May 29 to June 1 Abruzzo

Termoli to Barrea, a beautiful little village on the Sangro River in the Monti Della Meta mountains, east of Rome about half way to the east coast. Temperature dropped from about 23 deg at Termoli to 13 deg at Barrea. Met up with Pasetta, an old friend of my sister & a real old character, who filled us in on the best walks for the area. Had a stroll through the historic streets & down to the lakeside in light rain then settled in to our comfy Rifugio as the temp dropped to 8 deg.

Woke to bright sunshine & a fresh coating of snow on the mountains. Headed off for a walk up Malafiglia, the hill behind the Rifugio. Absolutely stunning panoramic views across the mountains, valleys, gorges & lake. Wild flowers of all colours dotted the sides of the path & horses grazed the meadows with bells around their necks – paradise. Meandered back to the old town for a coffee & a rest. Weather closed in again, 5 deg & drizzling when we finished dinner but a great day.

Walk above Lago di Barrea

Lago di Barrea

Another sunny start to the day (a balmy 9 deg) & another beautiful walk – this time around the lake. More magnificent mountain & forest scenery. Rain started intermittently & then settled in by the time we completed the walk. Settled down in our warm Rifugio for the rest of the afternoon.

Barrea lake walk

Barrea forest

June 1 – summer? – but it’s under 10 degrees & raining? Left the amazing Barrea & headed first to Scanno with its own lovely lake then to the incredible Castrovalva – another town perched on a cliff top but the road up is challenging for those afraid of heights or claustrophobic going through single lane tunnels. After this we headed to Sulmona where they make the best sugared almonds, Navelli where they specialise in saffron & on to the Gran Sasso mountains which offered more incredible scenery with added snow. The road we wanted to take was closed by snow so had to detour to L’Aquila which is still recovering from a 2009 earthquake.

Road to Castrovalva

Santo Stefano di Sessanio

Gran Sasso mountains