Right now I’m sitting on the built in chair in the cabin Brandon and I are sharing on the ferry to Split, Croatia. He’s already claimed the top bunk and we’re winding down, ready to sleep away most of the voyage.
Yesterday, we arrived in Ancona after a four hour train journey from Rome. There was supposed to be someone from our B&B there to meet us, but we couldn’t find anyone. We tried calling, there was no answer. We eventually ended up taking a 25 Euro taxi there and were met by a very apologetic owner who promised to pay us back because she’d gone to bed with a headache and forgot to come get us. She spoke very good English which is a treat lately and she was crazy helpful and really, really nice. She let us go down and eat in the breakfast room from the little buffet since all the restaurants wouldn’t start serving dinner for another three hours, and she offered that we could stay till 5:30 the next morning instead of checking out at 11 and having to take our back packs with us all day. She also promised us a free ride to the ferry terminal which was all so, so welcoming. Up in our room we were met with the best accommodations we’d seen yet on this adventure. Our room would easily rent for 350 - 400 Pounds back in Edinburgh. It had a kitchenette complete with a fridge, gas stove and all the pots and dishes we’d need for a stay at least a week long. We kind of regretted not coming here a day or so earlier!
We napped, got cleaned up and then went up the road to where the lady recommended we go for a real Italian dinner. And holy crap, what a dinner we had. There were no menus, just a little old man telling us with absolutely no English the types of pasta we could have. We kind of repeated back what we though would be good but we think he kind of just told us no, he’d bring us this instead. It’s okay though, because what he brought was a bowl full of tortellini for us to share that was filled with ricotta and spinach in a creamy, buttery sauce with fresh green peas and mushrooms. It was ridiculously good. Next he brought us a pizza that had prosccuto, mushrooms and capers on it that though not totally to Brandon’s taste, it was fabulous to me. We drank a liter of red wine along with this all and he offered to bring us more food but we politely declined since there was no way we were going to be able to eat more. We went to the counter to pay and somehow ended up getting a shot of espresso to drink before he wrote our our bill, but it he was so happy and so nice we just didn’t fight anything. It was by far one of the best experiences in Italy.
This morning we slept in a bit and had breakfast downstairs before heading first to the little grocery store up the street to buy some food to take on the ferry with us. Then we decided to walk down to the beach even though it was kind of rainy and not very nice today. We walked along in the sand for a bit and out on a pier before venturing on to find some lunch. We walked for what seemed like miles before we eventually found a much larger grocery store and bought some pizza to eat while we walked back and some other provisions to make supper in our room. Almost an hour later we were home and after we both showered and packed our back packs yet again Brandon made us some pasta before we had to leave for the port.
We went downstairs and had to ring the outside buzzer to get someone to come to the desk. Unfortunately it was the cleaning lady who speaks no English at all who came and she had to call someone to come and pick us up, who also didn’t speak any English. We eventually gestured and pointed enough to tell him where we wanted to go and we loaded into his car headed for the terminal. We got there but of course he wanted paid and we had no way to tell him that the lady told us it would be a free ride. We ended up paying him 10 Euros grudgingly but what else could we do? We got checked in at the ticket counter and then on a shuttle bus that took us to our pier. A little confusion, the strangest way to get onto a ferry ever (no gangway - you walk up the ramp that the cars drive on) and we were on our boat. I’m annoyed that they’ve kept my passport for the night until we give the key for our cabin back in the morning, but I’m trying to keep calm about that. We ate the snacks we packed and sat outside watching as Italy slowly sank away into the blackness around us. The lights on the decks are almost too bright to see any stars which is a bit disappointing, but it’s still quite warm outside so we sat out there for quite a while before heading in for what will probably be an early night. The bunks are small but we’re both really glad that we sprung for the cabin instead of just seats in one of the lounges. They don’t look terribly comfy. I’m feeling a little dizzy being inside the boat with all the motion so I’m hopeful I’ll sleep okay, but I guess this is good practice for the week to come!
Country number 3 of 5 for this vacation will be on the horizon when the sun comes up tomorrow!
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