Casa San Ruffino

In Italy, Marche has its own magic; few places capture this magic like Casa San Ruffino and their proprietors Claire and Ray Gorman. Marache's magic lies in a beauty, tranquility, and intimacy with nature that, almost paradoxically, and this is the magic, generates a sense of excitement and romance about living. The casa created by Ray and Claire conveys all of this, due to an intelligence and spirit of generosity that is nothing less than a precious metal for anyone who travels (I am of Italian descent and visit Italy almost yearly). The Casa's location makes it a breeze to visit the hilltop towns, beaches, and Sibillini mountains (the hiking is wonderful as is the lake). There own story is fascinating, and explains the extra measure of enthusiasm that goes beyond their natural joy and ease at dealing with people. After a decade of working for financial institutions in the City of London, they summoned the energy and courage to open a bed and breakfast -- in short, to live life there way. With only four rooms, they attend to their guests in a way that is a blessed marriage between Italian civility and love of life and English attention to detail, as exemplified by the wonderful swimming pool with breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside, a sophisticated heating/air conditioning system, king-sized beds whose extraordinary comfort seems to reflect and amplify the transquility of the environs, and the great directions they have printed out to reach every imaginable location from the wineries to the Armani and Prada outlets. (It also goes without saying that their fluency in English and Italian is great for non-Italian speakers). Claire and Ray also seem to have not only identified every restaurant in the area where they serve the special and distinctive fare of Le Marche, but the proprietors, in great part, because Le Marche is not a tourist mecca, go out of their way to make wonderful meals for the guests of Casa San Ruffino (meals, by the way, that are extraordinarly inexpensive by Roman and Tuscan standards). To visit Le Marche is a revelation, to discover a different type of Italian magic, and there is no better place that I have discovered to do this than Casa San Ruffino.