If it weren't for . . .

. . . this Web site , and the fact that the person linked to it never responded to my e-mail, I may not have clicked on this Web site to find out if someone there knew anything about the place I found doing an internet search when I was looking for rentals in Italy one summer upon deciding it was finally time to go--and stay--a while.

Though, I suppose that place would never have existed if Daniele Kihlgren hadn't "set out on his motorcycle to explore the Abruzzi mountains, two hours east of Rome . . . trying to locate a back road from the ruins of a medieval castle to a gorgeous high Alpine plain known as the Campo Imperatore. Instead, he stumbled across a tiny fortified town of narrow alleyways and crumbling stone buildings" and "saw an opportunity to rebuild Santo Stefano and breathe new life into the local economy by transforming many of the abandoned houses into an albergo diffuso, or "diffuse hotel." ( A Village Is Reborn )

And if it weren't for, Luigi, who wrote me back and offered his B & B (apparently Sextantio had not been fully up and running yet), I may never have gone and met Jack and Helen and spent time in Vasto, where I came across Cristina, my tutor, who brought me up to her father's restaurant one Saturday afternoon in Carunchio . . . a town I immediately loved upon setting foot there (and later found out is 40 kilometers from where my great-grandmother and great-grandfather were born) . . . and couldn't stop thinking about, even a year later. . . .

. . . and where, I returned, inexplicably, in January 2008 to begin work on my first documentary.

That's as far as I've gotten.

(P.S. I know Italians have a bit of a reputation for being slow to respond. I guess that finally worked in my favor.)

(P.P.S. Daniele, it's safe to write now.)

(To be continued. . . . )