Totally stuffed from lunch – that Crescia bread was the best! – we hit the Tower entrance to confirm a time for our afternoon visit, then walk back to the apartment – loving all the different city architecture – for a quick rest until 2:30 when the tower reopens.
The same lady we asked about timing arrives promptly, waves to us and opens up the little door in the corner of the building (the city theater actually) and ushers us into and up the narrow staircase to the tower ticket desk. Paid for and ready, we begin our ascent of 200+ foot tower with a matching number of stairs! We pause a bit at the landing displaying the old clockworks, then continue our way up the narrow metal stairs to the very top of the tower. Our reward? Incredible sweeping 360-degree views of Macerata and the surrounding territory of Marche. Phenomenal.
In addition to the bells at the top and the traditional hourly clock, the tower also has a fascinating astronomical clock. Originally created in 1569, the clock stopped working in 1799 due to damage from the French occupation and was dismantled in 1882. This clock is a reconstruction dating from 2015, but no less fascinating. The clock has various discs depicting different stages of the moon, the planets, the stars and constellations, as well as the sun. All pointing to the different phases and views of the skies. Truly and amazing piece of work, considering it was originally built in the 16thC! On the platform where the mechanism is kept, there is a little video played explaining all the different movements – all in Italian, but nice to watch. From here we can also see the figurines that come out at noon and 6 in line with the traditional clock. (We missed just missed the noon performance with our porchetta lunch – bummer!)
A nice afternoon of exploration. Now it is back to the apartment for a while before returning right back here for our dinner at Dinner at Centrale Macerata, a restaurant recommended by Carlos our host. We had booked ahead (of course – not going there again) and asked for inside seating. The weather looks like rain, plus we had read that the rooms inside the restaurant were decorated beautifully. We figured, why not? Good move too – even though the hostess thought we were nuts – and we were only 2 of 5 people inside – one guy being a local watching the futbol match – because the outside area was packed and NOISY. Oh, and totally cigarette-smoky.
Inside was cozy, if not slow service (the poor wait staff had to run from our rooms all the way across the piazza to the restaurant kitchen, which was located near the outdoor dining. Oops! We sort of felt badly, but….), and what turned out to be an excellent meal. We started with an antipasti of Il Padellino, the description of which was “with ricotta cheese, candied lamb with lime, zucchini with thyme, speck, toasted almonds and parsley powder. Sounded weirdly different, and we figured, what the heck, let’s try it. Oh. Tactical error! Not because it wasn’t good, it was amazing. It was because the dish was basically a huge sandwich! Ay yi yi. We both ordered mains too – mine Vincisgrassi (the local lasagna) and Ed pappardelle al chinghiale – of course! We really didn’t want a big meal…oops. But oh, everything was so good. And fortunately the pasta dishes were not that huge at all. While we were totally stuffed, it was still a wonderful meal eaten in the quiet of the frescoes ceilinged dining room. As we were sitting inside, it did indeed start to rain – pour actually – which made our choice even better. And after waiting for the poor waiter to come back so we could pay, we walked out through the outdoor seating area which was still totally noisy and smoky and really appreciated our inside booking.
Back at the apartment, we once again just sat and enjoyed the sunset show the floor to ceiling windows presented, watched a few TV shows, then hit the bed to prepare for the first of our 2 long drives on the loop – we are off to Corato.
Andiamo 