Fermo in October

Fermo

After a month in Puglia, ending with a few days in our favourite city – Trani - it’s time to go home. It’s a Saturday so an ideal day for travelling north at the end of October, a beautiful sunny day and not much traffic. We take a break for some lunch at the Ikea near Chieti/Pescara which is just a couple of minutes from the motorway exit and arrive in Fermo at 3pm. I’ve found a new entry for our night there. It’s on the outskirts of the historical centre of Fermo and has got parking and opened just a few months before. The building is called a ‘Liberty Villa’ which is interesting because from the outside you would not suspect it as having such pretentions. Anyway, it has been rebuilt and furnished with style inside and the room is attractive. Unfortunately, it also smells strongly of cigarette smoke even though it’s supposed to be non-smoking. I grumble a bit and open all the windows to change air and then we go out to explore Fermo.

I have vague memories of Fermo, having spent the summer in Porto San Giorgio 40 years (!) ago. I remember a warm-brick historical centre bustling with life. On this rather damp October afternoon Fermo is much quieter than I remembered. It’s also very vertical with steep narrow streets which make me pleased I had decided to find accommodation outside the centre. We find our way up to the top where there is the cathedral Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta. The façade has attractive carvings and the interior has enough trompe d’oeil, frescoes and art to make it a pleasant place to spend half an hour. From the top there’s a good view over the town as far as the coast.

We walk down to see the rest of the historical centre. There are several museums and a card which gives discount access if you visit them all, but we decide against it. We are tired from the journey and don’t think we would do it justice. The main square Piazza del Popolo, with Palazzo dei Priori, is scenographic thanks to the unusual shape and the porticoes but is very very peaceful even though it’s Saturday afternoon. Fermo feels a little abandoned compared to my memories. Palazzo dei Priori houses the art museum with library and the famous globe -mappamondo, so we decide it would be worth a future visit. 

There are a couple of nearby streets with a few shops. It’s starting to feel damp and cold after the temperatures in Puglia but none of the bars in the main square inspire. We take refuge in a nice cafè ‘Vizi e Sfizi’ which discounts cakes and focaccia in the afternoon. With a selection of each, and coffee, in the warm, we start to feel better. We wander a little more and the head down back to the B&B. They’ve turned the heating on and it’s warm and snug although the stale cigarette smell is still lingering. 

We are too tired to go out in search of food. We have leftovers from Puglia and some pizzette and picnic in our room before an early night. The next morning we are up early and after a breakfast based on cakes more suitable for afternoon tea and a luke-warm mini-cappuccino, it’s time to head for home. Fermo is nice, but perhaps we are always a little melancholic on our way home from Puglia, and Fermo matched our mood.