The mists of time

That's how far away my first blip seems, and this is blip number 2,000 -- and a backblip at that. I feel so grateful that Blipfoto is still here. For one thing, I wouldn't have been in Abruzzo this week without it, since it was Bundle who convinced me to sign up for this walking holiday. And she's just one of several lovely people I've met and befriended through Blipfoto. It's enriched my life every day since January 2012.

Today -- another sunny day! -- we started with a visit to the Benedictine abbey of San Liberatore. For once we got there pretty much on time, but we still managed to stretch the timetable as Bundle's friend C (a man for whom the words "suave" and "sophisticated" were invented) grilled our tour guide with many, many questions. But eventually we got away, and our walk for the day was a short one, to the hermitage of Sant'Onofrio, a saint mainly distinguished by the fact that he was clad only in his own hair and beard. We were able to ring the bell in the hermitage, lie on his magic healing stone, and a means was also provided to leave a message for him.

We had a picnic lunch next to his sacred spring and then walked back to the vans for the trip to the spectacular hilltop village of Rocca Calascio. Lorenzo's brother Paolo has a hotel and restaurant here -- actually the hotel is basically a large part of the village, as he's bought many of the ruined houses and converted them into lovely rooms,. keeping their medieval character. His is now the only family living here all the year round. 

We had half an hour or so to unpack and settle in before walking up to the castle perched on the hilltop. There are fabulous views from here (blip), even though it was a bit hazy. Alternative more coloured version here. Then back to the restaurant for a delicious and copious meal (more ravioli, pasta with mushrooms, a delicious rabbit stew) before bed.