Another impressive breakfast buffet greeted us on a leisurely morning awaiting our 10 am train to Fano. I do love saying Fano! But first we had to walk amongst the teeming masses dragging our increasing luggage over cobbled streets. We now know Bologna to be a University town which explains the aimless wandering of many younguns – always in the opposite direction we were going! There was a protest march down the main street we were walking to station but judging by the ratio of heavily armed cop to scruffy youth this one would not get out of hand. Our train board displayed Platform 11 in plenty of time. Yay. Up and down two flights of stairs to join the throng. Then 10 mins before departure some clown in a grey uniform walks past a few people and says a few words in Italian and they started to move. No official announcements etc but luckily we asked someone passing and she informed us we were now leaving from platform 9 – the one we passed two flights of stairs ago! Anyway we left a few minutes late and the seats were the least salubrious so far but all was on track. A bit of train humour there.
We stopped at Fano ( go on say it a few times if u like) and GH1 (Gracious Host 1) Suzanne was waiting to greet us. GH2 (Earle) was waiting at the car so we were quickly able to offload our bags and wander the quiet streets of Fano before a great lunch at Osteria dalla Peppa. Yeah I thought they could have corrected the spelling for the occasion. As in Spain it was a clear demonstration of benefit of eating with the locals who know the best places and speak the lingo. It was then off to our digs for the next 3 nights – Ca le Cerque near Flashnhome, my ancestral home in Italy. I think it either means See the Circus or House of the Oak Tree. Given the lack of a big top, I will go with the latter. It is simply a beautiful home in a stunning and peaceful surrounding set atop a hill with rolling fields and green hills in all directions. It was going to be rough but I was up for the challenge. As favoured freeloaders we were given the top floor which is superbly equipped to lock yourself away from the world for as long as you wish. However we knew the wine was on the first floor! We may be slow but we ain’t dumb. Check out the Facebook page and do yourself a favour if ever in Italy, you won’t regret it
We had a relaxing afternoon tea out in the beautiful gardens before cleaning up and doing some washing before dinner. Earle was instantly elevated to Legend status when he handed me a beer that almost required gloves to hold. A cold beer at last! Could it get any better – after two more bottles of red I forget. Great food, great wine and great company? I may never leave .
And to complete today’s audiovisual extravaganza – yes GH1/2 even took us camera shopping and we got a salesman with ” I speak English” badge on. We are now tracking down ” We don’t speak Italian badges ”
flashman181 