In the last few months I have had long breaks from not writing. One of the reasons why I stayed away from HIVE from time to time will come in this new series.
And many will wonder about the title. Well, I will start by saying that my girlfriend is Italian and comes from the Rimini area, more exactly from Bellaria-Igea Marina, a city with shores to the Adriatic Sea, and her family is one of the first families of bagninos in this area.
But, what is a "bagnino"?
Well, the word "bagnino" has several definitions, especially depending on the region you are in. In general, the person who performs the function of lifeguard on beaches or swimming pools is known as "bagnino" and his full name would be "bagnino di salvataggio".
In the Rimini region the definition of "bagnino" goes far beyond just being a life saver. The "bagnino" is in charge of a space on the beach and offers in that space amenities such as beach chairs and umbrellas, bathrooms, showers with hot and cold water, board games, space for children's recreation, water bikes, SUPs; as well as they also offer security and all the necessary and updated information to their clients to have a happy, safe and joyful stay on the beach.
In the city of Bellaria-Igea Marina everything started after the 2nd World War, in 1948. It started with 9 bagninos, one of them being, as I had said before, my girlfriend's grandfather. The story of how he started will be a future chapter in this series, but here is a photo of the beach in 1955.
In order to organize everything better, the spaces on the beach not only have their own name but also an identification number. The beach space that my girlfriend's family has has the name of Kokobay Beach and has identification numbers 74 and 75 (before they were two spaces and they were joined in one only several years ago).
In Bellaria-Igea Marina there are almost 100 beach spaces.
And now comes the reason why I have been away from HIVE. There have been many changes in my life this year and one of them is that, for things in life, I have come to help my girlfriend and her family a little with the work on the beach. Thanks to being able to carry out my work for Germany wherever I am, I can be here for a long time and help. So, I can spend more time with my girlfriend 😍 helping people who are like my family at the same time. What more could you want? Oh, sure! I've spent all summer on the beach 😁.
Living in Germany that's a luxury! 😎
I will be talking about what work on the beach is like, its peculiarities, history and more, in this new series about "Bagninos de Rimini". I put the "Album of the Day" series on pause for a while because all my albums are in Germany and I just returned to Italy after two weeks to continue helping, but I have decided not to stop writing. And what better way than to write about what I've been doing for some time now and that is (was😉), also, one of the reasons for my distancing.
I am also planning to write some "extra" chapters about the Rimini region. There is the city of Rimini, capital of the region, with buildings dating back to Roman times. Also, very close to here (half an hour by car) is the Republic of San Marino. This country is what is known as a micro-state, a miniature country with its own laws, passport and government within another country. By the way, it is one of the oldest republics in the world that still exists.
And so I am ending this first installment of "Bagninos de Rimini!". But not without first sharing an Italian song about the sea and love (one of the first things my girlfriend sent me was this song🙂❤️🙃), "Sapore di sale" by Gino Paoli.
This is what Bellaria-Igea Marina is for me, pure "sapore di sale".
