Firenze, Italy

We made the decision to head south to Italy, but we still had a choice of how to get there. A quick flight would easily deliver us to our destination in a few hours; or we could hop a train and spend the day hurtling through the European countryside, over mountains, along rivers, and even a goat sighting or two.  There was almost no deliberation and hindsight has proven that the train was the best way to go!

While 7 hours sounds like a long trip, the exquisite scenery provided enough entertainment to make the trip feel like a mere 3 hour voyage of pure awesomeness.  Traveling through the  Germany and Austria was stunning, but the moment the train rolled across the Italian border it was if the clouds parted, sun came streaking down and the hillsides exploded with vineyards.  Grape vines extended as far as our eyes could see; they climbed the hillsides creating a blanket of lush green that was occasionally interrupted by rock cliffs reaching for the perfect blue sky.

Yeah, riding the train was rad.