San Marino, yes, they have a seat at the UN!

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The summer holidays are nearly over, but they are not over yet! So time to pack in one more little country before coming home! Today, it's San Marino. The independent State is one of the smaller of Europe, with only 61km2. It has also a seat at the United Nations since 1992.

To get here, I rented a car at Rome airport and drive some 350 north-west in the direction of Rimini. My ride is a truly cool little Fiat 500...and some of the roads to get to San Marino as simply superb....amazing ride!

I get to San Marino in the morning by the back door, as it seems most people enter the Republic by the main road from Rimini. As this is one of my last stop on two crazy months on the road, I hadn't do any homework...so it's time to get a little adventurous. In the middle of the Republic of San Marino, is a pretty steep hill. At the top, from where I came, it looks there is a castle or some sort of. Well, the reality, is that this is the capital, the historic City of San Marino.



There is a cable car to reach the top, but I figure out walking up would be more fun. Before this, time for another of those great pizzas....in Italy, do like the Italians, I guess in San Marino, this hold also!



I have the path up to myself, nice little hike, till I reach some gorgeous old buildings. This is not a castle, this is a all fortified city on a hill! And pretty fast, I found out that I'm not the only tourist here....the hordes of day trippers are all over the place. Till, this is a pretty gorgeous little city. fun to see the tourists shops all around, interesting to see that some 10% of the shops, are actually selling guns...a lot of guns.



I could have spent a lot more time here, but I still have a pretty long day ahead of me. This time, I was a little more lazy and took the cable car on the way down....and one more time, got away from the hordes of tourists. Time also to stop in a petrol station, as gas is way cheaper here than in Italy. Time also to stock on all those Italian product before coming back to Asia. Italy is a food paradise, San Marino as the little neighbor is no exception! I will come back home with kilos of goodies!



Today, I can nearly say that I have visited every single state of Europe, but not yet! I still have to ski Andorra. This will sadly not be for today, neither tomorrow, but hopefully sometime in January or February...2019! Yes, not tomorrow, but the planning with Leslie and Tiffany is pretty packed over the coming month. And Andorra for me, will only be on skis....so this limit even more the best time to visit my last state of Europe!



Next entry is all about the little stops I did in between Rome and San Marino...there is a lot to see....and a lot to come back too! To spend more time discovering a pretty cool country, with a lot of great food and some nice wine!

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

San Marino
This location is on our list. Good to see someone blogging from there. Looks very nice.