- Title: Drone footage shows Italy's spectacular flowers bloom
- Date: 7th July 2020
- Summary: CASTELLUCCIO, ITALY (JULY 6, 2020) (REUTERS) DRONE FOOTAGE OF MULTI-COLOURED BLANKETS OF POPPIES, DAISIES AND CORNFLOWERS THAT HAVE BURST INTO FLOWER DURING THEIR ANNUAL BLOOM (MUTE) TOURIST TAKING PHOTOS OF FLOWERS VARIOUS OF VIEW OF BLANKETS OF MULTI-COLOURED FLOWERS TOURISTS TAKING PHOTOS TOURISTS WALKING THROUGH FLOWERS POPPIES, DAISIES AND CORNFLOWERS VIEW OF THE FIELDS DRONE FOOTAGE OF VIEW OF THE BLANKETS OF FLOWERS WITH SMALL HILLTOP TOWN AND MOUNTAINS SEEN IN BACKGROUND (MUTE) SIGN READING (Italian): "FIELD SOWN WITH LENTILS, DO NOT GO INSIDE, DON'T STEP ON THEM" TOURISTS WALKING THROUGH FIELD POPPIES, DAISIES AND CORNFLOWERS (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN TOURIST FROM MILAN, MANOLO PEDRON, SAYING: "It is difficult to describe, you need to be here. The colours that you see from here on television or in photographs you can't always find, it depends on the season, the day, on many things. You need to come without the picture in your head, you need to be as close to the field as possible, not inside because that's not allowed, and see it as closely as possible." (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN TOURIST FROM PAVIA, GRAZIA DAFFARA, SAYING: "It is the first time I have come here, it is really spectacular. At this time of day, the light really brings to life the colours, it is beautiful." (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN TOURIST FROM TREVISO, BRUNO CONDOTTA, SAYING: "It is simply a picture from Monet." VIEW OF THE FIELD SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINS COUPLE KISSING AS THEY HAVE THEIR PHOTO TAKEN IN FIELD SURROUNDED BY POPPIES VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH FIELD PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURE OF FLOWERS TOURISTS IN FIELD WITH VIEW OF HILLTOP TOWN OF CASTELLUCCIO VARIOUS OF DRONE FOOTAGE OF MULTI-COLOURED BLANKETS OF FLOWERS IN FIELD (MUTE) VARIOUS OF MURAL BY FIELD MADE OF LENTILS DEDICATED TO MEDICAL WORKERS IN COVID-19 BATTLE, WITH A DEPICTION OF A MEDICAL WORKER WEARING A MASK AND THE COUNTRY IF ITALY WITH THE ITALIAN FLAG IN FRONT OF THE COLOURFUL FIELD, ALL MADE FROM LENTILS HILLTOP TOWN SEEN IN DISTANCE BEHIND FIELDS OF MULTI-COLOURED FLOWERS DRONE FOOTAGE OF BLANKETS OF FLOWERS SEEN BEHIND THE TOWN (MUTE)
- Embargoed: 21st July 2020 10:54
- Keywords: Castelluccio Umbrian plain explosion of colour flowers lentils
- Location: CASTELLUCCIO, ITALY
- City: CASTELLUCCIO, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Human-Led Quirky,Human-Led Stories,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001CLT9KD5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Resplendent in colour, the Umbrian plain of Castelluccio seems to have thrown off the shackles of the coronavirus lockdown and exploded into life.
Poppies, daisies and cornflowers have burst into flower for the "Fioritura" or natural flower show, which emerges alongside the hamlet's famous lentil crop.
Although the natural event happens every year, sometimes it is more colourful than others depending on the amount of rain that has fallen. This year, as though giving us a post lockdown treat, it is particularly vivid.
The colourful flowers that sprout between the lentil plants are wild weeds that colonised the plain after being brought in over time by old threshing machines used elsewhere.
The display is also a present for the local community who suffered an earthquake in 2016 which ripped up access roads and meant the 500-hectare plot was not able to be sown with lentil seed in time. The area is still trying to rebuild and the aftermath of the earthquake is still very visible.
Tourists visiting from all over Italy were in awe of the stunning fields.
"It is the first time I have come here, it is really spectacular. At this time of day, the light really brings to life the colours, it is beautiful," said Grazia Daffara who was visiting from Pavia, near Milan.
"It is simply a picture from Monet," smiled Bruno Condotta who had also travelled from the north of the country from Treviso, near Venice.
The flowers are used not only as a thing of beauty but their stems help prop up the fragile lentil plants.
Next to the field, a mural made entirely of multi-coloured lentils honoured medical workers and victims of the country's COVID-19 outbreak.
(Production: Matteo Berlenga, Oriana Boselli, Eleanor Biles) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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