From Monte Venda to Venice...

So here I am in the presence of the marker that at a hairpin bend signals my destination fifty minutes away. As is typical of the Euganean Mountains, we move from dense chestnut forest to scrubland of downy oaks, holm oaks and shrubs such as arbutus and terebinth...these, however, are the glory days of the scotanus, shrouded in its feathery inflorescences as if in a pink mist; then in autumn the rounded leaves will burst into color and it will be another spectacle.

As in any self-respecting mountaineering endeavor, the photo documenting the actual summit achievement.

Distracted by the flora, I arrive at my destination along less than orthodox paths, but here I am at last! All that remains of the monastery is basically the bell tower and the perimeter of the church from the inside of which there is access to a crypt. What really deserves it, however, is the view that widens to the horizon of the Adriatic. On the nearest of the hills, Mount Rua, stands out the Camaldolese monastery of which the enclosure with the church and the monks' cells is clearly distinguishable. Stretching your gaze, in the same direction, you reach the horizon where you can make out the silhouette of Venice suspended in its lagoon.

And the circle has come full circle, as if I had ideally sailed on a burchio from the port of Vo' Vecchio to the foundations of the Serenissima...