When we drove into Riccioni at about 10pm and crept along the beachside street looking for our hotel. We were struck by the... the... the tackiness of the place.
The street seemed to go for miles. On one side there was gaudy food shops, gaudy restaurants, gaudy bars, cheap clothes shops, ice cream parlours and hundreds of gaudy people walking up and down. On the other side there were hotels interspersed with parks full of cheap amusement rides, more food shops, more gaudy trinket shops, loud thumping music... and our hotel.
Shit.
We parked in the driveway of the hotel Fedora and even before we'd started unpacking I was ready to go somewhere else. We were all tired. I needed a few hours sleep so I could drive back to Innsbruck to get the car back on time.
Two hours later with my ears ringing from the noise coming into our hotel room I was on the autostrada to Innsbruck planning a move to somewhere a little more us.
The next night I got to experience it all again as the bus meandered its way from Rimini station to Riccioni. For the entire six kilometres it was one long strip of tacky tourist traps and it was impossible to know where to get off. The bus was packed so no use trying to edge forward to ask the driver so used the faithful garmin to find a destination close to the hotel.
It was about 10 and I was greeted by Kim and a plate full of very tasty food that the restaurant had kept for me. Nice.
We'd also had a room change and there was very little noise.
Slept. Well.
The next morning at breakfast Justine, David and me were planning our move while Kim quietly listened. We had a train ticket to Rome from Riccione, a lot of luggage and no car. Didn't have much time to think more as Kim and I went riding with Paulo.
By half way through the ride, in a national park south, after threading our way along the busy roads and bike paths of tourist central I was starting to rethink the idea of moving. I'd just had a good night's sleep, a fantastic breakfast and the riding was looking promising.
Promising was becoming more positive by the minute after a huge lunch spread at the end of our 100 ks and some good coffee.
The street seemed to go for miles. On one side there was gaudy food shops, gaudy restaurants, gaudy bars, cheap clothes shops, ice cream parlours and hundreds of gaudy people walking up and down. On the other side there were hotels interspersed with parks full of cheap amusement rides, more food shops, more gaudy trinket shops, loud thumping music... and our hotel.
Shit.
We parked in the driveway of the hotel Fedora and even before we'd started unpacking I was ready to go somewhere else. We were all tired. I needed a few hours sleep so I could drive back to Innsbruck to get the car back on time.
Two hours later with my ears ringing from the noise coming into our hotel room I was on the autostrada to Innsbruck planning a move to somewhere a little more us.
The next night I got to experience it all again as the bus meandered its way from Rimini station to Riccioni. For the entire six kilometres it was one long strip of tacky tourist traps and it was impossible to know where to get off. The bus was packed so no use trying to edge forward to ask the driver so used the faithful garmin to find a destination close to the hotel.
It was about 10 and I was greeted by Kim and a plate full of very tasty food that the restaurant had kept for me. Nice.
We'd also had a room change and there was very little noise.
Slept. Well.
The next morning at breakfast Justine, David and me were planning our move while Kim quietly listened. We had a train ticket to Rome from Riccione, a lot of luggage and no car. Didn't have much time to think more as Kim and I went riding with Paulo.
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| The view from our room |
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| Looking north from the national park - and some wildlife |
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| Everyone stops for coffee |
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