Nestled in the heart of Northern Italy, Candelo was the kind of village that felt like it had been plucked from the pages of a fairy tale. Its fortified ricetto stood proudly, a sentinel from the Middle Ages, as if daring time itself to wear down its ancient stones. Visitors who stumbled upon this hidden gem were often enchanted by how effortlessly it married history with modern-day magic.
I arrived on the cusp of December, just as the village began to prepare for its annual celebrations. The ricetto loomed ahead, its sturdy walls whispering tales of centuries past. The word itself, ricetto, sounded foreign to my tongue, but its meaning was simple and comforting—a "refuge."
