Kilometres Walked : 9

Flights Climbed : 74

Thursday 1st June, 2023

Well who would have thought that having a super slow start to the day would pay off with perfect timing to see some amazing Birds of Prey today. Heading off about lunchtime to Castello Di Vezio, Varenna’s castle that we bypassed on Tuesday on the Wayfarer’s Trail, we soon got our elevations up. The Castle which has stood for more than a thousand years on the promontory overlooking Varenna was originally erected to defend and control the lake and surrounding villages by the Lombard Queen Teodolinda. Whilst there are only ruins left now the views from the top are quite spectacular.

After enjoying the magnificent views and wandering around the ruins we were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Whilst earlier we may have been silently cursing the group of school children ruining the serenity, an hour later we were thanking them as one of the Castle staff and Raptor handlers brought out 3 of their Birds of Prey to show and educate them.

There are four Birds of Prey at the Castle. Parsifal and Linda the two Harris Buzzards. Breva a black kite which we forgot to take photos of as we were just so mesmerised watching her fly and Arthur a European eagle owl who unfortunately doesn’t come out of the cage due to his early life experience with his previous owner. I can tell you though he is just beautiful with the biggest brightest eyes and apparently a 180cm wing span. We felt very privileged to randomly be there on a day when a school group was booked in with the Falconry. They were so beautiful to watch soaring high in the sky and ever so majestic.