Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd May

Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd May

On Tuesday we took it rather easy and did very little except catch up with blog posting and relaxing at LFMD. Stefania had gone into Pescara in an attempt to meet up with Daniela before she returned to Germany. It was not a good day for her. Despite repeated calls to Daniela and requests for her to meet, Daniela eventually just bade Stefania farewell and said she was off back to Germany. The relationship between Stefania and Daniela is at a low point and it is to be hoped that Daniela will reflect and show some more respect to her parents.

We decided to go out at about 5 p.m. to see some of the neighborhood and to try to have dinner out. We found a Michelin starred restaurant called La Bandeira in a village not too far called Civitella Casanova and decided to see if we could have dinner there. The drive there was the usual tortuous windy hilly route made more tricky by the bright setting sun. When we got there we were greeted by a very friendly cat. The place looked lovely and we entered to see if we could eat there but the kitchen did not open until 8.15 p.m. and it was still before 7 p.m. so we retraced our steps back to another restaurant a relatively short distance away (note: when the GPS says that a place is ‘1 mile away’, this, in Italy, often means ‘as the crow flies’ which means, in reality, that by road it is several kilometers away), which was open. We went in, sat down and started looking at the menu when the phone rang and it was Stefania, she had returned from Pescara with fresh fish and wanted us home for dinner!!!! 

Making hasty apologies to the lady hostess, we left the restaurant and took off for LFMD. We arrived back around 8 p.m. to find that Stefania had already prepared spaghetti with mussels and a fritto misto of small Adriatic fish. She had bought these from the fish market in Pescara. Both dishes were absolutely delicious, very simple but very tasty indeed.

She told us about the events of the day which are obviously upsetting her a lot. Bruno seems to be more tolerant of Daniela’s behavior, which to us does seem to be very unreasonable and ill-considered especially when one considers that she has an 18 year old daughter who she has largely abandoned to be looked after by her father. Families can cause problems which are very disruptive.

Wednesday 22nd May

We got up as usual and had our breakfast. The man who was to repair the pumps for the reserve water supply arrived but he and Gabriel had trouble locating the problem.

Nevertheless, Stefania insisted that we should go out into the mountains to see the Passo Leonardo which is just beyond the town of Caramanico and which rises to over 1,200 meters.

So we set off for Caramanico where we stopped and bought some panini for lunch later and then went to the visitor center for the Valle dell’Orfento. Here we would have hiked but the park guide told us we were not properly shod for hiking as there was rough ground and water to be covered. So we postponed that for another day. The car was making ‘alarm’ noises and there was a red light on the dashboard so we stopped at a gas station and the attendant added some oil to the engine which seemed to cure the problem. Then we took off for the Passo Leonardo which is reached by a long winding climb up through the Maiella National Park. The views at every turn are just stunning and that word does not really do them justice. There is snow on the highest hills, small towns on hilltops, trees, grassland and intermittent rushing streams. If there is to be a description of ‘God’s country’, then this is it. The weather was sunny and everything looked as beautiful in the spring sunshine as it could. There are many yellow flowers among the grasslands which give a golden hue to the landscape in places. Off to our right was the once abandoned village o Rocacaramanico.

We reached the summit of the pass where there is a hotel from which some hikers emerged and this area is supposed to be excellent for collecting mushrooms so maybe these hikers were on that mission too.

The village of Rocacaramanico which used to be deserted when its last elderly resident died but is now revived with houses being restored for tourists to stay.

Some of the wonderful Abruzzo scenery

We sat in the car and ate our paninis which were of mozzarella and egg plant and were delicious. Then we started our descent the way we came but them took a diversion to Roccacaramanico. This town which was occupied for a long time only by an old lady who was in her eighties and refused to move was essentially abandoned after her death. But, since then, some of the houses have been converted into holiday homes, apparently by some American entrepreneurs. This is a very isolated spot but very pretty and attractive but also very hilly. There is a museum of local ethnology and at the top of the narrow Main Street, a tavern which was closed when we were there. Up a long set of steps is the church which overlooks the whole village. When we were there the village was deserted except for an old couple sitting outside the tavern enjoying the view. Maybe they live there or are on vacation, who knows? MAC and I made the climb up to the church but it was closed. This is a lovely spot if very isolated and it would seem difficult to have an vacation here as the nearest town is quite a long and winding drive away. If one wanted to ‘get away from it all’ this might be the vacation for you. It was a visit well worth making.

Some scenes from Roccacaramanico

We then returned to the car and drove back towards LFMD. On the way we stopped at the gelateria in San Valentino for a coffee and to use the bathroom. Stefania bought some gelato but we managed to sneak and pay for it while she was in the bathroom. 

We then made for home to find out what the state of the plumbing was and if the pump or reserve water supply had been fixed. It seemed that it had not but maybe the source of the problem had been discovered.

So, we sat outside in the sun, waiting to see if Stefania would take her car for a service as she would not need it the next day as we were taking the bus to Rome.

The trip to the mountains had been just wonderful, the views and the pristine nature of the land are breath-taking and majestic and leave a lasting impression. Do the locals appreciate what they have and where they are?, probably not, they may well just take it for granted. Perhaps in winter, it is not so wonderful. Posts beside the road, probably indicate the depth of the snow and doubtless the roads are very difficult in winter. Nevertheless, we are lucky to see it ourselves with the spring snow still on the upper elevations but the sun warm lower down.