Friday afternoon we took the train to Cinque Terre! We were all in separate train cars, and a homeless man got on the train car I was on. He was drunk and speaking in Italian. I have no idea what he was saying, but the workers on the train came and kicked him off. They literally kicked him off. It was pretty sad. After the adventurous train ride, we went to get the key to our apartment. In the box at the booking agency were directions to our place for the weekend too. The directions consisted of a sheet of paper saying “at the end of the street turn left and then take your third left after that.” It was very simple step by step directions to around the corner. It was nice to be away from the busyness of Rome and their crazy streets. The town we stayed in is called Levanto. It is very small, so the directions worked great. The apartment had the cutest little balcony too.

The five small costal villages are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso.  We went to all five on Saturday. I hiked from Vernazza to Cornelia. There were a TON of steps up. It was a rough hike but so worth it! The view was incredible! My favorite islands were Monterosso and Manarola. Monterosso has a great beach and is very busy. There was a little bar right by the beach that had Auburn stickers in the window. The owner’s ex girlfriend lives in Auburn! It was very random but really cool to find an Italian Auburn fan all the way in Cinque Terre. Manarola had a great swimming spot and the buildings were very bright. The water was cold but felt great! I can officially say I have swam in the Mediterranean.

Sunday we woke up early, and we were planning on going to the beach but it was cloudy and rainy. We went and got coffee at down the street… and I got locked in the bathroom. The key was messed up, and they did not explain that before I locked the door. So basically there were Italians trying to get the door open for a good 5 minutes. They spoke no english, so the language barrier was a bit challenging. I have no idea what they were yelling or saying. I did get out, and when I did the entire coffee shop cheered. It was hilarious! After that fun event, a couple of us went to a restaurant in Monterosso on the beach. We sketched there for a little while. After we went to Riomaggiore to eat lunch and then decided to get an earlier train back to Rome.