La Dolce Vita: Our Favorite Things About Italy

Pisa, leaning tower of pisa, things to do in itals, favorite things about italy

After having a fantastic time in Paris, we hopped onto another plane and found ourselves in Pisa. Here we took some fantastically cliché photos with the Leaning Tower (of course!) and then hitched a ride on a train which took us into the unique region of Cinque Terre, “5 Lands.” Of these five lands, we stayed in Riomaggiore for 2 nights before heading off to Tuscany to stay with some dear friends and enjoy some site seeing in Florence.

With all of that being said, here are our Top 5 favorite Italian-made memories:

1. Hiking to all “5 Lands” of Cinque Terre in 1 day

hiking cinque terre, corniglia, hiking in italy, mr and mrs adventure, best things in italy, things to do in italy

Now, you know how Drew and I love our outdoor adventures, well this one made the top of our charts. Check out our post that details this unforgettable 10-hour hike, sweeping views included, here 🙂

2. Riding a Vespa up and down Chianti

vespa italy, things to do in florence, things to do in italy, italy motorcycle rental, italy vespa tour, chianti tour, vespa tour chianti

We got our 24-hour rental in Florence at Italy Motorcycle Rental located on Via il Prato. We bought their Chianti Tour map and were certainly glad we did, Italian street signs are not made for foreigners to follow!

3. Seeing Michelangelo’s Statue of David

staute of david, things to do in florence, statue of david rear, david and goliath, michelangelo art, michelangelo statues

Now this was a site to see! Drew and I were a bit "museamed out" by the time we got to Florence, (Piti Palace was meh) but going to see Michelangelo's famous Statue of David, named the most famous statue in the world, was just what we needed to put the "pep" back in our step. We waited in line for 1.5 hours, but being that we were there before noon, we were saved from completely melting in the midday sun (make note).

4. Duomo di Siena

duomo in italy, sienna duomo, best cathedral italy, best duomo italy

We saw quite a few duomos while in Italy, but the one in Siena truly captured our attention. With its ornate exterior and vibrant, detailed interior, we spent hours studying its beauty.

5. Gelato everywhere!

Literally, everywhere, every day and in every flavor. Mango, stracciatella, strawberry, melon, watermellon, pistachio, almond, dark chocolate, soy, coconut, pineapple, yogurt, cherry, cookie, Nutella, and some days we had gelato... twice! They don't call it "la dolce vita" for nothing ;)

gelato, italy gelato, flavors of gelato, things to do in italy, places to eat in italy

With Rome, Venice, Sicily, Positano, Pompeii (the list goes on!) still yet to be explored, we could have spent the rest of our trip here - but with Germany on the horizon (post here), off we went to our next destination!

Until next time, gratzie Italy!

And if you are in search of the best guide book to help you find your way around this delicious country, we hands down recommend the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Italy book.

dk eyewitness travel guide, italy, book on italy, italian guide, italy map, best italy book, best guide books, best italy guide book, mr and mrs adventure

We had so much fun following the custom walking maps and searching for the real life versions of the sites and monuments featured in the colorful photographs. It also made it easy for us to find the best kept secrets (and wines!) and not get lost doing so. We've tried out many different guide books and the DK guides are always the most complete and fun to use - we know you will think so too :)