Ascoli Piceno

Friday. Off to Ascoli Piceno, the nearest big town which is about an hour away. Me driving and the Tom Tom (aided by Bob) navigating. The drive is interesting to say the least. The roads are tarmac and wide enough for two cars (unlike many around here), but they wind their way up to little hill towns perched on peaks, then wind their way down to the valley on the other side then wind their way . . . you get the idea. Lots of gear changing and wheel twirling in our Renault Megane diesel and a few heart-stopping moments when white vans come hurtling towards you in the middle of the road. Italian drivers do not move over for anyone and they have some very interesting hand signals. One hand signal was used to me by the driver of an Ape (the tiny three-wheeled vehicles based on a scooter) when I apparently displeased him by getting in his way after going just a tiny bit the wrong way up a Senso Unico. It involved moving the back of the hand under the chin in a rather aggressive manner. Back to the journey, and the good bit is that the scenery was fantastic. The hills went from rounded and swooping to jagged and cliff-sided. When we reached peaks there were sweeping views of more peaks and in the distance rolling hills crowned by small towns. We ignored the Tom Tom at one point when it pointed up a tiny twisted road and followed the sign along the main road signposted to Ascoli instead. We found our way to the old centre and had a wander round some delightful piazzas. There were lots of interesting clothes shops but they were all putting up the shutters as it was 1pm and they close from 1pm to 4.30 for lunch! We have learned now (a little late in our holiday) that everything closes at 1pm. Some interesting old buildings and a lovely church with frescoes and a crypt. We had some lunch sitting outside an art deco café (Caffe Meletti) in the Piazza del Popolo (which has ‘graceful columned porticoes’). The atmosphere was slightly disturbed by what appeared to be the local eccentric – a woman who harangued everyone loudly. The tourist leaflet said the Caffe Meletti was the setting for several films including Alfredo Alfredo (1971). Hmm! Later, Jan bought and we tried the local gastronomic speciality – olives stuffed with meat then deep fried. The drive home took a slightly different route with even steeper roads and more spectacular scenery. The countryside is amazing. Dinner at home with Jan-made pasta.

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