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Apparently, one of the casualties of the formation of the EU was the fun of getting your passport stamped. With the open borders, there is little need to track people traveling from one member country to another, so not only are passports not stamped, but seldom requested.
Passport stamps used to be one of the few free souvenirs you could bring home without buying additional luggage. Now, although you can sometimes request a stamp, most of the time it just isn't done. There are a few exceptions, though....
Il Vaticano
Most people know that the Vatican is a City State within the city of Rome, and as such have their own version of the Euro and they will stamp your passport at a kiosk if you ask.
Most people know that the Vatican is a City State within the city of Rome, and as such have their own version of the Euro and they will stamp your passport at a kiosk if you ask.
What a lot of people don't know (me included until I came across it in something I was reading) is that there is another country entirely within the country of Italy. It is called the Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Repubblica di San Marino), and is a 24 square-mile "enclave surrounded by Italy (Wiki)", and has a population of about 30,000.
San Marino is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world, as the continuation of the monastic community founded on 3 September 301, by stonecutter Marinus of Arbe.
San Marino is considered to have a highly stable economy, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus.... Wiki
This tiny country is divided into nine "castelli" (meaning castles) or municipalities; eight minor munincipalities; and 43 hamlets or "curazie". It has its own local euro.
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