Ascoli Piceno

 Rome landing 2.15pm .We at last gained the bus and a bottle of cool water. Thence  240 km north to the Adriatic that delivered us to our salubrious palazzo hotel a little after 7pm.

The irritations of a long days’ journey disappeared into a marvellous meal at a wonderful restaurant. The Tastes of Le Marche had begun.

Menus are probably boring but this first night we had

Appetiser of meat stuffed olives deep fried in grain batter.

1 red wild apple ravioli with marscapone walnut, Parmesan and Granny Smith fondant

2 slow cooked lamb  leg ,puréed courgettes crispy vegetables

3chocolate marscapone and cherries

Prosecco and 3 matching wines, all outstanding several  grape varieties new to me including a red dessert wine which may have included cherries.