2025 Italy, Day 15: Ancona, Night 2 of 5

If you would like to see details about our journey, check out our itinerary and our bike route.

Finally, a day at the beach! Meghan and I planned this trip--at least roughly--a couple years ago, during a Christmas holiday in Tulum, Mexico. We had a memory of baking under the sun on a beach in Cinque Terra about 10 years ago, with a waiter delivering cold lemon slushies in little tin buckets every couple of hours. It was our idea of heaven. We wanted to replicate it.

Early in the morning, we hiked down to the nearest beach from our apartment--the Spiaggia Passetto, about a 10-minute walk. We found a concession with chairs and umbrellas, bought cold drinks, and settled down to dip in the water, read in the sun, and cool off in the shade.

Several hours later, we brushed off the sandy gravel and made our way back to the apartment, where we showered and rested from our big expedition.

About 18:30, we put on nice clothes and ventured out to find the tabaccheria where Ken's new Wahoo was waiting for him. We located the shop, the clerk scanned our QR code and dug through a little pile of packages, and voila! Ken had a new device. He couldn't wait to check it out, so we stopped on the sidewalk while he opened the box.

The next stop was La Vecchia Osteria, where we dined on a variety of local and traditional dishes. The servers were attentive, the food was good, and we left happy and contented.

The beach was protected by a barrier of rocks breaking the waves and keeping the motorboats at bay.

One section of the beach was taken up by private beach houses--little caves along a concrete shoreline.

Another portion of the beach was a public area where people set up their own umbrellas and chairs.

We settled in a private section with rented chairs and umbrellas, and a little bar that served cold drinks and snacks. Our chairs were on top of the roof of the bar, which turned out to be kind of nice, a little quieter than the main beach.

War monument at the top of steep steps down to one end of the spiaggia. 

2025 Italy, Day 14: Ancona, Night 1 of 5

If you would like to see details about our journey, check out our itinerary and our bike route.

We woke up to sunny skies, mid-70s temperatures, and a fantastic breakfast in the B&B. We got an early start, coasting downhill through Genga on the highway, past the caves and sanctuary, then down along the river on the old highway with no traffic. After going through stone barriers onto a bike-and-pedestrian-only path, we passed a few other bikers and hikers coming from the other direction. We curved around a huge construction project, where workers were rebuilding the main highway. The segregated bike path ended at another locked gate--but we know how to handle locked gates. This one we just had to duck under.

The whole first 25 miles, we went through farm fields and tiny hamlets with no services. We passed a couple of bars that were not open. We had previewed the route and expected this, so we brought along a picnic lunch. We stopped in a tiny village with a church and a few houses, and a little park overlooking the valley. There we sat on a bench, eating our lunch. A black Audi pulled in, and an older man and woman got out and walked around the park, holding arms, the man pointing to different houses and the church and talking to the woman. They stopped and the man explained (we think) that he was from the village and that was his church, and it was a beautiful, quiet place. We all waved and wished each other a good day as they left.

A few miles later, we got our first look at the Adriatic, and from then on, we were on the secondary highway to Ancona, passing through suburbs and towns with lots of bustle and traffic.

Following our navigation maps carefully, we wove through busy Ancona and up to our apartment in a quiet neighborhood about half a mile from a parkway with shops and restaurants and frequent buses to the beaches.

Ken and I checked in and showered, and Meghan arrived in time to look for dinner. We were all a little tired and not in the mood for decision making. We ended up at the supermarket, where we each picked out dinner from the deli, plus a few things for breakfast the next day. After a quiet meal at the table in our dining room, we all felt a little better and got ourselves to bed.

Locked gate; nessun problema.

Lunch.

The Adriatic.

2025 Italy, Day 13: Pianello, Genga

If you would like to see details about our journey, check out our itinerary and our bike route.

Ken and I checked out of the apartment in Assisi early, at 8:15, just as the overnight rain was ending. It was only 65 degrees; we put on our jackets for the first time this trip. We had a beautiful ride out of town, mostly downhill the first 3 to 4 miles, winding around the edge of a mountain that we had viewed from Rocca Maggiore.

Then we hit the biggest of three passes for the day. We knew from previewing the route that this was a long, steep climb, and we were prepared to walk up some stretches, but we were not prepared to walk on and off for almost 5 miles, both up and down the pass. The road was in terrible shape, deteriorating to rocks and ruts that would be challenging on mountain bikes.

We had finally made it through to smooth tar when a big black cloud swallowed us up and growled. At the same time, we came around a curve in the road, and there was a hunting camp, with cabins that had big, covered porches. One of the cabins was occupied, but the rest were not, so we pulled our bikes up on a porch, out of the rain, and ate the lunch we had brought along. About the time we finished eating, the rain stopped, and we headed back out.

Another mile or so farther, it started to rain again. We put on our raincoats and kept on going. The great thing was there was almost no traffic, as we were on very small roads that skirted around all the towns. The not-so-great thing was that we passed only a couple of bars and restaurants, none of them open. And all that walking and pedaling was making us really hungry and thirsty.

Soon after we ran completely out of water, we dropped down into a real town and saw a big supermarket. I went in and bought water, cookies, and chips. Not exactly healthy, but they looked good at the time.

We started searching for a nice spot in the shade to take a break, and there was the most amazing coffee shop. So we stopped and got cappuccino and crema caffe (cold espresso frothed with cream, totally not healthy).

Feeling like we could manage the last climb and final 6 miles, we took off again. For this stretch, we had a lot of traffic, but the road was in good shape. We had to walk the last few hundred steep feet up to our B&B, but that was okay.

One reason we chose this little guest house was that it advertised a restaurant on site, but Andrea, our host, contacted us last week and said the restaurant would not be open while we were there and offered to drive us to an alternative in Genga, a few miles away. We thought that sounded just fine.

Andrea suggested we go a little early, and he gave us a short tour of the little village of Genga. He left us at La Taverna da Frassasi with instructions to message him for a ride back when we were done. We had the most amazing meal as we watched the ski darken.

Taking shelter from the storm on the porch of a hunting cabin.

This is the road. This is how we walk up the road.

This is also the road. This is how we ride up the road.

Our host, Andrea, had lived in London and spoke fluent English. He was an art history major and seemed eager to tell us about the buildings and people of the area.

Genga. There are a few more buildings on each side of this shot, but not many. It is a small village near the Frassasi Caves and Sanctuary, which are popular tourist destinations for Italians. We considered visiting them, but they closed before we arrived today. They open at 10:00 tomorrow, and take several hours to view, and we have a long day of riding ahead of us. We will just appreciate the beauty of the area, and keep on moving on.

The tiny village of Genga is tucked in a steep valley, with a Roman bridge, fortified tower, and little church.

Another view of the tower and bridge.

Ken watching the rain clouds gather. (The pictures are out of order in most of my posts because I am pulling them from both of our phones and they automatically sort in numbered order from each phone. If I try to arrange them manually in the blog, it takes forever and the formatting ends up weird. So, I'm just leaving them out of order.)

2026 Italy, Day 12: Assisi, Night 7 of 7

If you would like to see details about our journey, check out our itinerary and our bike route.

On our last day in Assisi, we took a train to Passignano, a small town on Lago di Trasimeno. After a quick breakfast at a cafe not far from the train station, we took a ferry to Isola Maggiore, an island with a very small fishing village, a castle ruin, and a stone church. We peeked inside an old house that is now a museum that was not open, walked up the one street to see the ancient stone houses, and ended up at Da Sauro, a restaurant with a patio on the lake and a set menu of pesce (fish) dishes. We relaxed, slowed way down, and just enjoyed the quiet on this no-cars little island.

After lunch, we had just a few minutes before our ferry back to Passignano, where we caught the next train to Assisi. We finished our last night with pizza and focaccia in Piazza del Comune, then walked down a narrow new-to-us street where we discovered several great small markets and bought food for breakfast and lunch the next day.

It was good to have a week in Assisi, but we are ready to move on. Two days and a night biking the hills of Umbria are waiting for Ken and me, and a night in Pesaro, a fishing and beach village on the Adriatic, is waiting for Meghan. We will meet up again in Ancona in a couple of days.

Ken captured this graffiti showing anti-US sentiments. We have not encountered any negativity in person.

Meghan on the train to Passignola.

Meghan near the ferry pier in Passignola.

Leaving the pier in Passignola, aboard the ferry for Isola Maggiore.

Ken and Meghan on the ferry.

Approaching Isola Maggiore.

An old house in the village on the island, now a museum.

Ken and Meghan loving the quiet of the carless street through the village.

The flower-decked patio of the restaurant where we ate lunch.

Meghan and an old stone building.

On the island, pheasants run free like feral cats.

2025 Italy, Day 11: Assisi, Night 6 of 7

If you would like to see details about our journey, check out our itinerary and our bike route.

We awoke to another warm, sunny day, perfect for hiking up the hill to the Rocca Maggiore. Once inside the fortress, Ken and I snaked our way through a long stone corridor to a polygonal tower on the northwestern corner, and climbed to the terrace at the top of the tower to look out over the surrounding olive groves, villas, and farm fields. As we stood taking in the views, we heard choral music from the lawn of the basilica below. Magical.

We ate lunch at Bar Giardino San Lorenzo, halfway down the hill from the fortress. It was a small family-owned restaurant with a terrace looking out over the city. The food was not great, but we had a lovely, shaded table in the breeze.

In the afternoon, Ken and I walked down to the Pinacoteca Comunale in the Palazzo Vallemani, a municipal art gallery with frescoes and paintings from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, gathered from the city's secular and religious buildings. It included works by unknown local artists, as well as more famous painters including Giotto (or a collaborator), Guido, and Puccio Capanna. The collection was small, easy to assimilate. One room of frescoes reminded me very much of the dining room in an abbey outside Pienza, where the monks invited Ken and me to join them for dinner on our first trip to Italy, 23 years ago. The paintings had faded over the years and the colors were soft and calming.

In the evening, we joined Meghan on her passeggiare, strolling down to the piazza in front of the Basilica di Santa Chiara. As we gazed out over the valley, we watched a small rainstorm move toward us, and the evening light turned golden and then brown and green. We retreated into the maze of little alleyways and narrow steps, reaching our apartment just as the downpour hit the roofs.

The Rocca Minore, or small fortress, as viewed in closeup from the Rocca Maggiore.

Looking out over the valley from inside the main courtyard of the Rocca Maggiore.

Meghan.

In a couple of days, Ken and I will be cycling up this valley toward Genga-Pianello.

A secure corridor through a long stone wall leads to a polygonal tower with a terrace.

If you look closely, you can see people gathered on the steps of the Papal Basilica, in front of the open doors from which we heard the sounds of music as we stood atop the polygonal tower.

The week we were in Assisi, a music festival was held outside the walls of the Rocca Maggiore. The Sunday morning we were at the fortress, workers were setting up for the final concerts, scheduled to begin at 17:30. We tried to get tickets, but they were sold out.

More stone buildings, stone streets, near our apartment.

On Sundays, the kennel where our Rosie is staying posts photos of all the dogs. Rosie already looks so much older than she did when we left her there two weeks ago!

It seems we are always looking for food...

Antique carousel in the piazza at the Basilica di Santa Chiara.

An impending rainstorm turned the sky gold.

The Basilica di Santa Chiara glows in the cloudy bright light.

Outer walls of the convent at the basilica.

Looking back toward the Papal Basilica of Saint Francis.

One of many old fountains in the walls of Assisi.

A maze of windy streets and alleyways brought us back to  our apartment as the storm approached.

We were intrigued by this little ristorante tucked into an alley near our apartment--but we ran out of time and never ate there.

Another view of the valley Ken and I will cycle out of Assisi.

Typical Umbrian countryside, from the top of the polygonal tower.

Me, hiking down from the Rocca Maggiore.

Meghan needed to check out this pasticceria.

Me and Meghan in the piazza outside Santa Chiara.

The storm approaching.