Hotel Monteconero Ancona

... country or towards the north. Seems as though as soon as we passed the 5000km mark we haven’t gone anywhere except from ferry ports to train stations. I really want to see and explore, but I feel I’m fighting a losing battle. If we do head out, we’re just going to be miserable and not enjoy ourselves. What’s the point in that?

So I’m officially in mourning now. We’ve missed so much that I wanted to ...

... babies, and men stabbing each other, and the bloodshed is just worrisome!
Only I think, two people in this world can condone Mass Murder, the Pope (at the time) and maybe President Bush....(oops)

I cannot choose this church because if I do I feel like I will close off my ability to See.

Heavy ladden sorry. Much more bright happy tunes to come!
Farewell all, hope you are all cozy!

Benita

Arrived early in the morning and it took us forever to get off the boat. No kind of organisation at all and then we had to queue for an age to go thru customs in the van, but then we were on our way. I was driving and got my first taste of Italian traffic... oh my god. It was crazy and we werent really sure where we were going and neither was Harriet our GPS. I love how everyone just pulls out wherever they ...

... I think. It's kinda hard to tell if I was asleep or not as I had my music going..but either way I managed a doze/nap. The bus wasn't particularly smooth but we were all relatively happy flopping around attempting to sleep.
So 2 hours later we were pulling up to old Delphi and the ruins, where Apollo answered questions through oracles and had his worshippers. The ruins were in terraces, the stadium was the on the 5th terrace which was unable to ...

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!!!

Our plan to get up early was a success; I even managed to grab a shower amongst the clickety-click insect wildlife, and we were off at a quarter to eight having bade a good day to Mrs Campsite and her man who does.

The first stage towards Ancona was another scaling of mighty lumps of rock. We gasped incredulously as the road continued to turn up and up and up in a quite relentless fashion. The view once over the pass was spectacular, a ...

... wholesome people. We were on the same little train but never met and when we alighted at the port station, there were only 3 of us but we did not get acquainted until later. I was ahead because I was in the front cabin and they were trailing behind. I got to the deserted ferry terminal first, only to be directed by the sign to take a bus to the new check-in counter a few km away. It was at the bus-stop when I saw them having trouble locating the bus-stop. Out of the blue, I just ...

We landed in Ancona early that morning so we made for Rome. Heading across the country made for an interesting drive. Some really high mountains in which the road weaved along the bottom or just cut straight through with tunnels. Some of the villages were built in the strangest of places, hang of the edge of cliffs over the road. but a class drive all the same.

... the map. This made the city very easy to navigate and very educational, with plenty of Roman ruins and churches to see. That, along with the fabulous sunny weather, made it a enjoyable day. With the hikes up hills around the old city, we were comfortable wearing t-shirts. Before we got on the boat we got our first taste of "pizza by the gram", the various shops that sell pieces of sheet pizza by weight. Not only is this the cheapest ...

... being used by boaty people as a kind of exclusive beach. It wasn't long before we cruised out of the lagoon, a flotilla of small boats following in our wake - making use of the drag caused by the huge ferry to ease their passage into the Adriatic.

The sun soon set, casting an orange line along the sea from the horizon to our ship. People again lined up for photographs. Our fellow passengers were mostly Yugoslavs and an assortment of eastern Europeans. This was a surprise as ...