Rimini For Seniors

Rimini For Seniors

Welcome to evergreen Rimini, where you can see spectacular firework displays every evening, and where every corner offers something to tempt your palate. Welcome to the capital of sunshine, sea and ballroom dancing, where you can enjoy making new friends and renewing acquaintance with the friends you made last year; welcome to a land where hospitality is a top priority at all times.

Your welcome begins with the friendly atmosphere you can find in our 1,100 hotels and in the ongoing work of our 14 tourist committees, all busily engaged in making our guests’ dreams come true. Every day the pedestrian streets, the squares, and the sea-front promenade from Torre Pedrera to Miramare, become one great outdoor party featuring over two hundred events lasting from June to September.

Events range from jazz concerts to dances with live music, from circuses to films shown on the beach in six different impromptu 'cinemas under the stars'.

And as well as all this, there are parties in the hotels and banquets on the beach.

ONE TOWN, A THOUSAND DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES

The 21st of June symbolically represents the beginning of summer. This is the date of 'Gradisca', the great mother of all the summer festivities, named after a character in a Fellini film. On this occasion, the hospitality of the Riviera becomes an event in itself, spreading out to include an endless succession of parties and dances, enlivened by delicious dishes served on the beach. Two tons of sardines and pilchards, freshly caught in local waters, are grilled and served, accompanied by at least twelve thousand litres of good Sangiovese and Trebbiano wines, and vast quantities of Romagna piadina bread and ciambella cake. And after supper, sit with your nose in the air to admire the fireworks: over six thousand rockets heading skywards from ten different spots along the beach.

But Rimini is not just the beach: an excellent alternative is to go on a shopping spree. There is a mixture of everything, from exclusive designer-label shops (situated for the most part in the Marina Centro seaside area or in the centre of town; a stroll along Corso d’Augusto will give you an idea) to the numerous weekly markets, warm and cheerful and colourful, where you can find a bit of everything, including the friendliness of the Rimini people.

Don’t miss the greatest markets in Emilia-Romagna, held in Piazza Malatesta and Piazza Cavour on Wednesdays and Saturdays, on the Bellariva promenade on Thursdays in summer, in Miramare on Tuesdays, Viserba on Mondays, and Torre Pedrera on Sundays. Then there is the evening antiques market every Tuesday in Marina Centro.

In July and August, strolling through the 'heart' of the town at sunset is even more fun on Wednesdays and Fridays, when the streets and squares are enlivened by an antiques market and a children’s market, music and entertainment, street theatre and poetry readings. Anybody in search of local traditions and local crafts will find much to admire. There are ceramic shops (in Vicolo San Gregorio is Bruno Brolli’s pottery workshop, where guided visits are available by prior arrangement) and wrought-iron workshops, such as Giuseppe Leurini’s in via Coriano 342. Fecit, Strada Statale di San Marino 50, produces fine work in marble. And then there is that typical Romagna craft, printing on cloth. This is a tradition handed down from generation to generation; wooden blocks are used to print by hand traditional designs in rust colour on heavy cloth. By prior arrangement, Stamperia Ruggine, via Bertani 36, is happy to show visitors how it’s done.

The evening in Rimini has many different faces. There are motor-boats offering excursions with dancing, wine and grilled fish in quantity, which you can enjoy against the splendid backdrop of Rimini by night, seen from the sea. Mini-cruises leave from ten different departure points along the promenade and take you to visit many destinations: the rigs where natural gas is extracted and the shellfish farms; Portoverde, Baia degli Angeli, Cattolica; as far as Gabicce, Pesaro and even Venice.

The night-lights come on to show that the dances are beginning in all the dance halls. This is a land famed for its folk music and it certainly has numerous shrines to ballroom dancing. The new, extensive Galvanina Thermal Park, which offers dancing, games and shows for children, young people and families, awaits you on the hillsides of Covignano.
Secondo and Raul Casadei’s musical repertoire will without doubt take the lion’s share. By the way, did you know that there is a museum dedicated to the Maestro and composer of the famous song 'Romagna mia' in Savignano sul Rubicone just a short distance from Rimini?

A FEAST OF FLAVOURS

Rimini is not just the holiday capital of the region: with over 400 bars, restaurants and 'trattorie', Rimini can also lay claim to be a capital city of good food and wine. There is a wide choice, with something for everybody, from fish of many kinds to traditional grilled meat dishes, and from luxury restaurants to homely 'trattorie'.

One of the mainstays of traditional local cooking is the famous and much sought-after 'piadina', the symbol of Romagna, flat bread made from the simplest of ingredients: flour, lard, water and salt. Then there are the popular country pasta dishes, such as strozzapreti, tagliolini, ravioli, and cappelletti, eaten with meat sauce or tomato sauce, or with clam sauce. Any way you choose to eat them, they’re delicious! A good way of trying a number of different flavours is to order a 'tris'; your choice of a 'trial size' of three different types of pasta. Second courses range from char-grilled meat (mutton with piada is excellent) accompanied by grilled vegetables, to grilled fish. Locally-caught fish include sardines and mackerel (both good for bringing down those harmful cholesterol levels!), sole, and mullet, as well as clams, mussels, and sea-snails. A typical dish is 'brodetto', a fish stew made from several varieties of fish cooked all together with tomato and spices.

Typical Romagna wines include the ruby-red Sangiovese, best with meat dishes and pork products, and the white Pagadebit and dry Albana, excellent with fish; and sweet white Albana, a golden wine with a heady bouquet, the ideal companion for the favourite local dessert, ciambella cake.

THE TEMPLE OF WELL-BEING

The first bathing establishment in Rimini opened in 1843, and was intended first of all as a centre for spa treatment, exploiting the therapeutic properties of sea water. More than a century and a half later, Rimini Spa (in Miramare, overlooking the beach) is a large modern centre offering all-the-year-round well-being, with treatment for respiratory problems and aches and pains in the joints. There are also relaxation sessions making use of massage, sauna, Jacuzzi, and mud therapy. The Spa has two new sea-water swimming pools (the Blue Pool, where the water temperature is 30°, and the Bio-Marine Pool, temperature 34°), and a large gym. Various forms of water-gym are available.

And for those who like to keep fit on the beach, there are numerous professional instructors just waiting for you: try water-gym, or practise the steps of your favourite dance - ask your beach attendant for details. You can take a romantic little trip on a boat, or relax on a sun-bed with adjustable massage incorporated, or sunbathe in special deck-chairs with a filter, which keeps out harmful rays while encouraging your suntan.

EVENTS AND MUSEUMS

There are many wonderful alternatives to a day on the beach. The Roman colony Ariminum was founded in 286 BC, so the city boasts two thousand years of history, while the surrounding countryside is peaceful and charming, with a vast quantity of castles and fortresses all waiting to be discovered.

Begin with a visit to the City Museum, situated in the former Jesuit College (via Tonini 1) where you can admire outstanding archaeological finds, including a collection of inscriptions on stone displayed in an attractive inner courtyard garden, or see the contemporary sculpture of Arnaldo Pomodoro and the posters of René Gruau, or visit the Art Gallery which has paintings spanning four hundred years, from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Every Tuesday from June to September, you can go on a guided walking tour entitled 'A walk in the Past', which will take you to all the most significant monuments in the town, from the Roman Tiberius Bridge and Augustus Arch to the Renaissance harmony of the Pigna Fountain which so delighted Leonardo da Vinci.

These walks start from the URP Office (Corso d’Augusto 158) at nine in the morning. If you would like to take a walk through the Rimini featured in Fellini’s films, explore the narrow alleys and little squares of the old fishing village, Borgo San Giuliano, just the other side of Tiberius Bridge. A mosaic of delightful little houses in many different colours, decorated with murals recalling scenes from Fellini’s famous films, cluster around the lovely little church where the body of St Julian rests. His martyrdom is commemorated in the great altarpiece painted by Paolo Veronese in 1588, which hangs in the church. The village is famous also for its wine bars and trattorie, a must for anybody who wants to try genuine traditional cooking and seafood dishes. Every two years in September a festival is held here, the pride and joy of the local people. 'Festa de’ Borg' began life as a group of old friends getting together, and developed into an event which attracts tens of thousands of visitors who come to discover in the entertainment, concerts, and temptations for the palate, the events and characters who have left their mark on this corner of Rimini and on the whole town.

If you like to fly on the wings of history, visit the Aviation Museum, which has over 40 aeroplanes on display. There are planes which took part in the battles fought over the last 60 years and there is Clarke Gable’s personal aeroplane, which flew famous people such as Marilyn Monroe, John and Ted Kennedy, Frank Sinatra and Ronald Reagan. And there are uniforms, medals, and rare or unusual exhibits. The Museum is in Via S. Aquilina, 58 Rimini. When you come out of the Aviation Museum, just a little further along the road you will find another museum dedicated to the most famous horse in the world: the rampant horse which is the Ferrari trade mark. Ferrari cars are on display in the Maranello Rosso Collection, Falciano, Republic of San Marino.

On the theme of music, Rimini begins in New Orleans, with the Rimini Jazz Festival, held out of doors in summer in the Marina Centro seaside area. September sees the Sagra Malatestiana Music Festival, the oldest and most prestigious music festival in the Rimini region, which over the last fifty years has welcomed many of the world’s greatest musicians, including Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Mstislav Rostropovich, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Zubin Mehta.

There are numerous concerts, exhibitions, conferences and shows during the Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples, held annually at the end of August, an event that brings six hundred thousand people from all parts of the world to Rimini.