Now friend of The Wine Hub!

It's worth a visit: The Wine Hub, good source for planning a wine trip to any wine region in the world. And of course, with their 12 doc wines, Le Marche is one of them.

A meaningful spot on what Le Marche can offer

Shot by Bebowsky, from Ferrara.

Visitlemarche.com, part of my new website

I am still here and alive, sorry if I don't update so frequently, but there are times in which I prefer to read rather than to write.

This just to keep you informed that a new website, www.visitlemarche.com is online. It's still a work in progress, but the aim is to put all the online material for tours in Le Marche. Hotel reviews,blogs ran by some b&b's owners and so on.

At the moment, it is just part of my "shop window", and my R&D lab, where I'm practising in using css to set a table-less layout. If any of you would be interested to build a table-less layout on that website (maybe in exchange of a mini-tour in Le Marche) that would be very welcome!

Le Marche shops on ebay

Next February the Artisans Union will teach its members how to use e-commerce tools, especially ebay. In spite of its popularity among young people and teenagers, Internet is barely known by artisan, farmers and those who make the best things sold here.

Who knows? Maybe you can find a Coccio from Fratte Rosa, or an accordion from Castelfidardo on an ebay shop. Or even some shoes from Montegranaro or Sant'Elpidio a Mare.

And after that, you may think to come here and see in what a wonderful land these things are produced.

So come on, type www.ebay.com and look for something from Le Marche!

The new Chiantishire in the area of Pesaro

It's the claim of an article I read last day in GoMarche, an e-magazine written in Le Marche (in Italian, sorry!).

The journalist focuses on the fact that lots of people are flocking to Pesaro and Urbino (wonderful area) to buy houses, due to cheaper prices than in Tuscany, and this area is becoming a sort of "new Tuscany".

In my opinion, this is not true. The fact that people are buying houses like in Tuscany doesn't mean that you can re-create the same atmosphere.

I will always repeat, over and over again, that Le Marche are NOT Tuscany, not even "The new Tuscany". Tuscany will always be a sort of theathre, good if you like theathre. Le Marche will always be more genuine, good if you are interested to enjoy the "real", "ordinary" life. Some of us like more Le Marche because they give you the idea that you can move to the region immediately and live like in a paradise. Tuscany looks as wonderful, but I wouldn't spend my entire life here, where you can have a great experience for just few days.

Montalcino is a jewel, as long as you don't have lunch at home. Corinaldo is a pearl, with groceries, bars, supermarket and so on. That's the difference.

A good way to start the day (with Art)

Filippino Lippi: The Adoration of the Magi

This painting is not in Le Marche, but in the Uffizi, Florence, Tuscany.

But what I wanted to point is the website: subscribe its feed and enjoy a wonderful painting every day.

The boycott of Ancona's port by Jews, 16th century

Today, surfing on the web, I happened to find something interesting about the Jewish community in Ancona.

During the Middle Ages (1100-1400), Ancona counted 4 graveyards, one for each religion hosted: the English (protestant) graveyard, the Greek (Ortodox), the Catholic and the Jewish one. The first and the latter are still visible near the Old Lighthouse, the so-called Campo degli Ebrei.

After the beginning of the Church rule upon Ancona, this sense of tolerance, along with the sense of business and commerce, started to fade, and of course the Jewish community was one of the first victims of this change.

This episode occurred, and the Ghettarello (our Ghetto, which is not in the city centre like in the biggest cities of Italy) was built.

Verdicchio: the International white wine from Le March

It makes me proud to read about Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi in non-translated-English. It's the case of this article from San Josè, California.

Words like "One of my favorite Italian whites is the Verdicchio Classico dei Castelli di Jesi from Bucci, a wine from the Marches, on Italy's east coast" sound like a melody, honey in my ears.

The adventure of a Scotsman in Ancona

Just found surfing around, it's always interesting to hear some foreigner's point of view about our region (even in a broader sense, like Central Italy in this case).

Maybe more interesting for me than for you. Who knows?

Giacomo Leopardi, the Infinite in Le Marche

Surfing on the web, I finally found one of the best translations of the Infinite by Giacomo Leopardi. He was a poet and a philosopher from Recanati, near Loreto, between Ancona and Macerata.

Leopardi is so important for the Italian culture that he is considered one of the most important writers and philosophers of the contemporary age.

When in Recanati, a visit to his house, still preserved by his heirs, must be definitely done, to comprehend more in-depth the Italian culture.

The three faces of Bologna: Red (la Rossa), Fat (La Grassa), Educated (la Dotta)

Bologna is undoubtedly the strategical node of Italy. Everywhere you go, from North to South and vice-versa, you have to pass through Bologna.

Here are some examples:

• South of Bologna: Florence, Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Sicily, beautiful sea & islands.

• North of Bologna: Milan, Venice, Turin, Parma, Genova, Cinque Terre, Verona, Padua, Mantua, Ravenna, Alps.

With rare exceptions, from South of Bologna to North of it, you stop in Bologna.

Over the centuries, this meant that Bologna was a crossroads of different populations, different cultures, customs and traditions, dialects and languages. This is reflected in the richness of the cuisine, in the creation of the University, in the field of art, architecture and sculpture.

Therefore, Bologna is a mix of all these features, so that it is called the town with different and complementary faces: the Red (Rossa), from the colours of the buildings and from the prevalence of the Communist Party; the Fat (Grassa) because of the rich and abundant cuisine, linked with a high level of life quality; and the Educated (Dotta), because of the University, the oldest in Europe, which dates back to 1089 AD.

There should be written many many words to describe this aspect of the town. However, surfing on the web, I found somebody who did it much better than I: Jessica's posts are definitely worth a reading. There are 3 posts about Bologna: La Grassa, La Dotta and La Rossa.

Enjoy!

Flying into Bologna: Myair.com from France, Spain and Eastern Europe

Today, the low-cost airline Myair will fly from Bologna to Madrid, four times a week.

These flights follow other routes to Barcelona (Spain), Paris and Bordeaux (France), Sofia (Bulgaria), and Catania in Sicily.

Therefore, it's easier and easier to come to Bologna. From Bologna, Le Marche are only 2 hours by train.

Why don't you hop a plane and visit Bologna and Le Marche with me? I'll pick you up at the airport, and take you back to Bologna.

Next tour will be: "From Bologna to Bologna: Tortellini, Salami, Fish and back again".

Is it interesting?

Love Marche and news about Le Marche

If one loves Le Marche, then I love him/her.

If he/she even calls the website "Lovemarche", and promotes Le Marche in UK via The Sunday Times, then I must indicate it.

Moreover, they report some news, every now and then, about this wonderful region... how could I leave...

The latest news is about exhibitions of Lorenzo Lotto's paintings, which will involve Ancona, Cingoli, Jesi, Loreto, Mogliano, Monte San Giusto and Recanati.

Some other bloggers from Le Marche: Michael Eldridge

His name is Michael Eldridge, and he's a property consultant for Le Marche.

You may like or not his personal blog, "life in Le Marche", but you definitely have to appreciate his corporate blog, "Property adventures".

Finally, a property consultant has a blog and writes on it!

I am now waiting for his email address (didn't find it!) to write him...

Malta is one flight away from Bologna

This Malta Independent news make me thinking about a sort of unusual matter. When the flight to Malta has been established, last year, I thought "Great news, Malta is closer now!"; actually, it might be vice-versa.

It may sound silly, but lot of times our point of view is based on our location. When working about tourism in some unusual places (like Le Marche, for example, in my case), the way of thinking is somewhat shaken.

Therefore: lucky Maltese, just an hour from Bologna, and lucky Londoners, a couple hours from Ancona!

Showers & Eyebaths Services, Liverpool, supplying Eusebi Impianti, Ancona

Business news about the fire-fighting industry. The St Helens based decontamination specialists, Showers & Eyebaths Services will supply one of the European leaders in this field: Eusebi Impianti, based in Ancona, Le Marche. The news appeared in the Liverpool daily post yesterday.

This is another example of the increasing relationships between Le Marche and UK. Another good example is the Indesit Company, based in Fabriano, but present everywhere in Europe. In Le Marche, this factory is still known like Merloni Elettrodomestici.

In particular, for Liverpool, the relationship with Ancona is rather old: one of the first episodes was early in the last century, with a soccer team...

Gioacchino Rossini, the famous Pesaro composer, on Metropolitan Opera broadcasting

The famous composer Gioacchino Rossini is wide-known. His operas are very famous too. But maybe not everybody know that he was born in Pesaro, where every year, in August, the Rossini Opera Festival is held.

One of the most famous Rossini's Opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, will be broadcasted on March 24th, at 1.30 pm, at the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Centre, New York.

A good statistical report about Le Marche wines

Wine is no doubts one of the typical products of Le Marche.

When coming to Le Marche, with or without me, you will always taste a glass of our wine, which is harder to find outside our region, except of Verdicchio and Rosso Piceno.

It might be interesting, then, to read a report about Le Marche wines, published by Marco Baccaglio on his blog "The Numbers of Wine". The article is translated in English too (well done, Marco!).

Shifting to Mac

Ten days ago I bought an Imac. It's been a hard choice, but very very thoughtful. I fell in love with this wonderful designed computer from the first time, then I read some book about it, then, finally, I bought it.

It is a real wonderful experience. He knows everything: which modem is this, which hard disk is this, what I'm about to do and so on. It's so easy to use that sometimes one may feel embarassed in finding some complicate choice as it is in the pc world.

Still some doubts, though, like the one-button mouse which seems to be a sort of "proud" feature, but useless.

Anyway, I expect this mac to wake me up, someday, asking me if I'd like some coffee... :-)

Another blog. In Italian, this time

From last October, I started a new blog in San-Lorenzo.com platform. It's written in Italian.

This new blog deals with tours, but it's more focused on personal tours all around Italy, Europe and world.

Of course, this blog keep on with its randomly posts. Le Marche are always first in my heart :-)

Here is the link to the new blog:
http://blogs.san-lorenzo.com/tourblog

Enjoy!

Flickr, new membership

Hey there, just to tell you I'm a new member of Flickr. You can find me with my name: "angelorecchi".

The first picture I've put on is one from Portonovo bay, taken last Sunday, with people swimming, since it was so hot!

Turisti protagonisti

Spinto da questo articolo di Repubblica (un classico esempio di giornalismo governativo), ho dato un'occhiata al sito turisti protagonisti, realizzato dalla Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri. L'idea è interessante: ognuno scrive un contributo, in cui spiega perché è andato all'estero anziché in Italia. Anche il sito non è male, facile da navigare, non presenta particolari problemi per l'inserimento di post, nel quale effettua anche la verifica parole per l'antispam.

Siamo a quota 1009 racconti (all'ora della pubblicazione di questo articolo). Ora bisogna vedere se la Presidenza recepirà i contributi dei frequentatori del sito. E qui verrà il bello.

Speriamo di non trovarci davanti all'ennesima storia italica di buone intenzioni e pessimi risultati.

Podcast guide

Perhaps is not a news, but for me it is a wonderful news. There are some podcast guides available, FREE, in this website. At the moment, you can download audio guides about Venice, Pisa, Siena, Florence and Rome, either in ipod or mp3 format.

Wonderful, if you download it into your mobile phone or mp3 player, and walk inside these beautiful cities listening to it.

What about making a Le Marche podguide?

No more with Google Adsense

... after 2 days, I realize that I don't want to bother you with advertisement on my website. I have my own website, and the only advertisement I admit are MINE!, or the ones that I want to advertise.
Therefore, I cancelled from Google adsense, also because the revenue were expected to be extremely poor, in spite of the noise of the banners goign around the webpage.

Better clean!

...and also with Google Adsense

Actually, I just applied to become a publisher... who knows, maybe I'll be millionaire next year... well... within 2 years, let me be realistic.

Now in Technorati

I've already signed up in Technorati, a (famous) blogosphere centre. Anybody of you who knows all the secrets of this website? Tell me, please!
Technorati Profile