San Marino, San Marino

Did you know that in Europe, there are five micro-countries?  These are five super tiny little countries that exist in the eyes of the United Nations.  Liechtenstein (been there), Vatican City (been there), Andorra, Monaco and San Marino (and now we can say... been there!)  It's the fifth smallest country in the world - and the third smallest in Europe, behind Vatican City and Monaco.

It's not a long train ride from Venice, but you do need to change trains in Bologna.  The Bailey's are ready for another country!

She's 11.  And this is her 25th country.

There are no trains to San Marino.  It's a tiny country that exists on a mountain, for the most part.  So there are no trains to San Marino.  It's really not an easy country to get to. It's not difficult... but it's not easy.  If you are coming from Venice or Bologna, you take the train to Rimini.  Then you cross the street and hop on a bus near the Burger King.  You'll see it.  It says San Marino.  You can buy your ticket on the bus, but I recommend you buy it from the little shop next to the Burger King.  It just saves time when you get on the bus.  The prices are the same. The bus is comfortable and air conditioned.

The drive up to the capital of San Marino (also called San Marino) is very curvy and takes about 45 minutes.  Take your Dramamine if this bothers you!

San Marino is known for its spectacular views.  This will be evident as soon as you step off the bus!

Our first stop was to our hotel to drop off our bags.  In Venice, we were staying at the AO Hotel/Hostel and they were generous enough to allow us to leave our massive suitcases at their hotel for the night since we were going to San Marino for one night, then returning back to the AO Hotel for another two nights.  We only brought two backpacks with us, plus a day pack and my Vera Bradley bag which carries all of the "mom stuff" like medicines, snacks, the camera, cords and plugs, etc.

We arrived in San Marino to find the (red) Albanian flag everywhere.  Now I know this is the Albanian flag because I was just in Albania a few days prior to this.  So I was VERY confused.  It turns out the President of Albania was making a visit to San Marino.  Thus, Albanian flags were flying everywhere!

San Marino is not for anyone with major health problems.  I would also not recommend it if you are in a wheelchair or have a large stroller.  The entire capital city was built on a mountain so everywhere you go, you're either walking up a steep hill, or down a steep hill!

There aren't too many cars in the capital, and definitely none in the old town area.  Just plenty of feet and buildings that seem to extend into the blue sky.

How cute are my kiddos in San Marino!?!  We stopped for a seat while Daddy went to find an ATM.  I feel like we are always on the hunt for an ATM!  (Gee, I wonder why!?!)

The view from Piazza della Liberta, in panorama form.

This kid. He makes the strangest faces, and I know him... he does this on purpose.  He's feeling a little badass here, so he went with this face.

The "Statue of Liberty" (San Marino style) in front of the government offices of San Marino.

We like Lady Liberty, even if she doesn't look like our Lady Liberty.  This is the spot where all of the official ceremonies take place.  The two Captains Regent, which are the heads of state that are elected every 6 months in San Marino are announced here and work here.

San Marino is known for (and honestly, this is the worst photo ever except it made me remember how much I missed Target!) a place that you can buy air rifles and all of the fun (???) that comes with those!  There are so many stores that sell what most people would consider guns and all of the accessories that come with that.  But it's all air rifles.  Look at the sign that is on all of the doors... I promise, it's not as bad as it looks.

You know I love me some flower boxes.

These kids.  And you know from this picture how much sunscreen I put on them, versus me.

Before we hit up this cute little piazza, we went to the tourism office to get our passports stamped.  San Marino is not a member of the EU (it is a member of the UN) and it's not a member of the Eurozone, meaning that while it uses the Euro as currency, they cannot produce their own paper Euros.  They are able to produce the coins, however.

For five Euros, you can get this very beautiful and very delicately placed stamp in your passport!  It's not required, but it's really pretty!

Around the corner from the tourist office, you find some spectacular views from what feels like the edge of San Marino (it's not.)  What a lovely view.

Looking out over Italy to the Adriatic. Amazing that you can see the sea from here.

Wait... one more time... is that the Albania flag!?  Yes it is!

By the monument to Bartolomeo Borghesi, there are some lovely flower beds, sitting above the nearby mountains.

The monument to Bartolomeo Borghesi who was one of the founders of numismatics, or the study of money!  He wasn't born here, but he died in San Marino.

Living in Massachusetts or Germany (as I have for the past decade), we only really see pretty flowers for a few months of the year, so pardon me if I take too many pictures of them.

There's a funicular that originates from WAY down below at Borgo Maggiore. For 4.50 Euros, you can take it up to San Marino, which sure beats that winding drive.

Although it wasn't as hot up in San Marino as it was down in Greece, the kids wanted some ice cream so of course, they got some.  Are you kidding me with this kid!?!  He's something else!

It's hard to tell from this picture, but this is an outdoor theater (for plays, shows, etc.) called Cava dei Balestrieri.  The Crossbow Corps (a small group of around 70 volunteer members of the military) often do demonstrations here!

More air rifle and tactical equipment.  Or perhaps you'd rather have a Santa Claus or a commemorative plate?  That's one stop shopping!  It's duty free shopping, so there are also a million perfume shops in the capital.

When you are walking around San Marino and you have your picture unknowingly taken by your husband.

As the capital city of San Marino is fairly small, you can see a lot in a day.  They even have a little wax museum which is downright hilarious.  It honestly looks like mannequins from a department store that they dressed up.  Here we have Hitler and Mussolini, together again.  

I think we made this face a LOT in this museum.

Let's see if you can identify these 1960s Beatles members....errrrr… I mean... historical figures from any era!

Do you give up?

Are you sure?

Charlemagne, Ludovico il Moro (the guy who commissioned Da Vinci's The Last Supper; he was the Duke of Milan), Louis XIV (of France, and the longest reigning king in Europe), Ben Franklin, Napoleon, Beethoven, Garibaldi, Verdi, Rasputin and Einstein.  I mean, if that isn't the biggest bunch of randoms thrown together in a wax museum, I don't know what is!

Old Abe must know that John Wilkes Booth is lurking in the shadows behind him (Best part... how they misspelled it "John Wilkel Booth")!  That's just the saddest looking Abraham Lincoln I've ever seen, but with the sweetest lettuce!

Da Vinci, dude... you're creeping me out.  Grant was DYING because he thinks Da Vinci totally just beat us in the Circle Game.   You create a circle with your forefinger and thumb which has to be below the waist.  Then you try to get someone to look at it.  If they do, they get to hit you in the neck.  We both looked. You win Leonardo. You win.

The museum wasn't JUST a wax museum. Oh no!  It was a wax and TORTURE museum!  So it didn't just depict famous characters from history.  It also showed various torture devices from different eras.  And I'm pretty sure they snuck a Tim Curry wax figure in this scene (the guy in front with the moustache and mullet).

Todd and I were both like... which one is Christopher Columbus!?!

San Marino and San Leo are depicted at the very end of the tour.  They are considered the founders of the world's oldest republic (superlative!) when in 301 AD, they founded a monastery on Mount Titano, or present day San Marino.  It's constitution wasn't written until 1600 and they were fully recognized by the Vatican in 1631.  It's only covers just under 24 square miles!

"I want to go to the vampire museum!" he said.

Well, at least it's more realistic than the wax museum down the road.

This is actually how I look when my kids start fighting.  Which is often.

A wonderfully vivid scene depicting Vlad the Impaler.

I vant to suck your blood!

The kids were very amused.  Oh Europe.  You and your love of nudity!  This countess believed blood was the secret to staying youthful, so she murdered people and bathed in their blood.  You probably could have just gotten a nice face cream and put some cucumbers on your eyes, but ok, whatever!

Each of these displays had a pretty lengthy description, but only in Italian.  If you let them know at the ticket counter, they will give you a booklet where it translates everything into English.  I think the entrance price was 8 Euros, but we had a San Marino Tourist Pass that our hotel, the Hotel Joli gave us and that entitled us to half price tickets for adults.  Our kids (ages 8 and 11) were free.

Mummified creatures of the night.  There's only a handful of rooms in this museum, and it wasn't super scary for my kids (maybe a bit for the 8-year-old.)   It's a bit cheesy, but actually full of stories (whether real or imagined) of vampires and werewolves.

San Marino is also known for its three towers, which you can climb to.  The one pictured here is the Guaita Tower.  It's the oldest tower, built in the 11th century.

The hike up there isn't super easy.  Hopefully you've got good traction on your shoes!  Natalie chose to sit at the bottom and wait for the three of us to hike up, take some pictures and hike back down.  Grant naturally ran up the hill.

 But those views, oh those views are worth it!

Scenes from the Guaita Tower.

I wonder if you could see Croatia on a clear day?  (I kid!)

See the little airplane flying around?  It's like trying to find Waldo!  Keep searching... he's about at eye level for us.

Yes, we are THAT couple with matching $10 sunglasses.  

This tower once served as a prison - all the way up to 1970!

Honestly, can you imagine the views for this guy?  Sailing past the three towers of San Marino?  I bet it was incredible.

Time to head back to get some dinner.  Even in the height of the summer, San Marino doesn't feel as touristy as other spots in neighboring Italy. In fact, San Marino is the LEAST visited country in all of Europe!

But WAIT!  There's a wiener dog!!!!!!  Eeeek, he is SO cute!  I'm obsessed!

After dinner, we walked down the hill back to our hotel.  I loved the shadowing and that fantastic thunderstorm in the distance!

There's a haunting monument to the children who were involved in the Beslan school siege in Russia in 2004.  If you remember, extremists sieged a school and took over 1,100 hostages.  In the end, 334 people were dead, including somewhere between 150-175 children.  Around 750 people were injured. The exact number remains unknown because... Russia.

Walking back to our hotel was one of my favorite moments of the day.

St. Quirino in the evening sun.

Ummmm… interesting choice for beer stickers.  San Marino, you are weird.

In the morning, we took the bus back down to Rimini.  Goodbye pretty towers of San Marino!

One more time for the Albanian flag at the border of San Marino and Italy!  It was a very beautiful, very scenic, very friendly, very quirky, yet very physical country!

Until next time, San Marino!