Rimini, Italy

Winter in Melbourne is thankfully not as harsh as in the Northern Hemisphere. Today's Saturday activities kicked off with a boxing class at the local gym and then a few hours playing tourist in Melbourne's Docklands and St Kilda Beach. Both activities parallel with the subject of this blog - a throwback to August 2015 when we visited the seaside resort of Rimini on route to the dockside port of Ancona.
Rimini sits on the east coast of Italy where it meets the Adriatic Sea. Famous for kilometres of beach and thousands of umbrellas, it is the playground of locals and tourists enjoying the long hours of Mediterranean Summer sunshine.

Train ride to Rimini
After two days viewing mosaics in Ravenna, we woke up early on Day 9 of our Big Trip to walk to the train station to catch our ride to Rimini. The main motivation to visiting this town was not just to enjoy some moments by the coast, but to allow us to reach the micro-country of San Marino - a short bus ride away.

Catching the train from Ravenna train station

Checking In
On arrival at the central station, we followed Google's directions and walked about 30 minutes to our Bed and Breakfast - located in a quiet area by the beach and surrounded by service apartments. When we found our accommodation - Albergo Serafini, we had probably approached it from the wrong street. An unimpressive view of the carpark and a slightly anxious feeling when we couldn't work out where the reception was located. A quick phone call brightened our spirits as we were instructed to come around the back, up the stairs and check in.

The back entrance to the bed and breakfast

Our room was located on the top floor of the building. Thankfully a small lift ensured we didn't have to hike up the stairs with our bags. The view from the balcony gave us a panorama of the nearby hotels and helped us to pinpoint our proximity from the beach.

Visiting Italy during the summer peak is not cheap and we had booked many months ahead to secure a basic room - clean sheets, simple breakfast, timid wifi  - that didn't worry us as we still had our UK phone contracts that allowed unlimited mobile phone data in Europe for a small fee

Seafood feast
The long walk from the station had worked up our appetites and being by the coast, we hoped to find a seafood restaurant. But without wanting to walk back into town, we stumbled by a small cafe that served pasta and fried mixed seafood at reasonable prices. Washed down with beer, it was a memorable lunch.

Exploring the Beach
In the late afternoon when the strong sun had hidden behind clouds, we made our way to the beach.
Adults were gathered in groups around the sunbeds keeping an eye on children running around in the shallow water or building sandcastles. It was the family-friendly atmosphere that reminded us of the Australian holiday parks in Lakes Entrance or Merimbula.

 

After a stroll around the beach and the local marina, the only scenic landmark was a large Ferris Wheel in the distance. 

The Marina

As we waited for sunset, a rowdy party boat of waving passengers sailed by. Had we allocated more time in Rimini, we most likely would have found ourselves doing a cruise along the coast. 

Locals enjoying the evening

Watching the sunset

As we were quite tired, we didn't head out to explore the neighbourhood at night. In terms of atmosphere, we didn't seem to miss out - with loud music and fireworks echoing all around in celebration of Ferragosto - an Italian holiday celebrated on the 15th of August that was first introduced in 18 BC by the Roman Emperor Augustus. The day also coincides with the Catholic feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

After San Marino
The next day we spent most of the morning in the nearby Republic of San Marino, ticking off another country on the list and will be detailed in a separate blog post.

Arriving back in the late afternoon, we decided to walk along the river bank that emptied into the sea. Another bad decision where we forgot to take into account that long grass with fresh water at sunset translates to swarms of biting mosquitoes. At least the street artwork along the way was worth the walk.

Our last meal in Rimini was simple - a folded pizza called a 'calzone' and a plate of pasta at the cafe that we had visited the day before.

Next blog post:

Republic of San Marino

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