Italia....

Italy is as amazing as I remembered - the food, the wine, the people...we are having an absolute blast and still have two more weeks to take in this gorgeous country! We kicked off the trip in Milan which isn't too exciting, but from there went up to Lake Como for a day which is incredible. It was of course raining, but we still got to enjoy a boat ride down the lake taking in all of the adorable towns and incredible villas. From there it was off to Venice for a night...it is definitely a unique place and very beautiful. We enjoyed $17 belinins (obscene - i thought he had charged us for 11 instead of 2?!...always check the price!) and many rides on the bus boats. We eventually decided to go on the Venice bar crawl recommended by our tour book and met up with a super nice couple from North Carolina that was doing the same thing so we all crawled together and had a blast! Needless to say, I was very happy that all we had to do the next day was sit on a train to Cinque Terre. After a couple trains and naps, we arrived in Monterosso...I don't think I can even do justice to this place...I think it moved up to my favorite place on earth...just amazing. The first night we had an incredible dinner and wine and caught some of the soccer games. The Euro is going on right now, so the whole continent is crazy over their teams...it is so much fun. The next day we did the hike from Monterosso to Riamaggorie (sp?)...or attempted to. The first part was amazing - the weather was great and the view over those ridges coming into to the towns is one of the most incredible things I've ever seen (and the hike is not easy!!). On the second to last leg from Corniglia to Manarola we got caught in a downpour...and I mean downpour!! I have never seen rain like that...so we ended up cutting off the hike there and taking the train back to our town to dry off. Thankfully the weather cleared the rest of the time we were there and we were able to relax and lay on the beach and swim in the clear blue water. We made lots of friends in the town as there aren't too many people there and became regulars at the local bar along with our new friends from Australia...it was a blast - we were sad to leave, but I knew that our next stop was Florence - my other favorite place in the world! Got here yesterday and of course it rained...for those who might remember, when Jenny and I were here for her 30th it rained the entire time...ugh. But I can't complain - this is such a great city. We actually ran into one of our friends from Australia on the street, so the three of us decided to avoid the rain by watching some soccer and having lots of wine and cheese. Then I took them to Il Latini - one of my favorites from last time I was here. I was hoping it would live up to the hype since I was talking it up so much, and it did....we ended up closing it down and drinking limoncello with the waiters and all of the staff and then went to another local bar with one of the waiters for one more drink...so much fun! We are a little slow today, but managed to get up early and hit the Piazza Michelangelo for the views and then of course eat a pizza and some gelato! The sun is actually out, so I'm off to enjoy my first Florence sun. Next up San Gimingano for wine tasting and then onto Sorrento and Rome. Miss you all - will try to send more updates from here and lots of pics to come when we get back to Estoril! xo