Hotel Nautilus Pesaro

... lanes around to find ever more wonderful views, interesting shops eg... guns and rifles in all their glory!! (yep - off the shelf), palace, church and a huge race track where they do trials (we could hear them in the background). It was like a rabbit warren in a way, but going up instead of down.

We went for an early morning walk to see the sunrise the next day. It was magnificent!

John

As I wrote in the title, I had ...

We are on our last day in Rimini, and we're both quite glad of it. Not that we haven't had a good time (though the hostel has been a bit rubbish).

The journey down here from Munich was a real slog! It took 8 hours, though that didn't really bother us too much. 8 hours of discomfort on a cramped Italian train however, that was what made it difficult. It was a compartment style train (6 seat per compartment, 3 on each side facing each other) which seemed great when we first sat down ...

... front. The beach is broken into sections each section has a restaurant, sporting stuff (basketball hoops, Volleyball, Gyms, etc.) lounge chairs and umbrellas. Some even have an outdoor gym. The beach is actually sand, which is a novelty for Italy. We picked up some of the free bikes from the hotel and rode all around the city. I stopped and had a quick swim, Outside of the fact both of our asses were completely numb and bruised afterwards (not the best bikes ...

... in my life on one beach. There was even a beach shower at the waters edge (advising us not to use shampo (their spelling not mine).

The water temp was cooler than in Sicily but still pleasant enough. by this time the sun had disappeared behind rain clouds. We headed back into town for coffee & shopping. Mandy found a ring but didn't buy it. I think she regretted it as for the next few days she wanted to head back to Fano.

Ciao

We left for Urbino after breakfast for a quick trip (Birth place of Raffaello - painter) of course coffee & gelati was part of our plans with some sights thrown in.

Nice place and worth the trip. No time to view the museo a bit of a shame as there is a section with Rafael.

We had some great views going over the mountains going to/from Urbino. Mandy is handling driving the larger car just fine.

Ciao

We arrived in Ca Le Soure for our one week yoga retreat. I wasn't looking forward to it with my hip and back issues. The place is on top of a hill surrounded by fields of wheat & grape vines and olive groves. We also found a forest of oaks where they harvest black truffles.

The accommodation is cottage style and comfy, a separate building for breakfast, lunch & dinner all vegetarian style food and very tasty - difficult not to go back for seconds as there is ...

... photos and memorabilia of Rossi’s career and along with the other geeks we checked it all out. Across the road was the Official Rossi Fan Club headquarters and we strolled in to see his bike which he won the 125’s on and lots of career photos. We joined the fan club for 40 Euros each which gave us a t-shirt,cap and bumbag and keyring. The people there also gave us posters hearing we had come from Australia and been to the races. We were stoked ...

... of San Marino (Captains Regent in official parlance) leaving the Palace complete with fancy dressed guards and being whisked off in two separate limos.  Satisfied by seeing some pomp at least we hurried back to catch our bus - we just managed to squeeze on it alongside all the tax free shopping that the Russians had been indulging in.  One pleasant evening back in Rimini we spent having beers in the hotel ...

... to our collective subconscious. The fact that something could be hilarious and horrible at the same time makes no rational sense, but it makes film sense, and it mirrors reality. Of course he had and still has many copycats. Get a group of Italian kids together and tell them to act like their parents and you've got a film right there. Of course it takes more than that to equal Fellini's art. But I've got more ...

... cool mountain breeze continuously blowing throughout the night. (See the most unbelievable pictures). In addition, Steve was able to meet with the Director of the State Licensing Exam for Medicine in Italy, in the bowels of the oldest medical school in the world, the University of Bologna. In 1988, they celebrated their 900th anniversary!! When we entered through the second set of 14 foot high wooden doors, we were greeted by two jolly, older Italian women who have all the ...