Forces of Nature...

This weekend my classmate Marchi (Czech) and I went to Senigallia, a small city on the Adriatic coast, famous for its 'Velvet Beach'. A quaint Italian town (pop. 30,000 if you must know) with a beach that was on par with Miami without the high prices. Pretty darn nice.

We went without train nor hotel reservations (though I had my reservations about that-- sorry for the stupid pun), and we were promptly notified that the EuroStar train we wanted to take was sold out. Not wanting to wait another 3 hours for the next train, we hopped it all the same and sat in the exit vestibule thingee. Whatever, we made it. Kind of annoying that it takes 3 hours and 3 trains to get to a place that should take no longer than 2 hours but, yea, see my previous comments on the Italian train system, also known as the bane of my existence.































The first pic is the view from our hotel room, the next is the nice fountain in the center of the city. (and woah! me in a bikini! eh!?) Speaking of hotel, I walked into the first hotel I set eyes on and absolutely had to book a room when I found out the name was Hotel Beau Rivage, coincidentally the same name of the hotel where my family and I used to stay in every summer in Wildwood, NJ. :) (Both hotels are fantastic, by the way.)

Anyway, I have never experienced such a scorching beach in all my life. I'm a total beach bum; I love lying on the beach until I absolutely cannot stand the heat any longer then I dive deliriously into the water (hands in the air and all...just like a madwoman, I swear)...Usually takes a good 3 hours to get to that point. But in Senigallia, I was in the water every half hour. The sea is nothing short of gorgeous, just as one imagines the Italian Adriatic riviera (can I say that?) to be.

I couldn't help but laugh when I realized that, at night, the same exact thing happens wherever you go in Italy. People get all dressed up and they walk. And walk. And then they get an espresso. Maybe a gelato too. And then they walk some more. The same skeevy guys give catcalls, the same Marucchini sell crappy jewelry in kiosks at the sides of the main roads. Still, it was nice. Especially being next to the sea.

On the way back, (here comes another train story...joy!) the 2nd train was overcrowded with no air conditioning. So naturally, the passengers opened every possible window, which were many. However, I realized that physics was working against us because despite (and because of) the high speed of the train, no air was actually coming into the carriages. Just a whole lot of noise. Only when we arrived at or took off from the various train stops did nice breezes allay us suffering passengers. I can safely say it was about 85 to 90 inside the train. Oh, and then the doors wouldn't open once we did arrive at the 2nd connection station. I swear Trenitalia is conspiring against me.

However, on the last leg of our trip, we came into a huge storm that covered the land as far as we could see. Since the landscape consists of rolling mountains covered in forests and patches of vineyards and wheatfields, it was quite a sight to watch spikes of lightning pierce the mountaintops. Somehow, Umbria is just as beautiful with a storm hanging overhead as it is with blue skies and sun.