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.

Corinaldo as the best Italian town for sustainable tourism

I've said it hundred of times, and now the European Tourism Forum (taking place in Bordeaux next semptember) is supporting my words by awarding Corinaldo as the best town in Italy for sustainable tourism.

I'd also say that Corinaldo - one of the highlights of my tours - is an example of what Le Marche have to offer in lots of towns: wonderful views, slow pace of life, quietness but still shops, groceries, pharmacies and so on. Corinaldo is the masterpiece out of other fifty wonderful Le Marche towns (at least!).

Corinaldo is also member of the "Walled Town Friendship Circle", along with Padua (Italy - Veneto), Zadar (Croatia), Chester (England), St Malo (France), Rothenburg (Germany), 's-Hertogenbosch (Holland), Avila (Spain), Radstadt (Austria), Almeida (Portugal), Thessaloniki (Greece), Pecs (Hungary), Visby (Sweden) and many others.

Why don't you have a walking through Bologna?

A project is in progress: walking days in Bologna.

Why should you have a walk with me? For the same reason that you should have a tour in Le Marche with me: you can see the places you explore with me also by yourselves, but with me you can take the deep meaning, their essence, their secret stories.

I don't want to seem boasty or overestimating my skills: I decided to promote this second project only after some informal tests. I now see that this project can work, as Le Marche project is working very well. I myself would like to explore another town with people who can help me to see what I cannot see with my only eyes.

The first walking days in Bologna will take place from October on. Differently from Le Marche, which give the best in the mid-season (April, May, June, September and October), Bologna is nice to see all year long, except July and part of August, when it's too hot. The website you can consult is this: bolognawalking.com

Please spread the voice: October is near.

Italy elections: some comments

It's hard to explain what happens in Italy during the elections. It's hard to those who live in foreing countries why Italians are so charmed by people like Silvio Berlusconi (Umberto Bossi, the other winner, is barely known abroad).

Well, I don't know either. Maybe because I have a level of culture higher than the average. Maybe because I have a family tradition more genuine (I have been taught that money is what you get from work, not from robberies) than the average in Italy.

Or maybe because I don't usually watch TV. I think this is the main reason.

Dutch reality show in Le Marche

Italy has always been the symbol of quality of life. In spite of bad governments, corruption, disorganization, Italy is still the place where people would like to move from all over the world.

In Holland, a reality show is based in Italy, where four couples are competing to build up a b&b, is having a great success. The article says in Tuscany, since the name "Tuscany" has a great appeal. In fact, the reality takes place in Piticchio di Arcevia, in Le Marche.

Le Marche, under the name of Tuscany, are the ideal setting for moving and for quality of life. Tuscany was, Le Marche are.

Dante Ferretti's nomination for the Academy Awards

For the ninth times, Dante Ferretti from Macerata has been nominated for the Academy Awards as Art Director and Set Decoration. It's the ninth time for Dante Ferretti: he won the Oscar in 2005 for The Aviator.

This year the nomination comes for Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Johnny Depp.

Le Marche win the "Best Foreign Stand Prize" in Bratislava's food exhibition

Le Marche's stand at the international food exhibition in Bratislava (Danubius Gastro) has been awarded with the prize for the best foreign stand.

Good job!

Added pictures of past tours with me

As you may have noticed, I added some pictures of past tour experiences. They are saved on Flickr, and they will be added to my website as well.

Meanwhile, I want to inform you what I'm doing in this blog, at the moment: you already saw the twitter interface and the pictures. The next addition will be the calendar (which is already present in the website) and, soon, the special offers for tours.

Romanian people in Le Marche

The Romanian government has identified 13 possible locations in Italy for the 19th May referendum voting. This because there are places where the Romanian communities are so dense, both in Italy and France, that they may host polling booths in some supplementary locations. Out of these 13 places, 3 are in Le Marche: Ancona, Recanati and Macerata.

It would be important for Le Marche, although it is seen as a threat, to be a political referring point of the Romanian community, since Romania is a brand new member of European Union and it is part of the Eastern corridor which goes from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. Ancona would gain importance (and richness) by making efforts to be a node between Italy and Eastern Europe; if not, it will become a node either, but for illegal activities.

Rossini Opera in Tennesse

For those of you who are living near Tennessee, you may be interested in watching some plays in the Knoxville Opera Company's sixth annual Rossini Festival.

Otherways, the only alternative is to come to Pesaro, and enjoy the Italian Rossini Opera Festival.

Wedding and honeymoon: we will go to the land down under

Two news:

1) I and Francesca are going to get married next October 6th!

2) We will go to Australia on our honeymoon.

The latter point requires some help: if anybody of you knows about Australia, tips, where to stay etc., please let me know, here or via email.

The first point requires just one thing: best wishes! Come on, mail me and congratulate!

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.

Muhammad Yunus in Bologna, aula Santa Lucia

Last Sunday 19th March, the Nobel Prize Muhammad Yunus, from Bangladesh, launched the International Observatory for Micro-finance (IOM) at the University of Bologna.

I read Banker to the Poor, wrote by Yunus, and I feel disappointed that he was awarded the Noble Peace Prize instead of Economics. To find a way to lend money to poor people, to have 200 million customers with over 90% of repayments rate, to found a bank which helps people to be independent, this is a matter of economics. Peace is a consequence.

The video-interview at beppegrillo.it.

A brand-new stamp about Le Marche

Last Thursday a new stamp showing Le Marche has been released.

Some monuments of Ascoli Piceno plus the bronze statues of Pergola, together with the shape of the region and its symbol (the woodpecker) compose the image on the stamp.

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.

Marcamp: a Le Marche version of Bar Camp

Last Saturday, in the wonderful scenario of Villarey (the former barracks of the army, built in 1860, when Italy unified and Ancona was the strategical port in the Adriatic, being Venezia still under the Austrian control), the Marcamp took place.

It is a Barcamp organized in Le Marche, by some people from Ancona. It's been a success, like every Barcamp, it seems!

Link: pics of the Marcamp (special thanks to Giovy and Mia)

Blog tour, reloaded!

Like the last year, we now try to sell a "blog tour", i.e. a tour for those who read the blog. Here is the programme (the same of last year, good things shouldn't be changed).
Every programme can be customized, according to your needs.

Prices and dates can be checked on my website, by clicking here.

Here it is:

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PROGRAMME OF THE WEEKEND:

Saturday: I'll pick you up somewhere between Ancona train station, Falconara airport, Jesi train station or wherever you want.

(Accomodation, if you need one.)

On Saturday, a stroll in Corinaldo is a must. This "Town of the Crazy Ones" is definitely worth a visit, and you will confirm that while admiring the great view from the towers or the beautiful stairs which are the symbol of the town. Stories about the Crazy Ones will add a nice frame on the visit.

Afterwards, well... we are in the land of Verdicchio, so, why don't we have a sip of this amazing wine at the Enoteca Regionale di Jesi. Moreover, why don't we have a light lunch at the Enoteca? A mix of delicious affettati and wines, in the elegant scenery of the Enoteca...

In the afternoon, the best place to stay and relax is Offagna. This is a medieval town built around a fortress, which is still intact from the XV century. Having a drink while sitting and amdiring the hills in front of you is one of the best pleasures life is worthwhile of.

In front of you there is Osimo, the "Town of Headless People". Why it is called so? I can't tell you everything... come and see!

For a great conclusion, we must have a gala dinner. Fish, of course: didn't I tell you this is the land of fish? And where to have fish better than a
fishermen's house? And what is better than knowing that this house is my parents' one? What is better than coming to Italy and have a dinner at
somebody's house, moreover... have a fish dinner at a fishermen's house?

The best thing to do on Sunday is to have a walk in Ancona, trying to discover why this town is so undervaluate by every Lonely Planet guidebook, and finding that Lonely Planet had better to send somebody here.

Lunch is a surprise: I can't tell you everything, so think that lunch is a pleasant uncertainty...

A relaxing afternoon can't schedule anything but visiting the Monte Conero area, with the astonishing bay of Portonovo and the beautiful village of Sirolo, which was entirely built with the white stone of the Conero taken up from the sea to the top of the hill.

To conclude our wonderful tour, we must have a final "candy", like the cherry on the top of a cake. The cherry is Loreto, with its great Basilica and wonderful terrace. Nothing better than enjoying the Conero area's view from one of the symbols of this region, that is the religious capital. It is a way to understand much better the story of Le Marche, a story too long to be told on a website or a blog.

Better to come and hear in person!

The pork feast

This year is the 5th edition of Festa del Nino, literally "the Feast of the Pork", as Nino is the local nickname for pork.
All around Italy, the pork is very important, since in the past it represented the only source of food for the family. The death of the family pork was a tragedy far more than the death of a child: you could have a child again, as long as you were alive thank to the pork.

In Le Marche, the pork is undoubtedly the protagonist of the table, together with the rabbit, the chicken and the pigeon, is the meat we traditionally have in the table. Cows and oxes were only to work, rarely to be eaten.

For the Festa del Nino, there is a calendar you can download from here. It's only in Italian, with just the title, but it's possible to call an information office. At least for the dinners which follow the meetings, it sounds worthwhile.

Otherwise, you have another reason to learn Italian :-)

Hot hot days, but the cold weather is coming

The last week has been one of the hottest of the past two centuries. Flowers blooming, bears out of dormancy, cabbages with opened leaves... everything was like in spring. On Friday night, near Modena, in the hills, the temperature was 21°C (70 Fahreneit degrees), like in July.

But now, the cold weather is coming back, and the forecast has said that the cold winds of the North Pole are coming to freeze us. In Northern Europe the weather is terrible: we don't know what will happen here. Probably, we'll have some snow, which is not bad, though.

Earthquake!!!

Yesterday, things trembling, a known experience, especially in Ancona and in the area of Norcia, hiot by a big earthquake in 1972 and in 1997. Fortunately, the town of crazy ones didn't suffer any damage.

Found it!

Two years later, the police has found it.
Well done!