The day we have been waiting for has finally arrived! The day of departure for our Capstone destination: Rimini and San Marino.
For those who do not know, SYA Italy (and other campuses as well) helps students design their own end-of-the-year projects. In groups, we got to choose our Italian town to explore, and we cheated the system a little bit by selecting a different country, which is San Marino! Our project will revolve around this idea of Sammarinese nationalism in the past and the present and the interactions between San Marino and its neighboring town Rimini (which was a center hub of Italian culture throughout history).
So this morning, we headed off to our first city, Rimini. Once we arrived around noon, we headed straight to our Airbnb, which was very easy to identify. Why? There was only one building in the entire city of Rimini that was 30-stories high, and our Airbnb was on the topmost floor!! This came in handy throughout the day, when we got lost in the city - we could easily find our Airbnb building and navigate ourselves back home.
Here is a view of Rimini from our balcony!!
After settling down, we went to our first academic interest point, which is Tempio Malatestiano. The Malatesta family was the ruling family of Rimini and its surrounding region during the Renaissance. To construct this temple, the family actually commissioned Leon Battista Alberti, who is famous for designing the facade of the well-known Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
Inside we found many artworks and interesting architectural features, but the one that stood out the most was this column shown below. It is supported by two elephants, and the Malatesta family's portrait is engraved in the column. Like many Italian families at the time, the Malatesta had a representative animal, which happened to be elephants. Including features of their family's power in a holy setting like this temple is quite pompous, don't you think?
We tried going to a castle afterwards, but because of reconstruction works, it was closed. So we headed to an American cafe nearby, and it was so fantastic! "American-ness" could be found everywhere, from the menu to the American flags everywhere (aprons, posters, napkins...). We ordered many milkshakes and desserts and promised to come back here again tomorrow before we head off to San Marino!
Afterwards, we went to Ponte di Tiberio, which was built primarily under Augustus's rule during the Roman Empire. I was surprised that this ancient bridge is still used for pedestrians and cars - how crazy is that? It definitely shows Augustus's attempt to show off his power here across the entire peninsula in Rimini, 5 hours away from Rome by car. Once we crossed the bridge, there was this really cool-looking mural, so we took a lot of photos there as well!
What a fruitful day it was! But considering that we have to leave Rimini early tomorrow to go to San Marino, I don't think we will have time to revitalize. Hopefully, I get to rest more tomorrow!
