An invitation from the Masciarelli winery to stay at their Castello di Semivicoli in Abruzzo and tour their winery was the perfect reason to visit this lesser-known region of Italy, with a side trip to Venice to see the Biennale art fair.
Situated on the Adriatic Coast 50 miles east of Rome, Abruzzo is home to many of the country’s best-preserved medieval and Renaissance hill towns. The scenery is enchanting and resembles that in the movie series “Lord of the Rings” with its wild landscapes, narrow valleys, hillside roads, and hundreds of fortified castles and monasteries.