Remote as it may seem, Urbino should prove to be a good overnight stop, due to its HOTEL ITALIA. It is located on a crowded, arcaded street, and doesn't offer much from the outside. But it merits closer attention, for here is one of the diminishing number of hotels where the landlord considers himself a host in the old tradition. He is genuinely solicitous about the welfare of his guests. We've rarely seen such cheerful service-maids, waiters, bus boy, garage man -all doing their best to make us happy. Our dinner was genuinely good, served with a clean, appetizing wine from the surrounding hills. This is a simple hotel. mind you, and there are no frills. Many guests have reacted to its charm and hospitality just as we have. The guest book. which runs into several volumes, is filled with the names of statesmen and ambassadors, and of there ambulant citizens, our own included, who have gone out of their way to visit Urbino and have been struck by the friendliness of the Italia.
SAN MARINO
The loftiest, craggiest hill town of them all is in the center of the diminutive republic of San Marino, just north of the Marches. This remarkable little community has maintained its sovereignty for over fourteen centuries, and its history is replete with attempts to conquer it. We recommend it unreservedly for motorists with mountaineering instincts. Every peak of San Marino is crowned by a crenelated fortress, and when you get to the topmost one you arc more than 2000 feet above the plains of Rimini and can glimpse the Dalmatian coast on a clear day. You can also have luncheon nearby on a comparably breath-taking eminence.
San Marino suffered cruelly during the war from Allied air raids, and attempted to escape from the resultant economic straits by establishing a high-stake gambling casino, just as Monte Carlo had done. The venture proved a sad Hop, and the tiny country is now largely dependent for its revenues upon the sale of postage stamps to the philatelic work), and the patronage of tourists. The latter will find comfortable accommodations in the long established TITANO, EXCELSIOR and BELLEVUE hotels, and quite luxurious ones in the newly completed HOTEL DIAMOND. Sad to relate, we don't know of any gastronomic specialty in San Marino, unless perhaps it's mountain goat.
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