The Food

The food is what you'd expect from a country that started the slow food movement. They are as connected to their food as they are to their family and take great pride in serving the freshest possible. To them, eating is an experience of life rather than something you do out of sheer necessity. If you are not accustomed to meals that are the "to-do" for the evening, take a deep breath, settle into your chair, and prepare yourself for the tantalizing delights that await you.

If you crave inspiration for your culinary journey, here's a great article on the "must haves" from the country. Click here to read more.

Just as the savory cuisines get their proper compliments, we must not forget the desserts. Gelato, for instance is a daily go-to while you're in Italy. It has the ability to raise any weary traveler's spirits to soaring heights! And, we won't judge you if you make it a multiple times a day treat. We do have a trick to figuring out an amazing gelato shop amongst the numerous ones. Look at the banana and pistachio flavors. If they are bright yellow and neon green walk away. These are unnatuaral colors to these foods and thus set the presendence on how all their gelato was made. For mind blowing gelato look for tannish banana and yellowish/greenish pistachio. Also, while in Cinque Terre please go to the bakery that's owned by two brothers in Vernazza and have the "Rick Steves". May we all be so lucky to one day have a dessert in Cinque Terre named after us!

One of our favorite days in Italy revolved around a cooking class we took. If you love Italian food we highly recommend treating yourself to learning the joys of slow cooking from handed down family recipes. We found this spot in Monterosso called il Ciliegio which offers classes Mon - Fri 10 am - 1 pm. The class comes with a complimentary shuttle service from the city center of Monterosso to their restaurant, which sits in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean.

And just think you will go home being able to treat yourself to Ligurian style Italian anytime of the year. If time does not allow for a cooking class while in Cinque Terre we encourage you to look into one wherever you roam in Italy. It will be truly unforgettable.

The People

The people are warm, friendly and welcoming. If they speak English, they'll happily engage in small talk about the weather and your travels. And, if they don't then they will do what they can in order to come to a gesture based understanding.

One thing you may also notice along your travels is the frequent usage of "Ciao"(pronounced /CHou/) as it is used for both a greeting and farewell. And, because Italians are so polite they often will want to have the last "Ciao" as a farewell to wish you well along your journey.

Now, there may come a time where you find yourself in a "Ciao-off" that closely resembles a verbal championship Ping-Pong match of exchanging Ciaos. If you find yourself in this predicament, as we once did, take Lindsay's lead and load your "Ciao-Tommy Gun" and let the Ciaos fly! It’s fun!

To help you connect to the people and navigate your travels we've included a couple of phrase books we found helpful in the Recommended Reading section. Or, if you'd like to take a free online class here's the one I'm taking: Italian for Beginners.

The Beauty

The beauty of Italy can be found in its people, food, architecture and natural landscapes. Since we've already covered the people and food, it's time to talk about the landscapes and architecture. There are few places in the world where practically every turn causes you to draw a breath of awe, and Italy is definitely one of those places.

We hope that you will spend time outside of the wedding celebration to explore the beauty of the Cinque Terre villages and landscapes via trail, train, or boat. And, if time allots, travel elsewhere in Italy to see more of its treasures.

In order to get the gears going, here's an article on 10 beautiful places in Italy. Make sure you go to the bottom and check out the other 10!