High plain drifters

We have been neglecting the blog somewhat, which is down to a very busy couple of weeks, a couple of visitors, a proper head cold, and a mountain of wood to chop, bookshelves to construct etc. Those are our excuses anyway.

For the last two weeks we have been living la dolce vita and it is wonderful. We know a few Italian ex-pats in London and all we can say is - what were you thinking guys? It is seriously tempting to sell up the Palais de Hackney and stay here forever. Still, I suppose it's easier to be romantic about a place when you can't understand a word anyone is saying and yet still fully comprehend their hospitality.

So about a hundred years ago, or so it feels, we packed up the Alps house and drove another 10 hours further south to Abruzzo - our home for October. On the way we stopped at the Lamborghini museum, which Charlie claimed to prefer to the Ferrari one from two weeks before, although we were somewhat underwhelmed by their basic lack of effort, with just two rooms and about 20 cars. Having said that they did have two of the most beautiful cars ever designed on display so it was difficult to be too crestfallen. 

Concept Miura and we think a Diabolo glued to the wall in the background

We then drove to Sasso Marconi to overnight in a quaint bed and breakfast half an hour's drive from Bologna (our new spiritual home). The B&B was owned and run by an old married couple, Luciano and Loredana, who had between them about as much English as we have Italian so we awkwardly muddled through the initial meeting and felt a little out of place, ashamed at our lack of effort to pick up even a few Italian phrases. However, we needn't have worried as they were the perfect hosts and could not have been more welcoming. They adored Charlie and played with him once he got past his initial shyness. He got to pet their cats (although not the aloof, scratchy but pretty tabby), run around the farm rolling a Frisbee and even sit on a tractor and incessantly beep the horn which was very popular with him but no one else.

"which button is the horn again?"

That evening we put Charlie to bed and sat out under a pergola and celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary with a fusion gourmet picnic dinner of foie gras, parma ham and mozzarella. Sadly it didn't last long enough for us to snap a picture and we were also fortified by copious free wine and beer supplied by our generous hosts. 

The next morning at breakfast we fired up the google translate app and suddenly we could communicate with our hosts! Loredana offered us an impromptu pasta making lesson, which we jumped at. We made fresh egg tagliatelle and watched in awe as Loredana assisted our amateurish efforts to roll out the pasta, showing her years of experience. We've since tried it out again and will hopefully be doing another pasta making lesson soon, so we'll save the gory details of how to make your very own carb-fest for another post. 

Charlie made his own mini pasta dough, which Loredana claimed to be better than ours

After reluctantly leaving the B&B we raced into Bologna to pay another whistle-stop visit before heading south. Luckily we had the trusty bikes so we whizzed through the city dodging pedestrians to eat lunch at Tamburini restaurant, which is more a shrine to ham than an eating establishment. 

Ham salad, ham and cheese, more ham and controversially polpo salad

Then we nipped over to the ice cream shop of our dreams, Cremeria Funivia, before jumping back in the car to drive 4.5 hours south to Abruzzo. We arrived with our hosts, Jean and Martin, rather late but just in time for dinner and clutching our handmade tagliatelle, which went very well with the ragù that Jean had prepared. Jean and Martin are the parents of our very good friend Cate, and have kindly (or perhaps foolishly) agreed to let us stay in their house this month. The house has jaw-dropping views across the Abruzzo countryside right to the sea and to the Gran Sasso mountain. It's near the medieval town of Penne, which we are busy discovering along with the surrounding area.

Over the rainbow

Highlights so far of Abruzzo:

A charming book cafe in Penne, which makes a hot chocolate so thick a spoon stands up in it. 

Chocolate soup

Seeing Ed's Dad who was fortuitously holidaying nearby. Charlie bossed him around incessantly but Grandpa got his own back by chasing the little ragazzo around the beach flinging seaweed at him as Charlie squealed in a mix of terror and delight! 

"dig faster old man"

Having Charlie's best friend Remy to stay with his mum Ellen. These two insisted on having their photo taken in every doorway in Penne.

Visiting the beach in Pineto and astonishing all the Italians wrapped up in bomber jackets by picnicking on the beach and paddling in the sea.

Ed having numerous manly moments chopping wood and building book shelves for Jean and Martin. Katie may buy him a lumberjack shirt for Christmas.

Making our own spinach and ricotta tortellini and vegetarian lasagna, although admittedly with the help of a pasta machine.

They started pretty rough but we got better

But the biggest highlight has to be driving up to the Campo Imperatore. This is a vast alpine meadow about 2,000 metres above sea level surrounded by snowy mountains. 

It was cold, so Charlie opted for the three hoodie look

The best thing is that smack bang in the middle of this huge plain are two makeshift butchers/restaurants. You buy meat, such as sausages or the local delicacy arrosticini (small meat skewers), which are grilled by a man on a BBQ outside. Then eat that with a hunk of bread, some local pecorino cheese and a (small) bottle of Montepulciano. Charlie summed it up perfectly as we sat tucking into this rustic feast in the middle of the stunning mountain amphitheatre - 'Mummy, today is a good day'.

Cheese, meat, bread & wine, what more could a toddler want for lunch?

After that we visited the medieval towns of San Stefano di Sessasio and Castel del Monte, both of which featured in the 2010 film 'The American'. Indeed as we explored the tiny cobbled streets and hidden squares, we almost expected George Clooney to emerge from a dark corner (we live in hope). Sadly both towns are still far from repaired after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake and Charlie was fascinated by all the cranes. We were amused to note that the legendary sartorial elegance of the Italians even counts for construction workers, many of whom were wearing chic leather jackets and not a builder's bum in sight.

We've got lots planned for the next week including a couple of cooking classes and it will be lovely to see Ed's Mum, who is popping out for a couple of days. Then our friends Cate and Paul with their three children arrive, which will be wonderful for both us and Charlie. 

By the end of the month, we'll be on a ferry to Greece. We've decided that although it's fun marauding around the countryside like demented beasts devouring everything in sight, we might like to turn our attention to a more worthy cause for a bit. In November we're going to volunteer with Refugee Support Europe, working in refugee camps around Thessaloniki, doing whatever we can to be helpful to people who are far less lucky than we are. So if the weather in Blighty is getting you down (or just the grim politics), then swap a lot of pounds for a few euros and come and pay us a visit.

But before then, there'll certainly be lots more Italian food to tell you about...