Public Palace

We woke up in Savigno to bright sunshine and a cloudless blue sky. We left our snug little stone B&B and walked back down Savigno's single street for breakfast at Amerigo 1934. We were once again charmed by the lovely staff, and the homemade pastries and breads they had prepared for our breakfast ratcheted that charm up to 11.

We lingered in Savigno until 11am, when we set off for our 12pm airport rendezvous with Rey-Rey. We met up in the short-term parking lot, set the stereo to Christmas carols, and headed off on the ninety-minute drive to San Marino.

We arrived San Marino 2pm. It's a hilltop country carved right out of the rock, accessed by a dizzying set of switchbacks up the mountain. We checked into our cozy little triple room at the Hotel Rosa, and immediately began exploring the medieval Old Town- the entirety of which is a UNESCO Heritage Site.

San Marino is a quirky little country (or city-state, to be exact). It's the third-smallest country in Europe, behind Vatican City and Monaco, and fifth-smallest in the world (behind the Micronesian islands of Nuaru and Tuvalu). It is completely surrounded by Italy, yet not in the EU. San Marino managed to maintain its independence by cozying up to Napoleon in the late 18th century, who then ensured that San Marino was not included in the 19th century Unification of Italy (it helps to know a guy).

San Marino has zero bodies of water (it relies on groundwater), no airport or train station, and with a population of 35,000, is one of three countries on earth with more cars than people (the other two countries are Gibraltar and Guernsey). It is also one of the richest countries per capita on the planet. So very, very rich.

The first thing we noticed about San Marino is that despite Old Town being over 1000 years old, it is so clean and perfect that it feels like a movie set or a Disney park. It's amazing how tidy you can keep your country when you're so rich you run a surplus every year, and your citizens are too busy counting their money to graffiti or litter. I am just saying.

We walked up to one of San Marino's three medieval fortress towers. The entire Old Town was hewn directly out of solid rock, including its intact city walls and fortress towers. It's an extraordinary sight, right out of a fairy tale; a castle hanging off a clifftop, with rolling green hills below. My initial reaction was, how did I not know how stunningly beautiful this little country is?

Dusk falls very early (and COLD) in San Marino, and the starry skies were clearly visible so high up on the mountaintop. We spent the evening wandering the Christmas-lit streets; with the day-trippers gone, it was like having a fairy tale kingdom all to ourselves. I hesitate to use the word "magical" and risk sounding like a dipshit social media influencer...but it kind of was.

We enjoyed mulled wine at an outdoor café on the fortress walls, and then discovered possibly the most lovely city Christmas display I've ever seen. In front of the Town Hall, San Marino installed a giant Christmas tree overlooking a cliff edge, and a life-sized Cinderella coach and horses made out of lights. Again, it's amazing what a few spare billion euros will purchase!

After a late dinner at a pizzeria, we bid goodnight to San Marino. Tomorrow we leave for Bologna!Read more