Last week I didn't find the time to take part in the "Weekend Engagement": January is turning out to be a much tougher month than expected from a work point of view and finding the time to publish a few posts is always a drama, especially on weekends, where often I don't have my trusted laptop at my disposal.

This time, however, I unexpectedly have a couple of free hours before I have to set up dinner, so figured I'd take the opportunity to put down a new post drawing inspiration from the topic proposed by @galenkp: are we going out looking for adventures this weekend or staying home in the heat? - at least for those in the northern hemisphere!

A Ray of Sunshine is All You Need!

Despite of what my gamer spirit would suggest to me to do....

i.e. to lock myself indoors for the entire winter waiting for it to get warm enough that I don't want to put a foot outside the house

... every weekend is now an opportunity to explore and visit new places or walk around familiar ones.

At first I was reluctant, but over time my girlfriend managed to regularly get me to put my nose out of the house and, quickly, I discovered myself with a passion - or, rather, rediscovered, since as a child who doesn't like to explore new places and go through little adventures? - for these weekend tours.

More often than not, the destination is chosen on the spot, based on the energy we have and the time we have available.

This Saturday we only had the afternoon to do our walks, so we chose not to travel too far and to go see a leaning tower - not the one in Pisa! - discovered somewhat by accident.

So, upon reaching a tiny village named Vernazzano, we left the car in front of the local little church, took a small path and, after a few minutes, already began to glimpse "the tip" of our destination.

The trail is quiet, well-marked, but a bit uphill: putting on hiking shoes would have been a good idea, but we didn't expect to have to walk through the woods for a stretch, so we just do it with what we have.

Once at the top we find awaiting us the small and ancient Church of St. Michael the Archangel, crumbling but with evident works aimed at its preservation - or at least what's left of it -, and the tower itself, definitely tilted and wrapped with metal supports and cables to support it.

All around, nature thrives, enveloping the remains of what was once a castle, in which the leaning tower served as a watchtower.

About ten meters from the tower, however, there is a small well-maintained area with olive trees and tables, from which a romantic landscape can be admired at sunset, complete with a view of Lake Trasimeno.

A few last photos taken, it's time to head back down the hill and re-emerge back into the midst of civilization, leaving behind this place now out of time and, sadly, doomed to disappear leaving no trace behind: two rivers flowing at the base of the hill where the old Watchtower stands are slowly burrowing into the ground, collapsing what remains of the abandoned buildings and ultimately making the vanishing of this small piece of History inevitable.

Photos made by me or my girlfriend.

If you've read this far, thank you! If you want to leave an upvote, a reblog, a follow, a comment... well, any sign of life is really much appreciated!