This journey began for me back in 2012 when my family and I first came to Abruzzo in search of a property. I had been on several trips to the beautiful city of Rome over the years and thoroughly immersed myself in the history, rich culture and fantastic food and wine that central Italy prides itself on.

Whilst Rome itself is a fantastic place to relax in and explore it is still very much a bustling metropolis with lots of people, cars and noise so when it came to beginning our property search we turned our sights to the opposite coast and the sleepy rural communities. I won't for a moment tell you that my favourite wine (Montepulciano D'abruzzo D.O.P) did not influence my choice of Abruzzo as a starting point as that would be a lie :] I simply had to see for myself, the area that had managed to produce something so delicious and once I crossed over those mountains there was no going back!!

On our first house hunting trip we decided to stay in Pescara itself down by the coast as it seemed to have a good network of roads connecting it to the rest of the region and was the base of several of the estate agents who we had already been in contact with.  

We had selected 6 houses to go and view and planned a family trip to Pompeii in the middle for my 30th birthday (which was no less than awe inspiring and I fully intend to return for another look once the house is completed!!)

The houses that we viewed were primarily in the foothills between the mountains and coast as this area gives the best balance of weather year round without the muggy summer heat that can sometimes make coastal living uncomfortable.