Caffè Meletti in Ascoli Piceno

I was excited to visit Ascoli Piceno because I wanted to eat olive ascolane at the source. But I soon learned about this beautiful bar in the center of town, Caffè Meletti, which is known for its anisette.

Anisetta Meletti, first distilled in 1870, predates most other Italian liqueurs. It is customary to drink Meletti with three espresso beans or “mosche” (flies).

This is the first post in my #30dayphotochallenge for spring. Today’s topic was “cafe.”

If you want to play along, here’s the list of topics:

View this post on Instagram

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” —Pablo Picasso I’ve been too nervous to post this photo challenge. I didn’t want to seem too frivolous. And I wasn’t sure how well I would follow my own directions. But today, after hearing about the loss of a family friend in Italy, it felt like the right time to find something good to focus on. I’m going to hashtag my posts with #italogram and #30dayphotochallenge. Of course, you can feel free to play along, too. Start anytime. Finish anytime.

A post shared by Italofile (@italofileblog) on Mar 23, 2020 at 3:02am PDT

I am posting photos for the #30dayphotochallenge concurrently on Instagram and on the blog. It’s a way to refocus myself during this time of crisis — a daily reminder of all that I love about Italy. Hopefully, it will be a daily inspiration to readers, too.