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Day 2 - Sat 19 Sept 09
The train got in about a half an hour late at 06:30 it's only just getting light, so I have no problem with the delay. I dropped my bag off at left luggage (€4 for five hours), and then walked into the city. The place is virtually deserted, which is nice. The main drag (and lots of others) have portico's there are supposed to be 43km of them. They do offer shade from the sun, but you can walk straight pass the towers that the city is famous for.
Had a good wander around but because it was so early a lot of things were shut, but I did manage to get two breakfasts. Got back to the station at about 09:00 and managed to blag my way into the Eurostar lounge, which was no great shakes, but it was quiet and comfortable.
Made it over to Platform 6 only to find out, about five minutes before my train was due to depart, that there are TWO platform 6's, and I was at the wrong one! A bit of a run gets me to the right place. The train arrives on time and I find my first class seat (well it was only a few euro's more). The AC in the carriage is right down, so I end up falling asleep. Eventually someone gets it cranked up and it gets very cold.
The train hacks down the coast so I get good views of the Adriatic. The train arrives on time in Ancona, and I walk down to the port. Hang around until 14:30 when the left luggage office opens. Although I'm at the terminal building from where the boat will leave this evening, the ticket office has moved to the other terminal building which is back towards the train station! Luckily there's a free shuttle bus to get me there. The Blueline office is shut until 15:30 - which in Italy means more like 16:00. I exchange my Internet ticket for a boarding pass and then head back on the bus into town.
The tourist information lady wishes she had my accent and I wish I had hers! Very nice. I climbed up the hill behind the town and had a look in the cathedral at the top There was a wedding taking place. Headed back down into town and found a place setting slices of pizza - yummy.
Back to the port, collect my bag, and go through customs and immigration. I'm aboard by 17:00 only to find that my cabin has one bed, and it's already got someone in it! I'm told that I should be able to get something after we've sailed. Not Happy!
In the end it all turned out okay, at about 20:15 when it was obvious no one else was going to board I went up to the purser had a bit of a chat. For €27 I got an external with it's own shower all to myself. I took a shower did a clothes wash, and headed for bed. Quite tired really - don't know why!
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