HIDDEN PLACES OF ITALY
Central Italy‘s Abruzzo, close to Rom attract visitors at the snow season. But there is more than the winter season for ski and snowboarding to discover. In Spring and Summer you will walk through the mountains with the smell of Thyme and Rosmarin. Abruzzo is undiscovered by tourism and invites us to explore this area more. Abruzzo has deep turquoise mountain lakes, the adriatic coastline, the biggest green area of europe is the national parks, imposing mountain ranges and UNESCO heritage sites. Abruzzo tease us to walk through the the most beautiful medieval towns in the country. The cuisine cuisine changes from the sea to the mountains.
Abruzzo has surprises on every angle
Let’s start with the Main city lÀquila,
L’Aquila is the capital of the province of Abruzzo. It is conveniently located 100 km (62 miles) northeast of Rome. The city is on a hill at 720 m (2365 ft) above sea level and is surrounded by mountains, most notably to the north by the Gran Sasso, range that includes the highest peaks (up to 2900 m) of the Apennines, with a number of small lakes, trails and mountain climbing routes as well as deep caves. L’Aquila offers amazing museum and a great Art University.
Lets us introduce you a local artist of L’aquila Lea Contestable. She was born in 1949 and was influenced by the 1960s. Artistically, the decade began with the twin movements of Pop and Minimalism. With her latest work about “Women, Feminism and Equality” she exhibit her work around the world. In 2009 opened Lea the Art Museum MuBAq for contemporary art.
The complete interview with Lea Contestable read here:
Our starting point is in the middle of Abruzzo. The small city called Pescina above sealevel 790m. Its for us the best place to start our adventure in Abruzzo as its close to Roma and Pescara. Pescina is a hidden place, people are warm hearted and really helpful.
What to do in Pescina?
- Best Pastisserie “La Casareccia Carmelina Forte” They have delicious pastry, original artiginal historical italian recipes. From Berlin to Roma, everyone is coming to eat here the sweets.
- Make a walk to the Castello and visit the old town.
- Walk little more and we suggest to visit “Il Rifugio” and enjoy the evening with lovely people, eat traditional local food, drink a nice beer surrounded by mountains. Often they have musicians and events. Even you can camp here.
- Take a capuccino at “Bar Centrale” or Tres Scaline
- Dinner for meat lovers we suggest to go to LA NUOVA FRASCHETTA, here you get traditional high quality bbq arrosticini and salsiccia. For a more calm dinner with fresh pasta and vegetarian dishes we suggest Ristorante Valle Del Giovenco.
- In summer Pescina has a lot of Events about beer, food, its a region of truffle, safran, honey and a lot of more..
First off road to Lago di scanno makes us swimming in turquiose mountain water after we take a walk in the historical city which is older then rome. Scanno village got famous by Mario Giacomelli, who takes pictures from the monks in scanno or even Henri Cartier-Bresson came to visit this hidden place and created magical pictures.
We suggest you to visit that town, and get lost in the small streets. Scanno is famous for its goat cheese and the sweet dessert “Il pan dell’orso”.
On the way back to pescina we stop at Sulmona, they city of kingdoms, knights and princesses. Sulmona is famouse for the sweets “Pellini”, garlic and mozzarella, we visit every year small artisanal mozzarella Factories. Caciotto to Truffle Chesse to Straciatella, we love it!
After a dinner at Clemente in Sulmona we decided to walk through the small hidden streets and drink our last beer. Sulmona has a huge culture of beautiful hidden bars and restaurants. In summer are the streets full of people walking around, drinking, meeting friends, and make shopping.
Wednesday we drive to Chieti, the city of pasta di cecco, and a huge view to the sea. The area called small toscany. Here they produce wine and olive oil. We take a walk and go climbing in falesia di pennadomo.
Next days we drove to Abruzzo sea side, the hidden wild places around Vasto or Ortona, far away from the student city pescara and local turism area francavilla. We stopped for a snack in Termoli and taked the ferry off to the Isole Termite. Here you can rent a boat and enjoy the warm bluegreen water and explore caves. Its magical. Italians Maledive!!
You want to explore Abruzzo with locals, in organized groups or have a private group tour or guided familytrip, just write us a mail and we can have a chat about your wishes and organize a special trip for you.
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