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| Italy: Spring 2003: Sunday April 27: Day 5: San Benedetto del Tronto - Sansepolcro | ||||
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| San Benedetto del Tronto, Le Marche - Sansepolcro (Tuscany) Sunday, April 27, 2003 Day 5 After breakfast at the hotel with Romina and Thomas' family, we pack up and drive toward Sansepolcro in eastern Tuscany. The weather is overcast with a threat of rain, so it is a good day for being in the car. Instead of meandering through the Marche countryside on local roads, we opt for the faster drive on the autostrada (at least for part of the route); we still will have some country roads to navigate crossing the mountains into Tuscany. The fast highways end in a very beautiful part of Le Marche and the drive is quite scenic. We pass through the town of Urbania and note many cars parked and a show of farm equipment in a lot next to the road. Then we come to a sign announcing the "Palio della Rana"--the "race" of the frogs. A dilemma--do we stop and see what's going on or do we move on..after all it is drizzling and we have all our luggage in the car. We decide to press on (maybe not the best decision); we will try to catch the frogs next time. We really want to know more about this frog competition..... The road ascends to about 4,000 feet as we approach the Tuscan border and the road is quite curvy as we get to the top. But, as navigator, I warn that this is nothing compared to what the map shows for the 20 kilometers as we descend into Sansepolcro. I think this is the curviest road I have ever been on; continual tight hairpin curves with virtually no straightaway at all. Jonathan is kept busy just staying on the road. There are also better vistas on this side of the mountain--with views over the valley and across to the next range of mountains. As we hit the flat valley floor, the sun breaks through and by the time we we arrive in Sansepolcro, it is a very pleasant day. There is quite a bit of commercial development along the main road--there is a big shopping mall just across from one of the gates to the old city--but the center of Sansepolcro is still well preserved behind the old walls. Our hotel--the Relais Oroscopo--is located about a kilometer north of town in a residential area. It is mainly a restaurant with rooms attached and the building is quite attractive from the outside. But inside is musty and dark; our room is large with big windows and some very oppressive wallpaper. Jonathan's room is small but the wallpaper is more neutral. We also have problems connecting to the internet; the phone lines in the hotel are old and make it difficult to dial out successfully. Since I have still not gotten the mobile phone to function as a modem, it adds more frustration. Diana and I decide to go for a walk in the town; Jonathan stays back at the hotel to rest. Since we had eaten a large breakfast late in the morning back at the Villa Picena, we are looking for a gelato to tide us over until dinner. At this hour--about 4 pm on a Sunday afternoon--the town is quiet. It is a handsome town, with wide streets and medieval buildings and a dignified manner. We first drive through and around the town to get our bearings and then park in town for a stroll. We eat our gelato on benches in the main square and I note the locations of restaurants for future reference. Tonight we are meeting my colleague Helen Donegan from Perugia, who is in the travel business and has an on-line magazine about Italy. http://www.italywithus.biz Helen is Irish, has lived in Italy for thirty years and is quite a character. She has been helping me make arrangements for clients of mine who are staying nearby this week and she has invited us to join her for dinner with some people who have just opened a hotel in the hills nearby. The hotel is about twenty kilometers away but thankfully not on the same road that we drove in on earlier today. The road is quite beautiful and nowhere near as curvy. The scenery in this area of eastern Tuscany is quite striking and along with its other attractions--the birthplace of Piero della Francesca and Michelangelo, interesting hill towns, and some great works of arts--deserves more attention from visitors. The hotel--renovated by the owners, Anne Marie (English) and Steve Baxter (Australian)--has been beautifully restored over the past two years. It is more like a ski lodge than an Italian country hotel and has large public areas for relaxing and meeting the other guests. They take us on a tour; the rooms are small but each is tastefully decorated and charming. They have been open for guests for about six months but they are just finishing up some of the work. The tennis court will be ready in a week and the swimming pool by July. They are also going to open up a bar/pizzeria called Joe's Place and they hope to attract locals as well as hotel guests. It looks to be perfect for a quiet relaxing week in the countryside... After a drink, we head down the hill to one of their favorite restaurants--the Osteria d'Aboca. We have a great dinner there--it is a traditional trattoria with some innovative touches to the food. Everyone enjoys their meal; among the courses--a wonderful Tuscan antipasto with great local salume, a cheese plate with sweet sauces for dipping, tagliatelle with asparagus (very, very good), bringoli (local pasta) with a goose ragu (outstanding), an excellent ravioli with with a potato and cheese filling, a salad with rucola and tomatoes dressed with balsamic vinegar, and a filet garnished with the same salad ingredients. Less outstanding but still very good was fried lamb, but the accompanying fried artichokes were terrific. Not only was the food good, but the rooms were very attractive (we had what was essentially a private room) and the waitress was extremely skillful and pleasant. The evening was very lively and interesting...Helen kept us laughing with stories about living in Italy and Steve and Anne Marie talked about their plans for the hotel and some of the difficulties they are having in getting started. Finally about 10:30, we said our goodbyes and came back to Sansepolcro. With the continued problems with the internet and the fact that our room was poorly lighted, we think about the possibility of changing hotels in the morning. We say goodnight to Jonathan and leave him to struggle with the internet connection. |
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