BEACH TIME!!!!! Falconara, Italy

5 AM came wayyyyy too early.  4 hours of sleep doesn’t cut it for me, but hey… at least we made it to the 5:45 bus to Terni.  Once in Terni, we waited for the 6:55 train.  I decided to get one pound cake thing, a crossiant filled with cream, a bottle of water and a delicious bottle of juice.  Paul handed me his awesome camera and ordered me to take pictures.  Do I really need to be commanded to take pictures?  I think not.  Well… maybe when I’m super tired. I made up for the lack of sleep by napping on the 3 hour train ride.  At one point, my head was bobbing so low, and I was rapidly woke up by my head subconsciously violently snapping up – I’m surprised I did not break the sound barrier.

susan and i pretending to be pacha and kuzko from Emperor's New Groove haha

We made it to Falconara Beach(a town right outside of Ancona on the east coast) at 10, and all we had to do was literally take a bridge across the train tracks and hit the beach.  We picked up our first small lunch on the way and walked out to the jetty to experience the waves.  There were TONS of little crabs hanging out on the rock, just chillin – but that wasn’t all.  Apparently crabs eat fish.  We saw about 5 of them DESTROYING a fish – refer to the video. 

crab!

The new of course ate more food – seafood risotto was DELICIOUS.  For the next 4 hours, the sand, sun and saltwater became my best friends.  It was absolutely amazing.  When I woke up from my final nap, I realized how red I was.  Yes, I am sun burnt for the first time this year. 

Candid shot... I don't like it, but thought you guys might get a kick out of it

I took photos of the beach, of course, and discovered a few things: Italian beaches are one of a kind.  Yes, the rumors are true: speedos are as common among men as bikinis are among women.  Children run around naked.  Beaches have umbrellas and chairs everywhere, but you have to pay 5 euro to use it… or even to put down your stuff on the sand.  Free beaches are intense, but serve their purpose well.  Algae is present until the tide comes in and stirs up the water.  I’m pretty sure I stepped on a dead crab when I was walking out into the water.  The water is WARMER than the California coast. And pretty much – it was great.  No complaints here… and that’s saying a lot, considering the density of speedos.

From farther back on the beach

The flowers here are EVERYWHERE and absolutely Beautiful!

Paradise on the east coast of Italy

changing rooms

We found another charming place to eat, about 1 block away from the train station, and began our 3 hour trek home. When we finally got to Terni, we had to SPRINT to the bus stop, as the bus was 1 minute away from leaving.  Pulling back into San Gemini around 11 PM, I realized that I had only one day left in this small town.  Sad day…  I’m going to miss this peaceful, charming place!