A meaningful spot on what Le Marche can offer

Shot by Bebowsky, from Ferrara.

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.

Back from Offida and Abbadia di Fiastra

Last week I had two very intensive days in Offida and Abbadia di Fiastra, to check, double-check, test and scout out places, roads, trails suitable for our hiking tour.

I met a lot of interesting people, who gave me the "spirit", the "soul" of the places.

Both Offida and Abbadia di Fiastra are wonderful: they have a "superior" intimate soul, which made me breathtaking. It doesn't happen always, and that's the reason why I take people to some places and skip other places.

I found two great restaurants and a cute b&b, and I'm starting to think about some tours I could organize for next year.

Here could be the title of the tour:

The Piceno area: from the coast and the palms to the mountains.

If you have any different suggestion, please let me know.

Next thursday and friday discovering Le Marche

The next Thursday and Friday I will be travelling around Le Marche in some unknown places, to discover something unusual and wonderful to share with those of you will decide to come on tour with me.

I will go to Offida, then Sibillini, then the area between Sibillini and Piceno. I will go looking for wineries, craftsmen, artisans, wonderful places and itineraries to add to my tours.

I'll let you know once back home again.

Tomorrow in Ascoli Piceno

Tomorrow I'll be in Ascoli Piceno, to check a (seems-to-be) beautiful Agriturismo.

Then I will go shopping to the Pantofola d'Oro outlet, and afterwards, well... a coffee with anisee at Meletti's, in Piazza del Popolo, of course!

Hiking tour in Le Marche

At the moment I'm working on a gentle hiking tour in Le Marche. Above is where I'll take my guests.

And below is where we will go hiking. We won't arrive in front of Le Due Sorelle, but we will see them from above, at the beginning of the Passo del Lupo.

Touring in Bologna

It's a long time I've been thinking about a project.

As most of you know, I organize and run tours in Le Marche. All the people who came here have seen how I love this region, and how great were the experiences between Corinaldo, Ancona, Ascoli, Monte Conero, Urbino, Jesi and so on.

But still... there is another town, not in Le Marche, which deserves much more attention than the actual one.

We all know that the main tourist route - for those who come to Italy for the first time - is Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples. Personally, I'd skip Milan and choose Venice. Whatever the choice is, you have to pass through Bologna.

What is Bologna? Bologna is "Italy". Whereas Le Marche are all that you can find in Italy, resumed in one region (therefore "Italy in one region", as the claim of our Tourist Board says), Bologna is the thermometer of Italy: the social situation in Bologna is a synthesis of the society in Italy.

It's Italy's political lab: all the experiments about welfare, transportation, education and so on have their first try here. If they work, they will be replicated in national scale.

It's Europe's oldest university: the Alma Mater Studiorum dates back to the year 1089, and students are everywhere. If an Italian thinks about Bologna, he recalls culture, politics and... food!

Yes, because food is the third important thing of Bologna. Being in the middle of Italy, in a postion which can't be avoided by any traveller, crossroad between the Pianura Padana of Northern Italy and the Appennini to go south, close to Florence on the way to Rome, not far from Venice, Milan, Turin, Bologna has always been the melting pot of that crowd of small states that was Italy in the past.



No surprises, then, that every student and every traveller brought his home tradition to Bologna. Hence, the cuisine started to improve. The symbol of this cuisine is - not by chance - the Tortellino. This navel-shaped pasta stuffed with a lot of different things - so many that even every house has its own receipe for that - is by no means the essence of Bologna. Like its pasta, Bologna is the navel of Italy. And like the inside, Bologna is stuffed with lots of different people.

This is just to make you hungry of this town... the rest will come step by step...

Building up a tour together

The concept is very simple: I organize tours in Le Marche, therefore I have the contacts, I know places, restaurants, winemakers, locals etc.

You would like to visit Le Marche, but have no idea on what to do: or maybe you have an idea, but don't know how to make it real.

Why don't you contact me and ask for building up a tour together? You tell me about your interests, what you would like to do, where would you like to go, to sleep, etc., and I will figure out a solution. This way we can optimize prices, schedules and you can obtain exactly what you want.

And what about payments, guarantees, etc.? I have a partnership with a travel agent based in USA, so no worries about anything.

If you feel interested about that, why don't you email me?

After a weekend in Le Marche with Diane Arnold

I've just got back from a fabulous weekend in Le Marche with Diane Arnold. We had a wonderful time, and the weather assisted us: sunny, no raining, no fog, just some haze which made the scenery somewhat misterious.

Very intensive tour to visit all the things that might interest those who would like to come here.

Now, let's see what it will happen...

This weekend in tour

From tomorrow on, great weekend tour with Diane from USA. Diane is a travel agent, and if she likes Le Marche we will start selling tours together. I am very excited, and I hope everything will be alright.

And the weather? Well, Le Marche are great with myst and fog as well... especially in places like Offagna, or Loretello, or the Enoteca di Jesi...

Tomorrow, moreover, will be my 30th birthday. Happy birthday to me!!!!

Back from the honeymoon, first comments on organized tours

Hey there, it is already one week we've come back, but I'm still dreaming of coconuts, blue seas, warm weather and kangaroos. What to say? The best tour I've ever had, organized by myself for myself and the most expecting and (shh....) difficult customer ever, that is my wife :-)!

It has been a dream, totally a dream, and... you know what? the only things we absolutely did not enjoyed (and that created a lot of problems to us) were the only things that we did not organized by ourselves. Namely, the four days in Kakadu National Park with the Connection Safaris: we got a weird man, with a disgusting sense of humour (John) who was supposed to be the "guide".

I am a guide myself, and I've never ever seen such an ignorant, unprepared, vulgar and unsensitive person, who didn't have any idea of the places we were visiting, didn't give any relevant information on anything, no sense of time-managing and - most important - no respect nor knowledge of my wife's alergy (she's coeliac, and the tour operator guaranteed they could cater for her food: no way!).

The tour itself costed lots of money (much, much less of what I asked to make dreams coming true, not just simple tours) and was the typical "hard life with electricity" (Safari! ah! ah! ah!). No idea on where our money went, since we stayed in a room which was covered by dust, dirty as a pig-house and with frogs in the toilet (frogs in the toilet!!! it was a lodge, not a camping!!!!)

What else to say? Absolutely not recommend Safari Connection (puah!) tours, the easiest way to waste your money.

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On the contrary, my best experience (with organized tour) was with Kangaroo Island Wilderness Tours, a local company in Kangaroo Island: our guide, Greg, was brilliant (I took a lot of notes on his way of working) and the tour was simply excellent, nothing went wrong, everything cared in detail. We stayed at the KI lodge, great hotel with ocean view.

We had just these 2 different tours, and as you can see the results have been completely different. Is it a relevant point that the best tour we had was with a local and small tour operator, for which you are not a simple number, but an important person, since they get their earnings from you? Is it relevant to notice that the big tour operator simply did not say at least "sorry" when we asked our money back (and of course, we did not get them back)?

The rest of our honeymoon will be described in details later.

But this just to say that when you come and tour with me, you tour first of all with somebody like you, that knows your needs, your feelings and understands the pleasure to have a perfect tour since you have paid for that. And, secondly, with somebody for whom you are an important customer, not just a number.

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.

Traditional vs Fast Food: Villa Belsito, Ascoli Piceno, in New York

There's an interesting article on Metro magazine which deals about Slow Food movement and the application of its concept to a restaurant in New York.

What makes me proud is that Villa Belsito, in Valtesino di Ripatransone, near Ascoli Piceno, is involved in the project.

Moreover, Villa Belsito seems to be a great place to spend your holidays (Ripatransone and Ascoli Piceno province definitely is!), even rates are certainly competitive.

Therefore, if you happen to go there, please advice me, and I'll post your opinion. Or simply advice me before going, to spend some days around Ascoli Piceno and Le Marche in general.

Anyway, it will be an unforgetable experience.

Johan Padan and the discover of America, by Dario Fo

Sunday, rainy day, no plans but staying relaxed at home, I watched Johan Padan and the discovering of America.

It's no doubt a great cartoon, taken after the original comedy written by Dario Fo, Noble Literature Prize, at the beginning of the 90ies. It deals with a humile peasant from Bergamo, Lombardy, Northern Italy, who happens to arrive in America and find his way with the natives, helping them to kick the Spanish away and learning the real value of Liberty by the natives themselves.

The satyrical way through which Dario Fo describes all the events, the moments and even some small phrases put every now and then, make this cartoon equally enjoyable by adults and children, both finding a good reason to laugh and think, like always in the best Italian filming tradition.

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.

Bologna, the city in between

Bologna could be the most famous city in every country but Italy. In Italy, Bologna has to follow Rome (of course), Florence (of course), Venice (of course), Naples (of course), Milan, Sicily, Tuscany and some other places.

However, when visiting Italy, you are forced to pass through Bologna, given that this city is the strategical node to get from North to South and vice-versa. Wherever you go in Italy, Bologna is in between.

Therefore, if you have enough time for a walk, like a half day (or even a couple days), drop off and take a tour of Bologna. And if you have a good and sportive body, climb up the highest tower of the city, Torre degli Asinelli.

You can enjoy a view like in the picture above.

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!

Betsy Pool: are you coming?

Sorry, but this is an important advice, since I can't reply to an email I got few days ago.
So I decided to put a message here: should be seen by my guests.

So, Betsy, are you coming? Please email me at angelo.recchi@gmail.com
I suppose that my reply didn't arrive to you.

Look forward to hearing from you.
A presto!
Angelo

Perfect balance

To live between Bologna and Le Marche is sometimes tiring, but some other times it's wonderful. For instance, in December, approaching the weekend. Lot of things can be done, like cinema (Lumiere, Roman Polanski next sunday), beer tasting (La Tana del Luppolo beer retailer) or simply walking around Bologna.

What's in the pot

The pot is boiling. Inside, some nice new things.

First, I'm working on planning the first walking tours in Bologna. At first, it will be a sort of beta-version, trying to organize a market tour in late morning, special lunch, visit in the afternoon and dinner (or not). I want the first to begin in March. I'm now living between Bologna and Le Marche, some of you enjoyed travelling with me in Le Marche, it might be nice to discover another "chapter" of Italy.

Second, in consequence of this, I'm working at a newer version of the website, which won't be a ugc because - honestly - there's a lot of spamming on it and I don't have a good filter. However, I will authorize any sort of no-spam comment, even negative ones (at the moment, there aren't!).

Third, due to the augmented expenses of the car, some prices will be increased. But don't worry about that, it will be always worthwhile to travel with me, a full day dedicated to you. Enjoy and relax!