Ancona

On Saturday, May 24, we went to Ancona. Ancona is about 30 kilometers from Jesi and is accessible by both train or bus. Joe had mentioned to his classmates that we might go to Ancona and two of them suggested we go together by bus. We met at the Piazza Republica in Jesi Saturday morning and proceeded to the bus depot.
Upon arriving in the “centro” of Ancona we were in the midst of a huge street market. This market was has vendors throughout the bus depot type piazza and along two of the main streets that lead to the port. There was all kinds of stuff from art to jewelry to clothes. We even spotted some booths with belly dancing type attire. It was very interesting.
We split up from Sadao and Massa and went to the port area and saw the Arco di Traiano that was built around 200 BC. Ancona has probably been a port city for as long as a city has existed in that particular spot. From Ancona you can catch ferries to Croatia, Turkey, and Greece to name a few places. The store fronts and restaurants along the port are very diverse and you can tell that there is a blending of many cultures in Ancona.
After we met back up for lunch we went to a great seafood restaurant and walked along the main street that has a tree lined promenade down the middle. At the end of this street we found a huge monument that was being renovated and stairs leading down to the Adriatic. We walked down the stair and saw many people sun bathing (few swimming, the water is still pretty cold). Once we arrived at sea level we noticed these old style double garage doors lined up along the base of the cliffs. We were able to look into a few that were open and they went about 10-15 yards into the cliff side. People had boats, some had nice kitchenette type facilities, and we even saw a group of elderly Italian women sitting around a card table drinking wine and playing cards. These spots might have once been owned by commercial fisherman, but now they seem to be owned more individually for recreational purposes.We did not seem the other noteworthy monuments in Ancona so we plan to return.