Love Me Some Lemons: Yesterday I went to Paradise

Saturday night was wonderful. All the girls except a few went to the Ponte Vecchio bridge and listened to this awesome Italian guitarist. He was awesome. And the view was awesome. And the company was awesome. It rained, but it was still great. Adam and Alex met us at the bridge and we went to dinner. It is crazy how late everything is open here, especially compared to London. People only start going to the clubs at midnight and they get packed at 3am. Anyways, we went to a restaurant called Osteria Del Porcellino. It was lit by candlelight and had the best atmosphere. The food was incredible! Then we went to try and find a club (disco techa) to go to but the one we found was 18 and under and the other one we went by was outside so it was closed because of the rain. So, of course we went and got gelato at Venchi (I think that was the name)! It was such a cute gelateria. Sunday morning we headed to La Spezia to go to church. The branch was so sweet and welcoming. Someone from the bishopric got told the congregation that he has been away from home but always feels at home at church and hoped the same for us. It is so true, no matter where I am in the world, I always feel so at home when I go to church. The gospel is the same everywhere. The branch was in this little industrial park, type place. After the first talk an elder started translating, which was really nice. After church we changed and got ready to head to Le Cinque Terre. Le Cinque Terre is freaking heaven on earth. It was something that has been on my bucket list and I can’t believe I was actually there! We started in Riomaggiore and I felt like I was in a dream looking down on the bright blue water and beautifully colored buildings, with the giant, lush, green mountains in the background. OH! I think it is the most beautiful place on earth! We got pizza and hiked up to a look out spot then headed to Monterosso, which is the beachy one of the little five towns. We stayed at the beach for a while and I took a fabulous nap in the sun. The weather turned out so nice for us, hallelujah! We ran in to the other girls and then decided to go to another one of the towns. We went to Vernazza. We got delicious gelato and found this wonderful little cave that you went through to get to this little “private” beach where the waves crashed so wonderfully on the rocks. Then we went and walked on the rocks right by the sea. Then we went up to the Castello Doria. It was a castle looking over the whole town. It was beautiful, but I didn't pay to go all the way up. Then we went to Manarola. It was the most beautiful of all. We walked up to a little cemetery where you can see the whole town with the vibrant buildings and the gorgeous water. Then we caught a train home! I get to go back to Le Cinque Terre with my family in like a week and a half and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!