Top 7 things to do in Rimini

Rimini a big city lying at the west coast of Italy that have the border to Adriatic Sea. This city is famous for its 9km long beaches. Although beaches are beautiful they are all similar to each other and unfortunately the sea isn't as beautiful as the beaches.

1) Head to the beaches: Enjoy the combination of sea, sun and sand. There are many water activities available such as kayak, sea bike, kite surf and wind surf. There are many surf schools on the beaches as well.

2) 9km long beach is definitely something to enjoy and the most efficient way to enjoy it is to walk up&down along the beach while your feet are in the sea and afternoon sun is warming you. You can enjoy an afternoon drink at the beach bars.

3)Rimini eye:Although it's a little more expensive than it should be, the view from the top of it is just amazing and it's worth it.

4) Enjoy a historical tour at the historical center of the city. If you are willing to this I recommend you to skip summer months because it's super hot to move.

5) Enjoy fresh sea food  but there is one special one that you should definetly try: Rock Island. This place is situated at the en of the rock bay and the food is delicous, the space is super cute with an amazing of city and the service is good. I recommend a reservation to have a nice table with view.

One of the best octopus dishes I have tasted

6)Bar hopping: There are so many bars both in city center and along the seaside. They all serve delicious cocktails and good music.

Bars are alined across this amazing view

7) Eat piadina: Since Piacenza is famous for its piadina, this region is the best place to try it. I recommend Casina Del Bosco restaurant.

Barcelona : Top 10 To-Do's whether you are a tourist or local

This beautiful city never stops surprising tourists. It’s full of history and fun. It’s so big and there are always new things to do. Every season is good to visit Barcelona but of course if you are visiting during summer you can enjoy the long sandy beaches and refreshing water of Mediterranean Sea.

Of course if it’s the first time in Barcelona there are must see places:

   1)     Sagrada Familia: After Gaudi’s tragic death, this famous church is still uncompleted.  It was Gaudi’s will the church shall be completed by only public funding. The skeleton of the church and the design is so moving that it’s impossible for one to resist Gaudi’s talent. The construction is continuing according to his sketches.

 

Sagrada Familia

Inside peak 

   2)     Parc Guel: This parc build by Gaudi for Guel family. Guel family asked Gaudi to transform the areato one of the richest neighborhoods of Barcelona. Unfortunately it didn’t happen but there are 2 houses built by Gaudi in one of which he lived for some time.

   3)     Gaudi Houses : a) Casa Batllo: its one of the masterpieces of Gaudi. Located at the heart of Passeig de Gracia. It’s an inspiring piece of architecture merging art nouveau and modernism. This incredible design is reflected in every aspect of the house, from the facade to the structure within and individual hand crafted door handles. You get given a hand held device which gives you a visual and audio tour as you visit each of the rooms. As you point the device in each room it shows you what it used to look like and the inspiration behind the architects design. You can go on the roof and enjoy the view. Also it’s possible to go events organized in the house and on the roof during summer

b) Casa Mila: Constructed by Gaudi in 1907-1911. The house is situated at the corner of Passeig de Garcia. Again this house reveals Gaudi’s geniality. It’s the merge of two buildings, which are structured around two courtyards that provide light to the nine levels: basement, ground floor, mezzanine, main floor, four upper floors and the attic.

   4)     Picasso museum:  This museum embeds some of the best drawings of Picasso as well as his work from the earlier times including many sketches. The curves holding the façade and the patios are amazing as well as the arcs at the roof. The roof and chimneys are just the marks of his creativity and intelligence.  The modernist furniture on the main floor shows the beauty in simplicity.

   5)     Cathedral in El Gothic: Built in Medieval era, this big cathedral has the most significant interior of Gothic architecture. The peaceful courtyard with the palm trees and gooses enhances the spirituality. The tomb of St.Eulalia (whose story is in the upcoming post) lays inside. 

Tomb of St.Eulalia

Courtyard of the cathedral

   

   

Barcelona writing made of iron

   

   6)     La Rambla: This long street starts from Placa Catalunya and end up at the sea side where there is the statue of Christoph Columbus. The street is full of shops cafes. However I recommend the side streets where the bars and shops are better and less touristic. Also beware of pickpocketing.

   7)     La bouquieria in La Ramblas: Everyone should stop in this colorful bazaar of fruits. The colors, the layouts of the stalls are so inviting you end up trying all the exotic fruits.

   8)     Santa Maria Del Mar Church: This church located in the heart of El Born has traces of gothic architecture. Next to the church there is the memorial monument where the fire never ceases. This statue has been made to remember all the martyrs from the Civil war. Around the church there are many cafes, shops and restaurants. The night life of this area is quite vivid as well.

Side view of the church

Street art in El Born

   9)     Placa Catalunya: This is the connecting plaza of Barcelona. Airport shuttles leave you here, take off from here. There are many metro lines passing by. This plaza is connected to Las Ramblas, Universitat and even 20min walking distance from El Born. There are many shops and cafes in the plaza.

   10)  Placa Espanya: This busy plaza is famous for its magic fountains. You can start by going up the old bullring lift to get 360-degree view before seeing the beautiful fountains and MNAC building. 

View at night

North of Italy: ALBA and many more

Well probably most of you haven’t heard of these little towns in the north of Italy. Probably I would have never gone if it wasn’t for my friend who is from there. One useful tip; hire a car and drive there. It’s almost two hours far from Milano by car. Here you actually see the real life of Italy. If you are wine lover probably you have heard the fame of Langhe wines. This region specialised in red wine and they are super good. All the seasons are good in there however winter can be quiet cold. In Piedmont region there are agriturismo places instead of hotels. They are B&B specific to region. They genereally renovate ancient buildings and turn them into nice hotels. You can stay in Alba or in the villages nearby.  During summer in there are open music nights in Alba. Basically each bar/restaurant put their music system outside and you enjoy your aperitivo in a rather fun way. Aperitivo is very common in Italy. You have a drink and food and you just pay for one drink and the food keeps coming or there is a open buffet.  generally it starts at 7 and finishes by 10. No worries in a magical way different music don’t mix and don’t cause sound pollution. Aperitivo is very common in Italy. You have a drink and food and you just pay for one drink and the food keeps coming or there is a open buffet.  generally it starts at 7 and finishes by 10.

In Alba there are nice restaurants and cafes to try but I recommend you to eat in the villages nearby. However you should try the bar “Soda” in Alba where they make cocktails based on your special request, you just need to describe the taste and then let them do their magic! They are very good at their job and the prices are affordable. The bar is closed on Mondays.

An agriturismo in Alba which used to be the summer house of Royal Family

Definitely visit La Morra, a village in the mountain which is under the protection of Unesco. Buy an ice cream from Venchi and climb up a little hill up to the city center where you have an amazing view of infinite green and wine yards. 

The View of Langhe

Come back to La  Morra for dinner. I recommend restaurant “More &Macine” or “La Fontanza” where you should try tajarin. Tajarin is very thin cut pasta with bolognese sauce, a specialty of this region, it’s better to make reservations. In both restaurants the dishes are very tasty and the prices are normal.

Castle of Pollenza

Little piazza of Pollenza with its church

You can drive to Pollenza which is also under the protection of Unesco. In this village there is the University of Gastronomic Sciences which is in collaboration with Slow Food movement. In the university campus there is a hotel, restaurant and a café/bar. You can enjoy a lunch or just a coffee and relax. If you have time you can visit the castle there. 

Dogliani is another village at the heart of the Langhe where you can spend a night here and try the restaurant “Il Torchino” where you can taste the specialties of the region.  

View of Monforte

Terrace of Moda

My favorite village was Monforte. This village has romantic atmosphere, breathtaking view and amazing castle. It’s build up on a hill and wondering around in its small streets makes you feel good. When you are in this village you should go to Moda. This restaurant/bar has an interesting system where it allows you to taste different wines. They give you a card of 100€ and inside there are many bottles of wine inside the machines. You choose your wine put the card in the machine and choose price and amount of the wine you wish the drink. Generally price range differs from 4€ to 12€. While you are there I recommend you to try “nebiolo”, “barbaresco” and “barolo” wines. Barolo is one of the best wines ever. Nebiolo grape is named after nebbia which means fog in Italian. During the harvest time intense fog sets in this region which makes it hard to collect the grapes. 

Little roads of villages

If you are interested in wine you can visit Barolo wine yards and do wine tastings but it's rather touristic among wine lovers.

All these villages are really close to each other. It takes maximum 20min to go to one another. In order to be independent, a car is a must as I mentioned before.