Monte Titano May 19, 2013 10:00
Not long after arriving in Rimini this morning, we jumped on a bus to our primary destination, Monte Titano – the highest peak of San Marino. San Marino is a small country on the north-eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. The place is awesome – and not just because it's on top of a mountain (although, that definitely helps). As you can see from the photos, the surrounding landscape is absolutely beautiful.
When we got to San Marino this morning, it was cold. I mean, Monte Titano is some 2,400 feet above sea level. And it was raining. It wasn't pouring, so an umbrella was not needed, but it was raining just enough to make the gusts of wind on top of the mountain cut through like ice. Alright, alright, maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but let's just say I could have used a coat.
Monte Titano is surrounded by three towers which are connected by castle-like walls. Most of the paths are open to the public, and I wish I could have spent more time hiking around the area. We lost Ben for a bit at one point, but it turns out that he didn't actually fall over the cliff, and we found him a half-hour later.
After briefly exploring the town, we made our way back to the bus stop to head back to Rimini, but we literally just missed the bus. So, we had another two hours to kill on the mountain. Looking back on it, it was definitely the best thing that could have happened. We certainly made the most of our extended time in San Marino.
It turns out San Marino is known for weapons – there are stores that sell weapons all over the city. I don't know why one would need a weapon on top of a mountain, but apparently it's a big thing.
Next to one of the weapon stores was one of the most elaborate Christmas stores I have ever seen. We're talking ornaments, snow globes and carousels. My mom would have been in her glory. The store was fun to browse (and certainly fitting given the cold weather outside), but I was much more excited for the Christmas Bar next store – a small restaurant that was decked out in snowflakes and ornaments.
Apparently we weren't the only one's that thought it was cold in San Marino because the Christmas Bar sold hot chocolate. Actually, it was chocolate fondue. Ours came with a hint of orange, but there was an entire booklet of interesting flavors including one with hot chile peppers. After the fondue, we shared a couple of crepes with Nutella. Crepes (and Nutella) are a really big thing in San Marino. In fact, I've noticed that they are really big in a lot of towns across Italy – except Florence.
We filled up the rest of our time in San Marino with some pretty hilarious photo shoots. However, I only included the scenic photos below.