‘Family’ (la famiglia) must be one of the very first words an Italian (any Italian, whether native born or not) learns. It may even be a genetic thing… 😉 So when I heard that my daughter, Brooke and our son-in-law Ryan, were planning a visit in our direction, this mom was a very happy person.

As Ryan is a teacher in Santiago, Chile,  their month-long winter break falls in the middle of our summer. So, by coming to visit us, not only do they get to see family, but family in a very warm, sunny location.. Abruzzo, Italy. Their trip would begin with 10 days with us, then on to a few days in Turin before time in the French Alps. John and I make a list… favorites of Abruzzo that we had seen and a few on our must-see list. Also Ryan is a serious hiker and even though we could not hike at his level, we added a few family-friendly hikes into the mix.

Of course, the top of our list was to show off our new home and soon-to-be hometown, Roccaspinalveti. Gladly, Brooke and Ryan were eager to see the house, even with their serious jet lag. As we had friends planning to pick up some furniture from us, we set off on the first full day of vacation to Rocca.  Our day in Rocca was filled with lots of laughs with new friends, DJ & Shawn and four of their nine children! , moving some furniture,  lunch at a favorite bar in town, and finishing up with a fantastic hike to the town’s ancient ruins and wind farm.

Our New Home – chatting with son-in-law Ryan

Friends & Family…life is good in Rocca

The hike up to the wind farm

Rocca Vecchia

Ryan overlooking towers

And to fortify all of us, as the vacation evolved , were some exquisite meals, courtesy of John or local restaurants. Food was obviously a big focal point of the vacation.  Most evenings, when fixing at home, I could hear either Brooke or Ryan getting some pointers as they assisted John in the kitchen. Every meal was a feast for the eyes and the taste buds.  Here are some of the mouthwatering dishes we indulged in….yummy factor high. 😉

And the sightseeing continued…

Local cities on our to-see list were Atri & Citta Sant’Angelo, both about a 15 minute drive from our farmhouse in Valle Piomba. Atri is our comune and the hill town where we do the most business, such as bank, cellphones and wifi, Italian lessons, produce market and so on. It’s a perfect town to relax and people-watch from a bar on the main piazza. We did tour an interesting museum and cloisters attached to the main Duomo – Museo Capitolare di Atri. We were taken by surprise, as the collection is extensive and interesting. The cloisters were peaceful, but cisterns under the church were closed at this time. The Duomo is going through a restoration due to damage from an earthquake a few years ago, and this may be the reason for the closure. There is an impressive chapel attached to the Duomo that is open for prayer and viewing.

Citta Sant’Angelo, another hill town, has been sadly ignored by us and we just came to that realization on our visit with Brooke & Ryan. It was a Sunday morning and the town was bright and colorful with flowers adorning residences and businesses alike. Two weddings were just about to begin, monopolizing two separate churches. Honking Fiat 500s careened up into town, carrying exquisite brides in their stunning dresses. They posed for their ‘before’ pictures, then gathered up their wedding party members and satiny trains to enter the cool stone vestibules.

Our group walked the old town through some narrow passageways and eventually ended up at a gelateria. Well, it was a very hot steamy day and refreshments were needed. As we enjoyed our melting heavenly concoctions, both weddings were exiting their respective churches.  We had the pleasant surprise to see one of the wedding couples greeting well wishers and toasting champagne in front of their church … mainstreet Italy! It made me smile to see their joy…center stage in their hometown among their friends and family. We ended our visit at a belvedere with a playground. Aren’t we all still children in some way or another?

Scanno, being one of our favorite stops in Abruzzo, was on the list. Ryan added Sulmona just up the road and that rounded out another day of amazing sights. I’ve recently shared my thoughts on that town in my posting Scanno..where it all began.. for us. Sulmona had been a quick stop for us a few years back to talk to a realtor, so this was the ‘first’ visit for us. Unfortunately, due to the afternoon heat, we once again did a cursory tour. Sulmona deserves much more from us. We will make it happen in cooler weather.

And the vacation continues….  An easy circuit hike took us from Santo Stefano di Sessanio to the well-known Rocca Calascio and back. The fortress is truly awe-inspiring in its structure and location, and the chapel graces the landscape. This is a favorite sight for many to visit. There is a quick climb from below for those not wishing to do the longer circuit hike. And yes, I am a huge fan of the campy movie, Ladyhawke…it’s all part of the mystique and draw for many folks. But I hope my husband’s photography says more than images of Michelle Pfieffer and Rutger Hauer. 😉

Calascio

Trail to the fortress

echoes of shepherds

Hang Glider Visiting

Santa Maria

statement in b&w

We then continued on to Campo Imperatore… no words for this amazing, spectacular place on the planet…It is known as “Little Tibet” and rightly so. We will definitely return for some trekking and just being in the moment..

There were other places and sights, but truly the best part of the vacation with Brooke and Ryan was the downtime at the farm. Whether we were in our separate places..reading, napping, playing with the dogs, bike riding, or together time – preparing and eating meals, walks around the vineyards and olive groves…it was all about connecting and family. Our lives move too fast unless we consciously choose to slow them down. And too quickly time with family races by. I will treasure every moment and keep this special time with family close to my heart.

Next time they visit, we’ll be doing southern Abruzzo and Molise… Stay tuned and ciao for now…

John has always been a real trooper when it comes to our vacations. I do all the planning; buying plane tickets, picking hotels or B&Bs, how many days in a spot, what we do, etc. He does all the driving and we just jump into what is ahead, being very flexible if we need to adjust our day or hotel. Rarely have we had any major bumps on a vacation. There was a biggy a few years back in regards to stolen items, but that is another story with a happy ending. The smaller bumps have been changing hotels, adding a new destination and shortening a stay in one town for another. Easy stuff like that.

In 2010, we began planning our first trip to Italy, to take place in early summer of 2011. As we had never been to Italy, and it was early summer, we decided to go to places not as well traveled, thus avoiding the bulk of tourists. John was game to drive in Italy, so we rented a Fiat 500. I learned never to look behind us when we were on the Autostrada. Kind of self-preservation for my nerves as Italians drive very fast and very close. But it worked well for us not to do the ‘tour’ route, just our own vacation, the two of us.

Somehow the town of Scanno came across my radar and we have never been the same. Experiencing and getting to know this town started a deep seated love for Italy. Scanno is a lovely medieval village up in the Apennine Mountains about 2 hours SE of Rome. An easy drive on the Autostrada, then down a twisting road through the breathtaking Valle del Sagittario.

What first sparked my interest, when researching this town, was the traditional costumes that many of the older women of the town still wore.  Step back to Scanno in the 1950s, here recorded by famous photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson , and marvel at this capsule in time suspended.  It is true that time marches on and there are only a few of the older women today continuing to wear the traditional costume in daily life. But thankfully, the younger generation is preserving the traditional in exhibitions and annual events.

Some pics from our 2011 trip.

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Our introduction to the dear people in this town ‘tucked away in time’ (but definitely not amenities) was with Alessandra Mastrogiovanni of “La Dimora di d’Annunzio” B&B. Not only is her B&B centrally located in the historic center of town, a great place to stay, but it also has historic significance. The famous Italian author, Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863-1938), resided for a few summers here. And the best part is Alessandra. Sweet and endearing, helpful and knowledgeable… now a dear friend.

As I have spoken of before in some earlier postings, it’s the people that make this country great… and there are many here in Scanno that have made this town special for us… Alessandra and her sister Francesca, Angelo Di Masso of scrumptious Pan dell’Orso , Gregorio Rotolo, master cheesemaker, Dario & his dear wife, Antonella of Trattoria La Valle Scanno and many others…You will find that people on the street are friendly..they look you in the eye and wish you a ‘Buongiorno’ or ‘Buonasera’. You’ll be hooked…

There’s much to do in and around this lovely town…winter skiing, summer hiking, strolling around town, relaxing around Lago Scanno (in a heart shape!) just outside of town, enjoying delicious local dishes at excellent family-run restaurants, one of my favorites – eating gelato of course. There are cycle races, cultural & religious celebrations, photo exhibitions, regional crafts…a long list…

One of our adventures was a 1/2 day private cooking lesson with Gregorio’s talented sister, Rosaria. I basically hung around trying to make pasta, while John, with Francesca interpreting, worked alongside with Rosaria.

Just a bit south of Scanno, we met up with a lovely lady, Jessica D’Andrea, who now has her own excursion company, JD Trek L’Abruzzo. Here is her website as well.  A few years back we did a fantastic hike with her, just John and I, up the Val di Rose outside the town of Civatella Alfendena. It was a breathtaking circuit for the day, where we were blessed to see many chamois clinging to sides of the mountains. And of course, some knockout views.

So we fell in love with Scanno and its people. Every trip we made to Italy since 2011, Scanno was on our itinerary to visit for a few days. We would have seriously chosen to live there, apart from the winters. I’m not a winter person. I can handle some snow, but Scanno gets more than its fair share and if you’re not into skiing and other winter sports, visiting Spring – Fall is a better option, at least for us. As we now live only about 1 1/2 hours from Scanno, we finally visited for a day a few weeks back. Of course, we stopped in to say hi to Alessandra, eat at one of our favorite restaurants, check out what the local jewelers were making, have some pastries at Pan del’Orso. Did I get gelato? No, not this time. Way too full from lunch. 😉

We will definitely return….. always… it is very dear to our hearts. A gem… put it on your list!