1646 Your Region

I live in Fano in Le marche and every year I have come back, and eventually moved here because it feels comfortable, I enjoy being here and more relaxed here than anywhere else I have ever been too. I have many friends and I think this has a strong pull for me. I have many many happy memories and enjoy the food, the company, the place, the history, the sense of community, the wine ......

I live in Umbria and it took me several years to put my finger on my favourite feature; I love the way that the landscape here has been shaped by human intervention into a sinuous tapestry of fields, forests, vineyards and olive groves. I have a huge admiration for the people who have worked hard for generations to create this and I hope that our generation doesn't abandon the land when these old guys eventually peg-out. (Perhaps the much-maligned Albanians will step into their shoes)
What don't I like? Well it can be cold in winter and I'd grudgingly admit that the Tuscans make better salami.
Thanks for a stimulating thread, Sano, and I look forward to many interesting replies.

i thought that this topic would be over run with replies,hey what do i know.

so for better or worse here goes.
we have a place in san bartolomeo in galdo, campania.it lies some 36 miles
from the region capitol benevento, infact because the road route is so slow,
foggia in apulia at 40 miles and campobasso in molise at 36 miles are far easier
and quicker to get to.infact both region borders are within 5 minutes, so its
a fair distance from what most people would call the main campania area.
[does that make any sense]the town/village is set on the side of a hill/mountain, sitting at 600 mts on the side of mount taglianaso [916mts]
and is surrounded on all sides by similar mountains,seperated by green valleys
on two sides and farmed valleys on the other two.
population is 8000, but this swells in august to peak at around double that
as towns folk who have left to live/work in other parts of italy,germany ect
and folk who have plainly left to live in other parts of the world return
[ obviously not every year] for the week long feast of the town name
sake [ san bartolomeo] aug 24.

so whats so spiecal, well i would like to say i found this jewel,because thats
what it is, but its my mothers home town,and in all truth when i was young
i 'd rather stay in my fathers village some 9 miles away, but on returning to italy in 1994 [on holiday] after an absent of 16 years,i realised just what
i had been missing,just the drive from the flat lands of northern apulia towards
the area, gives the mountains an impression of gradue, not because they
are tall far from it, its the difference one moment everything is flat and a few
metres above sea level, the next mountains are rising ok only to 1000 metres
but on everyone sits a town.
now if this was tuscany, everybody would be raving about it, but alas its
not. [what am i saying, this is tuscany without the price tag] afterall the
romans named it campania, [coutryside] and its an adapt title.

we have an apartment its about 120 sq metres, two large bedrooms a large
kitchen and a family room about normal i think, we didn't buy it. what
happened was my grand mother decided to sell her land, nothing grand, and
give the money to her family. my father said he would rather have a plot of
land than the money, so my grand mother sold most of the land but kept
a section which was given to our family,this was back in 1984.
luckly the a new road had been built that bypasses the very tight town
centre and our land was at the side of the road on the outskirts.
to cut a long story short we ended up having an apartment built for free,
as my great uncle owned the land to the side and behind and a deal was
struck with a local builder, we ended up with the apartment a garage under
neath, [the same size] and another garage/store half the size, but twice
the height. most people in this 8 apartment block seem to have developed
there garages into extra living space. and the plot was big enough for three
sets of apartment blocks.they were finally finished in 1994 and became legally
ours about 3 years ago, some law if the constructor goes bankrupt or something, but the land was ours, so we should have been safe!

now i said that this town was a jewel, and it is, the view from the rear of our
apartment is a match of anywhere in italy, the valley drops straight down,and
you can see the river right at the bottom some 1 to 1 1/2 miles away, with
the hills/mountains seeming to cross each others paths. if you care to drive
to the top of our mountain a 10 minute drive or it should be if the unused
road wasn't so cracked, that you need a good 4by4, you get a excellent view
of the town from above it is really spectaculer.
nearby is lucera some 20 miles away with its old roman remains and its
impressive remains of its norman castle perched up on a hill top and vissable for miles. this area is also famous for its arab influence who
until the 13 century lived peacefully here, having been rounded up from other
parts of italy. before being wiped out, some 50,000. still have not been able
to work out who's side san bat fought on.
apulia is famous for its trulli, yet cross over into molise and you will come to ururi i'm sure you will found trullis in this area too with its strong albania influenence and dielect.infact molise is overlooked and i don't know why,
we use their beaches only an hour away and far too many to name from very
tranquill to what you would normally expect in an area thats not over developed.

sorry for going on... so if you want to shut me up, get writing.....about
your region..

I come from the North of England - Newcastle in fact.

I attended Glasgow University and studied Engllish Literature. Through a friend I met there, and now a life long friend, I came to know Argyll and the islands on the west coast of Scotland - I spent my University vacations on a farm on the Ilse of Seil in the Inner Hebrides and the experience of landscape people and their lifestyle was never to be forgotten.

During those days, and with my University pal, the farmers son, we took a trip across Europe to Italy and ended up in the astoundingly beautiful city of Urbino in Le Marche. We made friends and slept on others floors in that city for about one month - we both became reasonable in Italian language. The curve and curl of the land was not unlike the scottish west coast but the weather was better, the vista more impressive - so much so it silenced us - two young men just starting out. Neither of us have ever forgotten Urbino or really gotten over it, way back in those days in the early 1970's.

As the years turned, Urbino became the most favourite and important place in my imagination. The West coast of Scotland was an equally big pull but eventually when it was possible for me to do something about these obsessionalities, it was Urbino that won out over Oban.

I think that I have my fair share in the use of discriptive language but to do this countryside justice still escapes me. So much of it is in the landscape, the autumnal mists, the fireflys, sunflowers and poppies, the rolling and folding hills like beautiful women relaxing. To the east it steps down to the Adriatic, to the West valleys lazily run towards the Appenines, and through previously secret passes to Tuscany - the people are gentle and friendly and generous to a fault. I have particularly loved the small town of Urbania and all of its modest dignity to say nothing of its distinctly grand history.

All of this was over thirty years ago. It has taken that long to resolve the ache and realise the dream. Now I have a house in the Metauro Valley just to the west of Urbino, The house is called Ca' Pelliccione and I teach English Language and Literature at the University of Urbino. The place were I know live never fails to enrapture me and leave me speechless - I struggle to find words to describe what my eyes inform me of every day.

So I guess that this must be my favourite place in all of Italy (and I've visited quite a lot of it). Finally, to have dreams is not the problem, not having dreams is the problem!

Romantic vision it might be but.................there you go!?

Sano…

I have lived in Veneto, Puglia and Tuscany, worked for short spells in Rome, Venice, Milan and Genova and travelled throughout most of Italy. I now spend most of my time between Marche, Tuscany and the UK.

My preference is definitely for central Italy. I am captivated by the mystique and timelessness of this most beautiful part of Italy. I enjoy its history, the richness of the artistic and archaeological legacies, the legends and myths, the evocativeness of the stunning landscape in all its moods, and the culinary surprises (Norcia in eastern Umbria produces some of Italy’s finest prosciutto and salame) that can be found which are so distinctive to the places I have visited. All of these things uplift the spirit. But this is also true of most parts of Italy.

What I particularly enjoy about the Marche is the unspoilt beauty of the heartland. Whether I’m in the wilder and historic Montefeltro or the gentler, rolling Colline Ascolane right in the heart of Rosso Piceno Superiore DOC territory, the towns, villages and landscapes are no less alluring and the vibrancy and genuine warmth of the Marchigiani no less welcoming than neighbouring Umbria or Tuscany.

What I don’t like is the congested corridor along the SS16 “Adriatica” interstate road with its retail parks or some of the industrialised valleys that blot the landscape.

[QUOTE=Ian and Sandra].....

As the years turned, Urbino became the most favourite and important place in my imagination. The West coast of Scotland was an equally big pull but eventually when it was possible for me to do something about these obsessionalities, it was Urbino that won out over Oban.
..... QUOTE]

Ian, strangely enough this is just the same phase we're going through at the moment. We love western Scotland and are off to the Caledonian Canal for a long weekend next week. It'll be a very difficult situation for us one day...

Stephanie

charles have traveled up the ss16, joining it at san severo on my way to roseto degli abruzzi first 60 miles took less than an hour, last 70 took almost
3 hours.i will never forget that.. lol

intent to keep this thread where people can see it, as i would assume there
are so many who could enlighten me/us on this topic.

if you think this is rude of me, and would like to post so, while your at it
how about, you then carry on writting about your town/village/region.

regards..

I know Trieste pretty well and absolutely love it. If I had to live in a city and could afford it, Trieste would be my home. Zampolli's ice cream is out of this world.
I have visited Naples and won't be returning. Dave and I stayed in Garibaldi Square and enjoyed many hours watching the Banditi, ripping off the tourists. It never felt very safe and we got to the point where we drew attention to a car [I]without [/I] huge dents or bits hanging off! The markets are fantastic but as we were in hotel accommodation I didn't have the chance to try cooking the wonderful local produce. It is also too hot for me, I love seasons and snow.
We have finally plumped for Abruzzo as being the ideal place. Fantastic landscapes and affordable houses. The people have been very friendly when we have visited, they have also been very forgiving of our 'pigeon italian'.
When I was in my teens, I hated the fact that my Mother was different 'Italian' and got very fed up of visiting Nonna and Nonno every year. It has only been recently that I have gone back to visiting Italy and each time it has been harder and harder to leave. As the plane lands I just feel 'home'. Maybe its in my DNA. I am now extremely proud to be half Italin.
Does anyone else feel that being Italian is 'in the blood'?
Cheers
Carol

must add trieste to my list.
i share some of your sentiments, being brought up in a large village where
my parents where the first outsiders, i tried to fit in, but its took 40 years
to do so. now i don't even care,and go out of my way to use my proper name
[giovanni] rather than use john a name i used for over 30 years.

funny thing now is that everyone accepts me as local and tell me i'm english!
just doesn't figure.

[QUOTE=Carol and Dave]
When I was in my teens, I hated the fact that my Mother was different 'Italian' and got very fed up of visiting Nonna and Nonno every year. It has only been recently that I have gone back to visiting Italy and each time it has been harder and harder to leave. As the plane lands I just feel 'home'. Maybe its in my DNA. I am now extremely proud to be half Italin.
Does anyone else feel that being Italian is 'in the blood'?
Cheers
Carol[/QUOTE]

Definately, I was the same, I always wished that I could go on package holidays to Spain like the other kids. :( God how depressing.

Now I am nearly 30 and I am planning to settle in Sardinia, I love it and I love the feeling when the plane is coming to land, you are right it does feel like coming home. I am also planning to apply for my Italian passport.