Riccione – Monday October 30th
Take Post
A somewhat unsettled sleep last night. I think the near miss on the A11 was more unsettling than I thought…but…I’m up and at em as they say. The first thing is to find a gommista so that I can get the tire repaired. It turns out there’s one with a good reputation just up the road but I have to wait until 08:30 when they’re open. When they’re open the boss tells me he can fix the tire but…he points to my watch and the 11…and suggests I drive around a bit since there’s no parcheggio here and he already has a line up of impatient Italian drivers.
This too has turned out to be a bit fortuitous. There is one other place where I know my Dad was…but only in a general way…nothing as specific as Castello Lancellotti. I have a 7 day pass for him to be at the Grand Hotel in Riccione commencing October 27, 1944….so I know that 73 years ago around the same date, he was in Riccione too.
Riccione is clearly a summer seaside town. Hotels everwhere…most closed…parks, amusement rides, all closed….the waterfront walkway and cycle path is amazing, and lots of beachfront concessions and change areas…all closed up as well. No lithe young things prancing about the beach.
Grand Hotel is not so grand anymore. It’s quite overgrown and everything is locked up. In the back there is a large parking area with two wrecked cars. The place is still standing however and was once one of the major hotels on the beach, in fact the footprint covers about 2 square City of Kingston blocks.
The Salvation Army War Services took over the Grand once the Canadians had settled in the area. By this time in ’44 the Canadians had pushed further north across the Savio River and and were facing the Po Valley and it was time for a rest. The fighting had been intense and the weather had been the worst October weather in living memory.
It’s 11:00 and time to find out how much it will cost to get my tire back. The boss directs me to angle park my blue machine, brings out his cart, jacks up the car in 2 seconds, and with his pneumatic bolt driver has the new/old wheel back on while I stow the doughnut in the trunk…safe for another blowout.
Officina Pratelli has charged me E15 and I’m happy to pay it. I now have the right tire back on at the right air pressure…no flashing dashboard warning lights…and I have a spare in the boot in case of another road hazard. All is well in the driving world.
I’m off north along Route 16 to Ravenna. The Canadians spent another dismal winter in the north of Italy, roughly between Ravenna and Cattolica, while the Italian Campaign became forgotten even at this stage of the war. The war diary for 2nd Field has the last gun position for 10 Bty as 44 28 07 N 12 05 44 E on February 23rd, 1945 and I’m going to go there.
It’s a bit of a weary drive as the road is very busy with truck traffic and moving not very fast. There are lots of roundabouts and on one of them I go all the way around just to get a tailgating truck off my bumper…I’ll follow him for a bit.
The further north you go the further behind you the mountains are until eventually you can’t see them at all and the land is completely flat for as far as the eye can see. The mountains are still there…they’ve just turned west a bit and are angling away from the Po Valley.
The village of Mezzano is about 10 km NW of Ravenna along SS16. Turn right at Via Zuccherifico and go across the railway tracks and you’ll see a field on the left. The last gun postion in Italy of 10th St Catharines Field Battery, 2nd Field Regiment, 1st Canadian Division.
I guess I can say “mission accomplished”.
A few km back down the SS16 is a signpost for the Ravenna War Cemetery and a visit is in order. There is a small parking area and a long grass walkway up to the gates. We’re in the middle of farm country here and it’s flat, flat and more flat. Just before the gate, on the right, is a marker explaining the involvement of 35,000 Palestinian Jews who enlisted in the British army to fight Nazi agression. Thirty-three of their comrades rest here at Ravenna.
There are 956 markers in this cemetery of which 438 are Canadian. I wander quite a bit and notice the small stones on everyone of the 33 Palestianian soldiers markers. There are many personal inscriptions on these markers and whether it’s that, the end of the mission or the wind blowing across the fields…I’m suddenly very tired.
……………………
I have reservations in Bologna for tomorrow and Wednesday but I think I’ll head that way now and see if they’ll let me in. I need to stop driving and I need to walk about a bit more.
From the Cemetery I strike out across the country side heading to SS 253, the backroad to Bologna. This drive is quite pleasant, the road is flat and straight and there are very few vehicles around…a few tractors and such but no whizzing speed demons. It’s about 70 km to Bologna and on the outskirts I take the autostrada bypass and head for the airport. My hotel, the Amadeus is not far from the airport so taking that exit puts me home free.
Another eventful day, time to rest and take a breather. Once settled inI amble down the road a few hundred meters and take a left turn on the Via Antonio Cavilieri Ducati. I’m in the Borgo Panigale. Panigale…Ducati…my these are interesting names. Well…what do you know…I’m suddenly at the Museum and Factory of Ducati Motorcycles. What a surprise.
I’ll have to check this all out tomorrow.
Buon riposo.
Stand Down