Clear, fresh salt waters in Verucchio: a trip in the hinterland of Rimini - Part II.

But what is delayed comes, and Giada's intention is precisely to make her parents' dream come true, now in a new form, looking to the needs of an increasingly demanding and quality tourism. "Verucchio has great tourist potential, given not only by its historic value, but also by existing facilities such as the 18-hole golf course. It's in this favourable context that our project fits, to restore the concept of wellness and thalassotherapy by creating a leisure spa with an outdoor water park. Our idea is to create a thermal park with a hotel and a 4-star campsite with equipped areas for campervans, mobile homes and glamping," she explains enthusiastically as she accompanies us for a walk in the 8-hectare park. When we return here in a few months, perhaps we'll already see the great project taking shape.

"The first step of the redevelopment plan for the thermal park will be the creation of a so-called leisure lagoon, a special pool for young and old with water games and hydromassage areas. It's a pool at most 40 cm deep, built with soft, non-slip and anti-trauma materials in which to play and relax as on the water's edge at the sea. "Grand designs", great projects, which will come to life thanks to regional funding and the commitment of Giada's family, also owners of a century-old company, C. Sgubbi Italiana, producer of lime premixes for construction, and owner of the Calceforte brand, for green building and architectural restoration. Using materials that are as environmentally friendly as possible is a priority for Giada and her family.

If the new projects revolve around health, nature, wellness and children, it's on these values that the already-launched activity of the osteria-pizzeria is also founded. The name, Acque Salate (Salt Waters), this time doesn't refer to the cuisine, nor to the sea, but clearly to the blessed waters of the Fonti di San Francesco; in fact the whole area is known as that of the salt water springs. Inside the venue, renovated in 2005 and furnished with an elegant yet informal industrial style that also includes an entrance for the disabled, it's not hard to notice elements that take us back to the past: the stone bench is still the one where people once sat to drink the healing water. Today, instead, we sit to sip a good glass of Sangiovese or some craft beers, while we enjoy genuine Romagna dishes revisited in a young and light key, as well as artisanal pizzas and piadinas.

Besides the seventy indoor seats, there are about a hundred outside too, in the garden that is a bit like the antechamber of the splendid centuries-old park. The absolute protagonists of the evenings at the osteria-pizzeria are the children, who can have fun in the large indoor play area, as well as in the outdoor one, while the adults chat among themselves. The sparkling atmosphere is also thanks to the young and close-knit staff, able to put everyone at ease, young and old, in a fun and informal climate. We start dinner with a nice platter of cold cuts and cheeses, which we follow with some exquisite homemade first courses such as the passatelli with tuna, taggiasca olives, chopped pistachios and rocket pesto. Part of our group continues with the giant pizzas, half a metre in diameter, also available for takeaway, while the others choose the straccetti or a good beef tagliata.

Of course we can't even forgo a nice piadina with sausage and Romagna-style onion, and to finish, we all give in to the sweet temptations of the homemade desserts, also youthful and original like the mojito or piña colada cheesecake. The fun doesn't end with dinner, in fact: on Wednesdays you can enjoy an evening of live music, while on Fridays karaoke arrives with Tata Luisa. The venue's flagship, however, is the event with dinner and cabaret concert on the last Wednesday of every month, with Le Bestie Offese, an irresistible musical duo that performs rock classics rewritten in the Romagna dialect. The fun is accompanied by cocktails, but also by the giropizza, and hot dogs and hamburgers are also much in demand. Besides the evenings, Acque Salate is also the ideal place for events such as birthdays or parties, including children's parties, always very welcome and pampered guests.

Returning to the magnificent park of the Fonti di San Francesco to spend a few hours in the open air and enjoy something tasty will always be a pleasure, and we're sure that in the coming years we'll see this unique place grow as the cypress of San Francesco has grown: little by little, to become an ever larger and more beautiful tree, capable of sheltering under its leaves the cheerfulness of adults as well as the liveliness of children.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Osteria Pizzeria Acque Salate Via Provinciale Nord n. 2950, Verucchio (RN) Tel.: 349/1204903, 0541/679823 Open from Tuesday to Sunday from 7.00 pm