Mountain Fortresses and Lots of Rain

After a busy day in Florence and Imola, today was a bit lower key. Claudio picked Ken, Don and I up to head to the airport to get a rental van at the airport. We were taking the group to visit Ravenna on the Adriatic coast, which was about 1.5 hours away.

After getting the van, we picked up Shaun, Ashley and Katelyn and headed out of Bologna. A few miles out on the freeway, Claudio

mentioned a tiny hill village, San Leo that is his favorite. As with many Italy towns, it was built as a fortress at the top of a hill in the early 1400’s as a protection from invaders. We decided to modify the itinerary and visit San Leo before going to the Adriatic.

Once we exited the freeway, the road wound through little towns and finally up a one lane road, up and up and up. There were either low mountains or high hills (depending on your perspective) surrounding us and on each were fortresses, that were quite imposing and would for me, be a deterrent. Now of course back in medieval days, that may not have been the case.

We arrived into the picturesque town of San Leo, overlooking beautiful valleys and with amazing views all the way to the Adriatic. Claudio suggested a trattoria that had a nice patio and of course

views! We enjoyed more pasta (love this stuff) and great wine.

We had to wear off lunch, so decided to head up to the fortress. We had an option to walk up or ride the bus, and as we were deciding it started to drizzle. That made our decision and on the bus we went, and it went up an extremely steep, small one lane road. As we arrived the entrance, the drizzle increased to pouring rain. We waited in the ticket area for a few minutes until is slowed and then ran for the next section of the fort.

This action was repeated over and over for the next hour. Each time we found a new area of the fort to explore, including a torture chamber. I know as humans we can inflict significant pain on others, but these devices took it to another level. The fort was built in 1441 and has had multiple uses, including the defense of the area, a palace for dignitaries and now a museum.

By the time we were ready to leave, the rain was even worse and which caused those of us without umbrellas to be totally soaked by the time we got to the bus. After getting to the car, it was 4p and we decided to go back to Bologna, skipping the Adriatic. As much as we wanted to enjoy the Sea, we were all either damp or wet and cold, so back to the big city we went.

Half way there, Claudio suggested we do a stop in his hometown of Imola for a beverage and snack. Since were now a bit dried out, that sounded like a great idea! We parked and went into Dulci's Cafe and Bakery (https://dulciscafe.it/) which had displays of amazing pastries, savory bites and cakes. Most of us had a Spritz (the Aperol/soda combo we attempted to have the first day), which was excellent. Katelyn and Ashley had prosecco, which was also good. Along with the drinks we were served plates of savory snacks, including bite sized pizzas which were amazing. We also tried the awesome sweets and after all the food and drink, the bill was $35…wow!

We wandered around Imola, and saw some of the sights that Ken, Don and Claudio had seen yesterday. Such a cool town…and what a great place to grow up!

We arrived back to Bologna about 9p, so Katelyn, Shaun and Ashley

headed out to check on the night life in the area surround the apartment. Each night there were groups of people spilling into the street enjoying beverages and socializing. They didn’t last long, but did bring back pizza!!

Special thanks to Claudio for making our time in Bologna so memorable. He was such a gracious host and his suggestions, driving and of course speaking Italian we perfecto!