Boscofesta

Later in the afternoon the sky had cleared up a bit and there was another festa on in Santo Stefano, a forest festa. The excuse this time was a more secular one, the opening of a new footpath from Santo Stefano to Ponzano Superiore. To be precise the footpath S5 had long existed and we had walked before, however it led partially over private land and it involved opening and shutting gates to keep grazing animals restricted. Now this path bypasses this and new fresh red and white signs by the CAI (Club Alpini Italiani) have been put up as well as the undergrowth cleared. The festa took place at a agriturismo at the foot of the path and featured Anchefunky, an Afro-Brazilian (almost) all female percussion group. A lot of fun was had by all especially the kids as you can see. Check them out on http://www.anchefunky.net/. We did walk back on the path spotting snakes and a badger. It leads through lovely leafy woods, which smell just lovely with all that rain we’ve been having. It’s not the shortest pedestrian route between Santo Stefano and Ponzano Superiore, but during the heat of the summer it offers great protection from the sun and a quiet get-away from the hubhub of the valley.