Living in San Giorgio di Pesaro

The Osteria Casa Mina, which opened some months ago, is close to our house. Now that the summer is here they are eating outside in the garden and once a month they have dinner followed by live music. The music begins at 10.00pm and continues until 1.00 am. The garden is not very big and so a small jazz band, man with acoustic guitar would be ideal. However, so far the bands that play here are practicing for the time they play the “big stadiums” and so have amplification suitable for letting the whole village. This means sleeping is difficult as with the heat all windows need to be open. Last Saturday we decided to go to a late show at the cinema instead of having to listen to music we didn’t want to listen to. So we went to see the film “Transformers 3″ which was 130 minutes long (130 minutes too long) it did mean we didn’t get home to after midnight and so only had to survive 1 hour of live music.  Next time they have an event i.e. 22nd July we need to decide if we go out, if we go to eat and listen to the band or do we stay at home, get annoyed and discuss denouncing them for noise pollution.

The band last week was “La Banda degli Zulu”. Click here if you want to listen to their music or to sympathize with us.
The next band to play will be the “Blues Quartet” on the 22nd July. Click here if you want a preview of our evening.

On Sunday we had the English class lunch. Pam and John were invited to join as for the last lesson of the year they had played the doctors in a medical role play exercise.

We decided to return to La Palomba in Mondavio where we had had an excellent meal before. Again they didn’t disappoint. The menu was:

Starter:

Antipasto fanatasia dello chef (cold meats, cheeses)

Pasta course:

Tortelloni di robioloa, rucola al pomodoro fresco (tortelloni with soft cheese, rocket, and fresh tomatoes)
Mezze lune ripiene con ricotta al limone (Ricotta stuffed half moon ravioli with lemon sauce)
Tagliatelle al ragu d’anatra (tagliatelle with duck sauce)
(We didn’t have to choose a pasta as  you are expected to try all three. In Italy this is called a Tris. If there are only 2 dishes being served then it is a Bis)

Main Course:

Faraona alle olive verdi in crosta di pane (Guinea Fowl and olive pie)
Tagliata con rucola e pendolini (Sliced sirloin with rocket and cherry tomatoes)
(this was served as a Bis)
(served with roast potatoes and mixed salad)

Dessert:

Tagliata di frutta con gelato (slices of fresh fruit - pineapple, apricot, peach etc. served with 2 flavours of ice cream).

After this marathon of a meal we staggered out of the hotel and some of us drove up to the sports bar in Orciano where we could watch the men’s final of wimbledon on a big screen.

A good result at the restaurant and a good result at Wimbledon

inside the hotel	painting by Albano Aniballi

Erika and Thomas told us about a hotel about 20 minutes drive away. They said it was a very interesting and that there was currently an exhibition of painitings by Albano Aniballi, an artist who was born in San Giorgio.

So, on a beautiful warm, sunny evening we went to the hotel for view of the art following by a drink on the terrace with great views over the Marche countryside. Along with us were Erika, Thomas and 5 of their German friends. A chance I thought to practice my faltering German but fortunately I was saved any embarrassment as all the Germans could speak English.

The Solea Hotel is near the town of Ripe and is owned and managed by a young couple from Milan. They have converted a large,old brick house into a hotel. The thing that is different is that they have made the inside a very modern space. The art exhibition covers the walls of the main public rooms. They have linked up with an art gallery in Senigallia and so have a new exhibition every few months. The problem is knowing which artist is on show. The hotel’s web site does have a section for news and under this it mentions an art exhibition but it is for the summer of 2009. Italians may like to have web sites but they are not very good at updating them. In fact the gallery who exhibits here is the Galleria Gherardi in Senigallia. On their web page they don’t mention the hotel under “links” and don’t even say that the Gallieria Gherardi is in Senigallia.

This year I reached the great 60 and decided to have a family party. We went back to the UK for a couple of days and on the Sunday we had lunch at the Nut Tree Restaurant/Pub at Murcott near Oxford. Not too far to travel for Bill’s family who come from Oxford but slightly further for my family who live in North London. Bill and I met just over 29 years ago and it is the first time the two families had met. There was no particular reason but it had just never happened. With a mix of English/Irish in Bill’s family and Northern Irish/Philippino on my side the day was bound to be a success.

On the day there were 20 adults plus 1 two year old and the day was great. The food and wine were good and everyone enjoyed themselves and each side seemed to like the other. Maybe I’ll repeat the event on my 65th.

On Friday Bill, Elizabeth and I went to the south of the Marche, to a small town called Belforte del Chienti. We went to see a Polyptych in the church of St. Eustachio. This  is, apparently, the largest polyptych in Europe. It was painted in 1468 by Giovanni Boccati and remains complete in its original frame. (When Napoleon controlled Italy he had wanted to take it back to France but the local priest had taken the painting to pieces and had hidden it in the roof of the church.)

From San Giorgio we went by motorway to Citanova Marche and then travelled inland to Belforte which is just beyond Tolentino. It is a beautiful little village (below left). The church is in the small central piazza and is open in the mornings and afternoons. When we went in we couldn’t find the light switch to illuminate the painting. However, in the main square there is a small tourist office/proloco which was open. (Afterwards I noticed a notice on the door giving various telephone numbers of people who will open the church if the tourist office is closd). The young man on duty came across, switched on the light and then explained who the various figures in the painting were. Having travelled an hour and a half to get to the church I am glad to report that it was well worth the effort.

In the town square there is also a bar which was unfortunately closed as we had arrived on the feast day of Saint Eustachio. However, although we didn’t get a cup of coffee the guide from tourist office had mentioned in passing that coming to the church on the saints feast day got rid of all sins.
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Erika and Thomas had been telling us about the fields of wild flowers up on Monte Petrano near Cagli. So on Sunday we went with Anne from Mondavio and Nick a friend of Anne’s. We went up in the morning as the weather forecast was for heavy rain in the afternoon.

We made it to Cagli but missed the sign for the short, good road up to the summit of Monte Petrano and instead took the long bad road. So instead of getting to the top of the mountain in five minutes we arrived 45 minutes later having passed some fantastic scenery but not seeing much of it as we tried to manouvre the car round the potholes in the road. 

The summit of Monte Petrano is not a peak but a plateau and if Sunday was a typical day then cool and windy. In spring the fields are covered in wild flowers. Early in the year there are crocusus but at the moment it is covered with buttercups, orchids and beautiful wild narissi. When we arrived the visibility was bad  and so we didn’t see across to Tuscany but we did see lots of wild flowers. The nice thing is that although there are a few paths it is OK to walk across the fields and enjoy the flowers.

Can’t believe a year has passed since the last Colle Maratona - the marathon run from Barchi to Fano. There were 1,021 entrants this year. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and probably not ideal for at least 3 hours of running.

As last year it was an African who was in front when they reached San Giorgio. In second place was a north African. (When talking to some friends about the blog entry I said I could call it “The Future of Italy” as with lots of immigrants arriving from Africa in recent months people are concerned about the impact on Italy’s future and if the immigrants are winning the Barchi to Fano Marathon where will it all end.)

Normally the event passes uneventfully but this year there was a fall. The road past our house is on a nasty slope and the road surface is not the best. A group of runners were passing by and suddenly one fell. Not sure if it was the road surface or if he had touched one of the other runners but he went flying to the ground and when he struggled up his shoulder and leg were badly scraped.

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Here  in the Marche when approaching a town you are often confronted with a sign telling you why the town is famous. None go as far as saying “Town of wine, women and song” but simple statements such as San Michael the “town of the parks” or Cartoceto the “town of olive oil”.

We went to Cattolica last week for the “Cattolica in Flower Festival”. There were no signs on the approach to Cattolica but we wouldn’t have been surprised is it had annonced itself as the ”city of fountains” as scattered throughout the town are various fountains each of different size and beauty but no doubt all of them memorials to ex mayors who wanted to have his name remembered by future generations.

We went to the festival not expecting very much as last year we had been to the “Fano in Flower Festival”. Fortunately when they say Cattolica in Flower they mean Cattolica in flower as 5 or 6 of the main streets were full of market stalls selling potted plants. We bought some jasmine, some rhubarb (the first time I had seen it for sale in Italy) and 14 Busy Lizzies for 10 euros. I was slightly disappointed that there weren’t many stalls sellling shrubs but overall it was a really good show. Extra bonuses were the weather which was warm and sunny despite the forecast for cool, dull weather. Another bonus was the nice cafes were you could relax between visiting the market stalls and finally we found a very nice fish restaurant which looked rather uninviting from the outside but they had very friendly staff and served good fish.  

Easter lunch is a family affair in Italy. This year we invited Pam and John (Roscoe), Pam and Michael (Wood) and Elizabeth (Thompson from Cabernardi). The picture is the table after the guests had departed.

We had hoped to eat outside but the weather was cool and cloudy. However, we did manage to down a couple of bottles of prosecco out on the terrace but had to move inside for a delicious lunch of Pasta with courgettes, ricotta and mint, followed by apricot stuffed boned chicken, greenbean and chickpea salad and finished off with home made apple pie.

Everyone seemed to have a good time and no-one seemed to mind looking at the mounting mass of dirty pots, dishes etc, as the meal progressed.

Just before we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy we received a copy of the constitution. This was sent, by the mayor, to every household in the village. for me it was very interesting and I have actually been reading parts of it as on discussion programmes on TV there are lots of references to particular clauses of the Constitution.

However, we heard that the mayor of Barchi, a nearby village, had opted to send every household an Italian flag. Not sure if a flag is better than the constitution but no doubt on the big day Barchi was full of flags.