A Castle And Such

  A couple of days ago, we took a drive all around Lago Trasimeno. 

  Johnny had read about this particular castle that we'd never visited, so we headed in that direction.

  The day was a little cloudy, but at least warmer, with sun peeking in and out of the clouds, eventually coming out to stay. Nice!

  With map in hand, we found the road that leads up the hill to this pretty impressive structure-

Recent fires have taken down trees...you can see the piles of trees
here, which have been stacked up.

  Originally the castle of Montegualandro was a border castle between Tuscany and Umbria. 

  We drove up the white road, which is good, with a few bumps here and there, and we were the only people around.

  

  The views from the top are spectacular. The lake and fields take on a very graphic dimension from high up the hill.

Getting all medieval up here!

  You can walk all around the walls, but this castle is privately owned, we think, so no way to get inside.

  Still, it was big fun to visit.

You can see all three islands from here.

Very castle-y.

  Last summer, there were several arson fires in this area, and we were shocked at how much damage the surrounding hillsides took. In fact, you can see this castle now from the road way below, because the area has been cleaned of all the burnt trees.

  It was sad to see all the massive piles of trees that have been taken down.

Some of the few remaining pines are a little worse for wear and tear from fires.

Before, this hill was covered in old pines, oaks, and olives that are now gone from the fires.
It's devastated, but growing back slowly.

  We worked our way back down the hill to stop and do some painting.
  The views were perfect...

I love these little yellow wild flowers in the olive groves.

  After Johnny put in some work time, we stopped for refreshments.

One of the drawings of the day.

  

A super sweet garden we spied while walking around.
There was a little old man caring for it with love. 

  Further down the road, we stopped to walk along the lake on a trail. 

  What a cool surprise to come across these sculpture installations along the lakeshore!

Nature inspired.

  These were so wonderfully unexpected...I wonder how many more are dotted along the shore? We just saw these three...They are tucked away, so you really have to 'discover' them.

I love the 'Lady of the Lake'...

Silvery background...

From this side, the sun shows her true colors...

Johnny snuck in his own shot...A rare photo of me here.

  It's great to have sun, warmth and... I'm almost over my nasty cold. Things are looking up, friends!
  Thanks for finally making an appearance, Spring!