Roccamorice - Mountaintown with Personality

The town of Roccamorice is really small and is a spot where hikers, bikers (and in the winter, cross country skiers) and rock climbers travel through. The turk and I enjoy sitting outside during apertivo time (6:30-8pm), having our drink and snacks (think happy hour) and watching the whole town come together for the evening. Everyone shows up and chats. Locals stand in the middle of the main street (with blind curves on either end) to chat. Children are part of the scenario as are teenagers. There are several dogs who run the show as well. We call one of them the ‘mayor’ because he tends to stand in the middle of the main road to keep track of the goings-on.  

The Turk and I walked around one day and noticed a man picking figs from his tree. The Turk was checking him out and asked about the figs in his Spanish/Italian/Turk talk and the man handed over a bunch of figs.  Go figure.

I discovered an apertivo drink made of grapefruit juice and prosecco. Very refreshing. The thing about apertivo drinks is that they are light alcohol, or no alcohol and are meant to prepare your palate for dinner.  Note that dinner does not start until 8pm so the snacks that go with the drinks become important.

the town hangs out for apertivo

not sure what i was taking a picture of - the Turk or the Ferarri

interesting doors in town

we used this fountain alot

you can see how small the main road is. People would stand in the street just to talk - and Italian drivers just wait

look - dont touch

road sign to look out for all different kinds of animals

sunset

Sidetrip to Sulmona, home of Italian confetti candy was a necessity! These candies date back to the 1st century Romans. The oldest modern producer is Pelino, and we visited their museum to learn more.  I see Jordan Almonds (the american version of confetti candies) used for weddings, but didnt know why. In Italy, throwing confetti towards newly married couples  bestows good luck. The white coasting stands for purity of the bride, the union between the bride and groom is represented by the two spheres of the almond linked at their edges, the sugar is for the couple to be happy and thrive. Today, brides can order bouquets of confetti (heavy), and confetti is used for baby showers and birthdays.

San Grasso Mountain Hiking

The Abruzzo area is known for its food and wine, but also for its mountains and coastline. It was time for us to get into the Majella Mountains, to San Grasso National Park. We were greeted by goats and their shepherd who was not in a hurry to get off the road. 

We stayed at an agriturismo pension in Roccamorice called Santo Spirito B&B named after the  Santo Spirito hermitage. This pension is owned by Giampiero Di Federico who is a famous European mountain climber, now a climbing teacher. The pension was located at the start of several well known hiking trails including the Santo Spirito trail in the National Park.  This is a religious trail used by pilgrims to visit the numerous hermitages built in the cliffsides of these mountains. 

view from our room

view from our room

Giampiero on the left holding rope, training climbers on the right. Note that the rope crosses the main road!

The hiking is rugged, as is the scenery. Stone huts called tholos are scattered along the hills. They were constructed with dry placement of the area stones to house the shepherds guarding their sheep. The Turk and I started with a 30 minute hike to the hermitage of St. Bartholomew with the hopes of continuing on to the larger hermitage of Eremo Santo Spirito.  We got to Bartholomew's built into a rock overhang that includes a chapel and apartment.  

After checking around Bart’s place we decided to continue the mountainous hike to Santo Spirito monestary which we thought was 3 ½ km away. Alas, it was more like 8 km away. We walked one way 3 ½ hours and then decided to head back while we knew we could make it back. The hike involved steep inclines, sometimes with tall steps. Typically the trail was identified only by the painted trail markers, not by any pathway along the side of a mountain. We walked from stream level up to peak level and back. 

When we finally made it to our B&B we crashed. Our bodies were not happy. A quick nap later, all was well and we headed for our apertivo and dinner – at Belvedere’s for a wonderful pizza of truffles, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts and a bit of mushrooms on a thin crust. I had spaghetti pasta with smoked cheese and chunks of lamb. The bottle of Chimay helped soothe the soreness and we had no trouble sleeping that night.

getting close to St. Bartholomew's hermitage

hermitage 'porch'

chapel inside the hermitage

hermitage

our trail marker

a tholos that collapsed

 The next day we headed to the hermitage of Santo Spirito where Celestine V lived from 1274 to 1276 before he was appointed Pope.  He didnt stay a Pope for long and quit the job only to be rounded up and jailed by a later Pope.  

This time to actually make it to the hermitage/monestary. We got there as they openned and were able to walk through the renovations and ruins. The original structure was small, but grew to house the monks. It was repaired a couple of times through the centuries, and is now going through a modern renovation. What we thought was interesting was the carved canals along the walls and floors to deal with the water that comes through the rock, and the ground. We climbed 3 floors worth of rooms. The top floor included a chapel to Mary Magdalene. The main church is on the ground floor and very simple.

main chapel of Santo Spirito hermitage

altar in main chapel

cave hallway at hermitage

wall carving

bell tower

carved saint

upstairs chapel of Mary Magdalene - fresco on wall

view outside to the mountains

Mary carved into rock above chapel door

walkway around hermitage

Next day we headed to San Valentino to get internet and gelato. Alas we had to pass through Roccamorice to get there and I noticed that the porchetta truck was in the square!  This is one of my ‘must taste’ foods!  We stopped, got a slab of porchetta and sat in ‘our spot’ in the square, ordered coffee,and had an early lunch as we watched the whole town mingle in the usual way – but they were dressed for Sunday.

 Hazelnut and chocolate gelato awaited in San Valentino, and they helped fuel us to the next location  - the terme (baths) at Carriga…   But we couldn’t find any baths! We drove around until the Turk was too frustrated to continue. Then we parked the car below town and walked up. In town we asked a restaurant owner and he pointed us up the hill. Here we are, hiking again!  Up the hill, then another up the hill until we got to a hotel/health spa facility. We thought we could pay $10 for a pass to swim the waters for an hour, but no. This was a place that people book way in advance to experience the ‘cure’ of the sulphur waters and the amenities that this facility provides. For a mere $75 you can have a day pass during the week.  Nope!  And down we hiked. Total hiking time just in S Valentino – 1 ½ hrs. The Turk had been promised an easy day – ooops!

Adriatic Sea and Wine

From Frosolone, in Molise region, we headed for Abruzzo region, home of the San Grasso mountains as part of the Appenine Mountain chain, and the Adriatic coastline. We stayed at a cute agriturismo house outside Luciano, near the Adriatic coast. This farmhouse was converted to a hotel but they have maintained some of the animals on the property - chickens, goats, donkey, ducks, pigeons and more. This area has rolling hills of vineyards and olive trees, with enough fig trees around to keep the Turk happy when we hike.

our balcony is on the left.

exploring our hotel - walking to the vineyard and olive orchard

kind of nice

one of the baby goats sucking on my finger

horse is grazing outside our window

fancy rooster house

We started to learn some things about Abruzzo towns. There is typically a billboard near a main road where someone posts a notice of a loved ones' death, or remembrance of their death. In Turkey, deaths and the funeral arrangements are announced via the mosque's speakers around the town for all to hear. In Italy, you have photo and short biography along with the funeral arrangements.

The Turk and I walked around our area of farmland and vineyards, and fig trees. We came across an older man sitting in his yard after he pulled up his pepper crop - probably because it was the end of the season and he wanted to plant something else. The Turk talked with him in broken Spanish/Italian/Turk and the guy ended up handing us left over peppers still on the stem that he was going to toss. The Turk was beside-himself happy.

A goal for this trip was to swim in the Mediterranean - check, the Adriatic and the Aegean. So off we headed for the coast. Lanciano is well situated for either the beach or skiing as there is an option to the east and the north for each.  The water was refreshing and I enjoyed my swim. This beach was rocky, though not all are. The result of a rocky beach is crystal clear turquoise water. And the result of the water is fresh seafood! We had a delicious lunch on the coast which made for a perfect day.  We overlooked a local Trabocchi - an old fishing structure that sits on the water.  This area is known for these structures.
And for dinner we went to a local kebab restaurant - Il Caminetto. Who knew that Italians like their lamb kebabs as much as the Turks! We enjoyed the restaurant so much, we ate there both evenings.

rocky shore

I swam to the rocks

the Turk said something wierd to me - so he got this face

a trabucco fishing structure

fresh mussels and tomato sauce - YUM

kebabs!

A winery was on our list - so I contacted Laura, owner of the Il Feuduccio winery in Orsogna for a tour and tasting. Laura greeted us at her picturesque winery that reminded me of being in Napa Valley. Except Napa is trying to be like Italy! The whole experience was special as Laura introduced us to her sister and mom from Venezuela. The family, originally from Abruzzo, moved to Venezuela about 20 years ago but are leaving due to the government issues. Her sister wants to move to Florida - how funny. The winery buildings are beautifully built of imported tiles and woods. The wines were delicious. This region is known for their red Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.  In Italy, Abruzzo wines are considered the same level as in Tuscany. apparently there is a great rivalry. Tuscany also sells a Montepulciano - but they use the name for an appelation while Abruzzo has the montepulciano grape.  Abruzzo wineries are striving to become better known outside of Italy and have recently revised the naming of their appelations to make them more specific. Laura told us that she doesn't see many Americans and that we are brave travelers for going off the beaten path.

spiral staircase in winery

storage of all their vintages

our tasting - Pecorino - white, Cerasudo - rose, Montepulciano d'abruzzo - red