"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds."
- Edward Abbey, American naturalist/writer (1927-1989)
We caught an early (7:30) train from Venice to Bologna, Italy. Switched trains in Bologna for Rimini. In Rimini we took a bus out to the ancient principality of San Marino, a tiny, landlocked country completely surrounded by Italy in the Apennine mountains. The Republic of San Marino has the smallest population (29,000) of any members of the Council of Europe (it is not a member of the EU) and one of the highest GDP per capita in the world. San Marino has a land area of 23.5 square miles (in Europe only Vatican City and Monaco are smaller). It is the world's oldest constitutional republic, being founded on this day, 3 September, in 301 A.D. by a Christian stonemason, Saint Marinus.
We made our way up to the mountain-top capital, San Marino City. The view from Cesta, one of the Three Towers of San Marino on the highest peak of Monte Titano were spectacular, even in the hazy mid-morning sun. We wandered the small city, up and down the staircases and winding alleyways, and stopped for a small lunch of hard salami, cheese, and fresh bread. A shared bottle of wine, and then it was back down to catch the bus out and onward. Back into Italy proper and the continuation of our adventure.
KJT - Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino (1998)
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