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Published: March 25th 2008
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Hills of Italy
Most of the countryside around Jesi looks like this, with small towns every few k's and curving roads in-between Have you ever sat in your car in your driveway and thought "Hmm, I hope there aren't any sharp objects that could puncture my tyres around here"? No? Me neither. No, my brain likes to throw me that question just as I'm hurtling around a bend on the Italian highway at 130kph, with mountains on one side and a sheer drop into nothingness on the other. And then your mind's eye plays a little movie just to show you what might happen. It doesn't inspire confidence.
Anyway, Jesi and Ancona. Tiffany and her cousin Margaret were terrific hosts, telling me about all the good spots around the area. First stop was the Frassassi Cave. Mightily impressive and massively huge. Cameras weren't allowed, but I'll try to do this justice: The first cavern was about 200 metres in various directions, with stalactites and stalagmites towering everywhere. Because there is nothing familiar in these caverns, you lose all perspective of size. At one point we were shown a 'tite in a tall cavern, the guide pointing with her torch. Now I would have sworn that it was no more than 2 metres long; it was actually 7. The ceiling was so high,
The Ancona Boys
Davide is in the middle of the three, with Antonio off to the right. my brain shrank everything down to find perspective. An amazing tour, all in all. Next I just drove around random towns, looking for all the fun, curvy roads in the GPS. Holy cow that was insane! Twists and turns (even a bit of dirt rallying), and whenever I stopped there was an incredible view of the surrounding valleys.
And then the rain came. Not impressed.
After three days in Jesi I was kidnapped by two brothers in Ancona: Davide (good English) and Antonio (English made up from movie titles he'd seen). Very nice pad, and they suggested I go see a town called Sirolo. The weathered cleared just for that day, and it was magic. Sirolo sits on the coast, about 200 metres up - so it has an incredible view of the water.
Davide took me on a short tour of Ancona (not much to see), and then the rain started again.
The Memorial was really good, met lots of Witnesses from the Russian, Philipino and English congregations.
I left Sunday morning.
From here things kind of went wonky.
I planned to go to La Spezia, through Santa Margherita, drop in on Portofino and on to Monaco.
I
The Filipino Congregation
This is about half the group, we had a great time, and ate pasta soup or something. only found out later that this period of time was a long weekend...(cue ominous music)
La Spezia was too expensive, so I looked around the area a bit, settling on Montecatini Terme. I stayed in a tired-looking 4-star and managed to look around amid patches of rain. Next day on to La Spezia. Traffic was horrendous, so I just drove through it (95% of the shops were closed anyway, including the Tourist Info) and on through Santa Marg. to Portofino. Dad, you can drive there, but only do it if there is NO chance of catching a crowd - like there is on a public holiday (forehead slap). Stunningly beautiful scenery, and I had hours to watch it drift past as I waded through traffic. One point, go in a skinny car if you go at all. The road is so tight I had (no exaggeration) 2 inches from mirror to rock wall on my right, and 3 inches from mirror to moving bus on my left.
So I finally escape and direction West towards Monaco - at about 6pm Monday arvo. I drove in and I just stared. For a country 2k's across, these guys manage to squeeze in
East Coast of Italy
The spectacular coast of Sirolo everything. When they run out of room, they either go on top of or underneath something else. And its all so *pretty* - everything is designed for rich people, by rich people, with other rich people poking over the fence saying "I'll take 10 of them, whatever they are".
Unfortunately I couldn't find the Youth Hostel that was said to exist - its address pointed to a new construction site. So I pulled out of Monaco and activated Plan B: stay in Nice. Plan B *should* have been "Find parking in Nice" first, because I couldn't, not anywhere. Plan C then: head up the road, grab a bite and sleep in the car. Plan C worked.
As of right now I've driven back to Monaco (STILL no parking in Nice, especially at the train station!) I'm booking in Avignon as we speak, and I'll sort out where to go from there.
Peace out from Monaco, I'm off to gawk some more.
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