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| This is almost all there is to Montenero! |
We went down the road past Ponte Naia, but instead of turning right (towards Fiore), went straight -- ending up in a "borgo" called Montenero. It is the most darling place, built in the 1600s. Upon chatting with one of the two local inhabitants, I found out that it was most recently owned by someone who died in 1917 as a man with no heirs. He had a number of palazzi in various towns in the area, and left them to the state as homes for the impoverished.
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| But the church is lovely |
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| Closeup of the church door |
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| The palazzo at Montenero |
And, of course, you know how that worked out.... with no money for upkeep, the government ended up selling off the property. Montenero, instead of being the sweet little community that its appearance promises, is a somewhat sad place where only two families live year-round. The other houses are used as summer or vacation homes on occasion. The larger buildings? It was unclear how they are currently used.
After Montenero, we decided that it was our destiny to find "La Foresta Fossile" -- for which I had seen signs in the area. After enjoying a lovely turn in the countryside, there it was! Well, rather, there was the "Old Tree Cafe". Not kidding. It was a 1950's American-type architecture (well, -ish) set up as a bar. And La Foresta? Chiusa (closed), of course. We were 15 minutes too late. However, upon looking over the brochure, it appears to be a bunch of fossilized tree stumps...maybe just the pictures will do?
The thing about countryside roaming is that so many of the roads are built on the ridges, and there isn't much forest around here. So you end up with these gorgeous views that go for miles!
In one of the valleys, we passed a sign for an 11th-century church. We looked, shrugged, and turned around so we could have a look. After all, who knows if/when we would pass that way again? BOOM! My little car nose-dived into an 8-inch deep rut. When your wheels are only 18 inches across, it's a big deal...
Shifting down from third to second, we went a bit further....BOOM! Another rut. Time to change into first -- we were on one of Italy's infamous "white" roads -- and talk about a "strada deformata"! Up and up we went, passing a man standing next to his car who stared at us as though we had lost our minds (why in the world would anyone voluntarily be driving all the way back here?), for miles it seemed.
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| Our first glimpse... |
Bob spotted it first: laughing, he pointed out a decrepit wooden fence next to a pile of brick rubble. "That must be it!" he said...I chuckled at the humor...and then realized that, yes, it WAS "it". The good news? It looks better from other angles. We did snicker at the explanatory sign though -- among other points, it said as the last feature that on occasional years the feast day is celebrated at that church, with much amusement and recreation for the attendees.
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| The church door |
Love,
Alexandra
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| This is an example of a typical "legible" (not) sign. |
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| A common view of Bob throughout the afternoon! |
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