Barrea – Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo – Abruzzo

Another lovely stop on our Italian journey.  This park is the southern most of the Apennine parks and very  impressive.  We stayed in Barrea, which is a perfect little cliff-side town that is situated on Lago di Barrea (pictured) and surrounded by mountain peaks on all sides.  The mountains are amazingly beautiful and are known for their populations of bears and chamois, which we had the pleasure of seeing.  The one pictured alerted me to his presence with a funny little cough/bark sound.  The food pictured is typical of our hiking lunches.  We love gathering up our lunch in the morning and enjoying it with a perfect view.  The fun of it is visiting the alimentari for our meat and cheese (can I tell you how much we love mortadella), then moving on to the pasticceria for bread and cookies made that morning, and then making a quick stop at the verdura and frutta shop to pick up something a little fresh.  Most of these businesses are mom and pops, and if you return a second time you have the pleasure of moving from “boun giorno” to “ciao.” J  The beauty of the Apennines is worth the same awe of the Alps.  However, it’s much less traveled, which makes for a truly authentic Italian experience and one we have absolutely loved!!  Well, our time is drawing short and we are moving on to a new side of Italy.  The next stop for us is the Amalfi Coast!