Posted in Days Out, tagged Casalba on June | 13 Comments »
High, high up in the Monte San Vicino Nature Reserve…
… is the tiny hamlet of Elcito.
Elcito consists of a handful of houses, the ruins of a once important castle and a church.
At approximately 824 metres above sea level, Elcito affords some stunning views and welcome breezes on hot summer days. We visited it with my friend D. and her niece.
The following words [...]
Posted in Days Out, tagged Casalba, Raffaello, Raphael, Urbino on June | 5 Comments »
Urbino is a hilltop city in the north of Le Marche.
It is an absolute Renaissance jewel and the birthplace of Raphael (Raffaello), one of the most important artists of this period.
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Urbino is worth a visit purely for its beauty, but our main reason this time was to see this exhibition of Raphael’s early works.
We went with [...]
Posted in Days Out on February | 14 Comments »
We were sent the most beautiful brochure from a lovely Finnish couple who stayed with us last year.
I was totally bowled over. Not just for the thought, but also because it was so very professional and full of stunning photographs.
I asked if I could put some of the photos here.
So pleased they agreed.
Here is “my” bottle green Ape again:
If you look [...]
Posted in Days Out, tagged Common Puffball, I Tesori del Bosco on October | 11 Comments »
A friend and I went for a walk in the woods surrounding Cingoli on what was the most beautiful early autumn Sunday morning.
The walk alone on such a beautiful day was a treat, but our two guides were experts in fungi and botany and they taught us a lot about hedgerow goodies.
I’ve always been interested in foraging and have two (now [...]
Posted in Days Out, tagged Angels, Catholic Shrine Loreto, Holy House Loreto, Santa Casa Loreto, Shrine of the Annunciation on September | 7 Comments »
About half an hour away from where I’m sitting right now is the Holy House of the Virgin Mary where the Annunciation took place.
Mary’s earthly home consisted of a grotto cut into rock onto which a three-sided stone house was built. The grotto remains in Nazareth over which the Basilica of the Annunciation was built, but the stone part was moved to Loreto, [...]
Posted in Days Out, tagged Le Due Sorelle, Numana boat trips, Riveria del Conero on August | 7 Comments »
We went to the Adriatic coast with Aunt Alba and Dan’s cousins, but not to sit on the beach…We hired two boats from the port of Numana and off we went.
Out through the marina…
and onto the open sea.
We saw some spectacular views of the Conero Riviera:
The photo below is of the Two Sisters beach (Le Due Sorelle) named after the [...]
Posted in Days Out, tagged Frasassi Caves, Gola di Frasassi, Grotte di Frasassi on July | 6 Comments »
When the temperature starts to rise, a visit to the spectacular caves at Frasassi is a refreshing and beautiful alternative to crowded beaches; the temperature is a constant 14 degrees C. of cool bliss.
They are an amazing natural wonder which were only discovered in 1975. (I find that particularly striking because we were still learning about our own planet [...]
