Lago di Santa Croce

My DH and I were itching to get some exercise and explore more of Italian nature, but we were unsure of were we ought to travel to, and as our weekend arrived we still hadn’t decided what our plans were. As dawn was cracking over the fields in Budoia, my hubby was shaking me awake saying, “I found where we’re going today!” He had hopped onto google maps and looked for blue splotches, indicating lakes. He found a large lake entitled Santa Croce fairly close by and researched it. We discovered that it’s a very popular lake during the summers and that many travelers visit it for watersports, including kite surfing and sailing. We decided this would be a great place to go and scout out as a potential summer hangout spot.

A couple hours later, after Adam, breakfast, Adam, packing, Adam, updating the ipod with new driving music, and more Adam care… lol, we were finally in the car and on our way. There were two ways to get there. One option was to take the Autostrada (the freeway) or to take windy back roads on a slightly longer route. Naturally, we opted for the back roads. More to see!

I updated our ipod with some music by Adrian von Ziegler. I recommend going to this link: Gaelic Earth, on another tab, and listening to this song in the background as you continue to read this post. Then you will hear what we heard and see what we saw. :) 

After much driving up the mountainside, we turned to see this view. Behold, Italy. (And the unfortunate power lines -_-)

The road ahead of us as we drove. The dirt appeared to be a warm red as the cool snow wove around the bare woodland trees.  

Our first view of the lake as we came down the other side of the mountain. 

The lake was beautiful and serene. See that town on the far side? That was our hiking goal. 

The lake gave off a rather mystical feeling as the low clouds and light fog nuzzled the emerald blue waters beneath them. 

They had "Beach Arenas" for rugby and other sports. 

This lake was definitely the place for the outdoorsy type. We passed by this mountain biking school as well as numerous other places sponsoring/encouraging various types of outdoor, lakeside activity. 

Alright, time to begin hiking. Our LO (Little One) was warm and snug as we trekked the path around the lake.  

Our trail

A close up of the ground. I think it may have been part fairy forrest... <3

The view on our right: Boats on the lake

The view on our left: A house tucked into the hill

My inner Biologist was going berserk over the nature  we encountered. I don't think Troy appreciated that much... Every couple steps: "OHMYGOSH! Babe, look at this!" snap* snap* of the camera. "Uh huh..." he'd say.
"No, hun, really, you must come look at this. I'm gonna touch it... It's squishy! Should I smell it!?" haha.
It didn't take long before he wasn't even turning around to humor me. :/  

How awesome is this weirdness!?
It was growing on a number of trees we passed. This was one of the ones that was squishy to the touch. I wanted to slice it open for further observation, but I got the feeling my DH wanted to make progress on the hike... haha.  

The brilliant violet color popping out of the dull, dead leaves symbolizing the life and beauty of suppressed spring bursting forth was thrilling! 

Just in case you were wondering, this picture of this fascinating fungi isn't enhanced/modified in any way, it really was this vibrant! 

A close up of an orange... something, growing on a tree branch. 

Oh how I wish I had my own personal Italian botanist with me, explaining everything as we went. However since
we didn't, I named this discovery the "Dr. Seuss plant"! . . . yeah... I'm going to have to procure a "Plants of Italy" book
in order to spare shame to the botanist world with my plant names :S

Alright, enough of the plant life... back to our hike. After diverting for a hot chocolate and bathroom break at a lakeside cafe, we somehow managed to lose our trail. We ended up working our way up the hillside to the road and walked along it for a good way. 

A random tunnel off of main the road, and dropping off into nothing.

The long and the short of it is, we did not end up making it to our final destination goal of the town on the far side of the lake, as it was getting late and the road took a much longer, out-of-the-way path than the lakeside trail we had hoped for. 
     But we were satisfied, as we had gotten to hike for many miles and hours and gotten to see more Italian land as we had desired. We turned around and headed back to the car. We had also intended to eat at a lakeside restaurant for dinner, (supposedly they serve excellent fish caught in that very lake) however we were still at the tail end of Riposo (the Italian siesta) and we didn't want to wait it out and get home very late. So we grabbed a gelato and drove home for an early bed time after a tiring, but satisfying day. 

I hope you have enjoyed this picture rich post and that I was able to convey some of the beauty and excitement we are getting to experience. <3