Buon Giorno! Pasta & Pizza & Wine oh my!

Another trip with my favorite trio in the books! And it was the last one of the semester, which makes me feel pretty sad. Shayar and Eashan have been my favorite travel buddies this semester and I can't wait to plan some reunion trips in the future! We always go on the most fun adventures and have the best trips and make the best memories, they have been my most favorite people I've met this semester <3

We flew into Milan and rented a car to drive 3 hours down to Cinque Terre and La Spezia, which was quite an interesting journey at midnight when we didn't know how to reverse the car..... once again Eashan and I were saved by Shayar being a great driver and knowing how to drive manual to get us around. Both him and I would've had a heart attack at the wheel haha. We got to our Airbnb very late in the night, so we all passed out and rested for the next day ahead!

While Shayar and Eashu worked the next morning on their absolute FAVORITE class graph theory, I went down to the port in La Spezia and sat by the water and ate breakfast at this cute cafe! I met this old man who reminded me of some of my family back home and he introduced me to a bunch of people at the cafe and talked to my Uncle Marco on the phone. This whole trip I thought of my family and told everyone I was Italian and it felt really special to finally visit the place that so much of my upbringing has been centered around. We bought train tickets for Cinque Terre to visit all of the port cities and it was STUNNING and BEAUTIFUL omg. We visited Riomaggiore, Monterosso al Mare, and Vernazza. All were stunning but Riomaggiore was by far my favorite. Getting to sit by the water and look at the colorful buildings was really special and helped ground me after how hectic the last week was. I bought an original watercolor painting of the town by a local artist and I can't wait to hang it up in New Orleans to remind me of how good life can be! We got to see a beautiful sunset in Monterosso while sitting on the beach, and Shayar (un)successfully skipped rocks in the water while Eashu and I relaxed. Except for when Eashu was once again doing number theory homework on mobile Latex, which is kind of his one true love. Only rivaled by CodeForces, Bessie the brick heater, and paneer. We then hopped back on the train to go to Vernazza to walk around shop, and the town LITERALLY looked like Portorusso from Luca which was such a cool feeling. We got back to La Spezia and attempted to find a place to eat for dinner and it turned out to be an hour ordeal to find a restaurant with a table for 3, so that sucked. But we found somewhere, ate some good pasta, and headed back to sleep. Shayar and I watched Luca in the land of Luca which was idyllic.

The next day we explored the town of Portovenere, which was in the opposite direction of Cinque Terre. This was an absolutely gorgeous town with views of the mountains, colorful blocks of buildings, and the blue colored sea. There were so many cute shops and getting to have breakfast and a nice glass of wine here was a great way to start the day. We then packed up the car and drove an hour to Portofino, a port town in Genova. It's also TikTok famous for its beauty and inspiration for Luca. So when I saw it was close to Cinque Terre I knew we had to visit it. And it did not disappoint!! I got to FaceTime my Italian Girls groupchat -- my mom, nanny, and Aunt Dawn -- and show them around the port which was such a cool feeling. If only they could've been there with me because the 4 of us would surely have a good time and be a hoot and a holler. After the call, we went up to the castle to watch the sunset and OMG IT WAS A TOP 3 SUNSET OF ALL TIME. For me, it was only really comparable to the sunset I saw in Oia this semester. From the top of the castle I got a good view of the mountains, the ocean, and the colorful port, which felt like a backdrop out of a movie. After some more walking around, we grabbed dinner and drinks at a place with phenomenal pasta and tiramisu 🤩

We hopped in the car once again to drive 2 hours to Laglio, a town on Lake Como!!! Lake Como has always been on my wedding Pinterest boards and I never thought I'd ever really get to visit it... but I did. And it felt like a dream! Who knows, maybe one day I'll be back in a white princess ballgown hehe. Our Airbnb here was amazing and was part of a convent from the 1800s, so there were so many stone details that were stunning. And we were only 100m from George Clooney's house. That's right, this one right here. We got to bed and then I had the next morning to myself to explore the town, since Shayar and Eashu like to get their beauty sleep lol. I was hoping to catch the sunrise but slept through my alarms and got up in time to grab breakfast in town! Our host gave us a lot of recommendations of where to go and what to see, and he recommended quite well!! I went to a bakery cafe right on the water and it was a picturesque start to the day. I may be annoyed sometimes that Shayar and Eashu sleep SO late (even in Budapest) but it gives me the morning to myself for some self care so it's really not that bad. I had yummy food and a cappuccino in Como which was a perfect instagram caption. I headed back once my 2 guys were up and we took on the day! We walked by the lake and saw some swans and pretty houses and greenery and it was beautiful! We once again stopped at a cafe where I had amazing pasta and wine to fuel all my walking for the day. We walked by the Clooney home and took some really cute pics, which I just know they loved lol.

We then drove along the lake for like 30 mins to go to Como, which was honestly underwhelming. Laglio was so much prettier and way more quaint. Como felt very commercialized and touristy and just wasn't as pretty, but we saw somewhere new which was cool. After we almost ran out of gas and I panicked, we saw a beautiful cathedral and watched the sunset on the water where Shayar and I popped our characteristic bottle of champagne. After grabbing dinner where I had blue octopus (yum), Shayar drove Eashu and I back to Milan to fly home to Budapest.

Italy, you were gorgeous and amazing and I got to fulfill a lifelong dream of mine of visiting! Next time, I want to be sure to visit Bari with my whole fam and eat only the very best pasta 🤩

Traveling has become a safe haven for me this semester because classes are extremely stressful and oftentimes miserable. But being able to explore Europe with my 2 favorite guys reminds me of how good life is, and how lucky I am to have this unique, once in a lifetime opportunity. Ciao!!

xoxo, mackenzie