It’s a hot sunny day in late July and we’re jumping in our trusty Fiat 500L for a short drive up the coast to the jaw-droppingly beautiful Cinque Terre. This will be one of five stops on our Italian Origins small-group journey, so we’re on our way to meet with hotel and activity partners in person. Over the years, we’ve gleaned two bits of wisdom - 1) reliable contacts that we know and trust are gold, and 2) the best way to ensure every travel detail is amazing is to experience it first-hand. We cross the green hills surrounding Lucca and head north, past Carrara and its mountains of glistening white marble, and into the terraced hillsides of Cinque Terre National Park.

​Summer in Lucca came right on time. As if a switch were flipped, the solstice happened and one day later the sun showed up in full force, blasting down 87-degree days one after another. It’s beautiful in this part of Italy at this time of year, while the greenery, wildflowers, and other remnants of spring are still on display and the summer nights seem to last forever. Italy has successfully (so far, at least) emerged from one of the world’s strictest lockdowns and la bella vita once again surrounds us. Masks are commonplace (mandatory when in close proximity to other people), Italians are the least touchy they’ll probably ever be, and there is enough hand sanitizer to give every one of the world’s germaphobes a lifetime supply, but life is otherwise pretty normal. The country as a whole followed a long, closely monitored quarantine with a quite uniform reopening strategy and the numbers continue to look good. There are currently less than 14,000 total cases in Italy, with only 69 considered critical, and fewer than 200 new cases per day.