June 11-13
The original June 4-day was moved at some point after we already booked a trip to Scotland so we wanted to find something to do for the additional 4-day weekend. The days off were moved to the weekend before, June 11-14, so we decided to drive a few hours south and hang out at the beach for a few days. Reesey tagged along on this trip as well.
We found a great place called Residence Casale Torrenova al Conero which has a pool, restaurant and is within close proximity to the beaches and other towns. Our neighbors were not quite sure what to make of us Americans, but they were very friendly and very curious of our large hound dog!
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| The surrounding hills |
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| From our unit |
Our drive down to Le Marche, a seemingly little known treasure, started with a stop in San Marino. It is the fifth smallest of the world's 193 independent countries and is the lone survivor of the historical city-state network. San Marino is only 61 square meters [657 square feet] and has nine municipalities. The city of San Marino sits 750 meters high on top of Monte Titano, which is part of the Unesco World Heritage list. We spent some time wandering through the streets, taking in the beautiful views and climbing along the city walls. Overall, it was a great way to start our weekend away.
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| Guaita Fortress |
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| Guaita Fortress |
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| Basilica di San Marino |
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| Palazzo Pubblico |
The next stop was our hotel. A brief rain storm rolled in as we arrived, and after waiting it out and having a quick dinner, we headed to Civitanova Marche for the afternoon. The town is nice and we found a great place to have some appetizers and drinks. It is along the coast so it is easy to find beaches and shopping. We didn't dig in too deep but it looked like a nice area.
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| A beautiful sunset |
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| Reesey really loves the sand! |
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| Reesey really loves the sand! |
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| Reesey really loves the sand! |
The next morning we woke up early to head to Spiaggia Delle Due Sorelle, a beach only reachable by sea/boat. It schedule changes based on the season, but at this point there was only one departing ferry in the morning and two returning ferries in the afternoon. We arrived at the docks nice and early, grabbed our tickets and a caffè and set sail. The price was a little steep, about 20 euro per person, but the ride included a full tour throughout the trip. The only downside for us was that it was only in Italian and they spoke a little too fast for me to catch most of it.
The beach is beautiful! It was one of my favorites in Italy and I would love to vacation there again. It is along the Conero Riviera on the Adriatic and is named after the two rocks rising out of the water. The water is crystal clear and the beach is made up of small white pebble. I wore my water shoes, although the pebbles are soft enough that I don't think water shoes are really needed. There are no services on this beach so bring sunscreen, water and snacks/lunch. We were joined by some local kayakers and canoers, but other than that it was just our one ferry worth of people. There was even a guy collecting fresh mussels and cleaning them on the beach.
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| Fresh mussels |
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| Fresh mussels |
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| As we were leaving |
There are many other beautiful beaches long the Conero Riviera so if spending some money and taking a ferry isn't your thing you are still in luck. I personally would not want to miss a chance at seeing this beach though.
After the beach we grabbed a late lunch and headed back to our place to grab Reesey. The plan was to change and head to Monte Conero to hike the trail looking out over the sea. We parked near Hotel Monteconero and followed the signs for trail 301, which follows along the cliff above Due Sorelle beach. The tourist info center has a better map of the trails than I can find online.
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| hazy view over the coast |
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| Le Due Sorelle |
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| Le Due Sorelle |
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| She loves to stand on our feet? |
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| She loves to stand on our feet? |
As if we didn't do enough that day, we decided to visit Loreto and Potenza Picena after our hike. The first stop was Loreto. The Holy House of Loreto [Santa Casa di Loreto] is a famous Marian shrine. Since medieval times, it has been believed to be the 'very home in which the Virgin Mary lived, conceived and raised young Jesus' [although this is still debated]. The basilica was built around the small shrine and has been a popular site for Catholic pilgrims.
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| Monte Conero in the distance |
The final stop of the night was in Potenza Picena. Historically it was a Roman colony under the name Monte Santo and is famous for the craftsman of silk brocades and for the processing of damasks made by the nuns of Istituto dell'Addolorata. Potenza Picena also has a well known Golden Grape Festival in Sepember. The beaches along Porto Potenza Picena are also known to be beautiful.
The plan for Sunday was to drive home and make several stops along the drive. The intention was to stop in Osimo, Ancona, Urbino, etc.; however, that did not happen because of a "really important work emergency" [sarcasm] where PJ was apparently the only person who could rectify the situation. Hopefully we will get another chance to return.
We did get to see the Monumento Nazionale delle Marche in Castelfidardo briefly before we had to leave.
We had to eat lunch from at Auto Grill because we were in such a rush to get home. It is a massive breaded chicken pita thing, with cheese, tomato sauce and french fries. I am sure it was probably 5000 calories, but it did taste good. *One alone is larger than my forearm. This fed us for multiple meals
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