We boiled up snow and ice to make hot strong Bovril.
That was a line used by Chris Bonington (mountaineer) back in 1979 when he did a television commercial for the beefy drink.
Some ads stick.
As we walked around Loreto Aprutino on 11 February 2012 I couldn’t get that line out of my head. I had never seen so much snow. Skiers probably would think that up to a metre of snow is hardly anything, but it was a lot for me.
I’ve a friend living in Dublin who is from Atri. He said his parents skied along Pineto beach, that soldiers were called to clear paths to certain sections of the town and that the snow reached shoulder height in some areas.
Have you ever tried to swing a shovel when snow is at shoulder height? Not easy I bet.
We didn’t have to deal with that. But I was glad of rain gear and sturdy boots to help us get around.
The local hardware store had restocked their supply of plastic shovel heads after running out a few days before – business was booming.
It was warm enough to have a coffee outside if you were dressed for the occasion.
Cinque (the town dog) combined his usual food foraging techniques with paw warming.
The town and its surroundings looked spectacular. Snow has a way of making even the the most unattractive field look beautiful.
Young, local, but perhaps slightly controversial artists expressed themselves on the newly discovered white canvas.
The hills were tested to see if they had the perfect gradients for sleds.
The comune started the job of clearing key routes and any dangerous snow covered roofs.
Olive trees cast twisting shadows and acted as sentinels, lining the paths to the snow covered mountains.
