What’s Cooking Around Lake Campotosto

Here’s how to cook the perfect slice of pan-fried pecorino which is sweetly crispy on one side as shared by Mascioni’s Locanda Mausonium

Divine Giovanni Gasparro Paintings in L’Aquila

Here is another reason to visit Abruzzo: the contemporary paintings in L’Aquila by Giovanni Gasparro permanently displayed in S. Giuseppe di Artigiano.

“In the end, we got used to moonlight again.” Ignazio Silone

I promised myself that I would not take any more photos of earthquake damage in L’Aquila. I’m not going to complain about slow recovery efforts either.…

Emanuela Di Felice

Emanuela Di Felice worked for several years at Sextanio in S. Stefano di Sessanio before she retired in nearby Barisciano. The albergo diffuso here may have…

Armando Adriani

Armando Adriani is the husband of my mother’s first cousin, Liberata Antonelli. He lives in Mascioni. Now in his late 80’s, he told me recently how…

Frank Antonelli

My grandfather, Frank Antonelli left Mascioni before the construction of Lake Campotosto. He arrived in the US in 1905. I have found one old photograph/postcard of…

Era Fascista in L’Aquila

The fascist architectural style that dots the city is certainly a jolt from the Medieval and Baroque structures that seem more in tune with L’Aquila’s…

Silent Night in Montereale

Inspiration to write a post this Christmas season comes from a traditional pilgrimage that I took part in for the first time last June. The custom…

Baking History in L’Aquila

August 28 & 29- I love everything about L’Aquila’s celebration of the ancient la perdonanza, a two day window of opportunity to atone and renew. To…

Street Life in Santo Stefano di Sessanio

Estella Canziani’s Through the Apennines and the Lands of the Abruzzi (1928) is the Bible for poking around into the world of our parente. Her drawings…