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I’m not happy, Jan. My sister (not named Jan) has decided to (sensibly) stay on the ship today and skip the shore excursions. Who could blame her? The ship, Seven Seas Grandeur, is a beauty.
It’s a rainy, grey Tuesday and she’s not the only one who would like to indulge in a cosy lie-in. Instead, I’m taking an eight-hour excursion to a tiny European republic I hadn’t heard of until last week.
The Republic of San Marino’s Monte Titano at dusk.Credit: Getty Images
Why? A decade ago, I made a vow to myself to visit three new countries every year. Today, docked in Ancona, the capital of the Marche region in Italy, I have a golden opportunity to gain a new passport stamp.
The compact, landlocked country of San Marino with a population of about 34,000 can be reached in two hours from Ancona, and I won’t have to drive. Rain or shine, I’m going.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ shore excursion program is impressive and generous, offering thousands of tours worldwide. Guests are only limited by time in choosing how many they join. Most of the line’s shore excursions are complimentary, though there is a fee for my tour today. That hasn’t stopped more than 20 passengers from signing up.
Landlocked by Italy, the Republic of San Marino is the world’s fifth-smallest country. Founded in the early 4th century by Saint Marinus (patron saint of bachelors, falsely accused people and San Marino), the nation’s total land mass is just 61 square kilometres. In Europe, only Vatican City and Monaco are smaller.
The city was given UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2008.Credit: Getty Images
Given UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2008, San Marino’s past can be seen and felt today in its medieval fortresses, stone churches and winding, cobblestone streets. In pictures, it looks like the fairytale principality of a European royal empire from the Middle Ages. Squint and you can almost see golden-locked Disney princesses in towers and toothless ogres peering out of dungeons.
As we drive towards our destination, tour guide Yvonne jokes that San Marino is so independent of Italy it even has its own weather system. She points it out in the distance, a hilly commune under an incongruent patch of blue sky, devoid of the mist and rain clouds we’re passing through.