San Marino, Day 1

After the big surprise at the Bologna train station, Maple, Whitey and I rode a train to the Italian town of Rimini, where we then caught a bus up the mountain to the micro state country of San Marino.  Whitey asked how many of them I'd been to.  In Europe, I've been to five of the six: Vatican City, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra, and now San Marino, but not (yet) to Malta.  We talked and talked as we went up that hill, and as the bus climbed, the fog also descended.  It was probably a good thing, so that I couldn't see the height!

When we climbed off the bus, we were in a dark parking lot with no visibility due to the fog.  We had no idea which direction to walk to find our hotel.  It was slightly eerie in a really dreamy kind of way.  We stopped in several stores and got directions to our hotel, which we eventually found.  They gave us directions to a restaurant that was just a stone's throw away, and so we headed back there for dinner.

I've already mentioned multiple times the difficulties Maple and I had with food all along our journey.  My dad recently asked me what was the best and the worst thing we ate in the two months, and this meal comes to mind.  Whitey and Maple both ordered the same thing, thinking it sounded interesting.    I kept thinking that it did not sound like the sort of things that ought to mix in one's mouth.  They had broccoli ricotta ravioli with swordfish.  I would not normally mix broccoli and ricotta, and I don't think I would mix broccoli and ravioli.  I certainly wouldn't mix swordfish with ricotta or ravioli.  (I ordered some local pasta, and while it wasn't great, it was at least edible.)  Their dishes came out and we all just stared.  They gave it the good ole college try, but in the end, neither one of them ate more than about half of their dish.  

We decided to walk around and see if we could find some gelato to eat for dessert, to redeem the not-so-great dinner.  We discovered that (a) San Marino is empty of people at night, which is awesome, but because of that, (b) there are no gelato places open after dark.  As we walked, we eventually approached this trolley car at the open mouth of a tunnel.

Maple was all geared up to walk through the tunnel.  Me, the scaredycat, was not.  That seems straight up the stuff out of horror films.  Maple convinced me that because it was lit, there were three of us, and it was marked on the tourism map of San Marino, it would be fine.

Apparently it was tunnel that housed refugees during World War II, as San Marino was neutral. There was a small poster commemorating that, but nothing else.  I'm glad we didn't encounter anything or anyone else in that creepy tunnel.  

You can see how the fog outside made the city lights have such an eerie feel to them.

With fall leaves everywhere, fog, completely empty streets, and the company of two good friends, I already knew that I was going like the Most Serene Republic of San Marino.

Most Serene Indeed.