L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2025 L'Italo-Americano ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS PEOPLE ACTIVITIES R a v e n n a , w i t h i t s e a r l y Christian mosaics and Byzan- tine churches, is just over an hour away from most towns on the Riviera; San Marino, the small independent repub- lic perched on a hill not far from Rimini, is a short drive inland; Urbino, the Renais- sance city and birthplace of R a p h a e l , i s r e a c h a b l e i n under two hours and offers a very different landscape and a t m o s p h e r e . E v e n w i t h i n Rimini itself, visitors can explore medieval streets, the T e m p i o M a l a t e s t i a n o designed by Alberti, and a recently revived interest in its R o m a n a n d R e n a i s s a n c e past. Despite its popularity, the Riviera remains relatively affordable compared to other parts of the Italian coast. Lig- uria and parts of Tuscany may offer dramatic cliffs and postcard views, but they often come at a much higher price; by contrast, the Romagna model of hospitality, based on decades of experience, relies on efficient service, family-run hotels, and beach establishments that cater to all budgets. Many offer full- board packages, children's activities, and discounts for longer stays. The result is a type of tourism that may be l e s s g l a m o r o u s , b u t i s d e p e n d a b l e a n d d e e p l y embedded in Italy's summer culture. Food is another strong cinema had already touched the area before: Federico Fellini's I Vitelloni (1953), although not shot on loca- tion, is widely understood to be set in a town resembling Rimini, Fellini's hometown, and well depicts the languid atmosphere and sense of sus- pended adulthood that char- acterized many provincial coastal towns in the early 1950s. Other films did use the Riviera Romagnola more directly: La ragazza con la valigia (1961), directed by V a l e r i o Z u r l i n i , i n c l u d e s scenes set in Riccione and R i m i n i , a n d g i v e s u s a glimpse of their resorts dur- ing the early years of mass tourism. In Estate Violenta (1959), the setting of Riccione during wartime becomes part of the narrative itself, bring- ing together personal drama with the natural and social b a c k d r o p o f t h e A d r i a t i c coast. Each of these movies, albeit in very different ways, helps document the evolving connection and relationship between Italians and their beloved Romagna coastline. But if you think that the Riviera Romagnola is just a p l a c e f o r s w i m m i n g a n d dancing, with the occasional movie being shot on location, you'd be mistaken. Its geo- graphic position makes it a practical base for day trips and weekend escapes to some of Italy's most interesting his- torical and cultural sites. point: the Riviera draws from Romagna's inland culinary tradition while also offering a wide variety of fresh seafood. Piadina, the thin flatbread filled with cold cuts, cheese, or vegetables, is perhaps the most recognizable local sta- ple, available at kiosks across the coast. Typical pasta dish- es include strozzapreti with sausage ragù or cappelletti in broth. Along the seafront, vis- itors can find grilled sardines, seafood salads, and deep- fried fish served in paper cones. Local wines such as Sangiovese di Romagna or Albana are widely avail- able and pair well with both meat and fish dishes. T o d a y , t h e R i v i e r a R o m a g n o l a c o n t i n u e s t o attract millions of visitors e a c h y e a r , e v e n a s t r a v e l h a b i t s a n d e x p e c t a t i o n s change. Some families return to the same hotel or beach u m b r e l l a e v e r y s u m m e r , keeping long-standing tradi- tions alive; others come for a weekend or short stay, drawn by the mix of sun, conve- nience, and cultural options nearby. What remains con- stant is the idea of the Riv- iera not just as a location, but as a familiar and recurring part of many Italians' lives. It is a place that offers pre- dictability but also variety, and a sense of shared sum- mer history, one beach towel, dance floor, and piadina at a time. class and mass car own- ership, the Riviera Romag- nola became a favourite des- t i n a t i o n f o r s u m m e r holidays. Italians from the north, especially Emilia and Lombardy, would drive down for weeks of sun and relax- a t i o n . H o t e l s a n d b e a c h establishments multiplied, and the idea of the "villeg- giatura" – a long summer stay at the seaside – became part of the national imagina- tion. The Riviera's popularity continued into the 1980s and 90s, when the area gained a different kind of reputation: that of a nightlife capital. Clubs like Cocoricò, Baia Imperiale, Peter Pan, and Pascià drew thousands of young people every weekend, o f f e r i n g e l a b o r a t e t h e m e nights, famous DJs, and a party atmosphere that made Riccione and Rimini house- hold names among Italian teenagers and twenty-some- things: dance music, beach bars, and late-night piadine became part of the summer routine. These were also the years when Vanzina's come- dies, films like the Sapore di Mare series, reflected and reinforced the image of the Riviera Romagnola as a fun, slightly chaotic, and unmis- takably Italian backdrop for lighthearted summer stories. While these films shaped the popular perception of the Riviera in recent decades, W h i l e I w r i t e , we're just about ten days away from Ferragosto, the very symbol of summer for every Italian. If we had to choose a place that evokes the sunny season as much as this date, only a few would do so as c l e a r l y a s t h e R i v i e r a Romagnola. For generations, it has rep- resented affordable holidays, l o n g b e a c h d a y s , a n d evenings of loud laughter, seafood dinners, and neon-lit p r o m e n a d e s . K n o w n a n d loved by many, especially families and youth, the Riv- iera Romagnola is a social and cultural place, shaped by decades of tourism, habits, history and, indeed, memo- ries. When we talk about "Riv- iera Romagnola," we refer to the coastal stretch along the Adriatic Sea in the region of Emilia-Romagna. Starting roughly from the town of Comacchio in the north and reaching down to Cattolica near the Marche border, it includes some of the most well-known seaside destina- tions in the country. Rimini, Riccione, Cesenatico, Cervia, Milano Marittima, and Bel- l a r i a - I g e a M a r i n a b e i n g among the most popular. T h e l a n d s c a p e a n d s e a here are very different from what one might find on the L i g u r i a n o r T y r r h e n i a n coasts: beaches are wide and flat, the water is shallow and calm, and the shoreline is lined with orderly rows of umbrellas and sunbeds. It's a model that prioritizes com- fort and practicality, especial- ly for families. However, this is not the result of recent tourism planning: Rimini, the largest city on the Riv- iera, has been tied to travel a n d i n f r a s t r u c t u r e s i n c e Antiquity. Back then, it was a R o m a n c o l o n y k n o w n a s Ariminum, located at the c r o s s r o a d s o f t h e V i a Flaminia and Via Emilia; today, Rimini still bears visi- ble traces of its Roman past, i n c l u d i n g t h e A r c h o f Augustus and the Tiberius Bridge. Rimini, as well as all other towns along the coast, devel- oped gradually over the cen- turies, but it was during the post-war period that they began to attract Italian holi- daymakers on a large scale. By the 1950s and 60s, with t h e r i s e o f t h e m i d d l e GIULIA FRANCESCHINI From piadina to disco nights: a journey through the Riviera Romagnola The Bridge of Tiberius, in Rimini (Photo: Leonid Andronov/Dreamstime) and, bottom right, a traditional piadina (Photo: Volodymyr Semeniuk/Dreamstime)

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