Visits to Republic of San Marino and to Rimini

Tuesday was the guides' day off, so we relaxed in the morning. In the afternoon, the hotel offered bus transportation to the nearby Republic of San Marino, a landlocked enclave completely surrounded by Italy, and the third smallest state in the EU (in area). Larger only than only the Vatican City and Monaco, it was founded in 301 AD by Marinus of Rab, a Christian stonemason in Rimini fleeing religious persecution by Roman Emperor Diocletian. The entire nation consists of San Marino city on top of a mountain, and several cities around the foot of the mountain. We visited only San Marino city on Tuesday, having biked through the larger, more industrial (and lower altitude) Dogana as part of Monday’s bike ride.

San Marino city is an odd juxtaposition of ancient buildings occupied mostly by souvenir vendors selling a wide variety of goods: clothing, leather, food, wine, liquor, including absinthe, cameras, electronics, weapons (knives, swords, guns), along with the same plethora of plastic crap that one can purchase in any tourist trap worldwide.

The architecture, however, is often amazing, and well worth a stroll through the moneychangers. After climbing the steep pedestrian-only streets to the top of the mountain, we spent an hour or so wandering around the towers preserved by the Musei de Stato, some of which were built in the 11th century. What a view!

On Wednesday, the group riding itinerary was a climb halfway up Mount Cartegna to 2200 feet or so to watch the Giro D’Italia pass through. The more ambitious riders (not our group) continued to climb to the 4500 foot summit. Still recovering from Monday’s climbs, we opted out of this (maybe next year)and instead took two of the hotel's loaner "townie" bikes out on our own, riding the flat 10 miles or so up the coast to Rimini, mostly on bike paths. We looked around the harbor area for a while, spent some time in and around a beautiful old cathedral, and finally rode through the town center, which is highlighted by a large stone archway from Roman times.