Thursday - Stansted to the Marche

How civilised is Stansted? So spacious and with enough lines for security that there’s no queuing at all and then at the other end Ancona is always a pleasure. We were originally going to hurry down to the house for a meeting with geometra, builder etc. at 4:30. But we found out that there is a very cheap furniture shop in Tolentino which is on the way, about half way between Ancona and Monte San Martino. Unfortunately, all we know is that it is in the industrial estate near an orange supermarket (presumably a big orange shop, not a big shop that sells oranges.)

Having been up since six with only Starbucks for breakfast, we need lunch and, since we don’t need to rush down to the house, we have time to enjoy it. The airport is actually at Falconara so we decide to head down to the coast to Falconara Marittima and see what there is. It has to be said that this is not the most attractive town on the Adriatic coast. In fact the opposite could be true because it’s where all the oil storage etc seems to be. In addition we can’t find a town centre and when we do see somewhere it’s up a one way street and we cannot get to it. So we park up beside a building site on a busy road with the oil terminal on the other side and go into a lttle café, the Trattoria da Enzo. Typcila basic café but the food is just brilliant – simple stuff: pasta fritto misto di mare but lovely fresh ingredients cooked just right. Why can’t we do this back home? (Probably because most of the people who eat here would, in the UK, want pie and chips.)

Then a pleasant drive over the back roads to Tolentino. We pass through the beautiful little town on Cingoli – a quick stroll around the pizza but definitely worth a longer visit some time. Tolentino sits on the superstrada that runs inland from Civitanova Marche and ultimately (like all roads) to Rome. We decide to follow it west out of the town and find an industrial estate but no orange supermarket and no furniture shop. So back through town the other way. We think we’ll probably have to phone Mirella at La Conca who originally told us about this place when we come across another industrial estate. Again no supermarket but there is a sign that says Fallmenti which is the name of the cheap furniture place in Amandola (see 24 March entry) so we follow the road round and, oh my god! It’s huge! There is just so much and really low prices. We have good look round and see some of it is pretty knackered so you have to be careful but we’ll definitely come back.

Then it’s off to our home for the next three nights, an agriturismo called Contrada Durano which is near to Monte San Martino, just on the other side of the Amandola –Fermo road. It’s a little borgo (hamlet / collection of buildings) on the side of a hill with great views back across the valley of the Tenna. The owners are Jimmy (English but with a family who were expat traders in Sicily for many years so is practically Italian) and Concetta, a real Sicilian.

W have about 10 minutes for a quick wash and to change and then it’s down to pre-dinner drinks. Concetta cooks everything using a lots of home grown produce and Jimmy is mine host, getting the evening going with bubbly (Prosecco) followed by a good Umani Ronchi Rosso Conero with the food and then something fruity with pudding and finishing off (and finishing me off!) mistral with the coffee. A convivial evening with other guests and some locals (though I could have done without the patronising old bag from Brighton – “oh I never go to Caffe Belli, it’s full of Brits” like you presumably dear and “do you have Waitrose up north” yes, and some of us have whippets and coal in the bath.) To bed very relaxed and ready for an early start at the house in the morning.