We live between two beautiful towns – Atri to the northwest and Città Sant’Angelo to our southeast. Even though Atri is a longer drive, it’s actually our hometown, as per the dividing lines of districts. The road is an easier drive to Atri, we have our Italian classes there, I swim with a friend at the local pool, post office, John’s favorite bars, etc. Also Atri’s physical setup is very pleasing to us with a lovely main piazza between the prominent Duomo and theater. We definitely spend most of our time in Atri.

Living in Valle Piomba, the majestic city of Città Sant’Angelo frames our sunrise view. As the crow flies, it is only a few miles from our house, and about a 15 minute drive on a ‘fun’ back-road. The first time we visited was in June of last year.  Unfortunately, it was a Saturday afternoon, when everything was closed with everyone at home eating lunch. Apart from the quietness and lack of services at that time of day, we also found the town disconcerting with its main thoroughfare lacking a central piazza. So we needed to return for a fairer assessment of the town during regular business and social hours.

If you’d like a bit of history about the town, here are some links. It’s received many accolades, and rightly so. I’d rather give you links than try to be the expert about this or any city in Italy.

• International Network of Cities where Living is Good
• Wiki
• Aerial View

So this past Saturday morning, we headed to Città Sant’Angelo. It was a lovely day in the low 70s, but a bit hazy.  As our luck would have it, an approaching weather front from Africa was bringing sands from the Sahara Desert that obscured the well-known breathtaking mountain and sea views. A return visit on a clearer day is definitely in the near future to enjoy this town’s expansive belvederes.

 

 

 

 

Many folks were out and about, chatting, buying produce, attending a funeral, touring the older parts of town, as well as taking their children to a local playground. We were met with much more activity than our first visit. The historic center is bisected by a long street, with narrow spurs of residential buildings. The town layout strikes us as odd, but we continued into an older section where the streets twisted around old castle walls and in and out of old porticoes.

 

 

 

I did make a very important stop along the way…. first gelato of the season! Well worth the wait and I am now set to try as many flavors as I can throughout the summer months. Definitely a great lunch in itself. 😉

 

 

We stopped in a few of the imposing churches and a cloister. By the time we were ready to leave it was lunch time and the town had emptied out except for some families at the playground.

Read up on the town.  CITTÀ SANT’ANGELO NAMED THE SIXTH BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN THE WORLD ON A BUDGET.

Enjoy the pics and make it a stop on your next Italy trip. The historic center is full of color, beautiful architecture, narrow beguiling alleys, friendly folks, drop-dead views (when clear), numerous shops and restaurants (some tucked away to be discovered.) ….We will return soon..

From one of the belvederes, we could see our farm house in Valle Piomba. Look straight into the valley over the top of the red roofed barn in the foreground and you’d be about there.

Ciao for now…