Thursday, December 27, 2012

OUR FAVORITE B AND B

 
As we wended our way through Le Marche
we were looking forward to our return
visit to CA' del CARDO
 
This is Carlo and Donatella's home
which fortunately for us they have turned
into a B and B.  Not only is this somewhere
to sleep, it is a place to relax, enjoy
good food, wonderful friends and
beautiful art.

 
Cardo is an artist himself
plus an ardent collector.  

 

I love the combination of Italian
antiques with contemporary art.


 
Nothing here is boring and at every turn
 is an adventure for your visual senses.
 
All the room have hand painted doors

and headboards.

The view from their yard is breath taking.
 




 

It would have been very easy to spend
the day relaxing with the animals and
enjoying our surroundings but we decided
 to take a little trip to the neighboring
 town of Fabriano.  This is not a place
that draws a lot of tourist, but it is
important to us because our dear
friend Gabriella was born here and
she speaks of it fondly.
The town is known for the paper mills
which go back to the 14th century.  We found the
paper museum and had a enjoyable tour
even if it was all in Italian.

As usual on our trips to Italy we get
hungry for lunch when all the places
are closed and having their own lunch.
We were able to talk ourselves
into this nice place anyway.
 

Close by was Grotte di Frasassi
These are limestone caverns, Italy's
largest and most famous complex of caves.
If you click the name you will go the
their web site and it is a very interesting story.
These caverns are so vast that the
Milan Cathedral would fit comfortable inside.
They don't let you take pictures so I
pulled these from their web site.  They
do not do the place justice.  I was awe struck
the entire tour.



After a wonderful day we headed back
to CA' del CARDO for our last evening.
 Carlo had invited some friends over
and they were cooking up a feast. 


 
We were sad to leave
 
but left friends behind and hope
to return in the future.

 

Thursday, December 20, 2012

LE MARCHE

We discovered the Le Marche region on our
last trip to Italy and immediately knew we
would come back. 

The region lies on the
eastern side of central Italy, between the
Adiatric Sea and high Apennine mountains
and much of it remains unspoilt by the ravages
of mass tourism.
 
Many compare it to Tuscany 20-30 years ago with it's lavender fields, sunflower fields and vineyards spread
across hills like a patchwork quilt on an unmade
 bed.  What makes it so appealing however
is that statistics show that Le Marche
had just 7 percent as many visits by foreigners
as Tuscany. 
Urbino was our first stop, a charming small
hilltop renaissance town that looks much
the same as it did in the 15th century.
 

Strolling around the town we looked
int this window and saw students learning
the craft of restoration of antiquities.



 
 



 

As much as I enjoy the art and culture
of this town I also enjoy their simple
lifestyle.

 
Pesaro is an appealing seaside town
with good shops, fine beaches and great fish.
We only had a couple of hours
to spend but I was thrilled with what we
saw.  First thing was this beautiful
smiling lady with her pretty in
pink daughters who was about to get married.
 
 

Than across the Piazza we saw another
couple in wedding attire getting their
pictures taken.  September must be
a big month for weddings, we saw
five different wedding parties on this trip.






Lunch was perfect.

Le Marche is to be continued.