Leonardo Da Vinci Pesaro

Sue

As we drove closer to San Marino, we all started saying, "Did she REALLY say "the NATION" of San Marino?? And that's exactly what it was: It's full title is "The Republic of San Marino". John will do doubt tell you of its history. It's set high on a mountain, with the most glorious view and was yet another treasure chest waiting to be opened for us! It was our nicest hotel by far - VERY upmarket! - and it was exciting to follow the ...

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 ...

... museum was closed that day.We explained we had come all this way to see it and he kindly agreed to open it up after lunch for us. He showed us a place to get lunch agreeing to meet us back at the museum in an hour and half. At lunch we ate a great meal of antipasto and pasta and I downed the house wine which came in a caraffe. Not wanting to waste it I drank the lot and so was suitably mellow by 3pm when we returned to the museum. The museum was ...

... 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 "The way you move..." until it finished, and then got ready for "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" (and I don't even like the smell of bacon; hate it in fact). It didn't happen. It was just a one-off, but still that's significant, to me at least. Surely these people can't really understand what she's talking about. I mean you can't really understand what Lucinda Williams is talking about unless you're from Lake ...

... award, as this was the third couple we've met. They also had a terrible night's sleep, fighting for some floor space after they got booted from their airseats. We spoke for a while, remarking that having a "non-EU" line for passport checks gave us an advantage to get off the boat quicker, as our line was minimal compared to the EU line. Wrong again. We were quickly infiltrated by EU members who were hiding in the bathroom and in cabins, waiting to emerge at the last minute claiming ...