Are you already planning your next summer holiday in Rimini or elsewhere on the Adriatic Sea? Do you enjoy seaside activities such as bathing, fishing and collecting shells on the beach? Then you might be interested in one of Rimini’s smaller museums: The Shell Museum. Besides around 8000 beautiful shells, the museum presents various exhibits connected to seafaring, fishing and beach life from different decades. Visitors can even admire an old, wooden life guard’s boat.
www.escaion.it
The museum is located in Via Minguzzi in Viserbella di Rimini and is opened in the evenings in summer. For more information you can visit their website http://www.escaion.it (click here for the translated version) or contact them via telephone: 0039541 721060. Enjoy!
Since Christmas is coming closer and closer, I would like to write about the Panettone, a kind of cake that belongs to every traditional Italian Christmas. If you visit Rimini, or any other Italian city these days, you will see them piled up in supermarkets and corner shops.
www.flickr.com
I’m sure most of you have already tried it, but do you know how it is made? Well, today, there are many different sorts of Panettone but the traditional one contains candied orange, citron and lemon zest and raisins. Of course, the yeast dough can also be prepared with other ingredients such as chocolate, almonds, figs or even liqueur.
If you would like to make one at home, here are some links for recipes:
http://www.epicurious.com
http://www.cdkitchen.com
I guess all of you who are interested in Rimini as a holiday destination or have already visited the city as a tourist, know about “Italia in Miniatura”. But did you know that the miniature theme park, which gives you the opportunity to explore Italy’s most famous sights in only one day, is opened during the Christmas holidays as well? Except for Christmas Day (25 December) the park is opened from 9am to dust around 4.30pm. The entrance fee in winter is reduced since the special attractions are closed. Nevertheless the park is worth a visit and can be reached easily, coming from Rimini, with the bus number eight or by car.
Christmas in Italia in Miniatura, www.italiainminiatura.com
For further information visit the website of the park or the one of the Tourist Information.
After seeing the New Year offer of the Hotel Nobel, I am really considering to make a short trip and spend New Year in Rimini. Therefore I was trying to find out more about what to do and where to celebrate this very special night. I came across an interesting website, I would like to share with you:
“www.capodannoarimini.net” (click here for the translated version) promotes an offer which allows you to move from one bar or club to another, giving you the possibility to party in different locations. By purchasing a special wrist-pass you are entitled to use a free shuttle service which connects the city centre, the harbour and the waterfront.
Furthermore you get free or reduced entrance to participating bars and clubs. Unfortunately the exact programme and the prices for 2009/10 are not out yet, but you can still have a look at the website to find out more about last year’s offer and to keep up with this year’s event.
www.flickr.com
For those who would like to do some winter sport in Rimini, there is now the perfect offer: An ice rink, not only made for locals but also for tourists, visiting the city around Christmas and New Year. So, put on your winter gear and don’t miss this unique opportunity to ice-skate on the seaside.
The ice rink in the harbour area will be opened from 4 December until 31 January. With its nine hundred square meters and a separate area for children, it leaves enough space for a lot of fun.
The rink is opened from Monday to Friday from 3 pm to 7 pm and from 8.30 pm to 11 pm. On weekends and holidays it is additionally opened in the morning from 10.00 am to 12:30 pm. You don’t need to bring your own skates since you can rent the equipment on the spot. For more information about the ice rink and on other activities in December, click here.
Would you like to get to know more about Rimini’s history and culture? Well, then I recommend visiting the City Museum. The building itself is part of the long history of Rimini and within its walls you will find a huge collection of archaeological finds, paintings and much more related to the City of Rimini. And what’s best: It is for free on Sundays.
From 10 October to 16 March 2010, it is opened each Sunday, except from holidays, from 10:00 to 12:30 and from 15:00 to 19:00. On all other days of the week the prices of tickets range from 5 Euros without any reductions to 2 Euros for students, so even if you cannot make it on a Sunday, a visit is still quite affordable.
To find out more about the museum and the opening hours during the week, check the translated version of their website below:
Rimini City Museum
Are you looking for a place to celebrate New Year’s Eve? Why not take a short trip to Rimini? As you can see, there is a lot going on in winter and there are enough locations to celebrate the beginning of 2010. In case you don’t want to party the whole night, you obviously need a place to stay. The Hotel Nobel also caters for this need with special New Year packages. For example they offer three nights including breakfast for 40 Euros per person and day or only one night for 55 Euros per person. To find out more about the prices and the hotel click here.
If you would like to get a first impression of the Hotel Nobel, you can also have a look at this video:
Do you know a museum with more than ten galleries and hundred twenty halls, for which you don’t have to pay entrance fees, no matter how often you go there, and which is opened 24 hours?
Vintage Poster, www.balnea.net
I didn’t until I found out about the Balnea Museum. It is a virtual museum that only exists on the web and that deals with the history of seaside tourism around the world and, in particular, in Rimini. Its collection contains more than three thousand historic documents and works of art such as paintings, posters, photos and miniatures. I especially liked the vintage posters and the photos of “beach beauties” from the twenties, thirties and forties.
The museum, which has been realized in cooperation with the Municipality of Rimini, is definitly worth a visit, not only for the ones interested in the history of tourism. So, please go and have a look at: http://www.balnea.net/default.asp?lang=en
Visiting Rimini as part of a tourism course, I got the chance to meet the owners of the Hotel Atlas, the Hotel Mon Pays and the Hotel Nobel. We talked about working in the hotel sector in the region in general and in particular about their attitudes towards their business.
Even though there have been a lot of changes since the city became one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy, their aim has remained the same: To offer visitors a second home on the seaside and to make them feel welcome and special. Although the business is very competitive and the pressure on prices is high, the hoteliers we met are setting a high value on personal contact and service with their guests. I was very impressed by the passion they expressed and I think that this is what makes a stay in a hotel, no matter which category, special and pleasant.
To find out more about the three hotels, check their websites:
http://www.hotelatlasrimini.it/index.cfm?Lingua=Uk
http://www.hotelmonpays.it/index.cfm?Lingua=Uk
http://www.hotelnobelrimini.it/hotel-nobel-torre-pedrera-rimini-eng.php
Before I went to Rimini, everyone told me that there wouldn’t be much going on in wintertime and that the town would be almost “empty”. Therefore I didn’t have great expectations regarding the nightlife when we dressed up to go out for a drink on Saturday night. As expected the seaside was quite deserted but when we arrived downtown, it was far from empty. After looking for a parking space for about half an hour, we walked to Piazza Cavour, which is in the heart of the historic centre. There, I found what I like so much about Italian nightlife: Small bars, offering drinks for reasonable prices and people standing outside, drink in hand, just chatting and relaxing. I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the mild temperatures, which allowed us to join the crowds out on the Piazza without freezing. Of course, you cannot compare it to the amount of people who are out on the streets during the summer months because then there are just more tourists, but nevertheless I think it was a very nice evening, which proved that Rimini nightlife doesn’t break in the off-season.
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