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Italy 2023 Day 8

Ciao, sono tornato ragazzi! Oggi è un’altra mattinata soleggiata ma molto fredda (today is another sunny but very chilly morning). Even though we have a later start today, I still woke up early to run down to the beach to snap a photo of the sunrise. In the process, I locked myself out of the hotel and froze my butt off…double whammy! It was worth it though, and thank Jesus the door was open when I got back! While it was a crispy 4C at the crack of dawn, it’s supposed to be 15 by this afternoon, which hopefully will be enough to keep us sufficiently toasty for our wanderings.

We left the hotel at 9:00 today for the brief bus ride into Rimini. Once we parked, we were met by our guide, Marianna, who would take us on a short tour of the old city, which dates back to Roman times. It’s Saturday today, so it was market day, with throngs of locals and tourists (like us) plying the streets. We saw many of the interesting sites, including the Tempio Malatestiano (Malatestiano Temple), which is a 13th century church that was reconstructed in the 15th century as a mausoleum for Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (Malatesta in Italian means bad head).

Once we bid farewell to Marianna, we had two hours to wander around the city centre and explore the shops and markets. I know the kids really enjoyed this part, both for the food and shopping. One cafe we stopped at shockingly had Prosecco on tap, and the winery that produces it is in Conegilano, which is about 30 minutes from my parents town in the province of Treviso. One of our groups suggested a pizza shop that was so good, we even went back and had more after the first round.

After reboarding the bus, we made our way 30 minutes to the west to San Marino, which is it’s own small country surrounded by Italy. I knew a bit about it, but I had no idea most of it was on a mountain, so we had another slightly white-knuckle trip up, with Salvatore once again expertly easing the bus along the winding roads. Kent gave us a quick history lesson and then we were turned loose for another two hours to explore this unique country.

What an amazing place! I wish we had more than that limited amount of time. The part of the country that is on the mountain is one giant castle with many smaller castles inside it as you work your way up. There are countless shops selling everything from designer purses, to clothing to air soft guns. The views though, the views are unbelievable! There are so many vantage points, and you begin to understand the strategic importance of this place. Our elevation here in Rimini is a seal level, while the top of San Marino rises to more than 720 metres or 2300 feet. I must say, as someone who is not good with heights, there were spots that gave me anxiety even approaching the edge. I took a ton of photos and video.

Dinner was back at the hotel, where we enjoyed another appetizer course, followed by pasta and roast pork with potatoes. Tomorrow we leave Rimini behind for Florence via Bologna. I have not been to either place, so I am very excited to see these beautiful cities. Hopefully the weather cooperates as we are supposed to get some rain later in the evening. We don’t have a super early morning, but we do have to pack everyone and everything on the bus, so I better get rolling. Until then…

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Posted by Padwrr on March 18, 2023 in History, Travel

Tags: castle, church, EF Tours, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, market, Rimini, San Marino

Italy 2023 Day 7

17 Mar

Ciao, ragazzi! Oggi è una mattina molto bella (today is a beautiful morning)! It doesn’t get better than this I must say. While the folks back home are dealing with snow, I am sitting in my room overlooking the Adriatic Sea while the sun shines brightly in the clear blue sky. I was even able to capture the sunrise this morning as it rays first illuminated the buildings here just south of Ortona.

It’s now 4:30 and we’ve just left a roadside stop on our way to the next hotel in Rimini. Our day began with an early morning visit to the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery. This site contains the graves of over 1500 Canadian and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the battles to approach or take the city of Ortona. This cemetery had a different feel that yesterday, maybe because the majority of the burials are Canadians. I also think the stillness and the crisp morning air added to somber tone. After a brief prayer service, the students had a short time to wander amongst the whitewashed headstones adorned with maple leafs.

We could not linger as we had to meet our guide in Ortona at 9:30. Angela was extremely knowledgeable about the battle and the Canadian involvement in it. She first took us through the museum before we proceeded to walk part of the city to see where significant events had taken place. Personally, I found it neat to be able to match photos that I had seen of the battle to what they look like today. It is such a beautiful town and it’s a shame that much of it was destroyed trying to wrestle it from the Germans.

The fight for Ortona was some of the most difficult urban combat of the entire war, and people took to calling it “Little Stalingrad,” after the famous urban battle on the Eastern Front. Although I was a soldier myself for a short period of time, and I did FIBUA (Fighting In Built-up Areas) training, it is something to see the actual terrain that the Canadian soldiers to had fight through. I will definitely be using some of the information and photos in my lessons.

After some time for lunch, we were back on the bus for the three hour ride north to Rimini. Everyone was in great spirits, and we also had some fun during the drive. Our Tour Director or TD, Kent, had everyone on the bus, chaperones included, put the title of their favourite song on a sheet of paper. He then would play the songs randomly and the person who picked it had to come to the front of the bus and give their name, what school they were at and why they picked it. They then had to answer some questions from the rest of the bus. It was a great way to bring the group together through music. The kids area really starting to gel, and you do see a number of new friendships being formed which is fantastic.

Before arriving in Rimini, we did a slight detour to the Tavullia Monument, which honours the Canadian Army breakthrough of the Gothic Line in the spring of 1944. It was rather interesting to hear the story of what occurred there, as I personally was not familiar with it, and the entire Italian Campaign is often overshadowed by the fighting in Northern Europe.

Our hotel in Rimini is known as the Hotel Venere, and is one of many hotels near the beach in this area. It is much smaller than the other hotels we have been at and the students unfortunately have to share much “cosier” accommodations. Fortunately supper, which was at the hotel, was very good. We had three courses, the first being vegetables, small pizzas and bread served buffet style. They later brought pasta for the second course and finally veal with mushrooms for the third. Dessert was another helping of Tiramisu…I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much tiramisu in my life.

Anyway, I better wrap up. We do have a later start tomorrow morning, but it is already after midnight. Our travels on Saturday will take us into Rimini and Sean Marino. Until then…