Rimini and San Marino

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Thursday 7th April 2011

Back on the road today with a drive south down the coast, across the Po delta to the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world – San Marino.

Officially known as the Republic of San Marino it has a population of 30,000 living in an area of 24 square miles. Its constitution was enacted in 1600 and is the world’s oldest still in effect. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita and is in the enviable position of having the lowest unemployment rate in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus !

Friday 8th April 2011

Morning school spent sketching designs for our Venetian Carnival masks.

After lunch we catch the bus to the capital of San Marino – San Marino city. In reality a small walled town perched on top of a mountain Monte Titano ( 2457ft ).

From the entry gate to the walled town there is only one way to go – up. The small narrow streets are lined with a multitude of tourist shops. Thankfully all was pretty quiet allowing us to browse at leisure. The main attractions offered to the tourist, apart from the shopping opportunities, are the three defensive towers that dominate the mountain ridge above the town. Max declined to climb to the heights and elected to sit and admire the view from a bar. The ‘boys’ continued upward past the first tower to the second and highest which houses a creditable weaponary museum. The views from the battlements are fabulous across to the Adriatic and Rimini on the coast. We then returned whence we came.

Saturday 9th April 2011

Woke again to blue skies today was going to be a scorcher. Not a day to trip out and about.
Our English neighbour here Barry shamed me into washing the van, his gleaming American RV put us to shame. Max took the opportunity to ‘top up the tan’. Late afternoon we joined Barry and Sheila for a BBQ and a few glasses of vino – very enjoyable.

Sunday 10th April 2011

A week late we celebrated mother’s day chilling out, reading and t’internetting.
In the evening we watched the film RV (2006) starring Robin Williams that Barry and Sheila had on board theirs. Robin plays Bob Munro who with his dysfunctional family rents an RV for a road trip to the Colorado Rockies which turns into an hilarious escapade. Great fun, thanks Barry safe trip in your great rolling thingy ( you need to see the film )

Monday 11th April 2011

Bus to Rimini ( by the sea – the Adriatic sea ) sometimes called the Miami of Europe thanks to its 15km beach and 1000+ hotels.

The city has a rich history including being involved in the Roman civil wars. It was here in the Roman Forum ( Piazza Tre Martiri ) in 49BC that after crossing the Rubicon ( which lies north of the city ) Caesar made his legendary appeal to the legions having effectively declared war on Rome.

A number of Roman remains can be seen here including the ‘Arch of Augustus built in 27BC having a single gate 9.92 metres high and the Tiberius bridge begun in 14AD under Augustus and completed in 21AD under Tiberius. We strolled around the compact old town and then made our way to the beach to soak up some solars. Thirty years before as a student I had done exactly the same having consumed a bottle of wine with lunch I fell asleep on Rimini beach only waking some time later to find it deserted. On the bus home we discovered Jack had mislaid his specs – good job we had a spare set.

Tuesday 12th April 2011

In preparation for our imminent arrival in Greece the boys spent the morning studying the greek alphabet and greek mythology.

In late afternoon Barry and Sheila joined us for a Paella special with Sheila providing a delicious chocolate pud cooked in her Remoska oven ( Receipe on request ).

Wednesday 13th April 2011
School and prep for onward journey by ferry from Ancona to Igoumenitsa in Greece.

Thursday 14th April 2011

Ever had that nightmare where you turn up a day late for your flight or FERRY ?

Today was our day – van packed, chocks stowed electric disconnected – ready to roll.

Max – what’s todays date ?
Paul – the 14th
Max – the ferry left yesterday !

Oops – thankfully a very helpful campsite manager helped resolve our problem.
No ferry today but deck space on one tomorrow same route pay again.
Re - Pitch camp we’ll head off in the morning…….

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