A trip to ‘La Brussa’
Going to the beach every first day of the year has became a kind of tradition for Ale and me. We get up late, have some food, jump the dogs in the car and drive to the seaside. Cà Rossa is very close to the coast but we seldom have the chance to go as we spend all the days off working on the garden and the house.
This year though it has been slightly different because Mina had to stay home and look after the puppies and then we didn’t choose a nice place to go. So a few days later we decided to repeat the trip. This time I forced Mina to suckle the puppies just before we left, so to give her a longer autonomy while away and we choose a beautiful place to go: La Brussa.
It is a beautiful and wild beach and pinewood between Caorle and Bibione, the area is called Valle Vecchia and includes beach, pinewood, agricultural terrains obtained from land reclamation, wetlands and mouths of some rivers (Tagliamento and Livenza). Obviously the area is preserved and rich on biodiversity.
The sunlight came and went as some transparent cloud passed by, forming nice plays of light over the water and the dry plants silhouettes. It was amazing and very relaxing staying there, as if floating in time and space.
Between the beach and the pinewood there is a rather wide drift of a short grass with very interesting burgundy tones. I’m afraid I don’t know the name of this grass but I’m pretty sure the one pictured above is ammophila arenaria littoralis.
(I’ve just discovered the grass below is Spartina juncea)
Mina had been kind of secluded since the puppies had born and she started being very stressed and tired, a real Desperate Housedog: all milk and napkins! She really deserved a few hours off, poor dog.
I think both the dogs spent a nice time running in the beach and exploring the pinewood. Rudy found a tennis ball somewhere and kept playing with it in the sand.
The place was full of interesting pieces of wood and trunks, brought by the tide, as well as loads of nice shells which I can’t help but collect them all. The ones I prefer are the fan-like type and murex.
There were some people riding horses, it must be very funny, I wish I could ride a horse too.
We both brought our camera along and we started taking pictures. After a while it became a sort of competition for the best shoot. Then Ale had the excuse to lie down on the sand (for the perfect shoot, he said) and get dirty… Can you see him?
Needless to say I won our competition, with two pictures: a macro on some atomic green moss and Mina refreshing her paws.
AltroVerde 
How different I pictured the beach in Italy. So beautiful and reminded me of the NE coast beaches here in the US. Your pictures are stunning and especially the last two…You have inspired me to explore so much more of Italy.
Good, this was my purpose. I am working on some other pictures I took in the past as I didn’t have much time to travel lately but I think I will post those pics anyway. Italy is such a beautiful country and I could give the chance of seeing a part of it to people who lives far away.
What a lovely spot you found for your walk, beautiful beach with some gorgeous shells. I always bring a few shells or stones back from holiday to mulch my pots, they make a lovely reminder of a wonderful time. I’m sure the dogs had a great time, running on the beach and that Mina enjoyed the break form her pups.
The problem with me is that I bring home a little too much of shells and stones and pieces of wood… Anyway I’ve washed them and put them in a big glass squared vase in the bathroom, they look good.
Desperate Housedog? I am going to have to start monitoring your television habits.
Really fun to see the beach. It looked a comfortable temperature and no wind. What are the vertical posts in rows? Does the water reach them sometimes?
I bring home shells and rocks too– you have some remarkable ones to choose from. I loved the photo of Mina in the water. Max hates water but we have waves and sometimes they surprise him…
My television habits are pretty bad. I hate telly but most of nights I just watch it like a zombie.
Yup, no wind at all (this is because we had a brand new kite to test and it stayed in the car) but we got a bit of a suntan in the face. I guess those sticks are there to preserve the structure of dunes, and yes the tide covers a good part of the spare beach, especially with bad weather. Beaches on the Venice area are pretty flat.
Happy New Year Alberto; I love the tradition of going to the beach on New Year’s day, we used to go on Santo Stefano when we lived in England. We’re just home from a holiday in the States so I have a lot of catching up to do! Your pictures capture the winter light beautifully, Christina
Happy New Year to you too! I love going to the seaside in winter, and we have such beautiful places in Italy.
Hello Alberto,
I’m sure Mina in the water would win wildlife photograph of the year (but you might have to disguise her as a wolf or something to qualify). Take no notice of Linnie – Is Desperate Housewives a European product? No, thought not. NEXT, we need photos of puppies, not beaches. Be sure to wash you shells regularly – they have a habit of going off….
Can’t you see Mina was already in disguise in the picture? She was dressed like a sea hedgehog!!!
I am sure Desperate Housewives is not European, could be Australian though. I bet Linnie doesn’t know about the TV series because it is inspired on her own real life…
I did not get the thing about shells going off… is it a lack on my English or Scottish humor? Look the shells I’ve picked didn’t have the shrimp inside!!!
Hi Alberto,
Lovely photos; I really wish we lived closer to the sea… Nothing hypnotises me quite so much as watching the tide coming in and going out. So peaceful.
Yeah and every time I see the tide coming and going is a kind of mystery to me! I love going to the coast in winter though, because in summer it is too hot and too crowded for me!
Oh, Alberto…you are making me long for a trip to the coast! I think it’s been over a year since we’ve taken the trip…and it’s long-overdue. Seriously, love the photos…and I wish I could con Norm into a photo contest! I do hope you find out the name of that burgundy grass…I’d love to know what it is 🙂
Scott, I must say thank you. You spurred me to do some more accurate research to find out what that beautiful burgundy grass is and I’ve found out some other very interesting information. First of all the nice grass is Spartina juncea. Then I discover I’ve mistaken the name of the ammophila, which is littoralis and not arenaria. Then I discover that Erianthus (saccharum) ravennae it is a native (so it is hardy) here in Venice. I wanted that grass in my garden for years but nurserymen always told me it’s not hardy…
PS: I don’t know how is Norm but you are very talented in taking pics so I guess he doesn’t want to loose…
Alberto, quite surprising to me, this could very well be pictures of Aberdeen beach in January. However the Summer in your part of the world is rather more comfortable than it is here. Those posts are to prevent sand erosion, we have them, they have gone a stage further here and have added tons of rocks in several positions on the beach front also to help with this problem, spoiled the look of the beach but we are getting used to it. Naw, couldn’t see Ale, how do I know that you won the competition, you only showed your pics, didn’t you?.
Hell of a man, you revealed my secret trick to win photo competitions… Being the only participant! 🙂 To be honest I’ve published some of his pics as well: the one with the pinewood and the trunk with shells are his.
Anyway if you want we can swap our summer climates because I hate summer heat, that’s why I go to the seaside in winter!!
I really love this place. Once I lived about 30 minutes by car from there, and instead going to crowded beaches in Bibione or Lignano, I preferred these wild one. Ciao Alberto, un bacio!
Angie
Ciao Angie, che piacere leggere un tuo intervento nel blog! Io l’ho appena scoperta la Brussa, ma credo che, ristrutturazione permettendo, ci ritorneremo spesso!
Noi ci vediamo presto spero, un abbraccio!
So beautiful! Thank you for sharing these lovely pictures …
Hi juddie! I’m glad you enjoyed the pics. I’ve been there yesterday and it was packed with people but the water was sooo nice!