San Marino

The main reason for travelling to Italy over the last few days was to visit San Marino, my 60^th country. The best place to get there by public transport is Rimini, which is why we embarked on a train journey down there. We had eight minutes between arriving at the train station and boarding the Bonetti Bus which would take us into the microstate. Fortunately, I had already done my research and so I knew where the Hotel Napoleon was, which is where the bus stop was situated. I had been warned that the bus gets quite busy, but I hadn’t quite realised there would be quite a throng. Indeed, Wolfie and I had to sit on seats either side of the aisle as there were no others available, with a number of passengers having to stand.

I traced our journey on Google Maps, but it was when we spied the casino that we realised we had crossed into San Marino. The main settlement is situated on Mount Titano, which has breathtaking views over Rimini and the sea in one direction and the rolling Italian countryside on the other. However, there are a few other villages that make up the country, with these being taken in 1320 and added to in 1463. The country’s borders have remained unchanged since, although there have been numerous threats to its integrity, not least from Napoleon and a number of Popes over the course of history. Most of the people live in Serravalle and Dogana, where the greatest archaeological find in the country’s history was unearthed. We saw this in the state museum during our visit. Despite the stereotype, most of these villages are close to sea level, with only the eponymous capital of San Marino being mountainous.

We were dropped off around 50 minutes later at one of the base car parks, before climbing into the city itself. My first impression was just how touristy it was, with a number of shops selling overpriced tat or fake designer bags. There was also a surprisingly high number of weapon and army shops – perhaps not too surprising based on the country’s military history – while there were also a large number of tacky museums which seemed to bear little relevance to the city at all. These included two museums of torture and a vampire museum, all of which we swerved.

Our hotel, the Hotel La Rocca, was above a pizza parlour which was also run by the same owners. It was tucked in between two shops, and we had to go into the restaurant to get our room key. This wasn’t too much of a travail though and the room itself was wonderful. It was light and breezy, with stunning views over the Italian countryside. Indeed, the views from many of the places in San Marino were breath-taking and although being high up attracted a rather strong and bitter breeze, I wouldn’t have swapped this for anything.

We spent a short while just decompressing after our long journey before heading out to explore. Unfortunately, most of the museums close at 5pm in San Marino, meaning we couldn’t really go and see very much. We had been given a museum discount card by the hotel though and we used this to get into all of the state-run museums we desired for just €6 on the Sunday. It really was incredible value. With around three hours until sundown, we spent most of the Saturday just exploring, going up and down the hilly fort town, seeing what we could see. We ended up walking along the very top, spying each of the three towers up close. Unfortunately, the second one (Cesta) was closed all weekend due to renovation works while the third one (Montale), the more isolated and smallest of the three, wasn’t accessible at all. This meant all we could do was walk around its rather lonely base before double-backing on ourselves and heading back to the town. The walk along the walls though did afford great views while the autumnal countryside was quite picturesque. We even saw a number of geckos and lizards frolicking about.

The first and oldest tower, Guaita, which dates from the 11^th century, was closed by the time we arrived but we did get to explore it first thing on the Sunday. This was one of the seven museums accessible with our discount ticket and we spent a nice half an hour walking along the crenulations and up into the tower itself. At one point, there was a steep wooden staircase then four metal steps drilled into the wall, which was something Wolfie did not want to test his feet on. Consequently, I went up on my own and although the views were splendid, I did fear getting back down, what with the lack of grip on my shoes.

There are a number of cheap and cheerful tourist cafes in San Marino and we stopped at La Capanna, the one nearest to Guaita, for some breakfast-cum-lunch. It was just before noon and they were offering the local speciality of Piadina, a flatbread filled with a number of fillings. I opted for Parma ham and cheese, which was quite nice, although I still struggle with the warm bread but cold filling combination. It was the views, however, that made this place so good as it was perched on a balcony on the top of the city walls, with the countryside plunging below us and a delectable view across to the open sea. I have certainly eaten in places with far worse views.

The rest of Sunday was dedicated to seeing the interiors of all of the sights we could only see outside on the Saturday. Unfortunately, the seat of government, the delightfully quaint Palazzo Pubblico was closed, I think because of the changing of the captains regent. These are the two leaders of the republic, and they change on 1 April and 1 October every year. As Saturday was 1 October, it was closed all weekend. We were certainly denied entry by the charming police officer at the front door. However, one place that was open was the Basilica del Santo Marino. This imposing Neoclassical building was built in 1836 in place of a church which stood here in the seventh century. It is the main Catholic cathedral in this Catholic country, while its interior is rather modest in faint green/grey. It was certainly a relaxing place to stroll around although it was easily seen in a handful of minutes. Next to the Basilica is the small Chiesa di San Pietro, built in 600. In the crypt there are two niches cut into rock that are said to be the beds of San Marino and San Leo, but alas the church was not open. We did get to see a bird’s eye view onto its roof though from the modest garden directly above it, which did allow us to study the change in position of the church throughout the ages.

Indeed, most of the places in San Marino are so small, you can get around them quickly. The same was certainly the case of the State Museum (Museo di Stato), which we visited next, again with our discount ticket. The highlight was undoubtedly the aforementioned Domagnano Treasure, an Ostrogothic collection of jewels which dates back to the 5th and 6th centuries. Only one of the main pieces of jewellery survives and it is on display, but replicas are there too to highlight the sheer intricate nature of the goldsmith work as well as the garnet inlays. Many of the exhibits came from a local monastery which has been shut down, although good chunks of what was on display were merely donated to the museum by philanthropists and bear little relation to San Marino at all. There is an area dedicated to Greek pottery and another to the Egyptians, with some beautiful votive offerings to be seen, but it all felt a little out of place to be honest. However, what do I know, considering how much of the British Museum has been plundered from elsewhere.

After this, we headed to the perfectly formed St. Francis' Church, whose interior is a warm and inviting yellow. Adjacent to this there is the St. Francis' Museum, one of the least popular museums in the country it would appear. We were the only ones there and the guy on the front desk was so bored, we ended up having a 15-minute conversation with him. Indeed, we struggled to get rid of him. Initially, we started chatting about football as we told him we were from Leeds and he knew about Marcelo Bielsa. We then moved on to talking about my hometown club Middlesbrough (who are having a dire season right now) and he reminisced on the imperious play of Fabrizio Ravenelli. He was a Juventus fan and lamented his side’s own poor form, but we did watch them beat Bolognia on the TV later that evening. Once the football talk was out of the way, he talked us through some of the exhibits including the principal painting at the far end of the top floor of the museum. He detailed all of its allegory, from the black cat representing Satan to the angels playing music, while he also told us more about the exhibits displayed. Opened in 1966 in a narrow 14th century cloister annexed to the ancient Franciscan monastery, there was a good range of paintings, frescos and carvings from the monastery and other Franciscan establishments in the region. In a small room there were also paintings and sculptures donated by Emilio Ambron, a local artist. Our friend apologised for not showing us around as he had to cover for his colleague at the front desk as he was on his lunch break, which I felt both relieved and disappointed about. He was quite interesting and would have imparted so much more interesting information, but he did talk an awful lot.

We had about an hour left before the bus, with Wolfie wanting to catch the 15:30 as he feared the 17:00 would be busy. He also wanted to go and check out Rimini. Typically, we saved the most interesting museum for last – the Stamp and Coin Museum (Museo del Francobollo e della Moneta di San Marino). I should have known this would be fascinating as I visited the money museum in the Moroccan capital, and this time the coin section was somewhat whistlestop. We started in the basement, which housed the stamp collection, from the first ones created by the republic following an agreement with Italy all the way through to the stamps used in the present day. The collection was largely chronological and along the way, you got to see a range of specially made stamps made for important occasions and anniversaries. Some of these were political, such as the 20^th anniversary of fascism in San Marino in 1942, while others commemorated famous artists or poets. Franklin D Roosevelt had a set, as did Abraham Lincoln, who was made an honorary citizen of San Marino. His letter of response is in the government building we sadly could not see, but part of it states that the republic is "government founded on republican principles is capable of being so administered as to be secure and enduring." Later stamp sets based around cartoons, wildlife, the Olympics etc were also displayed, highlighting how stamps can actually be works of art in themselves. Furthermore, we also got to find out a lot about stamp making while charting the value of the stamps through the years also gave one a perspective on inflation, which was aided by information regarding the price of key household items at various points in history. An interesting point was the stamps commemorating the opening of the railway line from Rimini to San Marino. This lasted little more than a decade, as it was destroyed in the Second World War and not replaced, but it was a fascinating piece of history. The coin bit was equally interesting, but we didn’t have much time to see it. I did enjoy looking at the old lira and the segue into the euro though.

On our way out, we tried to get the official stamp of San Marino but I was reticent to get it put in my passport. Technically, you don’t need a stamp to enter the country as they have an open border policy with Italy, however you can get a stamp in your passport for €5 from the tourist office. However, having done some research, it would appear some countries do not believe this is an official stamp even though it is sanctioned by the San Marino government and comes from their department of tourism. It’s certainly not like the gimmicky stamps you get at Machu Picchu or Checkpoint Charlie. However, not wanting to fall foul of this with any future visa applications I may make, I asked if they would stamp the back of my museum ticket instead. The lady behind the counter was somewhat brusque, telling me no. Disappointed, we left, with this being my last memory of San Marino.

While I have detailed our exploits on Sunday, I have yet to detail everything we did on the Saturday. As I say, we largely just walked around, going all the way up to the three tours at the highest point of San Marino and walking along the bottom walls which contain the city too. We saw the funicular which connects the hilltop town to a car park at its base, as well as the Cassa Di Risparmio and the austere war memorial. On either side of this, there were the flags of most of the world’s countries hanging, with them being taken down by some workmen while we were there. This again may have had something to do with the inauguration of the new captains regent. Further down this street, we lost ourselves in the residential area of the city, which was snug aside the university, which is quite famous. At the end of this street was a quiet place for sanctuary, dedicated to the followers of all religions, which sits just outside one of the main gates of the city. We also saw the place where Garibaldi rested during his campaign to unite Italy.

There is a surprisingly thriving craft beer scene in San Marino and although there was precious little nightlife to speak of, largely because most people there are day-trippers who go back to Rimini of an evening, we did manage to seek out a few bars for a drink. One of them was La Bottega, where we sat outside and watched the sun set, casting a warm yellow hue on the stonework. It was here above anywhere else where the number of San Marino flags was most visible. I noticed this with Monaco too – the smaller the republic, the more flags there seem to be. These flags were hanging from the crenulations, with this little terrace a nice spot to watch the world go by. Alas, once the sun dropped, it did get a little cold and we had to pop into the heated area, which was screened off by glass and plastic tarpaulins. We sampled two beers from the Birrificio Abusuvo brewery and came back later for two more, with our initial choice of Bar Euphoria being closed. Indeed, La Bottega shut at 10pm and after this, we just went back to the hotel, largely due to the paucity of options although we had also eaten a huge meal at a restaurant just outside the city walls.

That restaurant was called Smaller and it was rated the sixth best place on Trip Advisor. It opened at 7pm and was just down the road, meaning the timing was perfect once we had finished our drinks. Learning the hard way from the previous night, where we went to a less than ideal pizza place, we decided to turn up early. We were quite surprised to find the place empty, but it soon filled up. We opted for the degustation menu for €35 each, while we were delighted to discover a range of craft beers from an Italian brewery we had not yet tried, Theresianer. We could watch the embers of light through the window while the food we enjoyed was exquisite. A ham and cheeseboard starter followed by two different types of pasta, one tagliatelle in a cheese sauce and the other dumplings in something brown. This would have been enough so you can imagine our dismay when the third course came, which was perfectly cooked rare steak, crispy double cooked fries and a medley of vegetables. We tried to persuade them not to give us dessert, but they were most insistent, saying the sorbet was quite small. So it was, and the pistachio flavour was quite delicious, but the sheer volume of food was perhaps too much. It was all cooked perfectly though and it was definitely one of the best meals of my life, so I was more than happy with the overall experience.

I am glad I went to San Marino, as it was a fascinating and fiercely independent state. There was some touristy gubbins mixed within the history, but there was more than enough to do for 24 hours at least. I am also glad we stayed the night there, despite the additional expense of the hotel, as although there was no nightlife to speak of, I did feel far more immersed in the culture. I even got a souvenir €2 coin to remind me of my stay, as well picking up a 50 cent Vatican piece. I am not sure where my next new country will be, but I doubt it’ll be this side of the new year, as Wolfie’s holiday time and my finances are limited. Still, I already have a few ideas for 2023 and I must admit it was great to be back touring again, doing all the things we used to do prior to the pandemic. Granted, my money issues did taint the trip slightly, but by the time we got to San Marino, I was able to put these out of my mind and in the end, I didn’t overspend too much. Either way, it was just great to be out and about again, as it reminded me exactly what I live for.