25 Ancona - did you know that means elbow in Greek!

We had never heard of Ancona until Princess changed our itinerary and made
this one of our ports of call. Founded by the Greeks, Ancona juts out from
the mainland which makes it look like an elbow, hence its Greek name.

Andrea from www.guideturisticheancona.com, was our guide for the day. Our
tour started with a tour of the Ancona and visiting their highlights. The
significance of the first church we entered Santa Maria Della Piazza was
that it was built over the original Greek church and on entering you can see
the excavations that have revealed the old mosaic floors and pillars.

Standing high on a hill, which luckily is accessed by elevator, is the
lovely Cathedral of San Ciriaco. A mixture of Byzantine, Romanesque and
Gothic Features, with spectacular views over Ancona.

Ancona is also home to one of the largest Fincantieri Shipyards. At the
moment the Viking Jupiter is under construction. Ancona was once a walled
city and the remains of the walls and gates were evident from our view
point.

Walking the Streets of Ancona

In true Italian form all old villages have narrow lanes ways. Never be
scared to follow one as you don't know what lies at the end. 

Heading back
into the main square we stopped for a delicious antipasto lunch of delicious
local produce.

After lunch we were picked up by our taxi that whisked us out to the bay of
Porto- Novo. A beautiful area of beaches with resorts that have been
created from old fortifications. Also known as the Riviera Del Conero, a
play area for the rich and famous, maybe..

Then it was off to Sirolo, a hill top town with more spectacular views.
After a short stroll around the village we took time to contemplate our
surroundings with a drink or two.

24 Venice and Verona

Who would ever have thought that this sail into Venice would be our last... No longer can these large cruise ships grace the canal that takes us pass so many beautiful icons that make Venice what it is...

We were supposed to sail into Venice at 7 a.m., but alas, "somebody" decided that we needed to sail in at midday. That threw a spanner in our plans, as we had booked 11 a.m. train tickets to get us to Verona for our overnight jaunt.

 It was a win/lose situation. We lost time in port while Princess benefited from reduced port charges, and the $25 Vaporetto cost remained the same but for only half a day. To avoid the $25 daily cost, the best way to reach Venice is to walk to the port gates and take the People Mover, a monorail that transports people from the major carpark and port area to Piazzale Roma. Here, you find the train, bus, and Vaporetto stations all nearby.

With a trusty map and a sense of adventure you can weave your way through the laneways until you get to the Rialto Bridge and St Mark's square.

We headed straight to Santa Lucia train station. We had well and truly missed our fast train, but a lovely gentleman in the ticket office helped us use the vending machines to purchase a nearly as fast ride on the Regional train that was sitting on the platform waiting for us. It was a very easy and comfortable ride to Verona taking only 1 hour and 27 minutes.

Once in Verona, we set off to find our hotel, Albergo Trento. Not a flashy hotel, but a very comfortable and quaint bed-and-breakfast style of accommodation. Perfectly positioned between the station and the Verona Arena, where we had tickets to the opera that night.

Dropping our bags in our room, the hotel recommended a restaurant where we could enjoy a meal like a local and not the mass-produced tourist menu. La Bottega Del Vina was an excellent choice. At the time we arrived the dinner menu was not available, but the tapas on display were.

The lighting was intimate, with bottles lining the walls and antiques that gave you the sense of stepping back in time. We enjoyed the excellent wines and savored the prosciuttos and cheese delicacies that were available.

Staying there long enough we were able to move straight into the dining area. The food was fresh, filling and tasted amazing.

Nabucco by Verdi was the opera playing in the arena tonight. Knowing that the opera would run for over 3 hours we purchased cushions to avoid the dreaded numb bum syndrome. 

Comfortable seating?, not particularly as the seating rows were very close together, yet steep enough that everyone enjoyed an uninterrupted view of the massive stage. Acoustics, sets and stage effects were amazing. It was literally a cast of thousands as the stage was packed with actors on foot, actors on horseback and carriages that raced from one side of the stage to the other. All in Italian. don't worry
they did have a screen with subtitles.

Within the Arena it was hot and the smoke from the effects also had an affect on many of the patrons. During the first act, a team of orange first aiders were kept busy racing from one side to another tending those who couldn't cope.

 
I was also feeling the effects of the heat and smoke and at one stage I raced to the toilets to splash my face with a little cold water. Concerned staff made sure I was ok before I headed back to my seat. Sitting through 2 acts the symptoms were starting to return and Garry and I decided best to head back to the hotel.

We woke early the next morning as we wanted to explore as much of Verona as we could before our train back to Venice. Our hotel served a lovely continental breakfast of hams, cheese, pastries, breads and fruits.
A visit to Verona is not complete unless you visit the famous Casa Giulietta. Set back in a little alley a little of the ambience is lost as the Japanese Tourists are en mass and need to take every photo and every selfie at every angle with the bronze statue of Juliet.

Rub a nose, rub a toe, but for Juliet, it is rub a breast for good luck. A few euros will let you enter her home and head up to the balcony and play out your own love story.

A small market in the Piazza Erbe made for great entertainment as we drank our coffee and watched the shoppers move from one stall to another. We managed to spend the morning wandering the back streets, visiting the picturesque Ponte Pietra, the Duomo and the Castelvecchio. A quick lunch before it was time to head back to the station for our train back to Venice.

Step count = 494,947 Nearly halfway there