It’s Tuesday morning and we’re in Senigallia. Let me bring you up to speed.
We were able to squeeze in everything that we wanted to do in Torre Orsina in the final week, and more. Maurizio invited us to lunch at his home one day where his wife, Fabiana, prepared a delicious lunch which featured pasta and Saltimbocca. Maurizio also pulled out some liquors for Cinzia to taste.
We were able to squeeze in everything that we wanted to do in Torre Orsina in the final week, and more. Maurizio invited us to lunch at his home one day where his wife, Fabiana, prepared a delicious lunch which featured pasta and Saltimbocca. Maurizio also pulled out some liquors for Cinzia to taste.
Sometime during the next couple days the conversation at the bar turned to food, as it usually does, where the topic was which prosciutto was the best. No one liked Prosciutto de Parma saying that it was too sweet. Someone interjected that spaletta was better than prosciutto and everyone seemed to agree. We had never heard of spaletta and when we asked they seemed shocked. They told us that prosciutto was made from the hind leg of the pig, while spaletta was made from the front shoulder. Its higher fat content made for a better product. This is when Maurizio offered to take us to a town that makes spaletta which all agreed was one of the best in the area.
We headed off at 8:30am the next morning with Fabiana and Fabrice and after a lengthy drive through the mountains we arrived at the small salumeria. We entered to find a wall filled with various types prosciutto hanging on display as well as another filled with the smaller spaletta. The display case at the front was filled with a wonderful assortment of cured meats. I thought that I might buy a small piece of spaletta to eat one day for lunch, just so I could have a taste, but they were only sold whole. Since Tuesday was Virgilio’s birthday the town was going to have a number of desserts served in the piazza to mark the occasion. I asked Maurizio if there was a way that we could serve spaletta before the desserts and he said that would work. So I had he proprietor choose a spaletta that would be ready to serve on Tuesday. It weighed in at just under 5 kilos and was only €6/kg, or about $3.60/lb, which is less that I pay for red bell peppers back home. We also bought a salami after tasting a few samples. After Maurizio purchased his spaletta the five of us headed to a remote bar with the name Loch Ness.
We headed off at 8:30am the next morning with Fabiana and Fabrice and after a lengthy drive through the mountains we arrived at the small salumeria. We entered to find a wall filled with various types prosciutto hanging on display as well as another filled with the smaller spaletta. The display case at the front was filled with a wonderful assortment of cured meats. I thought that I might buy a small piece of spaletta to eat one day for lunch, just so I could have a taste, but they were only sold whole. Since Tuesday was Virgilio’s birthday the town was going to have a number of desserts served in the piazza to mark the occasion. I asked Maurizio if there was a way that we could serve spaletta before the desserts and he said that would work. So I had he proprietor choose a spaletta that would be ready to serve on Tuesday. It weighed in at just under 5 kilos and was only €6/kg, or about $3.60/lb, which is less that I pay for red bell peppers back home. We also bought a salami after tasting a few samples. After Maurizio purchased his spaletta the five of us headed to a remote bar with the name Loch Ness.
Loch Ness was no ordinary bar. It was tucked away in the mountains and also offered sport fishing for trout. There was a large pond there 2 fishermen were trying to catch the mature trout and many smaller ponds where the owner stocked various sizes of trout on their way to maturity. Maurizio gave us a tour of the grounds and then after a quick beverage we walked into the woods in search of Cascata Rove. We drove a bit until the dirt road was too narrow, then hiked in. The mid-day sun was baking the ground, but the narrow path offered some solace in the shadows. Cinzia spotted some mora (black berries) and we picked a few along the way. It was a very scenic hike, but where on Earth was this elusive waterfall? After walking alongside the small river for about 3km we gave up and returned to the bar for lunch. When we asked the waiter about the waterfall he was that instead of turning right we should have turned left and the waterfall was only a 40m walk away. We had a laugh, finished our lunch and headed out without ever seeing the falls. On the drive back we back a spot in Schegginio where my great grandmother was born. This is another old town, bigger than Torre Orsina, and hosts a trout and truffle festival. Who knew truffles went with trout? There were several trout ponds in the town.
On Friday, Enrica picked us up and we headed to her new home in Campello to spend the weekend. This is a very modern home, all marble and travertine, with a huge pool. Her husband, Giulio, has been constructing the home on the weekends for the past 10 years and there is still a bit to do. Her mother, Orsalina, and her son, Lorenzo, joined us. Enrica was organizing a fashion show on Sunday in Spoletto, so we assisted as best we could and had front row seats for the show. The fashion show included 100 dresses and 20 models with the finale of wedding dresses led by Luigina’s 72 year old gown.
On Friday, Enrica picked us up and we headed to her new home in Campello to spend the weekend. This is a very modern home, all marble and travertine, with a huge pool. Her husband, Giulio, has been constructing the home on the weekends for the past 10 years and there is still a bit to do. Her mother, Orsalina, and her son, Lorenzo, joined us. Enrica was organizing a fashion show on Sunday in Spoletto, so we assisted as best we could and had front row seats for the show. The fashion show included 100 dresses and 20 models with the finale of wedding dresses led by Luigina’s 72 year old gown.
Once back in Torre Orsina our schedule for the remainder of the week was firmed up with dinner at Michele’s on Monday, dinner at Antonella’s on Wednesday, dinner at Osteria dello Sportello in Casteldialgo on Thursday for Elda’s birthday, and dinner at Daniela Abbati’s on Friday. (The celebration for Virgilio’s 102nd birthday was canceled because he was not feeling fell and the doctor advised that he stay indoors for 6 days.) I’ll recap the dinners a bit later.
It was a teary good-bye on Saturday and our family and friends wished us well. Maurizio offered to drive us to the train station at 11am and Michele tagged along. We arrived early, so we stopped for our first gelato of the trip and Gelateria Europa before catching the 12:35pm train to Senigallia. It was an easy trip and we arrived on time at 4:15pm where Riamondo, the man we were renting our apartment from, picked us up and got us settled into what we will call home for the next 4 weeks. More about the apartment later.
We’re both a bit under the weather with sore throats and runny noses, but it’ll pass in a few days. It’s 9.45 and Cinzia is still sleeping. We’ll pack a few things for the beach and stop at a café on the way for something sweet to eat. The “Velvet Beach” of Senigallia has lived up to its name. There really is no other way to describe the sand here. While many of the beach clubs have Wi-Fi, I’m not going to bring my laptop down to the beach to upload our blogs and photos, not often anyway, so you’ll just have to wait. We will bring our tablets, so we’ll check email and Facebook.
We’re both a bit under the weather with sore throats and runny noses, but it’ll pass in a few days. It’s 9.45 and Cinzia is still sleeping. We’ll pack a few things for the beach and stop at a café on the way for something sweet to eat. The “Velvet Beach” of Senigallia has lived up to its name. There really is no other way to describe the sand here. While many of the beach clubs have Wi-Fi, I’m not going to bring my laptop down to the beach to upload our blogs and photos, not often anyway, so you’ll just have to wait. We will bring our tablets, so we’ll check email and Facebook.