The last few days in Italy

Well, the haircut in Cesenatico went ok as did the football match😄 I was happy with both results. In the evening whilst we were there some Romany lasses from a small camp next to where we were parked came over to do their washing. They had a couple of large buckets and used the cold water tap to wash and rinse their clothes and then spread the brightly coloured garments on the grass embankment beneath the river to dry. Early the next morning we were woken by what sounded like a concrete mixer. Got up, had a peek and a couple of guys with a machine were cleaning out the busted chemical toilet dump. Queue the lasses running over to remove their clothes before they got splattered.  Enough of dodgy Sostas we thought; lets find a campsite and chill out for a couple of days, so we headed for Riccione on the coast. I came to Riccione when I was a kid with my folks, I was maybe 8 or 9 and remember having a great time despite the sunburn but hey, we had calomine lotion in those days. I vaguely remember the hotel we stayed at being 100yds from the beach, there was a coffee stall and a small cafe/restaurant and miles of golden sand and warm sea. I didn’t expect to find the hotel or the young waiter who took me on his Vespa to meet his folks in Cattolica or the little park where I could hire a bike and ride round for hours. We walked up and down the road over the next couple of days and were amazed that all the accesses to the beach were private. We were about a mile from the centre of Riccione and all the way along the beach were 65 private beaches attached to hotels/apartmemts or campsites. We’d noticed the same thing at Cesenatico, we walked down a road leading to the beach and then had to walk half a mile until we could gain access because of the corrugated tin barriers preventing us actually getting onto some sand. I don’t have a problem with a beachside cafe or bar sticking a few loungers and umbrellas on the beach and charging you to use them, but denying access for a mile or so seemed unacceptable to me. Anyway, they say you should never go back. The campsite was ok though, nice hot showers. We were on the flight path to Rimini airport but not too many flights this time of year. But boy, those bikers are really pushing it on the road behind us eh? Ah, theres a race circuit at Misano about half a mile away. Practice on Saturday and racing on Sunday. When each race started the noise came in waves but as the riders became strung out after a few laps it was constant. We thought if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em but after walking for ages we couldnt find the entrance to the circuit so we went back to the campsite and I amused myself trying to guess what kind of bend they were taking from the gearchange. It was a first for us, we’ve parked up in places with traffic noise, train lines, airplanes, dogs barking all night, owls hooting and screeching, loud music from bars/clubs but the motor racing circuit was a first. And those bikes brought back memories. I had a cousin who raced a 500cc Manx Norton and when I was about 10 or 11 he used to take me with him and his mechanic in a dirty green Commer van to Snetterton, Oulton Park, Silverstone and Brands Hatch. The sun always seemed to be shining when we set off and it was always dark when we came back. Once, I think it was Silverstone, I hung around the beer tent. There was a deposit on bottles in those days but most folk couldnt be arsed going back for the money so I would collect the bottles from where they’d left them and collect the deposit money. The races then started with the 50cc category and worked up to 500cc with one or two sidecar races in between. The sound of those 50cc bikes, ( I think they were all Itoms or Items?)  will stay with me forever, together with the image of these big guys straddling such a tiny bike. Happy Days. All that was missing yesterday when I heard those bikes was the smell of Castrol R. So tonight we are in Jesi, (N43.518799 E13.241587) sometimes spelt Lesi, just a half hour away from Ancona and the ferry to Greece tomorrow afternoon. Just a small car park but there’s a waste dump and fresh water with no charge. There’s also a lift to take us up to the old part of town with its elegant pedestrianised main street with the expensive shops and the Cathedral, Bishops Palace and large and small Piazzas surrounded on three sides by the tall City walls. We like Jesi.  So tomorrow we set off for Greece for 6/8 weeks. Arrive in Igoumenitsa at 7am Thursday morning and head towards Ioannina seeking WiFi (second leg against CSKA Moscow).    Pat