The Neighborhood

I thought that it might be nice to show some of the sights in the streets near our apartment.  This is the view taken outside from our balcony.  From this angle it looks pretty good.  Now to show the other directions.

This building is across the street from us.  Some of the bottom businesses are empty and others seem to be auto repair shops.  There are several of those near by.  The upper stories are some kind of institute or school.  We will confirm that next week when school starts.  It's very difficult to know where the schools are.  We don't see any play yards or signs.  They are just there.

This is the end of the street to our left.  Who knows where true north or south is because nothing is laid out in perpendicular and parallel streets.  We tell direction from the rising and setting of the sun. There is a car dealership to the left of the picture and we see them unloading cars from time to time

This is one of my favorites.  There are a lot of small things here,but this is one small thing I like.  I want to bring it home. I also have my eye on a little pickup thing.  I've yet to get a good picture of it.  It's basically a motorcycle with a framed body around it.

Here is a bigger version of the one I want.  They are so awesome.  I also like all of the motor scooters in town.  When Jesse served here many moons ago the missionaries had mopeds and motor scooter.  They were banned before he left the mission.  One elder even had his sent home because he was so attached to it.  It kind of makes our elders here a little envious as they walk or ride the bus.

This is the apartment building right next door to us.  We figure that it has around 60 apartments here.

To our right is the gym which sometimes plays loud music as we listen to them dropping their weights on the ground.  In the front of the picture are our garbage cans.  They require explanations.

The green is for glass and metal.  The brown, organico, is for the food scraps.  Black designates indifferenziata, miscellaneous.  White is for carte e cartone, paper and cardboard.  Last but not least is for plastico, plastic, which is always overflowing because everyone drinks bottled water. (It's very cheap)  You can have naturale or frizzante. (plain or carbonated)

Some places in town actually have to lock the garbage cans to stop street walkers from using their cans,  I love this concept.  At the elders apartment they have a electronic fob that unlocks their receptacles. That is pretty neat.

Across the street from the gym is a huge warehouse/hardware store.  It's busy all day long hauling stuff in and out.

Here are some of the prettier sites near by. Even though there are many high-rise apartments in Ancona there are still some single dwelling homes.  This is one of my favorites.

The entrances are wonderful.  Of course, they are all gated and locked.

These are found on the outside wall of one of the single dwelling homes on Palombare, two street over.  This home also has a gazebo and 2 satellite dishes on top.  There are huge chimneys or smoke stacks on the roof which reminds me of the exhaust flumes at Haren-Wood in Ontario for use during cremation.  Just saying.

This is Maggini, one of the few semi straight streets.  It is all up or downhill, depending on your perspective.

If you go up Maggini far enough you can find this structure hidden away just off the street behind a hedge.  It is very old and there are no signs to indicate what it once was. It has been preserved and set apart with this little garden.  Jesse's best guess is that it was used for grain storage.  There is a hole in the top and then the entrance that is visible here.

The little puffs of whatever were on the tree just outside our apartment.  They were there for a long time, dried up and blew away.  

We watched this cantaloupe plant grow during the summer and then last week someone picked the 3 unripe cantaloupe.  I sure hope they enjoy green fruit.  I guess they were afraid that someone else might get them first.  It was growing in a flower bed along the street.

Lastly, if you are ever in Ancona and want to look us up just follow the signs for Ancona Entrante.  We live right above it. It seems that this is the place where some kind of taxes are paid.  That is our balcony.  It runs along the entire 2 sides of our apartment.  People watching is a great past time from here. We love Tuesdays because the office is only open for 2 hours in the afternoon.  People come all day long and are disappointed because it is closed.