A stroll to Bondone and brown trousers
I’m not sure whether the prospect of having several unpaid council tax bills or a faulty central heating system made me feel unduly nervous this morning because the pair of brown trousers hanging in the wardrobe seemed the only things to wear today. Could this be the first stages of fading towards the age of beige?
When we first saw Bondone, some 18 years ago, it was after dark and it appeared to be suspended in the air above Ponte Caffaro. In the daylight it looked as though it would be impossible to get there, perched so precariously on the edge of a cliff.
The stroll from Ponte Caffaro to Bondone is now one of our favourites. I believe that we have followed the footpath upwards in every season over the years, each one being very special.
Setting out from our house we stroll down the side of River Caffaro and cross over by means of an oldish wooden bridge. This bridge has become increasingly decrepit over the years and was finally blocked off last year as a safety hazard. Obviously people still had a need to cross from one side to the other so the barriers were moved slightly in order to permit pedestrians to continue using the bridge. As we approached the bridge today it was plainly even less solid than before. Any doubts we might have had about crossing were removed when we saw the postman, on his motorbike, riding over without any hesitation
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- The wooden bridge over the river Caffaro. It is now decrepit.
The stroll towards the lake is slightly downhill and takes no time at all. It is an enjoyable stroll by itself, particularly on a warm Sunday afternoon to get a cooling drink at one of the two bars on the lake shore.
After having crossed the Caffaro one then approaches the Chiese. a few years ago we nearly strolled to the source of the Chiese but were obliged to turn back, a few hundred yards short, by the approach of darkness and by the daunting prospect of climbing over scree, boulders and other bad stuff in the dark to return to the car.
A few years ago there was a period of bridge building here. It appears that either the designs were not very good or that the materials were not able to stand the test of time as one by one they have decayed, been blocked to pedestrians or, in one case, removed entirely. In order to cross the Chiese another of these decayed bridges needs to be crossed.
The footpath starts to toil upward in Baitone, a town on the same end of the lake as Ponte Caffaro, but in a different province.
The first time we strolled up to Bondone we were quite surprised to find that it was possible and not as difficult as we thought that it might be. We didn’t need special skills or equipment and although the path was steep it was not too bad.
A slope at the path side, overlooking Baitone the village at the bottom, has fallen away since we were here last but the edge is protected by a steel rope. Anyone careering down the path would be stopped from going over the edge by the thoughtful provision of this safety device.
Bondone is a wonderful mediaeval hilltop village with steep narrow streets. We wondered if the person who parked his car at such an angle would have rolled out of his door.
Bondone’s past has a very strong commercial connection to the woods which cover the hillsides all around. Charcoal burning is one of the ancient local industries celebrated by a sculpture in the main piazza, just a memory now.
The stroll to Bondone is a fabulous way to spend the afternoon. Almost like strolling to Italy again.
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Mike – I guess that the Ponte in Ponte Caffaro means bridge, as in French and Welsh. Is the old wooden bridge you crossed the said Ponte? Looking forward to reading all the stats! Cheers – Mattie.
The actual ponte is a sturdy metal affair that has busy traffic going over it all the time. The first time we went to Ponte Caffaro in 1994, we just stood on the bridge and looked at the noisy river below us, impressed that we had made it there – and that time we went by plane and bus.
Reading your description and looking at your photos reminds me vividly of my own (comparitively minimal) strolling around Ponte Caffaro. Bondone certainly is an excellent objectoveand I also have a fondness for the biotopo on the way, which was actually the location of my first proper sighting of a kingfisher.
I enjoy the biotopo very much but do not have the necessary skills to name the birds which entertain me from the hides. We saw a lot of kingfishers walking down the canal from Reims. The were incredibly shy and neither of us managed to get a photo which did them justice.
I can’t identify most of the birds but kingfishers are pretty obvious – but as you say rather shy. Last time I also saw loads of black caterpillars on some plants along the track – no idea what they wete going to become.
Hello Sue, Could be a Small Tortoiseshell or the Peacock Butterfly (both have black, spiky-haired caterpillars, the latter starts life on nettles). After a quick dip into Google Search for “Black Caterpillars”……..(Paws for Wildlife.co,uk) it might even be a variety of moth! Dark Strawberry Tortrix Moth – caterpillar is smooth and black and widespread in UK and Europe. Nature doesn’t make it easy does it?
Hi Royce, it was the absence of nettles that stumped me. I’m pretty good on those ones- though I wouldn’t like to make definite pronouncements to distinguish between small tortoiseshell and red admiral for instance. If I recall peacocks tend to be spikier especially in the later stages. I took quite a few pictures of them massing on their host plants but I don’t think they’d help a lot with identification.