Friday Oct. 21

Our last day in Campo di Fano at Mike GiaMarco's place.  A little background on GiaMia may be interesting for anyone thinking of a trip to Southern Italy.  We read about this place in an article written in a Red Deer, Alberta newspaper.  Mike's family originated here in Campo di Fano near Sulmona, Italy.  His parents moved to Hamilton when he was 9 years old. He has made his life in Calgary for the last number of years and in 1997 came back here to check out his roots.  This experience really moved him and encouraged him to venture out on a journey to fix up the family home.  This is a complicated process in Italy with various cultural and historical events creating a mountain of bureaucracy. Over the years the property was divided up amongst many family members, necessitating arduous detective work to gather the appropriate documents to eventually own it.  After gaining title to the property he began a three year restoration plan to turn the old barn and broken down house into an 8 suite vacation property.  He has successfully reached the point where he can now attract tourists to rent this space.  Have a look at his website: http://www.giamia.com/.

He added so much to our stay with his knowledge of the area, introduction to local characters and chances to meet and talk to some of his family.

Front view of GiaMia.

View from the back.

Our plans to hike up in the mountains changed when we looked outside and checked the weather.  The low lying cloud, chance of snow on our hiking path and the opportunity to drive a roller coaster road on ice encrusted switch backs with 500 ft. drop offs led to a quick decision to tour some local towns.  So in our first town after spotting a somewhat narrow parking stall and beginning to execute a perfect parallel parking demonstration some local fellows standing across the street helped with hand gestures to tell me when to stop before attacking the car behind me.  After a few to and fros one fellow ran over and climbed into his car and moved it forward.  I fear he did it out of self preservation to his car as much as to help me out.  In any event we all had a few smile and thank you exchanged in Italian and English. 

This fellow is moving his car to avoid impact from my van behind him.

We found a delightful coffee and sweet stop with a very friendly waitress who gave us a great cup of coffee.

Best coffee so far!

Off to the next town to track down a pork sandwich recommended by Mike the day before.  We found the market and followed our noses to the van selling cooked meats.

Drooling in anticipation of the pork sandwich.

Our server slicing the meat.

Our Sandwiches in the oven (just above the cooking chickens.

Here we are enjoying our lunch.

Cathy spied some clothes to try on but was unsuccessful in finding a good fit.

Back home again I went for a walk down by the river to explore the local valley and noticed these beautiful flowers.

The river below Gia Mia.

The evening was filled with a most enjoyable visit with Mike and his third cousin, Antonio who is a teacher in the high school system.  Mike had arranged this special visit for us to have an interaction with a local Italian.  The conversation ranged from education to the Italian medical system, politics and well beyond. Our host Mike was the translator and worked hard to make our evening enjoyable. Thanks Mike and Antonio.

Thursday Oct. 20

Our day begins with a drive to find a Hermitage perched way up on a mountain side.  Pietro Angelerio somehow convinced people to build this structure back in 1294.  Shortly after, he received word that he was to become the next Pope.  We could see the building from the road and it looked like a tiny barnacle clinging to the rock.  You have to look really closely in this picture to make out the Hermitage. 

Look way up the hill for the Hermitage.

In this picture you can see how the building grows out of the rock as if it belongs there. 

Here is a closer view.

We hiked up to a building below the Hermitage that was convincingly locked up as another service to "late in the season tourists".  The view over the valley was somewhat obscured by cloud and mist but gave us a commanding view none the less. 

It was interesting to note a rather large solar panel field genuflecting to the sun in their role as a modern day 'Sun God" worshiping our thirst for energy. 

Solar panel field.

We headed back to town to find the Pelino Confetti Art and Technology Museum.  This was a tribute to the discovery that you could make sugar candy in the most unusual forms and sell them to unsuspecting brides and grooms for wedding decorations.  I had no idea that Confetti was something other than colourful paper left over from three hole punches. 

Wedding favours.

Confetti flowers.

The factory was in operation and visible through a small viewing window.  Without any Italian-English translation available I cannot tell you what these gorgeous spinning copper kettles were for. 

Confetti factory.

We then went to collect some groceries and go for lunch.  As we began our search for the perfect lunch spot thunder announced the fulfillment of the 60% chance of rain forecast for today.  Somewhat 'moist on the outside' we rambled through Piazza Garibaldi watching the metal shutters descend on each restaurant we approached.  Of Course… 1:00 p.m. when any sensible Italian is readying themselves for a siesta.  After some sloshing around we found a perfect place to sit, eat pizza, panini and brochetta followed by some coffee and desserts.

Cathy and I decided to forgo a formal clothes washing event and headed out on foot to walk our 5 km. back home.  Each car that passed obliged us with a perfectly timed shower of recently fallen rain mixed with minor flavours of road grit and oil.  We must remember to contact Outter Limits in Saskatoon for supplying waterproof jackets that worked at least for the upper half of our bodies.  Wash, dry, eat and drink.  That pretty much finishes the day.

Wed. Oct. 19

Off to the Mercato (Market day in Sulmona) we go.  Don and I head out on a walk into Sulmona while the others drive to be sure to maximize the shopping time.   This turns out to be a great day of people watching, market exploring, and eating.  We find information about Confetti candy which originated right here in Sulmona.

Cathy surrounded by Confetti candy.

  Cathy and Linda go wild in a fabric shop.

Lunch today is in a restaurant where the waitress is confused as the group decides to skip wine at lunch.  She genuinely appears puzzled when she finally understands we mean 'no vino'.

Our afternoon begins with our host Mike GioMarco taking us to visit his farmer friend Ernesto.  

Ernesto the farmer.

What a joy it was to see Mike and Ernesto greet.  They were genuinely interested in answering our questions and showing us this farming operation. 

Part of the welcoming was Ernesto's small dog who padded along beside us the whole visit. 

Erensto and his wife, who unfortunately was attending her ill mother and was not available to visit with us, have a plot of land that would feed the whole village.  The two of them farm this operation and produce a dazzling array of delectable fruits, vegetables and livestock. 

The greenhouse alone seemed to produce enough work for two people working full time. 

Peppers, tomatoes, two types of corn drying on open tarps, artichokes, grapes, cabbages, cauliflower, persimmons, apples, pears and numerous other fruit and nut tress were all evident in this 'out of season' time. What a garden of Eden.

Artichoke plants 

Artichoke fruit.

Grape vines already harvested.

One corn for Polenta and one for feed.

In a typical Italian way Ernesto has built two houses on the lot next to his for two of his sons.  

One has a major business manufacturing strings for guitars and other stringed instruments. 

This was a fascinating chance to glimpse into a world of whirring machines, piles of completed strings and discussions of world economics for marketing a specialized product like guitar strings in a global economy.

It was very interesting to see a worker take a piece of nylon, attach it to each end of a shaft, hit a lever to stretch it, attach a fine wire and turn on the motor to spin the nylon.  The fine wire wound around the central core in a few seconds and presto he had a finished guitar string.

A requisite bottle of vino appeared, was consumed, and enabled more discussion of farming in two very different countries. We were so pleased to have this opportunity to visit with a local farmer and learn more of this complicated country.

Tuesday Oct. 18
Cold last night? YUP... Frost on the plants, stiff fingers after a short walk and foggy glasses were a sure sign winter is on it's way. Italy is already preparing us for a return to Saskatchewan.

We started our day trying to get information about hiking in Parco Nazionale Della Maiella. A closed information office in Pacentro (the town that claims one of Madonna's relatives lived here) let us on to to Pascocostanzo another 30 km. roller coaster drive down the road.  Unfortunately, we arrived in the off season to be skunked again by a boarded up tourist centre.  Oh well… Just find a local Italian (believe it or not named 'Luigi') with a modicum of English and a command of International Charades  and presto you have the essence of a potential hike.  So fire up our van and launch out on what we believe to be the road out of town as indicated by a general broad sweep of Luigi's arm.  A few hair pin turns later we end up on an ancient cobblestone path built for a donkey cart.  Watch your rear view mirror brush within millimetres of the wall and then end up in a dead end parking lot with the only way out to back up.  Oh well again… Now retrace your steps, avoid one-way entrances, make eye contact with a smiling local driver who happily points to the way out of "Central Piazza" and there you go.  You have had an adventure. 

Ultimately, we did find a promising parking area so locked up the van and headed out.  After manoeuvring a Nordic skiing path through a moist open forest of old growth trees we came upon a local farmer who was able to point out the hiking path.  This turned out to be high on our list of fabulous hikes. We could see Pesccostanzo off in the distance as we set out.

The well worn trail let us up an open valley looking over verdant farms, bucolic scenes of animals grazing and a green Beach forest with an open canopy filled with shafts of golden light.

Hiking for a couple of hours let us to a steep rocky path near the tree line.  Everyone except Pat felt the limits of our oxygen carrying capacity so turned around and started back down. Pat forged ahead and made the summit after encountering recently fallen snow.  He took the following pictures to prove to the rest of us that his feet actually touched the summit. 

Well done Pat.

Back home we used our generous kitchen facilities to create our own supper of chicken, roasted potatoes, onion and garlic and green salad with fresh basil and parsley from Mike's herb garden here at GiaMia.

Monday Oct. 17

We are settled into our new home and have another Canadian breakfast of porridge, granola and yogurt.  

Preparing breakfast at the "Ranch"

Our plans today have us on another roller coaster ride to Scanno, a local 'Banff' with skiing in the winter, hiking in the summer and even a small lake to fish in.  We didn't try any fishing but this Great Crested Grebe I spotted as he emerged from a dive seemed to prove there were fish in the lake.

Great Crested Grebe with fish appetizer.

Italian towns are so interesting as they perch on top of rocky outcroppings and hang over cliffs as if defying gravity.  Wandering around Scanno emulated a video game where you travel down towering canyons veering left and right, pulling the joy stick up and down, glancing left and right to advance into the next realm.  The only difference was the inevitable presence of laundry hanging on clothes lines below many windows.

As we moved into the Central Piazza I noticed pigeons cleaning up after us careless humans.  These colourful  birds are in ever present existence in cities around the world.  I love their iridescent necks that shine in the sun like jewels on a crown.

Italian Rock Pigeon.

We stopped at a veggie/fruit seller to pick up some supplies for our lunch and eventual supper.

Linda and Lynne as the hunter gatherers.

Sharing extra long black licorice snakes. 

Hamish and Olive will be delighted to see that GnomeMan has some cousins in Italy.

After some delicious sweets and a coffee we engaged the local shopkeeper in an entertaining game of charades with doodles on paper scrapes, perusing topographical maps, deciphering the sounds of Italian and English with the ultimate goal of setting our directions for a hike along a valley close to Scanno.  On our first few meters out of the town we encountered a local 'turkey herder' who was a close cousin to the sheep herders we had met previously.

Feeding walnuts to turkeys.

This farmer was cracking walnuts with a rock and feeding the meat to the turkeys. There was some discussion that he was 'pre-stuffing' the birds with a walnut stuffing for extraordinary flavour.

We had a delightful lunch of bread from a local bakery near our home and cheese from Scanno.  Fruit and nuts rounded out the fare.

Lunch on the trail.