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From Rome to PesaroWe are going to Pesaro. Pesaro is a city on Italy's Adriatic coast and a popular holiday resort for Italian families. The train to Ancona leaves Termini at 9:36. It is a comfortable Eurostar train, and it is a pretty trip through the Italian mountains and countryside. At 12:48 we get off in Falconara Marittima. With a view to the blue Adriatic we wait half an hour for the connection to Pesaro.
We arrive to Pesaro at two o'clock and take a cap to Hotel Clipper, one of the many hotels along the beach. The room is ready. It is nice and there is a balcony with sea view. Brightly coloured parasols stand close together on the beach. The balcony has afternoon shade and right now there's a lovely breeze. We unpack and change clothes. The sweet Mrs Gasparini who tends the reception makes us an espresso at the bar. It is time for a stroll in the city - not at the beach. The city centre is pleasant and relaxed. It seems quiet, as if the siesta isn't quite over yet. We don't see many restaurants, but they must be somewhere. We enjoy refreshments at a bar on the Corso: 1 Coke, a glass of wine + water for 6 € - the price level seems ok. We find a trattoria in Via Giovanni Bovio. We'll test it tonight. The menu is mostly seafood, and they open at 19:30. Trattoria da Sante - a Seafood Restaurant
We are back at 20:20 and get a warm welcome. The menu is in Italian and English. One of the courses is "squills" in English. I don't know this word, and the Italian text doesn't clarify. I ask the waiter if he speaks English ("parla inglese?"), and he answers in fluent American. With a grin he explains that "squills" is a spelling mistake - it is a special kind of squid. It turns out that he has lived 4½ years in New York. We order spaghetti with crab and skewers with giant prawns and squid. The first to arrive is the mixed salad. We wanted to share one portion ("uno per due"), and the bowl is big enough to house a medium sized gold fish with family. The waiter has misunderstood the order, because we get one plate with spaghetti and one set of skewers. We wanted two of both. The misunderstanding is plausible and fortunate, because the portions are huge. Having seen the portions' size we ask him if we can share. He smiles, and after a detour into the kitchen the number of plates increases from two to four. It is excellent. The spaghetti sauce with crab has intense flavour, and the skewers are easily shared. The prawns are firm and tasty, and the squid is filled with some deliciously spiced stuffing. The white house wine runs easily over the tongue with no complex or delaying taste impressions. There aren't many guests tonight. At the next table is a German couple with a baby, and some locals have a big table in the corner. The room is plain and the light is sharp. There is a TV on the wall in the corner, and waiters as well as guests watch the sports. A group enters. One of the waiters holds and shows off a small boy with paternal pride. They settle around a table and soon there is a steady flow of dishes from the kitchen. Locals don't order from the menu; the waiter tells them what is good today, and they compose the meal together. We leave some salad for the goldfish and order dessert; lemon cake for Helle and lemon sorbet for me. Before leaving we have coffee and grappa. Evening PromenadeWe go for a walk along the beach promenade. Lots of people are walking their evening passegiata. There are lights and disco and entertainment. Find some other place if you want romantic walks along the beach with calming surf sounds. Back at the hotel the bar a uniformed black waitress tends to her only guests: us. She pours me a mega Vecchia Romagna, and when she sees that the bottle is almost empty, she resolutely empties it. Good night!
Friday 15th June 2007 It takes a long time for the hot water to arrive through the pipes. Maybe I am the first guest to shower. Breakfast begins at 7:45, so we agree to go for a walk before that. But as we exit the lift at 7:30 the first guests have already attacked the buffet. We postpone the walk and join the raid. Italians spend more money on clothes than other Europeans, and to look good ("fare la bella figura") is important; but when on holiday the dress code is different, and most guests wear casual shorts, T-shirts and sandals. The atmosphere is relaxed and there are a lot of buon giornos in the air. Most guests are Italian. The postponed walk takes us North along the beach promenade. To our right the blue Adriatic sparkles. The parasols stand closely together on the beach and wait for someone to enjoy their shade. On our left are all the hotels. To Pesaro's Railway Station
We buy tickets for Venice at the railway station. We don't leave until next Tuesday, but we want to make reservations. The machine accepts credit cards, and like in Rome it doesn't want your PIN code. If I were a credit card thief I would immediately buy a lot of train tickets and get into the travel agent business. On the Sea PromenadeOn the way back we pass the remains of a Roman villa. There isn't much to see, but the floor is surprisingly close to the current street level; in comparison ancient Rome is several metres below.
The tourist office is at Piazza della Liberta close to the sea and the globe sculpture seen on many photos from Pesaro. A brochure at the hotel said something about guided tours to a palace, Villa Imperiale, outside Pesaro, and we want to sign up. However the tour is cancelled - we are the first to even ask! Instead I get a timetable for the buses to Urbino, the medieval city not far from Pesaro. The lady explains that you don't have to walk to the station - the bus passes through the city centre. We have lunch at a cafeteria on the beach promenade. A sign says 34° C, but it feels hotter. Siestatime! Evening in PesaroPast seven we walk to the fashionable restaurant, Lo Scudiero, near Piazza del Popolo. The menu is on the door, but is difficult to understand - the only thing clear to non-Italians is that eating here is expensive. We would need help all the way through and that doesn't appeal to us. There are several restaurants in the vicinity of Piazza Lazzarini. We pick one, but first we get an aperitif at the piazza. The waiter is very big and very tired. Ristorante Felici e contenti
All tables outside Ristorante Felici e contenti are occupied when we return. A very polite young waiter, who speaks excellent English, finds a table inside. It is colder here and more pleasant than the 31° C outside. The menu is in Italian only, "but don't hesitate to ask if you need any help!". That is not necessary. The room is nice with beams in the ceiling. For starters we share a plate of cold assorted seafood. The bottled Chardonnay gets an ice bucket and a cloth. It is delicious. The seafood is squid, crab (we think), prawns in a spicy mayonnaise and some small pickled sardine or anchovy fillets. Very good. The main course is grilled goodies from the Adriatic Sea: a sole of some kind, squid and giant prawns on a skewer. The prawns need to be relieved of their armour, and that is greasy work. I miss a fingerbowl and a plate for the growing pile of shells and bones. We have no room for dessert and order coffee with amaretto/grappa. Finally we get an ice-cold limoncello on the house. The bill says 62.5 € of which the wine, amaretto and grappa account for 17. An excellent place and no wonder it was busy. Back at the hotel there is music and dance. A pianist plays popular tunes on an electric organ, and the older clientele waltz with enthusiasm. A young waiter tries "O sole mio" and gets an undeserved applause. We leave when he warms up for an encore.
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