Valentina in Shorts

I was very happy for receiving the invitation to this press trip at the beginning of November. Abruzzo is an Italian region that I hadn’t visited yet and so I took immediately the opportunity, I packed up a wide range of stuff and I left Vienna full of curiosity. Let’s also say that among my first thoughts there were a series of food and wine desires.

Abruzzo is the Italian region with the largest number of nature parks, a huge environmental heritage with endless biodiversity, wonderful historical places, delicious traditional products, food and wines.
Of course, I couldn’t see the whole region but I hope to get back soon, maybe with the good season because the days spent now in November have not always been beautiful.
The tour focused on the area of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, between the provinces of L’ Aquila and Teramo in a sequence of breathtaking landscapes and cultural impact.
For this reason I had the opportunity to choose between several educational tours that included active tourism proposals like hiking tour to Laga Waterfalls or the visit of the Stiffe caves and guides focused on characteristic villages, historical places and natural sets of film productions.
Due to its particular geological and environmental conformation the area is also called the “little Tibet of Italy” and often used by famous international filmmakers for the number of castles and villages nestling among the peek of the majestic Gran Sasso Mountains Area. Above all “Campo Imperatore“. It is a boundless and surreal alpine meadow formed by a high basin shaped plateau located above Gran Sasso massif at an altitude of almost 2000 mt, over 20 km long and 6-8 km wide. Stanislao, a journalist with me, told me about his summer excursions at sunset to see the horses running wildly. What a romantic experience!
Nearby, we could not miss the visit of the little stone village of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, very well preserved village and the spectacular Rocca Calascio, the most striking of the Abruzzo Castles. Founded around the year 1000, at 1400 mt it dominates an extensive territory and unfolds breathtaking landscape. A truly evocative place that could not but be the film set of many films and television series, including the romantic Lady Hawk.

We could then visit some of the most charming villages of Italy, passing the time with visits to churches and little streets, inspiring experiences like the truffles hunting and enjoying local wines and cuisine! Campli, Civitella del Tronto, Castel del Monte are just some of the characteristic medieval villages of the territory, all perched on the top of a hill.

Another distinctive feature of this area of Abruzzo is its fine food and wines, in particular, typical products of its flocks of sheep, like Pecorino and Caprino cheeses, excellent cured meats like suckling pig in Campli, the Mortadella in Campostosto and in general liver sausages and Arrosticini, tiny sheep roasts (which I love!) The high altitudes also allow the cultivation of particular types of wheat, cereals and legumes, such as wheat flour from Solina, chickpeas, the beans in L’ Aquila Area, lentils from Santo Stefano di Sessanio. Another typical products are saffron and the tasty and sweet Turquoise potato (almost blue in colour). There is also an abundance of local truffles, wines and extra virgin olive oils. Its DOC Wines Ceresuolo, Trebbiano, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo are appreciated in Italy and abroad. On the hills of Teramo and Pescara are also produced among the best Italian extra virgin olive oils.

Traditional desserts worth mentioning are pizza dolce, pizza di Pasqua, almond crisp and chocolate nougat in L’Aquila, accompanied by the Gentian liqueur, produced from the homonyms root, the Ratafia based on sour cherries and red wine and the fine saffron liqueur.
I mean, as you can understand, I’ve certainly not been hungry!

As restaurants not to be missed, I would like to mention the Terre di Solina holiday farm with only products of their own production in Capestrano, (near Rocca Calascio and Campo imperatore), the Tubero d’Oro restaurant in the center of Campli where I had an excellent truffle tasting and in L’Aquila the historical “Delfina” restaurant.

Let’s talk about the city of L’ Aquila. A city that, as you know, has been victim, together with the whole adjacent area, of a chilling earthquake in 2009. Fortunately, it is slowly reborn, many works have been done and new buildings have been built, such as the Renzo Piano Auditorium, in front of the Spanish Fort. The two basilicas of San Bernardino and Collemaggio, the Cathedral in the historical center and the MUNDA, National Museum of Abruzzo, are also worth a visit!

I came back to Vienna fully appreciating just how unique Abruzzo is, an Italian treasure not really yet well known. I would like to thank ENIT Italia, Italia.it which in collaboration with the Region of Abruzzo and Gran Sasso Living, organized this press trip. And of course, all fantastic traveling companions I’ve met!

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