When I arrive in a city, the first thing I want to do is taste it. That's what happened in Montagnana, a city I have wanted to visit since I saw its medieval walls on an Italian stamp over thirty years ago.
But back to the beginning of this segment:
I arrived in Pescara and stayed at a B&B a short walk from the Porta Nuova train station. The Dimora Novecento is very comfortable, great service, eggs freshly made to order at breakfast, and a 15-20 minute walk into the centromere storico. I was continuing to work, so I didn't see much of the city.
A few days later, back to the train station to get to Ancona (with train changes in L'Aquila and Sulmona. I had no time to visit my beloved L'Aquila, but there are more cranes along the skyline than last year, so it's rebirth is flourishing after the devastating earthquake in 2009. The train station in Sulmona has one of the best tavola calda I've ever seen: four or five primi, as many secondi, and a dozen contorni choices.
Ancona: It's a surprisingly charming town, with bus stops linking the major piazze. My hotel, however, was at the third flight of stairs (I counted 58 of them). A very nice stranger took my suitcase up to the hotel entrance. I breathlessly arrived a minute later. The hotel is more of a business hotel, but well-located, except for the stairs. There is, alternatively, a traffic ramp that goes around the back. Fortunately, Cafe Veneto is near the foot of the stairs, offering a choice of home-made pastas, secondi, and contorni. Delicious mini-panini for one euro each, and an array of pastries. The Piazza Roma fountains lead to a piazza filled with restaurants, and on a side street is Bonte de Marche pizzeria (it's full restaurant is in that Piazza), the best thin-crust pizza ever, sold in gigantic slices cut from an enormous round pie.
Vicenza is another gem, I walked around the centro storico every day, but was finishing my project so spent a lot of time at the B&B, to which I will not return.