Category: Italy

Locals say that it’s busier than usual for this time of year.  We’re doing our best to skirt around the crowds to see the sights we want to visit.

A worker was pressure washing the figures in the fountain today so the water is turned off.  It looks like a major task to clean all of the statues!  Note the the red dot in the photo below…he’s the guy with the red hard hat and the pressure hose.  You can see the difference in the clean vs. not yet cleaned part.

The Pantheon was jam-packed as well so we made our way through the crowd and moved on.

We feel fortunate that we’ve visited these sites in the past so we’re not disappointed that it’s difficult to get inside.  The Vatican was also busy and that’s probably not unusual any time of year.

Not so crowded on a Monday morning was the La Rinascente Department Store.  They are ready for the holidays!

We explore in the morning, rest a bit in the afternoon (it’s been hot) and then head out again in the late afternoon when it’s cooler. Today we walked to the Monti neighborhood behind the Imperial Forums.  It’s become a fun place for restaurants and some of the bars host the aperitivo “Happy Hour” and serve some simple snacks with a drink.  It is a nice way to have a light meal after too many nights of heavy pasta dishes.

There are some fun shops in the neighborhood as well.

By the time we walked back to our hotel near Campo de’ Fiori it was dark.  On the way, we stopped by the Colosseum to see it and parts of the Forum lighted.  There is construction work there too so it’s cluttered now with equipment.  Seeing it at night though, was just right!

So yes, Rome is crazy-busy but fun and exciting as well!

We’ve spent quite a lot of time admiring the facade of the Cathedral in Orvieto from the outside;

but yesterday we bought tickets to go inside.  We were fortunate enough to arrive at the beginning of a beautiful wedding ceremony.

We stayed for the entire ceremony to hear the ritual mass, glorious organ music, violinist playing music from The Mission by Morricone, and to experience the beauty of it all in this spectacular setting.

Orvieto is an easy town to enjoy!  We’ve wandered a lot, eaten truffles, porchetta, and gelato.  Now we’re on to Rome.  The train leaves soon and we’re off!

Ciao!

The train trip from Ancona to Orvieto took about 4 hours with one train change in Orte.  It was an easy trip as the train wasn’t too crowded.   It was nice to arrive in a familiar city – we hopped off the train, crossed the street, bought tickets for the funicular and up we went!

Our 1.30€ funicular ticket also got us a bus ride to the city center and our hotel, Hotel Duomo was a short walk away.

Orvieto is a hill town with a very long history – early on, it became one of the major Etruscan cities.

We had an excellent tour guide for a look at the Etruscan and medieval caves.  We learned that individual families dug into the soft, volcanic tufò to create a cave for storing foods, taking shelter during sieges, or as workshops for producing olive oil.   There are over 1200 caves still being used by the citizens of Orvieto today!

Orvieto is famous for its beautiful cathedral.

Its difficult to capture the beauty of this Cathedral, especially on a sunny-blue-sky day when the gold sparkles in the sun.

The city is busy with tourists, and we encounter more Americans than we’ve seen in any other city so far.  Yesterday, the laundromat went to was busy with people from Tucson, Chicago, and us.

In spite of the crowds, it’s easy to find quiet alleys to explore.

We’ve already eaten some great food and Larry found an excellent version of one of his favorite sandwiches…porchetta!  This one had the added bonus of pecorino cheese and sauce with truffles.

People watching is a fun sport here – this adorable couple was posing – she put on her wedding veil (?) for this photo.

It’s quiet in the evening, but we found that we need advance reservations for popular restaurants so we’re set for tonight and tomorrow.

One more day here before we leave for our last stop…Rome!

The Ancona Farmer’s Market is open every day from 7:30-12:30.  It’s in a rustic building with beautiful produce from nearby farms and fish from the sea.  We’ve read that it’s going to be renovated soon!

There were end of the season roses:

And a bouquet of yellow flowers that remind us that it’s fall!

Today we both got our hair cut  at Salone Parigi!  We took a chance that we could walk-in without an appointment. Dear Luciano was a very kind man and he took his time with both of our cuts!  He didn’t speak much English but we cobbled together enough phrases to make it all work out!  He told us about his children and his travels. His shop was cozy and comfortable with lots of magazines and a bowl of candies to keep us occupied while we waited.  It was such a nice experience. And we each got a great haircut!  The cost for two very careful haircuts was €58.

Later we walked along the port where the ferries and cruise ships are docked.  We saw Ancona’s Trajan Arch from another angle and had a view of Cattedrale San Ciraco in the distance…up on the hill that we climbed yesterday.

We think that we’ve made most of our time in Ancona.  It’s worth a short visit!  Tomorrow we’ll take the train to Orvieto…a town that we’ve enjoyed visiting in the past.  We’re hoping that truffles are in season!

We were undecided about whether or not to include Ancona in our plan but since we needed to return the rental car at the  Ancona Airport, it made sense to spend a few days in the city.  Doing so however, was no easy task.  We needed to drop off the rental car at the airport and then take a bus back to the city.  It all worked out but it took some planning to work out the logistics!

We took advantage of low-season rates for a stay at a nice hotel (Grand Palace Hotel) near the city center and the harbor.

At first glance, Ancona looks a bit gritty but we think that it’s an interesting city to explore for a couple of days.

We found a fun place for a pasta dinner called Spaghetteria No 9.  The passionate chef Simone, did it all…greeted customers, took orders, cooked the pasta, and served wine.

Simone drank a shot of limoncello with us and served complimentary, delicious tiramisu – creamy, fluffy and dusted with lots of chocolate.  It was a fun dining experience!

The port in Ancona is extensive.  Cruise ships dock here and ferries take passengers and cars to Croatia, Greece, Turkey and beyond.

Ancona has its own Arch of Trajan:

Monuments in the Piazzas:

And an O.K. Archeological Museum.  The detail on this crown was beautiful!

I can now order a sandwich or a glass of wine in Italian but, I’m going to need many more hours of practice and instruction before I can speak more than simple sentences.  Learning a bit of the language has certainly enhanced the travel experience!

Our rental car for these past 10 days has worked out well.  The roads are good and in most places parking hasn’t been too difficult.  Having a car has given us a chance to explore some surrounding towns and the countryside.  We arrived in the small medieval town of Sirolo yesterday.  It sits high above the sea and there is a nice view from the town square.

Numana is a port town  nearby and we went to Ricci, for a unique fast food fried fish experience.  It’s a busy place – we took a number and waited our turn to go inside to chose fish for our fritto misto of calamari, shrimp, salmon, and small fishes.

It was all sent to the kitchen to be deep-fried and the result was a box of tasty fish with some fries on the side, all delivered to our outdoor table.

Sirolo is a small village and a two-night stay has been the right amount of time.  The pretty and narrow streets are fun to explore.

We drove to nearby hill towns of Osimo;

And then on to Loreto, a hill town famous for its huge Cathedral.

The landscapes are beautiful in every direction with too many hilltop villages to visit.  All unique!

We’ll return the rental car tomorrow and then, take the train into Ancona for a short stay.  We’ve been fortunate to have had nice weather – warmer than we expected.  All is well!

It’s been great to see teachers here taking advantage of the local historical sights in teaching students.  We saw a class of small children seated on the pavement learning about inscriptions over an ancient doorway, high school students touring the archeological museum, and students around town with sketch pads capturing images of the beautiful architecture.

We’ve spent a few quiet days in Ascoli Piceno.  We like it because it’s laid back, fairly small (46,000 people) and not a hill town. 😊  Wednesday and Saturday are market days.  The produce seller in the photo below helped us pick out some dolce (sweet) white grapes.  They are in season, crisp, juicy, and very delicious!

There is plenty to do here as there is an Archeological Museum, an art museum, Roman ruins, and beautiful gardens for contemplation.

We spent part of the morning at the Pinotecca Civica, the city’s art gallery in the 13th Century Palazzo Arringo.  This colorful image of San Rocco, surrounded in gold, by Pietro Alamanno was especially beautiful.

We’ve enjoyed some local favorite foods including the stuffed, breaded, and fried green olives – called olive all’ascolana and sandwiches on focaccia called cacciannanze – filled with thin-sliced meat, cheese, and maybe eggplant or roasted peppers.  Plus, there is a Chocolate Festival in the Piazza del Popolo!

And, the local wine is very good!

Our favorite quirky restaurant is called Quarto Basto.  There wasn’t a printed menu, the options were limited, and the waitress  chuckled at our attempts to order in Italian.  The gnocchi was good and the atmosphere lots of fun – dining is late here and people begin to arrive at the restaurant between 8:00-8:30.

Tomorrow we’ll retrieve the rental car to drive north to the seaside town of Sirolo, where we’ll spend 2 nights.  All, is well here and we hope the same for you!

The population of the city of Fermo is less than 40,000 people but in spite of the small size, the citizens of Fermo have done quite a lot to make the city an interesting place to visit.  We’ve been pleasantly surprised!

On Sunday we took two tours, both led by excellent guides – each one 30 minutes in length.  The first was of the Teatro Dell’Aquilla.  The theater is well-supported by local businesses and citizens of the town.  They have a great performance series, including a performance of MacBeth this November (2022).  It’s a gorgeous space with box seats and a beautiful fresco on the ceiling.

Next, we toured the Roman Cisterns, a large underground complex dated to First Century B.C.  It’s made up of 30 connected rooms.  Our guide gave a complicated explanation  of how the water was collected and distributed.

We visited the Metropolitan Cathedral which stands at the highest point of the city.  There is a park surrounding the Cathedral and stunning views of the sea and the hillsides below.

For anyone thinking about a visit to Fermo, there is a slick website (HERE) with lots of excellent info including history of the city, theater schedules and more!

A few downsides to visiting this city are the hilly landscape – challenging for bad hips and knees; if driving, the streets are narrow and parking scarce; and there aren’t many decent hotels in the city center.  Still, we’re glad we visited and three days was just about right with still enough time to include a day trip to the Medieval village of Torre di Palme and lunch by the Adriatic Sea at the pleasant town of Porto San Georgio which is nearby and  below Fermo.

We left Fermo this morning and drove about an hour to our next stop, Ascoli Piceno.  It’s pleasant here and we’ve added a night to our stay at Albergo Sant’Emidio, which will make this a four-night stay.

Below is the Piazza del Popolo!  We’re ready to explore this city and anxious to try the famous olive all’ascolana – fat green olives pitted, stuffed, breaded and deep-fried!

We had a few hiccups in our journey as we made our way from Fano to Fermo.  Our train arrived late and we missed the connection to another train that would get us to the Ancona Airport to pick up a rental car.  Eventually it all worked out and we picked up this tiny Fiat Panda…barely large enough for both of us to fit.

Fermo is another hill town – with streets just as steep as the ones in Urbino.  We have a small, very unusual apartment here with a good location not far from the city center.  It’s in a former 18th century palazzo and our room is not in the palace, but in the horse stable!

At first we were dismayed because it’s a bit dark and gloomy but Larry rearranged the lamps and it made a big difference in our moods.

It’s quirky but not too expensive and the Internet is good, the water hot and the bed comfy.  We can’t complain!

Views from the city center down to the valley are spectacular.  There is an elevator that will take us to a lower part of the town.  A view in the other direction looks out to the Adriatic Sea.

Today (Sunday) is bright and sunny.  There is a Wine Festival in the town square Piazza del Popolo with some serious wine tasting and also a market selling crafts, antiques and local products.

The Pinacoteca Civica is the main museum in town.  Our very favorite item is a wooden globe, 2 meters in diameter made in 1713 by cartographer Silvestro Moroncelli.  Larry noticed that in this library, the smaller books are at the top and the larger ones on the lower shelves.  That way, the librarian doesn’t have to carry the larger books as far down the wooden ladder (a theory anyway.)

There is also a painting by Peter Paul Rubens painted in 1608.

We had a delicious meal last night.  Ravioli with porcini mushrooms and truffles, all swimming in butter.  Plus a delicious salad of thinly sliced pork, topped with arugula and tomatoes.  The restaurant was the cozy Capolinea Cafe.  This nice arrangement  of sage, flavored honey, and oranges was on the bar.

Soon we’re going on a tour of the Teatro Dell’Aquila and the Roman Cistern.  LeMarche has turned out to be a wonderful region to explore!

It’s a rainy day so a good one for visiting the Museo Archeologico in Fano – it’s set in a lovely palace that was built in the 1420’s.  In addition to archeological findings from the region, there are several works of art.  The gallery is very pleasant space with many large works displayed.

We liked the very busy Annunciation by a local 16th-century artist Domenico Sacchetta – below is just one section of the larger painting but we liked that porticos were painted in this scene.

The beautiful polyptych (1420) is titled Madonna with Child and Saints by a Venetian artist, Michele Giambono.

This is a sculpture of Heracles Wearing the Nemean Lion Skin;

It’s not a large museum but the collection of art and artifacts is interesting and varied!

In the center of Fano is Piazza XX Settembre, a traditional marketplace with the 16th Century Fontana della Fortuna, topped with a bronze statue of Fortuna.  On the left, is the Teatro della Fortuna, where opera and musical performances are held today.

We’ve had some very good seafood food during our stay in Fano;

The people here are kind but not many speak English.  It’s been a good way for us to practice our Italian!  Tomorrow we’ll take the train to the Airport in Ancona to pick up a rental car.  Then, it’s on to Fermo!