Costa dei Trabocchi
While we live most of the year in Toscana, we do travel to our home in Abruzzo often. Abruzzo is our ‘other italy’, opposite Tuscany in many ways, similar in few. An entire book stands to be written about our love of both…equal yet different. While Tuscany is known the world over, and just the word alone conjures a very clear view in one’s mind, Abruzzo is like our little mysterious secret. Most people draw a blank when we say, “we have a home in Abruzzo”.
Abruzzo, in a word, is adventurous. Unlike Toscana, it is untamed, untouristy, and untouched. In the summer, it is a nice escape. Our home is in the mountains where is it noticeably cooler with fresh, cool air. The terrain is forested with swaths of open meadows where sheep and cows graze the day away. It’s sometimes so quiet, you can hear the clanging of the sheep’s bells as if they are on the street below, yet you can see them speckled across the adjacent mountain kilometers away. Nature echoes through valleys, church bells converse across hilltops, and the wind whispers through remote villages; speaking a language of life only the mountains know.
A drive down our mountain and we are at the sea. The air becomes salty with a hint of humidity - the same salty air from my childhood in Southern California. We follow our Sangro River as it flows from our mountain to the sea - nature connected. Along the way, the soil becomes more fertile and we shout out the different crops we see: apple trees, pear trees, orange trees, corn, spinach, etc and so on. Unlike Tuscany, wine vines in Abruzzo grow tabletop-style on trellises, which covers entire hillsides in one solid green leafy blanket. As you approach the sea, bamboo jets up along the roadway blocking your view until you hit the coastline where the blue Adriatic fades into the skyline of the horizon.
Our coastline is magical. So much so, it has its very own name - Costa dei Trabocchi. Famous for the ‘Trabocco’ (also Trabucco or Travocc depending on the dialect). The coastline itself is very diverse where the beaches range from large stones, pebbles, sand to rocky cliffs. No matter the shoreline, our Chieti seaside is unique thanks to these ancient structures.
A trabocco is a massive fishing platform anchored to the sea floor by large logs of Aleppo pine (saltwater resistant wood). From this platform, long arms called antennae stretch out above the water and support a huge net or trabocchetto. The fishing technique, quite efficacious, consists of intercepting the flows of fish moving along the the coast with the trabocchetto.
At the order of the traboccolanti, the four fisherman who are responsible for watching the fish and maneuvering the nets, a complex system of winches are lowered and promptly pulled up to retrieve its catch. The trabocchi are genius in that they allow for fishing despite sea conditions and it’s no wonder they are still used centuries later.
Most of these fishing vessels today are also restaurants offering, quite obviously, the freshest zero kilometer seafood meals possible. Hauled up, cleaned, a visit to the kitchen and your meal is on your plate. A unique dining experience only offered in our Abruzzo. Buonissimo e bellissimo - delicious and beautiful. A meal for, by, of and on ‘our sea’.
Our other Italy love, our Abruzzo, holds a special magic we are afraid to share broadly for fear of a tourist invasion. But, if you’re the adventurous type and are up for a ‘new view’ of Italy, we will gladly share our Abruzzo with you on a custom trip . Only if you promise to keep its secrets.
We are actively booking our 2023 calendar. Since we are completely custom; we are first come, first serve for concierge tours. Contact us today to visit Abruzzo, Tuscany or both. Email us, visit our website or call us to start planning your perfectly memorable holiday.
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