Riviera del Conero

Today, after a day of chilling and doing nothing, we set off towards Ancona to the beautiful Riviera del Conero. This regional park around Monte Conero is located south of Ancona. After what felt like 1000 serpentine roads and a highway with life-extending speed limits, we got hungry. And, just as if we had ordered it, we found exactly ONE restaurant open at the beach, amidst closed bistros and restaurants. It had a colorful mix of guests relaxing at tastefully set tables with white tablecloths and beautiful wine glasses:

So...these two arrived after us...otherwise we might have thought twice :-))

The menu was extremely tempting, and of course we chose fish, which is practically fresh from the fishing rod here. I had spaghetti con i vongole, Gerhard had pesce mista fritta, both were a delight.

Gerhard's comment on my mussels: Well, the mussels seem to be on the verge of extinction here :-)) okay... they were manageable and easily countable... even in Italian...

With full stomachs (because of the easily countable mussels, I treated myself to a half-baked chocolate cake - compensatory justice!) we went on an exploration tour.

Originally, we wanted to visit the church of Santa Maria di Portonovo, but a landslide ruined our plans. So, the 'relaxed and enlightened atmosphere' that our guidebook praised will have to wait for our visit. Nevertheless, the path along the white pebble beach was very beautiful, and we were almost alone.

Back at the parking lot, after a brief discussion of our situation, we headed to Sirolo. This small and atmospheric place high above the sea has a beautiful promenade with a magnificent view of the sea, with benches shaded by trees... if the sun were shining... today it mostly had a break. After a short visit to the open church, we fled from the never-ending lament of the ongoing church service (even in staunchly Catholic Italy, there are services with only 5 attendees!) and made our way back, interrupted only briefly by a load of ice cream for the freezer.

When we arrived home, dinner was quickly cooked: fresh filled pasta with special tomato sauce... now we're about to burst and only move if absolutely necessary.

We wish you a pleasant evening and say A PRESTO!