Italy

I'm currently getting SUPER excited for the hubs and my trip to Italy. Ok, I was probably SUPER excited yesterday and last week and when we booked the tickets several months ago. BUT every day we are a little closer and every day I am a little more SUPER excited about. That's a lot of SUPER.

We fly in and out of Milan (by way of Amsterdam). When we arrive we'll jump right on a train and head to the Cinque Terre on Italian coast. This will be my third visit (once in college and once with my Mom a few years back) but the first for Pete (actually Pete's first visit to Italy period). We'll be spending 4 blissful days doing nothing but sitting in the sun, eating and most likely some hikes between the five villages. A few pictures from my last trip:



Vernazza!



Via della amore



Mamma and me in Vernazza


After the Cinque Terre will take the train to Firenze (Florence) where we'll be for three days. We're staying at Il Bargello B&B. Firenze is very close to my heart after spending 4 months there during college for my study abroad program. I'm excited to show this lovely city to Pete! We may take in a wine tour while we're there from the folks at Tuscan Trails. We're trying to minimize any major touristy things on this trip but a trip to Firenze is really not complete without seeing the David and visting the Uffizi so we'll probably have to squeeze those in between all the gelato and wine!

Me with the Ponte Vecchio in the background



A clever sign I found in Florence

After Firenze, we have two to-be scheduled days. We're thinking maybe Parma or Bologna which are supposed to be super foodie cities. We may take the train down to Rome for the day (St. Peters is one of those not to be missed items in my book!). Who knows where the train may take us!

Our trip ends in Lago Como in the lovely city of Varenna. We'll be staying at Villa Toretta. This is another somewhat less touristy area where we plan to do as little as possible and eat as much as possible! We're staying 4 days here as well so we may take a day trip up into Switzerland if the mood moves us.

View of Lago Como

So overall we're aiming for a relaxing 15 or so days! You can imagine why we're so excited!!