Francesco crosses Finland and reaches the extreme north of Norway to land at the northernmost point of the continent, the North Cape. The nights in a tent under the stars are an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of his journey, on the much love received from Isla’s supporters and on his life path that led him to realize his true great enterprise, the Family home by Calabnugan.
I don’t believe it, there are a few days left and I will have reached the final stage of this long, very long solidarity ride! I didn’t think I could but my strength hasn’t left me yet. These last stages are perhaps the hardest, fatigue is felt strong and clear now and in this stretch I have no hotels and warm beds waiting for me but only a sleeping bag and my camping tent. I thank Alessia and Alessia, two volunteers who helped me find accommodation during these three long months, I was the guest of many previously unknown people, who now know me, Isla and our children. In these last countries, however, I will pass in places covered only by fields and woods, no houses for kilometers and kilometers, for this reason I took the tent and I decided to sleep under the stars.
There are also these small houses scattered in some points and made available to every traveler. I slept in those too! At first I would throw my mattress on the ground and fall into a deep sleep, but then, when I found a small curled up snake and when strange mosquitoes started to devour me, I thought it best to open the tent and lock myself inside. It worked!
I arrived in Norway! Here I am, the last state to cross. The landscapes are wonderful, the sun is high in the sky even at 3 am and I met reindeer, many reindeer, on my way. Unique sensations that I will take with me. If the previous stages had made me meet so many wonderful people, here I feel alone with the wild nature and it is a wonderful feeling. Can you think about the fact that I spend almost all of my life surrounded by about 30/40 people every day, of which 20/25 on average are girls (most of whom are teenagers)? Here, I will take these moments of absolute silence with me to the Philippines, for those days when, despite the enormous affection that binds me to the girls, I will need moments of quiet.
North Cape! I can hardly believe it! We have reached the last stage and we have all done it together. Without you, without the volunteers, supporters, children and operators of the Family Home, the staff of Isla in Italy, my family, I don’t think I would have ever made it. As I usually say, I have a condominium of monkeys in my head, they are my obsessions, the ideas I think about every day to be able to do more, more and more, for all those little boys and girls who have no one to take care of of them. The real challenge is not to take a bike and ride for more than 6,400km, the real challenge is to support a Family home for 12 years and give a smile to all the children who have crossed it. All this, without Isla’s large family, would never have been possible! For this I want to celebrate this last stage with a huge THANK YOU to all of you! I look forward to my return to Italy, I can’t wait to hug you all again!