Note: It’s hard to write a piece retrospectively, especially as these events took place eight months ago. Little did I know that when I left China for England and Italy that I would be unable to return for three quarters of a year. I find myself now in a hotel room in Guangzhou, China serving my two-week quarantine reminiscing about a time when Coronavirus hadn’t gripped Italy (and the rest of the world) and caused major destruction to lives and economies globally.
My goodness, it's been a whirlwind of a trip so far. I'm a little over 3 days in Italy and I've seen 3 cities and 3 games. However, on the Friday there was no game scheduled, could you imagine my horror? So, what to do with my free day? I decided to head to San Marino.
I knew absolutely nothing about this country. The only times it's come into my existence is when England have had to play ridiculous international qualifying games against them. We've played them 6 times down the years winning every game, scoring 37 goals and conceding 1. That one goal conceded became infamous. England had to beat San Marino by 7 goals in a qualifier for the 1994 World Cup in the USA. England conceded after 8.33 seconds (a World Cup record to this day) and went on to win 7-1. The scoreline wasn’t enough and England imploded all because of some electronics salesman from the micronation.
When am I ever going to be in the area again? I still knew nothing about the culture or history of the country so it was time to investigate. I may have only been three-years-old when that game took place, but I drove the 200km journey full of resentment.
I left Parma and stopped off in Remini along the way. It seemed like a perfect spot for a cup of coffee, but to be honest it looked nicer on Google Images. I parked up the car, paid €1.20 parking fee and walked around the town and to the beach. The day before I had done the same but still managed to get a parking ticket. As the time on the ticket was running down, I realised that I wouldn't be able to make it back in time as my leg hindered my speed. I was hobbling as fast as I could, but time was running out. I had to get in a taxi and pay €7 to get back to the car in time. Bloody expensive considering the beach was a bit shit.
I parked up the car and looked at the hill I had to climb to get to the castle. My leg had been playing up that day, so I threw back a few painkillers and off I went. The pills really worked as I felt I could run up the hill. It was the first time I was walking about without any pain. I still had a feeling though I was doing damage that I would regret later that day, just because I couldn't feel it then doesn't mean I wouldn't feel it later.
San Marino was country number 40 for me, only 155 to go. To be fair I have no intention of going to them all. My lifetime ambition is 100, but there are large parts of the world that I'm not that bothered about visiting.
So after visiting, I've got some facts for you. The country was founded in 301 AD by Marinus the Dalmatian. He was a Christian stonemason who was fleeing the persecution of Christians by Roman Emperor Diocletian. Not even dogs were safe from crucifixion.
Have you ever wondered what their national anthem is? Britain has 'God Save the Queen, San Marino has 'Inno Nazionale della Repubblica,' which translates as The National Anthem of San Marino. Very creative.
