A day of two halves…

… today firstly looking around the shops in Rimini old town then a check of some of the historic sites in the area.

Rather than driving into Rimini we took the Metromare which effectively is a one lane busway into and out of Rimini serviced by modern trolley buses running at around 10 minute intervals.

With shops not opening till 10 and then closing again at around 12.30 for the siesta one doesn’t have too much time to check out the fare on offer across the city but I’m told that the shops were disappointing.

Rimini (Roman name Ariminum) was established in 268 BC which means that it is 2291 years old and not unsurprisingly the main tourist highlights are related to Roman times so we listed a couple and set off firstly to the Pont Di Tibero, a bridge constructed in Iberian stone in the period 14 - 21AD. It is 70 metres long on 5 arches placed on massive pillars.

Nearby, according to the tourist map is the birthplace of  Federico Fellini, who has been recognised as one of the greatest and influential filmmakers of all time, and even though his name appears everywhere in Rimini the tourist map places his birthplace house in a different location than it actually is and we don’t believe we found the correct property.

Then it was across town to Porta Montanara which dates back to the 1st century BC and is constructed from blocks of sandstone - in its day this door was access to the city from Via Aretina

Then following beside the Bastioni Meridionali we walked to the Arco d’Augusto which is the oldest preserved arch in Northern Italy and marks the entrance to the city for those arriving from the Flaminia, the route used from Rome to Rimini, and was erected in 27BC

Finally before returning to the Metromare station we passed the remains of the Anfiteatro Romano, rather uninspiring remains of a 2nd century AD Roman amphitheatre 

After arriving back at Rivazzurra where our hotel is located we had another swim at beach 128, again in tepid water.

Kms driven to date 3056

Kms walked to date 449.9

Spent on Diesel €226.02

Highest price paid to date for diesel €1.699 Verona

Lowest price paid to date for diesel €1.479 Freiburg

Spent on tolls €45.10