A crystal-clear Summer day

Friday, August 19, 2005 -

I've already seen this landscape, a lot of years ago - but it was only in a dream. Today it's for real: a crystal-clear summer day that makes it possible to enjoy a wonderful sight of the southern Arcipelago Toscano, even though I am tens of kilometers in the inner hills. Not such an unusual thing in the cold and wind-swept winter days, but a real rarity in a warm and still-air summer day.

The lower Albegna valley and Isola del Giglio on the horizon.

Montecristo island is clear and crisp, and it's about one-hundred kilometers from here; Corse, which appears on the horizon, is more than one-hundred-and-fifty kilometers away.

The lower Albegna valley and Isola di Montecristo.

The countryside offers so many details that pointing the telephoto lens and exploring is a pleasure.

Crossroad at sunset

Shadows and hills

Such a day probably happens only once in twenty years or so. The air is so still that I can't hear any noise - an absolute silence rules here. Even swallows are flying quietly - but just concentrating a bit I can hear their wings gliding in the air when they pass over my head.

This silence, together with the golden light of the setting sun, undoubtely adds to the magic of this location, Ghiaccio Forte, which is an archeological site where the remains of an ancient etrurian village have been found. I can't prevent myself from thinking that those guys were definitely skilled in finding wonderful places for building their towns.

The medieval village of Montemerano