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.