This post is a bit delayed, I had written it almost three weeks ago and I'm only getting around to posting it now. I will also be doing a wedding post, a Milan tour post, and a honeymoon post, so keep checking back in the next few weeks!
I know I said I’d be good about posting new content every Friday, but turns out when you’re two weeks out from your wedding, there’s very little time leftover after tastings, meetings, and table planning!
So I’m back at work, August vacation is over (mine was not overly extensive since I only took a week off) and most Italians are slowly coming out of their beach-induced comas to re-start the dreadful countdown to the next vacation. I suppose that would be Christmas which truthfully, is not that far away.
For Ferragosto this year, we had our traditional day out in the mountains of Abruzzo. You can even check out last year’s post here: Ferragosto in Abruzzo's Mountains
We always stay in Pacentro, a town nestled into the mountains overlooking Sulmona and made famous by the fact that Madonna’s family is from here. The day of Ferragosto is always one that reminds more of something Canadian than Italian- we spent the entire day camped out in the open air with a fire, blankets to lay down on, and enough food to feed a small village.
I know I said I’d be good about posting new content every Friday, but turns out when you’re two weeks out from your wedding, there’s very little time leftover after tastings, meetings, and table planning!
So I’m back at work, August vacation is over (mine was not overly extensive since I only took a week off) and most Italians are slowly coming out of their beach-induced comas to re-start the dreadful countdown to the next vacation. I suppose that would be Christmas which truthfully, is not that far away.
For Ferragosto this year, we had our traditional day out in the mountains of Abruzzo. You can even check out last year’s post here: Ferragosto in Abruzzo's Mountains
We always stay in Pacentro, a town nestled into the mountains overlooking Sulmona and made famous by the fact that Madonna’s family is from here. The day of Ferragosto is always one that reminds more of something Canadian than Italian- we spent the entire day camped out in the open air with a fire, blankets to lay down on, and enough food to feed a small village.
We didn’t move much from Pacentro during our five days there, but one day we did feel compelled to check out the #1 thing to see in Abruzzo according to TripAdvisor: Rocca Calascio. It’s a fortress on the very top of a mountain and apparently considered the highest in the Apennines at an elevation of 1, 460 metres. It was simply stunning and made me feel like I was coming up to a Game of Thrones set. I’ve included photos but just know that they do not do justice at all to the sensation you get stumbling up the cliffs and looking down at the drop on either side (this would absolutely never be allowed in Canada, it’s just a lawsuit waiting to happen).
The other place we went to (on our 8 year anniversary), was Ortona. We essentially picked it out of a hat but in the end, it turned out to be more destiny than odd luck- Ortona was the site of a significant battle during the second World War between the Germans and Canadians. Canada eventually came out victorious, but not after losing a huge number of young soldiers, some that even came from Alberta. In the morning we went to the seaside and the afternoon we spent at the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery. I was extremely emotional seeing all the graves of sons, husbands, fathers, and brothers who would never return home to Canada again. There were even some engravings that said ‘resting in Italy but living on in Canada’. We did a very quick tour of the town center before going back to Pacentro- the last photo above is of the preparations in progress for an "antichi sapori" event taking place that evening.
After heading home to Bergamo, we spent the weekend out on the motorcycle, first touring Monza’s Ville Reale (on a very, very rainy day) and then heading to Bellagio on Lake Como.
After heading home to Bergamo, we spent the weekend out on the motorcycle, first touring Monza’s Ville Reale (on a very, very rainy day) and then heading to Bellagio on Lake Como.
