The hotel you will never forget

We wanted to end the vacation in style and with a bang. And that had to happen somewhere between Puglia and Bologna. We scoured the coastline in search of the most fun ‘beyond your dreams’ hotel and we really couldn't ignore the Grand Hotel Rimini. This did mean a somewhat awkward distribution of the car ride (namely a little under seven hours on day 1 and only an hour and a half on day 2), but we all love to rack up the miles so that was no problem.

And now I'm sitting here. In a huge ballroom suite with a balcony that offers a view of the sea to the left, but straight ahead is the fence. The famous fence. The fence that little Federico Fellini (the famous Italian film director born in Rimini) peeked through to catch a glimpse of the wealthy people staying at the five-star hotel. If only someone could have whispered to little Federico back then that everything would be alright. That there is now a very large film board commemorating his work. That otto e mezza parties are organized here (in memory of his film 8,5) and that the waiting music of the hotel is that of Amarcord, the film in which Fellini goes back to his youth and where the hotel is seen in several scenes.

Eventually, he came here often and had his own suite where he stayed with his wife, with whom he remained together his whole life. She died five months after him. Good luck finding that in Hollywood.

Anyway, this hotel. I was sitting on the terrace yesterday watching life pass by. An older lady and gentleman all dressed up to the nines toasting to life, a mother (sick, I fear) with her lovely little daughters and a man who were reminiscing and dancing on the stage where the hotel band was playing and, darn it, it was true, a number of main characters from my Italian gossip magazine. You know, the ones who had been together for a year and a half and had found happiness forever. Well, last night it certainly looked that way. Rimini, how I am going to miss you.