The secret beach

Slow Tour

1 July 2020

Slow Tour

The secret beach

Water, as is known, quenches thirst and refreshes. In the summer heat, it remains a valuable restorative resource. But the sea in summer, for someone like me who is lazy, reserved and allergic to big crowds of people who create a lot of fun but also a lot of confusion, is not a holiday destination. I prefer the sea in winter: languid, intimate and fragrant. However, even I search for some fresh water in summer and I have found it near my home along the banks of the most beautiful river in Europe: the Tagliamento. Starting from Venzone, where many years ago I discovered the Pradulin, a wonderful oasis, I found similar glimpses and secret ravines along the entire left bank of the great river that surrounds the plain of Gemona to the west.

There are isolated beaches of fine sand, the same as can be found in Lignano. This shouldn’t be a surprise: it is precisely the great river that builds up the western coast flood after flood. Often as protection from the sun, there is a backdrop of poplars, willows and flowering shrubs that give shade and coolness, making my stay in the sun a primordial emotion. The same one that makes me wish for distant shores and beach destinations under the shade of palm trees.

My favourite sandy river bed is located in Osoppo near the Risorgive di Bars (resurgence). You can get there by bike from the Alpe Adria (FVG1) route near the rest area by the resurgences. Crossing a stretch of vegetation, you arrive at the meadows populated by beautiful orchids and singing crickets and continuing close to the Tagliamento river, to a steppe area dotted with thistles and wild willows. Just upstream you reach the river bed, at a point where the blue ribbon of water comes to lap the shore.

I never cease to be surprised by the majesty of this wild river, for its wonderful views, for the crystal clear and freezing water, if you need to cool down when you reach it and for the sun that reverberates on the white pebbles giving the feeling of being part of a postcard. This is how a holiday can become relaxing, rejuvenating and at zero distance. And for those who wish to visit Friuli it is an extra opportunity to get to know and appreciate this land, which an illustrious writer once described as "a small compendium of the universe: alps, plain and lagoon in sixty miles from sunset to midday" [from "Le confessioni di un Italiano" by Ippolito Nievo]

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Etelca Ridolfo

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A Hungarian name for an authentic Friulian with a passion for the countryside, the vegetable garden and country cooking. I’m a graphic designer by profession, a cultural worker because I love my local area, and a gastronaut for pleasure. I’ll take your hand and guide you around the treasures of the Gemona area and give you direct experiences of rural manual skills.