My classes are slowing down and we’re preparing for our final exams next week. I’ve started sorting through things I won’t be bringing home with me and I’ve been very surprised to learn that I have accumulated many things over the past three months. School papers and train and museum tickets make up a small pile in one of my drawers. I have to sort through all this stuff and decide what to bring home and what to leave here in Ascoli. That, along with studying, will fill up most of my last weekend in Italy.
Friday, Phil and I walked about an hour from our house to Oasi, the mall in Ascoli Piceno. We’d both never been there and it was something different to do for the day. The mall was very modern inside and I felt as if I walked through a door to an American mall. Going to the mall was an escape from Italy. It really felt that way, like suddenly I was in the Mall of New Hampshire walking around. This mall, however, has a huge grocery store in it that sells food, clothes, home goods and other things; the Italian Super Walmart, I guess.
On Friday, I had actually planned to visit San Marino for the day, but woke up too late to be able to make an early train. I was also tired and didn’t feel like traveling for the day. So, I postponed my trip to San Marino until Saturday.
Friday night, six of us took an afternoon train from Ascoli Piceno to San Benedetto. San Benedetto is a resort town along the eastern coast of Italy that the Italians frequent during the summer months. It’s about a forty-five minute train ride and a fifteen minute walk from the train station to the center of town.
We planned to walk around the town and sit on the beach for a while. We went to EuroSpin, a grocery store near the train station, and bought a couple bottles of wine, cookies and chips.
When we got there, we walked about fifteen minutes to the beach. We sat for a couple hours listening to music, drinking wine and eating. We went in the water up to our ankles. It was very cold, but certainly not as cold as if I had gone in the water in Hampton Beach in November. It was a very relaxing night. Sam brought a blanket from her apartment and we all talked for a while. We reminisced about our time here and we all couldn’t believe how fast the time has gone by and that our time in Ascoli is nearly over.
After the beach, we walked around the shops of SBT, and made our way back to the train station, the ankles our jeans wet from the water.
When we got back to Ascoli, we went for Chinese food at the restaurant near our school. Surprisingly, I was not disappointed. On that particular night, they were having a buffet, and although it was small spread, it consisted of descent food. Still not as good as the American version, but an effort was made.
Saturday, I had planned to get on the 6:08 am train to San Marino, but I woke up around 9. I had set my phone to wake me up at 5, but when it rang, I was too tired to get up and went back to sleep.
When I got up, I decided that I had to go somewhere on Saturday. The Eurail pass I had bought before I came here had one day of travel left on it and it was going to expire on the 24th of November, during the school week. So, I got dressed, flipped through a few Italian travel books and headed towards the train station.
I got on a train that was going to Turin and would pass Fano and Rimini. In one of the travel books I read before heading out, I read that Fano has a nice historical center and from Rimini I could take the bus to San Marino if I still wanted to go there. I would decide on my way there.
I found the train, hopped on, put on my Ipod and tried to make up my mind about Fano or San Marino.
When we got to Fano, I had decided to go to San Marino. I had been planning on it, and it wasn’t too much further on the train. About 45 minutes later, I arrived in Rimini, found where the bus station was, asked a guy where I could buy the ticket for the Rimini to San Marino bus and when the next one would come. He told me the bus would leave at 2:30, and that I could buy a ticket on the bus.
Since I got to Rimini at about 1:20 and the next bus to San Marino would leave at 2:30, I had an hour to walk around the town. Of what I saw of Rimini, I wasn’t too impressed. It was an average town, but they did have Christmas decorations hanging from the buildings, so it looked really nice. All the stores where closed for midday break though, so I just walked around, drank an espresso at a café and headed back to the bus stop.
I bought a ticket to San Marino from a woman who arrived at the bus station and was selling them from her pocketbook. I had to ask myself if it was legit for a minute, but everyone else was buying their tickets from her, so I did too.
The bus took about 20 minutes to get to the Republic of San Marino and then another 25 minutes to wind up a mountain to the capital of the small country, San Marino. I got to the city around 3:20.
Once I got off, I checked the sign at the bus stop to find out when I could get on the bus back to Rimini: either at 5 or at 7. I planned to take the five o’clock; it would give me an hour and a half to explore. As it turns out, that was the perfect amount of time to go for as there wasn’t too much to see.
Most of San Marino is covered with little shops and cafes. To get to them, I had to walk up steep hills and side streets. I just kept going up, far up the mountain to other little shops and cafes and to the views of the castles in the distance.
Remember when I told you about my fear of heights when I climbed the tower in Bologna? Well, that same fear came rushing back to me when I was in San Marino.
The capital is on a very big mountain that overlooks many other big mountains. Those other mountains in the distance serve to remind a person how far up they are. Also, it was windy and cold.
At many points during my trip I thought I would fall off one of the ledges. In general though, I try my hardest not to go near ledges whenever they are present. Most of the pictures I took of the surrounding mountains were taken from about five to ten feet away from any ledges.
This doesn’t apply, however, to the castle I went in while in San Marino. It wasn’t so much a castle as it was a watchtower that you could walk around. The watchtower was situated on the highest point of the mountain. It wasn’t a good idea for me. My body was shaking the whole time I was there, and I had to hold the bridge of my glasses to my face or I would have lost them due to the cold wind blowing in my face.
Anyone who is afraid of heights shouldn’t go to San Marino. I shouldn’t have gone to San Marino. The more times that I face my fear of heights really only makes me more afraid of them. I thought it would do the opposite and the fear would dwindle. I was wrong.
Still, San Marino was beautiful. It was a nice daytrip and it’s good to get away from Ascoli for a day. Ascoli is beautiful, but to appreciate the quaintness of it, it’s necessary to leave for a little while.
I got on the bus back to Rimini at five. I went to the train station and had to wait 45 minutes for a train to bring me back to SBT. I took that train, listened to some music and fell asleep. I arrived in SBT about three hours later and a bus to Ascoli was waiting right outside the station and would leave in ten minutes. I ran to the automated machine, put in the 2.50 euro for a ticket, and headed back to Ascoli Piceno.
Today, with nothing to do on Sunday, I walked back to the mall with Sam. Everything is closed on Sundays except for the mall. I just found out the other day that the mall is opened on Sundays and also doesn’t close for midday break. Oh, well, better late than never.
Sam and I walked the 45 minutes there in the cold, walked around the mall, stopped at a couple places for coffee and pizza and then headed back. I think I’m done with my Ascoli mall experiences. It was good to escape the “Italianess” that I’ve been surrounded by for three months and have a taste of America.
The cold has settled over Ascoli these past few days and just when I thought the hat and gloves I brought with me from home would go unused during my stay in Italy. Certainly, the weather is not as cold as it must be back in New Hampshire, but it’s cold enough to be wearing hats, gloves and heavy coats. It’s a good warm up for me to get used to the cold back home.
Alex
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