Living in San Giorgio di Pesaro and Kingston

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.