First of all I should make a prologue entitled: Paolo don’t use the train! The decision is made, I leave on May 26, which is the day after Cristina’s birthday. Obviously, the State Railways go on strike on the 26th. Emergency solution and thanks to the kindness of Luciano and Francesca, with my car, at seven in the morning, I am punctual in front of their house in Vigardolo. We leave, a black cat immediately crosses my path, luckily I’m not superstitious, I think… My sister also has a black cat, however I think it’s a suggestion from Above to pay more attention to the road. Let’s take the Valsugana that Carlo likes so much so he’ll be happy, but damn that time: three and a half hours in Valsugana, from 7:00 to 10:30 instead of an hour with normal traffic. Queues for asphalting, accidents and a clumsy detour attempt towards the Mocheni valley which ended with 40 km of mountain roads without finding an exit, but only served to pee.
Photo 2: The Aurino torrent with the Vetta d’Italia, the northernmost point of the Italian territory.
We arrive in Casere in Valle Aurina around 12:30. The scenery is absolutely beautiful, crystal clear sky, fresh air, but the sun is very hot and the peaks are all covered with snow, we are over 1600 meters above sea level. I aim my lens at the Vetta d’Italia, which is ideally the starting point of this new adventure. It is the northernmost point of Italy and therefore, as you can well understand, the final destination will not be Rome, but it is only the first stop, the final destination will be Capo Passero the southernmost point of Italy. In the meantime I have to prepare for these more than 90km a day and the first place to visit is the Chiesetta del Santo Spirito, which is higher up, uphill towards the pass. I greet the company of Francesca and Luciano who have to feed themselves and for this purpose, before starting the afternoon walk, they go down a few kilometers towards the valley.
Photo 3: The small church of the Holy Spirit at the bottom of the Aurina valley. In the background the Vetta d’Italia. Photo 4: Interior of the Church of the Holy Spirit
Ten minutes and I’m in church. Built in late Gothic style in 1455 with remarkable wooden treasures inside, it carries with it two legends. The first is on the cause of its foundation: the sound of a bell came from underground and the miners who were digging at that point found an image of the Holy Spirit. Brought to the village, the picture disappeared and was found underground in the same place after the bells were heard again. Everyone understood that a church had to be born there. In historical reality it seems to be very different. The church was founded, together with the cemetery, for the miners who had worked on these mountains since ancient times for the extraction of copper and also of gold and hence the name of the valley. The second legend tells of a hunter who was on his way over the Tauern Pass for a shooting competition in Austria. Passing nearby he saw a crucifix and wanted to test his aim by firing three shots and hitting him. Over the border he won the shooting competition and on the way back he led the prize bull to the halter for his skill, but when he arrived in front of the crucifix the bull gored him and killed him. Some sources say the crucifix is inside the church, but I haven’t seen it. I start the descent in an incredible landscape, the green of the grass is all dotted with corollas of the most varied species of flowers, with the most varied colors like an impressionist painting, slightly faded due to the speed, which accompanies me on the descent towards Brunico. Speed that I can barely control, the brakes just don’t hold and the more I go down the less they hold. I try to track down my friends, but we meet in a tunnel with two pipes, so I greet them by phone.
I pass through the various hamlets of Predoi, San Giacomo, San Pietro, San Giovanni, Cadipietra, to reach, through the first section of the cycle path, the castle of Campo Tures which dominates the plain towards Brunico, blocking and controlling the Valle Aurina. In the background I also recognize Plan de Corones which means that Brunico is over there. The cycle path always takes me a little outside the village and I don’t have much time, I have to continue. I continue my descent along the Rio Pusteria. As I go down the temperature changes, it’s really hot in here. And of course the vegetation also changes and at a certain point I begin to encounter the dreaded acacia. Its scent is intoxicating, but its spines are very often a disaster for cyclists and punctures are the order of the day. In addition to the river, the route also runs alongside the railway which crosses the border from Fortezza to San Candido. The biotopes that meet with ponds and small marshes are beautiful and interesting.
Photo 5: Campo Tures castle Photo 6: The valley opens in view of Brunico. Still covered in snow The Plan de Corones
After five hours of pedaling hunger is felt, the five bananas were not enough to fill the stomach. I stop at a snack bar; coke and schnitzel sandwich. I see a ruined castle near the Rio Molino. It occurs to me that when I used to come to Val Pusteria with the children who were small, the road passed right under the arches of this ruin, luckily they have now built the new road a little lower down and the ruin has been preserved and recovered for tourist visits.
Photo 7: Lock of Rio Pusteria guard post and ancient customs Photo 8: Lock of Rio Pusteria guard post and ancient customs Photo 9: A tasty Hamburger to be able to continue pedaling
At the Rio Pusteria station I have the brakes checked by some guys who rent bicycles, something better, but the duration is short and on the slopes that lead to Bressanone I have to get off if I don’t want to crash. Finally I arrive in Bressanone and take a stroll around the square and the centre, the desire to get to Chiusa, where I booked the hotel, is very strong, I’ve been pedaling for six hours now and damn it, when I thought about it, it was all downhill, I’ll have to review the vocabulary to understand what it means to go down.
Photo 10: The square of Brixen
At 91.75 km the cellphone also switches off, probably tired of repeating his encouragements every kilometer all day and maybe also tired of all the grunge music ringing in my ears. Pearl Jam, Nirvana. Nirvana is exactly what I see as soon as I see the hotel sign, it should be about 95 km. Nice hotel especially for the negligible amount it will cost me, and the grilled meat is also really excellent, were you hungry? Today 95km. I don’t have the strength to write, I fall asleep suddenly. I find myself doing it now at five in the morning refreshed. I’m going to Trent.
@ErmesT @DeniGu @davidhyno @PattyBlack @TravellerG @Erna_LaBeau @Mukul_Anand @renata1 @Stephanie_OWL
adorabile leggere delle leggende, sono l’anima della gente del posto perché si tramandano per generazioni, e poco importa se non corrispondono al vero, fanno storia lo stesso! Partenza col botto 
io mi stanco solo a leggere!! 
Ciao Paolo un abbraccione! Alla prossima tappa!
: musica che dà la carica contro la fatica! 
al suo interno un museo che racconta le montagne del mondo e il modo di viverci. Dovrò assolutamente andarci! in questa vita possibilmente… Tu ci sei stato?