Escaping the city on the ski slopes of Abruzzo

My kids had a week of school vacation in February and they wanted to go skiing, and I was happy to exchange the office for the ski slopes for one glorious week. There’s something special about escaping the city to take temporary residence in the mountains. Our mountain escape of Ovindoli, in the region of…

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Ringing in the New Year on the slopes of Abruzzo

I generally don’t travel far during the holidays. While I’m almost always up for travel, the super-busy Christmas holidays is a time I’d rather not deal with hectic airports or packed trains and highways. I tend to stick close to Rome, generally making short trips to nearby towns and cities. It’s also a great time…

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Spring/summer mountain biking in Abruzzo

It’s been far too long since I’ve managed to get out to my little mountain escape from the city, in Ovindoli, Abruzzo. I’ve been dying for a weekend escape mountain biking on this picturesque high plain in the Apennine mountains. I wrote about my last biking trip out here in the autumn. Although I never…

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A slice of heaven: mountains and a book

Just thinking back to my last weekend. After many of months of kids’ exams, kids’ sports competitions and my own work keeping me away from my preferred weekend getaway in the Apennine mountains of central Italy, I finally (!!!)  managed to escape the city. The weekend was short, but enjoyable. Here I am out-of-frame in…

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Mountain biking & fall foliage in Abruzzo

I often find myself missing home when the autumn months roll around. As much as I love Rome, there is no transition between the seasons in the Eternal City, no colorful fall foliage. This is why I enjoy visiting nearby Abruzzo during these months, to enjoy the sights, smells and climate of the autumns I miss.…

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Tennis & more in Abruzzo’s Campo di Giove

My oldest son went to tennis camp in Campo di Giove during the summer, and he loved playing tennis in the cooler mountain air and enjoying walks around the little town of Campo di Giove. Campo di Giove is a small mountain town in the Abruzzo region, with just over 800 inhabitants. It is situated…

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Mountain biking in Abruzzo

The region of Abruzzo has become my favored retreat from the hectic pace of city life in Rome. This mountainous region just east of Rome has plenty of fresh air and pretty countryside. One of the things I love doing when I am out here is mountain biking with my family. My children and I…

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Ovid’s birthplace: Sulmona, Abruzzo

Sulmona is a small town in the region of Abruzzo. It is located near one of Abruzzo’s three national parks: the National Park of the Majella. The town dates back to before the Roman Empire, but it was the era of the Roman Empire in which Sulmona boasted its most famous resident: Publio Ovidio Nasone,…

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