Lovely Abruzzo, July, 2023!

We spent four wonderful (and cool) days in the Abruzzo region of Italy.

 

We took advantage of hitting yet another lake with our inflatable kayak, Campotosto, which was built during the reign of Benito Mussolini (it’s a hydroelectric basin).  Campotosto is our 19^th kayak ride so far around 13 lakes in the Lazio, Abruzzo and Umbria regions, including also a few rides at the sea on the island of Elba and near Tarquinia.

 

The evenings where great as the temperature dipped down to about 15° Celcius, perfect for sleeping after non-stop days of sweltering 40+ degree weather.
 
We stayed at the “Casale Virginia Country House” which is located at Cesariano di Montereale (AQ).   Great hospitality, great food and a very quiet place to chill out (and no, the nearby donkeys aren’t at all noisy). Play some ping-pong and then sit outside after dinner to stare at the stars before heading off to bed.

The lake and the Country House aren’t that far away from the town of Amatrice, famous for its exquisite “Spaghetti all’Amatriciana”.  The town, and the surrounding area, was heavily hit some years ago by a devastating earthquake (some towns are still undergoing re-construction).  
 
We also took advantage of doing some hiking at Italy’s famous “Gran Sasso” which is only 53 km away from the Country House.  We had already been there years ago. You can see the hotel at “Campo Imperatore” where Mussolini ended up, as a result of events leading up to September 8^th, 1943, as he was eventually saved by Hitler’s men (during a very daring mission members of the SS flew into Campo Imperatore on gliders to whisk Mussolini away aboard a light plane.  He was eventually taken to Munich to see his buddy Adolf). 

Further info on the Country House’s web site: www.casalevirginia.com (we enjoyed it so much that no doubt we’ll be there again next year).

Cool Cortona!

 Cool Cortona and its funky exhibits.