Venice

Today is our first day in Venice.

To get to our apartment from the airport we had to go on a boat.  The boats are called Vaparettos and they are the buses for Venice.

We are in an upstairs apartment. We are on the top floor.  Our bedroom is up some stairs which is really cool.  The rooms are really big and the roof is made out of wood and bricks.

Outside the window we have a washing line that goes on a pulley so we can hang our washing out. They don't have any verandahs or backyards so the people here hang their washing across the street.  You have to be careful not to drop it.

On our first night we had pizza for dinner,

 and we saw the sunset over the canal.

In the morning there was a bell ringing from a church. It was very loud because it is not very far from our windows.

In Venice there are no cars at all. There are only boats so you have to walk or go on a boat on a canal.   Some of the streets ended at a canal and you could fall in if you didn't stop.  To get onto a boat when they are parked at the side of the canal, they have to climb across other peoples boats.

There are special boats called gondalas.  The people that row them have to duck when they go under the bridges because they are standing on the top of the boat. I think it would be easy for them to fall off.

The Police can get around on foot or on boats.  We saw some Police and their uniform was very nice with red stripes on the pants.  They have a little bag that hangs on their belt at the back but we don't know what it has in it.

Today is Monday.  We went fo a walk and after mum and dad had a coffee we had some little biscuits that were yummy.  We did lots of looking around in the lanes and canals of Venice.  We bought a Venetian mask for Holly.  We went on a gondola which was awesome but not long enough.  Dad went after us so he could take pictures of mamma and us on it.  We had pizza for lunch again and it was cheesey and yummy.  We had a caramel flavoured gelato for desert.  We are having dinner in tonight for a change because we have been eating out.  Last night Holly had chicken and chips and everyone else had pasta at a restaraunt.

There are no cars in Venice at all.  Everyone gets around on boats or by walking.  Venice is really small.  There are also ferries and gondolas to get around on.  Only tourists catch most gondolas because they are very expensive.  The one we got on was a local one just for people who live in Venice.  Because we are not from Venice we paid a bit more but not much.

There are los of markets in Venice an lots of people selling souvenirs.  There are some beggars and people selling fake purses and junk things.  We saw some Police who had confiscated some handbags from one of them because it is against the law to sell them.

One day we went to an island on a vaporetto. It has lots of houses on it that are all different colours. There are canals and no cars on the island. We had a pizza for lunch sitting by the water. There was a friendly cat.

On the way out there we passed some tiny islands that had old ruins on them.

We went to an island called Murano where there are lots of glass makers. There are lots of shops and they have big fires out the back called furnaces. You can sit and watch them make things out of glass.  We went to one and they let us choose a piece of glass from a big tub they had.

Paris

Paris is really cool.  There are lots of really old buildings and things that Mum and Dad say are famous.  We are staying in a Police house in a suburb called Villemomble. It has lots of cool Police stuff inside.

We climbed the Eiffel Tower.

 There were 700 stairs to the 2nd level. Up the top was a really good view of the city. There is a lift to go up but you have to stand in a really long queue to get tickets.

There are lots of people selling things to the tourists. They are selling mini Eiffel towers. They run away when the Police are coming so they don't get caught because they are not allowed to sell things on the street.

One day on the street we saw a tiny car. It could only fit 2 people and it was more like a motor bike. The man had to put the seat forward so the lady could hop in the back, then he put it back again and sat in the front.  The owner let us sit in it.

We walked down the Champs Elysees and there were car display rooms. We got to sit on a motorbike with 2 wheels at the front. There was a car that was sliced in half so we could see in the middle of it.

This is the Champs Elysees. The Arc de Triomph is at the end.

We went to a park in the Luxembourg gardens.

There used to be a Palace there where the Royal family used to live. Now it has a big playground.  It was really cool, there is a big flying fox that goes round in a circle.

 There is an old merry go round and lots of people relaxing near the water fountains and playing soccer and tennis.

On Thursday it was cold and a bit wet. We went to see the Sacre Coeur. It is on top of a hill and there is a funicular to get up there.

 In the afternoon we went to the Military Museum. We saw Napoleons Tomb. Napoleon was an important French man who led the armies to victory.  At the museum was lots of armour and also armour for ladies and kids.  It was mainly for show.  Underneath the armour they wore chain mail which is made of lots of little chains for extra protection.

On Friday we went to see the Notre Dame Cathedral.

It can fit more than 6000 people in it and it is sometimes called The Forest because it was made with lots and lots of trees. On the outside are lots of gargoyles which look like little flying animals. It was very big and there was a very long line to climb to the top of the tower. Inside were lots of pictures of Jesus.

There is a bridge where lots of people hang padocks to show they love each other. They throw the keys into the river so they can't unlock them.

There is a building that is made out of pipes and has escalators on the outside. Inside is an art gallery.

In the evening we went to the Arc de Triomphe.  Underneath the Arc is a burial tomb for the unknown soldier who represent people who died in the wars.  There is a flame that never goes out.  Every night, other soldiers come here to lay flowers and say a prayer for the unknown soldier.  It was very cold because the wind was blowing.

There were lots of Police guarding there.

We had dinner on the Champs Elysees afterwards to get warm and then we went to see the Eiffel Tower lit up.

Mum and Dad got us lost on the metro on the way home. It took a long time to get home and Holly fell asleep on the train.

On our last day in Paris we went to the Louvre Museum.  This is where they have lots of famous art. We saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.

There was also lots of statues and in the Egyptian sections they had some mummies which really old. The building has lots of decorations inside, especially on the roof.

After the Louvre we went to have a hot chocolate at a famous cafe called Angelinas.

It came in a jug and had a little pot of cream.  The hot chocolate was really thick and yummy. It tasted like drinking melted chocolate.

The last thing we did was go for a boat ride on the river on a water bus. It went up and down the river past all the sights we had been to like the Eiffel Tower. We got off here and went on a carousel.

On the carousel they had lots of diffent animals as well as horses and a top level. Paris was awesome, because of the hot chocolates and the Eiffel Tower.

The best thing about Paris was going on the carousels and climbing Eiffel tower and seeing it at night. We liked eating the croissants and having food at cafes.

a week in Barcelona

Tuesday 17th Montjuic

Today we went looking for a playground.  We found a big park called Parc de la Cuitadella. It had big fountain and a statue of a woolly mammoth.

We found a playground but it was only for babies.

We walked down by the harbour and saw lots of boats.

We went on a funicular. It went up a tunnel. Then we went on a cable car to get up to the top of a mountain. Mummy was scared.

At the top there were cannons and a castle. We could climb on the cannons. The castle is called Montejuic.  There is a really good view of the harbour.

Wednesday 18th

Today we went to a playground and it was fun. There was a wobbly bridge and a slippery dip and there was lots of holes where you can hide. A group of high schoolers came.  The slide was very slippery.

After that we went to the maze and we walked through it to the middle. It was easy to get to the middle, but it was very hard to get out because there were lots of dead ends.  It was made out of bushes.

When we came out of the maze we went back to the playground and Holly got a nettle in her hand.

We caught the metro and went to La Rambla and we visited the Police Station. The police man swapped hats with Daddy and took us around the Police Station we got to sit in a Police car.

Then we sat down and had some pizza and some paella.

 Then we had a look in the market. In the market there was fish and it was smelly and there were crabs and lobsters that were still alive and they were moving.

We talked to some other Police too. They had funny hats.

Thursday and Friday.
We went for another train ride to a big place down by the beach.  We played at the park but there were lots of kids there and they were a bit rough and rude.

We went for a big long walk on the path next to the beach and found a cafe where we had churros which is long donuts and we dipped them in a really nice chocolate drink.  It was the best yummy thing. The chocolate was really thick

On our last day we got a bus to a big park called Parc Guell.  We walked aound it a lot.  There were lots of people selling souvenirs and begging and they ran away when the Police were coming.  There are lots of mosaics and statues there. The park was very nice. It has good views of the city.

Just around the corner from our flat is the cathedral called Sagrada Familia. It is very famous and was designed by the same man who made the statues in the park. They have been building it for over 100 years.  It is supposed to be finished in 40 years time.