On SP 44 (and going slow)

Today we drove SP 44, from Gabicce to Pesaro. That’s SP for Strada Provinciale, a seaside back road in the Marche. Driving from point A to point B, it’s 16 kilometers through Parco Naturale San Bartolo. No stoplights, no stop signs. Go slow.

You take your time because this stretch of road, the locals call it “the panoramica,” crosses the hills above the Adriatic between the two beach towns, and in any season it’s gorgeous. SP 44 is a popular route for those who ride bicycles and motorcycles. Two lanes, no center line. Driving it, you’ll want to stop for views of the Adriatic. Looking inland you’ll see hills and valleys and vineyards. At certain elevated curves, there’s Gradara castle in the distance. Today, rain and fog. It didn’t matter.

Along the way you pass Baia di Vallugola, Casteldimezzo, Fiorenzuola di Forcara, and Santa Marina. Half way through, there’s a hike they call the top of the world.

There are muliple points where you can stop and get out of the car. At the Baia you’re right next to the sea.  When you come to the terraced hillside of Fattoria Mancini, time permitting you can stop for wine tasting. The locals will go to Mancini in the evening to see the sun set over the Adriatic. (It’s a geographic oddity: you are looking west over the Adriatic, which should be to the east, but given the bend and outcropping of land, there’s the sun, off there in the west, sinking into the Adriatic.) At Fiorenzuola you can have coffee or a glass of wine at Bar Valbruna. On foot you can pass through the tunnel to the left of the Rupe restaurant and walk all the way down the sea and back.  Take your legs. You’ll need them.

Today at noon we stopped at Gennaro for lunch. On our table: local clams in white wine, parsley, and olive oil; stewed soft shell crab in a tomato sauce; shrimp and arugula, salmon carpaccio with balsamic and orange slice; swordfish carpaccio with diced broccolini, poached merluzzo with tomato and onion, calamari salad with diced tomato and garlic. Those were appetizers.

Then came a seafood risotto (that I forgot to photograph, such was my mission with a fork in hand). To top it all off, a couple skewers of seppia. There’s nothing like a lunch like this. There was a table of priests next us, their collars loosened.  

Continuing south from Gennaro at Santa Marina, you pass Gibas, another popular stop for a view of the sea, a glass of wine, and, if the time is right, a bite to eat.  

You will eventually, curve after curve after curve, arrive in Pesaro.  There’s a lot to see there.

  

da Gennaro. Via Santa Marina Alta, 30/1, 61100 Pesaro PU, Phone: 39 0721 27321
Gibas. Str. Panoramica Adriatica, 61121 Pesaro PU. Phone 39 0721 405344
Ristorante Falco. Str. della Vallugola, 61121 Gabicce Mare PU. Phone: 39 0721 208403
Fattoria Mancini. Strada delle Rive di Fiorenzuola, Fiorenzuola di Focara, 61121 Pesaro PU. Phone 39 072151828.