Woof, friends! Here I am just arrived from Estonia! My name is Brenno and I’m a curly-coated retriever. I’m just five months old and the visit to Aplis near Ovaro was my first participation in a Dog Walking outing in Friuli Venezia Giulia. To be precise, were were in Val Degano or the Canale di Gorto, one of the seven valleys of the green Carnia!

The goal was the Museum of Wood and Venetian Sawmills and Animals Exhibition. The day was wonderful with a blue sky and the mountains around dressed in warm autumn colours. After arriving at the museum, after parking, to stretch our paws we took a nice walk down to the bed of the Degano torrent, walking around small artificial lakes and crossing bridges suspended over bubbling springs. We also glimpsed the blue lightning of a kingfisher and then a dipper wandering over the stones that emerged from the water.

Then we went into the museum, which illustrates the various stages of processing wood, with reference to Carnia. We have seen cutting and trimming tools, Venetian saws, a fabulous wood catalogue showing every species of wood, panniers, clogs, crampons and other everyday objects of the past. Everything reminded me of the lives made of hard work – people who made their living in the forests – but perhaps more serene than our modern lives are.

A part of the museum is dedicated to a permanent exhibition of animals, comprising approximately 250 birds and mammals, which has been really carefully done! There are many local and non-native species, neatly presented with backgrounds that represent their natural habitats. My human told me many things about the habits of the many species of birds, their migrations, their nuptial preparations, their food.

To finish, we took a coffee at the centre, sitting in the sun to enjoy the relaxing panorama all around. I have to confess that I fell asleep, tired and satisfied with so many new things.

A woof and a lick from your new friend Brenno!