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Hurrah, we've found some places in Italy we really like - and not just because of Derek telling us to stop wingeing! We left Sorrento in a hurry - see last blog - and made for Abruzzo which is a mountainous area at the south of the Apennine range and reputedly quiet. The drive there was pretty dramatic, with moments like we were driving straight off a cliff, tunnels hewn out of rock so narrow we weren't sure we'd fit through in the van, and God knows what you're supposed to do if anything comes the other way, and really narrow gorges with rivers in incredible shades of green and blue - fantastic!
And its true - Abruzzo is quiet! No animation and in fact hardly anyone else! Great. Not that we're anti-social or anything! We stayed in a little mountain village called Barrea with lovely views of Lake and mountains. The campsite owner was Senor Passetta who has his own website and has been on BBC World talking about the Abruzzo mountains, which he told us at great length when we first arrived. So we duly took off for a big mountain walk the first day and again the next which was perfect after the noise and hassle of Sorrento.
We knew Sorrento had been especially busy because of the 15th of August which is the Annunciata, the biggest bank holiday in the Italian Calander. They apparently have a huge party there which takes over the whole town and then a big fireworks display from a boat in the bay. Well we obviously missed that having already gone to Barrea so it was a slightly more low key affair there but great fun. They had the local band playing in the main square and everybody up waltzing to the music. We don't know how to waltz but were sorely tempted to join in with the Gay Gordons but managed to restrain ourselves, just. They also had huge trays of polenta and bolognaise laid out for everyone, so a really nice local fiesta!
We left the next day and found we had mortally offended Senor Passetta by not going to get his advice on where to walk - all the trails we'd followed were apparently the crap ones! But never mind - we'd never have got started each morning if we'd waited for his instructions!
We then progressed to Umbria and Lago Trasimeno for a real taste of luxury. The campsite was in the grounds of a hotel with a recommended restaurant so we just had to try it - and ended up eating there every night we stayed - lovely. The best food we'd had in Italy and some great local red wine. So this all really made up for the downs we'd had for the previous week further south. We're now aiming for Verona and hoping to go to the Opera as a real event before we leave Italy.
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