San Marino claims to be the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world. It is the continuation of the monastic community founded on the third of September, 301A.D., by the stonecutter Marinus of Arba. Legend has it that Marinus left Arba, then the Roman colony, in 257A.D. when the future emperor, Diocletian, issued a decree calling for the reconstruction of the city walls of Rimini, which had been destroyed by Liburnianpirates. But how would we get to this historic republic?
We got off the train from Venice in Rimini. The station was rather small but we were able to find our way to the Tourist Information Office. We would be leaving our bags there while we took a bus to San Marino. It was pouring rain. The lady at the Tourist Information Office was very helpful. We stored our bags there(€1.50) and she sold us bus tickets for San Marino. We trudged across the street to a cafe for a little brunch. There is always a time for cappuccino and pastries. As the time for the bus approached we had to find the bus station which we thought was close by. The lady at the T.I.O. said to catch the bus across the street. But, no, there was no bus station. However, there was a sign at a busstop indicating that the bus for San Marino stopped there. The bus was on time and we were able to board and get out of the rain although it had slacked up a bit. The bus carried natives and tourists alike and was not an express bus. That meant that there were many stops along the way. One interesting site we passed was a collection of old airplanes which was on the side of a hill.
After many switchbacks on a very curvy road we reached the sovereign state of San Marino. It looked just like Italy. From the bus parking lot you could climb a stairway or take an elevator up to the street. The elevator was much like those in Monte Carlo. We rode. Like most of Italy the buildings were of stone with tile roofs which were almost flat. The streets were stone as well and very wet. There is no motor vehicle traffic allowed in much of the 1752 acre city 2200 feet above sea level. We walked or rather Claudette walked and I trudged onward and upward until we reached "the pinnacles". That's the name given to the three medieval towers on the top of Mount Tatano. The air was very cool on top of the mountain as we looked down from one of the smallest countries in the world. It may be small but perhaps we Americans could learn something from it. They have no national debt. Their treasury has a surplus. They enjoy the highest per capita income in Europe. As a member of the European Union, the euro is the currency. Interestingly enough one of the country's popular sources on income is its postage stamps. It is obvious from all the shops that fifty per cent of the country's income comes from tourists.
We walked about the city and enjoyed the churches, many outdoor sculptures and the beautiful vistas of lands below. And, of course, a bit of window shopping too. Soon it was time to catch the bus back to Rimini. But where was the bus stop? Or the parking lot where we got off the bus? We were misplaced. Disoriented. Dare I say lost. Communication with the natives proved useless. The translator on my smart phone worked well translating English into Italian. But I could not get anyone to understand how to speak into the phone for it to translate Italian
into English. Sometimes it is difficult to realize that it is just as frustrating for the non-English speaker as it is for us. We walked. We knew we needed to walk downhill. As we walked along the sidewalk, we heard a bus behind us. Looking around we saw Rimini on the front of it. Panic stricken and semi-relieved we hailed the bus down. This meant we would not miss the train for Siena.
We caught the train for Siena and would be there by nightfall. Later we would visit Vatican City, another miniscule municipality.
