Bella came for breakfast again this morning, She’s as sweet little doggie. As we were about to check out and leave Castello Cafaggio the owner, Valentina, offered to take us on a tour of the main house. Originally the villa dated back to the 13^th century, but most of the complex dated from the 18^th-20^th centuries. Her family has owned it since the late 1700’s.

The castle decor was mostly art deco 1920’s in style, because during WWI the Germans occupied the castle and when they soldiers evacuated the castle they set it on fire. Miraculously many of the family treasures and artifacts were spared including old land maps and the family’s WWI uniforms. The locals saw the villa on fire and worked together with the family to douse the fire.

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The grand living room and dinning room were beautifully decorated in 1920’s Italian Art Deco. Several historians and designers visit Castello Cafiaggio in order to study these two rooms and the techniques used from the 20’s.

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She showed us the “secret wine” room where they keep casks of desert wine made on the farm. It takes 5-7 yrs. to age. We climbed to the very top of the tower and she showed us her childhood bedroom. Valentina has another home on the estate and one in Florence. Her mother and her son Leonardo live in these homes with her and they run the Castello as a AirBnB.  Leonardo is 11 yrs old like Faywen!

Valentina’s Italian hospitality extended not only for a tour, but also a drink in the kitchen as we admired the old bread oven. They still use it to fire pizzas!

The Chapel was adjacent to our apartment. Through conversation Valentina and I discovered a mutual passion for music. She likes classical, but mostly sings jazz. She asked me to sing in the chapel. The acoustics were incredible. She asked me for a voice lesson when I finished singing! Before we left the Chapel I spoke with Leonardo, who spoke some English. He plays the piano. He was a nice young man.

Before saying our final farewell we had a group photo taken in front of the Castello gate with Valentina, Leonardo, and even little Bella!

A pleasant three hour drive took us through picturesque Tuscany, Umbria and finally across the border into the 3^rd smallest European country…San Marino! It’s 61sq.km. and has about 33,000 residents. San Marino is completely land-locked by Italy, but has been a sovereign state since 301AD. It’s been a Republic since the 13^th century. The capital, San Marino City, sits on top of Mt. Titano. There are 8 other villages that surround San Marino City, San Marino.

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There are no parking spaces within the walls of the old part of San Marino City. We parked outside and walked uphill to our hotel, which sat in the heart of the quaint old town. After checking in, we went to explore this little mountain Republic!

The main attractions in San Marino are the Three Towers connected by a fortress wall, which runs along the ridge of Mt. Titano. Visitors are welcome to explore the first two towers. Each tower contained little history museum, an armory, as well as the sweeping views of the surrounding countryside. If you are scared of heights I wouldn’t recommend looking over the side of the fortress walls. It’s a straight drop down. From one side you could see clear to the Adriatic Sea, which is about 45km away! On the other side there were the rolling hills of Umbria and far away to the mountains.

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Each tower was built of stone and wood on the precipice and sheer vertical drop to the valley below. The rocky cliff had but a few trees growing out of the façade. The Towers of San Marino are impenetrable! Both towers were superb feats of engineering.  It was the most impressive fortress I’ve ever visited. We could see the Third Tower further on down the ridge, but it was closed to visitors.

After hiking and climbing the fortress towers we were all very hungry. Camino del Bacco was a nice cafe on the same street as our hotel. Before sitting down to eat, we meandered the streets where we saw Liberty Square and enjoyed the sunset over the mountains. Our meal was delicious and the kids went back to the hotel, allowing Robert and I some time to walk the streets and do a little shopping. Robert and I were greeted on the streets and in the shops with warm smiles and the lyrical Italian greeting of “Buona Sera”. The friendly natives of San Marino are a genuine people.