Le Marche another Italy

[...] Interestingly, an area that could be described as ‘the perfect position’ to buy a property is the one on the border of Le Marche and Abruzzo, whose main town is San Benedetto del Tronto close to the Adriatic Sea.

This part of central Italy has long been popular with people from Rome, the nobility choosing these rolling hills and palm-fringed beaches as a special area many years ago.

This special place offers the best of both worlds – beautiful countryside close to a seaside environment.

There are three main coastal towns in this area, San Benedetto (right on the border of Abruzzo), Pedaso and Grottammare all with a good infrastructure and daily flights to and from Italy’s main airport to Pescara or Ancona airports. [...]

You need to make some smart choices upfront when buying investment property. 

Pays a Fair Cash-on-Cash Return
you need to pro forma your deals and buy cash flow-positive properties that earn you decent returns – not those prize properties that are negative

Isn’t Too Risky an Investment
All real estate is extremely high risk
if you want to own real estate, consider simply taking fee simple title in your own name – or an entity you wholly own – to the properties you purchase. In addition, you must do the proper due diligence, analyze, test, review reports, etc., to make a lower risk real estate decision.

Doesn’t Require a Lot of Time or Managing
You can earn more but some properties just require way too much time and management to make them smart investments. Examples include vacation rentals, low quality properties in bad areas, college rentals, etc. Nice boring properties rented for as long as possible to decent credit profile tenants seem to take the least time to manage.

You need to do some hard work, research, read up, and make smart, educated decisions to acquire the best real estate investments!

We went to Meletti to drink a crodino yesterday, which is a 100-year-old bar and used to belong to the Meletti family, famous for their anisette. After that, we went straight home. It started to rain again, so it wasn't fun to stay outside.
My family and I went to a typical Italian bar this morning, because I had to have my daily dose of Italian ice tea. Everybody drinks their coffee and eats their pastries standing, which is the normal way to do it around here. I love these typical traditions.

The religious tourism in Italy is in good health.

The first motivation for this type of tourism is driven by faith, but also artistic and cultural charm of churches, convents, churches, monasteries, shrines and holy places and it is evident how the promotion of religious tours enhance the area in terms of tourism.

The excellence among all the religious destinations in Le Marche Region, with around 4 million of visitors every year, is certainly the Sanctuary of the Holy House of Loreto,

 This is just the most important attraction of the religious tourism in Le Marche, but, as for Italy, almost every city, has holy places of importance for the faith and cultural interest. The large number of holy places in Le Marche, you can see in the list below, demonstrate the great tourism potential the Region can develop with an accurate policy of promotion.

• Abbazia Di Chiaravalle Di Fiastra
• Convento Basilica Di San Giuseppe Da Copertino
• Convento Del Santissimo Salvatore
• Convento Di Renacavata
• Convento Di San Francesco
• Convento Di Santa Maria Del Soccorso
• Convento Di Santa Maria Della Pace
• Convento Di Santa Maria Delle Grazie Santuario Di San Pacifico
• Convento Madonna Della Quercia Noviziato Di San Gabriele
• Convento Santuario Del Beato Benedetto Passionei
• Convento Santuario Del Beato Sante
• Convento Santuario Del Santissimo Crocifisso
• Convento Santuario Di San Nicola
• Eremo Di Caresto
• Eremo Di Monte Giove
• [...]

This kind of tourism in general is organized in Group of travellers that share moments of pray and reflection together.

In general a religious person, a priest or the pastor, organize the whole trip, deciding accommodations, transports and services.

Nowadays, travel agencies and tour operators, independently, promote trips collecting together people of different community of believers.

The facilities chosen for religious travels, especially in Le Marche, are convents, monasteries, abbeys or specific holiday homes managed by religious organizations, offering food and accommodation at affordable prices.

It is desirable that hospitality and tourist operators of Le Marche collaborate together with the existing religious structures as this works to develop a market that doesn't know crisis and seasonality.

Just believe it.

The award, the Blue Flag, is given annually to beaches and marinas that satisfy a number of essential criteria covering aspects of:

• Water Quality
• Environmental Education and Information
• Environmental Management
• Safety and Services

The international Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) reported that has risen this year the number of Italian beaches to be awarded the prestigious Blue Flag award for clean water and pristine sands.

Italian seaside resorts awarded a Blue Flag in 2013 were 135, four more than last year, for a total of 248 top beaches. Some 86% of last year's Blue Flag beaches were confirmed this year while nine new entries included resorts in Carrara, Tuscany, Francavilla al Mare in Abruzzo and a lake beach resort in Levico Terme, in the north-eastern Trentino-Alto Adige region. The northwest coastal region of Liguria has the cleanest beaches in Italy, 20, two more than last year, followed by the central Marche region with 18 and Tuscany with 17, one more than last year.

Pristine eco friendly beaches could be considered another reason to visit lovely Le Marche.

More infos on http://www.blueflag.org/ ;

“Le Marche” region is part of Central Italy and offers a blend of northern atmosphere and southern charm. Sea, mountains and hilly rural landscapes dominate its geography and these three aspects have shaped the temperament of its population.

Author Guido Piovene, in his book Viaggio in Italia (1957), defined “Le Marche” as being Italy in one region: “if one had to decide which Italian landscape was the most typical, one would have to choose the Marche… Italy, with its range of landscapes, is a distillation of the world; the Marche is a distillation of Italy.” Giosué Carducci, Nobel Prize Winner and one of the great poets of 19th century Italy, described “Le Marche” in these terms: “This land blessed by God is full of beauty, variety, liberty, with protecting mountains slowly lowering towards the sea, an embracing sea, with greeting, rising hills and shining valleys.” [...]

Barocci: Brilliance and Grace is one of the most stimulating and well curated exhibitions to be held in London in recent years. There is in fact a relative wealth of religious art exhibitions in London currently, the equally excellent Murillo & Justino de Neve: the art of friendship is on show at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Taken together, these exhibitions offer a perspective on early modern religious art that in unusual in England. Furthermore, like the earlier Sacred Made Realexhibition, Barocci has proved a sleeper success and, while visitors are not queuing around the block as they were forLeonardo, the public is coming in a steady stream to view this previously most neglected of artists. Symptomatic of this is that only one of Barocci’s paintings, the Madonna del Gatto, is in an English collection (in the National Gallery itself) and, as the catalogue makes clear, has frequently been treated with disdain.

Wednesday evening, 1st of May, a public holiday here. Here, very sensibly, they take their holidays very seriously.

We were sitting outside the local bar listening to a live band playing covers of Johnny Cash and Jefferson Airplane and other incongruities, while the sun set on a sweltering Labour Day Holiday. There was quite a crowd, young and old(er), many having just returned from a day on the beach. They were smoking, drinking, eating pizza and porchetta; these latter being sold from a van set up by a nearby hotel and the quality was excellent. But mostly people were strolling and chatting and the band went largely ignored, pity, because they were rather good.

We have been here nearly eighteen months and know many of the locals, some only by sight, but that doesn't deter any one of them from approaching us to ask whether our house is finished yet, and they all do, and our answer is well practised, "No, not yet, but soon, in two weeks we hope." This news is greeted with hearty congratulations. "Yes", we go on to say, "there are only a few outstanding jobs, we are awaiting the electricity company, the plumber, the electrician and the carpenter to complete them." This information is followed by tight-lipped, knowing smiles, and the congratulations quickly turn to variations on "Good Luck!" What they don't know, and we don't dare say outright, even to ourselves, is that water or not, electricity or not, whatever or not, all our worldly goods are arriving from England in 2 weeks and we are moving in, whatever. Thus the optimistic quote above, which roughly translates as: "And one by one I left them behind me. Geometry! A job done to perfection." [...]

So when I went for breakfast this morning my hosts told me it was market day in Ascoli. We're not talking the puny market from the other day, we're talking the real deal. That's when I heard angels singing and realized those little boots I had my eyes on were within reach.

Here in Italy the market moves from town to town and Saturday it happens to be in Ascoli which is 20 mins away from the house. So I raced over here right after breakfast so I could get good parking, walked up the hill to the main piazza and there it was. White tents as far as the eye could see, Italian people screaming that they have the best deal and people everywhere..

I made a few good purchases: a beautiful leather bag (with studs) for 20 euros and my beautiful booties (with studs). I am now a full fledged Italian.....I just need to get my greyish legs a little tanned so that I don't look like a total moron wearing them.

What a tough life! I wake up in the morning wondering "what will I do today"' drive to the beach, Ascoli, or go to Tuscany for the day (okay I'm a show off). Today the beach won out since they're forecasting rain for the next 2 days. I drove up a small coastal road from San Benedetto Del Tronto to Pedaso.  Although San Benedetto was nice, with palm trees, beautiful beach and trendy restaurants, it was a bit too touristy. Stopped for a quick lunch and then visited the small town of Grottammare which was amazing. 

Although it has taken more than 400 years, the sainthood cause of Jesuit Father Matteo Ricci, the 16th-century missionary to China, is back on track.

Bishop Claudio Giuliodori, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Macerata, Italy, where Fr. Ricci was born in 1552, formally closed the diocesan phase of the sainthood process May 10. The cause now moves to the Congregation for Saints’ Causes at the Vatican.

Bishop Giuliodori had met Pope Francis, a Jesuit, at the Vatican the first week of May. He wrote in the Macerata diocesan newspaper, “I never imagined I’d be able to speak about the cause of Fr. Matteo Ricci with a Jesuit pope. After the great attention given by Benedict XVI, who never missed an occasion to encourage us to promote the cause, we now have the joy of placing it into the hands of a Jesuit.” [...]

Almost 61 years ago Luigi Fagioli died driving a sports car. This relatively unknown driver did the same as other legends who are more known to the public (Fangio and Ascari) and was even better some times. His impressive career ended unexpectedly in the tunnel of Monaco during the GP of 1952. In May the tragic accident occurred in the tunnel where the car hit the wall. Fagioli died three weeks later, on June 20th, as he struggled to cope with internal injuries who he lost in the end.
On June 9th 1898 Luigi Fagioli was born in a wealthy family at Osimo, (part of the province Ancona, region Marche). As a boy Luigi Fagioli was fascinated by the relatively new invention of the automobile and the ensuing racing. Blessed with great natural driving instincts, a young Fagioli spent several years participating in hillclimbing and sports car races before entering Grand Prix racing in 1926. The turning point for Fagioli’s career was in 1933 when team director and driver Enzo Ferrari invited him to change to Alfa Romeo. He replaced the famous Tazio Nuvolari in the Alfa P3 (Nuvolari changed to Maserati that year). Luigi did not take to much time to adjust and won the Coppa Acerbo, the Grand Prix du Comminges and the Italian GP. People often found Fagioli a daredevil who took unnecessary risks and often lost because of accidents. In spite of that his talent was rising and Mercedes bought the driver in 1934. [...]

Today, we had a class trip to Monte Conero and Sirolo. First up was Monte Conero – there’s a nice drive up to where you start the walk.
We walked to a viewpoint looking out over the Due Sorelle (two rocks out in the sea) and Sirolo. It was a lovely walk with absolutely fabulous views – really very impressive
Le due sorelle (those two rocks you can see just after the nice looking bay)
After the walk, we headed into Sirolo for a drink. Sirolo’s very pretty

The Association “Casale delle Noci” develop continuous activities, with the purpose of becoming a reference point for the territory improving, safeguarding and promoting the Excellence in craftsmanship which makes up the great Made in Italy trademark in the world, directing the youth to the culture of “know how” and developing a virtuous circle between past, present and future, between market, art and society. Promoting a culture which enables companies to forge commercial relationships and partnerships more easily.  Made in Italy, a philosophy of life  that the world appreciates and “envies” is the result of various factors including the culture of beauty (intended as feeling and intuition) and the relationship with a territory rich in stimuli. The international division of labour sees the majority of the Italian manufacturing businesses positioned at the top-end of the market, with small production lots where uniqueness, creativity, personalisation attention to detail and the quality of raw materials are appreciated.  It is  essential to keep the values of craftsmanship alive, to recover and develop them, even in a new style. The market might not be on local and district levels anymore, the manufacturing processes will be assisted by new technologies, materials will be renewed; mastering telecommunications will become essential in order to develop international business connections; new commercial interfaces will spring to life.   To appreciate the Italian manufacturing process it is essential to make people understand how the artistic culture and the territory affect the design and production of the object (this goes for both the industry and crafts); to create a virtuous circle between market - art – society.

Do you know Italy… by region? It might seem like a lot to ask, but if you’re planning a trip to Italy, knowing Italy’s regions is a great place to start!

The country is broken up into 20 official regions, which you can think of as districts—similar to states or provinces. What are the different regions, what are they known for, and which ones should you travel to? Here’s help!

Le Marche

This relatively little-known region in central Italy is hilly and mountainous, and has long stretch of coastline along the Adriatic. Historically agricultural and poor, today, it’s known for its specialized industries, like furniture and textiles. Tourism is popular here, too—although there are far fewer tourists than in many of Italy’s other regions!—with travelers attracted to the region’s lovely beaches, mountains, and small towns.

Visit Le Marche if: You’d like to get off the beaten path; you want to hit the beach (the beaches around Rimini are especially popular in summer); you want to hike or enjoy other outdoor activities; you’re on a budget.

[...]

Domenico Alaleona (1881 - 1928) may not be a name familiar to contemporary audiences, but in his time he was highly regarded as a composer, musicologist, and choral conductor by the likes of Puccini and Toscanni. Alaleona represented the first Italian case of “musicologist-composer” , a role which today is predominant in comparison with the past. Domenico Alaleona was born in Montegiorgio, a small village in the south of Marche (central Italy) Alaleona belongs to that large group of composers who tried to renew the Italian musical language at the beginning of 1900s, by linking the retrieval of Gregorian chant and of Reinassance classical poliphony with the most recent composing techniques, and by completely ignoring the Romantic experience. The musical culture of that time was characterized by the lack of univocal certainties and by the consequent search for identity on the part of the artists, who were pursuing it towards different directions. The Italian musical panorama was dominated by the veristic opera, but parallely some new interests in Renaissance music were emerging, with the consequent revaluation of such figures as Frescobaldi and Monteverdi.

Alaleona developped the “theory of the division of the octave in equal parts”, which would find accomplishment in two important theorical writings appeared on the Rivista Musicale Italiana in 1911: The modern horizons of musical technique. Theory of the division of the octave in equal parts and Very Modern Harmony, where , in his search for new linguistic codes and ethical horizons, Alaleona foretold the intuitions of great Central European composers, as Schonberg, arriving explicitly at theorizing dodecaphony.

MIRRA is his only opera, composed 1908 - 1912, and was premiered in 1920, and then lay dormant until 2002: this recording captures a concert performance in 2003 by the chorus and orchestra of Radio France conducted by Juraj Valcuha. It bears hearing and demands attention!

The story is adapted from Vittorio Alfieri's Greek-based tragedy in which Myrrha refuses to marry Prince Pereo, confessing that her secret passion is for her father Cinyras! Yes, a remodeled Electra story with all the requisite confrontations between father/daughter, suicides, and scandal. The music shows influence of Strauss, Debussy, Wagner, Puccini, Mascagni and other lusty sources.