Rimini, on the Adriatic Coast, and San Marino
- Ian
- Apr 16, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: May 6, 2024
13 April 2024
For our last meal in Bologna we decided to head to 'eat street' and have a feast of pasta. We strolled past a shop we went into on our first night, Mandy admiring all the hand-made pastas and chatting with the ladies who operated the premises. She was sure that she'd seen the shop in a Rick Stein show where he is amazed, as Mandy was, about the pasta so they take him upstairs and cook for him. The shop is astounding with dozens of displays of dozens of pasta varieties, amongst other delicacies. The front window display is pictures below; just gobsmacking.
The next day started with packing, then breakfast on the street on which we were staying; weekends must mean less traffic as cafe vendors lay their tables & chairs out on the road, delicately balanced on cobble-stones. I noticed an interesting method of moving that removalists just down the road were utilising; similar to a roofing tile lift but larger & could carry furniture to windows instead of carrying items up stairs; very clever! (see photo)
It was then that I had a light bulb moment, while trying to work out how to get a taxi to Bologna Centrale station: UBER. And with that, we were booked via my phone and 22 minutes later, Stefano and his lovely Audi A6 arrived, and we were off. Some 20 minutes later, while passing numerous sections of ancient walling that we hadn't seen in our travels, we arrived at the Centrale Station. But the walled sections piqued my interest, so I searched the internet to find out more about these, obviously very old, fortifications.
Apparently there were three sets of city walls that protected Bologna, all constructed at different times, the earliest believed to have been constructed around 189 B.C, about the same time that the Romans settled in the area, who called the new city Bononia. There is interesting reading in the 2 links below, I won't go into it, without sounding like some know-it-all.
For more on the walls and maps thereof, see these 2 website below:
We waited, as is now custom, with the other local passengers travelling anywhere & everywhere, at the large display boards until our platform number came up; and off to Platform 6 we went to await out train. After heaving our cases onboard we found our Economy seats in the Premium section and were served refreshments while sitting in leather seats; who's to argue with what our ticket said?
The countryside flew past at 178kph, as verdant as anything we'd seen anywhere in the World, crops & vineyards taking up every acre available while being overlooked by the mountains to the south travelling down the Italian spine.
It was only 55 minutes between Bologna and Rimini, with 1 stop, and a short 300 metre stroll, suitcase in tow, to the Card International Hotel; railway station up the road one way and town centre up the road the other, central again! We checked in, unzipped the cases and changed into some summer clothes as the day was already 26 degrees and sunny.
Heading back via the station, our untimate goal the beach, we ambled down a couple of streets until we came across the river and a nice pathway, though shared with bicycles. Private yacht moorings changed into a fishing fleet docking closer to the river-mouth followed by the 18th century, white, 27 metre high lighthouse, whose light shines for more than 15 miles. Built on the foundations of an older lighthouse, erected in 1754 and was destroyed during the 2nd World War.
We wondered why a crowd had gathered and found out that it is only open to the public
on special occasions such as Sea Day on 11 April, though today is the 13th it may have carried over the weekend, or for special guided tours.
We continued on towards the beach and came across the Routa Panoramica, the Ferris wheel in English, which was looking very bleak with no passengers. 10 euro each and were loaded into one of the gondola carriages, which seated 6 I'd say. Now, I'm sure that I've mentioned previously, maybe not during this trip but some other, that I have a fear of heights (if I haven't before, I have now). Mandy finds this most entertaining, especially when we stop at the top of the trip and swing in the breeze. The view, however, is spectacular up and down the coast bordering the Adriatic Sea; not really a Sea we'd considered previously but here we are. This part of Italy is a massive summer destination with something like 70 kilometres of wide, sandy beaches just waiting for Italian butts to be placed on it, and they currently are. Nothing like the height of summer but a lot nonetheless. Graders are parked towards the back of the beach, marked areas denote who has what section to cater lounges and umbrella's for however many Euros per day; a small fortune is to be made to the right entrepreneur.
After returning to Earth and alighting, we found a lovely little bar across the road, the Havana, where refreshments were taken, and in Mandy case, taken again, and again.
There are numerous bar & restaurant set-ups on the sand but we decided to opt for one on our way back to the hotel.
The barmen were both fantastic and when we were ready, the owner, who follows the sun to New York and Miami, once summer is over in Italy, called us a taxi, save walking in the heat. The hunt then began for a supermarket, for essentials, for the mini-bar fridge in our room. A change of clothes later & out for a nice pasta dinner, when in Rome, at Bar Tazza dÓro, very cheap price & delicious, then bed.
14 April 2024
Mandy had been doing some basic research and found some things she wanted to see in Rimini, so after breakfast we headed out, down the same street the hotel's on towards the 'old town', some 300 metres away. The day was starting off beautifully, light breeze and a top temperature around 25 degrees predicted. We walked to the Piazza Tre Martini, a large handsome plaza with shops, cafes and some barricades lining down the centre. There was a 'fun walk' happening for some reason, but I fail to see thee fun in the walk, but Mandy assures me that it is there, just harder to find for me.
A quick shopping spree in Danish shop in an Italian seaside resort with John Paul Young playing over the shop PA, an out-of-body-experience with we picked up a carrot sharpener; the lucky door prize for one Weiry Traveller reader; might not be steak knives but who wouldn't want this!! Competition rules & how to enter shortly!
Out of the shop & down the Corso d'Augusto to the Augustus Arch where we are informed that the Arch was built by the Roman Senate to glorify the emperor, Octavian Augustus and is one of the gates to a Roman City, not an honorary arch.
This gate, a symbol of the propaganda promoting peace & stability, was a section of the walls that was always left open; there were no enemies to fight. It's ruination was due to another Emperor from 1937. What's left of the wall are section that meander through the centre of a residential area one side and a park the other. If you follow it west you'll come across the anfiteatro, ampitheatre, that has obviously struggled to survive over the years.
We return to the station to buy tickets for the bus to take us to San Marino tomorrow, sorted, then back to the Piazza Tre Martini & lunch at Bar Dovesi which was fantastic, Tortellini in prosciutto & cream while Mandy had Penne Arabiatta, which was quite warm courtesy of the enormous amount of chilli.
Time then for a relax in the sun on our rooftop terrace overlooking the city, this hotel is great value. Plus Mandy is so happy to be back in a hotel after our Bologne AirBnB sweat-box with stairs and no tea towels.
15 April 2024 SAN MARINO
Up & at ém early as we had to breakfast downstairs then head to the bus station, only 300 metres away, but wanted to be there early to ensure we got good seats for the drive to San Marino!!! The sunrise over the Adriatic was spectacular and augured well for the remainder of the day, 25 degrees forecast in San Marino & 27 degrees on the coast. I took a zoomed in photo of a mountain inland from our hotel only to discover later, when we were on our way, that it was our destination.
The bus collected us from across the road from the railways station and drove around the fringes of Rimini picking up at various stops. 20 minutes later we were actually in the lower ground level of San Marino, then started our mountain climb, hairpin bends and guardrail-free, couple of hundred metre free-fall drops on one side. Nonetheless, the driver could probably have driven this route in his sleep given how adept he was.
We were dropped at a mass bus stop and left to fend for ourselves; with no ýou are here' on any information boards, we headed off. Feeling like sheep we eventually broke away from the pack and made our way inside the defensive wall of the City of San Marino, the country's capital city, located atop Monte Titano, located on the north-eastern side of the Apennine Mountains, at 749 metres.
The fifth-smallest country in the world with a land area of just over 61 km2 , it has a population of 33,660, as of 2022, with the capital hosting around 4600 residents. It is probably the oldest existing republic in the World and was founded in 301.
We meandered through cobblestone streets, climbed stairs and passed huge stone walls until we came across a beautiful lawn, complete with statues then the Crossbowmens Quarry & Loggias (look it up). Now I can't quite remember but I know that I have seen this range previously on television, maybe an Anthony Bourdain show; can't confirm 100% but I know I've seen it. The quarry was used after the crossbow tournaments, had been staged from around 1339, moved from the Pianello (the main square) to this location. Stone was extracted from the last twenty years of the 19th century and used for the reconstruction of the Public Palace.
We started towards the First Castle and, noticing how steep the walk was, headed up the road to the Second Tower and our comeuppance; a long steep walk to reach it. A couple of pit (breathe) stops along the way and we finally made it, and what a spectacular we found. Looking back to the First Tower, across the lower lands to the Adriatic Sea and inland to the view in the panoramic photo above.
Making our way down to the lower levels, we zigged and zagged our way down streets, stairs and finally fumbled our way back to the near the bus stop where we had a nice lunch (with very few options available) and hopped back onto the bus for our journey home.
Mandy is currently recharging on the bed while I'm typing away. We've both knackered from today's excursion with aching legs from the 3 hours of climbing & descending cobblestone streets. We have a whole day of nothing tomorrow and as Mandy keeps reminding me "only 7 years until river cruises"; what an incentive!
16 April 2024
While returning from San Marino in the coach yesterday, Mandy & I watched the digital thermometer rise the further we got back to sea level, ending up at 32 degrees. But it just didn't feel like it when we alighted. European temperature is different to Australian temperature, maybe they don't have a big hole in the ozone above them, but it is nowhere near as hot as what we get at home.
As previously mentioned, our last day in Rimini was always going to be pretty lazy, we only had a couple of things to achieve. We potted around after breakfast then made our way to a design store we'd spotted previously, though it was closed. I sent an email to the shop and they replied that they'd be open in the morning, so off we went to buy a small souvenir for Mandys new kitchen, some beautiful chopping boards, if chopping boards can be beautiful, and these are. I spotted them and didn't think Mandy would appreciate them but I was pleasantly surprised, she's evolved a little bit more. We met Giuseppe, the designer (he was most happy with the purchase) then headed to the Post Office where we, very fortunately, found one lady who spoke a little bit of English; well enough to package and send our latest acquisition home for us, at a cost.
I wanted to take Mandy to the Grand Hotel, on the beach, so we grabbed a taxi at the station (yes, slack I know but my legs and feet were protesting about the cobble-stone abuse they suffered the previous day in San Marino) and was dropped off at the back entry to the hotel.
The Hotel was absolutely beautiful in an old world sense, (hit the link on the name to check-out the website). Large spaces filled with vintage photos of Federico Fellini (forgot to mention, there's the Fellini Museum in Rimini as well, but we didn't go there), who used to reside there in a corner room , furniture to suit, (probably original), curved-door telephone booths in the hallways, and incredible gardens; all this and a private beach club across the road, unfortunately not set up yet for summer. We found a nice area off one of the bars and partook in some afternoon refreshments, Mandy some wine and a soft drink for myself. A Viennese lady's Shih Tzu took offence at us looking at his swimming pool though was licking us both after a couple of seconds. I think the lady was the only guest at the hotel, the only one we saw. She was delightful, her last day being spent catching some sun in a wind-free corner or the lido area, the pool roped off for pristine appearance once the 'season' opened.
A quiet stroll along the beach promenade, a taxi home then a stroll to the main plaza to find some dinner. Though in the morning, the weather App had been predicting doom and gloom for Rimini however nothing appeared to eventuate, until later in the day when we were having dinner, well a sort of dinner; more like leftovers , at the Bar Dovesi. Skies to the west started getting darker though appeared like they would miss us. We started back to the hotel, bumped into Giuseppe leaving his shop, then the wind hit us, dust, leaves, flotsam & jetsam slapping our faces. Once back at our room, still clearing our eyes of gunck, the view from our deck showed us the full extent of the storm; it had gone around Rimini but engulfed San Marino and the mountains to the east and hit further up the coast to the west.
17 April 2024
We awoke to a far cooler day and another market down the street out the front of the hotel; nothing worth buying, so we headed to the station, bags in tow. The train back to Bologna was running late about 15 minutes, but once on board it raced across the beautiful verdant countryside we'd passed on the way to the coast. Something to eat in Bologna and we boarded the train to Verona, home of Rome & Juliet. (more to read in the Verona post).
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