Wednesday 24 August - Bye to A & S, Urbino, San Marino

Up relatively early, we headed down with all our bags in the car to Camucia-Cortona Railway Station. Alastair and Sophie's train was running half an hour late but it made no difference as the connection in Florence had plenty of leeway. It was very sad to see them go. It had been nothing like long enough, and there had been very little free time to just chat.

We and Bella hopped back in our little car, set the GPS for the town of Urbino to the east, and drove off. We had traveled with Alastair before, several times, but never with just Bella, and we were very much looking forward to time together.

I'd chosen Urbino as it is a World Heritage town, and it didn't disappoint. We parked below it (Urbino is a hilltop town) and walked up and around the tall-walled exterior. 

Outside it wasn't amazing, but once inside, we really liked it. Being a university town it was low-key and full of young people. We all liked the feel of it, especially after Cortona which seems to always be busy and full of tourists. Like many of the towns of this region, they make a big thing of their contradas, or quartieres - the different parts of the town that have very strong local associations and compete in events, like the Palio in Siena.

Lunch beckoned, and I found a little eatery, Camera a Sud, with a few tables stacked one at a time up a street opposite the osteria itself. A great choice. The server was particularly nice, I enjoyed speaking Italian with her, and the food was simply superb. Really reasonable, simple and full of flavour. We came away feeling very pleased with ourselves.

Next stop, and next country, was San Marino. The road to get there was a trial. Either our GPS program likes small winding roads, it perhaps there really isn't a better option. Either way it was slow and uncomfortable driving.  Again a hilltop situation, and a bit of a curly road to get to Carpark 7 which our hotel recommended.

San Marino turned out to be more like Cortona than Urbino, and more touristy than either. A little tacky even. Once we'd got our fridge magnet (one for each new country) we did a quick tour of one of the main forts on the rock. We weren't expecting much, but found it better than we'd expected. 

A San Marino street

The main square

After the last week of travelling and wedding, we were about ready for some time out. So, we sat down in the main Square to watch the changing of the guard and drank an Aperol spritz. It was such a nice situation that we decided to stay on for dinner there. Not as nice as it had been at Urbino but very pleasant all the same.

Changing of the guard