This being Italy, it was hardly a surprise to see the names of Verdi, Puccini and Rossini writ large and the rest not exactly writ small, but more like left out altogether to make room for Donizetti and Leoncavallo.

This parade of national heroes was broken only by one grudging nod in the direction of Bizet and another to Orff. No Mozart ? No Mozart. Boo !

(Casalbordino opera night isn’t exactly La Scala – but who wants to trek to Milan and spend a fortune to watch fat ladies singing, when you can find as good an evening as this here in Abruzzo ! Click on the main headline title above for more !)

This little corner of Abruzzo is in danger of becoming Dead Rock Star Central.

I’ve already blogged the astonishingly good Elvis tribute band we saw in Casoli a couple of years ago – but who are making a long-overdue reappearance on Wednesday !

I now blog – with ears still slightly ringing – a truly memorable last Friday night in nearby Palombaro being blown away by Queen tribute band ‘Regina’.

(Freddie lives ! See for yourselves by clicking on the main headline title above…)

Let’s once and for all debunk the dictum that when it comes to ’special’ wine, the higher the price, the better the quality.

This month we have a bottle of one of the best summer wines you’re ever going to find at a scandalously low €1.45; and a bottle of the best Italian sparkling wine I’ve ever tasted, at a princely €4.

(Two bottles of fantastic wine for under €6 ? Yes indeed – click on the main headline title above to find out more…)