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.

One evening, we turned up to our friend’s house to buy some eggs. They were busy eating a wonderful dinner. All 15 people, mostly extended family and nieces and nephews invited us to sit down and dine with them. As if by magic 2 foldaway chairs were produced and knives and forks were spirited up from somewhere. Our Abruzzo friends always grow very excited at the prospect of unexpected guests feasting with them on their finest foods. So they started eating their hunters feast. All of these families were hunters. We were graciously  offered cinghiale, wild boar stew, which was lovely. Merrily I tucked in and it was very good. It tastes a bit like beef that has been stewed for a while. Our hosts all did the usual Abruzzo thing of piling up your plate every time you looked away to talk to some-one. As usual the conversation was exuberant and excitable and of course, we were interrogated by everyone with enormous and thinly veiled fascination. But next our hostess proudly brought out a huge round wide pan filled with tiny rabbit carcasses and showed it to me with a huge eagar smile. I had never eaten rabbit and didn’t relish the thought of eating something so furry and cute. Panic set in and I told my husband we would have to go. If you have ever tried excusing yourself from a dining table in Abruzzo for any reason whatsoever you will know how hard this task was. But we insisted determinedly and amidst many protestations we made our getaway, phew that was close…..

Many an English person arrives in Abruzzo with ideas that they will go househunting. On that housenhunting trip they plan to see at least 8 houses a day. Now in Britain you might even be able to do that in a morning. In Abruzzo, it is impossible. You would in fact be lucky to see 2-3 houses a day.

Why does househunting in Abruzzo take so long?

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.

When we first arrived in Abruzzo, I was used to the English way of serving food. In particular meat and fish would be served boned, filleted, the skin removed and the head, feet and other parts removed. In fact even going to the supermarket you could only really buy meat in small plastic cartons covered in plastic wrap. The contents of these cartons scarcely resembled the part of the animal it came from.

So when I first walked into an Italian deli and was greeted with a whole lamb sitting at eye level on the top of the counter I was disgusted. Having grown up vegetarian for many years I found the site a little distressing. It had been skinned but it’s head was still attached and it was whole. The poor lamb’s glazed eyes were peering out examining me and its huge tongue was blue and lolling like only a dead thing lolls. Shocking to the core.

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.

Getting stuff delivered in Abruzzo can be challenging to say the least. I once ordered some stuff from America and I was summoned to the post office 3 times – to collect my parcel you might think, but no, it was just to collect a letter from customs asking me what was in this parcel. I filled it in, and sent it back but the parcel never came, it was sent back to America anyways.

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

• Last year 2009 there were not many mozzies in Abruzzo. Not quite sure why but they did not appear until August and then they went away after that.
• This year (2010) is a different story however. I think it is because we have had lots of rain in Abruzzo this year. The mozzies were out in force from May onwards and we seem to have been plagued by mozzies of all sizes and shapes, but especially the tiny ones. They hurt when they bite and they fly in your face all the time. They are very annoying.
• How to overcome the mozzies? I prefer all natural methods. I use citronella oil that I buy in bulk on the internet. Just Google “Essential oils direct” that works. I pay about £5 a litre and it goes a very long way. I also share it with all our friends and neighbours who love it.

How to tell your paying “English price” for things in Abruzzo? There is no sure fire way, but here are the clues.

You ask the price of something and:

• There is a long pause
• The person looks away
• The person glances you up and down. (this is to take in your clothes and look for cues of wealth, like expensive watches etc)
• They make a conscious effort to weigh you up
• They may even look over to see what car you drive etc.