We awoke this morning yet again to the ringing of bells... Ah, Venice!
After breakfast we packed our bags and checked out of our room, starting the long voyage back to the Venice train station on the water bus where we were to pick up our rental car. We again took the "slow boat" which stopped at every stop along the way down the
Grand Canal. The weather again was beautiful this morning which made for great photo ops along the way.
Once at our final stop we found the Hertz rental place and very quickly and painlessly got our little Lancia compact car, and before we knew it we were on the bridge leaving Venice.
We decided to take the more scenic and less costly rout and followed a nice little 2 to 4-lane road through the countryside and along the coastline. We stopped at a large grocery store along the way and bought some picnic foods (
much cheaper than the city stores we were use to), and then drove until we found the beach. We ate lunch in the car and then wandered out on the beach to touch the Adriatic Sea.
After picking up a handful of pretty shells we hit the road again in search of our final destination of the day, our lodging. After a couple wrong or missed turns we finally found our little B&B. A quiet little place outside Rimini up on a hill among a centuries-old olive grove overlooking the countryside below. It's an absolutely stunning place. Pretty much brand new building in a gated property with a pool, large kitchen, living room and dining room area, front porch with small dining tables, etc. There are 9 different rooms in this lodge and each one is furnished uniquely.
We took a walk around the grounds wandering through the old olive grove and up into a couple lush wheat or barley fields. It's absolutely beautiful countryside here...
Then, for supper, we drove up the road about 6 kilometers to a little town just outside the little country of San Marino (where we will go tomorrow), and found a nice restaurant where we enjoyed a plate of
gnocchi & a vegetarian pizza which were both very good! We also passed up ice cream tonight, although we did have a couple bites of chocolate... :)
For all of you who have been counting, yes, we do eat pizza fairly regularly here, and yes, we do get ice cream just about every day. However up until we got the car we were doing most of our sightseeing on foot so we work up quite an apatite during the day! :) Not to mention that this is usually our only "real" meal of the day. We might snack on a light sandwich or eat an apple for lunch but that's usually about it. Plus Italian pizzas really aren't as fattening and filling as American pizzas. They usually have a thin crust and not very much cheese, and the vegetarian pizza usually comes with quite an assortment of veggies. So all in all it really isn't as bad as it sounds. :)
Italy08vacation
After breakfast we packed our bags and checked out of our room, starting the long voyage back to the Venice train station on the water bus where we were to pick up our rental car. We again took the "slow boat" which stopped at every stop along the way down the Grand Canal. The weather again was beautiful this morning which made for great photo ops along the way.
