So when our bike hotel offered rides there, we couldn't refuse.
What makes San Marino so peculiar?
What you see here is practically the whole country. It comprises only 24 square miles. Surprisingly, it's not the smallest "country" in Europe. Vatican City and Monaco are smaller. But it is only one-third the size of Liechtenstein and one-fifth the size of Andorra.
The country dates back to the year 301, when Marinus of Arba, a stone cutter, broke away from the Roman Empire and founded his own country on top of Monte Titano. This makes San Marino:
The oldest continuing functioning state in the world.
The oldest republic in the world.
The government with the oldest constitution in the world.
The only country in the world to have a democratically-elected Communist government (1945 - 1957).
San Marino is one of the wealthiest countries on the globe. Its per-capita income is about one thousand dollars greater than the US's.
Banking is the backbone of the economy. Because it has a capital gains tax rate of only 5%, it's a legitimate haven for international investors. Despite the low tax rates, the government runs a budget surplus every year.
San Marino is also famous among collectors for issuing beautifully-designed postage stamps each year.
When you enter San Marino, there's nothing that tells you you're no longer in Italy...no border crossings, no customs or immigration, on some roads not even a sign. The only way you know you're there is the different license plates.
Speaking of which, San Marino is the only country in the world with more registered vehicles than residents.
Ultimately, it lost that match. In fact, the San Marino soccer squad is the only FIFA member never to have won an international match ...ever. The team has the distinction of being dead-last in FIFA's international rankings year-after-year.
This is the view of Monte Titano Roger took half way to the top. From here, it looks as if the only way up is to scale a sheer cliff.
However, the road circles around to the other side of Monte Titano and switch-backs to the top.
Please note the castle at the top-right of the cliff...
...because this is Roger standing in front of it after he made it to the top. We're saving these two photos for posterity.
The reason you don't see Carol in this photo is because she took a van ride to the top, and by this point was flying down the hill on her bike, headed home.
Carol's only disappointment was her guide would not let her pass on the 10 km descent. Roger, on the other hand, wore out a set of brake pads on the way down.
Roger is of the opinion San Marino should change its name...
...from The Most Serene Republic of San Marino...
...to the Most Vertical Republic of San Marino.
The people of San Marino asked the newly-created Italian government to return the favor and allow them to keep their independence. The Italian government...with much bigger problems on its hands...complied.
Roger's suggested name for the country is the reason we, as a family with a wheelchair user, have never visited San Marino! The largest community of sanmarinesi outside of Europe is in Detroit MI, so there was a girl in my Italian class at MSU from a sanmarinesi family. They used to return to San Marino to vote in the elections.
ReplyDelete