ANDREA CALVETTI

"you won't get anywhere with this car, if it'll bring you just outside the city consider yourself a lucky man. Listen to me, just go home or use another car" - this was how everything began. 

So, the day after at 8.00am Gianluca and I were having coffee inside the car, which we decided to keep light. We brought just a couple of t-shirts, two pair of pants, a heavy blanket, couple bottles of water, few film rolls and two cameras. We were ready to pick up our third comrade Giovanni, who lived a bit off the road: our goal was getting as far as we could, explore our motherland and push the limits of luck. 

but at least we had our families on our side, you'd think, right? Nope. Our families offered us everything trying to convince us to do something else. Did not work.

So, Gian and I left. We were finally on the road: DETERMINED, PASSIONATE, IRRESPONSIBLE.

We knew very well the car could have broken at any time, anywhere, but if that happened... We simply did not consider that.

the air was hot, our excitement was even higher in temperature. 

we soon arrived at Giovanni's house, where his father warmly welcomed us and told us if he had this chance when he was our age he would have totally done the same, no matter what. I thought that was really supportive, also because that was really the only support we had. 

11:00 - the trip could begin. 

at all speed (80km/h;50mph) we were first directed to the Colli Bolognesi were we would have had an awesome lunch at this very little osteria some friends from Bologna told us to go to. The temperature was absolutely unbearable and our sunroof... Well, we didn't have one. 

Arrived at this lost paradise, we ordered pretty much the whole menu and drank 6lt of water within an hour. Later on, we threw ourselves dressed in a fountain nearby to then relax a bit on the huge expanse the osteria was surrounded by.

SPINNING, SPINNING, SPINNING. 

we had to live fully each instant because each instant was pure magic, each instant held beauty and each instant went by so fast you could not hold on it, but just consume it with energy and enthusiasm. 

we explored Siena, parked where we couldn't, walked around and jumped back on the car to hit the sea. 

a bit because we wanted to reach the sea as soon as possible a bit because we felt like free from any rule, we decided to bring her all the way down the road where the entrance to the beach was. 

nobody really got angry, many asked us questions about her and took some pictures: the real struggle was changing clothing. So that's also when we discovered our ability to adapt. 

we explored Capalbio and all the surrounding, we lost ourselves in dirt roads, had few beers while listening to the sound of silence and then back on the car: we had to get to Napoli. 

we thought we drove to a museum, but we actually ended up parking in the middle of someone's garden...

Napoli was just like being in a dream, we rode Sublime in all the little roads in the historic center and got stopped thousand of times from all kind of people, some who showed interest in the car, some who was more interested to hear our story. 

what made our Napoli experience be unique, however, was Gian's group of friends, who invited us to their place, offered us a great pasta and spent their afternoon laughing with us. 

 we were riding towards the house of Gian's good friends when all of a sudden a car starts pulling as aside, forcing us to stop the car. We thought that was it: we were going to be robbed; then I thought, "what are they going to steal from us? Our dirty pants?"

so, this family of 6 all squeezed in this little station wagon, jumps out of the car and comes towards us. Without even realizing what on earth was going on, I see them all inside my car with the father hanging me his phone and begging me to take a photo of them in the car. 

again, i've seen a good amount of cities and countries in the world, but Napoli... Napoli is so wild, beautiful, chaotic, messy, but as we call it "order in the disorder" that in a certain way its existence is improbable. 

miles of hell roads with paradise view, miles of cliffs and blue sea. 

"so, okay. The plan is this: i'm going to pretend i'm an american photographer for National Geographic, while you two are helping me out with the language. Sounds good?"

that day we went back and forth trying to find a spot we could actually bath and appreciate nature, but being summer everywhere was crowded with people: fat and food all over. 

therefore, Gianluca, Giovanni and I decided to try out a plan we figured could have allowed us to enjoy an hour of time in this very luxurious and historic fortress built on a cliff, with private beach and light blue water. 

so i dressed properly: high cowboy boots, swimsuit, white towel on my shoulders, sunglasses and just the most rich, arrogant, douche expression i could pull out. 

we all get in, this little girl comes up to me and says hello, i answer her back in english as i'm waiving to his family with a large, fake grin printed on my face and keep walking with my pals towards the private beach.

after an hour swimming alone in this little slice of paradise, we decide it was time to stop pulling our luck and get back on the car. 

(forgot to mention, along the road there was no spot you could park the car; well, i occupied two spots to park Sublime.)

that day we all woke up in Ravello and all of us had the same thought: "we almost crossed all Italy, why should we go back now?"

we decided to drive the whole day and reach the end of the boot. 

we couldn't believe we made it so far, it went by so fast, nothing stopped us.

we arrived in the middle of the night and slept under the stars.

we woke up all sweat and threw ourselves in the sea. 

that was our last bath before taking the road home.

after a whole night spent riding up the boot, we arrived early in the morning at Gian's cousin house, where we crashed and later separated: it was time for me and Gio to get back home.