Rimini Tour of the Town

A 'springboard' for San Marino, it was thought 2 nights in Rimini would be enough, I didn't take into consideration this might just be a 'one more night' sort of town.

I had in fact booked the longer stay yesterday, so this morning it was an early stroll along the beach to capitalise. Not dissimilar to Weymouth, only a little more built up

the view in both directions along the beach could have been any sea-side resort in the world.

The main thrust of this early turn and this location, was to check out the Gulls which were as assumed Yellow-legged leading to the first time I'd wished my big lens was at hand. They were all fairly nervous, close approach not being an option, but with better equipment I could certainly have returned home with better shots of these birds of the Adriatic Sea! Never mind, there were other things to see and in an estimated walk of one mile out and the same back there were c19 Black Redstart and easily double that number of Robins.

On some hordings masking a sea-front building site, there were a huge number of photographs from the La Dolce Vita Nightclub and elsewhere locally. I got it into my mind that this one is of the infamous Mandy Rice-Davis & Christine Keeler (circa the Profumo Affair) in company with Patti Harrison (nee Boyd) & Jean (The Shrimp) Shrimpton.

The remainder of the day was spent in the town, both new and old, with much to see. This is

Plazza Tre Martiri

where the 3 days Chocolate Festival was well underway.

Being a FFB it was best not to buy

but from the 'free samples' alone it was soon realised that

this delicious Cacoa, first created in Mexico, was well worthy of a 3 days homage!

Introducing Mr Willy Wonka and

The Chocolate Dollies.

Hail Ceasar

Now this really was worth a half hour stop. Although rather small, this shop stocked some of the great wines of the world including singularly the best I have ever had the privelidge to drink. Yes, there in the window (of all places) was a 1977 Brunello de Montalcino reminding me of the experience with Andrew Lindsay - CHEERS Pal hic*!

Street Scene

Piazza Servi

complete with a very Papal looking statue.

Next leaving the Corso d' Augusto, there is the 14th century Tiberius Bridge crossing the

Town canaland onward to the

Old Town itself

complete with colourful and muralled houses.

Like all the Italian cities and towns so far Rimini is decorated with this wonderful plant which I know from painful experience to be Cycas revoluta. Not rare in the world, and distributed as far afield as New Zealand and South America, I once bought one after a visit to Kew Gardens. Parting company with 200 sobs + delivery the damn thing only survived a matter of months, proving conclusively that my School Leaver's Certificate in Gardening (my only academic atribute) was well worth the effort.

Continuing with some other Town Scenes.

and back to watch the Chocolate Crafting Exhibition. for which I was a little late,

but saw some great examples including World Cup Football, Chess & Formula 1 Racing

and maybe a pile of birds?

The local Jazz Band sent me on my way with an ear full of Basin Street, and I still think the Sousaphone Player was my guitarist mate Robbie MacIntosh?

TIME TO MOVE ON!

San Marino Here I Come, Right Back Where I Started From

One of the shortfalls with travelling you can never be sure of internet conection, with this afternoon being one of those occasions. Having checked out and heading for yet another train the Blog had entered the mist until I found this little Taverna complete with Wi Fi Hot Spot.

So here you are you Lucky People

There was a great deal of excitement in the air today at the prospects ahead as I borded the 09:00 coach from

and found an earlier gut reaction had been right. Knowing that prices can be high in San Marino (SM) I had opted to stay here in Rimini and take a day trip for a megre 8 Euros return - I'll have some of that!

The only flash of excitement en-route was to see the nose cone and wing of a jet airliner sticking out from a hillside looking every bit like there had been an air disaster here in the past. Panic over as we continued to reveal an Air Museum on the grassy slopes.

Even at a distance of 14 'clicks' the monolith that is SM looks a formidable fortification, and even through the misty gloom we could already see the castleations.

It isn't every day you add a 'new country'to your list, and even less often that you are able to walk its full length in the alloted six hours or so!

We crossed the border out of Italy at 09:50 and 5 minutes later I took my first steps on what is the 122nd country on the world list, but will allow Wikipedia to explain more.

San Marino or Most Serene Republic of San Marino, is a state situated on the Italian peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy, its size being just over 61 km2 (24 sq mi) with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino which has the smallest population of all the members of the Council of Europe. It is the 5th smallest city in the world after Vatican City, Monaco (to be visited shortly), Nauru and Tuvalu (both Pacific Islands) and is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world, as the continuation of the monastic community founded on 3 September 301, by stonecutter Marinus of Rab.
Wikipedia San_Marino

It sould be pointed out that it takes an age to upload these images from the camera, but with the memories of the day whirring around and the (now) trusty i-Pod firmly plugged in it is a boon. A little thought that struck me was to include the tracks as they played on 'shuffle mode' as title for each photo while you take a wander through SM with me - enjoy.

Wreck - Radiohead

Tutti Frutti - Little Richard

Stole Rider Blues - Blind Willie McTell

A Common Disaster - Cowboy Junkies (if you haven't, you need to hear)

Brass In Pocket - The Pretenders

Time of the Season - The Zombies

Lady Eleanor -Lindisfarne

Just A Little Lovin' - Dusty Springfield

Tweeter & the Monkeyman - Travelling Wilburys (and the walls came down all the way to Hell, never saw them when standing never saw them when they fell)

Manage Trois for Dragonflies

We Are The Pigs - Suede

Why, Why, Why - Lightning Seeds

Blues From Laural canyon - John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers

The Harmonica Man - Fields of the Nephalim

When The Levee Breaks - Memphis Minnie

Rollin' & Tumblin' - Elmore James (if you don't like my peaches, please don't shake my tree)

One More For the Road - Dio (a little irony here as part of the lyric = "nice day for a crucifiction". Rest in peace Ronnie!

Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin (Hammer of the God's will drive our ships to new lands aheeeeeee ah)

Armin - Curved Air

Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana

Born Blind - Sonny Boy Williamson (thankfully not!)

Crystal Planet - Joe Satriani

Love Is Only A Feeling - The Darkness

In this tiny park, far from the madding crowd, there were a whole host of birds incuding at least 7 Firecrest, many Goldcrest, Black Redstart and 5 Robins. The 'bird list' will have to be updated later.

Seal Driver - Jethro Tull

Bennie and the Jets - Elton John

Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix

Black Magic Woman - Fleetwood Mac

Don't look back in anger I hear you say! Oasis (wots the next bit Andrew?)

Exo-Politics - Muse

Trick of a Tail - Genesis

Mary jane's Last dance - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Lightning Crashes - Live

You'll be pleased to know you won't find these on any Tourist Postcards.

Ten Storey Love Song - Stone Roses

For Whome the Bell Tolls - Metallica

Come Home Billy Bird - The Divine Comedy

Fan It - Swift Jewel Cowboys Hillbilly Blues

Weightless Again - Hansome Family (a turn-up for the book eh Secret? Time to drag the missus down the cellar for a thrashing!)

Honaloochie Boogie - Mott the Hoople

Tea For One - Joe Bonamassa

Something In Your Mouth - Nickleback

Conditional Discharge - John Cooper Clarke

Dreamer - Ozzy Osbourne.............Eclectic or what, take it away Ozzy

Gazing through the window at the world outside
Wondering will mother earth survive
Hoping that mankind will stop abusing her, sometime

I watch the sun go down like everyone of us
I'm hoping that the dawn will bring a sign
A better place for those who will come after us this time
I'm just a dreamer, I dream my life away, oh yeah
I'm just a dreamer, who dreams of better days