To Rome and on to the Marche

Although Ryanair’s cancellation of the Liverpool to Ancona route is a real nuisance more than doubling the driving time after landing in Italy, it does have its compensations. The first of these is the view of Rome as you come into Ciampino – remember to get a window seat on the right hand side and you get to see all the sights (Colliseum, Vatican, Circus Maximus, sinuously winding Tiber and, Dominic is always keen to spot, the Stadio Olimpico). Landing at Rome we were very pleasantly surprised to find it was sunny and 18°.

Apart from the extra distance, the drive isn’t bad either as you pass through the Apennines with spectacular viaducts and long tunnels. The motorway route past L’Aquila all the way to the Adriatic is simply stunning with amazing views and a tunnel that cuts through more than 10 kilometres below the Corno Grande (and has, on the westbound carriageway, an entrance into the National Institue of Nuclear Physics buried deep beneath the mountain) the highest peak in the entire range. This time, however, I decided to take the SS4, the Roman Via Salaria, which skirts Rieti and follows he valley of the Tronto towards Ascoli Piceno. The journey is much shorter, almost toll-free and, even with the odd slow wagon, usually a bit quicker than Mussolini’s Autostrada. It also gives you the chance to stop at a proper restaurant for lunch instead of an Autogrill service area. We kept going till we saw one which, judging from the number of cars outside was OK but not full. It was called La Valle and was at Km128 just before Amatricia so we had, of course, spaghetti amatriciana. It was wonderfully rich with a hint of spice which built up the more you eat, leaving you with as tingling mouth at the end. This was followed by perfectly fine meat alla bracia and accompanied by a half litre of house red which was better than usual – we only had a glass each with being tired and me driving.

We had been told that Mariano,the builder, had some questions and would like us to come to the house. We were already scheduled to meet there with Gianluigi, the geometra, at 10 the next morning and, as it turned out they were little things (like whether to reuse certain old tiles for the window sills) which could easily have waited but it’s no bad thing to be accommodating to your builder. I made the mistake of trying to take the short cut via the ford across the river (which had been passable on my visit earlier in the winter) but the river was now in spate following the recent snows and subsequent thaw and there was no way I was going to drive through that torrent.

It was the first time Chris had seen the place since work started and, after a spectacular rate of work in the first few weeks up to my initial visit, progress seemed to have been disappointingly slow. When we looked closer, it was obvious that a lot had been done but, in contrast to the earlier part of the job, much of it was painstaking (cleaning out the mortar on the walls ready for re-pointing) or not very visible (ducting for utilities).

We had passed La Conca at Ceresola, where we would be staying and now returned. The owner, Mirella gave us the warmest of welcomes, including a wonderful home made apple tart made from their own apples. La Conca is an organic apple farm with some 2000 trees. The apartment in a cantina below the main house with beautiful, vaulted ceilings, was basic but perfectly adequate apart from the heating which was really far too low.