Cinque Terre!

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I think I just published 2 new entries from Croatia that I had written but not published!?! Im not sure what happened there....thats a lot of reading i know.

We are now in gorgeous Cinque Terre after arriving a couple days ago from Florence. We had a great time in Florence! We stayed at a wonderful campsite located 2 minutes from the Michelangelo Plaza which over looks all of Florence. We arrived at about 8pm and had just enough time to drop our bags in our tent, run up the hill and grab some wine, and watch the sun set over Florence. It was gorgeous...the sun set lights the up the river running through Florence, quite spectacular. We hung out on the steps drinking wine for a couple hours and then headed back to our campsite where we met up with a New Zealand friend that we stayed with in Croatia! That night we also ran into a couple of Austrian art majors who were studying in Florence and offered to give us a tour of the city the next day...sure! The next day we toured all over the city checking out some of the best churches and museums. It was a very amazing place. We went into a museum that had original sculptures from Michelangelo and Dontatello....these were quite impressive. The weather did not cooperate with us during the day...thunder and lighting and massive rain storm! Yikes....but we still had a really fun time. That evening it cleared up and we watched the sun set from the steps of the plaza once again...gorgeous! The steps are packed out with people so we hung out there most of the night chatting with other travellers and enjoying some of the Michael Jackson tributes that were going on.

The next morning we were up and off to Cinque Terre. This place is incredibly gorgeous. We are staying in the first of the 5 cities (Riomajjore) and it is stunning....carved out the cliffs, with high colourful houses, little fishing boats everywhere, just awsome. Our "2 bedroom studio appartment", as it was advertised to us, is a 10 second walk from a view of the ocean and a view of the main fishing harbour. It is an incredibly small appartment and Forbes and I can hardly fit in the room together...its quite funny. It has a little stove and its own bathroom, and its small size definatley adds to its charm. Yesterday we did the big hike...the 5 cities! It cleared up about an hour into the hike....blue skies and HEAT! Ive never sweat so much in my life. This hike was absolutely spectacular...we were both completely floored by it. You hike right along the coast line on this little trail built years ago....along your hike you arrive at 5 villages cut out of the rocky coastline. They villages are so cool and are built up to hang over the ocean...its was just amazing. At the last town there was a nice beach where we spent the afternoon swimming and taking in some sun...we had a great day! That night we grabbed some wine and hung out with some new friends from all over the place (australia, America, New Zealand) in the main harbour of our city...it was lots of fun. Today we are taking it easy...just relaxing and lazing around...recharging our batteries for the second half of this trip! Tommorow we are up and off to Nice...we have heard some great things about Nice and are really looking forward to it. It will be hard to leave Cinque Terre though, it is absolutley incredible here! I hope that all is well back home....i miss you guys and will talk to you soon!

Love from Kev

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Comments

[Dad]

Hi Kevin!
Wow, what a windfall. Three blogs from you in one day.Sounds like you're having a great time. Lauren will be thrilled to hear you talk about CInque Terre. She really loved it too. I'll bet it was nice to see Richard. There are lots of people to meet, but you're still starting from scratch every time you get somewhere. Bit of a comedy of errors finding him too.... I'll bet he's glad he made the decision to come to Europe. It's such a great experience for young people to be on their own in other countries - gives you such a worldly experience and feeling. Instead of just being a Port Moody (City of the Arts) guy, you are playing on a bigger stage and gaining a broader world view. Everyone is fine here - nothing has changed. The weather has been pretty good - Maggie hangin' in .Mom and Lauren are done school now and immediately buggered off to the island to visit Shelagh and Ian. They picked up Devon and Gage from the airport and took them over to the island. Lauren also wanted to see Joyce,as she's pretty ill. Ian had a heart attack a few weeks back and had a "stent" put in one of his arteries that was completely jammed. It looks as if this will be a good thing, as it will probably get him to stop smoking ( I hope) A garbage truck ramed into the Rocky Point overpass a few days ago and made enough damage that the damn overpass is closed until further notice. Traffic is at a standstill throughout Port Moody as everyone has to take St. John's. The Golden Spike committee is having a cow because no one will be able to get to Rocky Point without the overpass. Big news! I'm playing golf and writing some. We did a gig for Jan Therrien's retirement - good fun. I got a new driver for my birthday - Calloway Diablo is what I went with, because I get a free fairway wood with it - I'm going to get a 5 wood. MIss you Kev, but there is nothing I would rather you be doing than back packing and finding God. Stay away from the devil weed. Watch between meal treats, and brush often with Crest, Kev. Stay in civilixed countries ( don't go to Morocco or anything crazy like that.) See you soon, LOts of love ,Dad

[Caryl Nelson]

Hello my boy!!
Hi Kevin, it was great getting caught up on all your adventures, such an amazing time you are having, and seeing so many fantastic sights. Even though you are travelling quite quickly I don't get the feeling that the pace it too fast, it really seems perfect to me!! I too may have screwed up because I thought I had sent a message on Sunday, but it may not have gone through, so I'll repeat a little bit of it ....Lauren and I picked up Gage and Devyn from the airport on Sunday, spent the day with them had fun at Horseshoe Bay waiting for the ferry and then took them over to Auntie Shelaghs. We walked on and she picked us up. The boys are so great, fun to be with and so polite and sweet. We spent the night had a great visit...Travis is adorable also and then came home today. I am still trying to finish up at work so will go in tomorrow, Thurs and Friday. Wednesday is Canada Day (make sure you let people know) we are going to Dave Taylor's for a BBQ. And then hopefully I'll really be finished!! Caryl has quite a little barnyard in the back yard...quite neat really. 7 Hens , 4 chicks, 2 ducks and her dogs. It was really cute watching Travis go into the hen house with his little basket and come out with 6 eggs. Quite educational for him, he is a really nice little boy, it was good getting to know him a little better, he is 4 and will be starting Kindergarten in Sept.Hard to believe! Anyway it was a nice, short visit, but a nice way to start my holiday!! All is well at home, we sure love you and are proud of how well you are handling everything and taking advantage of all that you can. Love you so much, Mom

[Jay]

Cinque Terre Rules!
Had to be another favorite of mine! Nice work Kev, sounds like you guys are having such a good time! We're thinkin about you guys back home and definitely missed you at Spike days! Not quite as eventful as last year, but good times nonetheless... Thought I'd let you know that Chad and I have now taken the glorious bocce title! Woot woot! Love ya man, keep up the entries...