Gran Sasso National Park | Assergi

We arrived to the L'Aquila province of the Abruzzo Region just in time for dinner as night fell over the mountains. Hard to believe we started our morning in Praiano and visited Pompeii and Ortona dei Marsi on our journey. After the Amalfi Coast and the most famous ancient city, Italy's alpine nature took center stage for this leg of our trip! 

We spent one night at Hotel Nido dell'Aquila in the town of Assergi among the foothills of Parco Nazionale Gran Sasso. We're in a ski town!!

After a fantastic dinner and leisurely breakfast here at "Hotel Eagles Nest" we were checked out and off to explore the Gran Sasso via Funivia. 

Funivia means aerial lift or cable car and yes riding in one is very fun! There was not a soul in the ticket line, what a peaceful place we have happened upon. We rode up with a few mountain bikers, a few hikers. I could not believe how serene our ride was. And those views! 

Cam definitely enjoyed the ride. Somehow this baby is no stranger to cable cars - just last month we took him up the Cannon Tram in NH. 

As we sipped a cappuccino at the peaks alpine bar, it felt so surreal being up here. It was obvious we had stumbled upon another dimension of the country. This is not the Italy of your fellow tourists. 

After exploring Gran Sasso peak we caught a Funivia back down to the base. We were pretty hungry at this point and lucky for us a food truck had set up. Piping hot, rich, crackling pork roasted inside that truck. Porchetta sandwiches for the win. I wish I took a photo! (I think I was holding Camden and planning out where his diaper change would be before we got in the car.) 

Either way, that Porchetta Food Truck was another welcome surprise in Assergi!

As we head to join the masses in for Florence the words below on Abruzzo convey my deep feelings of gratitude perfectly. (source)

It is hard to think of a lovelier corner of Italy. Alpine meadows. Lush mountain valleys, this region is one of Italy's secret treasures. No over-crowding, no heavy industry. Hiding away down its curvy roads are castles, villages and mountains made of stone and memory. Life in the Abruzzo hasn't changed that much over the years, and it's like wandering into a gentler, kinder yesterday. 

Ortona dei Marsi | Abruzzo

Our first stop in central Italy's Abruzzo region is off the well traveled path to the tiny village of Ortona dei Marsi. Nestled in the lush mountainside, made of stone and steeped in time, this is the magical place where Bob's maternal grandparents are from. They came to America when they were 18. 

Bob's grandfather Juliano DiCiccio came to America (Brockton, MA) first when he was 16. He traveled back to Italy to see his family and was drafted to the war. It was during this time he fell in love with Virgo Maria Albanese and when the war was over they moved to America together. They had 4 children - Angelina, Lucia, Rita (Bob's mom) and Valentino. [The Luiso's are from the Bari Region of Italy which is further southeast. Bari is on the bucket list for another trip!]

The locals we met did not speak English but we did our best to communicate. We took in the beautiful 14th century church of St. John the Baptist, sipped cappuccino in the towns single cafe and explored the steep and worn-in-time yet utterly charming streets. 

We were able to locate some "relatives" with his maternal grandmothers maiden name, Albanese! When we loosely put together the family tree this made sense - Albanese stuck around because his grandmother had brothers, but DiCiccio faded as his grandfather only had sisters. Is the younger woman in the photo a distant Albanese relative? Perhaps! 

My Italian roots are from my paternal grandmother Julia Infante. She passed at the age of 88 in 2006. The Infantes are from the nearby Molise Region, I believe the city of Campobasso.

His little 6 month old faces - I can't! 

Just sipping a Cappuccino with my Mom + Dad, taking in my Italian heritage!

Our impromptu stop after a long days journey from Praiano --> Sorrento (where we picked up our rental car) --> Pompeii --> L'Aquila (province in Abruzzo) was genuinely amazing. To explore a little bit of family history, to imagine Camden's great grandparents as kids playing in these stone streets and to embrace Bob's families true Italian roots. Ortona dei Marsi tucked into a lovely corner of Abruzzo shows us a remarkably different part of Italian life!