Does It Snow in Paradise?

The answer to that questions is Yes! Today, 18th February, 2009, we received about 8-10 cm of snow, roughly 4 inches. A far cry from the winters and snow fall back in Michigan, in the US, where 2 feet was about normal, this time of the year. It was picture perfect and a very rare opportunity to see the beauty of a snow fall in paradise. San Benedetto del Tronto sits at sea level and rarely faces any harsh winter of sleet, snow and freezing temperatures, but today was different a full blown snow storm.

I have enclosed a few photos to share this unique experience….snow in paradise!

Best time to come to Italy and visit Le Marche!

If you are like me you prefer not to go on holiday or vacation when the rest of the world is going, and that means August in Italy. If you don’t mind standing in line, taking mass transportation shoulder to shoulder and having to camp out to get your 1 meter by 2 meters of sand at the beach, then by all means avoid coming to Italy in August.

Having been in Italy for over 5 years, here are a few of my recommendations of the season to come over pending your type of holiday.

Sun & Fun – (Late June, All July & Early September)
The best time to come and avoid the crowds, but have good beach weather would be late June, all of July and early September. Now as your know I can’t control the weather, but I have been on the beach during all these times above. And you avoid the major bulk of the crowds, so you can enjoy the beach with the locals. Get into restaurants, night clubs and shopping centers without being mobbed with the other tourists.

Adventures (Late May, June, July, September, Early October)
What I mean by adventurous is hiking in the Sibillini mountains or mountain biking from coast to coast (San Benedetto del Tronto to Rome). Or kite surfing on San Benedetto’s beach or hang gliding in Castelluccio, an ancient volcano that fills in with amazing flowers till your eyes can see during may-june.

Shopping (All Year Round, Except August)
Some great shopping exists in Italy, away from the big cities, out in the province with the open air markets and outlets in the area where all the big brands of leather, shoes and bags are produced (Prada, Geox, Nerogiardini, Docksteps, Tod’s to name a few).

Remember the seasonal costs in Italy. Tourism is their 2nd largest industry and some towns thrive only because of it. Prices for everything vary pending the time of year you visit. Here is a helpful guide the tourist offices don’t provide:

Jan-Mar Low Season
Apr-Jun Mid Season (0 – 20% higher)
Jul-Aug High Season (25%-50% higher)
Sept-Oct Mid Season (0-20% higher)
Nov-Dec Low Season

Pricing will reflect this scale in most cases, but remember the further south you go the cheaper it gets…say from Tuscany to Puglia.

B&Bs in Italy, Come in Many Flavors….

Bed and Breakfasts seem to be all the rage these days, but they also have become an umbrella for all kinds of room rentals.  What do I mean by that?   A B&B in Italy can be as simple as a spare room in someone’s apartment or house, where you may even share their personal bathroom.  It also can be separate rooms, where the proprietor doesn’t even live on-site.  You pick-up the key, pay ahead of time, leave the key in the room and eat your breakfast from plastic wrapped food stuffs.   I have even seen Bed and Breakfasts who don’t even offer breakfast….   So you need to ask yourself, what am I looking for in a B&B in particular?

 

I think travellers in Italy are looking for service, advice and experience in a B&B. 

 

Service – they want a place that feels and treats them as if they were home.  Provides additional services such a FREE wireless internet and reasonable costs for fax, copies, drinks, and local souvenirs.

 

Advice – where are the best restaurants for fish, meat and the local specialties, low cost, family style, where the locals eat, etc.   What towns and sites are worth visiting, trekking tours in the Sibillini mountains, discounts at beach chalets’, wine tours, etc.  Or even private and self-guided tours upon request.  

 

Experience – the goal is to ensure guests have an wonderful time and experience in the Region, no matter their interests and/or tastes.  Word of mouth is the best advertisement, so the B&B needs to work hard to meet and exceed the needs of guests.

 

I believe it is also important to provide a safe and secure environment for couples and families, wether it’s gated parking for their cars or a safe playground for the kids, I believe the ambiance of the Bed and Breakfast is also important for those guest who are looking for a peaceful and relaxing getaway from their daily careers.   

 

Some Friendly Advice…

 

So next time you are surfing the web, looking for Bed and Breakfast make sure you ask them:

1.               What is their process for check-in and check-out?   (tell you if they are on-site)

2.               Ask about private or shared bathrooms?                       (ensure you privacy)

3.               Ask about secure parking?                                              (security regarding you car)

4.               What is served for breakfast?                              (fresh or packaged breakfast)

5.               Does some on-sight speak (your language) or English?   (so you can ask questions and get advice)

 

These are all reasonable questions, it takes the guess work and surprise out of your B&B experience.    Any B&B worth having you as a guest would be happy to answer all and more of your questions.  If not, you may re-think that particular B&B. 

Romina and Thomas

B&B La torretta bianca

Marche Region

www.bebtorre.com

Favourite town in Le Marche: Ascoli Piceno

I have a few data for those people who want to investigate le Marche region.  It is an amazing region with over:

180 Km 246 200 234 500 32 163 70

of Coast Line Towns Romanic Churches Museums Historical Squares Archeological sites Sanctuaries Historical Theatres

 

Just one of my favorite places to visit is a medieval city called Ascoli Piceno, well persevered and made completely from travertino stone, (local stone) it sits upon cliffs well above the river below, keeping it safe and well preserved over time.   It’s amazing medieval towers, breathtaking squares (piazza), outdoor roman theatre, but my favorite sight is the only single arch roman bridge left in Europe, that you can still walk through and tour to marvel at its construction (see photo #1).     The city is known also for its local specialty called; “Olive Ascolane”  meaning Olives from Ascoli.  Which is a large green olive filled with meat or fish, lightly battered and fried in olive oil.    One can not visit Ascoli Piceno without going to “piazza del Popolo”, (see photo #2) one of its main squares, and going into Cafe’ Meletti, one of the oldest cafe in Italy, founded in 1907, to sit down and have an anisetta (liquor with coffee bean) thrown in for taste and watch the people walk by.(see photo #3)  It is a town that can be seen in a half or full day depending on your pace.  

Fortress of San Leo

We arrived to San Leo, in the ancient county of Montefeltro, 30 km from Rimini and 16 km from the Republic of San Marino, along the only access road, cut out of the rock. In ancient times, there were two draw-bridges closing the entrance at night or in moment of danger, but they were destroyed by the constant rock slides. It seems still impossible how that rocky mass, catapulted from the Tyrrhenian Sea 10 million years ago, can still stand with no problems.It is thought that Dante had in mind the gigantic Leontine rock when imagining the very peculiar structure of his Purgatory in the Divine Commedy. In fact, the main square of the town is dedicated to him and a memorial recalls his visit at the beginning of 1300. It is a foggy day and a cold wind hits us when we get out of the car and it starts drizzling. Good thing we all have an extra jacket with hood in the car, except Thomas who is trying to cover himself with a vest and keeps saying: I am all right! but his face does not seems to agree with that.We had a late start in the morning and two hours car ride woke up our appetite. So we decided that our first stop would be in a restaurant for lunch. Osteria Belvedere was our choice, next to the parking area, around the corner from the main square going towards the fortress. Little pricy, but worth it. The rustic interior walls all cut in stone, the little details in the set up of the table and the great home made pasta with porcini mushrooms and the juicy grilled Italian sausage gave us the energy to climb to the fortress.Leo, (we are here to show him his fort as promised!) who needs to digest quickly decided to take the 10 minutes climb to the fortress cutting through a wooded path. The rest of us decided to see if the car could make it up the top and we parked right in front of the entrance. There is only one other car parked, it is still lunch hour, but fortunately the fortress stays opened all day. The fort and the town got their name from Saint Leo, arrived here from Dalmatia in the 4^th century, during the great persecution of the Christians by the Emperor Diocletian, together with his friend Marino (San Marino!) to evangelise the territory and to retire to a spiritual life of seclusion. A flourishing city during the Middle Ages, San Leo was always contended by prestigious families for its strategic position until the domination of the Pontifical State in 1631. After the passage to the Church, the fortress lost importance and served as a prison until 1906.  Restorations on one of the towers are still in progress. Entering the fortress, after a ticket of 8 euro a person, we meet a series of parade grounds and inside, and exhibition of arms and suits. I found it particularly impressing the number of authentic torture instruments and device that you could actually go and see from the rack to individual iron cages you were hung in as a prisoner, in the punishment cells, two areas excavates in the rock. Also to see is the “Pozzetto”, the cell where the Count of Cagliostro was imprisoned for 4 years in 1791 till his death. Cagliostro, a famous alchemist and healer throughout the most important courts in Europe, was arrested by the Inquisition because he founded a Lodge dedicated to Egyptian rites. He was more or less buried alive in a narrow cell accessible only via a window in the ceiling. The only opening in the cell is a very narrow window with triple bars from which one can see only the churches of the village below. Leaving the fort, a beautiful rainbow was waiting for us far away in the distance in the view of rocks and hills reaching until the Adriatic sea.  The small village is quite today and we go get a coffee, waiting for the Pieve to open in the afternoon. When I think of a church where the Christian soul can be closer to God well I think to the essential style of a preromanic church like La Pieve. It is the oldest monument of the area and the tradition says that it was built over the cell where San Leo used to retire to pray. It does not have an entrance on the façade because of the steep land where it sits, but you can enter, as in the Cathedral, on both sides. Observing around you can see that the remains of the roman temples found on that spot were used for the construction. Pieve means People from the Latin to represent the original community who built the site. I could stay forever in the silence of that church but the others are already heading towards the Cathedral that contains a relic of San Leo. Down the sculpted stairway of the Duomo there is the crypt where there is the lid from the coffin of San Leo bearing these words “San Leone, priest and pilgrim. Whilst I lived, I loved”. It is time to go if we want to reach in time San Marino. Going down the hill and looking backwards I realize that is difficult to distinguish between the natural rock and the man’s work and this is what makes this place so fascinating and magical!