It's a pretty straight route down with the motorway more or less following the same road as the historical Via Emilia that runs in a straight line from Milan to Ravenna. The topography is really flat and the vegetation largely cultivated but pretty nevertheless. What was interesting is that most of the grapevines were still green. Around us they have started to turn beautiful autumn colours. The grapes around us are largely Sorbara Lambrusco grapes, while the vines that we saw around Faenza are generally San Giovese. Perhaps this accounts for the differences. The fruit trees on the other hand were vivid golds, oranges and reds and really spectacular. One of the less attractive aspects of the journey however, was the large number of pigs being transported, presumably to be slaughtered. This region of Italy favours pork products over just about anything else you can think of. Buon appetito, but not for me, thanks...
We left the motorway at Cesena, where it said it was 20km to Cesenatico. We saw our first seagull here. Unlike in the UK, seagulls in Italy tend to frequent the coast and inland stretches of water only. It was nice to see them, knowing we were close to the coast. After travelling a couple of kilometers, we saw that Cesenatico was now only 9 km away. After another 5 or so, we saw it was now 7. Italy, the only place that tells you how far away a place is as the crow flies, rather than how the road pans out... Still, nice to know we were nearly there!
Considering it is now out of season, Cesenatico was quite busy. It can be quite dismal in the winter, like most seaside towns. We had a walk and admired the colourful barges before heading off for the main purpose of the day: a seafood lunch by the coast!
After lunch we had quite a long walk, including walk along the beach. In the UK there would have been people swimming, not here.
So, off home again, chasing the light north west. We didn't quite make it home in the light, but almost. A fabulous day.
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