Cinque Terra: nearly seven hours of driving for a round trip, and another eight spent exploring the villages made for a long, exhausting day. But the villages really are beautiful and like no place I’ve ever been before. We hiked, swam in the Ligurian Sea, ate local specialties (all seafood, of course), climbed 1000 1000 stairs up and down the steep hillsides, rode the train between villages where the hiking path was closed, and generally gawked at the spectacular cliffs sloping down to the sun-sparkled water.

We thought we’d experienced the Autostrata after driving from Malpensa airport to our tiny village of Sinio. But it turns out that that is no more difficult than picking up a car at O’hare and driving to Iowa city. The real driving experience? The Autostrata along the Italian Riviera. Piloting (not driving, as we know it, but piloting) that stretch of road in our little Fiat 500 was much like kayaking my first class four rapid. Terrifying, exhilarating, and leaving me proud I’d done it and ready for a stiff drink at the end.