Italia, due

A must when visiting Abruzzo is going up on Campo Imperatore and Rocca Calascio. I've shown you pictures of that place before (here and here), and it's always marvelous. I think my favourite time to visit is in the summer when the sun has scorched the colours into brown and dusty yellow.

"Quickly, take the photo!" my uncle said. He was completely soaked afterwards... But it looked cool, especially the mark he left in the snow. That must have confused people driving by afterwards.

When entering Gran Sasso, we listened to ABBA, and we turned it up so loud. It made a sort of strange soundtrack, but it was so great. The love for ABBA runs deep in my family...

The road over to the old, scary hotel was blocked by the snowfall, so we drove back down to Castel Del Monte for lunch. Nothing was open, but a guy behind the counter at a café promised to fix us a panino. We were happy he did because it was so good! Just plain bread, good chunks of cheese, and grilled zucchini. The oil was running down our arms, but it tasted heavenly.

We drove up to Rocca Calascio. I think it's the most beautiful place I've been. Just surrounded by mountains, it makes me feel like a small dot in a big world and there's something utterly powerful about that feeling.

My uncle took the photo of me standing out there on the ridge. It doesn't look that scary from here, but when you stand there, and the wind blows and you feel like you're going to fall off the cliff, it's something else.

Before heading back home, we had ice cream in the little town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio. It's a town built entirely out of these grey stones. It's like someone has just carved out little houses and streets from a mass of stone. It's definitely something. Ah, it was great to be in Italy. As always!