Winter Light

Winter in Italy is the perfect season for walking in the foothills of the Apennines. It is not hot and often not humid  and the play of light on the landscape is something special.

I usually use the CAI footpaths, but I have done nearly all of them in my province.  I decided to invent with the aid of my 25000 map a circular walk that started at a Romanic church, passed an old Customs house before returning to where I started.

The little church at Beleo  on a hill outside of the village was founded in 980 and is a typical tiny Romanic “Pieve”. After suffering heavy damage during the war it has been nicely restored. It  has a war memorial to the Alpini  - Italian mountain troops. The list of those who died from the province on the Russian front is endless and quite shocking.  

Pieve di Beleo, Casina, RE

Pieve di Beleo, Casina, RE

Pieve di Beleo, Casina, RE

Pieve di Beleo, Casina, RE

Pieve di Beleo, Casina, RE

Pieve di Beleo, Casina, RE

I then dropped down to the valley below, the winter light combined with the fresh green grass  was magical. 

 Beleo, Casina, RE

 Beleo, Casina, RE

 Beleo, Casina, RE

I then climbed up to Costa Medolana.  This is a relic from a time when a large part of the province of Reggio Emilia  formed part of the Ducato di Parma. This was once a Customs house. Nearby a boundry marker can still be seen in the middle of a field.  The complex which later became a large farmhouse  is an advanced state of disrepair.

Costa Medolana, Casina, RE

Costa Medolana, Casina, RE

Costa Medolana, Casina, RE

It has been raining here for what seems forever , so thanks to the muddy conditions I could not take the  footpath back to Beleo. This meant taking the road on the ridge up to the top of the valley and then taking the road down another ridge  back to Beleo. 

Costa Medolana, Casina, RE

Beleo, Casina, RE

Beleo, Casina, RE

Beleo, Casina, RE

Beleo, Casina, RE

Beleo, Casina, RE

The sun was sinking and the play of light on the landscape made for some interesting photographs.

Carnival

It is Carnival time here in Italy, so I decided to go again this year  to the Castelnovo di Sotto Carnival.

This is a typical Italian carnival where a  procession of floats with huge Papier Mâché sculptures are towed by tractors round and round the centre of the town. People on the floats shower the onlookers with paper confetti or sprayed gunk. It is impossible to get away unscathed.

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

These small town carnival processions have nothing in common with the refined Venice carnival, the music blaring out from the loudspeakers is deafening, the costumes often tend towards vulgarity and  a happy chaos abounds. 

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

This carnival dates back to at least the sixteenth century, with the appearance of the first carnival floats in the mid nineteenth century.

 

This year the floats were not up to the standard of last year, in fact the whole thing seemed a bit sad this year.It was also one of those horrible grey misty days we get here in the Pianura Padana which perhaps took away some of the atmosphere of the event.

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

Carnivale, Castelnovosotto, RE

 Anyway it is fun to photograph the Carnival with its bright gaudy colours. 

Between Bad Weather

It has been raining here almost continuously for a month now. On the couple of afternoons that I have been able to get out and up into the mountains, I have been exploring the area around the Pietra di Brismantova near Reggio Emilia.

The first Saturday I found the remains of a heavy snowfall that disappeared within a couple of days.

Spignana, RE

La Villa, Poiano, RE

Pietra di Brismantova

I returned the next Sunday to explore the abandoned “Borgo”  of Castello di Volgono  perched on the ridge above the Secchia Valley.

Fist I climbed up to the summit of a little hill marked on the map as Castello.  The castle had long since disappeared with just a few fragments of the walls remaining here and there amongst the trees. The view looking down to the valley is quite spectacular. 

 

Castello di Volgono, RE

Castello di Volgono, RE

Castello di Volgono, RE

Castello di Volgono, RE

Castello di Volgono, RE

I then explored the abandoned hamlet with its crumbling buildings covered in brambles. How long will it be before this little settlement is reabsorbed into the landscape like the castle above ?

Castello di Volgono, RE

Castello di Volgono, RE

Castello di Volgono, RE

Castello di Volgono, RE

Castello di Volgono, RE

 

Castello di Volgono, RE

Dropping down into the Secchia valley I caught the last sunlight filtering through the mountains that had illuminated a group of trees just like a spotlight. One of those momentary plays of light that one often sees in the winter with the sun low in the sky.

Mulino di Volgono, RE

 Returning home by car, a wrong turning took me to the Village of Minozzo , Here I found the remains of a castle perched on the top of a volcanic Basalt outcrop. The way the walls had been built around the basalt was quite strange. It is a pity that the restoration of the castle remains has been a bit heavy handed.

Castello di Minozzo, RE

Castello di Minozzo, RE

Castello di Minozzo, RE

In a brief break from work and a brief break between storms, I took some pictures of the Enza Valley near Lugaro PR. 

Lugaro PR

Lugaro PR

Lugaro PR