There is a small car park in the centre of medieval Casoli in the region of Abruzzo, just under the towering Castello Ducale di Casoli, where you’ll find the best view of the villages on opposite hills and the surrounding valley. Just beyond that, the snow-capped silhouette of Monte Amaro divides the sky and the land in dusty white. I am told it only takes twenty minutes to drive there for a skiing holiday.
“And it takes twenty minutes in the other direction to have a beach holiday!”
Images by Amy McPherson unless otherwise stated
says Spencer Power. “It’s a great area to live.”
I believe him. He and his wife Bimbi Bellhouse have been living in the Casoli area for more than ten years, making them honorary Abruzzesi. Others around us nod in agreement. With its lively cafés, restaurants and a buzzing weekly freshproduce market, Casoli certainly feels like a place to call home.
East of Rome, spanning from the Apennine Mountains to the Adriatic Sea, is Abruzzo, one of the least populated regions of Italy. It should be more popular than it is. Yet, Abruzzo doesn’t attract the same number of tourists as elsewhere in Italy. Very little
