So today was an early start to head towards our stop over destination on the way to Rimini. Now we chose the town of Ascoli Piceno purely because it was at the half way point on the journey, the hostel looked ok and it was a town in bold on the road map.......
Upon arrival 'Stella' Sat Nav tried driving us through a church to get to our destination so we turned around where possible, parked and went for a wander...... Once again I would like to say it was 'research' but it was purely luck we had miraculously stumbled into the most beautiful town holding the worlds stuffed Olive Festival... Now this is a town to 'see and die'
Previously Louise and I had written a list of Italian foods to be eaten and it had included the stuffed olives fried in breadcrumbs ( saw a fab Rick Stein programme once and always been intrigued). The town piazza outside the cathedral had kitchens set up and various outlets cooked and sold the stuffed olives with or without 'la creme' and 2 other dishes of speciality..... We purchased our 12euro tasting menu ticket and headed for the stalls it was lunchtime after all. We choose the olives with creme and gnocchi stuffed with ricotta and spinach (see pics) OMG