What is your all time favourite Italian Films?
my top ten are in no particular order:
Abruzzo is a wonderful region full of natural beauty and history. I hope my pictures and thoughts here will help everyone to appreciate it!
Monday 23 February 2015
Travelling to Abruzzo
Done this trip 6 times now! I still cannot believe it. To start with I had an old Berlingo van that could not go over 50 miles per hour and this did stretch out the trip a bit. Now I have a Berlingo car which has turned out to be quicker but not awfully reliable.
Our trip starts in Calais but I prefer to stay outside of the town if possible and last year we stopped off at a small town about 80 miles from Calais. The town is Lens and one of the reasons for stopping off there was to visit the branch of The Louvre here set in a landscaped park (this was a coal mining area) with Birch trees and gravelled paths.
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Our trip starts in Calais but I prefer to stay outside of the town if possible and last year we stopped off at a small town about 80 miles from Calais. The town is Lens and one of the reasons for stopping off there was to visit the branch of The Louvre here set in a landscaped park (this was a coal mining area) with Birch trees and gravelled paths.
path to museum
Louvre Café
Early Christian Carving in gallery
Walk from Car Park to Museum
In the Main Gallery
Reims is a big city and I'm slightly put off by the complicated road signs and motorway exits so the next place to stop is Chalons en Champagne a splendid town (despite the unpromising outskirts) with 2 lovely churches to explore and a vibrant historic center. St Alpins Church in the town center embodies all of the major phases of medieval art from the Romanesque/Gothic period.
From 8th - 10th Century Chalons developed considerably and a Merchants Quarter was established and at its heart was a chapel dedicated to St Andre which then became the church of St Alpin.
After Nancy - another wonderful French town if you have time, we take the road that crosses the Vosges into Alsace and down along the plain to Mulhouse.
Voseges
The road 'par le col' is very winding and slow as it takes you through numerous villages all with their speed bumps and limits but if you have the time and brakes its worth taking.
The advantage is that along this road in the summer and autumn local farmers and producers set up stalls beside the road selling local vegetables, honey and apple juice. If you can resist buying too much (They bag up apples in 5 kg sacks !) there are great bargains to be had here. I love the very pungent Munster cheese which has a smell that does tend to linger inside the car for several weeks after I get home.
Based in Mulhouse for a few days (using Booking.com to find a clean cheap hotel) we visited the Flea Markets held in local towns and run by charities as fund raisers.The towns are mostly closed to other traffic and every household sets out a table by their gateway.There is a lot of tat here but if you do have the time and the patience you can also discover some wonderful bargains.To find out when these sales take place I use this site .You will need at least 3 hours to look at all of the stalls and enjoy a cold beer or coffee!
Flea Market near Mulhouse 2014
After leaving Mulhouse we cross into Switzerland at Basel ,stopping at the border control to buy a Swiss Motorway pass at about £30.The roads around Basel are a nightmare and I've not dared to leave the Italian bound motorway for fear of getting lost but one day I WILL! We normally wait until we reach the beautiful valley of Gertnellen then take a little road from the motorway that runs all the way along the valley until after about 5 miles you can re join the motorway.
What would you do in Abruzzo
So if you have decided on a holiday exploring Abruzzo where would you go and what would you do?
There are few guide books for the region and those that do exist do seem to have left out some of the more interesting but lesser known places. I particularly enjoy visiting the ancient hermitages up in the mountains -In Roccamorice you can visit 2 although one is a bit of a trek. The mountain road above Serramonacessca has a lane off it where you can leave your car and walk up to the (restored) hermitage of Saint Onofrio.
Here some Favourites: and for some fabulous images of Abruzzo visit this photographer's web site -its stunning. olivier jules
Passolanciano from Lettomanoppello
Hermitage of Santo Spirito a Majella, already mentioned in the 9th century AD, and restored several times in later centuries
Hermitage of San Bartolomeo
Pennapiedimonte
Fara San Martino (in particular the Golle di San Martino)
Penetracamela
Atri
Serramonacesca
Azzinano,
Roccamorice
Lanciano
Bocca di Valle
Vasto
Ortona
Capestrano
Sulmona
There are few guide books for the region and those that do exist do seem to have left out some of the more interesting but lesser known places. I particularly enjoy visiting the ancient hermitages up in the mountains -In Roccamorice you can visit 2 although one is a bit of a trek. The mountain road above Serramonacessca has a lane off it where you can leave your car and walk up to the (restored) hermitage of Saint Onofrio.
Here some Favourites: and for some fabulous images of Abruzzo visit this photographer's web site -its stunning. olivier jules
Passolanciano from Lettomanoppello
Hermitage of Santo Spirito a Majella, already mentioned in the 9th century AD, and restored several times in later centuries
Hermitage of San Bartolomeo
Pennapiedimonte
Fara San Martino (in particular the Golle di San Martino)
Penetracamela
Atri
Serramonacesca
Azzinano,
Lanciano
Bocca di Valle
Vasto
Ortona
Capestrano
Sulmona
Guardiagrelenadomo
Colledimezzo
Chieti -old town and museum
Rocca San Giovanni
Loreto Aprutino
Pescocostanzo
Castelli
Colledimezzo
Chieti -old town and museum
Rocca San Giovanni
Loreto Aprutino
Pescocostanzo
Castelli
Tourism in Abruzzo and 'Italy Unpacked'
We have been watching 'Italy Unpacked' on BBC with Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli who are 'exploring the culture and cuisine of the east coast of Italy'.
They visit the regions of Le Marche and Umbria -here's a link to the BBC I-player
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b053gkm6/italy-unpacked-series-3-2-to-the-centre-of-the-earth
The programme has sparked off some interesting discussion on the abruzzolutely forum abruzzolutely with some posters being quite annoyed that the pair missed out Abruzzo totally.
Some comments
''It infuriates me, the way Abruzzo is missed out of all these 'round Italy' tours. I have been told that the Abruzzo tourist board - yes really! - are discussing how to increase tourism with their counterparts in Tuscany and Le Marche, but I've heard this before and nothing changes.
We do have wonderful things for people to see, Campo Imperiatore, the Trabocci Coast, many cathedrals and ancient sites. LANCIANO has a huge number of pilgrims visiting from all over the world.''
''It is really strange - I have been writing to TV wildlife presenters, conservation charities and film cameramen suggesting that they should consider making a programme about Abruzzo, the home of probably the rarest bear in the world - The Marsican bear. Guess what, I have not received a single reply. So If we want to raise the profile of Abruzzo I guess we should get together and do it ourselves? ''
I think Abruzzo has a long way to go before it can build up a tourist 'industry' that can compete to that of others areas, say Tuscany or Umbria but with increasing demand of get away from it all breaks there is certainly the potential here if only the Tourism Board can realise this.
They visit the regions of Le Marche and Umbria -here's a link to the BBC I-player
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b053gkm6/italy-unpacked-series-3-2-to-the-centre-of-the-earth
The programme has sparked off some interesting discussion on the abruzzolutely forum abruzzolutely with some posters being quite annoyed that the pair missed out Abruzzo totally.
Some comments
''It infuriates me, the way Abruzzo is missed out of all these 'round Italy' tours. I have been told that the Abruzzo tourist board - yes really! - are discussing how to increase tourism with their counterparts in Tuscany and Le Marche, but I've heard this before and nothing changes.
We do have wonderful things for people to see, Campo Imperiatore, the Trabocci Coast, many cathedrals and ancient sites. LANCIANO has a huge number of pilgrims visiting from all over the world.''
''It is really strange - I have been writing to TV wildlife presenters, conservation charities and film cameramen suggesting that they should consider making a programme about Abruzzo, the home of probably the rarest bear in the world - The Marsican bear. Guess what, I have not received a single reply. So If we want to raise the profile of Abruzzo I guess we should get together and do it ourselves? ''
I think Abruzzo has a long way to go before it can build up a tourist 'industry' that can compete to that of others areas, say Tuscany or Umbria but with increasing demand of get away from it all breaks there is certainly the potential here if only the Tourism Board can realise this.
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