...finally we are sitting in our "cheap plane" - because shortly beforehand everything looked as if we would only just get near an airplane. We were at check-in on time, but Micha, who had the shortest journey, once again couldn't tear himself away from his desk and simply didn't show up. The charming lady at check-in finally gives us two more minutes - and as ordered (too late), Micha turns up (after exactly two! minutes). We can just about persuade her to check us in. Lucky us! Maybe next time we'll fly the line again - or just get to the airport earlier...
?Arrived in Pescarra.
Because with spring temperatures and constant rain, this question is really justified.
Micha was here hiking with his girlfriend in the summer and told us about big, mighty and very high mountains. Even a local mountain farmer reported "lots of snow" and some ski resorts. However, Pescara is in central Italy and lies at the same altitude as Rome. Snow in Rome? No matter, it's definitely worth a try.
It's mid-January, and the Alps are once again experiencing typical weather conditions: icy temperatures and little snow.
We have a little Chinese girl with us, she is currently traveling in Europe and has just announced her arrival this week. So we only had two options: We stay at home - or take her with us. We tell her about mountains and snowboarding - but she's never seen snow in her life. So Cheryl comes with us. That could be fun...
The rental car we've booked is too small for now. We were only expecting 5 snowboarders, but now there are six of us and luckily we get a bigger car. Or rather a Ford minibus. That's great at first, at least because of the space. However, problems soon arose that we couldn't have imagined at the time.
We drive to Teramo at the foot of the mountain in the pouring rain.
If this precipitation came as snow - but in these temperatures?
We spend the evening drinking fine white wine in a nice restaurant. Just as the waiter is placing the seafood platter on the table, Cherryl suddenly topples over and falls just short of it. What happened? The waiter jumps to the side, Cheryl is totally blue. She only had two glasses of wine, didn't she? As we find out later, it's not just the snow that's new to her, she's also never been closer to alcohol in her life. We have to carry her to the hotel shortly afterwards...
The rain doesn't let up the next morning,
and we set off in the direction of "Prado di Tivo".
The road winds endlessly through the valley and we slowly climb higher and higher. It rains and rains, and the good thing is that it gets colder and colder.
Suddenly, sleet starts to fall, and as we get higher, snow starts to fall.
The snow is already falling next to the road. The increasingly steep road winds its way up the mountain and the snowfall gets heavier and heavier. The amount of snow next to the road increases rapidly. After the next bend, the snow remains on the road and our bus starts to slide for the first time?
