Apennine delights

Base Nautica marina, Gaeta, is a very friendly, family run affair. The brother and sister owners, Luca and Anna Simeone, arranged a wonderful day out in the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park for the small group of resident cruisers. It was mid January and we were experiencing an unusually cold spell. We dressed warmly and set off on the two hour car journey up into the Apennine mountains.

Sanctuary of Canneto

We emerged into the cold at the Sanctuary of Canneto, Settefrati. It is situated at an altitude of 1030 metres above sea level and is an ancient destination of pilgrimage and a site of miracles. There has been a church here since the 13th century but it has been rebuilt over the years. The current facade dates from the 1820's while the controversial remainder was completed in the 1970's.

                                              Walking in the snowy beech forest

Icicles!

The wind was picking up and the snow was beginning to fall. The temperatures had plummeted to -1C but our guide Rosato was keen for us to follow him on a walking trail in the thickly forested valley of Canneto.  The Abruzzo National Park is the oldest in the Apennines and

is considered very important because it preserves various animal species such as the Chamois, Marsican brown bear and the Apennine wolf. We donned our hats, gloves and extra jackets and set off into the beech forest. It was so cold the rivulets had turned to ice and the waterfalls were surrounded with icicles. The blizzard increased and the wind chill decreased. Sadly we saw no wildlife but were happy to return to the warmth of the cars and set off in search of our well earned lunch.

Casa Lawrence

                                         Home grown goodies at Casa Lawrence

View from Casa Lawrence

Casa Lawrence apron

Carved walking stick handle

We dropped down to the sunshine and the charming agriturismo, Casa Lawrence, in Picinisco. It lies at a height of 850 metres and looks out over the Comino valley with lovely mountain views. For a time it was the residence of the English author D. H. Lawrence and the house where he stayed and wrote The Lost Girl. Today, as well as bed and breakfast accommodation, it has a restaurant serving delicious traditional dishes using home grown produce. After our splendid lunch washed down with copious amounts of the local vino rosso we had a tour of the house. It has now been converted into a museum and is furnished as it would have been at the time of Lawrence's stay there in 1919. We couldn't resist having a blow of the traditional zampogna (type of bagpipe) made from olive wood and with air sacks made from goat or lamb skin. This proved to be less tuneful than the Scottish bagpipe...!

Carved walking stick handles, Casa Lawrence

            

      Playing the Zampogna

Inside Casa Lawrence

Persimmon tree, Casa Lawrence

Our return journey saw us taking a detour to the village of Maranola where they were having, would you believe, a zampogne festival! The musicians were in the relative warmth of the church but the spectators were overspilling into the piazza outside. The assualt on our ears as well as the freezing temperatures made for a short stay and a return to the marina. 

On the way back down from the mountains