The Midas Mirror

Last fall, the compass was set firmly on Croatia and Slovenia. While we ate up most of the miles across those two countries—skirting Austrian roads and even making an improvised, almost ghost-like run into Bosnia without quite realizing when we crossed the border—the map held an essential first stop. We had to detour toward the eastern edge of the Julian Alps, right on the Italian-Slovenian border: a wild enclave ablaze with ochres and golds, far removed from the usual crowds of northern Italy. The destination was Laghi di Fusine. We arrived in the late afternoon, set up the camper van under the shelter of the trees, and called it a night. Come morning, beneath an overcast sky that gifted us perfectly soft, diffused light, the stillness of the water did the rest. One of those days on the road where autumn doesn’t ask for permission to steal the entire show.