Visitors Blog: Amy and Nigel

Our Italian Adventure - Friday 23^rd March to Saturday 31^st March 2012

We have recently returned from a fantastic week in Italy. The first four days were spent staying with Laura in Pescara. If you have not yet been out to visit her, we would highly recommend it! Pescara is a lovely modern city with a beach, and a climate much better that the UK’s. It was sunny and in the 20s when we were out there, the main difference being the warmer evenings and nights.

Pescara has a great collection of cafes and coffee bars. We discovered the Italian custom of the cappuccino (“cappucio”) and pastry for breakfast at the local coffee bars. There’s no need to sit down and relax. Just throw back the coffee, munch on the pastry, finish with a glass of cold water and get on with your day. All for less than €2. Very efficient.

We also discovered some amazing ice cream at a posh coffee bar in Pescara’s Piazza Salotto. It was incredible. We would highly recommend the dark chocolate, white chocolate and pistachio flavours. Yum. Oh, and the thick, yet silky, hot chocolate at Café Venezia. The perfect way to end a day. 

Food and drink aside (we haven’t even mentioned the amazing selection of authentic Italian pizza, calzone and pasta – all obviously worth a try, and the stunning Japanese restaurant “Giappo” we tried in the Old Town), the activities on offer to us within an hours drive (we hired a car – but waited at least an hour queuing at the airport to pick it up, whilst it was getting closer and closer to the time Laura had to be at work…!) from Laura’s apartment in central Pescara are incredible. Laura took us to the Hermitage of San Bartolomeo, which she has previously mentioned on her blog. It was an incredible place, so peaceful. There were Golden Eagles soaring above, and Greater Crested Newt swimming below (in the stream’s water that passed through the valley). We would recommend a visit here, and I don’t blame Laura for wanting to visit it again and again every season.

And then there was the cross-country skiing, an unexpected treat. For €10 we hired all the equipment we needed and headed up a mountain within the Gran Sasso National Park (slowed on the way by a dog sitting in the middle of a mountain road blocking our path, staring at us, stubbornly not moving, until it just about disappeared under the bonnet). There was no snow, literally no snow, until we reached a road closed by a snow plough, and behind this…snow! It was easily the last day of skiing of the season, and we skied it! It was warm (no coat required!), sweaty work. Nigel and I discovered that the traditional “snow plough” (or “pizza” as Laura called it?!) didn’t really work. So there we were, sliding down the hills, cliff edges rearing up in front of us, to discover that we couldn’t stop. Solution? Throw yourself on the floor, quickly. Hilarious. Anyway, once we got off the road, we entered a sweeping valley which was still snow covered and absolutely stunning. Again, so peaceful. Then we finished the experience with a typical Italian Sunday lunch, and Laura explained the traditional Italian menu, and we ate course after course until we were ready to burst.

The following day Laura was back at work (and Amy discovered that trains have wheels – who knew?!), so we walked the length and breadth of Pescara, practicing the measly snippets of Italian we had picked up from Laura’s impressive vocabulary (or French in Amy’s case – don’t ask), meeting with Laura in the evening for one last meal together. The following day we moved on to Rome for the second half of our Italian adventure, sad to be leaving Laura, Pescara and the peacefulness we had experienced whilst staying with her.

Thanks Laura for your hospitality, it was a fantastic stay, and we can’t wait to visit again  :)

Amy & Nigel