Where have I been?

Annamaria on Monday

 

I used to have a map on my wall with pins stuck in it for all the places I had visited. When smartphones came along, I quickly found an app that does that for me.  It's called Been. It has two sections one for the United States and one for the World. I claim to have it been in a country only if I stay at least one night. I once changed planes at Dublin airport. That doesn't mean I can say I have been to Ireland.

Starting with the USA, here are all the states that I have been to. The latest addition, just a couple of years ago, was Wisconsin.

 

And here are the countries I have visited.  The app (ahem) aptly lists by continent.

When I look at North America, I've covered a great deal of its territory, Yet, though I have been to quite a few little countries of the Caribbean, there are many I haven't gotten to.  The app says I have seen only 36% of North America. 

 

Just to prove that I do not scorn small countries, I want you to know that I have made it my business to visit the three smallest countries on the continent of Europe. They are:

 

 Andorra

 

On a 1980 visit to Spain, we decided to take a car in Barcelona and drive to Andorra, stay overnight, and then drive back to Barcelona—just so that we could say that we had been there. We expected the drive to be beautiful, and it was. The Pyrenees were splendid, the weather was cool,  and we saw eagles flying overhead. Within in Andorra, we expected to find a remote mountain enclave with historic places to visit and lots of old world charm. 

 

Once we crossed the border, the first place we visited was an ancient stone-built Romanesque church.  Both the building and its setting were magnificent.

When we rolled into town, however, we were stunned! What we found was not at all the charming, old fashioned destination we had imagined. Andorra was free port, where people from surrounding Spain and France, and as far away as Austria and Germany, flocked to shop tax-free goods.  Often by the busload.  Instead of sweet little cafes and restaurants, the work of local artisans, and children playing in historic squares, we found street after street with electronics shops next to jewelry shops next to liquor stores next to more jewelry shops next to more electronics shops next to more electronics shops next to more liquor stores.

We stayed overnight and hightailed it back to Barcelona. Before leaving, we abandoned our usual 100% honest behavior and stole the bathmat from our room in the Andorra Palace Hotel.  We figured that, since there were no sweet little souvenirs that would memorialize our visit, we were entitled—given the trouble we had taken to drive to the place--to have something to remember Andorra by.

 

San Marino

This tiny country, on the other hand, was anything but a disappointment. It is one of the two tiny European countries surrounded by Italy. Being surrounded by Italy, as far as I'm concerned, is always an advantage. One look at the whole of San Marino shows you just exactly how picturesque, how enchanting, how inviting it is. It offers all of the delights of the being in Italy, with the added bonus of being able to check off another country.

Vatican City

The other tiny country in Europe Is surrounded not only by Italy, in general, but by Rome, in particular.  I have actually been there multiple times, loving Rome as I do. Its splendor is so famous that I don't need to explain it to you. But I will say that, to me, it is worth a trip on an airplane just to spend time in the map room of the Vatican Library Museum. If I lived nearby. I would go there every time I felt blue. I never tire of its splendor.

 

And then there is the Bernini Colonnade, Saint Peter's Basilica, the Sistine....