Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside...

Mutignano Village. What a place. Picture a quaint Italian Village, where the streets are narrow, cobbled and worn, where thousands have walked before you have. Imagine elderly Italian women sitting under the shade of grape vines where their Fiat Bambina is parked. Imagine tiny wrought iron balconies with flowers pouring off of them… old wooden shutters with peeling paint and the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the air. Imagine this is a village called Mutignano, population 560...and it does exist…not far from Pineto, Italy. (Pineto is just below the 'calf' of the boot of Italy!)

Looking down the street of Mutignano Village 

Fran and David have friends, Andy and Claire, who they have known for years. Andy is Italian, and Claire is English, and they both live in London (both in the health services too, Andy is a physician and Claire an Ophthalmologist.) The interesting, and beautiful fact of the matter, is that many, many years ago, Andy’s Grandfather made a fair bit of money in America and came back to Italy with it. In 1932, he built a Mehtodist church up the hill, in a tiny village known as Mutignano. This is one of those villages which are reserved for movies. It literally looks like a scene from a movie, quaint – and quiet!

Over the years the church was sold, but recently became available on the market again… and who was to buy this old church, but the Grandson of the man who built it. (this story can’t get any better – I love it!) (Jeez - I hope I got this story right!) Andy and Claire have converted this lovely old church (complete with bell tower!) into something quite spectacular, yet still maintaining the uniqueness that this indeed, was once a church, in that it still looks like a church from the outside. Inside it has enough sleeping arrangements for 8 in beds – not to mention all the other space available. Three bathrooms and an amazing balcony with a spectacular panoramic view of Pineto – it really is a stunning place and somewhere I have felt really honoured to stay in. I love how this place holds a special and unique family tie, and that once again the property is in family hands. I love the fact that there are two large paintings of Andy’s grandparents that hang above an old chest of drawers in the lounge, as a reminder of who was here first. It is such a special thing, and such a nice story…and those who know me well, will know that I love that kind of thing! Andy’s parents were married in the church too… really – this story couldn’t have been written better.

This is the view of the sunset from the rooftop balcony... just stunning.

So whilst in Mutingnano/Pineto, my days consisted of getting up when I woke (bliss! – though I do miss Michael Buble singing me ‘Everything’ each day…), showering, sitting down to freshly brewed coffee, fresh bread and cheese and the sweetest most delicious fruit, and heading out of the church house down to the beach. This isn’t your usual beach, either. This beach consists of hundreds of beach umbrellas and loungers, complete with bronzed Italians in tiny bikinis (don’t panic, both old and young and of varying shapes and sizes!)

AMAZING... a sea of umbrellas and loungers!

On the first night, Andy and Claire took us to Atri, another village 10km from Pineto where we enjoyed a casual Italian feast of some sort of soup with square cut spaghetti pasta and borlotti beans (yum!) and spaghetti bolognaise. Of course it would be rude not to wash this down without some wine… There were a lot of villagers there, families enjoying some time together etc. There was even live music and about 50 of them started dancing, like a line dance that they all knew which looked like so much fun. There were elderly people right down to teenagers who were joining in on the fun – so Clair and Fran decided that they could learn fast and joined in too, and it has to be said that Clair picked it up quite quickly!

Clair and Fran heating it up on the dance floor

We were then driven (so wonderfully by David) up the hill a little more to a village called Atri. I could feel myself falling in love with this place, it was like I simply couldn’t drink in the surroundings through my eyes enough! We walked around, (in amongst hundreds of Italians – I hardly saw another tourist the whole time!) and sampled some real Italian gelato… OM NOM. I had coconut, naturally. Clair – Panna Cotta. We just enjoyed the scenery and the atmosphere and then headed home again for some sleep… so that we could wake up and lie on the beach the next day.

Coconut and Panna Cotta Gelato... OM NOM NOM!

Basically the days that followed were spent waking up, eating, lying on the beach, swimming, eating, drinking, drinking, eating, lying on the beach, reading and swimming. Did I mention eating? So. Much. Eating! But all AMAZING traditional Italian meals… a lot of pasta! One night we ate at the beach and had arrosticini, which is a traditional dish from the region of Abruzzo (which is the region we were in) We had lamb arrosticini, which was cut into teeny tiny cubes and cooked on a brazier shaped like a gutter – and were delicious (even for me, who is not a fan of lamb!)

Arrosticini on the beach... WOW. An Arrosticini party would be so cool.

It was nice to chill out at the beach and watch the sun go down and then enjoy each others company, and the wine which flowed plentifully.

We had a meal at a nice restaurant, which felt like it had about nine courses… I felt a food baby coming on but in Italy, it is seemingly rude to not eat, so eat I did!! We had another restaurant meal where I chose a Margerita pizza with Olives and Capers (YUM!) accompanied by a splash more wine. Pecorino wine, which is the local wine and was divine (yes… indeed I am a poet!) 


One night we even came back to find that every nook and cranny in the village was filled with musical instrument makers, from lutes to guitars, harps to harpsichords... I was in my element!

How special to see a violin being MADE! WOW.

L-R: Claire, David, Fran, Myself, James, Andy and Julie (Debbie was photographer!)

So by now I am guessing you have noticed a pattern… eat, drink, lie on the beach, swim, read. It is a hard life, and one I have thoroughly enjoyed for the past week. Great food, wine, company and loction – al sums up for an outstanding holiday, really. And when I say holiday? I am basically on a permanent holiday for a number of weeks… today I am back in Rome, and off to the Airport in about an hours time to fly to Bristol, stay for one night then onwards to Salisbury to be collected by Rodney and Gill, for more sightseeing and holiday. I have had *such* an amazing week, it has been wonderful getting to know my 'first cousins once removed' better and I have been well and truly spoilt. Likewise I felt spoilt by Andy and Claire, who I had never even met before... I met some really lovely people last week :)

David, Fran and I outside the house... my favourite wall in the street!

I was incredibly saddened to see what has happened to London in the past few days. I am sad that there are so many young teens, and in some cases – children, who are getting involved in the riots. The youngest to have been arrested I just heard is just 11 years old. Naturally, being the age level I am so passionate about teaching, I am just so sad that this is the case. I think it is time for a curfew as a start… and for all those spectators I keep seeing on the news to get inside and out of the way so that the Police are able to do their jobs.

And this, I leave you with a bitter sweet 'Cheery bye' and hope that the riots stop, and London can start picking up the pieces. I have come to really love London - and it is just so sad to see what has happened to it in such a short time. I know things are sad when you see natural disasters taking over... but when the city is being destroyed by the very people who live in it? It is just beyond words unreal.


Cheery bye... 

The view from the house