Richard And Jo Demeester's photos

The beers were more varied than they appear. OK - so they were all pale. However, there was one standout, and the other 3 were just "really good".

We were invited to a brewery, by Ilir and his family. One of the brewery partners is an Australian friend of theirs. We had a wonderful afternoon, toured the brewery, and sampled many excellent beers.

You might be able to tell from the picture - the wall is about 80 cm thick here. No problems, when the plumber has a drill. In about 40 minutes, he bored a 12 cm hole.

A small group from the community came through the centro storico, so Jo joined in with their decorating efforts. Choosing ribbons and curling them, passing scissors and ribbon as required, and tying pots to fixtures.

I was less comfortable with the headroom inside. The river source was not far inside, a perfect fresh water spring.

We knew not what to expect. There was a sign at a fork pointing to the Grotta Delle Fate, and the distance seemed to fit in with how much time we wanted to spend on the trail. Having an endpoint to aim for adds a small extra incentive to completing a set amount of activity, so we thought a cave sounded like a perfect target to get to. The last sign we saw pointed off the main trail, down an embankment to a river, where we stood on the bank for a few minutes enjoying the serenity but questioning the existence of any cave in the area. A little evidence of scrambling along the river bank encouraged us to head upstream a hundred metres, and there was the cave – with the river coming out of it. A perfect fresh water spring oasis in the forest.

Corn and skewers over coals. Not roughing it too much.

Camping near Parco Nazionale D'Abruzzo. Weather improving, restrictions easing, time to explore further afield.

The Julia Brigade represent Italy's mountain trained military - their alpine defence. This chapel appears to be in memory of WWII fallen. "Ai Caduti della Julia".

Apparently, grape vines don't need a lot of soil to thrive. A healthy vine across the street, growing from what appears to be not much more than a crack between the road and the wall.

In a sidestreet, Bomba, this grape vine seems to be growing from a very odd spot.

In the crypt of the church of Saint Mary 'Maggiore', the remains of San Cesario.

Yes, we caved and had seafood, again.