A view of the Dolomiti in Italian Alps

This mid-afternoon southward shot was taken along the road driving from Austria to Italy, a short while after the border crossing at Plöckenpass (Austrian name) and Passo di Monte Croce Carnico (Italian name). After a heavy rain in the morning the sun broke through. At the time the picture was taken, the sky was shedding the last remnants of the morning clouds but the air was still saturated by water droplets, making the landscape look as a pastel painting.

This whole area and the mountain passes between Austria and Italy have seen some heavy fighting during World War I, with large-scale artillery and infantry campaigns. Today the border is unattended and the only worry of both Austrians and Italians is to make ends meet in the not-so-florid euro-landia. Worth mentioning is the effort to reintroduce brown bears (ursus arctos, orso bruno), starting from a core of wild animals surviving in the Triglav massive in Slovenia (some 200 km to the East from here). Presently, there is a reassuring number of healthy, wild-born adolescent cubs ...

Friuli (Friuli Venezia Giulia), Italy, September 4, 2003