Europe 2017 & 2019 & now 2023: It’s a squatter…

…she said!

We had planned a quieter day for today - a walk out to a suburb for lunch, then in the afternoon back to Passetto for a swim.

Mid morning we started off to Via Mario Torresi, around 2.6kms away, as research showed there was a cafe there that served other than piadina, pasta and pizza and we were comfortable that it would be open.

Ancona City is situated in a bowl and Via Mario Torresi is the equivalent of being on the saucer i.e you walk up the hill and then down the other side until you are back at sea level.

The walk up the hill was “as steep as” - I estimate 25% slope - and it became quite a plod particularly as the temperature was approaching 30 degrees

When the top was reached there was a great view out over the harbour and beyond

as well as of the Mole Vanvitelliana, a pentagon shaped structure constructed in 1732 and which is now the cultural hub for the Marche region hosting such things as arts exhibitions, live performances etc. Over time it has been used as everything from a hospital to a fortress, from a sugar factory to a customs depot.

On a notice board from where I took the above photo there were stuck death notices or a notice advising the anniversary of the death of a person- such notices are very common outside churches.

Down the hill, realising we would have to climb back up it on our return, we came to a smallish shopping area which housed the cafe, however when we got to the exact address the hours of opening had been changed to an opening time of 5pm!!! Second time we have been thwarted on the trip and all we could find was a pizzeria so we had what we had come to try and avoid, a shared pizza for lunch.

Sought out a toilet for Sherry finding one in the bus station. She duly paid the 30 euro cent charge to gain entry and in a matter of seconds Sherry was back out of there - “it’s a squatter, if got down there I’d never get up again”! Another 30 cents wasted!!

Got ourselves back to the apartment, a short reviver and then it was off to the beach for a longer reviver, this time with a couple of coins in the pocket for the lift. Again the beach was crowded with the sea slightly rougher than yesterday but for us it was straight into the sea to cool off.

Having done so for 20 minutes or so we started a walk back to the apartment this time choosing a different route walking along the tree-lined Viale Della Vittoria which ran from Passetto to Piazza Cavour just below the apartment - we are glad we made the deviation as the trees gave some shade on what was a very hot day.