Month: September 2022

Montepulciano: A Medieval Wine Town in Tuscany

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn italy, Tuscany2 Comments

Montepulciano.

Prior to this trip to Tuscany, I had only ever associated it with the cheaper-end red wine found on the lower shelves in Tesco, one I long overlooked and definitely wasn’t giving the respect it is due.

Montepulciano is a quaint and lovely hilltop town located in southern Tuscany, in the verdant Siena province.

We were visiting the Tuscany and Umbria regions of Italy for five days and had driven down from Ravenna which took just over two hours.

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One Day in San Marino

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn san marinoLeave a comment

San Marino, the 5th smallest country in the world, is located within the geography of northeast Italy, bordering the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche.

San Marino is just 10km away from the popular Italian tourist destination of Rimini. San Marino is not a member of the European Union.

It is officially known as a micro-state and is said to be the oldest republic in the world.

So why is it a country of its own if it is so small (with an area of only 61 km squared) and is surrounded by Italy?

The simple reason is that it wanted to be left alone to live in peace, away from wars and away from the conflicts and politics of other countries, hence it is known as Most Serene Republic of San Marino.

When the Italian states were going through the process of unification in the 19th century, Italy and San Marino signed a Convention of Friendship in 1862.

This remained peaceful until WW1 when Italy suspected San Marino of hiding Austria-Hungarian spies, resulting in Italy cutting off San Marino’s telephone lines.

Their flag is one of the nicest I’ve seen, with white, sky blue and their towers, with the motto in Latin as ‘Libertas’- freedom.

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The ‘Pearls of Slovenia’: Portorož and Piran

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn SloveniaLeave a comment

Portorož and Piran’s nickname, the ‘Pearls of Slovenia’ are not my words but how these coastal towns on the Adriatic coast, near the border of Italy (Trieste) have come to be known, and it is for good reason.

They literally shimmer under the sun owing to their position on the Istrian coast and warm-but-mild climate in a place that is immaculately clean yet rarer to tourists than Mediterranean favourites.

We drove there for four hours from Ravenna in Italy, but if travelling from the UK or another country, you could fly into Trieste and the drive from there is very short, roughly half an hour.

Another way to get there would be to fly into the capital city of Ljubljana and travel by car/coach for 1hr 30. Once you pass the Slovenian border, you see the Adriatic sea along the Istrian peninsula within a few minutes which is a hazy, brilliant blue and stretches out far and wide.

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