Abbadia Di Fiastra National Park - Marche

46km west and inland we headed to Abbadia Di Fistra, this was in fact Wild Camp 37, however after intending to stay here for one night when we arrived on 21 August, we ended up staying until a week later. Centred around the Abbey of Chiaravalle of Fiastra. The Abbey was built in 1142 and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, there is also a monastery built by monks of the same period. The reserve was founded in 1984 and covers 1801 hectares, approximately 4.5 thousand acres. The reserve is divided into three sections, the oriented nature reserve, the anthropological reserve and the zone of protection. Also within the reserve there is a tourist office, a visitors centre, an agriculture museum, local produce shops, bars, restaurants, pizzerias and picnic areas. The camper parking area was basic with no electricity but we ran the fridge and appliances on gas and looked forward to the few days ahead.

Abbadia di Fiastra Nature Reserve

We walked with Oscar around the nature reserve through farmland and past an Agriturismo which took about 2.5 hours. We saw chickens, ducks, a pig, horses and some deer in the zone of protection. By the time we got back to the camper van it was boiling and we were shattered, Jac replenished his energy levels with a two person serving of Carbonara.  We had a siesta before heading out for another walk later that afternoon, this time we walked up towards the Agriturismo and across a road to a huge area of woodland. When we returned to the camper we had pasta and tinned tomatoes for dinner and played Benny which I won. Obviously upset that I was on a winning streak he accused me of cheating and made me 'admit' it before he would play again, we'll probably stop playing card games for while.

Jac & Oscar consulting the map

A chick at the reserve

The following day we went for another long walk. We found a river where Jac and Oscar went for a paddle and I rustled around in the undergrowth looking for frogs and toads. We walked along the olive groves to get back to the camper and shared watermelon for lunch. Later that day we went food shopping and stocked up on some essentials to take back to the reserve with us. We marinated prawns (again) when we got back before going for yet another walk, it was much harder this time round and I moaned most of the way. We got back to the camper and had a prawn salad and potato wedges for dinner.
 

Watermelons are sold on the side of every road in Italy

 

 





Prawn Salad with Wedges



Making Garlic & Honey Marinade







The next day we were up bright and early, we took our bikes and followed a trail around the reserve. Our beach cruisers were not very well suited to the terrain which made steep hills a bit tricky. Lots of people had electric bikes making it a little easier to get around and also making us look incredibly unfit, puffing and panting whilst most others sailed around barely breaking a sweat. It began to rain so we headed back to catch up on some blogging. We watched a thunderstorm from inside the van, although Jac was desperate to get out in the rain and go for another walk. Eventually he persuaded me and we set of through the woods in the rain. On our way back we passed the zone of protection, we didn't see any deer although we did bump into two volunteers who said we could come back the following day to see them.

Not quite the mountain bikes we needed

Excited at the opportunity to see the deer we set our alarm for 5.45am. We were sat ready and waiting at the zone of protection by 6.30 after deciding to leave Oscar alone in the van for half an hour. However our excitement was short lived when I had to head back to the van after we heard Oscar howling from the other side of the horse fields. He had managed to flick the radio on and was howling along very loudly to Italian opera music. Needless to say we were unpopular with people sleeping in the surrounding campers. After his performance we decided not to risk it happening again and took him along to the deer enclosure with us. The volunteers, Milko and Suzanna were waiting for us, we tied Oscar to the gate and headed inside the enclosure.

 

The deer in the Zone of Protection

Milko with two of the deer and his dog Otto

There were 13 deer in total including 3 young. Three of them, Sibilla, Antonio and Ceasar were domestic as they had been hand reared by Milko and Susanna for 1 month following their rescue and the rest had been brought to the foundation by other organisations and the police. Milko's dog Otto, a white and brindle Whippet was also in the enclosure and got on really well with the deer, playing with them and even trying to share some medicine given to the youngest deer Ceasar.

Ceasar

Milko and Susanna told us they were heading to the mountains for a dog walk and kindly invited us to walk with them. Our old camper would never make it up all those steep hills so they offered to drive us and said they would be back in 45 minutes to collect us. We rushed around like lunatics tidying up the devastation from our early start, packing a rucksack of mountain essentials and donning our grown up walking boots before they came back to collect us. When they arrived an hour later we were sat waiting on the step like excited little children. We piled into the car and set off for our walk.  We drove for 45 minutes to the Sanctuary of Macareto in the National Park of the Sibillini Mountains where we stopped to let the dogs have a run around. The sanctuary was built in the 16th century around the original smaller 14th century chapel. It houses as statue of the Madonna. In august 1359 the mules carrying the statue stopped and refused to go any further which is how the Madonna came to rest here. We continued our journey further south towards Casteluccio where we walked 5.7km through the mountain range. When we reached the vantage point near the top the air was crisp and freezing when you took a deep breath.

Sanctuary of Macareto

 

A view of the Sibillini Mountain Range

From here we could see Mount Vettore, Italian for Victory, 2476m above sea level. It is also named the cloud factory because it gives the impression the clouds are appearing from a ledge on the mountain, it was really impressive. We stopped for a rest and Suzanna had kindly made us lunch. We had homemade wholemeal bread rolls with sunflower, pumpkin and linen seeds, a mixture of vegetables and olive oil and a peach for afterwards, it was absolutely delicious. On our way back down we saw two enormous white fluffy mountain dogs protecting a large herd of sheep and their young.

 

These mountain dogs protect the sheep

 

 

Their paw prints were the same size as Jac's fist

 

 

Milko, Susanna & Otto

Lentil Flower

Susanna told us that two week previous the surrounding fields had been completely blue with lentil flowers. She showed us the flowers and explained that when the flowers dies the lentils are extracted from the plant. Intrigued by this we headed to Casteluccio to buy some lentils. We bought 800g (400g of orange and 400g of green) and got some cooking and recipe tips from Susanna.

Lentil stall in Casteluccio

 

Next we headed to a town called Visso, On the way to Visso Milko told us about a lake in the mountains that contains a crustacean named Chiroefalo Marchesonis and is referred to as the living fossil. This is the only place in the entire world where it can be found. When we arrived in Visso we parked the car and walked into the centre of the town where Milko and Susanna took us to the Collegiata S.Maria a beautiful church famous for a huge painting it houses of St Christopher and Jesus. We saw some typical medieval buildings and tasted Ciauscolo, a spicy sausage meat usually torn and served on small pieces of crusty bread. We bought some Ciauscolo and cheese from the butchers and got some bones for Oscar.

Ciauscolo, lentils & Pecorino di Visso

 

On the way back to the car we stopped at a famous bakery for a slice of pizza which Milko treated us to. Milko and Susanna also gave us some biscuits to try, they were called Biscotti Secchi Alla Vernaccia, essentially they are sugar coated biscuits made with red wine. they don't sound overly appealing but they were absolutely delightful. So after spending almost 11 hours with us, driving us around the region getting to know us, teaching us about local foods and taking us to famous spots Milko and Susanna took us back to the Nature Reserve. We were all exhausted after a jam packed day but we were so grateful to them both for offering to spend the day with us and show us around. We told Milko and Susanna that if they ever come to England we would be happy to return the favour and take them to see some of our sight. After such a busy day our heads had barely touched the pillows before we had fallen asleep. The following we morning we slept in, we even managed to sleep through the donkey at the Agriturismo that insisted on heehawing at a ridiculously early hour every morning.

 

Milko, Susanna & Otto