Cesenatico Beach - Where the Italians Go

I would definitely recommend Cesenatico Beach to anyone who wants to enjoy a very quaint little Italian town on the seaside. Cesenatico is in the region of Emilia Romagna and province of Forli' Cesena.

Why Cesenatico? Because it has two very different parts to it. One is the beachside which is modern and very accomodating to visitors. They have gone to great lengths to make sure visitors have everything they need and beyond. It has all the comforts. The beach is mostly private in the sense you have to pay to rent chairs, umbrella etc but we found it to be very affordable considering the vip treatment. It is lively but not chaotic. Very nice. The sea is not the cleanest in Italy and there are definitely beaches that have more pristine waters.

The second part of Cesenatico is the old colorful town near the port called port canale where all the beautiful restored boats are on display. Although Cesenatico is small and rustic, it still offers so many wonderful trattorias, boutiques, cafe's, gelatteria's.  The old town which has been completely restored and boasts avenues of pastel colored buildings and a museum port with old restored boats is fantastic. In fact, we stayed at a boutique hotel right alongside the port called  "Casa12" (http://www.casa12.com/). A very charming b&b that makes you feel like you are sleeping in an art deco museum.

 

ITALIANS & FOOD: A BIRTHRIGHT

Even after all these years of living in Italy, I still am awestruck when I think of the relationship Italians have with food. We spent the weekend at the beach in Cesenatico, a lovely place that I highly recommend to anyone who wants to spend some time at the beach in the Romagna area. Italians love to eat. It is their birthright to not only eat, but to eat well.

I am always amazed how everything comes to a standstill between 1 and 3 pm. I noticed that all the people and children who were in the water were suddenly gone. The beach chairs empty.  Basically what was alive and jumping suddenly turned into a seaside ghost town. I asked my husband if the people came out of the water because the water is too cold. He said "no, they left but now are over there" as he pointed towards the bar / restaurant. What I saw was crowds of people pushing their way to order no, not a sandwich but a full on sit down seafood meal with all the works: wine, bread, olive oil, etc. I was amazed. "You mean they are going to eat all that food and then go back to the beach??" I asked. And sure enough they did right after their espresso.

So what did we do? Well when in Rome..... We helped ourselves to an amazing sit down lunch and washed it down with the owners own homemade wine he offered us to welcome "i nuovi toscani" to their beachside. Then an espresso and back to the beach. Not bad, not bad at all.