meg1064

If you are young, stay at the international hostel! It is run by some really great people and the people residing there are equally amazing. Don’t be afraid to take their public transit: it’s very easy.

The university students are great… and the people are so incredibly friendly. You must go to a tea shop, even if you don’t like tea, because they make great homemade hot chocolate! The city is really lovely to walk around in, as well.

The housing can be quite expensive: I would advise staying in a hostel. Staying in a hostel is pretty safe, and you’ll find backpackers who need to trust each other for their own survival. There are five towns. I stayed in Riomaggiore. It was unlike any other place I’ve ever been. The houses coordinate shutters… the streets are really just walkways. The beach is somewhat far and is all rocks: no sand. There are people from all over the world.. and the towns people are amazing. The old people are so cute. The cheaper wine can be great… the cheese is great… The bar is really fun at night. Make sure you walk around the mountains and you’ll find amazing murals.

The campus is dark and wet. The deer are really sickly looking. It’s very spread out and most of the time you are walking you can’t see past the trees. The bridges through the trees are beautiful but…. I do feel the aesthetics are overrated.

The only impression I got from the people were that they were closed-minded and unhelpful. As a visitor, everyone we asked for directions seemed to have no idea where to go (even if they lived there!) My dad put his cigarette out in the dirt, and this young guy reprimanded him for “ruining the environment” and told him to pick it up. My dad’s 55 – it was just very nervy. The food, although acclaimed by the locals, isn’t good. The area, however, is quite pretty. The beaches, in terms of sand and water quality, are overrated. Surf is very good. If you are from the northeast, don’t listen to any claims about the deer. The deer are kind of scraggly and emaciated. The landscape is very hilly and it is kind of hard to walk places.

The butcher shops, the coffee shops, the pizza… all amazing. Pastries are not very good. The people are very nice… watch out, because the street fairs change places and so remembering how it was one day won’t help you the next day when they are no longer on the same streets. The italian boys are very friendly and amazing lovers. Go to the piazza and dance in one of those circles, it’s really fun. Also, walk around the streets at night, and bring a friend. It is actually pretty alive late into the night, early into the morning. The city itself is amazing and if you don’t have much time, I would not waste it in line at the museums. If you do have time, use their public transit system to get to a beach or to Cinque Terre, one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever go.

We saw a huge pack of wild dogs here… They are much more rare than hippos, or elephants, or even lions. We saw so many animals, including elephants, and watched lions for over an hour. Go on the tours looking for lions at night with one of the native guides. As a travel tip, make sure to be very careful while driving and not to stick your head too far out the window/sunroof because people take pictures “of the idiot hanging out the window” and sell them to the park. As a visitor from another nation, don’t be surprised at the attitudes of many of the South Africans. They are very rough and can be somewhat contentious. It’s very easy to judge the racist attitudes, and very difficult to understand the cultural struggle.