How We Live
A video by Phil (Dexter) and Chrystal about our place. If an image says more than a thousand words then how many words is a video?
To Istanbul (Again)
The road did not end completely in Rome, we kept traveling to the place where my last journey ended. After 10 days in Rome we felt the urge to move on so Chrystal bought tickets to Patras, first with the Train to Bari and then with the Ferry to Greece.
As I early in the morning entered the train in Termini Roma and then saw the lush landscapes of Lazio hush by I felt leaving someting behind and ready for new input that would challenge my soul. One would be amazed how easy 6 hours of train ride feel after 2 weeks of walking. Once in Bari we had six hours to kill so we walked all around the old city letting our feed guide the way. Suddenly we found ourselves facing a tall romanesque church; going inside, it appeared even mightier and for an unknown reason at that time the church was full with pious christians performing postrations before the altars. A stair lead us to the grave of the saint. The cellar roof was held by numerous small pillars connecting in bows, bellow, like under umbrellas, pilgrims prayed and sang hymns. Thus we found the grave of St. Nicolas (Santaclause) by accident, which was established there after seamen have brought the relics to Bari.
Later that eavening the ferry left and took us to Patras in Greece. In the morning the boat arrived and we decided to stay a night. Then we took a train to Athens where someone hosted us for a few nights through couch surfing. Greece is always good, the hedonistic lifestyle allowes the visitor to feel no guilt at all to spend most of the days sipping a frape in a café and even fills him even with a sense of obligation to do so. Our host sparred no effort to introduce the city to us. On a high rock, that algededly was dropped by Athene herself, a panoramic view opened for us to get a chance to acquire a feeling for the city. Sorrounded by mountains Athens cant grow larger on the original plain as it already fills the vast ditch and makse it look like milk poured into a bowl, about 5 milllion people inhabit the place which makes up half of the population of Greece and so it easy to imagine that it is somewhat of a boiling pot.
The next stop was Thessaloniki where we were welcomed again by a couch surfer. After a few great days there we took the night train to Istanbul. In the train we had our own cabin and could sleep on beds so we arrived well rested in the central station. From there we took the ferry to the asia side. It was the first time for me to go to the this part of the city, and it meant for me the true beginning of our journey because I at last moved further on this pilgrimage than I did before. There was another surprise waiting for us though: Phil, our good friend from Switzerland, arrived a week before us and found a place to stay. It was a warm welcoming, with broad smiles we entered the bus and couldn't wait to exchange some of our experiences from along the way.
End of Roads
As Chrystal already wrote we hiked along the Via Francigena to Rome, this is now already a few days back, but let me tell you how this road ended.
The brightest shining gem of the walk was the loving and open hospitality of the people we met along the way. Once, while searching in Viterbo for some shelter, we got dissapointed several times and the sun was setting. I already lost hope and Chrystal took over leading the way, asking for directions 'till we came to an old remote corner of the city. A bright face greeted us and helped us find the way to the church there, since we couldn't find shelter there either, she offered us a place in a music school that she founded. Naomi, we found out was her name, has lived in Viterbo for 20 years now after leaving the United States and traveling long to find home. It was one of the encounters that blessed our souls as we just shared a bit life with her for 2 days and heard her story.
Leaving Viterbo we got exited to visit Rome, it would be the first time for both of us. The last days of walking went over quickly, one morning we found ourselves standing on a hill overseeing the everlasting city and the majestic St. Peters dome ahead of us. We rested for a while and I wondered what this city would mean to us and what we had to learn here. We were to found out soon and it was hell. Chrystal started to get worse cramps as we got to the pilgrim house. Once arrived there, she started to bleed, stomach got even worse and we didn't know what to do. We called Chrystals midwife and asked for advice, she told us if the blood would get read we should be prepared to loose our baby. In the evening the blood got red. From there we entered into the saddest night of our young life. Lost in a echoing convent, deep at night Chrystals whimpering could be heard, but everyone was asleep soundly. I was confused, not knowing what to do or what to say so I kept silent. Then tears came as Chrystal lost her little one, and they were not to cease for days. Inexperienced with these situations we decided to take 3 days to mourn our baby and reflect on the fact that we were going to be parents and then not anymore. We would have called Penelope (Odysseus' wife in the Odyssey of Homer), a name associated with great moral stature, beauty and height, but also a prophecy of great anguish, yes so great that one might wish to die or never be born. Maybe God heard her wish from the future and brought the seed of life back into his stream of love.
Now we look back on this city with mixed feelings, the experience is still a mystery to us like a locked book that we own but cannot read. Time will tell... After the 3 days we went to look at some things in Rome but their beauty was tinted by the digital cameras that were present by the thousands and saw more than their owners. The lust for exploring vanished after our sad night and did not come back till we left the city 10 days later. Thus Rome was the end of many roads: a place we imagined romantically, a place we hoped to find joy and rest and the end of the Via Francigena.
New Map
Just updated the map to represent our current journey, I will update the route when we get to a new place. You can zoom in an click on the lines for more information.
Here's the link to the google map.
New Number for Italy
Some people might have realized that my number is not working. We have just bought a SIM card for Italy:
+39 349 617 3931
We woulf love to hear from you 
PS: Does anyone know a place to stay in Rome? If yes send us and SMS.
More Photos on Flickr
Entering another little town
Originally uploaded by Luke Buehler
There are photos on Flickr for our journey until now. Not yet ordered and sorted nicely, sorry.
Via Francigena
Most of you know that Luke and me (plus one) are traveling right now. We took a train to Florence Italy last Tuesday and decided to hike (and hitch) to Rome. I know, right, we found out about 3 weeks ago we will be having a baby, but we got some advice from midwives and as long as I'm hydrated and eating well and not carrying too much weight, we are safe to travel. So we've been hiking now for 7 days, each day around 20 kms, which takes about 4-5 hours and we get up at 5:30 am, because the first couple days the Tuscan sun scortched us! The feet took a bit adjusting, but now just swell. My pack is around 10 kilos and Luke's is around 15. We are doing an old mideval route called "via francigena" it was the main route used to travel through Europe. Along the way there are free places to stay for Pilgrims. It's been so awesome, free bed, some times a kitchen to use and a place to hang smelly clothes. We have 4 more days until Rome, where we'll chill out for a bit, because they say I could be feeling a bit sick then.
As of yet, I have nearly no problematic pregnancy symptoms, just stopping and peeing every 15 meters. Oh and we've been hitchhiking, which so far has been such an adventure. We hitchhike where the trail is paved road, cause your feet start to burn like crazy when the road is flat. And the sweetest coolest people have picked us up. Don't worry those who are worried, we only go on the smaller coutry roads not the highways, that is too dangerous and we have a safety plan! We are very pregidous against BMW's and Mercede's they always fly by, but we appreciate the gust of wind in our faces! And when you walk along the road the huge trucks are the scariest, those blasts of wind almost lift you off the ground!
Luke decieded not to go to St. John's university this fall cause he didn't get enough aid. We plan right now to come back to the US in September and we want to visit Canada soon after if possible. Alright, this cafe is expensive and we still don't have a place to sleep for tonight yet, this town has no place for Pilgrims. Oh and Italy, gelato is amazing, coconut, white chocolate is a personal favorite and Spaghetti bolognese is something is dye for, statues and art, you just can't beat. Pictures soon.
On the Road Again
In the literal sense of the word. We are walking again and it feels so good! Right now on the way to Rome on the Via Francigena. I hope to blog about the many adventures Chrystal and me have experienced so far.
Some Thoughts
I've been writing the last six months, but not on this blog; I've been working on an essay and now it's finished. So I'll return to my blog and will pick up where I left off. We're on a journey to a place unknown, in faith we move hoping to find a home for our souls. My searching took me to the outskirts of philosophy, I still don't understand the power and meaning of our rationality, but what I've seen so far has told me that there is a wold of understanding things in a depth and austerity that reminds me of the sea. Nietzsche describes the journey of a man, searching for his own virtue, like a wave stealing all his self imagined greatness. The same man standing on a different shore will one day, by the same wave, be refunded all he's lost:
Verily, I have taken from you a hundred formulae and your virtue's
favourite playthings; and now ye upbraid me, as children upbraid.They played by the sea- then came there a wave and swept their
playthings into the deep: and now do they cry.But the same wave shall bring them new playthings, and spread before
them new speckled shells.
The paper I've been working on, compares the Christians and Greek virtues. Plunging into Plato's great vision of virtues made me realize that I had no understanding of words I thought I grasped: Justice, Wisdom, Love. It truly feels like as if a wave washes everything away I thought I understood. It's a strange liberating feeling acompanied by guilt. As if I'm loosing faith. Is this true? I do not know. I can't say no, but neither yes. I think our souls need room to breathe. To feast on what it has acqired by great turmoil and hardship, to then be able to dispose what is not good.
(For Tii)
A Year Ago…
One year ago I started my pilgrimage. It was an exciting day for me (see this post http://www.lukebuehler.com/?p=38). During that time I often wondered where this journey would take me. What God would do in my heart. Somehow I felt that there would be some detours until I would reach my goal, but what has actually happened in the last year, has far exceeded my guesses. From that day where I did my first step out of the home of my parents to start walking, I often dreamed about how it would be to reach Jerusalem. Over time it became more and more a symbol, the determination to reach the actual city didn't become any weaker, but it found a spiritual companion that empowered it even more. After a year I'm still half way, I stopped in Istanbul, never crossed the Bosporus to Asia. If cities have a symbolic meaning for me (and they do), then Istanbul is the life in the middle, since the dawn of history caught between the interests of the west and orient. Its the city of both continents and has thus two hearts: The heart of Athens which is cradle of our western civilization, and the heart of Jerusalem, our spiritual mother. I for my part long more for Jerusalem than for Athens and interestingly the reality of my pilgrimage reflects that. I had a good offer from someone I met during my trip, to work in Athens and stay there for the winter. I could have had an apartment there and made some money with which I could have finished my trip, but I felt like that it was not right for me to do this detour and I declined. Only to come back to Switzerland one month later from Istanbul? Yes. Where the pilgrimage of heart and body will lead I do not know, but one day I will make my home in Jerusalem. Hope with me.
