Sibillini Mountains 21-28 September 2013

About seven years ago John Seavers and Don Banning, who are based in Edinburgh, bought an old farmhouse (“La Cascina”) in the little-known Marche region of Italy. They have transformed it into a fantastic holiday home, which provides ample accommodation, both for their own use and for self-catering guests. This year, for the first time, they decided to provide an all-inclusive walking holiday, which was advertised in this magazine.

The eight guests, all from GOC, were taking a gamble in committing themselves to a whole week in this out of the way place with hosts they had never met before, but the accommodation, food, organisation and above all, hospitality, could not have been better.

Don, who is a wonderful cook, and his lovely friend Laura, who had come over from Scotland, catered for our every need in terms of food and drink. The standard of the cuisine went far beyond expectations and included a different home-made cake every day. Their efforts on our behalf were tireless and they got time off on only two evenings. On the first we visited a local farmhouse restaurant (La Conca at Ceresola), where our host Mirela provided an amazing seven course meal with wine for only 25 euros each. Later in the week we had delicious pizza from Force, the local village.

John, who is a GOC member, organised the daytime activities, which were brilliant. They included walks into the famous Gole dell’Infernaccio (Hell’s Gorge) and to the summit of Monte Vettore, which at 2476 metres is the highest mountain in the region. He enlisted the support of Jeff, a qualified mountain leader, who moved to the area three years ago. As well as making sure we were safe on the mountains, Jeff entertained us with his unique sense of humour.

The highlight of the trip was a night hike to the top of Monte Sibilla led by Rob, another qualified mountaineer. Originally from the Netherlands, he now lives just a few miles from La Cascina. We set off on the hike at about three in the morning. Conditions were perfect as we climbed up to a spectacular ridge. There was an amazing view of the night sky with myriad stars, a three-quarter moon and occasional meteorites. As we approached the summit we could see a faint lightening of the sky to the east, then the colours changing from orange to deep violet as the sun rose over the distant Adriatic.

Rob has created an outdoor climbing wall in a scenic location in the grounds of his property, where he runs an award-winning campsite (Agricamp Picobello at Montèlparo). One morning we went there for an introductory session. This was hugely enjoyable, but challenging in the hot weather. Three hours of exertion left us exhausted, which gave us a good excuse to spend the rest of the day relaxing by the swimming pool back at base.

Another member of the team at La Cascina - Jake, the three-legged cocker spaniel - should not go unmentioned. Despite having lost a leg following a road accident two years ago, he had boundless energy, joining us on the mountain walks and making sure we were kept entertained when our human hosts were busy.   

At the end of the week we were very sorry to leave. After the resounding success of their new venture we sincerely hope that John and Don will make it a regular feature so that other GOC members can enjoy it and we can come back for more.

Report and photos by Chris Loy

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