Il Melo Blog

The clouds have disappeared and it’s still sunny so it’s breakfast outside again. (How often do I get to do that at home? Let alone in April.) It’s still early so, with a slight breeze, there’s a bit of a nip in the air and I need to sit in the full sun to feel warm. The green hills to the south east are cloaked in a blue haze like a summer’s day and high above them are the vapour trails of a jet. From the direction it appears to be climbing from Pescara; looks like some poor souls are being flown back to the cold grey north – I allow myself a smug smile and go back in to the house to do a few jobs.

In the afternoon we drive over to Falerone for a stroll and gelati. It’s the third hill town you can see from il Melo and a bit bigger then Monte San Martino and Penna San Giovanni with a main street that opens our into a broad piazza. There’s also an archaeological museum (unfortunately not open today - there are Roman ruins including an amphitheatre in the valley at Piane di Falerone) and sweeping views in all directions. Nice place to pass an hour on a sunny afternoon.

In the evening, dinner at Farfense again; we intended to go to the more basic Taverna Vittoria which is a few hundred yards before it, but that was closed. We took a cut through up a white road which was very bumpy in places and had to stop for a while as the road was full of pigs!