Friday, February 21st
Oh, tiny countries, how I adore you! On my European vacation, I've already visited the tiny countries of Liechtenstein and Monaco and later in the travels, I'll visit Vatican City, the smallest country in the world. But in this installment of my journal, I travel to the oldest republic in the world, San Marino...!
A few fun facts about San Marino:
- established in 301 A.D.
- population of 29,000
- a total of 24 square miles (1/3 the size of Liechtenstein or Washington, D.C.)
- ZERO traffic lights in the entire country
To fully appreciate San Marino, we need to start with a quick (and painless) history lesson.
Italy became a country fairly recently, in 1861. Prior to that, Italy, Germany and other countries were made up of a bunch of individual city-states and kingdoms. So the individual cities that we know today within Italy (Venice, Verona, Milan, Florence, etc) were once kingdoms or republics.
In the 1400s, this is what Italy looked like:
If you look within the purple area, the Kingdom of the Papal States, you'll see a small yellow dot - San Marino! San Marino was created in 301 A.D. A Christian stone cutter from Croatia named Marinus fled religious persecution from the Roman emperor Diocletian and hid out high on Mount Titano (San Marino's highest peak). He founded a small community of Christians and protected them from persecution. The owner of the land eventually gifted the land to Marinus and the name was changed to San Marino. (The story reminds me of the Founding Fathers of U.S.! )
In the mid 1800's, the individual city-states were unified slowly into the nation of Italy, but San Marino remained independent. Today, it is the SOLE remaining independent republic from this period in world history. Okay, okay, history lesson over!
San Marino is old, unique, a political relic but it's also GORGEOUS!
Italy became a country fairly recently, in 1861. Prior to that, Italy, Germany and other countries were made up of a bunch of individual city-states and kingdoms. So the individual cities that we know today within Italy (Venice, Verona, Milan, Florence, etc) were once kingdoms or republics.
In the 1400s, this is what Italy looked like:
If you look within the purple area, the Kingdom of the Papal States, you'll see a small yellow dot - San Marino! San Marino was created in 301 A.D. A Christian stone cutter from Croatia named Marinus fled religious persecution from the Roman emperor Diocletian and hid out high on Mount Titano (San Marino's highest peak). He founded a small community of Christians and protected them from persecution. The owner of the land eventually gifted the land to Marinus and the name was changed to San Marino. (The story reminds me of the Founding Fathers of U.S.! )
In the mid 1800's, the individual city-states were unified slowly into the nation of Italy, but San Marino remained independent. Today, it is the SOLE remaining independent republic from this period in world history. Okay, okay, history lesson over!
San Marino is old, unique, a political relic but it's also GORGEOUS!
I drove into the hill, checked into my hotel and set off to explore the country.
I was particularly excited to get a San Marino passport stamp, but the office was closed. I walked around the old town and after just 30
minutes, my thighs are burning. I’ve been to some extremely
hilly towns and cities on this trip and San Marino is one of
them! Everywhere you
turn is another set of stairs, another hill. It’s gorgeous, though, and well worth the butt and thigh workout!
After lunch, I climbed all the
way to the top of the hill and was informed by a snotty lady working the cashier
desk that the entrance fee was 3€, cash only.
I had a credit card and 2.50€ in change.
She shut the window in my face. Niiiiice! I
asked a passerby where the nearest ATM was… at the bottom of the hill,
naturally. I decided to head back to my
hotel spa, where I got a massage and body
scrub, then got cleaned
up and went downstairs for dinner. That’s where my trip got REALLY interesting!
The Diplomat
The Diplomat
At the table next to me at dinner was another single woman and I overheard her speaking English to the server. In between courses, I smiled, said “hi” and we struck up a conversation. She seemed thrilled to chat and after a few minutes, she asked to move over to my table and we continued chatting and eating. I learned that she is a U.S. Diplomat.
[For security reasons, she asked that I not publish
her real name or location on my blog or social media, but mentioning the region was okay.
So I’ll omit any specific details and will call her Mary. She's a U.S. Diplomat currently serving in the Middle East.]
As we ate, we discussed our careers, our
travels, and our lifestyles as single women traveling. I talked about my life, my career, my uncertainty about what to do next and my love of
traveling the world. She shared stories
from life as a diplomat, her love of travel and the pros and (very few) cons of
her job. I was fascinated! The job and lifestyle sounded amazing to me
and of course, it’s an amazing opportunity to serve your country. Mary encouraged me to look into a job as a US Diplomat. She explained that they’re looking
for people with a wealth of random knowledge about pop culture, American
history, world history, and a variety of other topics. (I have that!) More importantly,
they’re looking for people who like to travel the world, who are comfortable
being alone, people who are well spoken, at ease in any situation, can strike
up conversation and who are willing to move around every 2-3 years. She said our dinner conversation was evidence of my aptitude of all of those things. Um, yeah!
As we finished dessert, we agreed it was serendipitous that we’d met. Honestly, what are the odds that two women with so much in common would be at the top of a mountain in one of the tiniest countries in the world... at the same hotel, at the same restaurant, seated at tables exactly next to one another on the same night? Before she headed off to bed, she asked if I wanted to tour the city with her the next day and I happily agreed. I went to bed, wheels turning in my brain.
As we finished dessert, we agreed it was serendipitous that we’d met. Honestly, what are the odds that two women with so much in common would be at the top of a mountain in one of the tiniest countries in the world... at the same hotel, at the same restaurant, seated at tables exactly next to one another on the same night? Before she headed off to bed, she asked if I wanted to tour the city with her the next day and I happily agreed. I went to bed, wheels turning in my brain.
The next morning after breakfast, Mary and I walked around town. We visited the Parliment building, and the offices of the where the country is run. I got my photo with a member of the Sammariese Military Police
We toured the building, which was gorgeous.
This is the Parliment office, where the wto
I managed to get my passport stamp (hooray!) and
I found a Christmas shop where I was able to pick up a Christmas ornament.
Next, we went to lunch at a place Mary wanted to try…and the food was
delicious! She also introduced me to
soppa freddo…a type of ice cream that was particularly delicious!
We toured the building, which was gorgeous.
It turns out, Mary is a HUGE Depeche Mode
fan and had traveled from the Middle East to Italy/San Marino for a concert in Bologna later that night. My parents were also spending the weekend in Bologna, so it seemed like a sign to me. In 35 years, I've never offered a stranger a ride, but I offered to drive Mary to Bologna. We checked out each others passports (she had a special Diplomatic passport!), I
googled her real name and found enough information that I was convinced she
wasn’t a crazy sick lunatic. She probably had some government agency look into me and then, we were off!
The drive went quickly and again, we talked non stop. We chatted about our love lives, careers, more about the diplomat lifestyle, our families, travels and current events. It was fun to have a travel buddy. Before I knew it, we were pulling into her hotel and exchanging email addresses. Mary was off to see Depeche Mode and I was off to surprise my parents…!
The drive went quickly and again, we talked non stop. We chatted about our love lives, careers, more about the diplomat lifestyle, our families, travels and current events. It was fun to have a travel buddy. Before I knew it, we were pulling into her hotel and exchanging email addresses. Mary was off to see Depeche Mode and I was off to surprise my parents…!
Life never ceases to amaze
me. I think it was
serendipitous that I met Mary in San Marino.
It feels like we were destined to meet for some reason. At the very least, we had great conversation, I learned a lot about the life of American Diplomats and made a new friend. Maybe it will lead to an exciting new career
for me, maybe not.
But whatever happens next, this reminds me that smiling and saying “hi” to the person sitting next to you just might change your life. Or at the very least, your day.
Caio!
But whatever happens next, this reminds me that smiling and saying “hi” to the person sitting next to you just might change your life. Or at the very least, your day.
Caio!
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