There is still a long way to go, both for Italy as for myself. Let us start with the second part. During the last 10 days I really entered Italy. Sud-Tirol, the originally Austrian part of Italy until the first World War, is behind me now. It is a beautiful area with the big Alp massives such as the Ortler massive and the Otztaler Alps. Peaks up to 4000 m. However, because of bad weather, I did not see very much of it. I followed the river Adige further down until Verona and then entered the very plain river Po area. It is that hot that walking is not nice any more, no shadow, no wind, the sun is burning on the asphalt road, because there are no nice walking paths here.The few canals are heavily polluted, so no possibility to cool your feet. I am starting at 7.00 am but I am deciding now to change to 6.00 am, because after midday it is a real disaster. The body is overheating, I am drinking 6 liters of water, but without shadow and total absence of wind it is not fun any more. I realise that the Po area takes about 8 days to cross and I am wondering if I can make it. So it is a long way still.

Verona on the other hand was beautiful, I saw the opera Aida in the Arena and that was one of the best experiences in life. The stage of about 50 x 60 m. includes the tribunes behind it and the actors, the choir and figurants are covering the whole area.Sometimes more than 250 people are on stage, even apart from the orchestra with another 80 - 100 people. All singing is acoustic, the conductor makes it a marvellous show, it is a tremendous experience. Only because of this you have to visit Italy.

How is it possible then that Italy has a long way to go? I am surprised about what I see and feel. People are not really ouward looking, they often stay in the same village for their whole life and are not that interested in other villages or the other world. They don't speak English, only occassionally you will find people whomanage to express themselves. Nobody (I exaggerate of course) realises that in the rest of the world things are changing very rapidly (Asia!) and that Italy is miles behind. Internet is a very big problem, I have great difficulty to find internet access or cafes, only in the bigger cities they exist. In the small citie the only place with a computer is the 'bibliotheca', but you have to have luck if it is open.

The environment is a real problem; walking from Germany, via Austria into Italy makes things very clear. In Germany and Austria every single brook, stream, pool or waterway is extremely clean. In Sud Tirol things are initially the same, but then you see the small brooks change in color, up to whitish, so people are releasing their wash water without cleaning into the open water. If you walk into the Po area every river is dead, it might be green, brown, white, but they are all totally dead. I realise, during my whole trip, how important water is, how people have always communicated and traded via the water and that it is essential to have clean water for drinking purposes or for agriculture, but also for relaxation. Here in the Po area you can't relax any more at the water and take a swim. That is why Italy has a long, very long way to go. I hope they wil manage that.