Blogs from Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Europe

The logistics in the large breakfast room at the hotel are a bit interesting. The designers apparently thought it was a good idea to put the milk as far away as possible from the cereal, and the butter and marmalade as far away as possible from the toaster, so I guess they figured the main priority should be for the guests to get some early morning exercise. At least the toaster’s next to the bread, but that doesn’t mean an end to the morning’s challenges. The toaster’s one of the stranger contraptions I've come across in our travels. You’ve got to load the bread into a steel clamp type arrangement before putting it into the toaster, and if you only remember to turn on one of the elements it comes out only toasted on one side. ... read more

Dear All Greetings, or saluti! I have just returned from my final mini-trip of this winter period of travel, having seen my last one of Europe's micro-states. My theme for these last couple of months has been to visit my three remaining European micro-states, out of six in total. I had already been to the Vatican, Andorra and Malta, and this February half-term after having visited Monaco and Liechtenstein over the Christmas holidays, I was heading to San Marino! Well, in actual fact, I was heading to Bologna, to first take a train to Rimini for a couple of nights, then on to San Marino for two more, before my final night in Bologna. This is my first of two blog entries relating my time there, and will recount my adventures in Rimini at the beginning ... read more

After a decent night’s sleep, we both woke refreshed after the long day we experienced yesterday. Breakfast, normally a hot and cold buffet, was waitress service only. Menus were placed at each table and orders taken accordingly. It was basic but adequate. At least with this service, one can exercise a certain amount of portion control. Neither of us had any complaint about this new procedure. This morning we decided to familiarise ourselves with our first time visit to Rimini by visiting the old town. The hotel couldn’t provide a map so on retracing yesterday’s footstep back to the railway station, we called in to the tourist information who duly obliged. While we were here, we enquired about buses to San Marino. During our research, we had learned that the Bonelli Bus, the company that provides ... read more

Are we RICH? In order to take a trip like this? We don’t consider ourselves rich, but we are grateful that we can afford to pay our credit card bill each month. For timely payments, Capitol One grants us options: points or cash back. We choose points. We saved until we had enough points to pay for both airline fares AND a rental car for three months. Through trustedhousesitters.com, we found a person to care for our dogs in exchange for a place to stay for three months. Through SERVAS, we meet people in their own environments. And when all else fails, we use booking.com to find a really cheap place to stay...we aim for under $50/night, and that often, but not always, includes breakfast. We carry a box of cereal, cheese, etc., and of course, ... read more

Still smarting from yesterday's experience, I decided I should take along a jacket 'just in case' the weather decided to turn on us. Indeed, although it was neither raining nor cold when we left, the forecast called for a thunderstorm in the afternoon and I knew that either of those conditions might change at any time. In the absence of any storage space in my rental bike's modest seatpost bag (which was filled to capacity with only a spare tube), I was attempting to store/stuff my jacket under the seat between the rails when our guide Bartolo interceded to offer a pro tip, the results of which can be seen in the accompanying (if not very flattering) photo. And then we were off again. Things were pleasant enough for the first 3 hours: although the roads ... read more