Day 4: Innsbruck/off to Cinque Terre

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Short one today - long driving day today broken up by some wonderful little stops.

First things first though - the view this morning from the hotel was awesome. I was in a nook, so didn't really get a great photo, but you're really nestled in the alps. Woke up, opened my window to hear birds chirping, church bells ringing and could just smell and breath fresh air. So glorious.

First stop was the much anticipated stop at Swarovski's Crystal Garden - museum, store and playground all in one! I'll be back next year, so I didn't explore the grounds, but I did look at the museum and of course the store where I got myself a few goodies. It was really fun watching the kids shop - some had shopping lists from their mom/sisters lol, some were just picking out for family, some for themselves (for prom!!) etc. It was cute all of them asking everyone for advice. I don't think anyone was more excited than 2 of our teachers though lol. They were ready to RUN as soon as we got our tickets haha.

Leaving Austria the weather got pretty blah. It was raining, which meant the cloud cover became super low in the valleys which makes for some spooky atmosphere. It was also super windy... we were on a bridge when a gust caught us. Legit it made the bus push half a lane over. That was unpleasant. But our driver is the best thing ever so we were good.

We drove another 2h30 to the "di Garda" lake, the largest in Italy. It's a super fancy and rich area, lots of VIP things - it's apparently where Clooney got married, for example. Unfortunately it was pouring and I mean POURING rain... so... we basically got off the bus to eat. Shame the lake wasn't as crystal blue as usual because of the weather. The food was unreal though. We went just off the main square in Sirmione and just wow. One teacher got a calzone that - no exaggeration - was the size of my head. 3 teachers got thin-crust pizzas that were apparently amazing. And 2 of us got pasta - probably the best pasta I've had. Ever. It's nice to be back in Italy lol.

From there we had another ~4hrs to Cinque Terre. Our driver honestly deserves a medal for his driving... and I mean that with no sarcasm whatsoever. He is superb. I have no sweet clue how he fits this bus everywhere he fits it. It's like an extra sense he has. It's a miracle he still has mirrors. We're always super quiet when he's doing something amazing and then we all cheer lol. Best dude ever. Supper was amazing too - Italy man, can't go wrong. We had linguine with pesto and then some pork and the best zucchini I've ever had. SO MUCH AMAZING FOOD.

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