Day 113 The Ants of the Hwy!

Thursday 12/07/2018 (Day 27 SZ) Residence Frontemare Via Barce 2, Torre Pedrera, Rimini, 47922, Italy

Well we survived the night and didn’t knock myself out after all... wifi had been an issue last night but managed to get it sorted for 1/2 hr then it went...

Then John had to track back to get the car so we could load it..
It must fascinate the other residents in these buildings. For most are in locals buildings not in tourist areas... some it gets the better of them so they have to take a peek who you are... the quickly open their doors take a peek then quickly shut it again.... funny really, I do the same when I see a strange around my neighbourhood, but instead of coming out I peek through a window... so we really are no different are we....

So all packed we headed via Verona to see the arena we missed seeing 3yrs back on our a visit here when we bought Bill, Vic, Chris and Geoff ... we didn’t have time then to explore Verona and then be honest we don’t have a lot of time now..

But we made it in time to have a look even found a good parking underground one so car not in the heat with all our food....

I did enjoy my little adventure around it... they had a weird sort of display behind temporary fencing... behind the fences were heaps and heaps of stage props... the stage props appears to be from different stage plays.... some interesting but also a bit weird they were out in the weather like they were... then on front of the temp fencing... was banners depicting all the different years from now down to 1814 stage plays have been recorded as being staged here in the huge arena that once held 30,000 people now only 15,000 for a reasons they say...
around the arena is the obligatory tourist restaurants...Plus people everywhere, police on standby and even the military...comforting and confronting with so many around... but from past Italian visit they do have a big police and military presences in important places....

So having taken the pics a little look around we had our meeting with Macca I even ate there today a chicken burger... then back to the car and down the rotten autobarn which keeps thieving our hard enraged cash.... the Hwy is as said boring as... you do see 100’s of grape and olive groves abounding... down this side if Italy... olive trees are everywhere here but this side they are prolific.... as are the grape vines... heaps of abandoned homes...

The Hwy today was just non stop ants 🐜 travelling on and on... cars zooming past us and a John was sitting in 130 that is the allowable speed... Truck after truck like big ants nine stop in their mission to get from A-B unreal... and unnerving being alongside of them constantly ...

We finally made it to tonight’s destination and a lot easier to find and to park than last nights.... when you read the description on Booking.com they always make it seem easy to get too.... that’s not always the case except tonight it is... Praise God I can tell you, the stress of being in the wrong area is just too much...

We are tonight at the beach,... and in front of us is non stop umbrella city... there are just kilometres of area after area of Umbrellas and deck chairs for daily hire all in their little sections... all colour coded to the area that’s roped off... all have a bar, a volley ball or some sort of sport netted in... kids playgrounds and of course the ocean...the Adriatic Sea.... the opposite side to The Croatian coastline we were on only this side has the sand... Croatia has the pebbles.. quite funny or odd depending on how you view it...

Well we walk into our apartment building about 8 floors and we breathed a sigh of relief to see No1 a lift and No 2 to be told we were on the first floor... normally I aim for the higher the better but after last nights effort we were only too happy to be in the first floor.. Our Manager Manuela just stunning... fluttering her long lashes at John... explaining how everything works.... including the key which was electronic... she took us up to our room, and blow me Dead the bed was hinged to the wall, to make the apartment look much bigger than it was... but in all honesty it really didn’t need to be a wall hinged bed... there was enough room... mind you the balcony had more room than the unit... ha ha ha.....

We could see the sea from our apartment as advertised, just side on, but it was a view... as per the advertisement... the unit was soso... we are finding one each unit has a little of what we require just not everything... the only one that had it all was the one at the Alpine Lodge... crazy so far from everything bu set up unreal....

So we did the usually bag match up and down to the car to get our gear.....then headed out to check everything out... one thing we really noticed was there were heaps of cloths and Nic knack stores all owned by Indians that whole lot... we walked through umbrella city... past unreal little restaurants and Indiana’s walking up and down the street trying to sell growing balloons..... Th other thing we noticed was heaps of people in wheelchairs..... I have never in my life seen such many people in wheelchairs....some very mobile by themselves others being pushed by a wife, husband or parent.....we must have seen about 13 or more....

Also it looks like it’s just the beginning of the tourist season here it’s really not that busy for the amount of places open, beach umbrella localities or restaurants open... we imagine it must get busier but for now it isn’t too bad..l you have to laugh when the locals being holiday makers not tourist like us... are at the beach like Croatia they all have their cup blow up toys to float on... where they store them in they tiny units has got me bet because they all walk out with these massive blow floaty toys... this place is so well set up for families it has everything aimed at kids teens and parents...l even saw kids preforming Rap music on a stage in the Main Street as we walked by the restaurants... All set up with side show alleys everywhere... interesting to see how its approached in each country... And to be honest pretty much very similar... just different location... although I think Montenegro and Croatia were a little more laid back....

We managed to get up and down the street without acquiring anything... John made sure if that ha ha...
Cooked dinner and headed to bed...

Info on the Verona Arena.... only FYI if you want more for me to remember about it..


The building itself was built in AD 30 on a site which was then beyond the city walls. The ludi (shows and games) staged there were so famous that spectators came from many other places, often far away, to witness them.[citation needed] The amphitheatre could host more than 30,000 spectators in ancient times.

The round façade of the building was originally composed of white and pink limestone from Valpolicella, but after a major earthquake in 1117, which almost completely destroyed the structure's outer ring, except for the so-called "ala" (wing), the stone was quarried for re-use in other buildings. Nevertheless, it impressed medieval visitors to the city, one of whom considered it to have been a labyrinth, without ingress or egress. Ciriaco d'Ancona was filled with admiration for the way it had been built and Giovanni Antonio Panteo's civic panegyric De laudibus veronae, 1483, remarked that it struck the viewer as a construction that was more than human.

The first interventions to recover the arena's function as a theatre began during the Renaissance. Some operatic performances were later mounted in the building during the 1850s, owing to its outstanding acoustics.

And in 1913, operatic performances in the arena commenced in earnest due to the zeal and initiative of the Italian opera tenor Giovanni Zenatello and the impresario Ottone Rovato. The first 20th-century operatic production at the arena, a staging of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, took place on 10 August of that year, to mark the birth of Verdi 100 years before in 1813. Musical luminaries such as Puccini and Mascagni were in attendance. Since then, summer seasons of opera have been mounted continually at the arena, except in 1915–18 and 1940–45, when Europe was convulsed in war.

In modern times, at least four productions (sometimes up to six) are mounted each year between June and August. During the winter months, the local opera and ballet companies perform at the L'Accademia Filarmonica.

Modern-day travellers are advised that admission tickets to sit on the arena's stone steps are much cheaper to buy than tickets giving access to the padded chairs available on lower levels. Candles are distributed to the audience and lit after sunset around the arena.

Every year over 500,000 people see productions of the popular operas in this arena.[3] Once capable of housing 20,000 patrons per performance (now limited to 15,000 because of safety reasons), the arena has featured many of world's most notable opera singers. In the post-World War II era, they have included Giuseppe Di Stefano, Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi and Renata Tebaldi among other names. A number of conductors have appeared there, too. The official arena shop has historical recordings made by some of them available for sale.

The opera productions in the Verona Arena had not used any microphones or loudspeakers until an electronic sound reinforcement system was installed in 2011.[4]

In recent times, the arena has also hosted several concerts of international rock and pop bands, among which Zucchero Fornaciari, who holds the record of the highest number of concerts in the location, 38 from 1989 to 2017, and the highest number of concerts during the same tour, 22 of the Black Cat World Tour, Bruce Springsteen, Elisa, Laura Pausini, Pink Floyd, Alicia Keys, One Direction, Simple Minds, Duran Duran, Deep Purple, The Who, Dire Straits, Mike Oldfield, Rod Stewart, Sting, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Peter Gabriel, Björk, Muse, Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Jamiroquai, Whitney Houston, Mumford & Sons, Kiss, Spandau Ballet, 5 Seconds Of Summer and 2Cellos.

In 1981, 1984 and 2010 it hosted the podium and presentation of the Giro d'Italia with thousands packing the arena to watch the prizes being handed out.

The 2011 Bollywood film Rockstar directed by Imtiaz Ali starring Ranbir Kapoor with music composed by Academy Award winner A.R.Rahman opens and closes with musical concerts shot here.

On 24 September 2012 Leonard Cohen performed here as part of the First European Leg of his "Old Ideas" World Tour.

On 25 June 2013 Paul McCartney performed at the venue as part of his 2013 Tour.

British-Irish boy band One Direction performed on 19 May 2013 as part of their Take Me Home Tour.

Spandau Ballet played a concert at Verona Arena on 6 July 2015, as part of their Soul Boys Of The Western World Tour.

On 21 September 2015 the operatic pop group Il Volo performed in Verona for their final date of the Grande Amore Tour. The evening was recorded and broadcast by Rai1 and gained a share of 23%

On May 13th 2016, the Australian band 5 Seconds Of Summer performed in Verona as part of their 2016 Sounds Live Feels Live World Tour.

On May 28th and 29th 2016, the English singer Adele performed in Verona as part of her Adele Live 2016 Tour.Read more