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!
As I told you before, we are now in our relaxation mode. We are staying in this great hotel, just a block from the beach, the Hotel Cristallo. Since there are literally hundreds of hotels along this strip, I consider myself very fortunate to have picked this one. The rooms are large, we have a terrace that overlooks the sea, although it is a block away, and the price is sure right.
The hotel is run by Leonardo and his wife, Magda. During breakfast yesterday, I happened to look out the window and I saw great big basil plants right there on the patio. I asked Magda if we could see her garden. I was impressed! Magda is growing her own herbs for use in the kitchen here, as they also serve lunch and dinner. She makes pesto frequently; therefore, uses a lot of basil. She said she uses the large leaves for Caprese, the tomato, mozzarella and basil salad that we all love.
She has pots of marjoram, sage, fennel and of course, the basilico.
She grows them from seed, and the leaves on this one plant were huge! She has offered to send some seeds home with me. I hope I can do them justice. I will just get my son, Ron, to grow them for me. He has such a green thumb.
Of course, I started talking about food and cooking and we shared some food ideas. I would love to spend a couple hours with Magda in a kitchen!
We had dinner here last night, and it was very good, and again, the price is sure right. [euro]14 per person, that includes antipasti buffet, followed by soup or pasta, then a main course and dessert. We also had a half liter of very good red wine, for an extra [euro]4. Fortunately, we were already in the hotel so we didn’t have far to waddle back to our room. It was very nice.
If you are ever in Rimini, I highly recommend this hotel. You can get a better idea of what it looks like by going to http://www.hotelcristallorimini.com
Today we went into town. There are still some remnants of old Roman walls, and some excavations. The Romans settled here in 286 B.C. They established Rimini as a base for traffic going north and south along the Adriatic Sea. There is an old bridge, the Ponte di Tiberio, which was built in 21 A.D., and traffic still goes over it. Amazing. Those Romans knew how to build to last.
Then we walked back towards the seacoast, through the Federico
Fellini Park. He was a native son, and had some favorite haunts near the old city. I thought it was funny to see streets named “Via 8-1/2\0×2033, “Via La Dolce Vita” “Via Amacord”, and one named “Via Ginger e Fred”..
And of course, the beach. We did go into the sea yesterday. The sea is very shallow for a long way out. The water was pretty warm, and pleasant but I felt I had to walk halfway to Croatia to get into deeper water. I enjoyed it, though. Then every time I got settled onto my lounge chair, I fell asleep. I think rest and relaxation are definitely in order for me.
I have been in Europe now for 76 days, and 8 more to go before I head back to California. What a fantastic almost-three months I have had.
La Dolce Vita, indeed…life is good.
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