Lombardia – Aosta

Hey BJJ Globetrotters

Let’s start where I ended my last post!

After Milano I went to Torino. I met my fahter in Novara to drive together the last piece. Well in Torino I was at my aunts home with her husband, their familie and all my other relatives (Italian’s have a pretty big family when there is something to celebrate), cause my lil cousin had her first communion. So the house was always full, without having the privacy that the average rich person is used to have. Instead of having privacy I had many conversations with young and old and shared some time with a part of my family that I didn’t really know before. At the end of my staying in Torino I left with more love and a bigger family that I had before!

And I trained. Every day. Even though I got injured on my finger and my neck (again! damn injuries never leave in this sport) I searched for an osteopath and he cracked me in 10 minutes on the right spots, now i’m good to go. So about the gym: Officine Jiu Jitsu led by Leonardo Santoro and Giuseppe. Leonardo taught me so much on every training session, because he knew I was only there for 1 week, so he tried to improve my BJJ where he could. Once a white belt asked me to do a sparring and Leonardo said: “No Christian, today you just roll with colourbelts” (in fact I rolled veryday just with colourbelts) and I thought: “Fuck…” After my 5 days, when I wanted to pay my entry fee, he got angry and didn’t want to receive the money. A true Globetrotter spirit in this gym with many addicts that train twice a day (how the fuck do this people earn money?!). And they even took me to an openmat to Asti, so I could establish a little relationship with the other fighters.

After Torino I went up to Aosta to meet again with the Mountains and the bad weather from the Alpes. I suddenly remembered, that I don’t miss the wather from Switzerland. Rain rain and rain again. In Aosta a girl named Ro hosted me from couchsurfing. She had to work much and couldn’t spend some time with me, but her dog was always home with me and I went for some walks in the nature. Pizza al taglio (pizza’s sold in slices, common thing in italy) was also good in Aosta.

Officine had in Aosta a Purple Belt named Andrea (like in Lecco, ha!). They were already warned from Leonardo, that the sneakiest, most skilled blue belt from Switzerland was coming to kick some asses :P They were welcoming, even gifted me a bag as a souvenir and Andrea always asked me if I feel okay and really tried to make my stay as comfortable as possible! In the last day we even went out to a Pizzeria and had dinner together.

As my trip started with many worries and doubt’s, they slowly are vanishing. Of course they still exist in the background, but the vibe, the love and hospitality that I receive from the people I met already turned them a bit down. Now I’m heading back to Torino. After Torino a 4 hour trip to Genova awaits me on the next day. I’ll tell you how it was. I can tell you already, that my ass will hurt a lot! :D

Greetings Christian