Family biking

Biking in the countryside: one of our favourite pastime during the weekend!

Will it last?

A graffiti on a wall declaring true love...wonder if it still is so!

Tradition and modernity

Tradition and modernity in Venezia: traditional gondolas waiting for tourists and a modern ferry boat leaving for Crete in the background.

Yes, Venezia!

Yes, the answer to yesterday's question is: we went to Venezia. We are lucky enough to live about 60 km from one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and now and then we take the train (one hour ride) and go to Venezia for a walk.

Today's picture is one of the paintings above the doors entering the San Marco Cathedral, with bright colors and lots of gold!

And where is this?

Again, columns and a covered place to walk. Guess where have we been for a walk? (tomorrow the solution!)

Winter seaside

The seaside is very beautiful in winter, maybe even more than in summer. You walk, lonely, on the packed cold sand and see nothing around you, except seagulls and branches the sea brings on the beach.

Handmade sign

Almost a threatening sign: handmade, I found it on a countryside road and it says

Speed is the way to the cemetary. Have a nice trip!

Countryside

Winter is slowly rolling by and we experience daylight longer and longer. Pawns are now starting to prepare the fields for seeds. In the background, the Monte Cavallo, full of snow.

What remains (III)

Super empty parking lot at the biggest shopping center we have here near by: empty after the big Christmas rush.

At the zoo (III)

Again a picture of the
Punta Verde Parco Zoo. The zoo is settled on a group of small islands in the lagoon and small bridges connect the islands.

Flamingos at the zoo

At the Punta Verde Parco Zoo it's time for new babies: at the fence closeing the flamingos' pond there are about 10 ribbons, some blue, some pink, to celebrate the birth of the baby flamingos. In the pond, you immediatly recognize which are the babies: not yet pink, they will remain grey until about 14-months age.

Meerkat at the zoo

Yesterday we spent the day at the
Parco Zoo PUnta Verde in Lignano, about 25 km from Concordia. It is a very nice place, very clean and neat; the animals aren't held in cages but are free on small islands in the lagoon or in fenced areas. I already wrote about it here: we spend a day there almost every year and children enjoy it very much.

A typical house

A typical house in Barcis, a village in the mountains, about 50 km from Concordia Sagittaria. It is called Palazzo Centi and was first built during the Sixteenth Century. It has been renovated since few years using once again the rocks and stones of the River Cellina (that flows nearby) as in the original construction.

Erto IV

Again a picture of the fair in Erto. In this picture, craftsmen make wicker baskets.

(see yesterday's post for all the story)

Erto III

In August, in Erto there is a very interesting fair: "Tra il vecchio e il nuovo" (roughly between old and new). In the small narrow streets of the village, craftsmen expose their works and show how their work is made: wicker baskets, wooden eldelweisses, leather bags, hand knitted pullovers, and so on. They work, expose and sell their products.

In this picture, two craftsmen are making wooden eldelweisses.

Erto II

Another view of the wonderful valley which Erto lays in. This picture doesn't need many words, it is a wonderful place.

A walk in Erto

This is Erto, a pretty mountains village quite close to Concordia. Erto, together with its neighbouring village Casso, is sadly famous in Italy for a big tragedy occured in 1963, when a piece of mountain fell into the artificial lake made by the Vajont Dam and caused a tsunami wave that submerged and swept away many villages: among these Erto.

No wind, today

No wind today. The rooster stands still over the tower in Teson, a hamlet of Concordia. Let's wait for tomorrow for windsurfing.

The Cross reaching the sky

This is the upper part of the modern bell tower of the church of Teson, a hamlet of Concordia. Nothing to do with the Cathedral, of course, but anyway an interesting modern construction. I like how the Cross over the bell tower is made, quite original.

Coooool!

Again a shot taken in the mountains, in the big creek we sat by for our picnic. Very refreshing!