Italians Know How to Live

Last month I spent the best 5 days exploring Tuscany, and the final conclusion I made is that the Italians sure know how to live!

Our trip started in Pisa which is such an easy airport to fly into and usually some awesome deals.  The train takes you one stop into Pisa Centrale and the city is at your disposal then.  The Leaning Tower and cathedral is about a 20 minute walk on the other side of the city, but it's the best way to explore the non-tourist sections.  Pisa is a great place to explore from and we used it as our hub to tour around Tuscany.

Just an hour train ride away are the 5 cliff towns of Cinque Terre.  We started in Riomaggiore and walked La Via Dell' Amore to the next town of Manarola.  The views over the cliffs were so beautiful, that it was quite clear why it is deemed Lovers Walk.

Each town is just a short distance between them where you can walk, jump on a ferry or hop on and off the train.  All the bouncing around does get your appetite going, and there are plenty of cafe's and restaurants to try, but instead of a sit down mean, we opted for a picnic.  Pop into one of the fresh veggie stands and pick up vine tomatoes. Then over to the deli for proscutto, fresh buffalo mozzarella and bread.  For under 10 euros and it couldn't have been more delicious!

Back to Pisa for a restful night, but then off the next morning for a few days in Florence.  Florence is in my top 5 cities that I have travelled to thus far.  The whole city is full of culture; art and music all around you ever corner that you turn.  Between the shopping and site seeing, there are amazing restaurants throughout the city, but the best are down the hidden streets and pop out into the smaller piazza's.  I found out on day one not to order a Neopolitan pizza, because in Italy it comes standard with anchovies.  Aside from that little mishap, we rebounded strongly with a lovely fresh gnocci and PLAIN pizza that evening.

There are certain memories that Italian food triggers for me, my first job in a Pizzeria, Christmas Eve dinners at Carmine's in NYC after seeing the tree and my first trip there with my high school at 15 where I first fell in love. Between the fantastic meals, romantic scenery and bottles of wine, you can't help but to fall in love with Italy over and over again.

PISA

CINQUE TERRE

CHIANTI - WINE TOUR

FLORENCE