Sabato

28 Luglio Pictures are of my little countryside and then Fabio, Aki, and Ola at the San Benedetto del Tronto beach.
I was asked today when is the best time to visit Italy and of course with school schedules, sometimes there isn't much choice, but I would tend to advise June, September-November or Spring as best for temperatures unless you are heading to the beach. This summer is probably a bit strange, but we are still hot and dry here, in the midst of a drought.
I first visited Italy in late October many years ago and was thrilled to find fresh pressed olive oil available in Tuscany. This year I expect the olive and grape harvest will be much earlier than usual because of the heat.
Today, finally we had breakfast requests for 9AM and after, so I could sleep a bit longer. 2 couples remain with a 3rd coming tonight and having dinner with us which will consist of antipasti like prosciutto and melon, bruschetta and maybe Judy's crostata which went over very well with my friends earlier this week and agnellotti which is a type of stuffed pasta with ricotta inside and a side dish and maybe one of my signature sorbets for dessert.
After dinner I think we will head to Notte Bianca at San Benedetto which is an all night festival practically with concerts in many of the piazze in town.
Every day there are festivals in the little towns around here; eg. at Offida now is a convention of political cartoonists, one of whom is staying with us, and an antique fair. At Grottomare is a festival of the local wines of the Marche, etc.
As always at Nascondiglio di Bacco there is an abundance of peace and quiet!
Ci sentiamo dopo. Dwight