War and Peace in Abruzzo

The third day of the cruise was a day of dramatic contrasts within the Abruzzo region, a mountainous area whose economy is based on agriculture (wine, olives, saffron) and food-related industries (DeCecco pasta, Coca Cola). Like all of southern Italy, its GDP is relatively low. The morning was devoted to a visit to Ortona, a large town on the Adriatic coast that suffered devastation during World War 2. After our visit to Ortona, we headed a few miles inland to the idyllic countryside outside the much smaller town of Orsogna. The names of the places are similar, but our two experiences couldn’t have been more different. 

 

Upon arrival in Ortona, we viewed the remains of a 15^th century Aragonese castle standing on the coast. It was used to defend the Venetian Empire from the Turks.

On the morning of our visit, we walked along bright, clean streets lined with cafes and shops. On the seaside promenade, we saw several older people (certainly not us!) sitting on benches, soaking up the sun and gazing out across the calm waters of the Adriatic. The scene was quite tranquil, but that certainly wasn’t the case 80 years ago. 

 

In the piazza San Tommaso, across from the Cathedral Basilica of San Tommaso, which holds the remains of St. Thomas the Apostle (“doubting Thomas”), Marco introduced us to a local man named Nuncio, who recounted the events that took place during his childhood. (Thanks to Marco for translating.)

It was December 1943, World War 2 was still raging, but the tide of the war in Europe was beginning to turn. Allied armies were advancing northward up the Italian peninsula. Fascist Italy had surrendered on September 8, 1943. The German army had retreated behind the Gustav Line, which ran from coast to coast, east-west, across Italy. It split the country in half, with the Germans in control to the north and the Allies in control to the south. The Germans built up their defenses along with their determination not to give up an inch of territory. The Allies were equally determined to break through the Gustav Line in order to reach Rome. 

 

Ortona had the geographic misfortune to be located just within the Gustav Line. In early December of 1943, fierce fighting between German and British forces began along the Moro River in the area of Ortona. By the end of the month, the Allies were closing in on the city itself. In anticipation of the upcoming fighting, the Germans turned much of the city into rubble to clog the side streets and limit the route available to the Allied forces. 

 

The city center, already in ruins, was occupied by German forces in defensive positions when the two battalions of Canadian infantry and one tank regiment approached on December 20. Now there was only one way into the city center, where the Germans had booby trapped most of the buildings. The fighting took place in close quarters over a period of eight days. According to some sources, the Germans had been ordered to fight for every last house and tree. The Canadians could only advance house by house. Casualties were high. Even when the Canadians took a house, they would often trigger an explosion by turning on a water faucet for a drink. 

 

On December 28, the Canadians found that the Germans had retreated overnight. The Allies had taken Ortona, but the cost, in lives lost, was high. In addition, since the city had not been evacuated, over a thousand civilians had been killed and many more wounded. The city itself was in ruins, and it would take many years to rebuild. 

 

Like most of my fellow travelers, I had never heard of the battle that took place in Ortona. It’s not nearly as well-known as many other World War 2 battles. For that reason, it’s sometimes called the “forgotten Stalingrad,” a reference to the brutal street fighting that occurred in the Russian city on the Eastern Front. 

 

We spent about an hour walking around Ortona, admiring the new buildings and pausing in the Piazza of the Canadian Heroes to study the memorial to those killed in the battle to liberate the city. 

 

Of course, we also found time for a coffee and restroom break. The crostatina (little jam tart) went so well with the espresso macchiato, my new favorite coffee drink.

Fifteen or twenty minutes after our visit to Ortona, we were in the countryside for our Day in the Life experience at Le Mignole, an agriturismo (a farm that welcomes overnight guests). Green hillsides covered with vineyards and olive groves stretched out around us. One special feature of this particular farm was the presence of a small herd of alpaca who were nonchalantly scampering through the fields. 

After we watched a demonstration of how to make elderberry syrup (see elderberry flowers in the basket below), we got to work preparing our lunch. 

 

Under the direction of the farm’s expert cooks, we made ferratella, an ancestor of the waffle, from a batter of semolina (a hard grain), farina (a soft grain), and equal amounts of olive oil and white wine. The patterned pans we used reminded me of Elliott’s Norwegian krumkake iron. 

We also made fresh cheese from milk and rennet, a process I was already familiar with from recent visits to farms in Spain and Portugal.

 

In addition, we took turns forming pallotte cacio e uovo, balls made of cheese and the soft part of bread. These pallotte were then fried and served with a sauce of tomatoes and peppers. 

Finally, we made spaghetti from rolled out sheets of freshly made egg pasta dough. To make two different widths of spaghetti, we used both sides of a wooden frame strung with thin wires. It’s called a guitarra and it was quite a clever contraption.  

 

I was starving by the time we sat down in the rustic dining room to enjoy the fruits of our labor. 

We started with a plate of pizzapane (bread made from pizza dough), capicola (a cured and well-seasoned ham), pecorino affinato (cheese soaked in red wine), and the ferrotella we had made. We also helped ourselves to giuncata (the soft fresh white cheese). 

The spaghetti we made, pasta all’uovo alla guitarra, was served with a 3-meat sauce (beef, pork, mutton/lamb) along with the luscious pallotte di cacio e uovo. Nearly everyone took seconds, or thirds. 

The last course was ice cream and diced apples. Afterwards, we staggered back to bus.

 

The day’s activities ended with a solemn visit to the Moro River Cemetery where 1375 Canadian soldiers are buried. To show their appreciation for the Canadian soldiers who liberated their city, the people of Ortona built the cemetery, which they continue to maintain. I don’t often seek out cemeteries during my travels, but I found this one very moving since I had just learned about the battle that took so many young lives. 

I felt exhausted physically and emotionally drained by the time we returned to our ship in the late afternoon. I didn’t have the patience to sit through a long meal and was relieved to see that dinner would be served buffet style. Chef Alex did a super job. I was able to compose a relatively light dinner from the salad bar and a few samples from the multiple main course and dessert offerings. 

Once again, I skipped the evening activity and returned to my cabin to restore my energy for the next day when we’d be visiting the Tremiti Islands. You’ll learn about this delightful group of islands in my next post.