Not giving up the hopes

As here in Finland Spring is considered over, at least if we're asking the calendar, the weather isn't really warming up. We certainly shouldn't be surprised about it, as I can count a few years when we kept the summer clothes mothballed until further notice. Yet, this year, also the weather forecast seems to add insult to injury, as they keep forecasting the arrival of the summer "within a couple of days."

Now, if this couple of days were indeed days and not months, I wouldn't mind.

Nevertheless, having been blessed with a very mild winter, when it didn't snow at all, the plants in my garden didn't suffer at all, and after a slow start, all the flowers are blooming once again. Due to social distancing, we won't have any garden party. Regardless of this detail, I am still glancing at my yard, wondering whether there is anything I can improve. Until last year, weed was my problem, until I saw how some bugs seem to appreciate their presence. Therefore, this year, instead of eliminating it, I've considered blending it into the garden, planting other random flowers to match.

The result is that now I have many flowers in a meadow-like garden. Today, was also one of those days when the only inspiration was to take my camera and go out, and so I have some pictures to show you.

I could get the shot of a duck's specie which is classified as endangered. It was a pleasure to see a male chasing one female on the riverbank.

On my wanderings, I couldn't take my eyes off this beautiful tree:

And on the way home, I had to stop to listen to a charming singer giving all his best to that special song:

Before entering a magical place where to lose myself:

I hope you all had a relaxing weekend and will be ready to start once again the rat-race tomorrow. Take care, and stay safe.

An old railway to time travel

The old saying that you will never get to know your hometown could never be more pertinent. I discovered something that, much probably I had heard about when I was a kid, but never really paid attention to it.
I am talking about the abandoned railway that, once upon a time, connected the town of Spoleto with Norcia in the region of Umbria in Italy.
According to the history, the railway was built in 1926 following an initial project of 1906, which was slowed down by the war. At those times it was considered a jewel of the railway engineering, crossing the Apennines and the complex of the Sibillini mountains.
Unfortunately, the second world war caused irreversible damages to the structure of the railway, and despite all the attempt to keep it running, it was definitely closed in 1968.
Nevertheless, the railway, which is long about 50km, can be still walked through or traveled by bike, and it was a pleasure for me in this wonderful and warm spring weather to have a walk on the first part of it.
Starting from the town of Spoleto, the railway has a constant slope of about 5% and reaches a maximum altitude of 625 m.
The quiet and the peace of the place, now surrounded by the National Park is almost amazing, and the walk through the old tunnels through the reliefs brings me the memories of the old times. Although this wouldn’t be considered safe to run with a train, the structure itself is perfectly preserved and allows a great view of the panorama.
Here are some pictures I have taken during my trekking (keep in mind where I was walking, for the whole distance there were the tracks of the train, so imagine how spectacular was to cross this beautiful landscape by train!):

I have only walked it for the first 8 km because I knew that whatever distance I was going to walk, I had to double it to return to the actual railway station from where I have started my quest.
I promised myself that I will come once again walking along this old railway but starting from the other end, hoping to reach the main bridge.
And here some other pictures of this stunning place:

Hoping you liked the post and enjoyed this virtual tour on the abandoned railway so close to my hometown.
Have all a great weekend and a Happy Easter.