Thank God, I’m a make up artist and my job forces me to overtake my natural anti-sport attitude sometimes! Four days ago I went with a client to shoot their winter collection in the woods between Romagna and Tuscany, close to Palazzuolo sul Senio, a very quiet place that however in the past, has seen death and war; in August of ’44 it was the scene of a bloody battle during which the partisans with a great sacrifice managed to repel the German infantry advance in the region.
From the village, a winding road climbs for 10km along the SP 477 dell ‘Alpe di Casaglia to take a path that leads to the beautiful bivouac of Diacci, hidden among beautiful ancient trees. On the way up to the temporary encampment we watched the most beautiful Autumnal dawn but soon after the sun rise the weather changed and it turned into a dark and rainy day, not ideal for a photo shoot (luckily we were shooting winter clothes!!!).
We stoped at the shelter, unloaded our equipment and started to prepare our models. While Karine, my hair stylist colleague and me were working on the models everybody was organising the material and warming up at the huge fireplace right in the middle of the dining room. When everybody was ready, we got our stuff (lights, collection and accessories, food and warm coffee and even a small tent to change the models outfits in) and we start walking towards the location picked by the art director days before.
Lucky enough I had been warned in advance about the tracking experience that we would be we facing and I dug out of my closet an old pair of solid shoes that I was ready to throw away at the beginning of summer, they literally saved my life!: the woods were covered with wet leaves and slippery moss and we had to proceed slowly in steep path loaded up just like mules.
The scenery thought was breath taking when we arrived to the “Cascata dell’abbraccio” ( the Embrace Falls) a sandstone amphitheater: it was a stunning master peace created my the slow and powerful water passage.
The valley of the torrent Rovigo, one of the most beautiful and best preserved of the Tuscan-Romagna is nestled just off the green beech forests of the high Mugello on the ridge between Tuscany and Romagna and it’s the perfect stop for fans of hiking, Nordic walking, mountain biking and horseback riding.
Anybody who is fond of outdoors sports should check out this amazing location: I woke up at 5am, spent the day under the rain with no umbrella, checking my steps and carrying my equipment and I still loved it…… I can only imagine how it could be pleasant in a sunny, vacation day!!!!!!
Betti
Where to stay:
Diaci Hostel
How to get there:
[socialWarfare]