April 13, 2017. A day on the Adriatic Sea

LOCATION:  Housesitting in a villa outside of Casoili, in the Abruzzo region of Italy

WEATHER:  Beautiful.  Highs about 70

 

Today, we went to the beach.  Our British friend drew us a map with suggestions of places to go there.  It is about 20 miles away, but takes about 45 minutes.  It is still early for the Italians to go to the beach, so it pretty empty, apart from a carload of Germans.

Our charge Gino loved running around on the beach, and smelling all the smells.

We stopped at one of the few beachside cafes that is open this time of year.

 

We had a beer, wine, and million-dollar view for $4.  When we finished our drinks and got ready to pay, George realized that he had left all of his cash in his long pants when he put on his shorts this AM.  We said, " oh well, we can pay with a credit card".  But no, the wallet was not in his shorts pocket either!  And, I had left my wallet at the villa.  We were sunk!  The only thing to do was for George to go back to the villa to fetch the money.  So, I sat at the cafe for about 2 hours.  I was the only cusstomer.  At one point, the waiter said something like this in Italian..."Sorry, lady.  I'm leaving now.  Got to go home for lunch".  And he promptly closed all the windows and doors and left!  I guess he cared more for his lunch than he did the money from our wine and beer.  He came back about an hour later, to find me still waiting.  Finally, George returned.  We paid up and left.  I bet we double-check for cash when we go on our next outing!  

After the beach, we went exploring in the area and went to a war cemetery.  It is called the English Cemetery.  This area was an important battleground in WWII.  Lots of British soldiers were killed here.

The countryside is so pretty here.  This is a typical field - wheat and olive trees.

This farmer has an artichoke field.  Artichokes are at their peak here now.

Then, back toward the beach to visit a famous abbey.  It is perched on a cliff with a magnificent view of the beach below.

This coast is famous for these "trabocchis".  They appear to be old ricketty fishing huts that are now restaurants.  We want to try one. We've been told that many things like this will open for the season after Easter.

Back home, we watched the sun set around a BBQ fire.  Notice the wood that George cut and I stacked.  We are trying to keep up with our friends in Nova Scotia who have stacked mountains of firewood.  Ours cannot compare!

DINNER:  Pasta with chickpeas.  While we were at the grocery store the other day, all of the Italian housewives were grabbing jars of chickpeas "on oferta" --- on sale.  So, I picked up a jar, too.  Nice to have on hand.  I just made a cheese sauce and added the chickpeas with some sauteed onion and leftover bits of meat.  Served over tagliatelle.  Bueno!