Worth the effort

Another action-packed day! Possibly the most spectacular so far. First we visited a sheep farmer in Calascio (special request by S). It was  a very interesting visit because he's a real businessman with 2,300 sheep, 25 guard dogs, 10 staff, a dairy making Slow Food accredited pecorino,  and his own abattoir. An impressive amount of kit involved, and a very friendly man, happy to respond to S's endless questions with patient translation by Lorenzo. Naturally the visit ended with cheese tasting, and cheese was purchased. I'm picky about my souvenirs, and so far 100% of them are edible.

After that, it was time for the daily walk. Lorenzo had devised one he considered suitable for everyone, even me; it involved driving up to a ski resort above the Campo Imperatore, hence starting at a very high level, about 2,100m. Then it was a climb and a ridge walk, ending in this stupendous view at the pass. Best lunch spot ever! It even beat yesterday's, previously awarded the top spot by Bundle. From it we could see tiny dots which were humans climbing a sheer rock face to a tiny hut perched on top of the peak opposite. And that's the Adriatic you can see in the distance.

Lorenzo's intention had then been to do further climbing to return via a different route along a higher ridge. I was dubious about this. He said it was only 50 metres more climbing on top of the 350 we'd already done (later investigation by S revealed this to be 40 m short of reality). When he saw me get the ibuprofen out, he swiftly changed his tune. We returned the way we came, except for super-fit D and (different) S, who romped along the higher, longer path and arrived above the ski resort seconds before we did. It's just as well we didn't go that way, as by the time we got to the car park, that ridge was completely obscured by cloud. It was painful but really worth it for the amazing views.

Afterwards we had the obligatory stop in earthquake-damaged Santo Stefano de Sessanio for coffee and shopping. I bought the cheapest souvenir ever, a kilo of 00 flour for 70 centimes. I also continued my new series of cats on doorsteps, featuring a sub-category of cats in flowerpots. Cats in Abruzzo are healthy, plump, and generally friendly.

Back in Rocca Calascio, Lorenzo joined us for our final dinner, which was as copious and delicious as ever. The hotel was very busy as a local astronomical association had organised a star-gazing evening at the castle. Unfortunately for them it was the one evening with 80% cloud cover, so camera and telescope toting visitors fell on the buffet in the bar instead. It's been a brilliant holiday despite the ankle. You can see today's highlights by clicking right from here.