If you let yourself go and listen, love and live nature, after a while, when you go back home you might write us a letter like this…

07/09/2008

How nice to hear fro you,

It already feels like an eternity since we were there, wow. But during that time we’ve erected in our garden a “monument” to our couple of weeks spent with Marino and Elide: two pretty cast-iron black birds, one big, one small, that swing slowley and peacefully from a sort of see-saw, one on each end, balancing each other out. Looking at them has a meditative effect, and reminds us of the peace and tranquillity there at L’Aperegina. So we named them after you.

I’m very glad to hear that you, Marino, are in new form. I didn’t do much, but it’s true that my efforts were loving and perhaps because of this they benefited you.

Unfortunately it’s unlikely that we’ll get to see you before the end of the year. At the end of October we’ll go down to Trieste for the baptism of my nephew, but must return north immediately  because for us it’s the “high season” – the months in which we usually earn more.

But despite this we are neither discouraged, nor do we forget you. Please keep us updated on your plans to move to Australia, we wouldn’t want to hear at the last minute that you’re about to move as we’d like to see you before then.

Please add us to your list of friends to keep updated.

Regarding us, we still havn’t managed to sell our house, so our move to Italy will have to wait a little.

But I don’t give in so easily….

We hope you have a pleasant trip to San Francisco and Australia,

A warm hug,

Daniela

12/08/2008

Gorinchem
Dear Marino, Elide and Lauren, we would like to thank you once again for our very pleasant stay at l'Aperegina!
Being so close to nature, listening to tranquillity around you, watching the colours at Campo Imperatore, visiting all those beautiful churches, catching a glimpse of Forca di Penne and knowing that you're almost there, almost home, enjoying your dinners ... are just a few things we miss most!
But ... we still have our pictures, our diary and ... your jams at breakfast and your liquors after dinner, which taste almost the same as with you ... 
In attachment you will find a small selection of our photographes.
We hope you will like them.
Also we wonder if it's already possible to make a reservation for next year.
We would like to stay longer and are thinking of the period:
(wednesday) 29th of july - (tuesday) 18th of august 2009.
We hope you are all doing well and send you warm greetings, all the best,
Vera & Judith.

07/08/2008

Dearest Elide and Marino,

We are always remembering the beautiful days we spent with you and of the friendship that grew between us from the moment of our arrival.

We hope to see you soon so that we can continue to share our experiences and get to know each other even better, through it already feels as if we’ve known each other for a long time.

A big hug and a warm hello to the nice young American girl

Nicole and Salvatore

05/08/2008

What to say of L’Aperegina?

One could say that there aren’t words to describe it, but that would be an easy escape, because to describe the reality of this small and magical place thare are words indeed: just close your eyes a moment and give in to memories, sensations, emotions….

We can still see Marino who, like a wise storyteller, in the evenings with a glass of good nocino, tell us of the curiosities and anecdotes of this land still foreign to most. How can one not be charmed by his words? His own story is one of corageous choices and ideals of perseverance despite obligations and sacrifices.

But if we think of Marino we must also imagine the sweet smile of Elide, her attitude at once discrete and playful, the delicious treats her able hands prepare to delight the guests from the moment they awake.

Now let our troughts more a bit to the marvels that this place holds and that crave to be seen by those who decide to abandon the crowded coasts to go to where the land rises up towards the sky. How can we not think of the limitless praries of Campo Imperatore, from which, like an elegant castle of stone, rises up the majesty of Grans Sasso: looking at it makes one think of the home of a prince who has chosen to take refuge there in order not to surrender to the frenzy of a crazy world. But every prince has a beautiful princess at his side, and so there is closeby La Maiella, land of shepherds and hermits: it’s rugged, mysterious, great valleys, so rich in water and life, it’s lonely hermitages hollowed into the stone, which seem to invite silence and prayer, its ancient beech trees, in whose shadow it wouldn’t seem out of place to see gnomes and fairies skipping.

But also I think of the man who has always had the fortune to live in this natural paradise (it doesn’t often happen); his traces are the towns clinging to the hillsides, as if in a great cradle, its narrow houses one close to the next, as if to defend themselves from the cold winter winds, its fortresses situated on seemingly inaccessible rocky peaks, senties ignorant of the passage of time. How absurd and far away the chaos of the city seems!

So, talking about L’Aperegina means talking about all of these things, and not only because its situated at the center of them, but also above all because it’s a throught-out place, having been created and grown throughout the years in comlete harmony with the land on which it rests. To do this requires a great deal of work. And for this we cannot but thank you, to have been received with such warmth and friendliness, for almost becoming a part of your family, and for creating unforgettable days for us.

Unfortunately, as of yet not many days, but we hope there  will be more in the future!

A hug,

Paolo and Silvia

01/08/2008

...the rain!!...tonight we’ve had another big storm…I love the rain, it makes me think and above all makes me remember the most wonderful things…think a bit…yesterday after a really stressful day there was only one thing I could do…think of something that would lighten my mind and warm my heart…I closed my eyes and…all of a sudden I was back in that little piece of paradise in abruzzo…l’Aperegina…remembering the mornings I spent there, having just woken up (very early), standing at the lookout listening to the silence…listening to nature’s song…observing it’s colors…the purity…caressed by the warmth of the sun…and breathing…breathing…and then a sweet smile and a “buongiorno!” from Marino…the jams…the warm milk from grandfather Mario…Isn’t it wonderful to fall in love with all that is simple, of which everything seems to have been forgotten…and it’s for this that I consider myself to be very lucky…tomorrow the vacation of two people very close to my heart will come to an end…Silvia and Paolo...I hope that their hearts have also been filled with truth…simplicity…joy…strength…but most of all with a love that one can learn only from nature…you know this well, Marino, don’t you!!!…My throughts are always with you…a big hug…

your Lidia

29/07/2008

Hello Marino, hello Elide,

I returned to work today and couldn’t bear the darn nostalgia, so I jumped online to your webpage so I could enjoy a little taste of the wonderful vacation we spent at L’Aperegina. My friend Sabrina really hit the nail on the head. She told me of a fairy tale like place and of the special people there, and that’s how it was. Yesterday I go and back from another week of vacation spent between Colli Euganei, Terme and Strade del Vino Veronesi, but the calling of Abruzzo is still stronger than all the rest. I’ve just quickly eaten a slice of your cheese. You know, it’s still fabulous, but eaten with you at your table during, after-dinner conversation it was even better!

A smile, that will last until I come back to L’Aperegina, because I will come back!

Arianna (for Elide Monticelliiiiii, for Marino Montalcini o Montanelli, the one with the famous “fake relative”!!!!)

23/07/2008

Dear Marino, Dear Elide,

Not even four weeks have passed since we were at L’Aperegina and yet it feels like an eternity, as if it were light years away. Daily life has swallowed us up again, like a sort of chasm at whose bottom runs stress, obligations, worries and that feeling of “living in the wrong movie”, as they say in Germany. How I miss the peace of your way of life!

Even though every thing seems to be working against me, I havn’t abandoned the idea of choosing another life style, one similar to your own.

It’s like wresting a windmill, sometimes I feel as if it will crush me, but for now I can resist it.

I pray only that Bernd can tolerate this situation a little longer that for him is unbearable, and that he understands that his inability to tolerate it derives also from the unnaturalness of our present life. Living in the city is a little like a drug, detaching oneself and abandoning family and friends becomes acceptable when the suffering has reached an unacceptable level.

And how are you guys? Above all, how is Marino’s swollen foot? Oh, Marino, I’ve been thinking of you a lot lately. Though I wasn’t able to help you much, I hope I at least gave you a starting point. But  that which I appreciated most about you was your sincerity and immediate willingness to discuss the habits from which the problem could have originated. I don’t know if your problem with gout has been resolved but indipendant of that your attitude towards it was a rare one…you demonstrated an unusual flexibility of mind, so unusual, in fact, that - though it may seem strange to you – it gave me great joy. It was perhaps the first time since I began my studies in Natural Medicine that someone who up to then was a stranger to me gave me what I would define as an unconditional trust, without fear or prejudice, without ifs, ands or buts. It has been wonderful and I thank you for it.

Of L’Aperegina I remain impressed with your many faces: the dining room and communal dinners, the wood-burning oven and the fabolous pizzas, the herb garden, the sheep out to pasture, the treehouse, the lookout with the fantastic view of the hills below, the fireflies, the hammock, the ping pong table, the little house full of Australian souvenirs and remembrances examined from top to bottom…But inspite of all this they are all aspects that alone could not have rendered our vacation so unique. To those who want to understand the “surplus value” of L’Aperegina, I would say that it’s you two, your genuine spirit, your disarming sincerity, your desire to give – to who ever visits you – unforgettable moments. Whit us you have definitely succecded.

Let us hear from you every so often, it would give us great pleasure.

A hug,

Daniela (e Bernardo)

26/06/2008

Dear friends,

the weekend spent in your company at that divinely amazing place flew by so quickly...what a pity!

When I think of Marino and L’Aperegina, Peter Pan and Never-Never-Land come to mind!

In only a few days you all managed to provide me with a peace and serenity that I’ve been looking for for so long! Thanks!! We’ll come back soon, but this time we’ll stay in “La casa nel bosco”…when there’s that beatiful lamp…hahaha!!!

A hug,

Maria Domenica

24/9/2006

Hi Marino we finished our tour in Abruzzo, of Ape Regina we appreciated the tranquillity of the mountain place, the simple and tasty cooking, and above all the man, Marino.

17/9/2006

It was so beautiful to hear from Marino! My friend Marino. Here it is raining, actually it has been pouring for four days not stop. It’s not that I don’t like the rain, on the contrary, I dedicate moments listening to it, mainly because it has the gift of sweetening my thoughts and to give me creativity and advice…. not bad I would say! I hope instead that you are accompanied by beautiful days (after all you have to be there until December). I wonder how many of them are with you today, which itinerary that you will suggest and above all, at the end of the day, your guest’s opinions…. how beautiful, what a sweet envy! Here, like you could imagine, I went back deeply and quickly into the Milanese rhythm…. work, traffic. Lots of traffic. To much traffic! I hate the milanese rhythm and the funniest thing of all, is that I’m part of it, is not like at the Ape Regina where you have the luxury to wake up at sunrise, and breathe deep inside of you the sweetness of silence. So many beautiful memories Marino, how much I miss that peace. The emotions, the beautiful people, in one week I experienced Elide’s wonderful sweetness, the strength, the love for life of the two fantastic grandparents, my grandparents from Abruzzo, Mario e Antonietta, the friendship value of Mario, the tenderness between Lello e Martina. The chase between the ducks to see who will secure more food, your unexpected break dedicated to look at the sky, the sun, a fruit, to breathe serenity, your wisdom…Damm the misery!!! That’s ok, I don’t have to be sad, on the contrary I have to consider myself fortunate to be able to keep in the heart, that life experience that for sure I will repeat, perhaps soon who knows, my birthday is close. You can’t even start to imagine how much I gained from knowing you and your lifestyle. With you, the experience of your simplicity and truth of being, now you are in to my heart, you all are in my heart would you say that I’m exaggerating?

 A big salute to you Marino and a very strong hug to that magnificent place that you named: Ape Regina

 Your Lidia

12/9/2006

Dearest Marino and Elide I hope that you are well. I thing of you every day. It has been an incredible vacation with you both. Greetings from Cecilia and naturally from Pepita. See you soon Aleida

7/9/2006

Dear Marino we left a week ago, but the nostalgia for Ape Regina quickly arrived. We had a great time and we will comeback for sure. Greetings to you and Elide, for taking us into your care Daniele, Giovanna, Federico and little Valerio…..or you uncovered the poete in you, like has happened to……..

The enchantment of life

Among the sleeping mountains And the sunny hills

From the warmth……of time that passes

There is a place that enchants life

Where it will never end

From that place I look around

The heights in front of me

Make me understand why

………………………

The hill does the rest

To make one understand who is not here

The value that is here

Above all, of life

That never will be understood

To the Ape Regina with love, Giuseppe

Up there life is a dream………….

There is a place on the mountain

Where in the light of the morning

One see’s the sun, rising from the sea breeze…

Where the animals have a name

Where the birds sings in the air

and the squirrels walk on roofs

Where the flower smile to you

And the green meadow become your carpet

Where to sleep, among the wine leaves or the almond tree leaves, is a dream

Where one eats good food from the land

Made with love and fantasy

From the hands of man

Where the only regret

Is not to see

The little house on the almond tree

Luciano

26/8/2006

Dearest Marino and Elide, we arrived yesterday in Milan, tomorrow we leave for Fermentera. But we left our heart with you, in your magnificent agriturismo, in your warm hospitality and your little house on the tree. See you soon, a hug from Maria Grazia and Paolo.

22/8/2006

We have been back for a day and already we feel the nostalgia for Ape Regina. Thank you for all you have given us, the places and scenery of a region that more than others has remain faithful to nature. Thank you for helping us to rediscover the natural rhythm and the resources: the clean air, the clear water, the healthy natural food. Thank you for giving us the pleasure, of a time in which everything has been more than “Beautiful”. A friendly greeting to the nice Eleonor and the tireless Ani, but above all, our affectionate and grateful regards to you and Elide. Arrivederci as soon as possible Fabrizio and Ines.