Le Marche Delights

“Making Tracks in Le Marche” (Nov. 12) brought back many happy memories of our stay in Ascoli Piceno. My husband and I were delighted to leave the hustle and bustle of tourist-inundated Rome and find the real Italy in Le Marche. My husband, who is in his 70s, did not find the driving from Rome to Le Marche difficult.

Everyone we came in contact with treated us royally. This was especially true of my relatives, Francesca and Franco Buttafuoco, who accompanied us to Piano, high in the Apennines, where my father was born. What a thrill to see the stone house, built in 1710, that was my father’s first home.

And I will never forget the early evenings when we joined the Ascoli Picenins in the centuries-old tradition of strolling around the Piazza del Popolo. The young people checked one another out, and the older residents chatted.

One need not go to Rome or Florence to experience Italy. There in Le Marche, one has it all.

FRANCES RICCIARDI

SMITHANA

Buena Park