A postcard from Abruzzo
This year we betrayed Salento to spend a week in a family hotel in Abruzzo
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Let me begin with a confession: I am a traitor. After 38 years of summer beach holidays in Salento (Puglia), I betrayed the caribbean beaches of the south with the rustic coast of Abruzzo.
Being on the opposite coast from Tuscany, with the Apennines in between, I never found Abruzzo on my way.
The route to Puglia has always been Florence - Rome - Caserta - Bari - Lecce.
Only a few years ago we decided with Giulia to take a different route via Perugia to get to the Adriatic coast, and then down all the way straight to our destination.
At first we did the whole trip in one day (10 hours by car). Since Livia has arrived, though, we decided to make a stop halfway. The first time we stopped at a beautiful winery, Emidio Pepe, in the Marche region. The second time we stopped at a B&B near Montesilvano, in Abruzzo. This is where we decided that "next time" we should have had our summer holidays in Abruzzo. And we kept our promise, because a year later, here we are.
This year we betrayed Salento to spend a week in a family hotel in Abruzzo, full board, with a shaded pine forest and beach resort included. We embraced a new routine immediately, something designed for our almost 3 year old girl, and in one week I pulled the car out of the hotel garage only once, for a dinner at a farmhouse in the hills.
While Livia took her afternoon nap, I went out twice for a walk around the hotel and took a few pictures.
This year's experience absolutely won us over and we will definitely repeat it next year: same beach, same sea.
[SAVE THE DATE] We're coming back with a Cook Along!
Giulia will share all the details next week, but…
We will meet SUNDAY, July 9th at 9.30 pm CET - 3.30 pm EDT - 12.30 pm PDT. This is an event designed for those who subscribed to Letters from Tuscany.
As always it is a moment when we cook together, but you can join just to have a chat, or a laugh, to ask questions, share stories, or simply listen while having a good cup of tea.
If you missed our previous newsletters about Abruzzo:
How lovely to see Abruzzo through your eyes and camera lens, Tommaso. For many years, my summers were spent on the beach in Silvi Marina. Our house was across the street and our ombrellone was planted “in primo piano” at the beginning of the season. Now I’m in the hills of Penne looking down to the Adriatic but I still feel in my heart the tranquil daily rhythm of those bygone summers.
So glad you chose to stay in my region! Very close to us as well. I moved back here last year after 15 years abroad, to give my kids a chance to experience nature and the “slow life”...