About Abruzzo

Category: The Coast

Jump for joy in San Vito 4

Province of Chieti / The Coast

Tigger-Happy in San Vito Chietino

On a sunny June morning in San Vito it seems a sin not to be joyful.  Your first impressions, though, might leave you wondering. The town at first glance seems little more than a cheerless strip of buildings on either side of a road that rushes down to the sea, swerving abruptly southward as if anxious to leave it all behind. In San Vito there is no seafront to speak of, no promenade where you might enjoy an ice cream and an evening stroll, the holiday flats down at the shore are drab/shabby and the main beach itself is cramped.  Where, you might wonder, is the joy? Trabocchi Well,...

Le Conche, Festa of St. Bartholomew, Roccamorice 5

Mountains / Province of Pescara

Roccamorice, Prince Charming and a Grisly Martrydom

Believe you me, persuasive salespeople can be trouble. Take restaurants for instance. All it takes is an eloquent waiter to sweet-talk me down the slippery slope of the pudding menu. And that’s what happens in Roccamorice.  Only this time it is not a restaurant but a shop – a ‘shoe boutique’, as it happens, and the only store open on the main street, now baking in the August sun. It has just opened for afternoon trade and we duck under the awning with the excuse of admiring the colourful array of trekking shoes in the outdoor display. Out comes the owner, who just happens to be charming and good-looking....

Montresilvano Beach 3

Province of Pescara / The Coast

Montesilvano: the beach

Beats me why anyone would want a warm sticky doughnut when temperatures are nudging 40° but it seems that people do. Why else would a jaunty cart featuring a doughnut-munching Homer Simpson appear on the beach at around 10 every morning in summer?  Why else would the peace be shattered by the cry of CiaaAAMMBELLE if not to alert the sunbathing public that their favourite seaside snack was on its way?  It pays to get to the beach well before Ciambelle Man. 7.30am is good.  At that time beach noises are as they should be and the sea is often glorious – limpid round the edges, sun-spangled in the...