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Abruzzo, Luna di Miele

A few years back, I read about a photographer’s trip to Italy’s Abruzzo. I was impressed by the wonderful pictures of mountains and sea and added a bookmark in my mind: definitely a place to visit before I die. Back then, I did not expect that this would in fact once become my honeymoon trip! As it turns out, it was the right choice. We settled in Crecchio and stayed in a  very romantic flat (actually house!) in the premises of Vini Fantini’s Borgo Baccile. From there, we took day trips to closeby villages (Orsogna, Guardiagrele), to the coast (Marina di San Vito), and we also ventured in the mountains. We drove up to the Passo Lanciano-Majelletta in the Majella National Park, a ski region as well as a well-known mountain stage for the Giro d’Italia. We saw the street scribblings from 2017!

The whole area actually seems pristine, not to say a bit abandoned. Many houses by the street are only half-way built, the Sunday market in Orsogna sells fashion from ten years ago, and we seldom crossed paths with other tourists. The most lovely village of Pretoro was not even mentioned in our tourist guide, and the place itself seemed deserted. Where was everybody? Maybe in only a few years from now, smart investors from abroad will have snapped up all those lovely “vendesi”-houses and rent it out to American tourists on the hunt for the original Italy.

We were happy to have this kind of solitude, it was our honeymoon after all. The wonderful pool was mostly ours, and there was always a free table in the restaurants to indulge with pasta, seafood or porcupine. And wine! Yes wine! Because… it was actually in Italy, Venice, where we have fallen in love in a wine bar. Qui si chiude il cerchio – und so schließt sich der Kreis.