Ancona to Fano to Rimini

The first leg of this trip to Fano was a bit too flat, literally no hills, we were spoiled, making the second day to Rimini seem quite hard in comparison. However both days were hard because it is troppo caldo! The temperature today hit 35 celsius, yesterday was around 32. This is too hot for cycling, we may need to be smarter with our planning. We were quite spent by the end of both days. A lot of the riding in the past 2 days is along designated bike paths on the beach. It feels like you never leave one place before arriving at another, they are all joined and all developed beach areas.

Riding to Rimini from Fano, after passing through Pesaro (where composer Rossini is from) we did go inland into the Parco del San Bartolo on the Strada Panoramica. This is a beautiful road popular with cyclists that winds through the hills just inland from the coast. The views are spectacular in both directions, inland and to the sea. It was a bit of a slog up the hills (about 450m total gain in elevation) but worth the views. We also came across a few pretty hill top towns to admire. The other great thing was that there was almost no car traffic and lots of bike traffic. This is so great to see after the dearth of cyclists in Croatia. We feel a part of the fabric here rather than an invader.

This whole area from Senigalia to Rimini has uber beach development. The beaches have now become sandy and there’s many services for the tourists. It would be a great area to spend some time if you were looking for a beach holiday. It’s also not that crowded considering we are into July. We prefer these beaches to the ones in Croatia for all these reasons.

We were so tired when we got to Fano after the first leg that we didn’t have the energy to do much except go to the beach, a couple blocks from our hotel. There was absolutely no shade so we opted to rent 2 letti (beds) and a parasol for the rest of the day. This was a good decision! We needed a dip in the sea, a cold drink and a rest. There are some good Roman ruins here which we saw a bit of as we strolled in the evening while finding some food. There is some kind of Roman festival that just started as we were leaving unfortunately.

When we arrived in Rimini again we were bagged so put on our bathing suits and lounged at the pool in the hotel with a cold drink. We had an early supper on the beach a short walk away and then hit the sack. Maybe we’re getting too old for this?

The next day in Rimini was cooler thank goodness and even a bit cloudy. We spent the morning looking around the citta antica at the sites, mostly Roman related. There is the Tiberius bridge which was built between 14 and 21 AD and is still in use today for pedestrians and light traffic! Now that’s building things to last. Rimini was called Ariminus in Roman times and was an important junction between Rome and other cities. There’s also an Arch of Augustus here, like in Fano. In the 13-14th centuries there was a fellow named Sigismondo Malatesta (bad head?) who dominated the city and built temples, castles, etc so many things named after him.

There are several notable piazzas in Rimini: 1) Piazza Cavour with palazzos, a papal statue, a Teatro Galli opened in 1857 with a Verdi opera, a Fontana della pigna (pinecone fountain) that dates from Roman times, provided the city drinking water until 1912 and has an inscription by Da Vinci from a 1502 visit that says “Make harmony with the different falls of water, as you saw at the source of Rimini” 2) Three Martyrs Square named after 3 young men who were executed by hanging in 1944(!) as they were part of the Italian resistance to the German occupation. Rimini suffered heavy damage during the 2nd World War unfortunately but it has been rebuilt over time 3) Piazza Malatesta (see description below).

Rimini is famous as the birthplace of Frederico Fellini (1920 – 1993) who was a renowned film director. He received many awards, including Academy Awards, for his various films. Some of the better known ones are La Dolce Vita (this is why the phrase was coined), 8 1/2, Amarcord, Nights of Cabiria, and many more. There is a whole tour of all the places he frequented, where he lived, where he went to the cinema, etc. The Fellini museum is in the Sismondo Castle on the Malatesta square, or now known as Piazza Dei Sogni (Square of Dreams) after Fellini’s idea that “nothing is known, everything is imagined” with a misting wading pool and a large circular bench evoking some famous scenes from his movies.

Rimini is also known as a resort town with big beaches as we have seen previously along this coast. We didn’t partake in this here as we had our own pool at the hotel. Most of the tourists seem to be here for that reason but again we are not finding it to be that crowded.