Day 4: Rimini

Tuesday was without doubt the most relaxed day of the holiday so far. We were up at 7am but didn't have to catch a train until 9.35, so enjoyed some time lazing around in the apartment before heading out to the station to catch the regional train to Rimini. There are lots of trains which run between Bologna and Rimini, but only one per hour which is regional (= slow) and therefore cheap. Having timed our arrival for this train to perfection, we were somewhat frustrated to find that it didn't arrive at its appointed time and there was no announcement as to either the reason for or the length of the delay. Other people seemed to know something we didn't, as there was a steady stream of new travellers continuing to emerge onto the already crowded platform, despite the fact that they should by rights have missed the train on the basis of arriving after its scheduled departure time.

One unannounced platform change later, we finally succeeded in boarding the train, just 20 minutes later than initially hoped. When we arrived in Rimini an hour and a half later, we were pleasantly surprised to find that there was no question of getting lost on a quest to find the town centre, due to the useful innovation of a tourist information centre with free maps next door to the station. The map indicated that the old town and the seaside were in opposite directions, so we decided to explore the town before lunch and head to the beach in the afternoon.

Rimini turned out to be much larger than I had imagined and there was so much to see and do in the town itself that the fact that it was by the seaside turned out to be almost an irrelevance. There were beautiful buildings, an enormous town gate to the old town and a large park complete with a lake and ducklings.

We managed to break our run of bad luck in the lunch department and found a lovely little restaurant where we sat outside with some lasagne and a carafe of white wine. That's what holidays should be like!

Radio sitting on the ruined wall that marks the edge of town:

We head off the beaten track and a lake emerged:

The lake was of a fair size and we saw families of ducks going about their day, one mother duck frantically calling her wayward ducklings to her in total disregard of the fact that they were unable to swim against the current!

Coming back from the lakes we walked outside the beautiful city walls ...

... until we found the north gate:

Radio posing by the north gate back into the city:

We soon encountered the main square ...

... which was bordered along one side by this imposing building ...

... and this statue of a fairly imposing man:

A pretty clock:

One of the churches:

A striking yellow building:

Rimini is full of menus and posters written in Russian:

The coast, when we eventually made our way there, proved to be quite built up and busy. A succession of posh hotels seemed to have sectioned off bits of the beach which were presumably private and only supposed to be accessed by hotel guests. We accidentally trespassed into one of these areas at one point, but luckily no one seemed to notice or mind. The beach was wonderfully sandy though - so much so that I was shaking sand out of my shoes for days to come - and it was exciting to see the Adriatic from the opposite side for the first time.

Overall the atmosphere in Rimini was lovely and it was definitely somewhere we would like to go back to. Rimini is the departure point for the bus to San Marino, so we may indeed be returning to it in a couple of days’ time.

The lighthouse and ferris wheels indicate that we're on the right path: