CINQUE TERRE // DAY TRIP FROM FLORENCE

We took a day trip from Florence to Cinque Terre, five villages along the coast of the Italian Riviera. When I researched day trips we could take, I saw photos of these places, and I knew we had to go and at the same time couldn't believe there was a possibility of being there in real life. So we signed up to take a tour there and did it. We drove to the coast on a huge tour bus, which was nice and comfortable until we started driving up the tiny, winding roads that go up the mountains - right along the tiny metal guardrails that would definitely not stop a bus from rolling down the side of a mountain.

But we made it! We started at La Spezia, then took trains to four of the five villages. It was all truly incredible. We walked up hundreds of tiny steps to look out to the sea, we sat on the beach, we wandered through the little towns crowded with colorful houses. We ate focaccia and gelato for lunch. One of my favorite parts was all the amazing plants, like that massive jade plant! They were all over. I also really appreciated this dog. He was walking around like he owned the place and then sat down to smell the coastal air. He is for real living the life.

Another favorite part of the day was the bus ride - we drove along the same motorway for most of the trip and saw several different towns. My favorite was Pistoia, a town that grows all sorts of trees - you could see the farms, with more kinds of trees than I can name growing in rows in endless fields. We also passed Carrara, the city with the famous marble quarry- Michelangelo used Carrara marble to carve David and other statues. It's definitely not like I knew of these towns before we drove by them. It was also a day of learning things I might not have ever known otherwise. And that's always a good thing.