We have just spent a lovely week in Sulmona , with not too much walking! Our Air BnB has been fabulous with a lovely terrace and garden to relax in.

Sulmona is an old Roman town with a medieval aqueduct that dates back to 1256. There are 20 churches in the town most of which date back to the 12th Century. It is also home to “Confetti” , the very popular sugar coated almonds that come in all different shapes and sizes and they make a very colourful display.

We did a couple of day trips , one through the Majella National Park, and sometimes on those small roads that Rhonda absolutely hates! First stop was at the typical Italian hillside village of Pacentro. We wandered through the gorgeous narrow streets , walked to the top to see Caldora Castello, and then decided it was time for a drink in the Piazza del Popolo with its 15th Century Church and 17th Century Fountain.

The village’s claim to fame is that Madonna’s grandparents were born here, that’s our piece of useless information for you!

We left the village and started to climb up the mountain only to be flagged down by the Carabinieri, the Italian Police. He very tersely asked for our documents, so we handed over passports and after checking us out for 15 minutes he told us to “go”! An interesting experience.

We had a lovely lunch at Buonvento, and had to try the local pasta, chitarra , or guitar pasta, home made egg pasta with a distinctive square shape, with pork , beef and chicken ragu! We started with a great antipasto and cheese platter. It was fabulous.

Another drive we did was through the countryside to visit 2 of the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy”. We went to Scanno and Pescocostanzo. Again some winding narrow roads AND pouring rain, but we were still about to get out of the car and wander the villages narrow streets.

We have of course been trying out different places for coffee and drinks. We haven’t had a bad coffee yet, but we are in Italy after all. The breakfast pistachio cream filled croissants were a highlight.

As per usual , Friday night was Pizza night. The pizza was “just ok” but it wasn’t as good as the one we had in Praiano on the Amalfi Coast. The local wine was rather good and the chocolate cake was more cream than cake!

On the way back home we stopped by Piazza Garabaldi to take a night shot or 2.

One of the challenges of living in Italy is deciding what goes in what rubbish bin! You have 5 to choose from in Italy, and collection happens multiple times during the week for different bins!

Tomorrow it’s arrivederci to Sulmona and bonjourno to Ferrara where we are staying for nearly 3 weeks.

So it’s that time again…until Ferrara

Ciao ciao

Greg and Rhonda