photos
of italian
countryside near rome
Idyllic small town in the mountainous region of Abruzzo, an hour or so's drive south east of Rome.
In these pictures we see the gentle passeggiata of a Sunday morning in this typical sleepy Italian town - Children, families and old men strolling light-hearted and unharmed through the town's main square and leafy avenues off main street.
Enjoyng civic life in this way is something we've never learnt how to do in England, and almost forgotten how to in America.
Five miles from the town, the picturesque wilderness begins. Italy is a small country, yet quite close to most of the major cities you can find mountainous landscapes on a surprisingly grand scale.
if
you're planning on staying in Rome for anything longer than two weeks
or more, it's well worth hiring a car and driving out of the city to explore
such places. Within a two-hour's driving radius in any direction from
Rome is a tremendous variety of largely unspoilt natural beauty and also
some fascinating geology.
As well as mountains and forests, there are many lakes in volcanic basins,
and even, only half an hour west out of central Rome, the sea.
Even in winter, the sun still shines hot in Italy, yet at sunset, mark
the shadow-line in the picure above as the sun cuts around the mountain's
silhouette and through the hazy mist - This is pretty high altitude and
there is nearly twenty degrees of difference in temperature between the
sunny parts and the shadow, and once the sun goes down completely, be
sure you're safely back in your house with a big log fire burning in the
grate.
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