The Road To the Beach!

Our neighborhood has been relatively quiet since we arrived. The majority of the stores, trattorie and services are closed. Handmade signs are posted in the windows, “Chiuso per Ferie – dal 15 Aug 09 al 01 Sept 09” (Closed for Break - from August 15 to September 1). We were surprised to find the newsstand on our street opened at 5:45 a.m. this morning a whole week early. Since we’re all still afflicted with the darn jetlag – my husband was awake and watched the whole set up process.

So we’re renting a car and taking off to visit family. To drive up the Via Salaria (also known as the S-4), the oldest, historically documented road out of Rome, is a drive through history itself. The Sabines tribe, who lived northeast of Rome, would mine salt from the marshes at the mouth of the Tiber River. With salt being essential to food preservation, the Via Salaria was born.

The Via Salaria runs north out of Rome, veering east to Rieti, reaching further north through the limestone and travertine rich Apennine Mountains to Ascoli Piceno, then east to the coast of the Adriatic Sea. 51 kilometers east from Rieti, is the town L’Aquila, which was ravaged this last spring by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake.

Many of the towns along the Via Salaria have been untouched by the negative effects of the world wars. The original layout of towns and cities have remained intact – their walls, streets and piazzas in the same location as they were planned and built, centuries ago.

The ancient architecture is easy to take for granted. Everywhere you look, centuries old buildings (containing government offices, apartments, businesses) still stand. The churches are authentic, with the majority not having been restored. Some artwork in the interiors of the churches are so dark with the grime of age, you can barely understand the scene on the canvas or make out the figures depicted. We feel very fortunate to be able to wander along the Via Salaria, off the beaten track, absorbing history.

We were surprised to see how green the countryside along the Via Salaria is! Rome is very dry and the land around Rome is scorched. We saw fields of corn and sunflowers the color of dirt. However, once we were out of the metropolitan area, it became greener and greener, much to our delight!

As luck would have it, all of our family is home this week. No vacanze! It seems like just about every Italian is basking in the sun on one of the many beaches surrounding this amazing country. And since our family lives close to San Benedetto (a lovely beach town) we will do like the locals do and head to the sandy shores of the Adriatic.

The meals shared with our family will be amazing, they always are, so look forward to future food posts!