As checkin was not until 3pm we set the GPS for Rimini Centro found a parking area and ventured into the old town arriving around 11.00am.
We took directions from a helpful young lady and arrived at a cavernous Piazza Cavour
As we moved further into the town we found what appeared to be the main piazza bustling with people as it was the weekly Saturday market with plenty of stalls through the town mainly selling women’s clothing.
We had lunch in a caffe (today a piada which is the equivalent in these parts of a piadina) before returning to the car to move to our accommodation which is approximately 5km down the coast. Getting the car out of the carpark was something of a mission as it was one of those carparks where the barrier opens once the system has automatically read the registration number that was manually entered into the machine on arrival but it did not recognise the reg number and so the barrier stayed firmly down, there being no attendant on site to assist and the “call here in an emergency” system at the gate didn't raise anyone either.
We therefore reparked the car and went and purchased another ticket - why this time it cost €3 when it was €1 when we brought the last one is a mystery - and then drove up to the barrier which, thankfully, this time opened.
Got to the hotel which is 50m back from the beach area and checked in before taking a walk. The atmosphere is very much like the Gold Coast but on steroids and the beach “Riviera Romagnola” is said to be 15kms long - each portion of the beach being individually numbered, their being about 250 of them each privately managed, and each consists of beachside changing cubicles, hired umbrellas and hired loungers and a mass of people using them. The area is Italy’s biggest beach resort and is famous all over Europe, hosting over 1000 hotels.
We had a walk along the shore - water acceptably warm - from beach 128 to beach 148, and there were umbrellas and people as far as the eye could see.
There were rental pedo-boats available on every beach
As we walked we saw a sign indicating that the “free beach” was further along so as we left the beach at 148 Sherry asked a girl in the kiosk whether one needed to pay to swim and we were told that you are obliged to either rent a lounger or an umbrella at €20 to access the beach!!! We will need to devise a strategy to get around that as paying close to $NZD40 to have a swim in God’s ocean doesn’t sit well!
Sam, the following photo is the “rescue craft” used by the life guards here and is a far cry from Red Beach’s IRB that you use!
Tomorrow we plan to take a trip to San Marino
Kms driven to date 3006
Kms walked to date 431.9
Spent on Diesel €203.66
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
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