjoy the life in a very small village, freezy! I decided to leave for Italy as I told you in my last letter. But the problem was the price to go by train: 200 euros !! and 20 hours to go in Firenze; and with Lutshan it was impossible to take a bus, cheaper.. Fortunately, my great Friend Arnost, from Praha, talod me about this agency who arrange hitch-hike for you; 2 days after he found a car that could take me from there to Milano in 10 hours and only for 40 euros!! For sure I accepted So just after Pribram, just the time to see my Friend Filip (Taiz e..) and to call some friend in Firenze to say i was coming:
"You re crazy, he told me; You arrive the day of the Biggest manifestation of the year!!" -"What!! Which manifestation!?!?" and then my friend explain me that the day I ve planned to arrive was during the Europeean Social Forum and just the day of the manifestation against the WAR so I instantly remenber what happened during the last similar event, in Genova, and I was not sure anymore to take this car to Italy, at least this day But after a while I found that it could be wonderful for me to participate at this manifestation against War that is also a Walk for Peace !!
I was not sure about the kind of driver i will have: race pilot, smoker..? not at all, Alberto was very kind, italian, touristic guide in Praha, spoken english, french and czech, the car was not his, but his aunts', so no smoking inside, and no speeding! he told me his incredible story that explain why he is in Praha now: when he was still a fotograph in Italy, for tourist, he took a picture of a young and beutiful girl in the street in Italy, he just knew that she was Czech from Praha. He dicided to see her againlike a real investigator he called everywhere to find a clue and finally he succeed: he has her address in Praha. He went there, saw her, became his Friend (just friend)and also the friend of the all family. Now this girl became a famous actress in Czech Republic, and he is still his very good friend, still in Praha because he also fall in love with the city, and see her and the family often; and the father, after years, continue to call him the Investigator! Nice story isn't it?!
So he drove me to the train station of Milano early in the morning, after 10 hours of driving, using the best way each time, and 30 min stopped on the boarder by customers who thought I was a dangerous hooligan (with a cat!) just on time to run and jump in the train to Firenze! 3 hours laughing with japanes tourists in my compartiment: they also didn t heard anything about what was waiting for them in Firenze, they just would to visit EL Duomo some people told me that 300 or 400 thousand people will may come!
Arriving in Firenze I start to walk in an incredible crowd, with my big backpack and Lutshan proudly seat on ..! each 2 m in, somebody asked me to take a pictures; it was funny but after a while, Lutshan started to be very afraid and try to jump many times so i decided to reach the flat of my friend before the beginning of the Manifestation at 3:00 p.m; he s living near the stadium, the finish point of the manif' route ! so I had to walk on the empty street: "the calm before the storm..!" then I passed the policemen, thousand and thousand, then i saw the beginning of the manifestation, Itook a picture of this human-sea then I could heard some people in this first line talking in french!
I said Hello, blablabla,.. and they open the line and said :"Come on, join us"
So I was there, walking for peace with this other pacifists waouh! After a while one of this guy, from Nice; said:"Do you feel the vibrations: 500 000 people pushing behind us for PEACE!!" yeeah, it was great then we arrived near the stadium where they built a huge concert stage, and the music start after 1 hour there, one guy on the microphone said that the end of the manifestation was still in the starting point, what meant we were maybe 1 MILLION !!!!
The next day I could enjoy Firenze with a wonderful weather, with some french people I met in the street, and most of all, with a wonderful PEACEFUL feeling, everywhere in the streets
Then I reached moutains with another friend, where I still am, waiting for going to Rome to see A.S.I.A, maybe in a few days
So, as you can see, I quite stopped to walk for the moment because all this persons I ve met show me that even if you had some plans, you can change them a bit, to adjust better with your wishes, motivations In french we say :" going back to jump better!" I ve the feeling to do that now;
I hope everything is going well for you where you are,
Peace and Love
Romain.
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My Friend Danyel, near his workshop (painting) in Venence (near Budapest)
Typical Hungarian roof, Venence, oct 02 |
Real stork nest, Venence
Firenze, the Ponte Vecchio on the Arno river, nov 02 |
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Katy & Szuzi autour around a tasty "narguile" with a fruity turkish
is Holiness Sakya Trenzin, Shambala Center, Budapest oct 02 |
Kamil, Jim, moi and Arnost, in Pribram, Czech Rep. Nov02
MC Lutshan… |
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First line of the manifestation against war, Firenze oct02 |
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