Leaving Seattle and Arriving in Sulmona

We got up at 3:30am on Tuesday morning bright and early for our 5am town car ride to SeaTac to make our 7:23pm Delta flight to JFK and then our connecting flight to Rome at 5:15pm. Both flights were uneventful and we arrived in Rome at around 8am Wednesday, April 30th to a warm and sunny morning! We were met at the ariport by Road Scholar staff and took a 2-3 hour bus ride towards and through the Apennine Mountains https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Apennine_Mountains into Abruzzo for our adventure to begin. Here are a few photos of the mountains during our bus ride to Sulmona. Some aren't very good since I took them from the bus, but it does give you a sense of how dramatic the views changed as we approached and drove through the Apennines!

This is a brand new Road Scholar trip with ours being only the 2nd time it has been offered. The first such trip was just a few weeks ago and a friend of ours from Mirabella (Laura Bailey) had the good fortune to have been part of that very first Abruzzo tour. She returned just a few days before our departure and reported having an amazing experience! She also dropped by a book by Harry Clifton titled, On the Spine of Italy: A Year in the Abruzzi about an Irish couple who spent a year in a small Apennine Mountain village not far from here. They were both writers and wanted a year of quiet away from the hustle and bustle of their normal lives. When they arrived in the summer they were barely noticed since many Americans with roots in Abruzzo return to visit family villages for the summer. When the "crowds" all left at the start of fall, they gradually became integrated into village life and the brutalities of an Abruzzi winter!

It is not a fast paced read but rather an introspective reflection of life in Abruzzo and by the end, you almost felt that you knew a number of villagers who they became acquainted with. Of course the village had a bar where much social activity occurred and his impression was that life there was less about the work you do and so much more about the relationships and connections between the people and local villages that help each other survive what can be a pretty hard life.

We arrived at our hotel about 12:30 and our rooms were not quite ready so of course, Michael and I walked to an open bar/restaurant and had a bit of lunch overlooking a lovely park. Lunch included Fried Stuffed Ascolane Olives that are a signature dish from Le Marche https://www.greatitalianchefs.com/recipes/olive-ascolane-recipe-deep-fried-olives and a mushroom/sausage white pizza -- and some Abruzzi white wine of course! Here is a shot of our hotel name as well as maps of Sulmona followed by our lunch.

Checked into our hotel which is modest but more than adequate with a lovely view of the mountains. We will stay in the same hotel our entire time in Abruzzo with day trips to mountain villages.

We had an orientation meeting where we met our fellow travelers which was fun including several travelers with Abruzzi roots. These include Roberto and Deb Giovannucci from Boston. Rob's grandfather was from Prezza where we will visit today. Apparently there is a WWI memorial with his name on it as well as a Giovannucci Street there. Another woman's father was born here and yet another had Abruzzi grandparents who immigrated. The hotel then put on a lovely Aperitivo di Benvenuto (welcoming cocktail) with Abruzzi wine along with local salami, taralli, Italian bread with olive oil, and assorted olives. Quite lovely and then of course, we went into dinner at the hotel which was quite outstanding. Here is the menu with our various dishes:

I forgot to take a photo of the first course which was an excellent bean soup with homemade small pasta squares. It was excellent but as most bean soups are, not the most photogenic of courses!

The second course was a homemade papparedelle with porcini mushrooms and spinach that was outstanding. The first two courses left me completely full but I did at least taste the meat and dessert course but only a bite or two.

And I didn't take a picture of the dessert -- not to sweet but not worth eating in my opinion. Finally, a few photos from the dining room at sunset!

By this time it was almost 9pm and I was exhausted from the flights and a full day here and headed to bed!