L'Aquila

The largest city nearest the Gran Sasso is L'Aquila, which you might remember suffered a brutal earthquake in April 2009. After I left my campsite, I drove into town to check it out.

L'Aquila translates to "The Eagle". The Abruzzo, of which L'Aquila is the regional capital" is prone to earthquakes and has experienced many in its history.

Driving into town, you see signs that the city is still recovering from the earthquake. Here's a brace holding up the town wall.

Buildings, some old and even modern looking ones are uninhabitable.

Most of the "centro storico" is off limits and is called the "red zone"

The military is a constant presence at many major intersections making sure that people don't enter "unsafe" areas.

Even the L'Aquila Duomo is strapped and under repair.

This corner off the Duomo piazza is "Ground Zero". Photos, posters and dedications line the fences.

308 people died. Some of them were university students who were killed in a collapsed dorm. Some buildings were simply old and not up to code, but other more modern ones were suspect of lack of building standards. It was said that an earthquake of this magnitude would not have killed one person in California.

With only a few streets open, there isn't much life or commerce in the old town. I saw more volunteers than actual civilians. I did my best to help the economy by having coffee three times in the hour I was there.

When Italy hosted the G8 summit in 2009, it was intended to bring attention to the plight of the citizens here. But now it's nearing the end of 2010 and the renovations have been slow and even in my basic reading of Italian, the many posters here have anger and frustration at the government and its lack of assistance.