About Abruzzo

Monthly Archive: May 2022

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Province of Teramo / The Coast

Cerrano Marine Reserve

A beach-lover’s paradise Perhaps it was my upbringing in egalitarian Scotland, or the happy hours I spent roaming Australian beaches as a young adult, but I believe that beaches should be for everyone. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the convenience of private lidos. Same Beach, Same Sea If you frequent the same beach day in, day out for the whole summer, as many Italians do, you don’t want to have to drag your paraphernalia behind you every morning. It’s natural to want your spot reserved, with your umbrella already opened, your sunbed in place, your beach neighbours familiar and friendly. Many Italians are happy to pay a...

Popoli 0

Mountains / Province of Pescara

Picturesque Popoli

Bears and other perils Just outside Popoli we pass a quaint road sign alerting us to the possibility of bears crossing. Having once had a near miss with a deer on the motorway, and risked a collision with a kangaroo in the Australian outback, I shouldn’t be complacent. But somehow the idea that a bear might amble out of the woods to cross the road strikes me as comical. And yet. We are on the border between the two great national parks of Abruzzo, the Majella and the Gran Sasso, the habitat of about 50 members of the orso marsicano species. Sightings are rare but in certain periods, or...

cloister of Atri cathedral 1

Province of Teramo / The Coast

Atri, home of black gold

Never imagine that hill towns in Abruzzo are all the same. That once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. Nothing is further from the truth. There are borghi that meander crookedly along the crest of a hill, others that sit boldly astride it like a layered wedding cake. And others still that seem to defy gravity, clinging to the mountainside and looking, from a distance and especially after a snowfall, like a carefully assembled nativity scene. Aside from topographical differences, each place has its own story to tell, its own treasure-trove of artistic and cultural gems. And none more so than Atri in the province of Teramo. Atri...