We took a drive this morning to the hills to visit Loreto Aprutino and Penne, both pretty medieval hill towns close to PescaraAprutino’s Duomo had a wedding going on so once again we stood and watched the proceedings. The bride was de lived by jeep, and most of the guests seemed to be late and had to be ushered in passed the bride!
We had a very nice coffee in a cafe in the square and DIDNT buy any hand painted ted Christmas baubles to take home - 55 euros, and I had to put a mask on to enter the shop - so no!
Penne especially is classed as very beautiful because of the extensive use of red brick in buildings and roads. It has some very grand buildings but many are in a poor state and the Doumo was closed for restoration works, and has been for some time I’d say. Penne is the gateway to the National Park of Gran Sasso. You can apparently ski in the morning and swim in the sea at Pescara in the Spring time.
The highest peaks in the Apennine’s were visible from Penne. Corno Grande is 2912 metres
We had an enjoyable walk up and down and around the town and then had a great porchetta panini from a van near the Saturday market.
On the way back to Pescara the winds suddenly increased dramatically, reaching 40 mph by the time we reached the apartment. The temperature dropped from low 30s to about 20C. We did a bit of shopping and got fuel on the way home but were then quite happy to stay in for the rest of the afternoon as it was quite wild outside, and we even had rain (there have been terrible storms to the North at Ancona in the last couple of days - flooding and lives lost)
It cleared later and we walked to the beach for our dinner reservation which we’d made yesterday we saw the devastation caused by the winds and found that our restaurant was closed. And it was quite chilly for once. I had my jumper with me for the first time. So - Dinner was some really tasty dishes from a take away from a bistro near the apartment.
Daily drive 38 miles
Total trip 2641 miles
