Prato degli Angeli - Sad Day!

 After a 2 hour drive inland from The Terme Beach Resort on the Adriatic Sea we arrive into the agroturismo, Prato degli Angeli in the hot dry wheat farming mountains of Sassonero. This is where we stayed and became friends with a 4 generational family back in 2014

Today we arrive and are greeted with the sad news that Gusto the 84 year old great grandfather passed away 3 months ago.

Terme Beach Resort - Last Morning

 We are back from an early morning walk and it is already 35 degrees at 8am stinking hot and so humid.

No Italians are up as yet so we invade there area of the resort!

And watch the world go by, this old bloke was getting some vongole’s for his pasta lunch.

So much seaside colour.

A cruise ship has already arrived into the port of Ravenna as they now can’t dock in Venice.

Still too early for the Italians to hit the beach.

All the hire boats ready for a day on the water.

As the day warms up!!! The boys are training for the Olympics.

The beautiful ripples left in the sand before the tide changes.

So its a good bye to the beach and our sun lounges as we now head inland again this time to see another Italian family that we meet back in 2014.

Terme Beach Resort - Lunch

Booked a table for two at the beach for Peter! 

Great lunch, great location and only a 10 minute walk on the timber board walk from the Terme Beach Resort

Started with the calamari and onions coated in a very thin beer batter.

Simple seared tuna with teriyaki sauce.

Wonderfull place to escape the heat of the day of the day 

(35 deg) with a cool Vino Bianca and the occasional cooling 

breeze off the Adriatic Sea.

But the dish of the day was the caprese salad, cool red and green tomatoes, the creamiest mozzarella cheese and a basil oil. 🤤 

Driving in Tight Spaces

There are many small openings that are there to challenge us Aussie drivers … but at 2.2 meters this was OK. 

  This one was no chance with the Fiat’s pretty paint job!

Turn around and find another way to get out of this hill top Castello.

This one was for getting under the railway lines to the beach was very narrow and very low!!!

But so worth it with Italian ice creams on the beach with an Australiane influence makes a tight squeeze so worth the driving stresses. 

Terme Beach Resort - Cake for Breakfast

 Another great reason for staying at The Terme Beach Resort is that you get to eat cake for breakfast!

As I am not one to disappoint any chefs … I did what was required and ate some cake. 🥳 🍰 

The crostata base with ricotta that a layer of sponge followed 

by more ricotta, cream and berries was Bellissimo.

I did only had one slice, the rest was gone before we arrived for breakfast which left room for the other treaties on offer.

Terme Beach Resort - Spa Pools

The Spa Pool are also a big draw card for us at the 

Terme Beach Resort 

apart from the

☀️  🌊  ⛱️   & sand 😁

Is the quieter indoor salted thermal pools 

WITH NO

☀️  🌊  ⛱️  & sand 😂 

They are a great spot to relax inside out of the blistering midday 

sun that bounces off the sand and still gives you a 

suntan under the ⛱️ .

It’s a quieter spot to float away one’s travel trouble's and help to dissolve the back aches from some very 

hard italian beds.

But most of all, a place to take in a good dose of colour.

Let’s just say the pools are full of colour but not too pretty to look at!

A bit like my white body in black swimmer's 😂 

Happy Birthday Beth 💚💜

We are just so happy that officially here it is still your birthday.

Hope you had a great day.

Terme Beach Resort - Better the devil you know!

From the high mountains looking over the Adriatic Sea to now being at the Adriatic Sea.

Right at sea level … even with the sand at our door.

We are back at The Terme Beach Resort for 2 nights in Punta Marina just near Ravenna, so now we are in the 

Emilia Romagna food region.  

So on the menus we will be seeing the likes of Parmigiano  Reggiano cheese, Prosciutto, Mortadella, Culatello, Balsamic Vinegars and Piadina (flatbread) Tagliatelle and Tortellini …Yummo, We love this area.

There are 7 rooms that have complete beach access and we are in the middle one with our own designated 

umbrella and 2 sun lounges. Oh la la

We are roped off from the rest of the day umbrellas folks so we have a fabulous view … It’s a bit spesh!

We were here several years ago and just loved it so much that we had to come back.

Better the devil you know when it comes to 

accommodation in Italy.

Il Sapore dela Luna - Good Bye

 We leave il Sapore dela Luna and that wonderful pool and head north again up the freeway about 2 hours and 200km and we will be going to go the sea. 

See you up the coast soon 💚

Il Sapore dela Luna - The Hill Top Town of Colonnella

The hill top town of Colonnella … sounds more like 

a medical issue or procedure!

The views from the hill top towns around this area are as if you were flying in a plane. 

As far as the eye can see is a beautiful patchwork of 

olive groves, vineyards, wheat and other crops.

Getting to them is also a lot of “Italian Driving Fun”!

At times you just have to close your eyes and go for it, works for the Italians and so far seams to be working for us!

This steep little road to get to the Osteria for lunch at the top of the hill was just one example, 

I thought surely it was only one way. 

So I did a walk up to see if the Osteria first had a table and also to see how I would get Sandy and the car up the hill and 

back down. 

On my walk I discovered it was in fact two ways 🫣

So I said to Sandy hold your breath and we made it to the top and lucky for us there was still one car park left. 

Started lunch with a very yummy and salty 

(I’m sure this is to make you want to drink more wine to able to get up enough courage to drive back down the hill 😂)

 fried pancake and prosciutto all the while sitting precariously on the edge of a rickety old timber deck behind a wire fence that wouldn't keep a puppy in or out.

OH&’s … What tha!… It’s Italy and there is no such thing.

 Maybe they think if your that dumb and fall over the edge, 

well … hopefully your to dumb to able to breed … so then the next generation will have more common sense!

Lunch was to die for.

 Hoping not!, we still need to get back down the hill.

The mushroom tagliatelle with truffle Just Yummo.

After going truffling with Doriano in the heat over the weekend 

I eat it where ever I see it on the menu.

Now after lunch I soooooo hoped that no one is coming up the hill. Cars coming up the hill have the right a way so I was dreaded the though of me having to reverse backwards up this steep curved hill with stone walls either side that would have been a bit too nerve racking to say the least. 

Down … no other cars … one can breathe again.

 

So worth all the little heart starts, the views, lunch and the italian atmosphere in the little Osteria was just fabulous.

Il Sapore dela Luna - In House Meals

 Having a car has been great as we are able to pop up and down the Adriatic coast line as needed.

After visiting Doriano in Piobbico we went back down south again and this time to a agriturismo called il Sapore dela Luna still in the La Marcha district for 3 nights.

We found this place on line and thought what a great place to land but as we had needed to be with Doriano over a weekend we had to do a little of back tracking and oh so pleased we did.

Again perched high on a hill with wonderful views back to the Adriatic sea, the hills and valley covered with a patchwork of olive groves, vineyards and with a great pool!

As it is stinking hot and humid so we find ourselves there in the afternoons have cool beverages or two until dinner time … Italian diner time that is … about 9pm 

Looking up to the ancient town of Monteprandone which is on the list of places to visit over the next few days.

Our room is in the middle 2 windows on top floor over looking the restaurant.

View from our room later in the night with the fairy light a blaze of colour.

We dined under one of the big olive trees

Shared what they called an antipasto on the first night which was more like a big plate of veggie, which we were very happy to see as vegetable have been a bit scarce on some of the menus of late.

So needless to say we didn't get to a second course that night.

Night 2 we shared the 

Tortino di Melanzana dello Chef

Chef’s aubergine pie

as we weren't sure how BIG a “pie” it might be! so relieved it was small, so a nice little starter to have with a white wine that was made in house.

Sandy loved it so much that she had it again on the last night.

 The taste was the same rich tomato passata and basil with the creamiest and soft eggplant slices to form a “pie” but the plating was hmmmm 

a bit too Jackson Pollock.

Then as I loved the cabbage and beans off the Antipasto plate from the other night I decided to order a piccolo “small” plate as my starter on the last night and lets just say, again 

lost in translation!