31-july saturday
long journey, eve asking all the time when we are there
after finally arriving late at campsite around 8.30pm, girls decide thy want to go into sea and strip off for swim
two piles of clothes left near water's edge as they splash about and enjoy it, then they climb out and are both so cold, they start crying.
beautiful sunset
go to restaurant nearest the campsite, the pirate restaurant, there's a gross tv programme with 2 teams of female contestants - virgine and experte and a completely male audience then various acts and tasks are set which are marked by the audience.
Girls are intrigued and it provides some amusement
went back and had a very disturbed night from the loud night trains
01-august sunday
go to beach after settling up at the "direzzione" on the campsite, hand over our money and go down to beach.
spent all day on beach and caught sun badly
eve gets bitten on her foot, not sure what it was, suspect a crab but boy at the office says no
go to rock n roll summer jambouree in senigallia in the evening, have a tex mex meal at the marquee there which is not very good value then listen to the music and watch the dancing.
katie discovers the bookshop / coffee shop / ice cream shop
02-august monday
went looking round senigallia, went to coffee shop again and got breakfast
looked into church at far side and went through the park
bought eve some shoes for her feet whilst swimming
found supermarket and bought a load of stuff - picnic on the beach
03 august - tuesday
back on the beach
eve gets stung on her leg by a jelly fish as we walk out to swim together, have to carry her back and she stays on the beach the rest of the day
04 august - weds
not sure what we did this day
05 august - thursday
market day - sabrina and eve buy dresses and we walk around the far side of the old town across the river in baking sunshine
went on buses to the north of senigallia, went on beach for couple of hours then the storms came and we retreated to a nearby cafe to wait for the next bus back
got back to campsite and cleared up the flooded caravan since we'd left some windows open and the storm had meant a lot of rain had got in
went to fish restaurant nearby campsite - spaghetti mare really did mean shells, cockles, muscles and clams - sabrina ended up swapping with katie
06 august - friday
went on train to anconna, it rains badly
tried to find park high above the city, got great views but didn't really succeed in finding it
walked into old part of town via pizza roma and a wonderful little restaurant where eve had to go the toilet, the owner was fine about it and we admired the photos on the walls of him smiling with various dignatories
got lost looking for main old part of town, eventually found it, backtracking in the rain and then into the art gallery comprising old and new sections
followed an old lady into the old part of the gallery where she turned on the lights - it was so hard to find am not surprised we were the only ones there
the chap / guide was good and explained some of the paintings incl the one which was a copy of a painting in london which got destroyed by fire
saw various painting and preparatory sketches by the most prolific artist from this region, podesti
got back and the usual supermarket visit before the bus home
had meal at campsite after getting dried up then got later bus into town for chuck berry concert, with wanda jackson as support
very good concert
chuck berry "forgets" to play johnny be goode,
07 august - saturday
get news that Alice's baby has arrived safely, Emily Alexandria
get up late and stay on beach at our campsite, eve playing hairdresser - she has an emily at the info stand then herself as hairdresser - she does it over and over again asking for names each time so i try and introduce some education mentioning
davey crockett, isaac newton, leonardo da vinci and william shakespeare - thought it might give an opportunity to educate as well, since she was always asking - how are you, what have you been doing, what sort of hairstyle do you want
then in evening go to restaurant off the beaten track a little after walking past the church where there was a wonderful mass / communion being sung
rushed us through the meal a bit, we had to sit inside and we're rushed a little but food was good
08 august - sunday
had pizza at riverside where the cuban lady and german man
the girls invent the itzy-weenie bikini dance
listened to mike sanchez from uk warming up on the main stage
looked at french / cajun band at the smaller stage, sabrina bought her dress at 50 euros which she adored, promising to get much use out of it but still unused
09 august - monday
go to pesaro on the train and discover most museums closed but great beaches with clear water but we didnt bring the swim stuff
explore shops and eve buys a fashionista barbie
ate at home
10 august - tuesday
take children round the castle / rocca at senigallia again, we discover more floors and rooms and find the prison
take usual 10.50 train to pesaro, arrive at beaches and hire a sun brolly and 2 lonugers
buy snorkel and diving figures which provide amusement to other kids and a talking point for developing convesations
took sabrina round the rocks out to sea from the bay, she said it reminded here of an aquarium, saw plenty of fish
they meet up with natasha and an italian boy also a pair of russian smaller children from new york who delight
ate at pirate restaurant in the evening
11 august - weds
trip to mondavio
get off bus way too early and end up walking 2km into st michele al fiume then stopping at the central kiosk for refreshments (latte with milk off) then
going across to the much better but initially more dodgy looking bar zentrale where a table of men are plying a game of cards in the back room
we settle in the front part since there is no room on the outside veranda overlooking the main street and watching the action and this busy crossing
after stocking up on water we resume the journey up and up the long winding hill to mondavio in the baking mid-afternoon sun
we reach mondavio after about an hour and then look around the well preserved castle there in about half an hour, it's well done with dummies acting out various scenes but the children prefer the castle at senigallia with less explanation but more rooms and room for imagination although the rooms are self-explanatory
i think what disappointed sabrina was that they didn't find the bedrooms where the king/lord and companion slept
we look around the town, a kind of downham place with what seems to be restrictions on what type of notices can be put on shops etc to preserve the old-world atmosphere
it is impressive walking along the cobbled streets and listening to the church bells talking to one another
12 august - thursday
get up at 7am and go for walk with katie and sabrina along the beach, see fisherman and the various other amateurs at work
pesaro - we stop for ice cream at a great gelateria near the cathedral where the kids get the best ice creams so far
hot day on the beach then meal at the irish/city pub back at senigallia, carting around a heavy, sealed box of groceries.
great day for snorkelling with our second snorkel now enabling two to go together - looked again around the rocks near the shore with both of them until natasha turned up
, then later swam with eve around the whole length of the rocks sheltering the bay - saw plenty of crabs on the far side, some quite big
watched the european swim championships and followed frederica pelligrini in the 800m freestyle to her bronze medal ahead of rebecca adlington, way off the pace this time
13 august - friday
go for 7am walk along beach with katie as children sleep
get tickets for train to pesaro and later see that the chap in front of us had bought a ticket to travel there also for a spot of begging as we notice that he walks along the main street then sits down and puts his cap out.
we pay for brolly and sun-loungers but after about half an hour it gets so windy it is clear that a storm is brewing and this is a repeat of the trip last week
we pack up after a couple of hours and de-camp to the shop selling decent ice-creams near the cathedral, unfortunately the service is wrong and the coffee lousy
we eat the last meal at the caravan - a tasty meat tortellini with tomato sauce and a decent rosso wine
we take a walk on the beach and eve launches into this horrible new york accent, saying da-dee all the time and i feel like pushing her in the water!
14 august - saturday
get up early at 6am to clear out and get 7.10 bus to senigallia station,
then train to bologna, walked around for an hour found a small restaurant for ice cream, decent coffee and pizza (unfortunately too early for the menu anti-crisi offers which started at 12)
then took train to muenchen which got full from verona on, interesting going thru the brenner pass and the road passes high up
CONCLUSIONS/THOUGHTS
most annoying beggars
- the people dressed in white - the first lady in seni i felt sorry for but later when her partner man was aggressively selling and she also i began to dislike it heavily, also one in bologna who was equally as agressive
- the hawkers on the beach selling jewellery
things which made me feel sad
- the indians selling brollies, appearing from nowhere he first time which really impressed and then later when the storms were coming in the second week and noticing the preparation / distribution / carriers and little army of indians involved in it
- the chap who took the train to pesaro to beg for the day
- the lady who was at the beach with a fama poster who also too a while before moving on, it is a bit disconcerting to realise you are their best hope and look like a rich tourist to them, even though i felt i was dressed like pretty scruffily
people I wished I had given money to:
man at andy's cafe
muslim woman at the beach
most impressive sounds
- listening to the mass at the church in senigallia
- the bells calling to one another in mondavio
- the man on the beach shouting coca coca to sell pieces of coconut, the hardest working italian i saw
2 reasons to visit pesaro again
- dischi e soda record shop to get house of love album on vinyl
- visit to museum to see progress on restoration of the painting on the annunciation of mary
1 reason to visit bologna soon
- 10 euro trainers for world cup teams near central station going to centre - there were 2 such shops
Italy
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