Buongiorno from back in the U.S. finally!

We had a fabulous time in Italy for the last 17 days, it was truly a once in a lifetime trip and I'm so thankful I was able to do this trip with my mom and celebrate her birthday while we were gone! Italy is a remarkable place, the amount of preserved history is unbelievable.

For someone who has never traveled internationally before, I feel like I've learned SO much. From my packing, to traveling, to the food/communication/tours I can say there isn't much I would have done differently. I definitely want to share that packing cubes and air tight resealable bags were a lifesaver for me to fit everything in my luggage. The airtight bags ofcourse didn't displace the weight but it allowed me to fit all my clothes in effortlessly. I used packing cubes too and ofcourse ziplock bags to keep anything spillable safe. (All found on Amazon) Message me if you want the links!

We started our flights from Panama City to Atlanta, Atlanta to Rome, and then a short flight from Rome to Pisa. The flight from Rome wasn't bad at all, I was dreading being stuck on a plane for so long but I slept most of the way, easily. In my carry on I put some liquid benadryl in a small container to get through TSA and took it as soon as I finished my dinner to help me sleep. I downloaded a lot of tv shows and movies from Netflix onto my iPad too. So, lots of cream, face mask, headphones and I had a good nights sleep!

A little background information for you to know prior to reading all of my posts, we booked this trip through a company called Abercrombie & Kent. They scheduled our tours, tour guides, drivers, and reservations. Everyone we used through them whether it was a guide or a driver was 10/10. Our tours weren't like what you would imagine, it was a guide with our small group of 6-10 or just the 2 of us, who would eat and ride around with us.

My mom's friend's parents rented a beautiful Villa in Lucca for a month and we were invited to come and stay, it was a beautiful property in Tuscany and so comfortable for everyone. Lucca was the perfect spot to stay, it is centrally located in Tuscany so our day trips were an easy commute. We day tripped from the Villa to Siena, Florence, Portofino, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Val d'Orcia and Pienza.

Our first full day was practically living in a dream. NO LIE. I woke up to this. This is James, he and the chef prepared breakfast everyday for us in this beautiful dining room.

We loaded up with our drivers and drove to Portofino. Portofino is practically a walking postcard, I was smitten from the instant we got there. Everything there is as over the top as the Italian Riviera could be, this is the town where the huge yachts are, the massive villas on the edge of cliffs, the place I'd like to go to die. Haha, but if I were to ever visit again, I would want to spend a day or night here in Portofino, I was told by all the locals that there isn't much to do but I could walk around and enjoy the atmosphere and scenery for days.

We started in Portofino and boarded a boat with the group and our adorable guide to see Cinque Terre by boat. This was the best way to see the Italian Riviera coast and it was a beautiful day for boating. I'm definitely NOT a tour type of person but this trip would have been impossible without one. The amount of information you get is great plus with our small group and the guide, we're all pretty much just having conversations (and the guides/driver are nice to have around when trying to order food)

Cinque Terre should be the 9th wonder of the world. These bright colored homes on top of each other on the cliffs were beautiful. Cinque Terre consists of 5 small villages, we stopped at Vernazza for lunch and walking around. I read that Vernazza dates back to 1080. 1080 AD?! Amazing to think this has been around for 1,000 YEARS! Incredible to even fathom that.

I hope you enjoy these pictures and my adorable dress is from KikiRisa in Destin!