Italy & Greece Tour Part VII: Ancona
My Journey: Ancona
4/2/2023 In Route to Ancona
In the morning, we were back on the bus on the way to Ancona to where we would leave the bus behind and take a ferry to Greece. We started the day knowing the ferry was behind schedule.
Pomposa Abbey
We stopped for a quick restroom break and some time to visit the Pomposa Abbey and its surrounding wood art sculptures. I picked up a new wolf t shirt from the gift shop that was at the neighboring rest area and a cappuccino.
Pomposa Abbey
The abbey provided a nice break from the bus and with the ferry being delayed we had time to kill.
You never knew what you would find in a toilet. While the hotels were nicely appointed with a bidet and what not, the public toilets may or may not have a seat and may or may not have a bowl.
Classe
Our next stop was for lunch. This was one of the more disappointing meals in Italy. The lasagna was runny and the noodles were over cooked. Even though this meal was not included in the tour we had no choice what to order and no other restaurants nearby.
The restaurant was next to the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe. Here, too, there were sculptures to enjoy. It was hard to get a good picture of the church due to the surrounding trees.
Parco Papa Giovanni Paolo II
And back on the bus where we learned that the ferry was likely going to be very delayed and, according to our tour guide, that the crew would be “as friendly as a finger in the eye” and that the food struggle might be real on the ferry. We had one more restroom break and every one on the bus stocked up on junk food.
Ancona
As we came into Ancona, we could enjoy the coastline and the city scape.
However, our first hour or so was spent waiting on our ferry tickets and then making our way to the port. The ferry was not even here yet so we had hours to spend before we would board. Dez and I left his parents in the terminal and we set off to climb to the upper town.
Cattedrale di San Ciriaco and Chiesa dei SS. Pellegrino e Teresa
It was a lot of steps to the top. Fortunately, we found an elevator to take us half way up.
The view was spectacular.
Port of Ancona
We walked around the Cattedrale and enjoyed the architecture, but to be honest, the best thing here is the view of the port.
We then headed back down using the elevator to descend as well.
City Scape
As we made our way back down, we stopped a few times to take in the view.
With time to spare, we walked along the port side road to see what we could see and maybe we would make it to the fort. We also had our eye out for dinner locations but just did not find any thing we wanted. We also could not make it to the fort as the traffic got progressively busy and the road narrower. Also, Italians drive like they are a James Bond movie.
As we got back to the terminal, it was time to begin the process of boarding.
Sunset over Port
The boarding process took a long time and while we waited our turn, Dez’s dad counted 75 trucks off-loading. By the time we got on board, I felt exhausted and my allergies and sinuses were hitting a crescendo.
Tips and Lessons Learned:
Greeks do not use butter for their bread.