scars and souvenirs.

cinque terre.

day three.

the plan was to spend the day in monterosso 

to play on the beach and hang around the city. 

bona, from my group of boys is serving his mission in the 

italy, milan mission.

[i knew from day one that i would meet up with 

him at some point during my program.]

but it just so happened that he was transferred to 

la spezia right before i came to italy,
and right before our weekend trip.

this is only an eight minute train ride to cinque terre.

so, anziano bona and his companion were able to 

meet me in monterosso for their p-day.

they had been stuck in pisa for the past few days before that,

because their apartment was having maintenance done.

they were homeless for a while,

so it was perfect timing to have them come up!

i was playing on the beach with my friends, 

taking pictures as always. when i looked up onto

the pier and there he was! just standing there watching me..

it was creepy and caught me off guard,

but it was soooooo exciting that he was there!

it's been so long since i have seen all of my boys, 

and i can't believe that they are coming home so soon.

[time goes by wayyyy too fast.]

we spent the day walking around monterosso.

we talked forever, took pictures, and enjoyed the amazing,

beautiful sites surrounding us.

we went and had lunch on the pier. 

had some yummy pasta, 

and then got some gelato afterwards! 

A.C.E, grapefruit and pineapple was just too good.

then, we met up with my study abroad girls, 

and took the ferry from monterosso to riomaggiore.

it was beautiful. 

the ferry ride was so dreamy.

i was honestly LOVING every second.

it was the perfect ending to the perfect weekend.

....until that is we went to find a hostel for the night.
we found a lady named "mama rosa" 
offering a hostel for a great price.
ali says she looks like bathilda bagshot from harry potter.
she had a straight up white fro, was super short,
and was wearing some interesting clothes.

we showed up and the room smelled so bad.
the sheets were disgusting,
probably hadn't been washed in months.
the floor hadn't been swept.
then, there was the bathroom.
it was like it was from the movie, aladdin.
it was pretty much an outhouse with a little roof over it.
the toilets didn't work either.

so, we decided to put all of our beds together.
forest and kate tried bringing a bed from another room
and tried to fit it in that tiny opening. that was funny.

we had a dance party on our big bed,
and we just tried to think that we weren't there,
and that we were staying in a 5 star hotel! :)
it was definitely a funny experience and
one that we can laugh about now that we're not there! 

perfect place for lunch.

love my girls. lucy, kate, me, ali, and stormie.

we love forest.

there he was..

such a cutie!

i just had to give him a hug!

but i had promised his mom i would give him a handshake. oops! haha.

soo dreamy.

enjoying the day on the beach. the perfect weather!

our new italian friends.

love me some gelato!

chelsea, me, and taylor.

anziano bona.

the ferry.

some of the group waiting for the ferry ride.

vernazza. 

mama rossa's hostel.

pesto pizza for dinner was to die for!