Day 36 - Rimini

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 11.8km

I had originally planned to go to Ferrara today.  However, I discovered track works were happening and trains were being replaced by buses so I changed my mind.  After some Googling I decided to spend the day at Rimini.  I had heard of it before but only as a seaside resort.  Turns out it was a major Roman city once upon a time.  It was one of the few safe harbours on that part of the Adriatic coast.

As it is a popular seaside resort there are many trains headed that way every day.  There was a choice of a very fast (and very expensive) train that only takes 1 hour, all the way to a very cheap train that takes 2 hours.  I settled for an inbetween option that got me there in an hour and a half.

Once I got to Rimini, my first stop was the remains of a surgeon's/doctor's house dating from the 2nd century AD.  It is next to a park and was only recently discovered when they doing some digging to expand the park.  That part of town had been razed by fire in the 3rd century and covered in debris and forgotten about.  Digging a hole anywhere in Italy must be a nerve-wracking experience.  You can never be sure if you are going to find a signficant historical site which will bring work to a halt.

They've excavated a lot of the site now and you can see low walls and fabulous mosaic floors.  The city museum next door has recreations of what the bedroom and consulting room would have looked like.

They also have a collection of his surgical instruments.  One of the largest ever found.  The ranged from big bone saws to tiny tweezers, including a very special one for removing kidney stones.  Ouch.

The museum also had room after room of mosaics that have been recovered from various villas that were once here.  In one case they pointed out you could tell when the house was first built the owners were wealthy.  However, later generations/owners weren't so well off as clumsy repairs had been made. Also, the house had burnt down and in the cookware found in the wreckage was cheap and badly worn.  Makes you wonder what archeologists would make of your own house. 

I had a lovely time here but they tossed me out at 1pm as it was time for lunch and they were closing until 4pm.

I then went in search of lunch myself.  I was in the historic centre of town which is actually some distance from the beach.  The coastline and the river having shifted over time.  That meant there were few (other) tourists about which was good, but it also meant most shops and restaurants were shut.

I ended up in a restaurant on the main piazza as it was open and had seats in the shade.  I was fearing it would be a terrible tourist trap but I was mistaken.  I had ravioli stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella in a butter & sage sauce.  It was very Good.  For dessert I had tiramisu which was Absolutely Delicious.  And it was all very reasonably priced.

For 2nd dessert I went to a nearby gelateria and had some Absolutely Delicious pistachio and almond gelati.  You could tell you were in a different part of Italy there.  Not only was there no sour cherry flavourings (obligatory in Bologna) but a lot of signs were in both English and Greek.

After lunch I pottered over to Ponte Tiberius, which is a bridge built by (or rather ordered to be built by) Tiberius, so a piddling 2,000 years old.  It is still standing but only used by pedestrians and cyclists now.

There were an awful lot of cyclists about.  Including one young woman who was wearing a light beach cover up.   You could tell from the way it blew about in the wind she was wearing absolutely nothing else.  At least she was on her own bicycle, not one of the ones you can rent.

I then ambled through the historic centre to a triumphal arch that Augustus Caesar had built.  It hasn't survived the years so well.

Finally I ambled alongside the medieval city walls and back to the railway station.  There was an InterCity (moderately fast, moderately expensive) train leaving from the same platform as mine but before it.  I watched a group of young American tourists, with Academya Lingua bags, frantically rushing to try to catch it only to be turned away.  The poor conductor was having a hard time getting them to understand that "yes, this train was stopping at Bologna" and "yes, it was leaving from Platform 2" but "no, it wasn't their train".  Like me, they had tickets for the cheaper, slower one that was leaving later.  How hard is it to check the train number on the sign and match it to the one on your ticket?

I'm now back in my apartment, ignoring my Italian homework, but doing one last load of laundry.  One more week to go and it is back to Melbourne for me.