Traveling Through the Italian Countryside

Since we've always heard how warm and friendly Italians are (especially considering those we know at home), we've been wondering what we'd done wrong here. Our time in Italy started off somewhat shakily, particularly concerning the people we've met. We've (I've) been the butt of a joke or two, as well as the cause of a fair amount of grumbling (give anything but exact change and you automatically warrant such treatment). But touring the countryside and hitting some smaller towns (and their wineries) has proven tremendously rewarding and shown us more of the Italy we'd anticipated. After Milan last week, we headed over to Venice. Everything good you've ever heard about Venice is absolutely true: The waterways are appealing and romantic, and the old buildings have been well-preserved, giving the effect of an unchanged city from hundreds of years ago. Standing on the Rialto Bridge (very famous, you've seen it in just about every shot and painting done of Venice), I felt like I was in The Italian Job. From Venice we visited Florence, where you are essentially required to visit the Uffizi Gallery (can't miss Michelangelos's David, which in itself is worth the price of admission and then some). We also found the church that Dante attended, which apparently is also where he met Beatrice. Our most surprising visit so far was our next stop: the Cinque Terre. According to Rick Steves, this is Italy's rugged answer to the French Riviera, and the description is apt. We hiked for a large part of the day we spent there (Anna actually visited all five towns; I stopped at #4), and the weather was perfect. The towns are carved into the hillsides, and there are spectacular views everywhere you look. Anyone traveling through Italy would be missing something wonderful by not stopping here. Wondering if we'd hit the high point of our Italian countryside tour, we headed into the Tuscany area last night, into Siena. The train ride in was gorgeous; rolling hills, lovely trees with changing leaves, smoking hillside fires giving off the scent of autumn. We were ready to enjoy the loveliness this morning, but a sudden burst of rain changed our plans somewhat. We got pretty soaked searching for the relics of St. Catherine of Siena, but we finally found them (San Domenico's has her head and her thumb). Aside from that great find, Siena might have been somewhat disappointing, but fortunately, the winery tour we'd scheduled for the afternoon proceeded as planned. The rain let up, and we were able to see a fair amount of the Tuscan countryside. I don't think it's possible to visit this region without a wine tour; you can't get a real feel for it otherwise. We visited two different wineries and met some Italian families that did their best to make us feel welcome. A truly memorable experience. Maybe Italy's not so bad after all. . .