Good Things From Italy - Le Cose Buone d'Italia

Beautiful medieval Gradara. It's a town in the Marche region of Italy, on the opposite side of Tuscany. Marche is less traveled by tourists but equally beautiful and more serene. Town after town, there's always something beautiful to see. The people are relaxed and friendly. And the food, like in all regions of Italy, is superb.Gradara is the cradle of the tragic kiss between Paolo and Francesca told by Dante in the 5th canto of “Hell” in his Divine Comedy. This forbidden kiss has inspired so many artists and poets in different periods.

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A salon of ideas and an institution in Ascoli, for years it was home to the “Senato” association of city worthies. King Victor Emmanuel came here in incognito in 1908 and 1910 to buy the famous Anisetta, and granted the title “Supplier to the Royal Household”. Mascagni is said to have started writing his opera “La Lodoletta” here. During the closing years of the last war, the painter Guttuso first planned his “L’Orsa Maggiore” in these rooms. Stuparich, Zandonai, Badoglio, Sartre, and Hemingway all passed by, and Trilussa, beguiled by the Anisetta, wrote: “How many fables and sonnets Meletti has inspired in me!”

Are you now around Le Marche? Want to see contestants in period costume battle it out on horseback as they did in the 13th century? The San Floriano Palio in Jesi, near Ancona, is a historic event featuring swordfights, archery contests and an ancient ring race. Not forget that Jesi is the Capital of the Verdicchio area. Prosit!!!