The hiking trip in Abruzzo was an outstanding experience
that I don’t think can be topped. Only five JCU students signed up for, two of
whom are my roommates! The others were Hannah and Rafee, and our guide’s name
was Alessandro. We left our residence at 6:30 AM to drive to the other side of
Italy. I’m not sure where exactly we were, but we were on a farm in the
mountains (causing a bit of carsickness). The place we stayed was bed and
breakfast called “La Casa Rossa,” a beautiful little house on a huge farm. All
of the food was freshly prepared by a kind, elderly matriarch, and every
ingredient was produced on this exact farm. Walking into the house, you could
just feel the positivity.
Soon after we arrived, we knew we would be treated like
family, surrounded by a family of the most wonderful people. Two brothers,
Alessandro (this was confusing since it was our guide’s name too) and…Massimo I
think? I believe these were the children of the older couple. We later met the
father as well. We also met an incredible seven-year old named Daniele who was
Massimo’s son. This child was the most energetic, talkative, adorable child,
and he plays the accordion really well!
Our first hike was on the farm property behind the house. We
went down some extremely steep hills and literally bush wacked to create a
path. We came across water flowing in the woods that was the most delicious
water ever, so pure and clean. We also tried an interesting but bitter root.
Between the two brothers and our guide, we knew what was safe to eat and drink.
After being completely in the brush, we climbed our way to a path that we
followed for a while. It was steep, but offered some very nice views. We had
some nice conversation, but became pretty worn out by the time we returned. We
were greeted at the house with an amazing lunch!
Between fresh bread, homemade pasta, delicious wine, and
amazing fried sage leaves, we ate well! But the food was only part of it. The
two brothers played guitar at the table, and they were great! They knew lots of
American and Italian songs, so we started singing some of them around the
table. I think the most successful one was “Hotel California,” but we hardly
knew the words. Then, we heard something delightful from the other room and
didn’t know what it was. It was Daniele warming up on the accordion! Then he
entered the dining room playing a polka jubilantly, and we were all blown away.
Not only was he quite good, but you could see how hard he worked and how much
he cared about playing his instrument. We then had the privilege of meeting
Daniele’s adorable younger sister, Silvia. The energy between the members of
this family was remarkable. Not only could we feel the love among this family,
we were included in it. All of us JCU students were instantly convinced that
this trip was unbeatable and perfect.
Our second hike of the day required a drive through the
mountains. The first bit of the trail was to a shrine to Mary overlooking an
incredible mountain view. One of the brothers even brought the guitar and
started playing Ave Maria, lovely! We then walked back and got going on the
real hike through the mountains and to a waterfall. It was mostly a path
alternating between up and down, somewhat difficult but enjoyable for sure. We
had to cross through a dam area and eventually found the river. Then, we
started following the river upstream to get to the waterfalls. We did lots of
navigating through rocks, sometimes on one side of the river and sometimes on
the other.
The waterfall was beautiful! It was huge, and the water was
freezing! But it was completely worth it. Above the water, we could see a
strikingly clear rainbow, so beautiful. We spent a little time just enjoying
the cold water and the waterfall.
Our way back was another series of rock jumps. It turned
into sort of a fun puzzle: which rock is next? Where can I put my foot? How can
I prevent myself from falling? But it was very fun and satisfying. Once we
reached the end of the river, we came to an area that is a dried up waterfall.
In the winter there is usually water, but not in the summer. So the rockhopping
continued, but this time was dry. It was amazing to be amidst what would
normally have a river in deep pathways surrounded by tall rocks in the absence
of water. Climbing and jumping and climbing and jumping and climbing. Awesome!
We then hiked back up the side of the mountain to where the van was. Eternal
incredible views surrounded us, leaving us in a mental place of awe and joy.
When we returned to the house, we had a lovely snack of
cheese and bread, complete with the entertainment of Daniele and his accordion.
After this break, we went out to milk the cows! I had never milked a cow
before, and I was a little nervous. We all were feeling the same way before
this new experience. I’m not sure what we were afraid of: hurting the cow, the
cow hurting us, the milk tasting bad? But it was just fine. I was very gentle
on the cow, trying to relate to how awkward that might feel. Thus, I didn’t get
a whole lot of milk, but was satisfied. The milk was actually quite good! I
didn’t think it seemed overly fatty, but tasted sweet. We went on one more
short walk around the farm before dinner, complete with hilarious entertainment
from Daniele, this time just through speech. Even though we didn’t understand
his words, he was hilarious. Alessandro also translated when it was
particularly funny. Another huge feast, abundance of wine, and joyous family
conversation exhausted the rest of our energy until we collapsed into our
little beds and went to sleep. As I fell asleep, I felt appreciative of my
lucky experiences, but also thoroughly missed loved ones from home. I wished I
could share this time with the people that mean the most in my life. My
consoling thought was that I could live this experience through those people. I
also had images of falling down mountains terrifyingly!
The next morning we ate a light breakfast of bread and jam.
I know this is the way they do it here, and I usually eat a light breakfast
too, but knowing we were about to go on another huge hike, I could have used
some eggs! The next hike was also a drive away. When we parked the van, our
guide pointed to a mountain peak and said, “We’re climbing that.” I tried not
to think about it or look at the peak too much, it seemed kind of impossible.
This hike was quite steep and long. We were mostly walking
in huge open spaces on rocky little paths, and the heat made everything twice
as difficult. We ended up separating into three little groups. I was always in
the middle one, sometimes alone because I couldn’t quite keep up with the
first, but didn’t want to lose momentum by slowing down. Of course, we were
occasionally all together, but there were certain areas that really separated
us! After a long stretch of picturesque, almost-flat fields, there came a
moment of truth, a very steep, rocky incline with bugs absolutely everywhere. I
reached this part alone, and it was scary. There was a time when I could not
see anyone at the top or at the bottom. I almost had a panic attack, but I knew
it would not do any good to freak out. I calmed myself and proceeded, using
both hands and feet to support my body up this very steep section. The sun beat
down aggressively and the bugs buzzed horribly. But I pushed through. And the
view at the top was absolutely indescribable. It was incredibly worth it!
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