Sunday 7th June 2026. Ascoli Piceno, Le Marche, Italy
Coming down from the mountains was a hairy but beautiful ride through wooded forests of trees that had to grow an amazing height just to get some light.
As the heat intensified we were sort of wishing we’d stayed in the mountains 
. The landscape changed too, it was now flat and mostly agricultural, interspersed with a few vineyards.
At one point there was no natural indication that we were in another country, it was so similar to the hills and lanes of Devon.
We were heading for Ascoli Piceno, the birth place of the stuffed and deep fried olive. As lovers of Olives we just had to try them 
.
The town is also famous for the travertine stone used in the buildings and paving. Very pretty.
With temperatures in the high 20’s we sat outside the van in the designated van stop until it was cool enough for a wander with Meg. Positioned a few minutes walk from the old town, it didn’t take us long to find it.
All the while we were sat by the van in the shade we could hear chanting. Parker checked the web and the local Ascoli team was playing the 2nd leg of a play-off match for promotion to Serie B.
The stadium was quite far away but on a quiet Sunday afternoon the sound travelled well .
Walking into town we saw a lot of the fans who didn’t make the game, little’uns and big’uns in the black and white strip of Ascoli.
Arriving in the Cathedral square we were disappointed to see a lot of scaffolding and hoarding blocking our view of the beautiful architecture. What little we could see was lovely.
There were a few bars and restaurants with tv screens up and loads of customers sat watching the game.
Finding a quieter bar we sat for a drink and ordered a mixed plate of Ascolanas – the stuffed olives – and other fried veg including artichoke, mushrooms and brocolli. It was very nice but too much for us as a snack so we had the rest bagged up to eat later.
Ascolanas are advertised everywhere so there’s no shortage of supply . Apparently it all began in the local restaurant Anisetta Meletti, a pretty pink building, once again busy with football fans.
I’m not sure how we manage to do it, but we seem to turn up to places just when a celebration is about to kick off. And this is exactly what happened here!
Walking into another square just as Ascoli scored, set the locals cheering, clapping and banging tables. Yes, you guessed it, our noise sensitive dog tried to do a runner. She couldn’t go far so I tucked her between my legs until the noise died down.
We made a hasty exit before they scored again.
That was that then, as far as Meg was concerned, just about happy enough to walk the back lanes and then back to the van. That wasn’t the end of the noise though because Ascoli won. The celebrations included beeping horns, shouts of joy, chanting and loads of fireworks.
At least Meg was in her safe place, tucked up in her bed in the van. Gareth went in to check on her and burst out laughing. I had put my neck/headscarf around her head, tucking her ears down – he said she looked like Ena Sharples, like me, she didn’t care as it bought her some comfort, And, if you ask me she was cutting a great look 
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