Day 92: Sunset walks in the Veneto

One of our favorite things about the neighbourhood are amazing sunset walks. Now that spring is just a few days away, and the sun is setting later and later, midweek walks around the valley are finally possible again after the long, dark winter.

We’re fortunate to have the beautiful Colli Berici literally right in our backyard. We’ve blogged previously about the road biking phenomenon in our area, but the walkers are also out in force, especially on sunny days in late winter. The road from Pianezze to the Riviera Berica is packed with walkers on nice weekends. But once it gets hot, they’ll all disappear.

In the valley of Fimon here between the hills are a series of canals built for drainage during the time of the Venetian empire. Improved in the 19th century, and again in the last decade, roads naturally ran alongside until modern housing was developed at the base of the hills after the Second World War. Today, these roads are used as agricultural and recreational trails which serve as our scenic sunset walk venue on days like today.

We’ve also previously blogged about Lago di Fimon, which is only a short extension of our walk should we so choose. One of the great improvements made recently to the trails was the addition of packed gravel. Previously, one had to negotiate mud and massive tire tracks made by the tractors which then proceed to fill up with water. When the sun comes out in the summer and bakes the mud the ruts turned into an ankle turning obstacle course. Biking? Forget about it. Now, much improved, we can enjoy the trails and keep our feet dry, even after a rainy weekend. Unfortunately the gravel trail has yet to to be extended to the lake.

Sunset walks are one of the great many things we will miss about Italy when we move this summer, but in the meantime, we’ll continue to soak up the scenic beauty and ambiance while we still can.