It was 2:45 in the morning when we were collected by the driver from Saga. I'd forgotten that such times existed in the real world. We were driven - along with a couple from Nottingham - quite painlessly to Heathrow Terminal 5, arriving at the ungodly hour of 4:30 or thereabouts.
I was miffed to see that we couldn't do the bag thing until 5:40, but this was quickly remidied by going straight to the Special Assistance desk - where magically, yes, you can entrust your worldly belongings to British Airways at that time of night.
But .... There's a bit a glitch in the universe because if you are traveling Business Class (Oh! Yes we were!) then you have to stagger half the length of the terminal yourself without the benefit of wheels to the Fast Track security theatre - which to be fair, was fast, and fairer still was just a short step to the Business Class Lounge (did I mention we were traveling Business Class?) where we were able to arrange a set of wheels to take us to the airyplane.
We indulged in rather good croissants and coffee and watched the lounge slowly fill up to bursting point. Our wheels arrived bang on schedule and we were off.
It was a short flight, hardly time to get the Business Class full English breakfast served and eaten (unimpressed with it, but, better than nothing).
Once at Bologna I confused the brand new Entry Exit Kiosk which told me to go and see a man - who because I was travelling with someone with a Proper Red Passport didn't bother to stamp my nasty black one. (Which is the correct procedure, but I wasn't expecting it to be so easy).
We then had the ecstatic experience of a 90 minute ride in a tiny coach (too small for everyone's luggage) to get to our seaside boarding house. And jolly good it is!
The Hotel is small-meduim and run by a family rather than a chain. It's in a confusing pair of buildings overlooking the sea from on top of a cliff. It is frankly, gorgeous.
Our room is big enough, but it's got a balcony where we can sit and look at the blue Adriatic sea .
(Unfortunately there's no dividers between the balconies, so standing on the balcony in your lingerie isn't a good look, no matter how clean your whites are)
Food is in a proper restaurant and seems to be plentiful and of good quality. Of course, it's going to be vital to have Lots Of Breakfast because lunch isn't included in the price.