Longing for summer. Desire of sea. The glance is that of August, but it is a Saturday in May. Getting to the sidewalk already becomes a challenge, untangling cars, scooters and scooters. After finding a hole to park, we are ready for the descent to the beach. That of Rimini, in the Grand Hotel area. Where half of the Romagna population seems to have poured, with substantial Emilian reinforcements. The beach of the Riviera comes alive, with the spring that begins to smell in summer, many sunbeds occupied by residents and tourists, mounted umbrellas, many already open, children armed with buckets and spades that on the seashore ‘open the yards’ of the first sand castles. Little things, signs of normality, which we all need to try to leave behind these fifteen months of nightmares and …
Longing for summer. Desire of sea. The glance is that of August, but it is a Saturday in May. Getting to the sidewalk already becomes a challenge, untangling cars, scooters and scooters. After finding a hole to park, we are ready for the descent to the beach. The one of Rimini, Grand Hotel area. Where half of the Romagna population seems to have poured, with substantial Emilian reinforcements. The beach of the Riviera comes alive, with spring beginning to smell like summer, many sunbeds occupied by residents and tourists, mounted umbrellas, many already open, children armed with buckets and spades that on the seashore ‘open the construction sites’ of the first sand castles . Little things, signs of normality, which we all need to try to leave behind these fifteen months of nightmares and mourning.
Opening of bathing establishments: all the rules
“We left, full speed ahead,” he says Gabriele Pagliarani, Tiki bathroom 26. It launched summer 2021 with an Open Day Sport, including beach volleyball, fitness area, zumba and yoga. “Fifty people for lunch at the restaurant today, opening day – smiles Federico Bronzetti, Tortuga Beach -, full again tonight (yesterday, ed) until 10 pm and Sunday for lunch”. “I have given away a lot of cots – echoes Mauro Vanni, bathroom 62 -, and many people took the first bath of the summer. Go on like this, the coast is ready. In the face of the patacas who did not believe it. “” Almost all the one hundred Rimini restaurants are open – explains the president of the Consortium, Marco Mauri -, booking is highly recommended. The best time of the day? A couple from Modena who as soon as they arrived at the beach went to take a selfie by the sea to make friends envious “.
The one that goes on stage from the shores of Comacchio to Cattolica is a dress rehearsal for the upcoming summer. The beach and the sea are a powerful calamity, despite the ‘bora da passeggio’ – as they call it in Rimini -, the cool breeze from the north that advises some ladies to have their sunbed fixed by the lifeguard in the shelter of the cabins, or behind improvised guards raised on the sand. Technical tests of suntan. Necessary, judging by the decidedly British complexion of most. There are groups of friends who have passed the door, gangs of teenagers, couples of boyfriends, families armed with picnic boxes for sandwiches and fruit. There are those who lie down wearing a scarf, those who challenge the waves by diving into the sea without thinking twice. Many daredevils in costume who treat themselves to the first bath of the season.
Vaccine to tourists: rebus on the second dose
These days the Adriatic has an almost Caribbean transparency of water, with small fish and some crabs visible walking on the shore. Many choose to warm up by playing beach volleyball and beach soccer. Or the new ‘take ball’, the curved table where you compete in one-on-one football. “Punto”, “No è fuori”: voices from the beach, voices from a normal world, the ones we collect from the beach tennis court of Bagno Azzurro. “Mom I want to take a bath”, “The water is still cold, better not”.
A lifeguard takes care of mediating (“come to the whirlpool”) going out of his way to run after the first customers of the year on his beach. A grind but also the rebirth after months of restrictions and masks. Which on the beach does not abound, at most someone keeps it lowered under the chin. Moreover, it is proven that among the safest places from the risk of contagion are open spaces. Where the spacing rules are also in force: on the Riviera you go from three to 5 meters between the umbrellas. What one experiences on the sand is a sense of liberation, a sort of regaining of the lost freedom. There the first stage of the reconquest is the restaurant: sold out in those on the beach. No more than four friends at the bar, more if family members or cohabitants; two sunbeds under each umbrella; the mask only when you get up from the bed and go to the bar or the toilet. Meanwhile, offshore, a group of sailing boats parade northwards: it will be the Luna Rossa effect, or maybe just a desire for the sea.
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