Abruzzo: Chillin’ out in an outdoor Italian wonderland

PESCOCOSTANZO, Italy – I hate July in Italy.

July is our dog days. La Dolce Vita is La Schifo Vita (The Life Sucks), Rome especially is steaming. It’s crowded. It’s just late enough in summer for the beaches to become packed but not late enough for the city to let out its hordes for holiday.

I usually just sit in my air-conditioned apartment and eat fruit.

Last week I changed it up. I cooled off. I fell back on a summer custom I learned from living 23 years in Denver. 

Marina and I escaped to a ski town.

Skiers don’t associate Central Italy with skiing much but the oft-overlooked region of Abruzzo, just east of Rome’s Lazio, has a thriving ski scene. It has 20 ski resorts covering 220 miles (370 kilometers) of ski runs. 

In the summer, Abruzzo is a natural paradise where we sat in a sun-splashed piazza and drank local Trebbiano white wine with a cool breeze coming down from the Apennine Mountains. It’s where we had a picnic in a near empty cross-country ski forest. It’s where we lounged on one of the prettiest lakes in Italy next to a town on the list of Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages. 

Abruzzo has three national parks, 400 miles (750 kilometers) of hiking paths and 80 miles (130 kilometers) of Adriatic coastline featuring some of the nicest seaside vistas in Italy.  

It’s also a great way for foreigners to get off the beaten tourist track. More than 90 percent of the tourists here are Italian.

The most important aspect for me last week? Our base at 1,400 meters (4,620 feet) was about 10 degrees cooler than Rome, which was hitting the mid-90s with humidity one night touching a suffocating 70 percent. It’s the first time I’ve worn long pants in a month.

The journey to Pescocostanzo

Public transportation, not great in Italy in general, is even more sparse here. To reach Abruzzo from Rome, you need either a car or lots of patience. Marina has a car; I have little patience.

It’s 120 miles (200 kilometers) from Rome to the ski town of Pescocostanzo, the perfect base to explore Abruzzo in summer. Through 2 ½ years, our TraveLazio (www.travelazio.it) website has shed light on some of the cutest towns in Italy.

For nature, however? Abruzzo edges Lazio. We knew we crossed into Abruzzo when we got up close and personal with the Apenninis, which go down Italy’s spine. We drove through deep emerald forests climbing high into the sky. Huge flocks of sheep chewed green meadows. 

We passed numerous bear crossing signs, meant to protect Abruzzo’s endangered bear population of 50-60 from oncoming cars more than protecting tourists from hungry bears.

When we reached Pescocostanzo, on the edge of Parco Nazionale della Majella and 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, it felt like off season. The streets were empty. We didn’t see a single backpacker. Not one mob followed a guide with a funny hat and a little flag talking in a microphone.

Coming from Rome, where 35,000 pilgrims have been pouring in for this year’s Rome Jubilee, it was a reverse culture shock.

Surrounded by mountains and forests and with only 1,038 residents, Pescocostanzo (known as Pesco to locals) seemed like the perfect artist’s colony, which it was. An earthquake in 1456 leveled the village but between the 15th and 18th century, Renaissance and Baroque architects poured in and covered the town in stone, iron and wood working, much of it visible today.

A narrow, stone, pedestrian-only street leads to Piazza del Municipio. It’s anchored by an 18th century fountain in front of the 18th century town hall and its huge clock tower, the Governor’s Palace and the 18th century Church of St. Nicholas. Red and pink flowers lined the windowsills.

I took a seat at La Piazzetta del Convento and had two glasses of crispy, cool Trebbiano and watched old-timers sit on benches. Middle-aged couples walked hand in hand. Some local youths kicked a soccer ball.

It was a slice of old Italy that’s sprinkled throughout the country but hard to find in these crowded summer months. Add cooler temperatures and I can see why so many Neapolitans, two hours to the south, built summer homes here.

Besides hiking, trekking, cycling and camping, one of the biggest summer activities around here is just hanging out. I found my perfect chill spot down the street in an unnamed piazza lined with linden trees. 

While Marina attended mass at the 15th century Santa Maria del Colle, I sat at the outdoor tables of Enoteca Vin Cafe’ and had a couple of the many excellent Montepulciano d’Abruzzo red wines. Here I met Pescocostanzo native Massimo Seven.

He’s a cop in Sulmona 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the north. He apparently had to be a cop there because Pescocostanzo has no crime. None. I asked him what he likes most about his hometown besides having to leave it to protect people.

“It’s ancient, medieval,” he said. “Did you see the church (Santa Maria del Colle)? It has five naves. This is very important.”

The town, however, has changed dramatically. The owner of our homey Donna Matilde Room & Breakfast, Gianluca Macino, and his girlfriend, Biancamaria Valentini, have lived in Pescocostanzo their whole lives. 

Macino said of his town: “There are good things and bad things. It’s tranquil. The quality of life. Without stress. Everybody knows each other. There’s a quality of friendship.”

But when the 57-year-old Macino was in school, Pescocostanzo had an even more natural air about it. We hit a week before they expected it to be full and it’s even more crowded in August. In winter, they get 10,000 tourists a day. 

“It’s changed a lot,” he said. “Now it’s a city for tourists. When I was little it was a city for us. There were plenty of more businesses. Many people left because traditional businesses closed. Big money arrived for quality tourism.”

It’s hard to find a cobbler, a tailor or a household appliance store. In fact, the closest bank is five miles away in Castel del Sangro. Pestocostanzo has one ATM. 

Since the 1980s, the town’s population has been cut in half. 

“When I was a child in the ‘70s and ‘80s, many children went to the elementary school,” Macino said. “There were 200 children. Now there are only 10.”

Carbo loading on his buffet breakfast, we headed out to hike the famed trails of Abruzzo.

Bosco di Sant’Antonio

We made it two kilometers.

Bosco di Sant’Antonio is a forest covering six square kilometers (550 hectares) about six miles (10 kilometers) north of Pescocostanzo. It’s part of the Parco Nazionale della Majella, home to 300 miles (500 kilometers) of hiking trails past mountains, cave paintings and Grotta del Cavallone, one of the deepest caves in Europe.

In winter, Bosco di Sant’Antonio is crisscrossed with cross-country ski trails ranging from 8-15 kilometers long.

In summer, however, the trails are perfect for hiking through a forest where maple trees are so thick, the bright sun can’t break through and bake the green grass. We hiked in the shade for about an hour, passing a naso, the stone fountains that dispense a steady stream of ice cold water, and ancient, knotted trees.

We saw maybe a dozen other people. The forest had no Internet signal.

The setting was so seductive, we found a spot near a maple tree that looked planted in the Paleolithic era and laid out our picnic blanket. We ate prosciutto and cheese sandwiches and fresh fruit then blissed out under the canopy for an hour.

We hiked no more. Abruzzo had other places to explore.

 Lago Barrea

About 40 minutes south of Pescocostanzo is Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise. The park has gained national fame for its environmentalism, particularly the protection of the wolf and brown bear populations.

The park’s Abruzzo portion is an outdoor oil painting. Crystal-clear lakes are sprinkled over land in which two-thirds is covered by beech forest. The Marsicani mountains, part of the Apennine chain, loom over every lookout.

We climbed the twisty road up the foothills through thick trees and then descended into the town of Barrea. In a country of beautiful  lakes, Lago Barrea is one of the most underrated in Italy. Looking down from the town’s many viewpoints, the lake stretches three miles toward the mountains reflected off the water.

Inlets covered with trees jut into the lake which has scattered clearings for swimming and sunbathing.

We drove along the beach before parking and walking down to the water. The view isn’t as impressive from up above. Like Italian beaches, lounge chairs dotted the beach. A bar sporting an odd American West theme sold bar food and lounge chairs for €5 each.

We didn’t care. On a sunny, 78-degree day, we found a shady spot, rolled out my blanket and enjoyed the cool breeze coming off the lake. It was the first time I’ve felt chilled since the Scottish Highlands last month.

Barrea itself is worth a stroll. Besides its spectacular views of the lake, it is laced with stone alleys like Via Stretta (Italian for “tight”) where we found Il Borgo Antico. It’s a cute, little trattoria where we sat on a table on an alley hill and ate arrosticini, Abruzzo’s signature grilled lamb chunks on sticks and served in a clay bucket.

Palena

On our last day, we continued our tour of I Borghi Piu Belli d’Italia (The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy). Palena (pop. 1,242) is just 10 miles (18 kilometers) north of Pescocostanzo and the ancestral home to Perry Como, the American crooner who sold 100 million records from the 1940s to ‘80s. His parents moved from Palena to Canonsburg, Pa., in 1910 and Perry was born two years later, the seventh of 13 children.

Palena’s biggest fame, however, came about, oh, 11 million years ago. During that time, dinosaurs roamed this area where thick forests now stand. The impossibly named Museo Geopaleontologico dell’Alto Aventino has fossils that were found dating back 5-11 million years.

One display sports a mammoth tusk about seven feet long dating back to the Pleistocene era about 1 million years ago. Near it is a giant hippo jaw bone the size of a small oven.

The museum is next to Castello Ducale built in 1136 and in 1216 served as the home to St. Francis of Assisi. Today the castle and museum offer terrific views of the pretty village with the Aventino river running through it, the mountains on one side and the distant Adriatic Sea on the other.

We strolled up the pedestrian street, Corso Umberto I, lined with jewelry stores and brightly colored buildings. We stopped at Caffe Del Corso for a nice local Pecorino as the sun set behind the mountains. I felt a nice cool breeze.

Abruzzo? No sweat.

If you’re thinking of going …

How to get there: Drive. Two buses a day leave Rome’s Tiburtina Station f0r Pescocostanzo, but it takes four hours with connections in Sulmona and Roccaraso. The cost is €29-€41. The closest train station is Sulmona. A taxi is needed for the last 20 miles (38 kilometers). Then you need a car to visit the national parks. Car rentals in Rome currently start at €22 a day.

Where to stay: Donna Matilde Room & Breakfast, Viale Carlo Sabatini 6, Pescocostanzo, 39-349-090-6922, https://hotelmania.net/hotel/pescocostanzo/donna-matilde, donnamatilde.info@gmail.com. Big, modern comfortable rooms in a house a five-minute walk from the main square. I paid €390 for three nights.

Where to eat: Tre Frati, Viale Cosimo Fanzago 4, Pescocostanzo, www.trefrati.it, info@trefrati.it. Elegant restaurant near hotel. Serves a variety of dishes using Abruzzo’s signature chitarra pasta (long square cut noodles). Pasta dishes from €9-€18. Meat dishes from €10-€20. Try the fettuccella semola e limo al ragu bianco (wide wheat pasta with lime and white meat sauce). I paid €54 for two, including wine.

When to go: Avoid August. It’s packed. Spring and early summer is much cooler than Rome. Expect snow all winter.

For more information: Informazione Turistiche Pescocostanzo, Via Carceri 4, 39-08-64-641-440, https://www.facebook.com/InfoTourismAbruzzo, infomazionituristichepesco@gmail.com, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., 4:30-8 p.m. Friday-Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m., 4:30-8 p.m. Thursday.