San Marino!

So, as I have left you an epic nailbiter, and then inconsiderately published a post with absolutely nothing on San Marino, here it is!

The four of us were in the car, and it was about an hour drive from Urbino. The streets were constantly turning around hills and there was not a straight stretch ever. Pretty different from the good ol' drive from Edmonton to Grimshaw. We stopped to snap some shots along the way:

View from about a half hour out of Urbino

A sweet ridge off in the distance. I could tell we were heading North since the land started to look more rough and mountainous and less hilly. There was a pretty pleasent mix of both.

Yen, Me, Uli. Uli thinks photo's are stupid.

Yen, Ria, Uli. I felt pretty left out having more than three letters in my name.

Artsy window shot!

Then, we continued on and as we reached San Marino, we looked for a parking spot. Ria was driving, and wanted to park at the parking lot. I truly had no idea where we were going or what we had planned or what there even was to see in this town. They just asked me to go and I just said yes. So, I didn't know why we couldn't park somewhere else. And that's what we did. Because said parking lot was insane and since in was a long weekend, there were motorhomes everywhere. A note on those suckers, they're tiny here. Of course by tiny I mean normal.

The girls walking in la strada.

Church in the center of town. Where we parked. For free and everything!

So, where we were headed was a lift! It brings you from the main center of town to the historical center where there are three towers that belong to one castle. This was a fortress built back in the day way up on a couple of those ridged I had a picture of before. This is why San Marino is an independant state, because no one could get to it. Now, it's a tourist trap and remains independant because, well, they're loaded. Italian people tend to dislike San Marino. I think it's a bit like a fairy tale.

The artwork in front of the lieft.

Heading up the lift...

Shot from the lift down into the center. Our car is parked somewhere near the church steeple you see. We were trying to see it from the lift.

The lift coming from the other direction

Safely at the top!

View from the entrance down to the Christmas Market and the start of the fog rolling in. We left the Market for after and heading in the direction of the castles, and some food, since everyone was quite hungry.

The lift at the top.

Sign: Market, Nativity Scene, Italian products, Creative workshops, and I think the last one is Christmas soap, but I can't read it now.

The town below!

A lovely photo. Pretend that girl I'm perving on is me!

Flowers. I can not get enough of taking pictures of flowers. There's new ones blooming!

The first statue off the lift. A. Bartolomeo Borghesi.Way to go, pal! I don't know what he did, but he's a stature. And that makes you important.

La Presepe! Nativitiy scene. As you can see, they were very creative. Jesus in one bubble, Mary in another, and Joseph's bubble has deflated, having realized he is a father now and will not have a night out with the guys in 15 years.

Statue and building and tourists.

A garden that I think is pretty darn nifty.

Walking towards the first peak of the castle.

Ria, Yen, Uli walking the street. There were many shops selling exactly the same things on every street. After walking in San Marino, I am glad to be living in Urbino where the shops are more for the students than the tourists. Much less crap in Urbino.

Another statue that I quite liked in a very symmetrical park.

I saw this and thought, "What a typical doorway." Then I thought, no. There are hand carved signs, iron knockers on wooden doors, a tree creeping along the bricks, this is not typical! It is in Italy. I am getting used to such cute things, but I cannot stop taking pictures.

So I took one of the matching window, too.

Another church with great pillars.

A restaurant we were going to eat at, but it was pretty packed and Uli got pissed that some people "butted". They had Hawaiin Pizza on the menu. Not normal. I was going to split one with Ria because we both craved it, since she used to have it in Germany. But, I'll find it elsewhere some other time.

The outdoor tables that are still set up at the resteraunt for the nice days with Babbo Natale chilling out to some Bob Dylan tunes.

Uli and I at the restaurant.

The constant construction. They are rehabilitating structures always. (Picture also taken for the flowers)

This is how the castles are. From the ground there are natural rocks jutting around everywhere, and then the buildings just start as if they were carved from from the rocks.

Mamma Mia. The fog is so magical, and I can not truly capture it in pictures. But I'll keep trying.

View from one peak to the second. You can see the strip of walkway that we take from one to the other.

Me! Sitting along the walkway. There is nothing but air behind me, too. They were all very scared as I hopped up to take a sittin' spot.

Uli posing with the tower.

A cute picnic spot. There is a lot of great places to sit, but it was chilly that day and the last thing I wanted to sit on was concrete.

Part of the grounds.

The first pillar from the second pillar! See how that works? I like this picture because it shows how the pillars sort of loom over the town. I shouldn't say loom. They peak. Let's use peak.

The town and great aweomse building there in the middle. The round one. I don't know what it is but I'd like to check it out next time I'm in town.

Uli at the Second pillar. It was about 6 Euros at each pillar to go in. So we decided the best thing was to take free pictures instead!

After checking out the pillars, we were still looking for something to eat. Turns out Uli is quite picky. Also, she didn't want to eat at any of the places in the historical center because, and this is her favourite line, "We are not stupid tourists."

The view on the way to the market

The sun had finally popped out and it lit up this one section of farmland. The green area on the left. It was just sparkling.

A museum we saw along the way. Museum of Curiosity.

Another one, the Museum of Wax, including an exhibit on Instruments of Torture. I was pretty much not interested, and the girls were still very hungry. I had packed a lunch. Two rules when heading around a town: Always use the bathroom when it's free, and always have some food on you. You never know when the restaurants shut down or when you'll have to pay to pee.

A street heading into more shops.

The Christmas market again! Only about 4 hours later.

This is where I had my first vin brule! Holy man. This should be around forever, not only at Christmas. It was great, and I know they have it in the market on the weekends here in Urbino... Anyways, the market was great! Handmade soap and jewellery and beautiful Christmas ideas like floral arrangements and clothes and winter gear. Everyone was so cheerful and it really felt like Christmas! We had a great time looking at everything and it was so fun to hang out with a group of girls in a new city! Oh, also, in this picture there is Ria, then a lady standing under an umbrella with a big roaster. I hope you can see it. This sucker roasts Chestnuts. These people are everywhere. I remember them in Paris, they are in Urbino, they were in Rome. Roasted Chestnuts are huge here. And then are delicious. Alessandra makes them for dinner sometimes.

The Nativity scene from the right direction

A nice plot with green grass and brass sculptures

After the market there were just more shops.

Oh, and a clan of singing Santa's complete with instruments.

They stopped to sing and play a tune!

Me and Ria. (consider this is after the vin brule)

A typewriter! All awesome and stuff. It had an Italian keyboard! Neat!

A fountain. But don't be decieved...

It really needs me to hold it up

Yen, Uli, Ria heading back up to the market. After I took this picture, we heading to a couple more stalls. One of them was selling jewellery and he was interested in where we were all from. We all chatted for a few minutes and then we took off. As we rounded back to head up the stairs to the lift, he called me over and asked where I lived. He pulled a slip of paper out of his wallet with his number on it. I truly didn't understand exactly what he said, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't try to pick me up as a customer of his jewellery. I'm pretty sure he won't be hearing from me. I think he was about 50. We all thought it was pretty funny, though.

After the market we finally decided to head back down to a reasonable cafe for something to eat. The girls had waited all day to eat! This is the view of the lifts after we got safely to the center of town.

Auguri! This is everywhere now. Its literal meaning is "wishes".

Some of the Christmas lights in the center.

The cafe we ate at.

And after we ate and I had some much needed tea, we headed back onto the now slippery roads, since it had started raining, and took about an hour and 20 minutes to get back to Urbino. It was a wonderful relaxing day. Who knows if I will head back there. I think if the opportunity arises, yes. But I wouldn't plan a special trip again. It was a truly beautiful town with much to look at and I felt like a peasant girl discovering a fairy tale land.

Anyways, I am now off to study, eat and then fetch the girls! Have a great day, and keep warm you winter warriors.