Rimini etc

As you may have seen from Lynda’s blog, she, I, Andy, Chef and Louise spent last week swanning around various Italian towns in the vicinity of Rimini.

The week in quotes:

• “How many courses shall I have?” – by Chef, at most meals. We ate out every lunchtime and most evenings. The pasta was mostly nice, the pizza was relatively disappointing. As Chef was designated driver the meals were cheaper than they might otherwise have been. I once again disproved the sweeping assertion that I never have dessert by opting for Tiramisu rather than niente dolci on a number of occasions.
• “You’re the navigator” – which actually meant, “you’re in the passenger seat”. Three in the back of our 4×4 was cosy so we rotated shotgun; Louise performed most of the actual navigational duties. By the end of the week we also had a roadmap, which was nice. Chef drove come un italiano once or twice. We were never lost, though occasionally we didn’t know where we were going. Italian road signs are, mostly, for entertainment purposes only.
• “Just get in as quickly as you can”. Our pool was unheated. The wrong approach is to take it a millimetre at a time, moaning all the way. I just got wet as quickly as possible, often noisily, but effectively. Once submerged it was fine. More than a few seconds out of the water, though, and re-entry was most invigorating.
• “More tat shops”. Sometimes I wish the tourist industry could be uninvented. Please exit church via bookshop. Mug with your name on it? These postcards already stamped for Europe! Would you like to buy a pistol or a samurai sword with your baby’s new bib? San Marino’s fancy bits are especially blameworthy.
• “Cock-a-doodle-doo”. All day long, all across the valley in which our villa lay. Cheerfully, croakily, quickly, slowly, interminably.
• “Do we need more wine?”. Yes, apparently.

I’ve created a Flickr group for all our photos (mine only at time of writing).