Christmas in San Marino

The most serene republic of San Marino is a romantic fairytale land...that really exists!  From San Marino's lamp-lit castle ramparts, you can watch the sunset over the distant Apennine mountains and then watch the moon rise over the Adriatic Sea.  

Sunset Over The Apennines

San Marino is one of my favourite places in all of "non-Italy".  I say non-Italy because San Marino is a separate republic; a microstate within Italy (kind of like the Vatican) and one of the oldest republics in the world.  TIP: San Marino's main capital city is also called San Marino, which can be confusing if you are programming a GPS.  Named after its Patron Saint, St Marinus, who established a hermitage at the summit of Mount Titano in 301 C.E., San Marino and Mount Titano are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  The last time I visited San Marino was in 2013, and I was so excited to return to the small capital and see it all lit up in the evening light.


Sunset was at 4:44 pm in San Marino.  With clear skies and a full moon, all the stars seemed to be aligning to be able to get some great pictures from the top of Mount Titano that evening. 

The drive up to the top of San Marino is a thrilling hairpin turn road that offers views of the valley below and the sea off in the distance.  Last time I was here I took a fun ride up the funicular to the top of San Marino, rather than pay for expensive all-day parking. This time I was only visiting for a few hours, and I wanted to zoom to the top of Mt. Titano to catch the sunset magic with my travel partner.   

Via Piana Means "Flat Street"😵  

TIP:  For parking at the top of San Marino, follow the main road ALL the way to the end (it turns into Via JF Kennedy) and there will be a huge pay parking lot just beyond a set of stone arches.  
This is the closest you can park to the iconic castles and the cliffside promenade that connects them.  Over Christmas holidays this parking lot is closed because it is the location of the Christmas Snow Village, but there was lots of street parking available.  This is the bliss of travelling in the off-season!

The three historical towers of San Marino perch impossibly on the very edge of Mount Titano's cliff face, with a stomach-clenching drop of 738 meters to the valley below...

Montale

Racing to catch the setting sun, I took a shortcut from the street and literally ran uphill through a forest of oak, chestnut and laburnum trees to San Marino's third tower-Montale. I was lucky to catch the sun just as it slunk behind the smokey-blue coloured mountains.  Spectacular.  The floodlights suddenly came on, dramatically lighting up the three iconic fortresses of San Marino: Montale, Cesta and the most famous; Guatia.  From the tower of Montale, I strolled along the stone path through the forest, to the middle tower called Cesta.

The Original Fortress Walls

Cesta is the middle peak of San Marino and the highest point.  The tower holds San Marino's museum, displaying over 1500 weapons from the middle ages to modern times.  Cesta was built on top of a Roman Fort, so I consider this spot the end of my trip along the "Via Flaminia" which I followed from Rome, through Umbria and the Apennine mountains to the seaside city of Rimini.  From the tower of Cesta, you can see the great wall that is part of the original city wall that enclosed San Marino, protecting this free republic since the Middle Ages.  The wall had a different purpose now.  A million twinkling white lights strung across the top of the wall like a fairy path lead tourists along the promenade flanked by cafes and souvenir shops to the castle: Guaita.

The Cliffside Promenade

Alone on the very cold and windy ramparts of Guaita, you can really sense the amount of determination this proud little republic needed to stay independent for hundreds of years.  The people of San Marino are called "Sammarinese" and they have a distinctly separate culture of food and wine, their own University, a Sammarinese language (which is a form of the Emilia-Romagnolo dialect) and its own traditional folk music.  For a peek at the traditional Sammarinese folk music check out the video at the very end of this post.

I could hear Christmas carols floating up to the ramparts from far down below, it was the Christmas village pumping out Bony M tunes for all the little skaters and tobogganers that were having a great time in the fresh mountain air.  This would be a good time to go check out the action and see if I could find some mulled wine to warm up.
San Marino's skating rink was the biggest I have seen so far on my Italian Christmas travels through Umbria.  There was also "snow" tubing on the red runway beside the skating rink.  I think every kid in town was there that night living out their winter fantasy, it made me kind of homesick for Canada.   Sadly there was no mulled wine here for my winter fantasy.   Onward.

Parking Lot Turned Into The Skating Rink

Quiet Streets Of San Marino

Questing forth for the elusive mulled wine, I came across another Christmas market selling traditional Sammarinese sweets like Christmas cakes, candies, nuts as wells as cheeses, jams, cured meats and delicious..."Vin Brulé" which is Italian mulled wine!  Vin Brulé is hot red wine, sweetened a bit and spiced with cloves, allspice, cinnamon and orange peel.  Best €2 I spent all day!

Piazza Della Liberta

Warmed up with a spiced wine buzz, there was another quest I was on that night.   When I was in San Marino in 2013 I came across a shop that sold intricate metal masks that looked like lace.  I thought about those masks on and off for four years and always regretted not purchasing one; I didn't even know the name of the store.  Life brought me back to San Marino and to the very same street of the mask shop, and the shop was OPEN!  La Vetrina del Titano is a shop that specializes in Venetian style masks and jewellery.  The kind owner Manuela helped me pick out two beautiful masks, one for myself the other for my dear Italian friend Giulia as a thank you gift.  The Universe gave me a second chance to grab these masks and I promised to never, EVER ignore the "call of the Universe" to buy something special when travelling!

Beautiful Christmas Light Art

Coming out of the shop, my travel partner caught two musicians that were wandering through the streets dressed as Sammarinese shepherds playing the accordion and a rare  Italian folk instrument called a '"zampogna".  The zampogna is a bagpipe type instrument that was brought to this area from Ancient Greece via southern Italy.  This instrument was common in folk music but fell out of favour in the 18th century and is now usually only associated with Christmas carols.  If you want to see a rare zampogna in action, check out the video at the bottom of the blog entry.

Full Moon Over The Adriatic

Time was moving at an alarmingly rapid pace and it was almost time to meet Giulia after work.  I wanted to see if we could catch the full moon rising, so I hunted for an open space like a piazza or a terrace to get a clear vantage point.  The City Hall in Piazza della Libertà is a  picturesque little square on a terrace overlooking the mountains in the distance.  The problem was the mountains faced west where I had captured the sunset earlier, so that meant I had to go to the other side of San Marino that faced East.  Luckily, because I was on a mountain peak, the other side of San Marino was only a 5-minute walk beyond the Piazza della Libertà towards the funicular station.
Rounding the corner to the funicular station, I stopped dead in my tracks.  The scene I looked out at from the mountaintop terrace was as delicious and intoxicating as the Vin Brulè! The full moon was shining down upon the Adriatic; her silver reflection on the sea so bright, that it looked like the water was being lit from beneath. It didn't even register to my eyes as being "real" at first; like I was looking at a painting.  Staring out at the moonlit scene was one of the most romantic moments of my trip.

That vista was also the most satisfying end to my night in "the most serene republic" of San Marino.

Sammarinese Traditional Music Featuring the "zampogna":

Original post appeared January 2018

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The Real-Deal On Traveling To Venice

Is Venice actually as "magical"  as the hundreds of articles written about the city claim?  Would Venice be a decaying open-air museum, or would She be a romantic's escape to another world?  Let's explore Venice together for the first time...   

We were driving across the floating causeway into Venice with our little rental car hauling a huge suitcase full of anticipation along with a small carry-on bag of anxiety. It was the finale of our Italian Christmas holidays and my first trip ever to the City of Bridges. 

I had been told by family, friends, books and media that  Venice is "a world apart" that it is "the most unreal city on earth" and "you will fall in love with Venice."  In fact, Venice has been voted the most beautiful city in the world in 2016, 2017 and 2018 by TripAdvisor, Conde Nast, Rough Guides, Telegraph UK, and so many other travel publications.  Yet, I have been warned by many trusted family, friends (and cynical) world travellers that Venice is a "world-class tourist trap!" They told me Venice is "overcrowded, overpriced and dirty," and they were only trying to "not disappoint me."  This is what I feared the most, my dreams getting dashed by the hyper-tourism that threatens to turn Venice into a giant floating theme park.

So here's the real deal on Venice...

St. Marks From The Lagoon

How can one describe Venice without sounding like a million travel cliches?

Many people make the mistake of "DO-ing" Venice.  This kind of travel is the "tick-mark-next-to-the-bucket-list-item" travel to say you were there.  You can't DO Venice.  As a traveller, that just seems dirty.  The city of Venice plays Her cards close to her chest, and it takes time for you to get to know this noble city.   I would say I had an induction into Venice, where I slowly sank through all the layers of complexity that lies behind Her mask.

Trying to Get To The Little Red Pin

Venice is an island made up of a series of 118 small islands linked by 400 bridges.  There are no streets in Venice. Instead, Venetians use canals to navigate the city.  The city is connected to the mainland by a long causeway called the Ponte della Libertà built-in 1933 by Mussolini.  The causeway deadends once across the water, and there are two parking garages located there: Tronchetto and Piazzale Roma, where all the rental car agencies are located. 
TIP #1:  THERE IS AN EXTRA FEE FOR DROPPING OFF A RENTAL CAR IN VENICE.  Our company charged us $50 Canadian to drop off the car in Venice rather than in Mestre on the mainland.  This was fine for us since 1) it saved us at least an hour 2) we would be paying for 3 train or bus tickets into Venice from Mestre, so it worked out to be about the same cost in the end.

Leaving Breadcrumbs To Find Our Way Home

"Part of the magic of Venice is getting lost."

Sure.  When you are not trying to find something or meet someone.  Like trying to get to our Airbnb in half an hour to reach our host.  No problem, we thought.  If we were looking at a map of Venice, we were at the mouth of the fish (Piazzale Roma), and we needed to go to the dorsal fin of the fish (Fondamenta Nuove).  Venice is only 3 square miles and only takes about 45 minutes to get from one end of the city to the other, so this should be no problem.  WRONG.  Venice is a literal maze of dead ends, secret courtyards, and odd little corners.   The buildings are sometimes so close together that two people cannot pass each other.  TIP #2: YOUR PHONE GPS WILL NOT HELP YOU!  The accuracy of your GPS sucks most of the time and the twists and turns just seem to confuse most apps.   My advice is to walk in the general direction you think you need to go in and check in with your GPS at every significant open space like a piazza.  You can ask a local for guidance, but they will usually tell you to "keep going straight." Just warning you now, so you don't throw your mobile into the canal.  Even Venetians get lost outside their own neighbourhoods!

In A State Of Elegant Decay

Walking single file, we rolled our suitcases up, across and down the big Calatrava bridge that spans the Grand Canal. Past the super busy Santa Lucia train station and the main Vaporetto stop Ferrovia.  This area along the Grande Canal is glitzy and bustling with vendors in little kiosks selling cheap tourist trinkets.  Dozens of other tourists were dragging their suitcases along behind them as we were, trying to get them upstairs and over bridges and down the other side with their overpacked luggage.  TIP #3: PACK LIGHT GOING TO VENICE.  You will thank me after schlepping your bags over the 20th bridge you encounter.  I'm not kidding! Remember, there are 400 bridges in Venice, and they ALL have steps.

The View From Our Airbnb Flat

We eventually found our way to our Airbnb flat, which was right outside the boat stop that heads out to other Islands in the lagoon such as Murano, Burano and the airport.  Our Airbnb flat was a great location and cheap, considering we had our own kitchen to cook our meals in.  TIP #4: TRY TO FIND LODGINGS IN A RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBOURHOOD RATHER THAN THE TOURIST HOTSPOTS. Not only will you save money, but you will see how the actual Venetians live.  We stayed in the Cannaregio neighbourhood, but Castello and Dorsoduro are charming neighbourhoods too.

Fresh Fruit & Veg Market in Venice

"Venice is expensive, and the food is not very good."

Yes, Venice is more expensive than in other Italian cities.  Mainly because everything has to be brought into Venice by small boat and transferred by hand.  That being said, we paid about the same prices for meals in Venice as we did on the Amalfi Coast a few months earlier.  You are paying tourist prices in Venice, and most often, you are paying extra for a table with a view.  With so many foreign tourists "DO-ing" Venice in one day, restaurants don't have to have excellent quality because as a tourist, you will never be back. Restaurants in Venice know this, and they also know they can charge whatever they want.  In fact, many tourists that are in organized tours are only in Venice for 6 hours, and the Venetians call this type of tourism "bite and run."  There are MANY decently priced restaurants where the locals eat.  You just have to ask around or do a little research on the internet.



Settling into our little apartment overlooking the Venetian lagoon, we decided to run out and get some groceries.  We actually brought along some food from Riccione in a backpack so that we would have dinner supplies when we arrived in Venice. We also found this market just a few 100 meters from our flat.  There was also a Co-Op Super Market across the way that sold everything from wine to eggs.  The wine selection at the Co-Op is full of cheap yet decent local Veneto Wine-Oh, my happy liver!

 With our suitcases unpacked and our bellies now full, we stepped
out into the night to meet the real Venice.

The Quiet Back Canals of Venice

"Venetians savour the leisurely pace of life."

True. Nighttime in Venice belongs to the Venetians; their work is done, most of the tourists are gone back to the mainland, and the sidewalks become empty again.  If I could use one word to describe Venice, it would be DRAMA.  It felt like you were walking through one big opera set and that with the rhythmic clicking of your heels on the stone beneath your feet, an orchestra would begin and costumed singers would appear on the balconies hanging over the canals.  Even the locals are dramatic. Locals dress with dramatic flair and carry themselves as if they were walking down a fashion runway.  Especially the little old ladies with their bright red hair, high heels and winter coat of leopard print faux fur.  Even listening to the Venetian dialect that floated around us sounded so rich and complex. The Venitian dialect is quite unintelligible to other Italians like our friend Giulia who only lived 2 hours south.

We were sinking into a world of romance and make-believe with every bridge we crossed.

Christmas Tree in St. Marks Square

"Venice at Christmas is like a beautiful woman in a glamourous ballgown-you just can't stop staring at her"

After winding our way through alleys and crossing bridges that led to one magnificent vignette or another, we followed the yellow signs pointing "per San Marco---->" until we came to a gondola stop that seemed to be taking the last of the tourists out into the night.  We slipped under an arcaded passageway that opened up to one of Europe's most iconic squares, Piazza San Marco.  Lit up in all its glory, the centrepiece of the square is the Basilica of Saint Mark.  The Byzantine-style Basilica is punctuated by the Campanile or bell tower in front of it.   St Mark's is flanked by the  Renaissance style offices on the right (the 1500's), the Baroque style offices on the left (1600's), and behind you Napoleon's office wing (the 1800s) closing the square.  Standing in this gorgeous piazza watching the full moon rise over the gilded domes of St. Mark's was a highlight of arriving in Venice, especially since the square was almost empty!

Full Moon Over St. Mark's Basilica

After the excellent window shopping under the piazzas' arcades, which were softly illuminated by hundreds of glowing Christmas lights strung above our heads, we decided to stroll to the Rialto bridge.  The principal route between the two most famous sights in Venice is a trendy designer shopping street with Dolce and Gabbana, Prada, Versace and the rest. Tempting you with overly extravagant window displays, this lends to the dramatic atmosphere of Venice.  The Rialto Bridge at night was not as empty as Piazza San Marco. In fact, the Rialto Bridge was buzzing with tourists and locals alike enjoying shopping, restaurants and the many bars of this area.
We decided to pop into a  pub favoured by locals called the Devils Forest Pub for a drink.  Young, vibrant and FULL of Venetians; this Irish style pub seemed out of place in this elegant and aristocratic city. Classic rock blaring on the speakers, rugby on the TV and Irish beers on the taps we felt at home immediately, even though we were the only tourists in the place.  This is the real-deal Venice of today.
Back out into the soft glow of the night, we followed our "breadcrumbs," retracing our steps back to our Airbnb. I happily realize that I am truly and utterly enamoured with this floating city that really IS unlike any other in the world, and it is the beginning of a beautiful love affair with Venezia.

Did Venice live up to your imagination?  Let me know in the comments below!

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