We flew from Indy to JFK, which we voted US's most 3rd world airport. Seriously, it's embarrassing when you have to walk outside to catch an international flight, WTH NYC? Then we went from JFK to Milan. Our flights went well and we rented a car for the drive to Rimini. It turns out that with 3 people, renting a car was actually quite a bit cheaper than our trains would have been. This was especially true once we took all of our side-trips.
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After about a 4 hour drive, we arrived at the clean, modern Feretti Beach Hotel and checked in. We were to stay in the same hotel of the whole trip, which turned out being pretty nice since we didn't need to repack our bags every night. The hotel was full board, which we didn't expect to like as it's kind of against our general principles. However, the hotel actually had decent food, and a rotating menu so we didn't get bored.
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One of the highlights was the nightly salad bar which was filled, not with fake bacon bits, but with fresh roasted veggies, yummy mushrooms and several different leaves (arugula, endive, fennel, etc). They also had these magical packaged breadsticks which were really yummy. Instead of the ubiquitous container of ranch dressing here, there were oils and vinegars to choose from.
At dinner, first courses were nearly always some kind of pasta. The favorite was a spinach cheese ravioli that Lisa had for dinner one night.
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Secundi (second course) was usually some type of protein: fresh fish bar that you could chose from, sometimes beef, or pork, and a veggie entree that was usually OK but not great.
One of the best things about the small hotel, and nightly dining was getting to know the staff. One of the front desk staff was particularly sweet and helpful. The waiters were all great and it was fun to get to know their personalities throughout the week.
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We spent a little more $$ than what was included in our package to upgrade our room to an ocean view with a balcony and a hot tub, which turned out to have a great view. The hot tub wasn't all that hot, but we suffered in silence.
The hotel was a great home base for our rides, stay tuned.
After about a 4 hour drive, we arrived at the clean, modern Feretti Beach Hotel and checked in. We were to stay in the same hotel of the whole trip, which turned out being pretty nice since we didn't need to repack our bags every night. The hotel was full board, which we didn't expect to like as it's kind of against our general principles. However, the hotel actually had decent food, and a rotating menu so we didn't get bored.
One of the highlights was the nightly salad bar which was filled, not with fake bacon bits, but with fresh roasted veggies, yummy mushrooms and several different leaves (arugula, endive, fennel, etc). They also had these magical packaged breadsticks which were really yummy. Instead of the ubiquitous container of ranch dressing here, there were oils and vinegars to choose from.
At dinner, first courses were nearly always some kind of pasta. The favorite was a spinach cheese ravioli that Lisa had for dinner one night.
Secundi (second course) was usually some type of protein: fresh fish bar that you could chose from, sometimes beef, or pork, and a veggie entree that was usually OK but not great.
One of the best things about the small hotel, and nightly dining was getting to know the staff. One of the front desk staff was particularly sweet and helpful. The waiters were all great and it was fun to get to know their personalities throughout the week.
The hotel was a great home base for our rides, stay tuned.