Buongiorno, amici! (Good day, friends!) Today, I’ll be sharing my adventurous 37.1km journey from the lively city of Rimini, Italy, to the artistic gem, Urbino, Italy.

My little gnome legs carried me through the rolling hills of the Marche region, where the landscape is painted with olive groves and vineyards. But, the one thing that caught my eye, or rather my nose, was the intoxicating scent of the Mediterranean Cypress trees lining the roads. The locals call it “profumo del Mediterraneo” (scent of the Mediterranean). It’s a scent that encapsulates the spirit of Italy – rich, enduring, and full of life.

As I ambled along, a local song kept playing in my head, “Nel blu, dipinto di blu”, also known as “Volare”. The lines “Volare, oh, oh! Cantare, oh, oh, oh, oh! Nel blu, dipinto di blu, felice di stare lassù” (Fly, oh, oh! Sing, oh, oh, oh, oh! In the blue, painted blue, happy to be up there) seem to capture my joy of exploring new places.

Now, after 137 days on the road, having covered a whopping 3934.9 kilometers and visited several cities including Cervia, Pennabilli, Rimini, Urbino, Cesena, I find my grumpy gnome self reflecting on an Italian proverb, “Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano”, which translates to “He who goes softly, goes safely and goes far”. This seems to be the motto of my journey – slow, steady, and savouring every moment.

Arrivederci until the next pit stop. And remember, as the Italians say, “Il bello di viaggiare è che puoi sempre ricominciare” (The beauty of travel is that you can always start again). Ciao!

Ah, Urbino, a gem tucked away in the heart of Italy. First, let me share about the Palazzo Ducale. An architectural marvel, it houses the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, home to an impressive collection of Renaissance art. It’s like stepping into a Botticelli canvas, where each stroke of genius is a whisper of the past. As they say in Italy, “l’arte è il lievito dell’anima“, art is the yeast of the soul.

Secondly, Urbino is the birthplace of Raphael, one of Italy’s revered painters and architects of the High Renaissance. In fact, his house, Casa Santi, is now a museum. To walk the same cobbled streets as this maestro, one can nearly hear the soft hum of a lute, perhaps a melody from Monteverdi, a renowned composer of the time. The spirit of Raphael’s artistry lives in Urbino, a testament to the city’s rich past and enduring charm. As Raphael himself might have said, “La bellezza è nella semplicità“, beauty is in simplicity. Truly, Urbino is a city that breathes “simple beauty” in every nook and cranny.