I’ve got so much to tell you about this trip I don’t know where to start.

Italy was amazing and thanks to my brother, who clearly inherited the Australian-long-distance-driving gene and a love of the way Italians drive, we saw so much of it.

The only other place that I’d had this much anticipation for was Japan, and just like Japan I wasn’t disappointed!

It was definitely a highlights tour – on our second last day we were in Venice for breakfast, Milan for lunch and Monte Carlo for dinner. We took turns in choosing where to go to next and would Google the ‘must-do’s’ on our way there. Cinque Terre was the place that I couldn’t miss, after a short train ride from La Spezia I had my feet in the Mediterranean and utterly content. It was even nicer than it looks in the pictures (and it looks pretty nice don’t you think?!) I would love to go back there for a week and do the walking path.

The trip went something like this:

• Rome -  we didn’t pick the best area to stay (!!) but unexpectedly finding the Colosseum and joining a random tour made up for it. Also, fashioning a midi skirt from a cardi (thanks London for making me think I need to take a cardi in 30 degree Roman heat) in order to be allowed into St Peter’s Cathedral was a bit of fun.
• Florence was charming and small (including the streets, yes we got stuck up a street, wished we were driving a smart car and found ourselves driving off road around a monument – no one bat an eyelid)
• Radda in Chianti – gorgeous little town on a hill in Tuscany. Also the region that produces my favourite type of Italian red wine. Too many good keywords happening in that sentence. Beautiful.
• Siena – my first gelato-in-a-piazza experience. The shop was packed and I learned you can’t be shy if you want to be served within the hour.
• Pisa – it really is quite leaney.
• Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera – pronounced ‘chin-quay ter-ray’ (so I was told) is amazing. It’s a national park made up of five villages and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We caught the train to the furthest village, caught a cab that drove through the hills to the next village, grabbed some focaccia (oh the food!) for lunch, caught the ferry to the fifth village then the train back to La Spezia. Highly recommended!!
• Venice – amazing! Must-see! We arrived at dusk and spent the evening walking through the little streets.
• Milan – hello shopping and stylish people watching.
• Monaco – glitzy, big boats, beautiful seafood.
• Nice – that water! The first time I saw the Med was in Cinque Terre and the second time was here. Wow it is stunning.

I was really sad to see my brother go but I’m so happy that we got to hang out for that time. I always get a sense of clarity whenever I’m away from my regular surroundings so I have a big to-do list of exciting things to keep me busy.

Now, I just need to figure out what my next adventure will be…?

P.S. You know how every good road trip has a soundtrack? Ours was Triple J’s Hottest 100 2010 & this track was played A LOT. I used these Photoshop instagram actions on the photos to get that washed out effect.