English people try to maintain a polite restrained decorum when it comes to looking at other people. People watching is mostly done from afar, and discreetly.
In Abruzzo and Italy in general, people watching is a sport. Watching tourists is considered super premium fun and foreigners are studied with the most attentive fascination possible. People watching and openly staring is perfectly acceptable, nay it is expected.
Italian culture is engineered around this staring concept and everyone tends to play up to and dress up for people watching. The "passagiata" or evening walk is the prime opportunity for this and you will see people swaggering around showing off the "bella figura" They swank around like peacocks displaying elegant outfits and designer labels. And don't even get me started about beach life in Abruzzo. That is like an open air fashion show.

First let me tell you about Roberts brother. David is a man of many tales. He has lived a life less ordinary and no matter where he goes (even Abruzzo) or what he does he seems to attract drama, which then leads to more story telling.

When David came to stay his holiday in Abruzzo was no exception.

And the snow came to Abruzzo. Every week end we walked up a hill nearby our house. There was a slope there that I had my eye on. It was the perfect angle, the perfect downward roll. Simply put, if it snowed that hill was mine, perfect to sledge down.

Now that Winter, it snowed in Abruzzo, and everything was covered in magical beauty. The views were amazing and the blue sky made everything seem fresh. But I had only one thing on my mind. Getting to that hill. So we trussed ourselves up in Winter gear and off we went to that hill.

We arrived but to our horror a bunch of kids got their before us. Imagine my horror looking at what should have been pristine clean white snow with horrible sledge marks all over it. It seems I was not the only one with that hill in mind for snowy Abruzzo weather.

In Britain walking is considered by many a pleasant pastime and enjoyable, people go out of their way to walk for pleasure. In fact many local beauty spots in Britain have become crowded with walkers at the week end. In Italy it is the opposite.

Even when shopping for groceries your typical Abruzzo person will park right outside or as close as possible to the shop etc. There will be many un “ugly word” if there are no parking spaces available and they have to walk to their destination. The same is true of all destinations. Shops, ski slopes, etc.

When you become an integral part of town life in Abruzzo prepare to get involved in town gossip. Abruzzo people are crazy for gossip and it is a huge and entertaining part of life. You will hear stories repeated about certain members of the community over and over, each time resembles the truth a little less. These stories are regaled with the same amount of excitement and sensationalism as any major news headline or soap opera story line.

This month, my Dad came to stay with us. We picked him up from the airport in Rome and then he was due to make his way back on the bus. This meant we needed to buy a bus ticket for him.

So one morning we headed into our nearest town of Guardiagrele to buy one for him.

Where we used to live in Chester the Jehovah’s Witnesses came round all the time. We had to put up with it because my Dad is a Jehovah’s Witness, and it would be rude to turn them away. Also when he comes to see us he likes to go to their church.

We thought that moving to Abruzzo we would be safe and sound, I mean it’s the country, who can find us out here. But they did…..

In October 2008 my Dad visited us and we knew he would want to visit his own church so in anticipation for his visit we started looking out for a kingdom hall of Jehovah’s witnesses.

Abruzzo people are not as loving to their pets as Brits tend to be. Most of them are fed and looked after, but cats and dogs are largely viewed as a functional thing, something that should work for you. Cats exist to keep the rodent population down and dogs are for protecting the house or guarding the chickens.

Occasionally you can see dogs running along the street. A loose dog is not a site seen very often in Britain so we always tend to think that it is a stray, assume it is hungry and take pity and try to rescue it. Be careful about that. Abruzzo people do not always keep their dogs chained or within a fence, so the dogs tend to walk off. These dogs are normally reasonably well cared for and they normally have owners, but they have just taken themselves for a walk.

It sounds like a cliché but there is that old fashioned image of an old Abruzzo lady sweeping up the front of her house with a bunch of twigs. However, I can tell you that it that old cliché definitely lives on here in Abruzzo.

Italians and Abruzzo people in general are fastidious about their hygiene. Most houses are immaculate and the women spend huge amounts of time each day cleaning so everything is sparkly.

I used to hate going to the beach that is until I did the beach, Italian style.

Now as an English person, arriving on an Italian beach the first thing you will notice is the noise, the second things you will notice is the people all packed in together like sardines on sunbeds that are literally inches away from eachother. Before you say euchhhh and recoil in British horror!! Try viewing it from the Abruzzo Italians perspective.

The beach in Abruzzo  is like a huge slice of Italian life. People come from all over the country to relax on the beach in Abruzzo. There are people of all ages, sizes, and shapes on the beach.

Abruzzo is an Eco friendly place. You are expected to sort out your rubbish into certain categories. If you live in the country you then have to drive your rubbish to the bins nearby which are all offered in the different categories of rubbish.

If you live in a town you may be expected to use small bins that are provided to you by the commune. There is a different one for each type of rubbish and there are normally about 4 types:

Food waste

Paper

Plastic, glass and tins

Everything else

No matter what the weather in Abruzzo, Italians are never happy with it. It is either too hot, or too cold. In fact until Spring gives way to Summer the Italians can be heard like mini barometers mumbling and muttering to each other, "freddo, freddo" meaning, its cold, or brutto tempo.This is on a day that you and I would consider warm.

In fact on a cool day the first thing I hear from Antoniettas mouth is a tirade of Italian swearing or "parole brutto" (ugly words) telling me what an awful day it is. There are many posts on Facebook talking about the weather, asking where the sun has gone and when will it be back.Bad weather is a cause for national outrage.