April 21, 2017. A visit to another hilltop village

LOCATION:  Housesitting outside of Casoli,  Italy in the Abruzzo region

WEATHER:  Horrid in the AM -- high winds, rain and cold. Clearing in the PM. Highs about 50

 

We hibernated indoors in the morning as the weather was so awful.  We were finally able to corral the second cat inside the house.  Tonight's low temperature is supposed to get down to below freezing, so we are glad she is in.  She is not....she whines all of the time to go out.  

By mid-afternoon, the clouds started clearing and the rain stopped.  We decided to go to one more town on our "to see" list.  It is about 15 miles from here, way up in the mountains. Our little Fiat struggled to climb up the entrance road to the town.

 

With no particular agenda, we started walking around the town.  It is one of the oldest towns around here.  

As we were walking around, this lady approached us and said in Italian/English, "come with me and I will show you the church".  We followed her like sheep around.  It was our personal tour.  She was very animated.  Her English vocabulary consisted mostly of "very beautiful".  She proudly took us inside the church, built back in the 1100s.

Indoors, she said that these 23 entrance steps are unique in church designs.

She was insistent about my taking pictures of all the beautiful artwork, and recommended different positions from which to snap the photos.

  It really is a pretty church.  After about 20 minutes, when she finished our tour, she asked for a contribution to the church (we think).   It was a unique experience!  We are not sure if she works in any official capacity, or is just making a euro or two.  In any case, it helped us experience the village a bit more.

  We stopped at the grocery store on our way home for a few final supplies to restock items the homeowners had bought for us.  

DINNER:  Chicken cacciatore.  I'm not sure if this is authentic Italian or some sort of American Italian invention. In any case, I made a thick tomato sauce with onions, garlic, whole tomatoes, bell peppers and chicken pieces and served it with pasta.  Side dish was baby artichokes.