We flew into Milano and stayed our first night with Giuseppe in his apartment. He took us out to see the Duomo and helped sort out our rental car but we didn't have much time to get a real feel for the city.

The Cinque Terre ("Five Lands") are a set of 5 towns built on the cliffs of the Lingurian Riviera. Accomodations were hard to come by and very expensive (due to Rick Steves, no doubt) so we took the advice of a local and stayed in the next town north: Levanto.

On our last day in the Cinque Terre, we took a train out to Genova since we were so close it was a pity to miss out. The old port was over run with touts and most shops were closed because it was a Sunday.

As with most tourists, our entire Pisan experience was in the Piazza dei Miracoli where the Tower is. Unfortunately we didn't have more time to explore the town proper which is supposed to be a lively university town.

Firenze was an incredibly enjoyable place for a city its size. I thought it was an exaggeration that every turn on the street would reveal another masterpiece of art or architecture, but I soon learned how turn that statement is.

Umbria is often in the shadow of Toscana but to me Perugia, its main city, was the highlight of the trip. The energy of the place was palpable and the Perugina factory demanded a pilgrimage.

What's there to say about Toscana that you haven't heard before? The rolling countryside, the hill towns, the food, the wine. It's truly a magical place and the best part of Italy to have fun driving on dangerously windy roads.

Parma was rest stop on our way back to Milano for our flight home. We didn't count on our level of exhaustion though and spent most of the day lounge on a park bench along with gossiping, retired old men and their bicycles.