Fiori ● Flowers ● Flores ● Fleurs ● Цветы ● 花卉

Rose 13 | Photo ©MateldaCodagnone

“Have you not noticed that the wild flowers are becoming scarcer every year? It may be that their wise men have told them to depart till man becomes more human. Perhaps they have migrated to heaven.”
― Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea

The Art of Wandering :: Gone Skiing :-)

Fairy-tale landscape in Abruzzo - Piana del Voltigno, Carpineto della Nora, Pescara | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Fairy-tale landscape in Abruzzo – Piana del Voltigno, Carpineto della Nora,
Pescara | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
~Ansel Adams

Heading to Piana del Voltigno, Carpineto della Nora, Pescara | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Heading to Piana del Voltigno, Carpineto della Nora,
Pescara | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Snowshoeing is fun in Piana del Voltigno, Carpineto della Nora, Pescara | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Snowshoeing is fun in Piana del Voltigno, Carpineto della Nora,
Pescara | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Piana del Voltigno is well off the beaten tracks, but it's well worth a visit | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Piana del Voltigno is well off the beaten tracks, but it’s well worth a visit | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Piana del Voltigno belongs to Gran Sasso and Laga Mountains National Park | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Piana del Voltigno belongs to Gran Sasso and Laga Mountains National Park |
photo: ©GiuseppeMarone

 

Snowshoeing on Piana del Voltigno, Carpineto della Nora, Pescara :-) | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Snowshoeing on Piana del Voltigno, Carpineto della Nora, Pescara | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Basking in the winter sun at Piana del Voltigno, Carpineto della Nora, Pescara| photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Basking in the winter sun at Piana del Voltigno, Carpineto della Nora, Pescara |
photo: ©GiuseppeMarone

Campo Imperatore (l’Aquila) :: A great ride on mountain bike

Italian ethnologist Fosco Maraini, who lived and explored the East far and wide, high and low, says about Campo Imperatore, (L’Aquila), Italy: “It could undoubtedly be Tibet. It looks like Phari-Dong plain, on the way from India to Lhasa”. (I trust mr. Maraini but I snooped Phari-Dong on Google Maps and the resemblance with Campo Imperatore is really astonishing).

Campo Imperatore (l'Aquila), a small Tibet plateau at hand's reach, ideal for an excursion in #MountainBike | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Campo Imperatore (l’Aquila), a small Tibet plateau at hand’s reach, ideal for an excursion in #MountainBike | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone

I don’t know if Maraini ever rode a bike on that plain – I hope he did – and had the same fun I had when I took a ride on Campo Imperatore last summer.

Appetibilis Chief Soryteller Lonza65 on a mission :: Campo Imperatore (l'Aquila) | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone
Appetibilis Chief Soryteller Lonza65 on a mission :: Campo Imperatore (l’Aquila) | photo: ©GiuseppeMarone

On the coast the temperature was far above 30° C (86° F) and there, it was scarcely 20° C (68° F), so pedalling was nice and almost sweat-free. The track I rode with Bike Inside Team friends is easy and comfortable, no steep hills to climb, wide track, sheer fun .

“There's more to getting to where you're going then just knowing there's a road.” ~Joan Lowery Nixon :: Campo Imperatore (l'Aquila) - Rifugio San Francesco | photo: ©Lonza65
“There’s more to getting to where you’re going then just knowing there’s a road.” ~Joan Lowery Nixon :: Campo Imperatore (l’Aquila) – Rifugio San Francesco | photo: ©Lonza65

The 26-km (16,15 mi) track starts from Rifugio San Francesco and develops on the bottom of the shingle canyon all the way through Lago di Racollo and back on the tarmac road. All around you can enjoy the view of the highest peak of the Appennines (Corno Grande, 2912 m – 9553ft) and the other mountains of the range (Brancastello, Prena and Camicia).

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery - air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.” ~Sylvia Plath :: Campo Imperatore (l'Aquila) | photo: ©BikeInsideTeam
“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery – air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, “This is what it is to be happy.” ~Sylvia Plath :: Campo Imperatore (l’Aquila) | photo: ©BikeInsideTeam

If you forgot to bring your packed lunch with you, you can have lunch at Rifugio San Francesco or grill yourself sausages, steaks and arrosticini that you can buy at Mucciante butcher’s. They provide the grill, the fire, the meat and the drinks. You provide the fun.

Check also our Postcards from Italy :: Campo Imperatore (L’Aquila)