I won't lie, if I didn't have a reason to Visit, Ancona probably wouldn't have been too high up on my list of places to visit in Italy.

Turns out, I did have a reason to visit (a friend lives close to the city), and to my surprise, Ancona had a lot more to offer than I initially thought. I didn't know too much about the city, except that it was on the coast, and that there are a lot of ships. These two proved correct, and maybe my lack of preparation worked in my favour, as I had limited expectations of what I'd see during my visit.

I'd had 4 weeks in Bologna, and after saying goodbye to the girlfriend (who was going to visit her mum in Reggio Emilia), I boarded my train for the 2 and a half hour journey to Ancona. I'm a big fan of the train system in Italy, especially compared to the UK, and the second half of this journey is incredibly picturesque, taking you down the Italian coast, adjacent to the Adriatic Sea.

I'd booked a pretty basic hotel, but thankfully for me, it was right opposite the train station. After idiotically deciding to Walk from the station in Bologna to my accommodation, I'm now going to pay a lot more attention to how far I actually have to carry my two travel bags. I'm travelling a lot lighter than I did in Spain, but it's still no fun to walk for a long duration in the hot sun.

I checked in, chilled out for a little while, and headed towards the cathedral in Ancona. My friend wasn't free until the evening, so I had time to have a walk for a few hours. The walk was quite long, and hilly, but I was impressed with what I was seeing. It was also nice and quiet, as I think a lot of Italians were still on their holidays.

I made my way up more steps and hills, and found the cathedral, which is certainly amongst the more impressive I've seen during this trip. It's not particularly big, but beautifully designed, and again, it was nice and quiet inside.

There was an opportunity to visit the crypt inside, and the serene vibe certainly contributed to the overall atmosphere. Outside, there are simply incredible views over Ancona, the port, and the Adriatic.

I then made my way to the centre of Ancona, where the main shopping district is, and found a lovely piazza, with an interesting feature underneath a church. I could see people heading in to a dark tunnel, and quickly heading back, so naturally had to have an explore. You get to some railings, and it's pitch black after that, but thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I was able to use my flash to take a lovely photo of the crystal clear water lying in the tunnel.

I wasn't particularly interested in shopping, so started the long walk back to the hotel, stumbling across some lovely streets and views on my way. I was pleasantly surprised by Ancona, and it was nice to experience a place I really didn't have any expectations about.