Sulmona

Time with friends
Kat and (Italian husband) Fabio have travelled over from the UK and we’ve arranged to meet in Abruzzo with their children (and about 30 of their family members on their annual family reunion!) where they both used to live (Fabio is from Sulmona).

We arrive a little earlier than planned so gatecrash their Friday night family meal at one of their favourite local pizzerias. We get our first taste of truffles (which Coen LOVES!) and some other delicious pasta, and a medicinal shot of some italian liquor (to help the anklle pain!). Add some rain and I’m now hobbling around the slippery cobbles in flip flops (my trainers wouldn’t fit comfortably).

As the hotel they are staying at belongs to their friend, they’ve let us stay in the car park for the weekend.

The children are so excited to be in the company of so many other English children for a whole weekend!

Kat has arranged a full itinerary for her family and we are invited to join in while we are there. We head back to the centre of Sulmona in the morning for market day, have a drink in their favourite ‘pub’ (which we would not have even noticed was there without them), and the children all enjoyed ice cream (#1) in the sun.

We then head out to Kats favourite restaurant for a pre-arranged meal (we are loving not having to think about where we’re going, what we’re eating, and how to get there - as we manage to squeeze into their convoy of cars with children on our laps!). We would DEFINITELY never have found this place on our own, I’m not even sure I know where it was, but it was a beautiful place set amongst the hills, surrounded by poppy fields with a grand back drop of mountains. The food starts to arrive, and we get more truffle pasta and some other delicious local dishes, including a speciality pink trout.

Next up we visit an old castle set on top of the hillsides with beautiful views all around, and the children have a giant game of hide and seek inside the castle walls and we relax/hobble up to the top to see how far we can see.

We then have to split as the convoy of cars are going in two directions and there is not enough space for all of us to go in one direction!! So Nic and Coen head back to the hotel to explore the grounds, find the ponds and tractors, have a little rest and some food, whilst Amelia and I tag along to visit Fabio’s family. Amelia is in her absolute element when she sees their little cousin’s beautiful bedroom, and box full of dolls with shoes and everything!! The children play in the garden while we sit and relax with a drink, and then get fed more amazing Italian food prepared by Fabio’s brother. It’s so good that I have to ask if I can take a doggy bag back for Nic as I feel bad eating delicious food with him!

The next day is the wine festival - the reason for visiting at this time of year, La Cantina. Unfortunately it is possibly Italy’s wettest day of the year so far! Still hopeful, we board the coach at 9am, flip flops on, and head out to the first stop. At this point we realise, having got on the coach so early, this is going to be early wine drinking, even by Italian standards!

The first stop gives us a wine glass and necklace carrier to hang it in and a grand tour of the wine ‘factory’ with huge cylinders and barrels on wine in the basement as far as the eye can see. We get a glass of red and white at each stop - however, we’ve quickly realised at this first stop that the sommelier at the white wine table is not taking our tickets, so naturally we go back for a few more glasses...and now a little less sober than when we arrived, and with soaking wet children who have been rolling about in the fountains, we board the coach for the next stop.

Another wine tour to show us how the wine is made and more wine and hog roast, this stop also has a DJ playing in a beautiful yard and we all imagine how beautiful it would be if we were stood in glorious sunshine instead of muddy puddles! Still the foods good, the wines good, the kids are happy....

We take a vote on the bus and decide to do a slightly shorter tour due to the weather.

We stop at two more stops, one where we get some tasty Italian food, but have to fight the crowds to get some wine, and another set on top of beautiful rolling hills, vineyards spreading below and a beautiful slate deck where the festival area sits. Unfortunately, rain, slate and flip flops aren’t a good combo, so it feels a bit like an hour of drinking wine on an ice rink to me, but the children find some big colourful blocks to have some dance offs on, and we get unlimited wine to finish the tour.

Back to the bus, and we head back to the hotel where our children get their first bath in 7 weeks and we eat A LOT of pizza for our final night with Kat and her wonderful family.

It’s fair to say that we all thoroughly enjoyed our weekend here, a place we would not have visited had it not been to meet friends, but also for the normal English chat we got (of course, Nic loves to talk, so definitely made the most of having no language barriers), the children to be able play so nicely with other children, and we left the hotel so thankful for the weekend’s hospitality, a break from the norm, and time with friends xxRead more