My crazy journey continues...

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Solo travels continued...
I should preface this entry with a word of caution; if you were worried about me being safe during this trip, maybe just skip this day.  😊
On the way to Cinque Terre, I hadto switch trains a few times. On my second to last switch, I noticed there weren't many people on it.  I didn't think much of it, until everyone but me got off way before my stop arrived. a little worried, I proceeded with caution.  My last switch was in Le Spezia, which I learned some people call "the hole" of Italy. I didn't realize there were two stops in La Spezia, so I got off at the wrong one. I am going to take it as a blessing that I did.  When I got off, I found a total of 5 people at the station. I asked a man (whom spoke no English, but I'm doing well learning a little Italian to manage) if he could tell me when the next train to the central La Spezia station was coming.  He seemed very hesitant to have me go. There was a couple that said their train was supposed to already be there, so it must be running late and I could catch that one. The old man started shouting and playing charades with me to make me understand their train was canceled.  Turns out the Cinque Terre region had a massive flood/mudslide and half the area was in ruins.  Since the hotel I was staying in wasn't affected, but the town was abandoned, I couldn't get my money back (200 euros) and they couldn't get a ride anywhere, so I brought my new Kiwi friends (Beth and Adrian) with me so they could have a place to stay.  I have to say, I might have been a bit more frazzled if they didn't join me, so I am very thankful to have met two new friends.  
After getting on the last train to Corniglia (they canceled another train in the process), we chatted about our journeys. They had been traveling for a year and a half, starting in Canada, and going to the states, and then Europe.  Apparently it's very common to do that in New Zealand.  Jealous.  Anyway, we got off on the wrong stop again, (this time not our fault) and had to rush to make the train to the next stop. After 11 hours of traveling, we finally made it to our hotel.  I had called the manager earlier to make sure they would still be open, so I assumed they would be there.  Wrong.  Some wonderful Italians brought us to our "apartment" because finding the place would have been impossible on our own. Everyone is so helpful here.  Once there, we rang the bell and realized no one was there. So we went back down to a restaurant to ask for help. This was no easy task for un-fit me.  The hills are crazy steep in Cinque Terre.  So lugging my heavy baggage up and down the hills twice was about enough for me!  Adrian and Beth are two gorgeous and athletic people, so they had a less difficult time.  They even helped wi my bags the second time up.  Ok, this is getting messy, my apologies.  The restaurant employee called the hotel/apartment manager and they said they had evacuated, but they would come back to give us a key. We finally made it to the apartment after about an hour.  They only expected me, not 3 guests, so they hurriedly pulled out a spare bed.  I felt so bad that they were doing so much for us when I'm sure they had friends and family affected by the flood that they would have rather been with. 
Adrain, Beth and I sat and talked in the room for hours. They were such a great accident fo me to find.  Traveling alone definitely has it's perks there.  
I will add the second half of this tomorrow. My brain hurts trying to remember everything! Ciao, amicas

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