Todays gelato flavour - Biscotti We had needed to get back to the east coast again, after visiting Lucca,so that we could make our run up the coast towards Venice and then on around to Croatia over the next 7 to 10 days.Rivabella,a beach resort town near Rimini was gearing itself up for the coming summer season and we got a good deal at the Marylise Hotel and as it turned out a room with a sea view.The only thing that didn't quite work out for us was the size of the room and we found we were tripping over each other and our suitcases as we tried to get by in the 3mt x 4mt space.We did joke though that this could be our lot when its time to leave our home for a rest ... read more

Todays gelato flavour(s) ,yes I indulged in two today - Fragola(rich in strawberries,yum) and Malaga(rum and raisin) The surprises keep coming for us as we travel around Italy and today there was another that we certainly didn't expect but more about that later. Breakfast was another rather 'sombre' occasion with no background music to soften the room sound a bit.Every time one got up to check the toast etc the chair legs made an awful noise on the tiled floor and you had the sense the others in the room all stared.It got to a point that we picked the chair up with hands under the seat so the legs didn't scrape the tiles. The German couple were back again from yesterday morning.They look so serious that you want to suggest they lighten up on life.We ... read more

Now I mentioned yesterday that Gretchen said she wasn’t going to leave the place we arrived at last night in the Umbrian countryside and this morning when I opened the shutters to let the sun and the sounds of the birds in the garden into our room and admired the countryside, even I was convinced along with her. This really was like the places you see in the tour brochures that encourage you to take a visit to Umbria and soak up the ambience and relax. What a life the owners of these places must have! Our overnight stay had been in an apartment that was one of 5 in the main building of an old farm house that had been converted for accommodation. The apartment had a large bedroom, separate toilet and shower as well ... read more

Todays gelato flavour = No gelato today but substituted with two delicious Italian sweet treats and cappuccinos in a stylish setting Back to the 1m x 1m shower cubicle with the wobbly sliding half doors this morning and to add to our showering experience was a semi rigid shower hose that came out of the wall opposite to where the shower head was resulting in a tussle with the hose as you turned in the cubicle.At least there was plenty of hot water. Although our room at the B&B was clean and tidy it was very basic and no comparison for value to the B&B Nacore of last night and it was another €4.50 for the night.We decided that pilgrims will pay to get accommodation to be part of the Saint Pio experience. Being Sunday there ... read more

Gelato flavour of the day - missed out again but that might be good for the waistline We keep pinching ourselves as the day has started out fine and sunny again and we just hope that it keeps up for us as it is making travel that much more pleasureable. We had a good nights sleep and although the apartment was close to the SS106 the traffic volumes in the night must have been light as it didn't disturb us. With the sun on the terrace we moved our table outside and enjoyed breakfast including a boiled egg each,something we have managed to date having done with scrambled egg usually made in the microwave.We didn't have any egg cups so fashioned 'cups'from toilet paper and it worked a treat and we didn't burn our hands while ... read more