Grand Hotel Passetto Ancona

... in Italy. I only got a tiny taste for the culture. I’ve seen almost none of the interesting landscape or met any curious people. And there’s so many great foods I didn’t get to try! So tonight we’re going out for a last supper. I am going to eat pasta in Italy! I don’t care how stereotypical that is.

All I can say is I hope Greece is a might bit warmer so we can get back on track with this travel. And I ...

Now, I am in Italy. In this moment, breathing Italian air, noticing that I have, unbeknownst to me, started pretending that I understand Italian. I read the street signs, I read the placks that are coincidentally placed in front of me. Now, don't confuse read, with comprehead. I found a small City Museum that I persued, and the lady at the counter was kind enough to loan me a guide book that was in Italian on one side and ...

... overtakes you on bends and also crosses onto your side of the road going around the sharp bends on steep mountain roads.. including massive trucks. It was enough to keep anyone awake. We were heading for Elba but it seemed like a long drive. Tricked myself though but first aiming for Lake Tramiseno, then siena and then before we knew it we were at Piombino and about to board the ferry to Elba Island...

... the pebble beachy bits to the pier. To be honest, it was hot not in the breeze and we could have happily hopped back on the bus half an hour earlier.
Back on the bus there was a 2 hour drive to Patras, I pulled out the 2nd of the Cassandra Clare books "City of Ashes" that I borrowed from Anita..thing were going well until the wonderful greek airconditioning started to leak from most of the vents of the whole bus, in dribs and drabs, some more ...

Off to the beach today, that is pretty much all there is to do in Ancona. Beautiful day though. 30min bus ride to get to the beach. The water was amazing, bright blue with white pebbles.

Got a little burnt! Everyone at the beach was so tanned!!!! even the babies!!!

... towards the pumps. I did check later and this bow was not a full Renaissance reverence, thankfully. But such olde worlde courtesy did the trick and the young lady cheerfully guided us through the procedure (which we had, it turned out, worked out correctly).

The dual carriageway was succeeded by the east coast motorway and soon we were in Ancona. Fears about check-in proved groundless - it all ran very smoothly and the only problem ...

... and hot but fine inside the ferry with aircon. We planned to sleep in the saloon above the bar but at 10pm as we were settling into our chairs the DISCO started. Creepy men lusting after backpacker girls and doof doof music meant no sleep even with earplugs till the music stopped at 3am on the dot. Yay no wind down music just suddenly stopped. Blearily we got minimal sleep.

... to the floor! Then Chris woke me up at 4,50am and that really is a first. there's no sensible life from him before 9am, usually. He was panicking that the boat had stopped! For some reason they pull in at 5am but can't dock until 7am. So we went up on deck to watch the sunrise which was fantastic.

... clubs, and our house have a view down over it all. I'll be stuck here for another 2 months before we are supposed to head over to the islands of Croatia and Greece. After that it will pobably continue to Sardinia, Corsica, and finally Monaco with shorter trips to Saint Tropez during the summer. Nothing is set yet and I guess it's all ...

... the ticket line. Nonetheless, we eventually found seats in the lounge and restaurant away from the noise below deck, as we have become quite good at finding the best seats on an overnight ferry. After the Italians ate dinner and left the dining room, the backpackers took over and made beds out of the booths, that is until breakfast was served, when the Italians returned to eat again. We got off the ship in Ancona shortly after day break, and it was still raining. I was wet ...