Final sunrise in Venezia:

After a heartfelt goodbye to Elisa and Pietro, ( and to Venice), we took the boat to the train station, had some coffee there and bought a couple of sandwiches to take. Ken was determined not to drive during this trip, so we are doing all our travel by train. The Frecciarossa train was comfortable, we crossed the Po river and before we knew it, we were in the giant, mostly underground, five- floor Bologna train station. With 45 minutes between trains we made an easy transition. We went upstairs and got another coffee and ate our sandwiches before boarding the next train to Pesaro.

Why Pesaro? I chose it mostly because it’s about halfway to L’Aquila and on the Adriatic, not too big and not too small. It was the Capital of Culture for Italy in 2024 ,so I figured that was a point in its favor. And, at least, they speak Italian there. We got a taxi from the train station to our hotel for two nights, Opera Hotel. We have a nice room with floor to ceiling windows, a little terrace and a sea view. The hotel is new, clean and friendly. Just right. Pesaro is the birthplace of the prolific composer Gioachino Rossini (1792) and his name is all over the place. Hence the name “Opera” hotel. I am actually listening to his greatest hits on youtube as I write.

After checking in, we went for a nice walk on the beach. I saw lots of mussels shells so I figured I would try to eat them while here. Sylvia, the staff person we have connected with said we should make a dinner reservation somewhere because–Saturday night. After some enjoyable conversation, we chose Cera Una Volta (translates to Once Upon a Time). We had a nice 25 minute walk to the restaurant. What did we do before maps on phones??? The place was so much fun. Memorabilia covered every wall; it was noisy, packed, vibrant and bustling with local families and young people. No one there but us and the locals. Good thing we had a reservation!

We ordered a couple of glasses of wine, a bowl of delicious mussels and little clams “Tarantina” style–with a little tomato, garlic parsley and peperoncino. Served with grilled bread, they were the perfect beachy Italian dish. The restaurant is known for pizza so we shared one with sausage and spinach. It had a very thin crispy crust and was really good!

Walking back to the hotel, we passed this little church, lit up with string lights:

Back at the hotel, I tried to get news of the No Kings protests but it was really too early in the day. Any of you who marched, know I was with you in spirit all day.

We are happy with our hotel splurge and this little town! One more night here and then we’re on the move again.