5 amusement parks around Riccione

Riccione, Cattolica and other beach resorts in the area between Rimini and Pesaro are extremely popular among families with children, and few places in Italy have so much entertainment to offer this particular group of visitors. If there is a Las Vegas in Italy, it is here.

The five amusement and theme parks mentioned below are just the top of an iceberg that covers all sorts of play grounds, go-cart tracks, jumping castles, trampolines, arcade games, mini golf, horse riding, etc. Not forgetting the beach with its low water levels and white sand ideal for beach volley, beach bats, pedaloni and sand sculpting. Holidays in Riccione come with a guarantee against boredom.

Oltremare is a theme park where you can watch dolphins perform, but trained dolphins are just one of many attractions. Through playground activities combined with spectacular visual and sound effects Oltremare attempts to teach children about the origin of the universe, the survival of the fittest and environmental threats. Most visitors spend 5-6 hours in the park once they have paid the entrance fee of 25 euro for adults (over the age of 12 years) and 18 euro for children between 6 and 11 years. There are plenty cafes and restaurants in the park, but you are welcome to bring your own lunch packet and eat in the picnic area.

Fiabilandia is a Disneyland inspired (no comparison) fairy tale world for very small children with lots of slow rides surrounded by colourful plastic. The park gets a poor score in most internet reviews, but there seems to be general consent about it being toddler friendly though the prices are steep with 22 euro for everyone taller than 130 cm.

Italia in Miniature is a bit like Legoland, with Lilliput versions of major sights. Here you can see the gondolas of Venice, Rome’s Colosseum, the leaning tower of Pisa and Agrigento’s Valle di Templi in one afternoon mixed with amusement rides and driving lessons for children. The price is 20 euro for over 12 year olds and 15 euro for children up to 11 years. Entrance is free for children of less than 1 metre.

Aquafan is the most famous water park in Italy with many attractions for children, teenagers and grown-up. Noah’s ark with four slides, Extreme River and surfing Hill, music shows and discotheques are particularly popular. Entrance fees are 25 euro for two days (the second day is gratis) and 18 euro for children aged 6 to 11 years. An alternative, smaller scale water park is Beach Village http://www.beachvillagericcione.it/, where the pools are filled with sea water. A day here costs 12 euro for grown-ups and 10 euro for children.

For theme park enthusiasts Mirabilandia south of Ravenna takes the prize with some very wild rides and great shows .The park which is among the largest in Italy houses Europe’s second largest Ferris wheel, the Katun roller coaster with vertical loop, cobra and zero G rolls as well as two corkscrews. Great fun for everyone who like to move fast forward with their head hanging down. The price for adults is 31 euro and 25 euro for children below the age of 12 years. All tickets are valid for two consecutive days, as the second day is free.

Ravenna in the rise and fall of the Roman Empire

Long before anyone had ever heard of Venezia, people in nearby Ravenna paddled around among houses built on small islands in a marshy lagoon.

Today the sea has withdrawn and the boats have been replaced by cars, scooters bicycles and designer shoes perfect for promenading along the prosperous shop-fronts in Ravenna’s central labyrinth of pedestrian streets. In between high-heels and handmade leather, you’ll see a pair of sensible sneakers they are almost inevitably linked to tourists determined to visit all of Ravenna’s eight World Heritage Sites in one go.

But before giving in the study of early Christian mosaics, I’d like to dwell on Ravenna’s role in the rise and decline of the Roman Empire. It was in Ravenna Julius Ceasar gathered his forces after having conquered Gaul and invaded Britain, and from this obscure place he crossed the Rubicon, marched on Rome and became the unrivalled leader of the Roman world. And it was to Ravenna one of the last Roman Emperors, Flavius Honorius, fled when the Western Empire started to crumble. The town offered shelter in the highly inaccessible swamps and marshes and support from the imperial forces of the Eastern Roman Empire. In this way Ravenna enjoyed a peaceful period where early Christian art could flourish and prolonged imperial history in the West for another 70 years.

A happy coincidence for the world’s mosaics heritage and a great example of how history repeats itself – or at least returns to its point of origin.

Faenza’s disadvantage

- Welcome to the world famous Faenza. I suppose you are going to see the museum first thing tomorrow. It is said to have one of the world's largest and finest collections. As a matter of fact the city has made pottery since the mid-1500s and in many languages the city's name has become synonymous with ceramics. Think about it: What's pottery called in your language? a very enthusiastic man with big expectant eyes asked.

If you have visited Faenza before, you know the answer, and besides I did not have the heart to ruin his fun by answering ‘earthenware’ or ‘majolica’. Still, I honestly do not know what the word ‘faience’ means, and like the other times we have stopped over in Faenza, we did not stay long enough to visit the museum and perhaps find an explanation.

Faenza has the disadvantage of a truly foul smell. You notice it from a distance, when you drive along the autostrada with the air conditioner switched on, the stench is incredible and it is impossible to decide whether it comes from hemp fields, agriculture, industry or the large factories producing ceramic tiles. You suddenly understand why some people talk about The Poo Valley.

Fortunately for the city's 55,000 residents, the smell does not seem quite as bad in the centre, but you can find threads discussing boundary values and methods to measure the discomfort on the Internet, so the problem is real.

It was not the scent that made us leave town after one night only, but a feeling of not being able to find a way in. Allegedly, Faenza’s central square should be bordered with arcades and really nice buildings, but we walked around a residential area for hours, and although we asked directions several times, we never managed to hit bulls eye. After crossing an artful junction with several over- and underpasses, we ended up in a park lined with winos, and instead of a good restaurant, there was a primitive pizza place selling beers in paper bags as a sideline. On previous visits we have been unable to find a hotel in the town, although I am sure it must be there some place. Sometimes it is just difficult to be a tourist travelling on your own.

This time we had found a great Bed & Breakfast in the outskirts, but due to the apparent lack of attractions, we decided to drive on early the next morning. I know from experience that no Italian city is totally ugly, smelly and boring, so maybe it's time to pay Faenza another visit?

A perfect spot to bath the horses

Traversing Italy from north to south requires a few stops along the way, and one of the perfect stopovers is Bagnacavallo. A small town between Bologna and Rimini with loads of restaurants and very high, but still affordable culinary standards. A personal favourite is Osteria Malabocca, interpreted as Ma la Bocca to avoid suspicion of hurting the mouth.

During an exquisite meal here, the chef emerged to chat about the genteel aspirations of the name and speculations that modern day tourists may have been preceded by the great poet Dante.

- Do you know, the Romans used to come here to cross the river Senio, and they believed the water had a therapeutic effect on ailing horses? He asked with considerable reverence. In the high Middle Ages the place therefore became known as Bagnacavallo, because this was the place to bath the horses, and even today Ingredior rhoebus, cyllaros egredior meaning “It enters ill and comes out healthy” is inscribed in the city’s coat of arms.

The next day we went out to look for the miraculous waters, but found only farm land and signs to the near-by town Cotignola that was basically destroyed during the Battaglia del Senio between German and allied forces in april 1945.

I was reminded of my experiences in Bagnacavallo the other day, when reading biographical notes on Lord Byron. Apparently, the great Romantic poet left his illigitimate daugter Allegra at the Capuchin convent in Bagnacavallo, while he pursued his flamboyant interests elsewhere. In 1822 when Don Juan was being lived and writted the five-year-old died from fever surrounded by nuns at the convent.

It would appear that Bagnacavallo lost some of its health-bringing magic many years ago, but self-indulgence lives on in the menu degustazione and it can be highly refreshing.

Propeller aircraft, racing cars and the rampant horse

In the middle of Piazza Baracca in the provincial town of Lugo you see a 5.7 metre high, petrified man in a jump suit. Behind him, a 27 metres tall pillar or airplane wing towers with, if you look carefully, a Ferrari logo engraved on the side. Where is the connection, I wonder, and after a quick search on the Internet, I managed to come up with an answer.

May 1888 a boy named Francesco Baracca was born in Lugo. He grew up among the bourgeoisie and took a military training in the cavalry. Baracca then caught interest in flying, and he became a successful pilot in the Italian Air Force during the First World War. To emphasize the link to his earliest military career, he painted a rearing black horse on his propeller airplane.

Baracca partipated in 63 battles and defeated 34 enemy aircraft until June 1918, when he was shot down and killed near Montello in Trieste. But the myth about him and "il cavellino rampant" lived on, aided by Baracca’s parents. In 1923 they met Enzo Ferrari and gave him the rights to use the rearing horse as a logo on his cars.

That is why, the 'Ferrari logo' can be found on memorial Baracca in Lugo. And you can also see it on the Baracca Museum which is housed in the flying hero's childhood home.