It is so beautiful, calm, quiet and really rural here at Locanda delle Valle Nuova. When we woke up we realized the weather would not be picture perfect. After a great breakfast—including a bowl of just picked strawberries and and little preserved plums we decided to go to Urbania. Not Urbino but Urbania which is a small town known for ceramics, about 20 minute drive from here.
Unlucky for us,a lot of shops are closed on Mondays. We did have a nice walk about and looked into the 2 open ceramics shops. My word for Urbania would be quaint. They have these old porticos on a few of the streets in the old center:

We went into the church which was really nice–interior much fuller than the modest exterior. The floor was a striking mosaic:

On our way back to the car we walked through the little park and I noticed the flag at half mast for the earthquake victims:

We drove around in the drizzle and finally came back to the room. Most of the afternoon, it rained so we just rested and read.
Dinner was a special experience. Giulia and her mom were cooking for us. (They offer this on Friday and Monday nights) We met Palma and Brad in the “lobby/library” area
and Brad had a nice bottle of sparkling wine from Trento. Palma brought glasses of it into the kitchen and we all toasted together. Giulia’s dad came out and talked to us for a while in his intentionally slow Italian. He is likeable and charming.
The meal was wonderful. We started with a platter of cheeses and salamis with fresh crecsia, home made bread, green tomato chutney and a tiny little bowl of saba(?) a wine syrup.
We talked and ate and Giulia came out of the kitchen telling us we had to come outside. There was a really spectacular sunset! I love it when the kitchen stops to insist the guests see the sunset!

Giulia’s mom called us back inside saying the asparagus risotto would wait no longer. It was yummy! Next we had a bollito misto platter–chicken, beef, sausage and tongue–all from their farm, boiled together with a wonderful coarse salt. With the meats they served homemade zucchini pickles, fig mostarda, eggplant and “homemade from scratch” ketchup. It was a real feast. The wine and conversation flowed. The dessert was a simple and simply perfect pannacotta with a sour cherry syrup.
It was really a treat to have a home cooked meal in such a comfortable setting and with our wonderful friends. We were for sure “contenti.”