San Marino

Here is a general rule of thumb when traveling. If the map of the picturesque town or village that you want to visit has more symbols for defibrillators than it does for toilets, don’t visit!

Greetings from the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, where all roads seemingly go uphill and defibrillators rule.  We wanted to visit here on Saturday but missed the turn on the way to San Benedetto so we made plans to stay here one night after San Benedetto on our way to Trento.  It is a very old city (the old town and the republic are both called San Marino) perched atop a huge mountain and no matter where you park, you have to climb and climb and climb just to get to the places that are supposed to be beautiful. The shops - all of which are duty free - are supposed to offer great deals. After huffing and puffing for thirty minutes we arrived at the center of the town where everything was closed for the season. Well not everything - if you were in the market for a gun, rifle, crossbow or knife, there was one shop selling these items that was open; otherwise, forget about shopping. The good news was that all the museums were closed which saved me a lot of whining. 

I must say that when the clouds cleared there were spectacular views of Rimini and the Adriatic as well as all the hill towns to the west of San Marino. I couldn’t see all that well since the oxygen mask covered most of my face but Cindy assured me that it was swell.

Our time in San Benedetto was fun and we know we’ll not return, but we had to give it a shot.  If I had had to evaluate the food after the first night, I would have given it a thumbs down. We ate at a popular restaurant highly recommended by the hotel and very close to us, which was good since it was raining.  I had spaghetti vongole, clams in the shell. It appeared that the pasta had been cooked in sea water; it was so salty that I couldn’t finish it. Cindy’s pasta with rabbit was a bit less salty but still more salt than we have ever encountered in Italy. (The rabbit was all chopped up so you really couldn’t tell if it was rabbit, rattlesnake or chicken.)

For lunch on Sunday we tried another restaurant that reaffirmed our belief that Italian food is indeed some of the greatest on earth. We first shared an octopus salad, a heaping helping of chopped octopus that had been lightly seasoned with just a little olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and parsley.  Oh my.  I then had the pasta mezzamanica, although I had no idea what I was ordering even after asking twice.  Well it was a short tubular pasta mixed with clams and mussels with a hint of chili flakes, garlic and olive oil.  Divine.  Cindy had paccheri which was also tubular but much bigger, and the sauce was calamari, tomatoes and some type of fish, again fantastic. Much later that night we returned to try their pizza that they made every evening in a wood-burning oven. It was a simple affair that we split, just mozzarella, fresh finely chopped tomatoes, basil, garlic, and a layer of arugula. Hot, fresh and wonderful.  The wines were out of a box served in half liter carafes and perfectly fine. The prices were also marvelous.  

Best wishes,  Cindy and William