After a long year away I arrived back in the Sabina on March 3 of this year and have been enjoying a month's stay here that has included visits to favourite places from our past stays here, and adventures to new towns and destinations we have never visited before.
Highlights of this year's visit include a tour of the provincial capital of Rieti and Poggio Bustone with photographer Giorgio Clementi, visits to the hilltowns of Salisano, Mompeo and Castelnuovo di Farfa, a visit to an organic beef farm in Cantalupo, a successful hunt for the elusive wild asparagus during a walk to Santa Maria in Legarano, and an unforgettable organized tour of the Roman Villa at Collesecco, the Hermitage of San Cataldo, the red marble quarry and the hilltown of Cottanello with Alessandra Finiti.
During our stay we were introduced to some new and amazing menu items and some great restaurants which I will tell you about in future posts...
We also enjoyed some wonderful side trips outside the Sabina to places like the Castelli Romani, Lake Bracciano, Tuscania, Sutri, Ostia Antica and Fiumicino, Positano, Sorrento, Capri and the Almalfi Coast, as well as Naples... Though the stories of these side trips do not really relate to the Sabina, they were made possible through the kindness of friends we have met here and will be covered in a special section.
This year we were glad to welcome a number of friends from Canada and Norway to the Sabina. Our friends Heidi and Fern stayed one week here in Casperia at La Torretta B&B and another friend Ina visited for a number of weeks staying a few days at La Torretta and the rest of the time at Il Sogno. One night when we were eating at our favourite hangout in Casperia, Friends Caffe, our friend Nicoleta came over and told me that there was a couple eating in the restaurant who recognized me from pictures posted on the wall... She overheard them saying, "That's the fellow who writes the blog!" It was a real thrill for me to find out that this couple chose to visit Casperia and the Sabina after reading my blog...
These last moments here in Casperia are precious so I will sign off now and write later when I get back to Canada. Thank you for taking the time to read these posts about my favourite place in Italy. It is my hope that this blog will encourage others to explore Italy beyond the beaten path far from the tourist traps... I thought I would have visited way more places than I did during our month's stay here. More than anything, I have learned that there is so much more of the Sabina waiting for me to discover on my next trip.
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