Venice/Cinque Terre/Tuscany

Venice/Cinque Terre/Tuscany July 2, 2010

After my program ended, my mom and I embarked on our trip across Italy. We started out in Rome and then headed northward!

Venice: A beautiful island known by its spectacular Venetian architecture. The entire city is car-free and connected by a network of waterways and bridges. We stayed at a charming hotel in the center of the city. We hit all the major sites, including St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge’s Palace. We even had time to jet over to Murano Island to watch the world-famous glass blowers and pick up some souvenir pieces. This was definitely the best dining of our trip; we had fresh seafood every night!

Cinque Terre: A series of five picturesque beach towns on Italy’s west coast. It’s very laid-back and un-touristy. A cliffside trail connects all five within a half-day hike. We hiked the first four towns and enjoyed the beach in the afternoon. Once again, we spent the evenings out, enjoying some amazing seafood!

Montepulciano (in Tuscany): Tiny medieval town with some spectacular views of the Tuscan countryside. We visited the town’s famous wine cellars and sipped Chianti as we strode among the wine barrels. We visited the little shops. Our dinner was on a balcony with a gorgeous view of Tuscany. Also, it turned out that Montepulciano is where they filmed the second Twilight movie, New Moon. And upon checkout, we found out that we not only stayed at the same bed & breakfast as the Twilight cast, but we stayed in the same room as Robert Pattinson.

We spent our last night in Rome before we flew back home. This marked the end of my seven weeks in Italy!