Our travels in France, Italy, and Spain

Dan and I decided to take a trip through the south of France while we were both homeless in Huskvarna. We dropped our bags off at the school, and flew to Milan on the 12th of July. Here are some of the highlights!

Milan, Italy

Our first stop just outside of Milan, aside from the car rental shop, was a lovely small town restaurant. Our first experience dining in Italy was just about as wonderful as it could be. Our hosts were so excited (we think by the fact that they had English speaking visitors, which clearly wasn't very common) that although they couldn't understand a word of what we tried to communicate in English, they gave us an extremely warm welcome. I used a tiny bit of my Italian knowledge that I had learned from waitressing in Italian restaurants to order a glass of red wine and a pizza. Our waiter began by bringing us two glasses of champagne, “gratis” and followed by a wonderful meal. When we inquired about dessert, we had an amazing gelato dish, and two shots (again complimentary) of a liquor ice cream mix. They were gracious enough to let us use a cell phone to call our hostel in Turin, and basically showed us every ounce of kindness they possibly could have.

Turin - our first real destination

We arrived in Turin around 10 pm that evening, which seemed quite unbelievable considering we had been enjoying a leisurely breakfast in Stockholm just that morning. The hostel must have been a convent in the past, as there were gorgeous marble staircases, and the building just had that kind of feel. It was a great way to start our trip, and we woke up relaxed and ready to explore Turin the next day. A gorgeous place, nestled in the mountains, and much cooler than we were going to experience for the rest of our trip, didn’t seem like much of a tourist destination during the season that we were there. The river flowing through the city was absolutely lovely, and the natural landscape offered quite a bit more than any shops or cafes that we stopped in. In my ‘all girls’ dorm in the hostel in Turin, there were two German sisters who were University students enjoying the summer to travel through France and Italy. They suggested we change our final planned destination, Genova, and instead begin our trip in Cinque Terra. Following their advice, we decided to completely change our plans, and head straight for Cinque Terra to see what all their excitement was about.