Craft Tour of Marche, Italy — Day 1

My flight was late leaving the New York area, which made our arrival in Rome late, cutting down from 20-plus hours to a brief 45 minutes the time that I had to clear passport control and security, and then find my gate for my connecting flight to Ancona. I made it to the domestic gate with little time to spare, but ready to jump aboard the plane, only to be shown to a shuttle bus that took me and the other passengers to a more remote area of the airport where the smaller aircraft was parked. Upon arrival in Ancona, I discovered that I made the connection but my luggage did not. It took an hour to file the report while my host, Ms. Paola Pianaroli, from the Italian Trade Commission waited patiently.

Suitcaseless,  I settled into the lovely Grand Palace Hotel overlooking the port harbor where cruise ships and ferries come and go. After a lovely lunch with some of the others in this delegation, I went out exploring the town a little even though I should have been resting. I first wandered down by the harbor but could not get near to the water, so I turned up to explore a little into the town, strolling up one of the shopping streets and browsing shop windows. Being Sunday, the shops were closed, but since it was such a beautiful day, there were many people out enjoying the day. 

Rather than just wander aimlessly, I decided to head toward the Cathedral San Ciriaco, a striking Romanesque structure on one of the highest points overlooking the harbor. There is quite a nice view from up there over the harbor and the town. The Cathedral is quite beautiful in its simplicity, lacking the ornate decoration of the high Renaissance. Just as I started to head back to the hotel, the bells began to toll, ringing out over the whole area. 

Back at the hotel, the group assembled for a fun dinner of pizza and getting to know each other. My suitcase finally arrived, so now I need not worry about a lack of wardrobe for the time that I am here.

Tomorrow we begin our tour of craft workshops to get a flavor of the handcrafted artistry in the region. We will be visiting goldsmiths, lacemakers, papermakers, ceramic artists while we are here.