4carolina

After many months of planning,aided by the generous assistance of many "Fodorosos",on 24 April we started off on our 2 week journey from Rome's Fiumicino airport due East to Ascoli Piceno,very close to the Adriatic and then down the coast to Trani and the start of our extraordinary Pugliese adventure,with a dip across the provincial border into Basilicata and Matera.From the very start our travels posed elements of surprise and sometimes challenge.At the Hertz car rental desk we were informed we could not rent the Fiat 500 we had requested because we would be traveling in Puglia,where "these cars are stolen".Should we have fibbed about our destination???It never occurred to us.Disappointed,we chose a Fiat Panda,stick-shift which we came to love.We piled our carry-ons into "Panello"....did not know the Italian word for Panda.....mounted our GPS fitted with the Europe card we had used on 3 earlier trips and confidently started for the garage exit,realizing the GPS was "non-funzione."No amount of giggling and re-starting would activate it,and so with the bare-bones directions from the Hertz guy,and a not good enough map of Italy,[the huge map of Puglia was no help here],we started off on the Autostrada towards Rieti on the 235, the Salaria.Approaching Rieti,the landscape changed radically,and we were surrounded by the snow topped Sibillini mountains.The vistas were breathtakingly beautiful and the roads were hair-raisingly challenging with non-stop curves and switch-backs.While my road warrior husband drove I described the little perched villages,the arrows pointing to "terme";he hilltop castles;the roadside signs advertising "Porchetta".After around 2 1/2 hours we arrived in the new part of Ascoli,a larger city than we anticipated,and made our way to Centro Storico.Here ends the first part.I will continue later.

Marija

Waiting for more!

ekscrunchy

Talk about leaving us hanging! I'm really looking forward to this!!

rosetravels

I'm really looking forward to reading each installment!

nukesafe

Me too, but please use paragraphs. Very hard to read solid blocks of print.

tedgale

Bookmarking

4carolina

I was cautious about writing too long a piece because yesterday when I was much further into Ascoli,my computer froze and i lost the entire piece.I wondered if Fodor limits the length of an entry,or if it was just a frustrating glitch.So..We drove into Centro Storico,filled to over-flowing. with people gathered for a provincial fair.Without a GPS we had no way to find our Albergo,and the streams of people in narrow lanes made driving unnerving.We managed to find a parking space and merged into the crowd moving towards p.del Popolo.Traveling without a cellphone,we could not phone the hotel for directions,and the people we approached were not able to help us.We wandered around looking for a police uniform,and then magically noticed a SMALL sign for Albergo Piceno,pointing us up an alley and eventually to a large doorway with the wonderous name of our destination.Albergo Piceno is a beautifully" re-habbed" palazzo,contemporary and still retaining lots of charm

yestravel

Looking forward to reading about Puglia.

nukesafe

PLEASE use paragraphs! I really want to read your trip report, but run-on solid text is just to difficult to decipher for my aging eyes, as I suspect it may be for other Fodorites.

There is no limit to posts, particularly trip reports, on Fodor's that I know of.

See, that was a paragraph.

4carolina

We were shown to a lovely room with huge bathroom with hydrospa,and a small private terrace.
after having retrieving our car and parking it near-by.It had been a long night/day of travel,and after long soaks in the tub and a nap we went downstairs and got a restaurant suggestion form Gabriele,the excellent manager,and took off for a brief tour of the old town and a most delicious dinner at a small restaurant serving locally sourced food and run by the owner chefICOLO TEATRO.En route to dinner we stopped at a cafe on the p.del Popolo,one of the most exquisite public gathering places imaginable.This entire huge square is paved with terrazzo marble,as are all the buildings lining the piazza,which is pleasantly filled with people strolling;visiting;sitting.It filled us with wonder,and during our stay we would return to it often,just to experience it's pleasant civility.My favorite time to be there was just after breakfast,when there would be the occasional cyclist gliding slowly across,often engaged in talking with a friend who was walking along side.Ascoli 's old town is a lovely,lively compact place very much peopled by the town at large.It is trying hard to be more of a player in the world of tourism while retaining its historic intergity.For the next 2 days,after a very generous breakfast and endless excellent cappucinos,we we went off on drives plotted for us by the charming desk clerk.One day we went North to the village of Offida,a 15c.gem way up high and overlooking af antastic patchwork of green.We arrive in time to pick up provisions for our lunch:exquisite proscuitto,carved of the leg for us;two kinds of pecorino;pears and grapes.We are given directions to the forno and arrive justin time to purchase the last panini.Then following Cristina's directions we walk to S. Maria del Rocca with its ancient vaulted interior.We have our lunch in the garden at the rear of the church,with exquisite views and only the sound sof birds .Offida is a beautiful place.We then set off for the coast Gottamura,on the coast,a "piu bella villagio>What we encounter is huge resort sprawl:concrete build everywhere.We try to find the old town,but after driving thru so much concrete we give up and drive a bit south to wards S.Benedetto .The building surge is so extensive that it continues and virtually links the two towns.We decide to explore one more inland town and head for another inland town,Aquaviva,another gem,and enroute we seee a sign for "Capecci ....vini del Colli Piceni" and we decide to stop.The young owner graciously offers us a glass of wine, a tour of his cellar ,another glass of his excellent wine and a plate of very young,exquisite pecorino from just up the road.All the concrete madness melts away,and after purchasing 2 bottles of wine we drive slowly back to Albergo Picino followed by an apperativo in the piazza and dinner at a pizzeria Gabriele recommendseopoldus.We order a grilled vegetable antipasto,a large pizza, some contorni and beer.This is a very popular place with the locals.
I need to add that an excellent gelateria would bar our way each night as we returned to the Albergo,and we had no choice but to enter,purchase a picolo and wend our way slowly through the piazza.For our last day in Ascoli,Caterina directed us into the Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini,where we climbed and climbed, stoppingLo at a number of small towns and villages along the switchbacks.Way up high we stopped in a bar for a drink and next door bought a large bag of locally picked/dried porcini;a jar of local truffles and "fetti" of some of the fantastic salami made by the owner,who insisted on giving me many samples. It was a gorgeous and exhausting ride.Dinner that night was La Locandiera where we were fortunate to be served the best ricotta I have ever eaten,along with other vegetable antipasti;broad strips of superb pasta heaped with cardoncelli mushrooms;roast lamb;rucola....huge portions of delicious,hearty food.The next morning,after a last stroll in the piazza,and a warm farewell from Gabriele,we departe Ascoli for Trani,and the start of our Puglia idyll.

4carolina

Sorry for the typos. I do not know why some of the capitol letters were replaced with smiley faces: Picolo Teatro/Leopoldus.I will try to remember paragraphs.
Before I go any further,a think it would be helpful to list our full itinerary:
3 nights in Ascoli: Albergo Piceno
2 nights in Trani: Albergo Lucy
1 night in Matera: Hotel S. Domenica
4 nights near Ostuni: La Rascina
1 night near Otranto: La Tenuta de Gambero
3 nights in Lecce: Palazzo Persone

jubilada

Eagerly awaiting your ongoing report!

ekscrunchy

Me, too! Great start!

taconictraveler

I really want to read this, but could you please just hit "enter" or " return" every few sentences? Then you will have paragraphs. They don't have to be grammatically correct paragraphs, but it would make your report much easier reading for these old eyes. Many thanks, and keep reporting, it's really good information.

italy2012

Great report! We are headed to Ascoli in October as this is my father's birthplace. I will use your report in my planning.

nukesafe

Actually, you make a new paragraph when you start talking about a new subject. Not trying to be preachy, but an example would be when you said, "It was a gorgeous and exhausting ride." The next sentence is, "Dinner that night --- "

New subject. New paragraph.

It mimics the way one talks. One talks about the ride. Then you pause. Then you talk about the dinner.

sundriedpachino

Carolina,
Really enjoying your report as we will be in Ascoli and Puglia in the fall.

Just a suggestion.
Before you submit your report, hit preview, and use that for a visual of where we, your readers, might appreciate a pause, or a new paragraph.

Looking forward to your further adventures....

jamikins

Cant wait for more!! We are going to Le Marche and Puglia next month so I am hanging onto every word!!

annhig

ttt 4 later

annhig

read it.

great start; this is an area I am very interesting in planning a trip to [along with Sicily - how to decide????]

can i add my voice to the polite plea for paragraphs?

a line in between helps too!