Il Glicine Sarnano

... lunch we stumbled on a look-out and found a little Italian family having lunch there as well. We scouted a grassy spot under some trees and laid out our quilt and had lunch. We drank our chilled white wine while eating our pecorino cheese, prosciutto, fresh bread and juicy peaches. I took pictures, Marty read until we both dozed off, while hearing the happy sounds of the Italian family under the bright blue sky and ...

... restaurant to have dinner late, by our standard and arrive a half an hour too early. We had an antipasto as Mike suggested but didn't stop there, we ordered pasta. I had the potato gnocchi with truffles and mascarpone. Marty had the pasta with spicy red sauce. Stuffed with doggy bags in hand, we staggered back down the hill in the cool night air.

... the mature manufacturing industries of shoes, handbags, fashion, bicycles and marble, all blend magnificently in old and modern styles.

My stay in San Severino Marche reflected this contrast between ancient and modern. The Bed and Breakfast facility Loggia Servanzi exemplifies the ancient. It is housed in the 15th century Palace Servanzi and faces the Piazza del Popolo, once called ...

We found San Stefano because we were having difficulty finding somewhere to stay – everything seemed closed and there were military tents dotted around the countryside. We finally asked an old guy and he said we could park up outside his house. The lovely old guy and his cats and dogs are in the photos. He explained to us that everything was closed because they were on EARTHQUAKE ALERT. We had ...

... and dessert. It also included 3 wines, white, red and dessert. Very good. (Shiny had veal, which looked like sheep balls and she didn't like it. I had pork steak thing that was really good.) The whole meal took 2 1/2 hours to eat!! We only had dinner after 8pm, so by the time we were done, it was almost 11pm!! Since these Agriturismo is in the country and we didn't have a car, they drove us to this places. Today is the first day since i've been in Italy that i didn't have Gelato..

... reaking of body odour. We had a water fight, BBQ and went swimming. There was an amazing water slide about 25m tall, which breaks your back and other parts of the anatomy... It was great and then we went on to florence... Stay tuned for more info!

The most exciting thing about San Severino Marche was discovering an Aldi-style supermarket called Dico. Yep - probably worth giving the town a miss, although it did have a lovely park with some great play equipment for Ethan and a fantastic gelateria. We took advantage of my mum's last few days and had about four meals out, in and around San Severino Marche. The food lived up ...

... visited an old palace replete with some impressive paintings, including a Reubens, and a stunning, wood-lined library containing mainly old medical books. The library is reknown for its huge globe which was actually built inside the room due to its size (the dimensions were too large to get it through the door or windows) and has remained there ever since. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed ...

Azi a fost o zi plina. O zi poate fi plina doar daca incepe de dimineata si asta presupune ca eu sa ma scol de dimineata, adica inainte de 9.15. Si azi m-am sculat de dimineata. :) Am apucat sa ajung la scoala unde am avut parte de momentul ciudat al zilei - de cand sunt in Italia am parte de "momentul ciudat al zilei". Acest moment poate sa apara de mai multe ori intr-o zi sau poate sa lipseasca cu desavarsire si sa am parte de o zi... normala. Am iesit din sala de ...

... she lead us to had been heavenly. Colleverde campsite was a huge disappointment, but at least there was a great pizza place nearby. The next morning we shook the aches from our bones and sped down to the centre of town. Remarkable. Remarkable. We only had time to visit the Duomo and its acres of marble etchings on the floors and walls, paintings, books embossed in the fifteenth century with gold leaf. We would have stayed longer but an accident ...