The travels of Tim and Megan: The Most Serene Republic of San Marino

San Marino

Monday

On Monday we happily waved goodbye to our Venice hotel and made our way back up the Grand Canal to pick up our hire car. After an unfortunate encounter with the boat ticket police, we made it to the Avis office slightly out of sorts, however, our mood was much improved by the sight of our rented beast (see below). We gladly jumped in our Smart Car and hit the road. It turns out that the inside of the Smart Car is surprisingly roomy, with enough space in the back to comfortably fit our suitcases and sufficient length at the front for Tim's legs. It also rocketed along the motorway at top speed, which was lucky as we had a full day ahead and a 6pm deadline to get to Avis in Florence to return the car. After some puzzling moments with the 'sat nav', we made our way out of Venice, passed by the city of Bologna and continued on the road to The Most Serene Republic of San Marino (that is actually the official name of the country - awesome).

San Marino is a country situated in the Apennine Mountains. It is a landlocked enclave, completely surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over 60 km², making it the fifth smallest country in the world (after the Vatican City, Monaco, Nauru and Tuvalu). It has an estimated population of 30,000. Its capital is the city of San Marino. San Marino is the oldest sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world, having been officially founded on 3 September 301 by stonecutter Marinus of Rab. According to legend, Marinus left the island of Rab in Croatia with his lifelong friend Leo and went to the city of Rimini as a mason. After persecution because of his Christian sermons, he escaped to the nearby Mount Titano, where he built a small church and thus founded what is now the city and the state of San Marino.

By the mid-5th century, a community was formed; because of its relatively inaccessible location and its poverty, it has succeeded, with a few brief interruptions, in maintaining its independence. In 1631 its independence was recognized by the Papacy. The Constitution of San Marino, enacted in 1600, is the world's oldest constitution still in effect. It seems that the San Marino people have made good impressions over the centuries, forming unlikely friendships with Napoleon, who admired their independent spirit, and Abraham Lincoln, who appreciated their republican principles and pizza.

Not many people know much about San Marino and before we started to plan our visit, all we knew was that they host a Formula One grand prix race and that they have a really bad football team. The distance between Venice and San Marino is around 170km. Along the way we were treated to some great scenery - sunflower fields, rolling hills and endless pastures stocked with massive circular bales of hay. Approaching San Marino was quite a sight, as the city sits majestically on a massive steep cliff top.

San Marino certainly made us very happy, firstly by banning cars from its centre, making walking around a delight, and secondly by providing us with a unique addition to our passports. For a small fee, the Visitor Information Centre will give you a San Marino stamp in your passport - literally a postage stamp glued into your passport with a more official looking ink stamp over the top. We were delighted, as anyone would be. It also gave Megan a chance to celebrate clocking up 30 countries before turning 30 so it was a very proud day indeed.

After some lunch at a cafe with outdoor seating along an old fortress wall, we set about exploring the rest of the tiny cliff top city. Whichever direction you look in, there are magnificent views, none better than out to the north and east, over the rest of the state of San Marino and out across Italy to the Adriatic Sea. We walked up to one of the three towers which once guarded the city, where we took in more stunning views, and we also checked out a few of the bizarre collection of tourist shops that line the hilly streets of the city. Aside from the usual postcards and tacky souvenirs, there were dozens of shops selling firearms, samurai swords and ancient weapons and armoury!

Then we were back in the Smart Car to retrace our path back to Bologna and onwards to Florence. Or so we thought. It turns out that Smart Cars do not have very large fuel tanks and, that, combined with a fuel gauge that drops alarmingly quickly from half-full to empty, we found ourselves circling Bologna with 4...then 3.5...then 3 litres of petrol remaining. Fortunately, the good people at Agip gave us a top-up before Megan had a heart attack and we were on our way. We needn't have been worried, as we figured out we could probably have carried the car the rest of the way to Florence.

We arrived at Florence with about 15 minutes to spare to get to Avis. It turns out that 'sat navs' don't appreciate the distinction between and one-way and two-way streets, hence we ended up in a maze of back streets and tiny avenues, causing danger to pedestrians, cyclists and wing mirrors alike. We eventually found Avis only a bit behind schedule and handed over the keys. It was an excellent day and a worthy trip to the Most Serene Republic, but we were quite happy to be rid of the car and continue the rest of the trip on foot and by train.