I know that I have written about this town before, but I am in love with it. It is about 2.5 hours from Umbertide through the mountains and deep in Le Marche. The town has a history that is older than Rome's. It was originally on the salt road that took salt from the sea down to Rome. It's history is too long and complicated to recite here, but suffice it to say there were many battles, rulers, and fights with their neighbors. It is now a city that has some industry, Barilla, the pasta company, but still depends on farming and quarries. It is not easy to get to, which is probably why most Americans have not discovered it, but if you have a car, and the time, it is worth a detour on your schedule.
This is a bar that Hemingway frequented. It was recently restored and feels like a cafe in Paris.
This is the inside of the cafe. If you order an alcoholic drink you get a lovely little snack, water and cocoa gets you a smile.
This picture so reminds me of Italy, so beautiful and just beyond reach. She is eating Ascoli olives, which sound disgusting but are fabulous. They are stuffed with meat and the breaded and cooked. She is alone, and never turned toward us.
This piazza is one of the most beautiful in Italy. So elegant, so well proportioned.
This is the other end. In the summer the piazza if filled with laughing students and tourists.
Not only women's clothes were on sale, but men's as well. I love the little boy clothes, so elegant. This is how these Italian men learn style....at an early age!
A very unexpected site around the corner from us...it was quiet and a bit eerie. We looked and left.
This is a bar that Hemingway frequented. It was recently restored and feels like a cafe in Paris.
This is the inside of the cafe. If you order an alcoholic drink you get a lovely little snack, water and cocoa gets you a smile.
This picture so reminds me of Italy, so beautiful and just beyond reach. She is eating Ascoli olives, which sound disgusting but are fabulous. They are stuffed with meat and the breaded and cooked. She is alone, and never turned toward us.
This piazza is one of the most beautiful in Italy. So elegant, so well proportioned.
This is the other end. In the summer the piazza if filled with laughing students and tourists.
Not only women's clothes were on sale, but men's as well. I love the little boy clothes, so elegant. This is how these Italian men learn style....at an early age!
We are regular visitors to Italy, but have never been to Le Marche. On our upcoming trip this fall, we have rented an apartment here. Your article just confirms what we have already read about Ascoli Picena and we can't wait to see it!
ReplyDeleteNina from Michigan
Hello Nina,
DeleteThe fall should be a beautiful time of year to visit. The air will be crisp and the days blue and clear, kind of like Michigan, my home state.
Susan
We lived in Ascoli for three years and return now and again to visit friends - it's a very special place! Beautiful atmosphere and relatively unknown (though we've notice quite a lot more tourists than when we lived there.) There are lots of interesting streets to wander and take in the medieval history of the place.
ReplyDeleteI have put Ascoli on my spring/summer travel list...havnt been there since 1968 and expect to see some changes. Hotel Tornasacco probably doesnt exist anymore...hope the olive are just as good as they were when I first tried them...
ReplyDeleteHi Mary Jane,
ReplyDeleteThe olives were tremendous, although I thought they sounded disgusting. Can't wait til I get back and can make contact.
Susan