No matter how much I hate “looking like a tourist” sometimes you can’t help it. Let’s face it, if you plan on being outside all day (especially with a young kid or kids) you’re going to need provisions….water, a scarf, a travel potty
The Cinque Terre in Spring – What to Pack in your day bag
If I am going out for a full day of adventuring in Italy in the early spring, I usually bring the following:
- A scarf
- Layers including; a t-shirt + sweater / sweatshirt / cardigan + blazer and or trench coat + extra long sleep top in your bag
- Sunglasses (although I usually forget them at home and end up buying a cheap pair)
- A stylish rain hatif I’m pushing a stroller or rain poncho + mini umbrella
- Comfortable shoes that are preferably not ugly, lest we forget vacation photos are the ones MOST SHARED!
- Money to stop at plenty of cafes, ice cream parlors (gelaterias) and restaurants for lunch! Don’t worry too much about bringing snacks and water, you’ll want to spend the two euro in a cafe for a good espresso and also use the facilities.
For my three year old I usually pack all of the same + my absolute favorite travel potty
Le Cinque Terre – What I Wore
Although when you think of Le Cinque Terre “hiking” may come to mind I actually found that the majority of time we were strolling along paved paths. For this reason I opted not to wear my hiking shoes (which are actually a little uncomfortable) and instead I wore my Alberto Fasciani “tronchetti” walking shoes. These retail for over 350 euro in Italy, HOWEVER, I bought them online here for 66 euro!!! I’m not going to lie, they are the best shoes I have EVER owned to date and I will most likely wear them out.
I focused on layering because Italy in the Springtime is not as warm as you think! Although I did see people sunbathing in BIKINIS (note the outrage with my capital letters), it is not bikini wearing season and those people risk getting “colpe d’aria” – aka “hit with air” and/or “prendere freddo” – aka “getting a cold”. In the morning it is often quite chilly, damp and humid so you’ll want to be well covered, and in the afternoon you’ll want to have layers you can easily take off so that you don’t sweat in the sun.
The Italian Sweat Rules
Italians fear sweating in a rather neurotic way. There is nothing worse than being overdressed, getting hot, sweating,and then …. GOD FORBID, you TAKE OFF one of the layers that made you hot to begin with. The idea being that if you “prendere freddo” – “catch a chill” after you sweat than you are sure to catch a cold or even have something worse happen to you.
Notice the Italians and their layers!
The idea is that you bundle in the morning when it is cool, and as soon as you feel your body temperature rise you take off a layer. This way you never sweat! HOWEVER, lets say that you miss the boat and don’t take off a layer fast enough and you actually DO SWEAT. At that point you MUST NOT take off a layer!!! At all costs you have to keep your sweaty back, neck, shoulders etc. well-covered so as not to get “hit with air” and then subsequently “catch a chill”.
If you can learn these Italian dressing rules you will be visiting and dressing in Italy like a pro, whipping on and off your blazer or puffy coat with the best of them!
Now onto YOUR style…
#REASONSTODRESS Real Mom Street Style Linkup
Thank you to everyone who linked up last week! This week’s fab five are from my stylish INSTAGRAM friends who have tagged their looks #reasonstodress. I’ll be reposting these all on Instagram! Please feel free to visit their Insta Accounts and say hello!
Feel free to follow Reasons to Dress on Bloglovin’ so you never miss a post!
You’ll get one email a day with all the new posts from all of the blogs you follow.
