Staying in the cute little town of Spoltore, in the province of Pescara, Italy, a few days before and after Serena and Marco’s wedding was such a great experience. It was an area of Italy I hadn’t explored before and as I mentioned in Serena and Marco’s wedding blog post, their friends and family were so amazing in immediately embracing me as a new friend and showing me their beautiful province of Pescara. My time here was definitely one of the highlights of the year for me.

The man in the photo below was so friendly to me and even brought me inside his home to proudly show me the historic exposed beams in his ceiling (it was too dark to get a shot unfortunately). Before leaving, I took his photo and he gave me a huge hug and kiss on each cheek.While in Spoltore, I stayed at the charming Ottocento B&B. The light was so beautiful in my room and I loved the arched brick ceilings. It had been beautifully restored. The B&B was made up of 4 levels, with a room and little living room area and bathroom on each floor for each guest. It felt like having my own little apartment in Italy since the owner didn’t live at the B&B. I loved it!This was the actual key for my room at Ottocento. Le sigh. : )One day, Serena’s good friend Ambra’s boyfriend, Riccardo used his day off work to show me some towns in the area. Such a fun guy and a great day. Driving with Riccardo is like a ride at a carnival. haha. He drives super fast along swerving country roads with his knees while using his hands for his phone or to change a CD, etc. I found myself clutching the door a few times. haha. He is a good driver though – I don’t know how he does it!

First, Riccardo took me to the beautiful fishing village of Ortona. This area is famous for trabocchi, which are extremely cool fishing contraptions on stilts. I found them really fascinating.Such a cool, barnacle-covered anchor!Many of the trabocchi have restaurants right on board so you can eat the freshest of fish. Too bad I don’t like seafood. I’m sure I missed out.More trabocchi lined up along the coast.A collection of treasures, fished out of the sea.Forgotten nets and used nets.

Riccardo stopped so we could take a closer look at a vineyard (and steal a bunch of grapes!). I noticed most of the vineyards in this area of Italy grow their grapes in a tented fashion. It would be fun to have a picnic underneath the shade of a row.Next, Riccardo took me to the town, Lanciano.Another night in Spoltore, Serena and Marco’s awesome friends, Luigi and Daniela, took me for dinner at Pizzeria da Osvaldo. I got a margherita pizza and oh my goodness it was amazing. The owner, Osvaldo (seen below) is 88 years old and apparently still goes to work every night in an I Love New York T-shirt. Adorable- I love this man. Buonissimo pizza Osvaldo!After dinner, Luigi and Daniela took me to this amazing gelateria, L’altro Gelato in the city Pescara. It was voted one of the 10 best gelaterias in Italy! I believe it. I tried a mojito-flavoured sorbet that tasted spot-on and the 3 ice cream flavours I had were so creamy and delicious. Italians are amazing hosts. I had tried to pay for dinner at the pizzeria and Luigi and Daniela wouldn’t let me, so I ran to the till at the gelateria to pay and the girl working knew them and said, “I’m sorry, but they will kill me if I let you pay,” drawing a finger across her throat for emphasis. Too funny.Daniela (left) and Luigi (right) with L’altro Gelato owner, Livio (middle).I know I could have gotten a way better shot of this ice cream but I was much too eager to eat it.