Rimini - day 1: Stress and worry, almost back to normal!!

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The virus has been around for seven months now. The UK has recently relaxed its lockdown rules. The European infection rate declined during the lock down. However, since the reopening of most businesses, the infection rate has started to creep up from three to four hundred new cases per day to just over one thousand. At a time when certain European countries seem to be having a ‘second wave’ and they have now appeared on the UK’s ‘naughty’ list, Italy has remained consistently low with two to three hundred new infections per day and as for their deaths; the daily count can be counted on one hand even if you’d lost you thumb in a freak lumberjacking accident!! Spain, France and Belgium are countries that require self-isolation for fourteen days on return to the UK. Our latest cancellation was to Ireland in September. Although they are not on the UK’s naughty list, the feeling is not mutual as all travellers must quarantine on entry into the Republic.

We booked to visit Rimini on the Adriatic coast of Italy three weeks ago, just as we were being released from lock down (and Easyjet had a sale on!!), anticipating that all this covid thing would have blown over by now!! Not quite there, I know, but providing the usual rules are followed in Italy, such as the wearing of face coverings in public places, there were no special provisions.

Rimini used to be a favourite holiday destination of the Brits and package tours used to flock there in their thousands. Nowadays, it is not possible to book a package to Rimini. For some odd reason best known to the industry, tour operators pulled out of this resort many years ago.

Why Rimini? It is only fifteen miles or so from a small enclave; some say the oldest country in Europe – San Marino. Neither of us have ever visited this micro nation so we thought ‘Why not?’ This holiday is primarily a ‘chill out’ vacation but seeing that, since our attempt to bunk in to India failed, way back in March, we have been stuck at home – the longest stint since we retired two years ago, that in itself could be considered ‘chill out time’. To us, though, it was ‘cold turkey!!!’

Our route will take us from Liverpool to Venice, a bus ride to Mestre train station where we will board a train to Lecce, stopping at Rimini, of course!!

I don’t normally write blogs for pour short international breaks but as this was the first since the world has probably changed for ever, I wanted to give you an insight in to the feasibility of travel and the level of fun and enjoyment of visiting new and interesting places. Will it still be fun and enjoyable? Let’s see, shall we??

The day of departure started off like any other, pissing down. It was 06:30 when we started the car – only a short six-mile journey to Liverpool John Lennon airport. Despite being the height of the English holiday season under normal circumstances (although these circumstances were far from normal), the airport was relatively empty. Mask on, we snaked our way to the EasyJet bag drop and were dealt with straight away. Perspex screens had now been erected between the check in attendant and passenger. Laying my passport on the desk with the relevant documentation, I was, instead, politely asked to hold my passport at the photo page, up to the translucent partition for scrutiny. Roisin followed suit. With our baggage checked in and our receipts issued, we headed for security.

Roisin had made one fatal error on the eve of travel. She checked the weather at Marco Polo airport – not good, in fact the worst possible scenario; thunderstorms around the time of landing. This took her already high stress level to beyond critical!! I tried to be the voice of reason: ‘…but it says there is only a twenty-nine percent chance…’

‘Yes, but that is twenty-nine times more than zero!!’ she was quick to retort.

Now, at the baggage drop, she made her second fatal error. She had booked an aisle and a window seat leaving the middle seat free in the hope that no one would book this, thus having more room and not having to sit in close proximity to other passengers for the duration of the two-hour flight. She now asked it the middle seat was still free to which the reply was: ‘No it’s a pretty full flight…’ As if the weather wasn’t enough!! If Roisin was a nuclear power station, I’m sure she’d be on the brink of meltdown!!!

Security took less than 20 minutes to clear. Despite every group adhering to a two-metre social distance, the process appeared more organised that the hustle and bustle it usually is.

We were in the first group to board, so we found our seats and waited. We sat in the middle and aisle seats hoping the mystery passenger would accept sitting at the window. Who would book the middle seat of a row? There were a few aisle seats free so you would expect any sane person, travelling alone, or even with others, to sit on the end of the row. Sane person? Bad choice of words? Especially with Roisin in her current state. The majority of passengers boarding seemed to be families or couples. After a nervous ten minutes of people walking past our row, the stream suddenly stopped and then came the words Roisin was hoping to hear. ‘Boarding complete. Prepare cabin doors for take-off…’ If the sun suddenly broke from behind the clouds at approximately 09:45, it was Roisin’s beaming face that had suddenly erupted into a massive grin. One down one to go. I decided to bring up the weather issue again, trying to reassure my beloved wife.

‘Oh, I’m not worried about that,’ began Roisin, ‘it was just the thought of sitting next to a complete stranger for a couple of hours!!’ Yeah, right!!!

The rest of the flight passed without incident. Our pilot was female and the landing was faultless. Not a storm cloud in sight. Having had two female pilots previously, both with KLM, I have to agree with Roisin when she said that there is something about females and their under carriage when they’re in the driving seat!! I tried to paraphrase what Roisin said but it has come out slightly ‘Syd James.’ I’m sure you know what I mean!!

Heading toward immigration we approached an official holding a tablet and a temperature gun. All who were in front walked past him. ‘Senor, scusi’, he pointed at me. Oh no, what has he seen? As I came alongside, I glanced at the screen. Split into quarters it showed infrared imaged of all arriving passengers. To my untrained eye, I noticed nothing untoward. He beckoned for me to remove my cap. The temperature gauge was then held a centimetre away from my temple. ‘Grazie’ he said then waved me on. I had to briefly remove my mask and cap infront of the immigration officer whilst he checked my I.D

Whilst I waited for the baggage, Roisin bought two tickets at €8 each for the Mestre express that would take us directly to our train station for the next leg of our journey. There were plenty of ticket machines in the arrivals hall so, again queuing was not necessary.

It was now 12:30 local time. The bus stop was fifty yards outside the terminal building and was clearly marked Mestre. We could have taken a local bus number 15, if we had desired but the direct route was more favourable to us.

Our train to Rimini departed from platform 8 at 15:04 so we still had forty-five minutes to grab a bite to eat at the platform café. Adjacent to the payment kiosk, I noticed a stand of ‘Garfield’ fridge magnets, showing this lasagne loving cat in various situations, above which was written boys’ names. Among names such as Guido, Luciano and Marcello was everyone’s favourite Italian name, Kevin!! Not sure how that crept in. It wasn’t just one stack either. Perhaps Kevin is the new Luigi??!

A man stood at the bottom of the stairs to platform 8 with an electronic temperature gauge. Another time period, it could have well been a beretta he held to my forehead but on this occasion when the trigger was pulled, it was immediately followed by a ‘Grazie’ and a ‘Va bene’ and we were let on our way.

The journey from Mestre to Rimini was direct taking just over 3 ½ hours. Trenitalia were adhering to socially distancing rules. All seats in the train carriage were four berth; two facing forward and two facing back with a table in between. Although our seats were pre-booked, two of the four seats (diagonals) showed a red notice on the headrest advising the passenger ‘not to be used’. Like in the UK and probably most other countries, the face mask had to be worn for the duration of the journey, except when eating or drinking, obviously!!

The Residence Hotel Parioli lay in a quiet suburb of Rimini yet only a few minutes’ walk to the beach. Our room was on the fifth floor of the six-floor building with a veranda that overlooked the environs of the region Emilia-Romagna. It was well equipped with safe that didn’t lock and a toilet seat that moved when sat on. In a small alcoved kitchenette sat a microwave that didn’t ping and a kettle but no cups!! Like I said, the room was well equipped!! We found the cups in a small wall cupboard in the opposite corner above a flat screen TV and of course, after searching for the cutlery, we found them in a drawer within the TV stand - where else would they have been!!?

We rested up for a few hours before heading out for dinner. Via Vespucci was literally a one-minute walk from the hotel. This was the start of the main thoroughfare which contained many bars and restaurants. It lay one road back, parallel to the coast road and continued for several kilometres. Not being a pedestrianised zone, it felt much busier than it probably was. 90%!o(MISSING)f all people we passed wore face coverings of some description. All restaurant staff also wore masks. Throughout Italy, it is mandatory to wear face coverings in public places indoors and, from 6pm to 6am also outdoors in those situations where it is likely the formation of gatherings, including highly trafficked streets and squares. Via Vespucci fell into the latter category. It was refreshing to see people acting responsibly for a change and following regulations.

We stopped at one restaurant but although there were some empty spaces, we were told these were reserved and to call back in fifteen to twenty minutes. With so many restaurants to choose from, we never did and didn’t intend to!! I was hoping that the procedure was not going to be similar to the UK where only table bookings were acceptable. If that be the case, it would be looking like a Mars Bar and a bottle or Peroni from the local Mini Mart for tea!! Fortunately, that was not the case. We found ourselves at the Trattoria Amerigo where we were immediately shown to a terrace table for two. The grilled chicken and schnitzel were very welcome. We even ordered desert!! However, when Roisin ordered strawberries with gelato, the waiter said, ‘Strawberries I no have. Out of season.’ Without thinking where I was, I immediately replied: ‘That’s odd because you can get tons of them in Tesco and Asda!!!’

We spent the final hour of the day on our balcony drinking beer and tea (I’ll let you decide who drank what!!) It had been a long day that surprisingly went off without a hitch. We hadn’t had to wait too long between connections and everything had been well sign posted. We went to bed pleasantly content with our progress given these trying times and exceptional circumstances.

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Comments

[Charles Robert]

BTC
Bob and Roisin, Enjoy yourselves glad to see you got away, you may even get quarantine like us! Bob

[chrisandroisin]

Sef Isolation - no fear!!
Italy is not on the UK's naughty list yet so no self isolation. We just had to fill out an on line locator form and show it to immigration on our return