Staying on an olive farm in Italy - Kev's Travel Stories

Hello, this is Kevin, and today we're taking ourselves somewhere that for a few glorious days felt remarkably close to heaven on earth.

Yes, we were in an olive farm in the hills high above Cassoli in Abruzzo, Italy.

And this isn't really a story about a hotel.

There's no reception desk here, no buffet, no concierge.

Instead, there's a thousand olive trees.

There is a swimming pool.

There are mountains on the right.

You can almost see the sea in the far distance on the left.

There's cats, there's dogs, there's wild animals, there's wonderful Italian food and best of all two old friends of mine spencer and bimby and my two traveling companions were my grandchildren maya and kuba who need no introduction on this podcast and perhaps the biggest guest of all was silence we had just come from rome In August, you'll understand that a transformation this was.

Rome is, oh my goodness, heat, noise, crowds, traffic and people and extraordinarily beauty coming at you from just about every direction.

But then you get on a coach and head east across Italy towards Abruzzo.

And it was pretty much a relief.

Even though we'd been staying in the Hotel Eden, it was hot, 35 degrees.

Meanwhile, we'd arrived in Cetisqualo, where Spencer was waiting for us.

And gradually, we left all the noise behind.

The roads became quieter, though they did become steep and a little bit stomach-churning.

The town smaller, the landscape smaller.

Greener and wilder, and by now a little burnt out, it has to be said.

And then we began climbing towards Cassoli.

Abruzzo, for those that don't know, is one of those parts of Italy that many foreign visitors seem to travel through rather than travel to.

The Apennines rise around you.

The Mayella Massif dominates the landscape, and yet the Adriatic coast is within reach.

We went visiting and swimming in the Adriatic Sea, as we always do when we go to Spen and Bimby's Olive Farm.

Between mountains and sea, there are these extraordinary old towns, small farms, vineyards, vegetable gardens, and most of all, olive groves.

And high above Casserly is Spencer and Bimby's villa.