Snapped: The Finale from Le Marche

Before this site turns into a photo blog, some random pictures from Le Marche. I challenge you: take a car, drive for 15 minutes in Le Marche, and you will find a treasure.

We got lost there on purpose: A small town called "Force", which had no decent restaurant but breathtaking views


We got lost there once. I think this was near Montecchio


We got lost there on purpose. Near Monti Sibillini National Parc.

We did not get lost here. We looked for it and actually found it: Lago di Fiastra


Force. As the town did not feature a restaurant, we got lost looking for one in the next town.


We did not get lost here. We saw a town on a hill, and said "Let's have dinner there". It took us two days to actually find the road to the town: Ripatransone.
It think.


Along the road to Lake Fiastra. We got lost on the way back, though.

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Snapped: A French Bulldog in Italy

Black as the devil, snors like a drunken sailor with a major sinus problem, ugly as the night and is addressed as "Ciao bello!" by most Italian women we cross in the streets.

"H", short for "Hercules", our two year old French Bulldog is generally considered to be "cute". I call him "Mr Ugly", or "Mr Pea". The kids hug him like a baby. Tine tolerates his snorring more than mine. He loves to be around us, cries like a baby when left alone in the house, and proud like a peacock (or something), when he takes a walk with us.
He is just a few inches tall, but has an attitude of a Dobermann, and the macho-ism of a young Italian. He is stubborn like a donkey, can play "pull my toy" for hours, jump on his four legs while turning on his own axis and still be clumpsy as a pup taking its first steps, can run on two legs and knows no fear. He often reminds me more of a cat than of a dog.

In short, "H", is part of our family. And he came with us to Italy.

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How is news made?

A video guide for TV reporters on how to make news reports.

With thanks to Jan for the tip! :-))

More satire on The Road

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Snapped: Sunset in Marche

An inspiring sunset in Marche

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Snapped: Views from Marche

This year, we went for a week to Marche, in the east of central Italy. A Friend recommended Marche as "the undiscovered Tuscany", a stretch of rolling hills between the Apennine mountains and the Adriatic coast.

The fields on the hills were less spacious than in Tuscany, but no less appealing: condensed fields of olive trees, vineyards, wheat and sunflowers dotted for as far as the eye can see.

Here are some views taken from the house we stayed in.

Our garden by sunrise


At sunrise, you can see the silhouette of Gran Sasso, the master of the central Apennines


There is some magic in seeing the last stretches of the Apennines fading out into rolling hills


The same view with the olive trees right next to our house


A view to the South of our house


A view to the next farmhouse, with bougainvillea from our garden


The next village from between the trees


The neighbour's vineyards and olive trees, a typical sight in Marche


In many places in the world, people build houses in the valleys, where they are more protected. In Marche, houses and villages are built on top of the hills


A typical view of Marche: small fields, one next to the other.


Olive trees, vine yards, olive trees, vine yards, olive trees,...

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Snapped: Sunflowers in Le Marche

Last year, I published a series of sunflower shots from Tuscany. Here is a followup from Le Marche, on the Italian east coast.

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Snapped: Sunset near Perugia

Impressions from a sunset near Perugia, Center Italy.

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Snapped: Orbetello

Many people come to Rome, and stay in the city. They miss quite a few stunning sights in the area, though.

About two hours drive from the center for Rome, you'll find the peninsula of Orbetello, which I featured in some posts before. Orbetello gives an amazing view towards the mainland, and the islands of Elba and Giglio.

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Snapped: Lunch on the beach

It is sizzling hot here in Italy. The best place to get a refreshing breeze is... on the beach.

We love to just drive off, and see where we end up. This time, we got lost somewhere a 100 miles north of Rome, on the coast. We found a small stabilimento in what must have been the southern part of Tuscany.

"Stabilimenti" are the Italian version of "beach resorts". Some are just wooden shacks on the beach, nothing more than a bar which rent out beach chairs and parasols. Others are more luxurious settings with a swimming pool, renting surf boards or canoes... but always much lower key than in many other countries. And there are thousands of them.

All in the Italian tradition: if they offer food, you will not find hotdogs or hamburgers, but fresh sea food, salads, fruit.

Some pictures from lunch from a stabilimento we ended up in:

The setting...


A view from our spot.


The breeze.


The view from within the stabilimento offers different frames as if in a movie set.


Lana, 15 now...


And Hannah, turning 13!...

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Snapped: Dinner in Fiumicino

It is that time of the year: evenings on the beach!

There is a small shack on the beach in Fiumicino, near Rome. Nothing more than a wooden structure, few square meters of covered space, and a deck. But Stefano serves one of the best dinners around.

A typical Italian setting: low key, limited choices, but fresh. And in a idyllic setting, facing west, over the Mediterranean.

Dinner on the deck


A view of the sea through the restaurant.


A significant sign.


Sunset as we had aperitivo...

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Picture of the Day: The loo with the most exciting view

Just before leaving home, I found back a box with pictures, randomly mixed. I scanned some of them.

This one was taken in 1994, during our first expedition to Antarctica. I once wrote a couple of shortstories about the landing, "a day in paradise" and the departure on this remote island.

We set up camp on a glacier, a few hundred feet above the ocean with a 270 degree view of the ice bergs floating by.

Not much more than a wooden crate on its side with tarps tied on poles to protect it, it would probably still win the price of "The Loo with the World's Most Exciting View".

Apart from the fact that the outhouse was pretty exposed, so we never spent one second longer than we had too.. Question of preserving body parts.

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