From Lombardia to Piemont

Hey BJJ Globetrotters

My name is Christian and I’m doing a trip with my vespa through Italy, training and eating were my main goals, now my goal changed to “not get more injured than I am now”. So I left home like this:

And this is basically how I’m driving through the country my father is from! I have a tent with a mat to sleep on (that is more comfortable than I thought) and a 80 L backpack with a 28 L Daybag. And 3 Gi’s!

The first drive was from Switzerland to Ticino, the italian Part of Switzerland, where I slept the first night at a friends place. Then I drove to another 2 Hours to Lecco, my first stop. One of the most famous italian romances “I Promessi Sposi” plays there and many tourist will say about Lecco: “Wow, so beautiful, the Mountains, the Lakeside, stunning!” For me, it looks like home (I live in Lucerne, Mountains with a Lakeside everywhere), of course it has still it’s beauty, but deserts, jungles and plain areas are more exciting for me ;)

In Lecco I slept on a Camping in my tent. First I needed to order my feelings, since leaving my girlfriend and home for a long time got me a bit upset, so I was most of the times organizing and thinking how I’m gonna manage my way through Italy. So I checked out my first Gym on the List: Ramada Jiu Jitsu. Trainer is a 3 stripe Purple Belt, his name is Andrea, very technically with some long friendships that train there. Andrea was traveling 2 years around the world and training all types of Martial Arts, starting with Kung Fu in China and ending with BJJ in Brazil, where the love story began. I could train for free and when I asked him, why he’s not affiliated, he got big eyes and said: “I forgot totally about that, I want to do that in the near future!” So, since in Italy BJJ is still young and BJJ Globetrotters hasn’t many affiliated gyms, I suddenly knew, what one of my goals on this trip will be:

Spreading the word and spirit from BJJ Globetrotters!!! Thanks again Andrea for having me :)

After I left Lecco, I went to Milan where Rico & Junior were waiting for me. The gym was on the affiliated Gyms List of BJJ Globetrotters and they gave me a place to sleep and train 3 (!) times a day. Rico is a very charismatic Person and he understands the concepts of BJJ in my opinion far better than most people do, so I learned a lot there about the spirit of BJJ.

The guys from Lotus BJJ (thanks again Rico & Junior) were also really welcoming and one of them gave me a City Tour through Milan, telling me some fascinating storys about the New City of Milan.

So the building on the right is this new, fancy treehouse. The idea comes a bit from Avatar, trying to bring nature back to the citys and nearer to humans. Practically, the squaremeter costs 20’000 Euros and if you have the big amount of money to live in there, you need to pay another 2000 Euros each month for the caring of the trees. Cause every tree is unique and needs his special treatment. This is an example for an amazing idea turned into garbage!

And here one of my meals ;) (Arrosticini, Affumicato, Bread with Olive Oil and Affetati)

Next Stop is Turin, where I have family, and then Aosta. Unfortunately, there are still no pictures with my vespa and some landscapes, because the parts I’ve been driving weren’t that beautiful. I heard as soon as I get to the Toscana/Emilia-Romagna and I enter the Apennin (Italian Mountain Range) Photos will get stunning! So be prepared for some nice Views in the near Future.

Best Regards

Christian