Day Nine.

Today when I woke up I had no idea what was in store for me! I met up with Daniela at around 11:30 am and then we got on the bus to Portovenere for the day. Once we got there, we met up with Francesco and Fabiola at their summer home. Francesco, Daniela, and I went to the market to get food for lunch, and then we headed to the boat! Yes, it was another day out in the sea (which I love). Once we got going, they showed me the "three islands" which are in front of Portovenere (each island proceeds the next). The island directly in front of Portovenere is called "Palmaria" and it is the biggest island of the three. It is where we ate dinner the second night I was here! The next island is called "Tino" and the last one is called "Tinetto" and it is the smallest of the three. I took tons of pictures, and I will upload them tomorrow possible. It is beautiful. They then showed me all these little small cities in and around La Spezia (I don't remember any of the names, but they are gorgeous). They even showed me one beach (that was beautiful) where it costs 150 euros just to go to the beach for one day! It is a very private beach with maybe 6 or 7 villas that people can stay in. It was crazy. Then we went to Lerici, and I saw the men's water polo team... WELL HELLO. They were mighty fine (sorry, I had to say it). We ate lunch there in the boat (focacce, pizza, and something else haha) and everything was yummy! After that we took the boat past Mira Bella, and we saw Giorgio Armani's boat! The funny thing is that the other night when Chiara and I were walking at Mira Bella, we stood RIGHT IN FRONT of his boat, and she told me it was a famous person's boat but she couldn't remember who! Haha, now I know! There are some pretty huge yachts here, wow. We then met u with some of their friends, and one of the men was the director of the sea (as they said), and they were all so nice to me. They helped me with my Italian a lot also. I have improved so much, and everyone is always very impressed with how much I know for only being here a week (that helps my self esteem, I guess haha). I do notice though that I can saw a lot more day by day. Anyways, we were on the boat for a few hours, and Daniela and I went to the front to bath in the sun because we were cold! It's so hot during the day, but the wind can make such a huge difference. At around 730 we went back to our boat and then back to the summer home to get ready for dinner! We then dropped off Daniela at her home (she was on her way to eat dinner with the bf :)) and then we went to Porto Lotti! This restaurant was amazing! There was a swimming pool and everything! We even got our own private table to the side of everyone (and the restaurant is outdoors) because the "director of the sea" (who we were with all day) was very close with the people who worked there! THERE WAS SO MUCH FOOD! A lot of it was raw, so they had a fun time watching me try everything! And then there was the octopus... I couldn't bring myself to eat it. I just couldn't do it. So I ate the pizza haha. After many courses of food, it was time for dessert! We ate fruit and maybe 5 different types of dessert! Then they had coffee (not me) and after eating for three hours, it was time for me to go to sleep! One of the lady's that was there is an English teacher and she said I need to come see her in Bologna! I now have an opportunity to travel, and I plan on taking it! She said she wants me to meet her daughter because she speaks a little bit English. They are all so amazing I got home around midnight, showered, and now I go to bed. CIAO!