Senigallia
22 April 2013 | Senigallia
Cathy
Monday
It's no good. I can't quite take to Italy. It doesn't help being at a holiday resort out of season and the weather hasn't been the best but even so. Both hotels we've stayed at have been great, posh even. This one is right on the seafront but the train line runs just behind, as it does all the hotels, with window-rattling sound effects. The people are incredibly friendly and helpful even though we barely speak a word of Italian and their English is limited if any.
There's a very attractive old town here in Senigallia with a river running alongside. Typically, though, like the seafront, you can't actually see the water unless you climb up on to the enclosing wall or from the bridge. It's like you're just supposed to know it's there and that is good enough.
The food and drink is probably the best in the world but I just feel ripped off all the time. Take today for example. We had a walk around the old town and a look round the castle, the sun was briefly shining and it was time for our daily Cokes which we ordered in a pavement cafe. Out came the drinks with no less than eight tapas-style little side dishes: green olives, salty butter beans, small pastries, spicy ginger toasts and so on. We picked at these with our drinks, not really hungry after the substantial hotel breakfast, fully expecting the price of the drink to be a bit steep. The bill for two Cokes was 9 euros. 9 euros! Come on! We didn't order any of this stuff nor did we eat much of it, nice as it was.
You can see why so many Italians go to Greece for the summer!
Update: Just had the best meal of our lives and, no, it wasn't pizza! No menu but little taster dishes just kept on coming. Local cured ham and cheese served with toast drizzled with spicy oil, the freshest lasagne, pasta stuffed with courgette and broccoli and a hint of blue cheese, "hawk" (I'm guessing pigeon) casserole with gnocchi, crisp homemade little biscuits, orange tiramisu and finally the lightest, most sumptious chocolate eclair. I can't move now.