Authentic Italy, nice location, property & owner - part 1
We spent the first two weeks of August 2013 at Olav’s property rental in Penne. My wife, my daughter, 21 and my son, 17. We really enjoy holidaying in Italy having visited Garda, Verona, Venice, Rome, Tuscany and the Amalfi coast. This time we wanted to get beyond the tourist hotspots and find somewhere a little more hidden. We settled on flying in to Pescara on Ryan Air from Stansted and so found ourselves drawn to Penne and this property.
The property is spacious, well equipped and comfortable. The owner provides all the information you will need to make the most of the property and your visit. We had just one problem when local electrical work caused an issue with the fusebox. One email to Olav and help arrived very promptly, a part was needed, this was fitted the next day. Great service.
Penne is charming and will keep you fit as exploring the hilly streets is a good workout, especially in August. There is a smattering of local bars and restaurants. The gelataria is good, nice café frappe. The small restaurant, La Grotte is really homely, the Signora is charming, rosticcini and pork were tender and tasty and the house Montepulciano d’Abruzzo recommended. There is a modern diner/take-away Pizzeria just outside one of the gates that is good too.
Night life is low key mainly focussed on the early evening Passagiata when people casually meet and chat in the Piazza and Piazetta. Just sit alfresco with a cool drink and watch the world go by. We were lucky enough to be in Penne for the medieval festival, which took place over a couple of nights and included people in costume marching, drum banging and flag waving. We also were there for ‘white night’ which featured a variety of rock bands in the squares with DJ’s and dancing all over the town until dawn. Great fun.
Another day was a religious holiday, watch out for these as everything closes so if you’re fridge is empty you may struggle to find anything to eat. There was a procession through the streets and some very nice choral singing. In fact there was often the sound of music in the streets, from within a cool church or drifting from an upstairs window, maybe a little classical piano or some traditional accordion playing.
continued in part two....