Ascoli Piceno

Originally published on: Sep 30, 2008

I'm starting to think of this area, Ascoli Piceno and Le Marche region of Italy, as another place I'd like to live. Even with the cold and rain, it has a unique charm and is nearly devoid of tourists, especially Americans. Now that I know my way around, I'm enjoying taking part in the events that the town has to offer. For instance, on Sunday I felt the urge to get to the main square, Piazza del Popolo. I'd been there the night before to attend a seminar on, of all things, Japan. There was a demonstration of a Japanese tea ceremony and martial arts, but the main reason I went was to hear several Puccini arias from his Asian-themed operas, Turandot and Madama Butterfly. The soprano who performed was quite good, her voice clear and strong, even when competing with the sound of the bells in the nearby tower chiming the hour.

When I arrived at the piazza Sunday morning, there was a buzz of excitement and I knew something special was going on, but had no idea what it would be. There were many men with plumed hats on, covered with black grouse feathers. After a while, one of them urged the crowd forward to make room for four squads of brass bands. Once again, I was in the midst of a special, yearly event. This one was called La Fanfara di Bersaglieri.

Basically, military squads of brass bands jog to the center of the piazza in formation and face each other to have a competition of sorts, each band showing off their talents. Each squad had a different kind of uniform, and there were even some women in the squads, with each squad member sporting a plumed hat. I was thrilled to be one of the crowd witnessing the event, which went on for about an hour. The squads represented different towns of the Marche region, and Ascoli's squad was clearly the best band, playing more creative and complicated tunes than the others in attendance.

After the event, people ambled around in the square, or moved on to the larger Arringo Piazza, where there was a market going on. I saw many people with their "pastry packets"...gift-wrapped plates of pastries that will be served at the family Sunday dinner. I noticed this tradition in Urbino last year, another town in Le Marche region. People routinely stop in at the pasticceria (pastry store) after Sunday mass to purchase pastries for dinner. Each plate of pastries is wrapped in bright colored paper and tied with ribbons , so it looks as if they are carrying gifts. With many people walking around carrying these packages, it looks quite festive.

Over the next hour, the crowds began to dissipate, and by 2 pm, the streets were virtually empty. For a town with some 60,000 residents, this seemed rather odd to me. But in Ascoli, it's par for the course on Sunday afternoon. On this day, there was also an environmental incentive going on....cars were banned from the streets of Ascoli to encourage the use of bicycles and walking. So for several hours yesterday, the streets were quite empty, except for a few tourists like me, wandering the streets with their cameras. I seemed to be the only English-speaking tourist, however....most of the others were Italians. I enjoyed walking the empty streets, ambling down interesting, medieval alleys, enjoying the sense of having the town to myself.

In the evening, people were filling the piazza again, and I'd made plans to meet an American couple for an apertivo. Bryan and Valerie moved here two years ago from New Mexico and have each been recording their experiences of becoming assimilated into Italian life on separate blogs. They also offer tours of the areas to the few Americans that come to this part of Italy. Since I don't know much about the Italian habit of stimulating the digestion with apertivi, I invited them to clue me in.

Valerie and Bryan

Each of them ordered a different type of wine that is from this region and I ordered a special liquor, made in Ascoli, called Anisetta Meletti. In fact, the place we were at, Caffe Meletti, created the drink, and boasts the same decor that it had one hundred years ago. With my anisetta came a small bowl of mosca, tiny coffee beans, which one spoons into the anisetta to bring out the flavor, and a plate of tiny cookies. The wine was accompanied by a plate of snacks.

The three of us talked for nearly three hours about our travels, our love of Italy, the highs and lows of living here, and as a result, it turned out to be another great evening for me. I learned a lot about life in Ascoli and enjoyed hearing their stories of exploring Southern Italy, an area I've yet to tackle. The cafè had been crowded when we arrived, but over the course of our conversation, the cafè emptied as people returned home for the evening meal, usually served after 8 pm. Now I have another connection here in Ascoli, and it's becoming clearer that I'm likely to return to this area of Italy for a longer stay in the future. With a variety of friends in the area, access to an affordable apartment and the sea nearby, perche non.....er, why not?

Cafè Meletti

Monday I found a cafè that offers free wifi access if you order something, so I had a cappuccino and was finally able to get some of my online work completed. In the evening I met with another penpal, Roberto, and his daughter Michela. Roberto also had another penpal from England visiting this week, Michael, a city planner who came to study some of the oldest buildings in the region. The four of us visited some of these structures, then went to a pizzeria for dinner. Both Roberto and Michela speak English well; they also study German and French. I was impressed with Michela and her mature perspective on life. Besides linguistics, she is also interested in psychology, and has been reading Freud on her own to understand the beginnings of this science. We will meet again tonight to talk some more.

Michela and Roberto

Tomorrow I move on to Grottammare, to spend several days near the beach along the Adriatic Coast. The sun returned yesterday and will hopefully continue to warm L e Marche for the rest of my stay here. On Friday, I'm off to northern Italy and Parma. As you can tell from these posts, my journey this time has been made richer by the many connections I've made, and I'm not eager to consider how long it might be before I see most of these friends again.

Ascoli Piceno/Grottammare

Originally published on: Sep 28, 2008

I hope those of you who were hoping for emails will forgive me, as my time is limited on the internet in the small towns where I'm staying. I am writing at great length on my computer, but have had few chances to upload my stories to the blog. Wi-fi access is almost impossible to come by. But I will share the details, all in good time. Suffice it to say that I'm having some wonderful adventures, making new friends and continually having interesting challenges. Each time I figure things out, learn something new or make a new connection, it seems life becomes that much richer. I also have scary moments now and then, I guess I should be honest about that.

I'm now in a region where there are few English speakers, so I must rely on Italian for every little thing I do. My brain started switching gears to Italian a few days ago when I spent several hours conversing with a nun on the train, then another six hours with a friend that I visited. Today I was thrilled to manage buying food at the market, ordering a bit of this and a bit of that ...fresh meat, cheese, fruit, vegies, olives, etc., all in Italian. I have a small apartment here in Ascoli, with a small kitchen, and am now managing to cook my own Italian meals. It has been raining most of the time that I've been here, which is a real drag, as it's also been cool. One is not supposed to turn on their heat in Ascoli until the first of November (this rule applies almost everywhere in Italy, though the dates may vary), so I haven't had heat in my apartment.

A view of the terrace outside my apartment in Ascoli.

Yesterday afternoon my friend Domenico picked me up in Ascoli and drove me to his town, about 30 minutes away. Domenico lives in Grottammare, a small town on the Adriatic Coast that is popular in the summer, but during other months of the year, it slows down to a crawl. Domenico and I have conversed on Skype nearly every week for more than a year and have developed a good friendship in that time, feeling at ease with each other from the start.

We walked around town in the rain for several hours, as Domenico shared the highlights of Grottammare, past and present, with me. We drove up to the old part of town, where few people live, to view a panoramic vista of the coast and the beaches below.

Then we walked around the center of the newer part of town, checking out hotels where I might stay later in the week. After stopping at three of them, we found one with the right price, just a block from the beach. We stopped in to meet his mother and one of his sisters, and later arrived at his house, where a sumptuous dinner awaited us, cooked by his mother-in-law. I was introduced to his wife, his sister-in-law, his niece and nephew and his parents-in-law, and was given a place of honor at an elegant dinner table.

The first course was olive all'ascolare, a specialty of the region. Tender olives are stuffed with a combination of meats, dipped in breadcrumbs and then deep-fried in olive oil. Yummy but rich! This was served with vitello crudo, slices of raw beef. The next course was lasagna, with very fine pasta, not the thick, gummy noodles that one finds in the States. Following that was another pasta dish, similar to spaghetti, with a simple tomato sauce (ragu).

With each course, I ate less, as I had eaten quite a few olive all'ascolare and am not used to eating so much food at one meal. There was also white wine, served from a pitcher, and Domenico filled my glass each time it became empty. The final course of the evening was vitello con funghi porcini, thin slices of roast beef with a sauce of mushrooms. I only managed to eat the mushrooms and a few bites of the meat.

But this wasn't the end of the meal. In a few minutes, the children brought in a lemony, pudding-like cake, covered with whipped cream and a few blackberries, while everyone sang, Tanti Auguri (best wishes) to me. This dessert was accompanied by a sweet champagne. How could I not be honored by such a welcome, and such a feast? I was truly touched by their open generosity. Is it any wonder that I enjoy visiting my Italian friends? I only hope that someday I can return the favor when some of them come to the States.