Ours was the most amazing arrival in many years of renting apartments and cottages in Italy. After parking right next to the huge medieval palazzo we entered the hallway and the owner opened the gate to the upper floors. The perfectly restored, extremely broad stairs made us feel like a royal couple striding into their premises. A large statue of goddess Athena welcomes you after the first flight. Quite a few more to come, but the friendly owner carried the heaviest suitcases for us and we didn’t mind at all going back a few times for our numerous bags with food, wine and oil for the weekend. Another surprise awaited us when the doors to the apartment were opened for us: such enormous space, all light and airy, windows everywhere and beautifull, next to new furniture in the salotto and the dining room. Then: the first glance of the views that may well be the most attractive asset of this home. From the terrace on the piazza, the church and it’s tower, the town and it’s alleys, the valley towards the sea, the hills on the opposite site and (in the back) towards the Sibillini Mountains. These kept surprising us for the entire week to come, changing with the hours and the weather: even bad weather with racing dark clouds that provided a background worth a renaissance painting.
Then the apartment proved to include everything we could wish for, with it’s roomy and well provided kitchen, light and large bedrooms, brand new bathrooms, etc. And all of it shiny clean. It’s quite incredible, the love, the work (and the money!) the owner must have invested in this mega-project!
Weather allowing, the terrace is the place to spend most of the time at home, for sun bathing, reading and dining, enjoying those views endlessly.
But of course we spend time in the surroundings as well, Monte San Martino offering a wonderful location in this part of the Marche. You’ve got the lovely, clean and well equipped beaches on less than an hour driving. Some beach restaurants offer top seafood at very affordableprices.There are many interesting towns worth a visit within equal distance, like Fermo, Ascoli Piceno, Amandola, Montalto, Ripatransone and Macerata. Less known villages and hill towns each are worth a stroll for an hour or so. It’s also lovely walking country in the nearby valley and it’s surrounding hills, or for more ambitious hiking in the Sibillini. One week is hardly enough even though we had been in the area several times before.
We rate the Palazzo Urbani as the best accommodation we have ever stayed in (at an amazing reasonable rate!) and will certainly be back some time.
Grazie mille Pierino, not in the least for recuperating and returning the drivers licence I unfortunately left behind in Amandola!