BLUE

SKIES

AND

GREE

N WAL

LS

Blue skies and green wallsMariaemma Sala

06.50 am. Breno Station. As every mor-ning in Camonica Valley it is cold. I’m wai-ting one of several trains that I’m going to take in the following days. The departure is always something special. The first train of this adventure it’s close.

The train arrives, in time as always. My home town is not famous for the acces-sibility of the railway system. There is just a line that connect Edolo to Brescia, the province main town. In Camonica Valley it is impossible to survive without a car, but fortunally I was born with the love for the trains and I could bear all my (long) trips to Milano.

To achieve Tirano, the Italian starting point of the connection with Kanton Graubünden, there is a gap in the railway system and it is necessary to catch a bus from Edolo. Probably my choice to stretch time by 2 hours instead using the car may seems inefficient, a waste of (holiday) time. But it is sustainable, and sometime sustainable is better than efficient. I could decide to achieve Tirano in car, but sustainability is a choice as traveling is a philosophy. Prefer the trip to the destination is a choi-ce, and I did that choice.

Tirano border station, finally I can see the red. Bernina express it is called, the red train of one thousand emotions. The sun shines, the walls are green and the skies blue. The big windows on either side can give us the possibility to appreciate every piece of peace. Passing in front of this infinite amazing landscape makes me lose my hunger.

The trip is not just landscape. It is hours, connections, afraid of lose miss the train. Hospental hostel is waiting for me, and I can’t waste time. 19.25 pm, 7 trains, 1 bus and 11 hours of travel: from Breno to Hospental is done. The atmosphere is peaceful, the mountain is silent. Just few footsteps of people that, like me and my boots, are walking to somewhere.

To have travel energy it is necessary to have a good breakfast. It is usually very fast, and if you are travelling alone is pro-bably faster. It is impossible wait: there are train leaving and mountain to see. Ander-matt and Zermatt and their magic mountain are waiting for me.

I always wanted to do an interrail. I always wanted to travel alone. Sometime fate gives you a gift. This interrail is a gift for me, and I’m really grateful.

In Andermatt the station is busy, but the village is silent, as the mountain around it. Zermatt is alive, loud and lively. It remem-bers me Livigno in summer. The mountain is everywhere, in the houses and their flowers, in the shops, in the skyline. Cervino is lo-oking at me, and I fell in love with its.

I take off my boots and the backpack. I’m fell 10 kilograms less, very light and full of energy to live Zermatt. People are walking in the narrows and uphill street, and the mountain are observing us from their tops. I’m really tired but I want to appreciate everything. Tomorrow the alarm will go off at 6: I want to be on the first train to Gornergrat.

IF YOU ASK ME HOW I IMAGINE PARADISE, I WOULD TELL: LIKE THIS

IF YOU ASK ME HOW I IMAGINE PARADISE, I WOULD TELL: LIKE THIS

YOU CAN MODIFY THE SKYLINE, FROM YOUR PERPECTIVE

During the travel planning I defined a path in three different country. The Mont Blanc express is going to take me to France. The train is slow, it makes a lot of stops. It is somewhere between a slow train and a fast tram. It is very busy, full of children that are enjoying the mountain. I’m really late, the hours on train start to be really long. I use my backpack as a pillow and I alternate naps with reading and observing. The train is late, more and more, but at the end I arrived in Saint Gervais, and I can’t wait to see Mont Blanc.

The morning is cold, the sun didn’t arrive yet. Nid d’Aigle is amazing, the landscape remembers me my Italian alps. The green shaded are unquantifiable, my eyes are full of green. The green walls are everywhere, I wanna stay, but It’s time to depart again.

GREEN WALLS, ALL AROUND ME

Luzern welcomes me with noise and crowd, the urban atmosphere is alive. It is the only city that I’m going to visit. I missed the city felling, even if I’m not sick of looking the green walls. Green walls are not far away from here, I can see Pilatus mountain, and I’m going to visit its very soon.

The weather is not sunny, it is ok, I like the rain. Mountains are beautiful with every kind of weather. The colors are closer to a blue shade, mixed with the withe clouds. All around me is water, the shades are incre-dible. The environment is peaceful even if there are a lot of people. Probably we unin-tentionally make ourselves conditioned by the rain. It makes us calm and thoughtful. I really love this place. It can be always sun-ny, but it is ok, the rain makes us reflect.

I guess that travel is like a drug, when you start traveling more and more the places to see are never enough.

Someone says that the world is divided in people from somewhere and people from anywhere. I really hope to be in the second family.

I’m close to the end. Davos is my last stop. I wanna see the Thomas Mann mountain, to understand if it is really magic.

I can say:yes!

In every trip there are just two certain stops: the departure and the arrival. If they are the same, you can call them home.

This is the last night of my interrail. I could travel more, but it is time to go home. Now it’s time to tell about this fantastic trip.

It’s time to tell everyone that want listen.

Lombardy is my villageItaly my town

Europe my regionand the world?

Just a country