After choosing a very dry Abruzzo white, the perfect pairing for the cheeses offered, I moved on to the "meat room." And there Claudio hand carved in front of us the best prosciutto I have ever tasted. He was joined by his father, who brought out a selection of locally produced salame and sausages. It was a carnivore's heaven, a food lover's dream date.

We strolled through the town of Loreto Aprutino the next day in a vain attempt to burn off some of the calories consumed the previous evening. We then set out for our final destination in Abruzzo, a return visit to Sextantio Albergo Diffuso in Santo Stefano di Sessanio. This was the medieval village we had visited in our first week in Abruzzo when we were scouting roads for our Abruzzo classic car tour scheduled for May 2011.

Depending again on the MiTo's navigation system, we weren't exactly led astray--but it was apparently set to choose the shortest distance rather than the quickest route. We found ourselves on a torturous mountainous route that was shrouded in heavy cloud cover. Susan literally sat on the edge of her seat the entire way. While the trip was just 36 miles as the crow flies, it took more than three hours to reach Santo Stefano di Sessanio--well after dark but under a cleared sky on the other side of the mountains.

Upon arriving, we were met by the town's patron saint, Daniele Kihlgren. He is the man with the vision of