The road to Scanno

We drove a twisting road the other day to reach two towns way up in the mountains, both lovely in their own way. Sulmona is a town of 25,000 with a Roman aqueduct going right through the centre of town. The day we visited was market day and you can see some of the tents set up in the main square.

Sulmona is famous for what the Italians call confetti, but we call sugared almonds. They've been making them here for hundreds of years and there are little shops all over town selling them in many flavours and colours. We tried one with a soft outer coating of pear and yogourt. Delicious.


Leaving Sulmona we continued our trip winding through a steep canyon to the little town of Scanno. Here the stone houses perch one on top of another going down into the canyon.

This town has a medieval feeling with its steep staircases and bridges and arches that create a warren once you get into the old part of town.

The canyon road is so twisty that mirrors are needed to see if another car is approaching the hairpin turn. After 40 kilometers of this we were glad to get back on the Autostrada.