Welcome back to my second post.
Whether you’re working, traveling, studying or just preparing to move to Los Angeles, I hope you’ve all been having an amazing summer so far.
As for me, I’ve decided to travel this summer. However, I want to make my travels leading up to matriculation as memorable as possible, so I’ve gone ahead and have set myself several challenges.
For reasons that will become abundantly clear in a minute, I’ve decided to call my 2011 summer travel plans “From Extreme to Extreme.”
My first challenge will be to travel to the world’s oldest sovereign state, San Marino, and to the world’s youngest, South Sudan.
My second challenge will be to travel to the world’s richest sovereign state, Monaco, and to the world’s poorest, Burundi.
My third challenge will be to travel to the world’s smallest sovereign state, The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and to the world’s largest, Russia.
My fourth challenge will be to travel to the world’s least populous sovereign state, Vatican City State, and to the world’s most populous, China.
In between, I will embark on additional adventures wherever and whenever possible. I intend to update you, the reader of my blog, at regular intervals with stories and photos of my travels, too.
Starting with a month-long trip to South America that I embarked upon in April, I estimate that I will have visited 29 countries spanning 5 continents over a period of 6 months by the time I meet all my future Class of 2013 classmates in early-September.
The list of countries I will travel -- or have recently traveled -- to include all of the following (underlined indicates that I’ve already traveled to this country since the beginning of April):
South America: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
North America: Canada and the United States.
Africa: Burundi, South Sudan and Uganda.
Asia: China.
Europe: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Sweden, Switzerland and the Vatican City State.
Wish me luck !!!
And, more importantly, I hope you enjoy my travel updates !!!
In this post, I will include a write-up and photos of:
1) the world’s oldest sovereign state, San Marino; and,
2) my adventures crossing two of the two highest asphalted roads in Europe.
Greetings from San Marino: A most serene place.
What can I say, except to stress that San Marino was an absolute gem, a completely unexpected delight in a landscape already full of delights.
And, to give it its full and proper name, The Most Serene Republic of San Marino, a name that itself is absolutely delightful, too.
If the Roman Empire had survived into the modern age, then a town in it would probably most likely have looked like San Marino.
San Marino was founded in 301 AD by the mysterious figure of Saint Marinus, a stonecutter from Dalmatia (roughly modern-day Croatia). Saint Marinus was fleeing religious persecution from Diocletian, the 51st emperor of the Roman Empire.
And, somehow, someway, this Lilliputian country has, miraculously, survived intact for over 1,700 years. In fact, San Marino is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world.
View of Cesta, San Marino’s second tower, as seen from Guaita, its first tower. (All photos of San Marino taken on Friday, July 15.)
View of Guaita from Cesta.
The Basilica del Santo Chiesetta di San Petro in Piazza Domus Plebis.
The view inside Guaita.
View of the Public Palace from below.
View of the Public Palace from within the Piazza della Libertà.
Spectacular views of the Italian countryside from San Marino. The Adriatic Sea lies beyond.
Your intrepid travel correspondent on San Marino’s ancient city walls.
More information on San Marino for those who are interested: Download Little Europe_ San Marino
Greetings from the two highest asphalted roads in Europe
In my recent travels across Europe, I drove across Stelvio Pass and Cime de la Bonette, two of the highest asphalted roads in Europe.
Staring up the Alps.
Amazing panoramas of the Italian and Swiss Alps at 6:30am.
I don't need reminding of either !!!
I took the 'unconventional' route and climbed up the glacier.
Others were more conventional and rode the cable car up instead.
I drove the Stelvio Pass at 6am in the morning, when the sun was just rising over the Alps, the roads were empty, and the crowds were missing.
You can ski all year round this high up in the Alps. "Forget building sandcastles, let's build snowmen !!!"
The road in all its sinuous and hairpinned glory.
Writer: Graham Cloke.
