Italy 2019

Cinque Terre

We first learned about the Cinque Terre (which means "5 Lands" in English) from a newspaper article many years before and always knew it was someplace we wanted to visit. It is made up of 5 small villages along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea that are all connected by walking paths.

We stayed in Riomaggiore - the southernmost village. To experience all of the villages we took a local train to the northernmost village of Monterosso al Mare and hiked from there through Vernazza and on to Corniglia. One of the highlights of our hike were the orange slushies we were served from a trailside vendor - the perfect way to cool down in the hot Italian sun! The trail was closed between Corniglia and the next village of Manarola so we headed back by train to Riomaggiore and enjoyed an afternoon swim. We took the train to Manarola the next day and explored another picturesque town.

Monterosso al Mare was a larger village where we enjoyed an afternoon on the beach, dinner and a quick visit to oratory of the Confraternita dei Neri Mortis et Orationis. After we returned and looked up the Oratory of the Dead church, we realized we might have been cursed because we didn't leave a donation!

Tuscany

In Florence, we rented a car and drove to Montepulciano where we stayed in an apartment that had once been a monastery. Staying right outside the city of Montepulciano, we walked into town for dinner almost every night. It was a fun little town to explore! From the tour at La Citta Sotterranea with ancient tunnels and torture devices and amazing wine samples at the end, to the top of the bell tower and the most amazing panna cotta we still talk about, Montepulciano was one of our first destinations where we learned to travel and enjoy without plans.

While in Tuscany we took the opportunity to visit one of the many vineyards - Ciacci Piccolomini D'Aragona for a great time touring and tasting their many wines. We still love finding Ciacci wine in our local stores, while we are waiting for our bottles of Brunello to age!

Our host arranged for a cooking class at an estate nearby, and we enjoyed making our own meal, including pasta and of course, drinking wine.

Driving through the amazing Val d'Orcia we explored the towns of Siena, Montelcino and San Gimignano. From the cathedrals to the world famous gelato, these small towns are so much fun to explore!

Rome

Although we initially flew into Italy through Rome we decided to spend our time there at the end of our trip. We stayed at an AirBnB that was perfectly situated near the Pantheon so we could easily walk throughout the city to see its many, many sites.

While there we booked a tour guide for both the Colosseum and the Vatican - not a typical move for us but definitely worth it to learn the deep history of these places. Walking through the Colosseum with our archeologist tour guide, it was easy to envision how it had looked when it was in use nearly 2000 years ago. Our tour of the Vatican and Vatican Museum was led by a PhD student in Art History who gave us an awesome and in-depth understanding of its history. We also booked the Vatican Scavi tour though the Catholic Church and it was amazing to see the underground streets and the tomb of St. Peter.

Walking through Rome it is fun to stumble upon so many historical sites like the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. We can’t wait to explore Rome again!

Pisa & Florence

Did you know the train stations in Italy have luggage storage?

Since our route from Cinque Terre to Florence required a train change in Pisa, we hopped off the train, stored our luggage at the train station and walked to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, walked the steps to the top, explored the grounds, ate lunch and then headed back to the train station and on to Florence.

We rented a car in Florence and spent a few days in Tuscany. After we returned the rental car, we stored our luggage at the train station in Florence and set off to explore Florence for just a few hours. We did a quick pass through some of the museums and leather market and headed back to catch our train to Rome. This allowed us a quick taste of Florence, so we know we will be going back someday!

This strategy makes for some long days but we don't miss the opportunity to see a city as we pass through!