I have so much wonderful information swimming around in my head that I'm not entirely sure where to begin. First off, I truly meant to tease all of you dear readers yesterday with a picture of the view that Pete and Shirleen have from the terrace above their bedroom.
We have had rain since we arrived in the mountains of Abruzzo, but that has not dampened our spirits in the least. After last night's amazing meal, we slept soundly. We got up and had breakfast on one of the balconies before heading out with Shirleen to do some local exploring. Their good friends, Jeff and Suki were leaving today for Naples and we were so very glad to have met them. Suki was responsible for the wonderful antipasti dishes we had last night.
Shirleen drove us to Bugnara and then Anversa. We went to look at a small chapel called San Domenico that was built in front of the hermitage where Santa Domenico lived.
We drove through Scanno and then did some hiking near Passo Godi. We came upon a large herd of sheep and goats, all being taken care of by five large, white dogs. Patty got a great picture of one of the dogs...no shepherds around, just the dogs.
We were getting soaked from the rain so we ducked into a restaurant and had some bread and antipasto. Delicious...and we dried out a bit. We finished our loop with a walk through Sulmona, and I admitted to Shirleen that I am enamored with the doors.
Once back at Pete and Shirleen's villa, we dined on leftovers from last night and sat around their kitchen table drinking wine and swapping travel stories. They are fascinating people and as we talked of life, I learned that they had lived in Washington state in the early 90's...in Brush Prairie...in Cedars...in a house that is less than a half mile from my home!
The story of how they ended up in their house in Introdacqua is so interesting that it has all the makings of a bestseller. Ravaged like so many small towns after the war, the young people left...there were no jobs, there was no food. The older generation died, leaving the homes in ruin. In the 90's, a man named Peppino had an idea to buy the dilapidated homes and rennovate them, selling them as summer homes to Romans who could now drive to Abruzzo in an hour or two because of the autobahn between Rome and Pescara. And that happened...but what also happened is that a group of Americans, many of whom had ties to each other through work or family...bought the homes. And now, there is a group of ex-pats who have a warm, caring community and who love the town of Introdacqua and its history.
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