8-27

     Bongiorno bella Italia!

     I know Grandma Kennedy would love this right now-  sitting on a bench overlooking the cobalt blue ocean eating freshly picked strawberries.  These are the best strawberries I have ever eaten, and they are the reddest I have ever seen. Sitting here is such a treat after my day of speed walking around Levanto.  I made a poor life decision when I decided to bring Birkenstock flip-flops because my feet kill! 

     This morning I slept in until 9 and then went downstairs for my free breakfast consisting of a cappuccino and two rolls of bread with nutella.  When I went down, I met up with the other girls who were already finished eating.  They were planning out their day of going out to see other towns in Cinque Terre.  I brought up the idea of taking a ferry to get a view of the towns from the ocean.  Since it would end up costing about 5 Euros more, they chose to take a train instead.  I decided to stay back and explore more intently the town of Levanto, and let them head out to explore.  Plus, I just needed a mental health day to myself.

      It has been a fantastic day, but I had a scare that I lost my journal.  I realized this when I got back to my hostel after walking around town and around the village pretending to be Italian.  I then had to retrace my steps and go into each place I stopped to ask about my "book," which completely blew my Italian cover.  Oh well.  I eventually found my book at the first stop I made.  On the way back, I discovered a fresh food market where I picked up these strawberries.  Yum yum yum.

     You wouldn't believe the people watching here.  I am finally in a land of very few tourists and mostly Italians.  Every single person is tan.  Every single person also shows very much of this tan skin.  Needless to say, I don't stand out at all. :-/

     The swimmers on the beach provide for me the best people watching by far.  I have seen so many men in Speedos (mainly much much older men), and all women except a few wear bikinis.  The few not in bikinis wear nothing at all. (These women, too, are much much older.) 

     I was hit on by my first Italian last night.  He had white hair.  Guido senior.  End of story.

     Tomorrow I go to Roma.

     Ciao for now-a!