I just got back from Spring Break. We took a road trip around northern Italy. We also took daytrips to the micronation of San Marino on the east side of Italy, and on the west side, we drove through a tiny bit of France to visit Monaco. All three were new countries to me!
We flew in and out of Bologna, which I really enjoyed. We started the trip by driving up to Parma and taking a couple cheese-making tours because I love cheese. On the first tour we got to see how to make parmesan cheese, and on the second tour we got to see empty equipment and realized how deep the different containers were. The wheel shape is formed due to the circle at the bottom of the main container. We got to sample lots of different ages of cheese, and my favorite was Parmigiano Reggiano 24 months!
On the day trip to San Marino, we climbed up the two main towers surrounding the city. On one of them, there was a ladder that went through a small hole in the ceiling above it. My dad backed out and I went up to explore on my own!
After spending time in Bologna and Florence, we stopped in Pisa for the famous leaning tower. My sister was crazy enough to go to the top! We got tickets for all of us because we didn’t want miss out. Dad really loved it but me and Mom were sort of scared of the height.
Next up we went to four different fishing villages on top of mountains in Cinque Terre. We took the train between them and stopped for food, drinks, or desserts in each one. My dad and I climbed over 150 stairs up an old tower for great city views in one of them.
Our last city we stayed in was Genoa, which we used as a launching off point to visit Monaco. In Monaco, there were fancy cars everywhere! We thought all the restaurants would be expensive so we went to Steak N Shake, but we looked at the menu and it was all beef which my family doesn’t eat. We went to Planet Pasta instead, which was great. Afterward, we went back to Steak N Shake to get delicious milkshakes.
I would definitely recommend visiting Italy and the countries around it. Here’s a tip — do not spent too much money in Monaco!