Our dear friend, Bella (Dolly Goolsby) is on the go again, this time in Italy. She has graciously allowed us to republish her travel blogs. Enjoy!
Today is a travel day. We are on a high-speed train, going south along the coast of the Adriatic Sea. We have been traveling for two hours now, and are half way there. It. Is amazing to be able to see the sea for almost the entire time, and nearly everywhere along the sea, are umbrellas and chairs. One village runs into another: Rimini, Riccione, Portoverde, Cattolica…one after another…hotels and beaches. But it is beautiful. The one exception is Ancona, which has a refinery, so there are many tanks for petroleum, and a noxious scent to the air. But after that, more little towns, more hotels, more beaches.
Yesterday we took a boat cruise from Rimini, following the coast to Cattolica. We stopped in Cattolica, and were given one hour to explore the town. It is very pretty, more hotels and beaches, but also a swimming pool, shops, pedestrian areas. This town has only been a tourist destination for 50 years, and it seems to be very family oriented. There were more gelato shops in the space of a few blocks, than I have seen anywhere.
On our return to Rimini on the beach, we were served fried little fishes and calamari, bread and wine. The crew put on music, so there was some dancing. I walked out to the front of the boat to take some pictures, and one of the crew guys took my hand and we started dancing, That was fun, as well as funny!
The hotel where we stayed, Hotel Cristallo, was also family oriented. As well as having hotel rooms, they also have apartments, so there were many families staying there, as well as grandparents bringing grandchildren. In fact, during the evening Passiagetta, one was more likely to be run over by a stroller than a motorized vehicle.
We could watch much of the action from our terrace, that overlooked the Main Street. Last night there were fireworks at the south end of town. We could see most of them through the trees, and we could also watch the antics of the con men trying to sucker people into the old shell game, as well as the partying crowd on the roof of the hotel next door.
I can hardly wait to see the next town where we are going to stay. Monopoli is just a 30 minute train trip from Bari, but off the beaten path.
Later: We arrived at the Monopoli train station. I called the owners of the B&B where we are staying, and talked to Anna, the wife of Vito. They came to pick us up in a little Peugot convertible. That was the nicest “taxi” I have been in yet, but it was so small that Anna had to hold one of our suitcases on her lap on the way back to their home.
I didn’t realize the B&B was so far out of town, but these people are so gracious. They take us back and forth to the train station, into town for lunch and/or dinner, and seemed very happy to do this for us.
It is only a 10 minute drive to town, but it is too far to walk…Suzanna wanted to rent a car, to free us up, but since both of us are directionally-challenged, and neither of us excel at map reading, I vetoed that idea.
There’s a lovely swimming pool.. That was a nice treat after a day of train travel. We have a nice large room, with 2 separate bedrooms. This is a very nice place to spend our last few days in Italy. It is called Tenuta Martinelli B&B.
Now we have more sights to see in this southern part of Italy, so you will be able to see some of our adventures very soon.
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