July 20, 2016 - July 22, 2016

Arriving midday from Florence, we found parking and headed in to Rio Maggiore via train. Upon arrival in the first of the five towns of Cinque Terre, we discovered the coastal path was closed due to a collapse of the trail during a previous rain storm. Instead, we found a trail that went up and over the hill to the next town. There were lots of stairs and it was hot and humid ... let's just say we were pretty happy when we got to Manarola and had an amazing meat and cheese spread and plenty of wine. 

July 18, 2016 - July 20, 2016

We got in much later than we expected and still had about an hour and a half drive ahead of us. Allie's friend was letting us stay in her home up in the hills of the Tuscany region. Lucky for us, she had a helper, Guido, meet us to guide us to the house, which was up a lengthy narrow dirt road, which we would have never found on our own. 

July 13, 2016 - July 14, 2016 

We arrived in Verona mid-afternoon and journeyed up a winding hill at the edge of town to a small campground that claimed to be the best in the city. After paying for a spot in their lower section we tried to drive the van up an extremely narrow and tight turn. After coming close to getting the van aligned to make the turn, I ventured up to the campground to check out the site. Let's just say the campsite we paid for was basically a parking lot. More like it WAS a parking lot and there was no way the van was going to fit. Instead, we took a tent spot and Allie and Jason parked overnight on the street. Way easier and way cheaper!

July 11, 2016 - July 13, 2016 

Driving into the Dolomites region was just insane. There's really no other way to describe it. Small mountain towns at the bases of incredibly massive mountains. Small chalet style buildings set amongst grassy hills with huge monoliths rising into the clouds.