I came across this little widget that allows you to run simple polls and questionnaires on your website or blog.

And in a moment of idle curiosity, I thought it’d be fun to run a poll to see what everyone’s favourite Italian food was.

(Thirty-odd ‘favourite Italian foods’ later, it was all starting to get a little out-of-hand. Click on the headline title above to find out more !)

Walk into any church in Abruzzo during December – and with regional variations, this probably applies to the rest of Italy too – and you’ll find a lovingly-built Nativity scene: the ‘presepe’ depicting the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

But it’s a tradition that isn’t just confined to churches, because constructing a presepe is a hugely popular hobby among Italians…

(And our neighbour Nicolino annually produces one of the most ambitious presepe in Abruzzo. Click on the headline title above for more – with pictures…)

Our November guests, who’d decided on Villasfor2 after the usual online search for an Italy villa for couples, were dazzled and delighted – and not just by the sun, for while it’s true that an Abruzzo autumn is nothing if not unpredictable, November rewards your visit with the arrival of the year’s new olive oil, wine and sweet chestnuts.

(Mists, mellow fruitfulness – and Abruzzo’s delicious edible autumn trilogy. Click on the main headline title above to discover more…)