Cycle path

Tarvisio is a small town set within a vast forest, which in fact extends far beyond the borders with Austria and Slovenia, but is a much larger green lung in the heart of Europe. We are immersed in the largest state-owned forest in Italy, almost 24,000 hectares of woodland. It is managed by the Carabinieri Biodiversity Department. It is a spectacular landscape and of great natural value, but also historically, because it is a thousand-year-old forest. We have documented almost 1,000 years of history, beginning in 1007, when the German Emperor Henry II the Saint donated the forest to the Bishop of Bamberg. It is a forest managed through careful forestry practices and this also shows how people here have cared for nature, having a positive impact. The Tarvisio forest rises to almost 3,000 metres thanks to the peaks of the Julian Alps. On the right we can see the highest peak visible from here: our Mount Mangart.

Looking at the ground, depending on the season we are in, we will find colourful medicinal or edible plants. The colours of the flowers capture our attention, but they also have a much deeper meaning for us. I will read you a short Native American poem that beautifully expresses the role of the plants we see around us.
“We speak to you from beneath your feet, from the edges of the road, from deserted places. We are always here, exactly where you need to find us. This is our way and our blessing, for we too are your relatives. Always by your side, we too are born from Mother Earth. Whatever your need, there is a plant relative that can heal you. Each of us is unique, just like you. We have different tasks to carry out in the various seasons, just like you. This is our role, which we perform with great respect and joy. Each of us has a special reason for living, just like you. After all, we are not very different from you. Our purpose is to make your path easier.”
If a plant catches our attention, it is not by chance; it means that this plant perhaps may also want to help us. And so, I can advise you to take a photograph and then investigate, do some research, and you will certainly find an affinity with the role of that plant. We no longer live in contact with nature and we do not realise how connected we are with nature. Sometimes I have the feeling that these very plants may also feel ignored, unseen and therefore almost forgotten. So let us do ourselves a favour and also give value to the nature that surrounds us, which is here to help us. Inner reflection in nature is very important. If one is open to the stimuli of nature, one will certainly find answers. I began as a child, but these things can be learnt. Enter the woods, listen to what is troubling you at that moment. Spend time in the woods, and when you come out of the woods or out of nature, from a flowering meadow, from a vegetable garden, from a garden, from a park, let us ask ourselves the same question and see whether we have one more answer, because sometimes we return with a solution to our problems.

They are all innate forms of knowledge, really; life is a sensory experience of connection. The senses are bridges that connect us to the world around us. The walk along the cycle path is in any case on an asphalt surface. From there, however, one can proceed at a slower, more relaxed pace, and therefore turn a walk along the cycle path into a recreational walk in nature. You are in the open air, in direct contact with natural light. There is light filtering through the trees. In any season you are surrounded by greenery, which is a therapeutic colour. You have space and your gaze can wander both near and far. So, I invite you to proceed in a relaxed manner, to loosen your shoulders.
Precisely that loose, almost aimless movement that one has when one does not necessarily have a destination to reach at a specific time. When you walk simply for the pleasure of walking, to enjoy what you are experiencing and perhaps draw closer to the meadow, if possible, therefore leaving the asphalt path to walk on softer ground, observe the grass, the flowers, the plants, from the lowest ones up to letting your gaze rise to the trees and, if possible, go up to a tree, touch the bark, smell it. If you want, you can also embrace the tree, because in the meantime an embrace is comforting in itself and, in addition, you come into contact with a living being that has a very deep sensitivity and wisdom and that has strength, a rootedness in the earth and a reaching towards the light which in itself conveys balance.