Lovely Abruzzo in photos

I’ve been away for a few days without an internet connection. And I realized that I didn’t miss it at all! This is all thanks to the lovely time I had in the Italian region of Abruzzo.

This is one of those few regions in Italy that even Italians don’t really know much about. It’s not famous as Tuscany, Sicily, the Riviera or Rome. I won’t be surprised if you never heard of it before, but as an Italian I really want you to discover its authentic beauty.

I had the first impression on Abruzzo last year, when I drove all the way from Apulia to Liguria and when I was crossing this region I found myself “wow-ing” a lot. Then I went to the Italian Alps for work, and met someone who became a great friend of mine, Anna, from Abruzzo. She invited me to visit her, so that’s how it all happened!

In this post I aim to show you the beauty of Abruzzo through some photos I took during my stay. I hope you enjoy the tour! And why not, maybe next time you travel to Italy you may as well consider Abruzzo as an alternative destination.

Wine tastings with Cantine Aperte

Every year in Italy we have an event called “Cantine Aperte” (Open Cellars) where wine cellars open for two days and with a symbolic admission of €5 per day you can taste all the wines of as many cellars as you want (if you can handle it!). This is a nationwide event, I experienced it in Piedmont before, and this time I had the pleasure of exploring the cellars and vineyards of the Chieti and Pescara provinces.

Me and my friends visited 3 cellars in total, not many if you consider that there were more than 40 in the area, but it would be impossible to see them all… and drink all that wine!

The vineyards of Abruzzo

The first cellar we visited: Chiusa Grande

Food at Chiusa Grande: bruschetta, cold cuts, pasta and more

The vineyards of Abruzzo

Spumante (sparkling wine): preparation in progress...

Measuring the bottles' pressure

Barriques

The owner showing us around at Bosco Nestore cellar

Grapes go here and this is how everything starts

Big barrels, huge barrels, small barrels

The tour of the cellars

More Barriques

The cellar at Bosco Nestore

Barrels in black and white

The oldest bottles from the 40's (anni means 'years')

Cheers!

The landscape

Abruzzo is a region with a great variety of landscapes. They have the Adriatic Sea on the eastern side, hills in the center and the Apennines Mountains on the west. The highest mountain is called Gran Sasso, with its 2912 meters of altitude, and even on summer the summit is striped with snow.

Where is Abruzzo?

The beautiful hills of Abruzzo

More beautiful hills and colors

Poppy in the fields

Made in Italy

All things typical Italian that I saw during my stay in Abruzzo: a friend’s mother with her tombolo, a FIAT car rally, and of course all the wine I mentioned above!

Tombolo - a typical Italian tool to make laces

FIAT vintage cars

The original FIAT Cinquecento (500)

The food

Last but not least, how can I write a post about Italy without mentioning food? Well of course this is not gonna happen! 

Vegetables barbecue in the garden

"Pallotte cacio e ovo": fried rissoles of cheese and egg

I am pretty sure that the most typical food in Abruzzo are the “arrosticini” – it literally means “little roasted things” and they are smoked skewers of lamb cut in small cubes. Yes they are oily and yes they are yummy! And be warned, one leads to another.

Arrosticini - the most typical food from Abruzzo

A close up of my arrosticino

End of the day – the sunset

End of the day and end of the post – here is the sunset over the vineyards of Abruzzo.

Abruzzo vineyards at sunset

Grapevine leaves at sunset, Abruzzo

Dandelions in the sunset light

I had a great time in Abruzzo, it was the perfect destination to relax after a pretty hectic time! Also it was very easy to reach it thanks to direct buses that go there from all the main Italian cities. So what are you waiting for? Check it out!

So how did you like the photos and Abruzzo? Who’s been there?