<p>We've visited Italy numerous times but once we found Le Marche we have made sure that we returned; lesser known than its central Italian neighbours Tuscany and Umbria, it is equally beautiful, less costly and full of historical treasures.</p> <p>Situated on the West of Italy on adriatic coast its about 100km wide and 200km and is bordered by the impressive Sibillini Mountains on the West- there is a national park protecting these and the hiking, cycling, flora and fauna are truly spectacular. We parascended from the mountains on one day with <a href="http://www.limanhouse.com">www.limanhouse.com</a> and the experience was absolutely awesome.</p> <p>Inland there are numerous river valleys that run West from the mountains to the sea in the East, in between is a tapestry of agricultural land spread across rolling hills, hundreds of walled medieval villages, lakes, waterfalls and well heeled towns.</p> <p>We found the people of Le Marche to be very friendly and the communities are very tight nit, being based on the traditional agricultural way of life, many are also artisans and Marche is also home to many clothing and shoe manufacturers and stylish top end furniture.</p> <p>The food is great, although a little less so if you are a veggie- highlights were fried fish on market day, olive ascolana (big stuffed olives filled with spiced meat, coated in breadcrumbs and coated), the olive oils, the salamis and meats, porchetta (baked suckling pig stuffed with wild fennel).</p> <p>The wines were a revelation and most cantinas will be happy to accomodate you for a tasting, favourite wines were full bodied Rosso Conero from the lovely coastal national park near Ancona, Verdicchio from Matellica and some surpisingly good unheard of grapes like Lacrima di Moro D'alba (a perfumed red) and Pecorino (a light floral white).</p> <p>On our last trip we stayed at a lovely converted farmhouse&nbsp; <a href="http://www.villasanraffaello.com">www.villasanraffaello.com</a> and were treated to a great apartment, big pool and were able to pick our own vegetables.</p> <p>We also had fun on a truffle hunting day with <a href="http://www.lemarcheholiday.net">www.lemarcheholiday.net</a> where we hunted truffles with dogs and then watched them being cooked and had a 4 course meal with wine tasting and olive oil tasting. It was a real blast and great value at 90Euro a head.</p> JimDoors 2009-04-30T09:10:18Z U 7164 800 Article active 2010-02-09T15:37:26Z 27375