Italy
We have been back from Italy for a few weeks now but I have been too busy to write about the trip. This trip was the most exciting of the European vacations we have had yet.
The first day, we flew into Milan and took a train straight to the coast. Or, to be more specific, a train to the subway to another train to a final, fourth train. Right when our final train pulled into Vernazza someone grabbed my wallet. I didn’t notice until after I was off the train. Luckily, Sherry had duplicates of everything and my passport was safely packed away. It was definitely not a great start to the trip, but we learned a few things, like: Italian police are not very friendly or helpful. Avoid crowded trains on only a few hours of sleep.
We were able the enjoy the Cinque Terre after recovering from the shock of the theft. There was a huge thunderstorm on our first night and landslides closed part of the trail between towns, but we had some enjoyable anchovy-filled dinners.
Afterwards, we took a train to Pisa, where we picked up our rental car. Sherry had to drive since my license gone. I did my best at navigation. We brought the GPS which was a lot of help. Italian drivers were about what I expected: They drive fast and tailgate like it is the law. Strangely, they treat the center line more like a suggestion and are way more comfortable being in front of oncoming traffic then anywhere else I have driven.
On our first day in Tuscany we stopped in Lucca before heading to our B&B up in the mountains outside Bagna di Lucca. Lucca was pretty cute. Lots of boutiques. We wanted to bike around the wall but the rain scared us off. We spent the night in a small village north of Lucca. The B&B was run by a friendly British couple who cooked us a great dinner.
The next day we drove to south to Volterra. We stayed in an agriturismo just outside of town for three nights. It was more of a hotel then a B&B, although you could get eggs and espresso drinks made to order for breakfast every morning. The owner cooked a great rustic Tuscan dinner every night. During the day, we toured various Tuscan hill towns. My favorites were the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino. San Gimignano was, as the travel book described, a tourist trap. Volterra was also great.
We spent our last night in Milan. It was the beginning of fashion week and there were hordes of shoppers everywhere. In fact, the Italians brought in the military to control the hordes. We walked past the biggest D&G store I have ever seen (think it took up the entire block) and then a few blocks later walked past another D&G. We skipped the shopping and instead checked out the huge Domo and loaded up on aperitivo for dinner.
Overall, it was a fun and eventful trip. Checkout all the photos here.