Travelling to Abruzzo and other southern regions is to witness an age-old Italian lifestyle that has not changed for centuries. Here you'll find ancient beechwood forests inhabited by wolves and bears, century-old pathways still used by colorfully-attired shepherds and their flocks, ominous castles which now guard nothing but desolate stretches of wilderness where the only sign of life might be a soaring royal eagle or a lone family of mountain goats.