Its a rainy old day here in Dublin… and that makes it even nicer to get an update from some Beasties abroad! I’m sure many of you will remember Antonello and Tiziana Beastie and their cat Beas-Tris from previous monster adventures… But if you’re new here, why not take a second to catch up with their first trip to their local Irish pub and their (B)Easter weekend away in Perugia?
Today, they’re on the road again – this time, they’re visiting the Abruzzo region in central Italy, home to the country’s oldest National Park. The park’s headquarters are located in the picturesque town of Pescasseroli, a place with plenty to keep two curious little Beasties entertained!
First stop was the beautiful church of St Peter and St Paul, which dates back to the 14th century. Never satisfied with the view from the ground, our adventurous friends climbed a nearby tree to get a better look!
The church also has this colourful floral wall on its left side… Spot the Beasties!
But being surrounded by all this natural greenery had an unexpected effect on Beas-Tris – could it be that she felt the call of the wild?
And no sooner had her Beastie minders managed to extract her from her hiding place in the herbaceous border, she was off again – this time, scaling the elaborate metal vine sculpture that was entwined around this staircase!
It’s lucky that Antonello Beastie and Tiziana Beastie are both excellent climbers… And generous pet owners. Figuring that Beas-Tris was in need of some four-legged company, they decided to spend the rest of the day in the park’s zoo. Here, sick and injured animals from the park are taken in and cared for until they’re ready to be released back into the wild. The local wildlife certainly makes for some interesting viewing – did you know that this part of Italy is still home to wild boar, lynx, deer and bears?
Yes, bears!
The Beasties met this one, who is currently feeling a little under the weather. Hopefully he’ll soon be well enough to be left back in the woods where he was found. As you can see, Beas-Tris decided to stay close to her parents here!
And now, time for one more group photo before we head back home!
Thanks to Antonello and Tiziana Beastie (and their human counterparts) for sending us these photos! They’ve certainly brought a bit of sunshine to my day.
Has anyone else encountered some interesting wildlife recently? Let us know in the comments! And don’t forget to drop back in on Tuesday, when I hope to have some new Beasties for you all to meet…
Hallo, thanks for publishing our new photoset, it is always fan to travel with those small friends with us.
Unfortunately it rained most of the time and we had not the chance to walk into the woods, otherwise we would have shot pictures of the breathtaking nature of the Abruzzo National Park!
Ciao and thanks again from Antonello & Tiziana (& Tris of course)!
Oh no! You’ll just have to go back again, I suppose š At least the sun came out eventually, and I loved wandering around Pescasseroli with my Beastie tour guides! Thanks again for the photos, I can’t wait to see where those adventures little monsters of yours end up next š
Wonderful post. These adventures often make me smile and I need that smile today after yesterday’s referendum.
We are still enjoying the new wildlife to encounter here. I have chipmunks galore in the garden and lots of wonderful birds. We’ve also had white tail deer on the garden, and a few foxes. A month or so ago we had a black bear on the adjacent street though sadly I didn’t see him.
Oh, how cool! It must be so interesting getting used to a whole new set of unfamiliar birds and animals in your garden when you move overseas. And wow, a local bear too! As for the referendum, I actually still can’t believe the result. It seems so crazy! Makes me glad I have an Irish passport as well as a British one. Were you able to vote from where you are?
Yes, I was allowed to postal vote. First time I’ve been entitled to vote anywhere since we emigrated.
I hope Beas-Tris has been chipped so they can find her if she gets too adventurous. In the past week I’ve seen three deer (one deer one day, two deer another day) roaming the streets, which is not what you expect in the middle of a city…of course, the first one I saw I thought it was a vey tall greyhound. So much for those wildlife biology classes in college. Now, I really need to go find out how to construct one of those floral walls.
Hahaha! We actually have some of those “tall greyhounds” living in Dublin city centre too… the Phoenix Park on the northside is big enough that herds of deer can roam around without getting in anyone’s way. Let me know how you get on with your floral wall efforts… I wonder if the landlord of Beastie Towers would mind me adding one on our balcony? Hmmm… š¤
Well, there’s only one way to find out…just go for it! The second pair of deer I saw were hanging out in someone’s vegetable garden. I guess going out for a buffet breakfast is a trendy thing in the deer world.
Sounds like it… although they’d better watch out in case the owner of said vegetable buffet decides to invite them in for a venison dinner š
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Oh how cool! The beasties met some beasties. š
Our backyard is usually full of wildlife … just today I saw a barred owl looking down at me from a tree. It’s actually a pair that lives in our backyard. They can be quite vocal and I suspect they have at least one owlet … it sounds like it. Other then that there’s a red fox that is usually accompanied by a murder of crows. They let us know he’s around š … and then we have the usual turkey, rat snakes, cottontail bunnies, squirrels, hawks, vultures, groundhogs, etc. etc. it’s quite a zoo.
Nice! Maybe you’ll get to see the owlet’s first attempts at flying soon š I’m especially intrigued that you have snakes in your garden too… none of those here in Ireland!
I sure hope we’ll see the little owlets flying … during breakfast we saw mama owl making her way through the woods maybe getting breakfast?! š
About the snakes … Well, this year seems to be the year of the copperhead. It was all over the news that a lot of people got bitten recently. They are quite venomous and I’d rather not see them. I hope they slither away as soon as they hear us coming. Maybe there’s a chance that the owls take care of them.
Yikes! Owl vs Copperhead sounds like it would be one dramatic fight. I suppose the upside of having no snakes here is that there’s no risk of meeting a venomous one! Stay safe š
I love the way Antonello Beastie always carry his pint with him, in all circumstances š you never know what life will throw at you next and when you will need a pint! š
Haha, true! There’s a lesson in there for all of us, I think š Thanks for stopping by!
Ah Beastie adventures always put a smile on my face š Bears in Italy? I never knew that, I’m glad Beas-Tris didn’t wander off too far on her own.
We encountered an urban fox in my MiL’s garden last weekend, he was having a little nap on the lawn. We had one in our garden a few years ago but the cats promptly saw it off, we have very brave kitties!
I know! I didn’t realise there were really wild places left in Italy… I suppose I assume that everywhere is like Ireland! But apparently the Apennine mountains are still isolated enough in places to allow larger predators to get on with life without people getting in the way. Funny you should mention urban foxes too… our neighbourhood cats spent most of last Monday chasing away a lady fox and her cub from their favourite sunbathing spot. It was quite the drama! Have a good week š
And that’s why cats rule š Hope you have a lovely week too!
After last night’s “hailstones in July,” I’m having serious travelling-beastie-envy!
Tell me about it… these little monsters have a better social life than I do! And we’re certainly having some… um… “interesting” weather here just now, aren’t we? š
Ok, you need to come back now…we live in Abruzzo!!! š
Hahaha, small world! Actually, it was my roving Beastie reporters who were in Abruzzo recently – some of the people who commission Beasties from me are good enough to send photo updates of their monsters exploring their new homes š The photos really made me want to visit, though… I haven’t been in Italy since I was a teenager! Thanks for following my blog, hopefully we’ll have more Italian Beastie adventures for you to enjoy soon š
Happy your “Beasties” visited our region! We’ll be waiting for you!
Super! I’d love a foodie tour! š