tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-869665193573265142010-02-08T16:15:57.896-08:00Le Avventure Di Sophia GrafMy thrilling adventures in Europe!jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-41334398204832679252007-09-03T09:10:00.000-07:002007-09-03T12:14:38.912-07:00IrelandOur last trip before leaving was a short, three day trip to Dublin to meet up with my uncle and his fiancée, who is Irish. We just made it to our gate after we stood in line for McDonalds for breakfast, the longest line I have ever seen at one. At our gate, we met my Uncle Jim, who had taken an overnight flight from Texas and had been at the airport for two hours already. An hour later, we arrived in Dublin and were met by Helen, my aunt-to-be. She and one of her friends drove us to our apartment, where we settled in. A little while later we met back with Uncle Jim and Helen and found lunch at Café Sophia on the way to the Guinness Factory. The factory was basically a museum about making beer. There was also an advertising section where, for reasons unknown to me, there was a totally random, old harp. It wasn’t even the harp that the logo is based on, because that one is at Trinity College, also in Dublin. Anyways, it was another harp to add to my collection of pictures, so I took a picture with it. Part of the reason we had come was because included in the ticket was a free pint of Guinness, or in my case a free soda. We had a fabulous dinner at Helen’s sister’s house, with hamburgers and lots of other good food. We went home late that night in two separate taxis.<br />On Sunday, we went to a church called St. Kevin’s which was just around the corner from us. It was really sad because it was a big, beautiful church and the basically the only people who were there were old ladies. After church we took a train to a city called Drogheda to meet Helen’s aunt, who is a nun. We had tea at the convent and then she took us around the town. We saw the head of St. Oliver Plunkett and my mom bought a book about it and is now reading it to us. St. Oliver Plunkett was a martyr who was drawn and quartered and his head remains preserved. It was really brown and creepy, but there were teeth, hair, and skin so he kind of looked real. After we saw the head, we went up a hill to see if we could get into the castle. It was a motte and bailey castle, one of the early types of castles and the first of that kind I had seen all summer. It was a very typical motte and baily, with a single, circular tower (the motte) on top of a man-made hill (the bailey) surrounded by a stone fence. We went up to see if we could get in, but since it was 6:00 they were closing everything up. We decided it was time to go, so Helen’s aunt took us to a bus that would take us to Dublin. As a goodbye present she bought us all ice creams and even got me a Turkish Delight candy bar when I pointed it out to my mom. The bus took about forty-five minutes and when we got to O’Connel Street, the main street in Dublin, we had fish and chips at a restaurant that was really fancy for being just a fish and chips. We took the city bus home, then put the three younger children to bed while I got to stay up and have dessert and watch TV with my parents.<br />On our last day in Ireland we met my Uncle Jim and Helen for breakfast at a nice café called Bewley’s. I got a yummy pear Danish with custard in it and a berry smoothie. After breakfast we walked down the road to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the Brian Boru harp. The Book of Kells is a really old set of the Gospels that monks somewhere illustrated really flambouyantly. I didn’t really get to see it because the crowd was really thick, but I did get to see the Brian Boru harp, which was originally thought to have been Brian Boru’s harp, an old king of Ireland, but wasn’t actually made until five hundred years later. Even so, it is the oldest Irish harp and is the basis for both the Guinness and the Irish government logo. From Trinity College we got a taxi to pick our suitcases up at the apartment and then take us to the airport. Our flight home was uneventful, and that was the end of our travels.<br />The End.<br /><br />Yessssssssssss!! No more journaling! He He! I am forever released from the evil clutches of this horrible beast! No more writing for three more days!! But then school starts. BLAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-4133439820483267925?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-81085573361131168952007-08-29T09:29:00.000-07:002007-08-31T01:53:30.289-07:00GermanyThe day we left for Germany we had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning in order to make it to our 8 o'clock flight. We were supposed to leave at 4 o'clock, but were late and didn't leave until 4:30. Still, we managed to make up the lost time while driving. When we got to the airport, we waited for our check in desk number to show up. Since we hadn't had breakfast, we couldn't refuse the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Krispy</span></span></span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Kreme</span></span></span></span> stand (they have so many <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Krispy</span></span></span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Kreme's</span></span></span></span> here, why isn't it like that in the States?). When the doughnuts were all devoured and our desk number still hadn't shown up, with only an hour until boarding, we decided to investigate. My dad figured out that for international flights on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">easyJet</span></span></span></span> there wasn't a specific desk, so we went through line and arrived at security with only forty-five minutes left. We had to run to make it in time for our preferred boarding (because we're a family) but we did get there and just in time, too. Once again I was amazed at how much can change after such a short flight. Since <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Passau</span></span></span></span> is a small town, it doesn't have it's own airport. We landed in the Munich airport and then discovered that both my parents' drivers <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">licences</span> had expired, so we couldn't get the rental car we had been counting on. Because of this, we were forced to take the train, but this proved impossible because of construction, so we had to take a bus, then a train, another bus and finally one more train. When we finally arrived in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Passau</span></span></span></span>, we still had a long walk ahead of us to the hotel. The six of us dragged our luggage along the Danube River to our hotel, the Hotel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Residenz</span></span></span></span>. That hotel was by far the best one we had stayed at all summer (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">hah</span></span></span></span>! Italy doesn't even begin to compare). There was a small library, with couches and a snack menu, a bar, free <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Internet</span> access, and even English-speaking receptionists. Best of all, there were miniature <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Haribo</span></span></span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Goldbear</span></span></span></span> packets on the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">reception</span> desk the first day we came. When we got up to the rooms, we were thrilled to find <em><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Spongebob</span></span></span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Schwamkopf</span></span></span></span></em> on TV. We could pretty much understand it, since <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Spongebob</span></span></span></span> isn't a very verbal show. We could figure out most of the plots and even saw a few reruns. That night for dinner we went to a cute restaurant that reminded me of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Gepettos</span></span></span></span> Restaurant in Disneyland. They advertised that they spoke English there, but our <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">waiter</span> didn't really speak it. When choosing how to split up in our hotel rooms that night, my mom said that she would pay me three euros a night to put everyone to bed and be the "responsible one" at night while she and my dad got to sleep in the double room.<br /><br /><br /><br />The German breakfast was by far the best breakfast we have ever had (remember the vat of cornflakes? If not, see <em>London</em>). There was yogurt, cereal, dried fruit, canned fruit, rolls, meats, cheeses, juices, coffee, hot chocolate, and many different kinds of tea. The presentation was all fantastic and the eating area was clean. While my dad went to work (this <em>was</em> supposed to be a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">business</span> trip, after all) my mom dragged us to the cathedral, or Dom, to see what used to be the world's biggest church organ (it was passed up by a church in LA just recently) and listen to a concert. It was very elaborate, but we all got bored after a short time and I had to take Anthony outside early. After that, we went back to the hotel and finished getting ready for the day. We went in search of Bears And Friends, a candy store filled entirely with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">gummies</span></span></span></span>, that my dad had told us about last time he came here. We found it, after getting directions from the hotel receptionist, and as soon as we walked in the smell engulfed us. Not only were there bags and bags of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">gummies</span></span></span></span>, but there also gummy creations like a beer glass filled with gold <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">gummies</span></span></span></span> and topped with marshmallows and a pizza with banana shapes for the crust and shoestring candy for the tomato sauce. The store was long and rectangular, with a stairway in the middle going up to a storeroom. At each end of the shop was a till (he he!) where the cashier (I guess you can't say tiller) was making gummy creations and handing out free samples. We wandered around for a while, just taking in the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">enormous</span> amount of candy surrounding us. I walked over to the window display and found the legendary tortes made entirely out of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">gummies</span></span></span></span>. The mini torte was about five inches in diameter and four inches tall of solid <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">gummies</span></span></span></span>, and the large torte was the size of a normal, two-layer cake. I was going to buy a mini torte for myself, but then my mom said that she would buy it for the whole family to share. (Now she's threatening to bring it to our family party on Labor Day, I knew I should have bought one for myself too!) In the end I decided to buy a kilogram bag of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">gummies</span></span></span></span> that were on sale. Later I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">deciphered</span> the German on the back enough for it to tell me that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">gummies</span></span></span></span> had multivitamins in them. No wonder they were on sale!<br /><br /><br /><br />Once we had made our purchases, we left Bears and Friends in search of lunch. I found a cafe and chocolate shop with a yummy, reasonably priced menu in English. There were some translation issues, though, because I ordered "pancake soup" wondering what in the world it could be and I got plain noodle soup.<br /><br /><br /><br />We had quiet time in the hotel room that day where Anthony took a nap and Cindy was forced to wait for Thomas and I do <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">necessary</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">journaling</span></span></span></span> before we could watch any TV. When dinnertime came, we wanted to show my dad Cafe Simon, home of the pancake soup, but it was closed by the time we got there. Bumbling along at eight o'clock, starving and having no idea where to each, we fond refuge in an Italian restaurant where I got some delicious <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">tortellini</span>. Next door we got kiwi <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">gelato</span></span></span>, which tasted surprisingly like strawberry.<br /><br />Our third day, Saturday, was the day that we were going to go to <a href="http://www.neuschwanstein.com/english/index.htm"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Neuschwanstein</span></span> Castle</a>, the castle that the Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland is based upon, but without a car that was impossible. Instead, we climbed about 100 steps - nothing compared to the Eiffel Tower - to the top of a cliff across the river from our hotel. On top of the cliff is situated a castle, the reason why we had climbed up there. From the top of the cliff we could see most of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Passau</span></span> and all three of the rivers that it is built upon. We went into the exhibit, thinking that it was the castle museum, but it turned out to be the Myths and Legends exhibit that the castle was temporarily housing. The exhibit was really boring because all the English was really tiny and none of the artifacts were labelled in English, but I did find a medieval harp, one more to add to my collection of harps from around the world. Once again, we ate lunch at Simon, but we had to rush <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">because</span> we were late for boarding the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Krystalschiff</span></span>! (The Crystal Ship, made exclusively with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Swarovski</span></span> Crystals, sails a round trip from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Passau</span></span> stopping in Bavaria and Austria three times daily. Tickets are 11.50 euros for adults, half price for children, and free for third and fourth children and children under five.) Luckily, we got there in time and were even waiting a while for the ship to appear. Even the outside had crystal on it: there was a huge arch, full of crystals interspersed with white Christmas lights, that spread most of the length of the ship. From our <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">research</span> we had learned that the ship was spread across three levels, two indoor and one outdoor. What we didn't realize until we got in was the grandeur of the ship. There was a lounge on the first floor near the bow with circular booths, each capped by a throne-like chair. In the middle of the lounge area was a huge Greek-style statue (aka naked) of a woman which appeared to have been spray-painted silver. I decided that the boat would be much improved if I played the harp there ten years from now instead of that statue being in that spot. Behind the lounge was the entryway, with tile floors and a Christmas light studded ceiling. Behind that was the general area, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">proceeded</span> over by a grand staircase, on which the top of each stair was full of crystals, and topped by a huge waterfall fountain with color-changing lights. Behind the fountain there was a bar and throughout the whole second floor there were tables, just like in the general area of the first floor. The area above the first floor wasn't chairs though, because there was a hole through which the passengers on the first floor could see the huge chandelier (crystal, of course) that rippled out of the ceiling. Behind the captain's area on the second floor there was a refuge for all of the males who got dragged on by their wives/girlfriends/mothers. Well, actually it was a tiny room with a fake steering wheel and a GPS monitor, but Thomas spent most of his time there, partly because there was a big window where you could see the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">captain</span> steering the ship. The third floor was <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">outdoor and</span> had a lot of picnic tables as well as a bar that was closed because of the bad weather. (I swear, the bad weather follows us. I just hope we don't bring it back to San Diego.) We got two tables on the first floor right next to the "water theatre" under the staircase that was really just a grotto with a mermaid in it behind a projection of different parts of nature and harp music. Across from the grotto was a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Swarovski</span></span> crystal shop where we bought a little crystal as a memento of the trip. Throughout the whole ship there were panels of crystal and columns covered in fabric covered with bits of mirror. The walls were not solid, instead they were huge windows with the beautiful countryside behind them. The two hour ride was really relaxing and fun because we could wander around the whole ship by ourselves. By the end, we had decided that we wanted to decorate our house in San Diego like the Crystal Ship. when the boat came to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Passau</span></span> again, we rushed off in order to get back to Simon before they closed in order to get one of their delicious desserts. We got cherry-coconut pound cake, cherry strudel, and Simon's specialty, a liquor and chocolate cake with gold flakes on top. I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">tried</span> them all and have to say that the cherry strudel was my favorite. We went home (to the hotel) for our daily dose of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Spongebob</span></span>. later, Anthony and my parents went out together for dinner while the rest of us laid around watching TV. By that time I was really tired because every day Cindy and Anthony woke me up at like seven, when we had only just gotten to sleep at ten or eleven the night before. I know that doesn't sound that bad, but in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Hungerford</span></span> I had been sleeping in until nine every morning and I still hadn't caught up on the sleep I lost when we flew over to Germany. My parents brought back fish and chip (french fries), both clearly previously frozen, since I have developed quite a discriminating taste for fish and chips here in England.<br />On Sunday we went to church at the Dom (remember? it's the one with the big organ) and ended up at the festive mass. We had decided to take the later train to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Salzburg</span></span> at <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">noon</span> rather than have to go to the 7:30 mass in order to make a 9:30 train. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Salzburg</span>, in Austria, is famous for being Mozart's birthplace and the place where <em>The Sound of Music</em> was filmed. When we first arrived, we went to the tourist information <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">booth</span> and booked a semi-private van tour to get an overview of the city. On the tour we saw the place where Mozart was born and the place across the river where his family moved when he was like five. We also saw the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">von</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Trapp</span> mansion from the movie from across the lake and supposedly saw the abbey, but since it was on a hill I couldn't find it. The tour dropped us off by the cathedral in a square with a statue of Mozart and a cathedral, so we went into the cathedral. I don't remember it being very amazing, but maybe the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">number</span> of cathedrals I have been to this summer had dulled my admiration. After going into the cathedral we wandered around for a while and found the strangest, coolest shop I have ever seen. It was a shop filled with ornaments made out of eggshells. "Filled" is an understatement. It was absolutely overflowing with eggs in huge egg cartons, all sorted by color. There were even scenes painted on ostrich eggs with their own stands. My favorite eggs were pastel colors with cutout designs edged in embossed white paint. They reminded me of Victorian lace. There was also a cute jack-o-lantern egg and a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">snowflake</span> edged in glitter. After we had finished looking through the shop we wandered through the streets again and decided to have an early dinner. We found a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">restaurant</span> with <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">Austrian</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">Italian</span>, and Indian food that suited <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">every one's</span> tastes. For dessert we got ice cream at a shop in the first floor of the building where Mozart was born. My mm also bought "Mozart chocolate" for some of her friends. We found a palace garden kind of like the one in Paris and decided to play there for a while. The play area had a giant pyramid that had a huge slide that lasted for about twenty seconds. The only problem was <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">that it</span> took almost twenty minutes to get Cindy and Anthony up it, because it was like they have at <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">McDonald's</span> with the alternating platforms you have to climb up. Having taken too long at the park, we rushed back to the train station and got on our train. It didn't get to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">Passau</span> until late at night, so we took a taxi from the station to the hotel. On our last day, we had that wonderful breakfast for one last time, then spent the morning shopping while my dad was at work. I got a black and white <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">crinkle</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">shirt</span> and a blue German barmaid shirt (they sell the dresses everywhere, even in department stores, so I think it must be like kilts where they wear them instead of "black tie"). We found a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">Pimkie</span> and went in, but didn't end up buying anything. We met up with my dad at the train station a 3:30 and them did the train, bus, train, bus <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">rigmarole</span> (because of the construction) to get to the airport. We sat at out gate for a long time, waiting to board, but it wasn't until long after the supposed takeoff time that there was an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">announcement</span> saying our flight had been delayed. Our plane finally did arrie around ten and we got to London Stanstead soon after. The worst traveling doo doo all summer happened that night when we had to wait in the passport control line for almost two hours. Even when we finished that, we still had a two hour drive to get home, and sadly the Krispy Kreme was not open, so we didn't get in bed until about three o'clock in the morning.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-8108557336113116895?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-50369127835563374452007-08-23T05:51:00.000-07:002009-06-29T10:41:53.091-07:00ParisWe took the Channel Tunnel ("<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Chunnel</span></span></span>") to Paris from London. I remember feeling upset through most of the ride over because I had to sit in the odd seat (we got a table group of four seats plus one more seat). <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Surprisingly</span>, most of the journey was spent above ground, travelling from London to the tunnel and from the end of the tunnel to Paris. It wasn't the exciting experience Thomas had led us to believe from his building <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">excitement</span> culminating in frequent outbursts of "WE'RE GOING ON THE <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">CHUNNEL</span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">TOMORROW</span>!" Instead, it was just like any other train ride, only on a faster and bigger train, not a "<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">caterpillar</span>" train as my mom calls the ones in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Hungerford</span></span>. When we got to Paris, we had lunch across the street from the train station, then took a taxi to the apartment we were renting. Out of all the apartments so far, this on was probably the best. It had originally been a one bedroom apartment, but lofts had been added above the washroom (I don't know what else to call it, it was a tiny room with a washer, dryer, and sink in it in the bedroom) and above the kitchen. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Immediately</span> we decided that the boys would <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">get</span> the bigger, more rickety loft over the kitchen while the girls would get the stronger, but smaller loft in the bedroom. I might also add that the girls' loft had a railing around it, while the boys' did not. That afternoon we took a walk to look for dinner and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Pompidou</span></span>, and were <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">successful</span> in both missions. We had pizza for dinner (as well as a lemon crepe with ice cream for dessert, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">mmmmm</span></span>!) outside the love of Thomas' life, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Pompidou</span></span>. You might ask what is so special about the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Pompidou</span></span>, and I will tell you that it is called "the inside-out building" because all it's pipes and escalators, etc. are on the outside of the building and not the inside like normal buildings. I, for one, thought it to be one of the most hideous buildings I had ever seen, but Thomas (and Anthony, who has been copying everything Thomas says in an effort to be just like him) loved it and thought it was the greatest building ever built. To add to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">horridness</span></span>, (he he, I am turning British!) the pipes are color coded with bright red, green, yellow, blue, and white paint to show which ones are for electricity, water, air conditioning, and so on. I'm sorry if this offends you Stephanie, but my first glimpse of a Paris monument was not a happy one. We also saw the Hotel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">de</span></span> Ville, which was a lot nicer in my opinion than the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Pompidou</span></span>. There was a beach festival going on in Paris, so in front of the Hotel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">de</span></span> Ville was a beach volleyball court. There were also fake beaches set up alongside the river with sand, palm trees, umbrellas, and beach chairs.<br /><br />The next day, Sunday, we tried walking to the Eiffel Tower, but then when the heavens opened up above us we decided that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Lourve</span> might be more appropriate for the weather that day, seeing as the three of us that did not have umbrellas were <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">thouroughly</span> soaked. There was much argument as we children were dragged through the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">museam</span> to see famous things such as the Winged Nike, Mona Lisa, Venus <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">de</span> Milo, and Code of Hammurabi, as well as some other, less famous things in other exhibits and collections. That night we went to a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">crepery</span> for dinner, after my continuous stream of pleading that drove the family so insane that they eventually caved in and found one near the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">POMPIDOU</span>! Just for good measure, they forced me to walk the long way around THAT building and even stop to take a picture.<br /><br />The wafting scent of croissants among the other delectable pastries enticed us and prompted us to stop in and buy some for breakfast before we made our way towards the Metro stop to try once again to complete the trek to the Eiffel Tower. We rose from the ground and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">immediately</span> began wondering where in the world the tower could be, for it was nowhere in sight. Then we turned the corner and, boom!, there it was. The huge, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">lace like</span> structure loomed above us, throwing it's shadow on the park below. We walked down the long strip of grass to the amazing structure. We asked at the information desk about eating at a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">restaurant</span> in the tower, but apparently they are booked up to two weeks in advance, so we stood in line for the stairs, which were only 4 euros for as high as you could climb. The elevator, however, was 4.50 euros just to get to the first floor and 7.50 to the second. The top floor, which Thomas <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">really</span> wanted to go to, could only be reached by the elevator, which cost 11.50 euros and was temporarily closed. The whole time we were in line Anthony kept insisting that he would buy us an elevator, meaning that he would pay for our elevator tickets, but since we were in a stairs only ticket line that wasn't going to happen. So fate decided that we would climb all 704 stairs. The first three hundred or so to the first floor weren't all that bad because the stairs were marked every ten steps with their number, so that we could look and say "only 210 to go. . . only 200. . . 190 more. . . almost there, only 180 more!" We wandered <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">around</span> the first floor looking at all the signs pointing out the landmarks, such as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Notre</span> Dame. Unlike in the dome of St. Peter's, I wasn't scared at all because the Eiffel Tower has a whole floor that you can walk around on with exhibits, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">restaurants</span>, and shops, but in the dome there was just a little ledge. Also, there was a thick, decorative railing as well as a wire screen, as opposed to just a stone railing. Then we discovered a dirty cafe to eat lunch at (Hey, why not? It's still in the Eiffel Tower!) like the kind you find at castles that are run by the company that owns the castle. (We have eaten at far too many of those this summer. I don't want to see <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">another</span> one for a long time.) I got a quiche that was cold in the middle because it hadn't been in the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">microwave</span> for long enough. To work off all the ice cream we'd been eating, we climbed like 400 more stairs to the second floor. The sights were amazing from the second floor, it was almost like looking down upon an aerial map. We could even see the Arch of Triumph from there, which was really far away. While the boys looked even more at the city, my mom, Cindy and I found a nice chocolate store where we bought chocolate with little pictures of things all over Paris on it. After climbing <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">back</span> down all 704 steps, Cindy, Anthony, Thomas, and I rode the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">carousal</span> next to the Eiffel Tower. We almost took a boat ride, but instead walked to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Amarino</span> (thanks, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">ss</span>!), a fantastic ice cream place. You get to choose three favors, even on a small cone, and they make your cone into a rose shape. Later on we found out that there was on right by our apartment in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Pompidou</span> square. Following more of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">ss</span> and her family's advice, since it had proved to be good, we headed to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Jardin</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">de</span> Luxembourg. This is a park that used to be a palace garden but is now open to the public and filled with really cool things like a huge play area, pony rides, and a pond in front of the palace where you can rent sailboats to sail. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM4242-717383.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM4242-716931.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a>We rented three boats for a half hour each, but I had to share mine with Anthony, which made it kind of hard. We also got a kind of bad boat, but even so it was really fun. Anthony kept trying to slap the water with his boat pushing stick and also tried to touch the bottom with it, so that by the time the half hour was over I was glad to give back the stick. Our boat had kept coming back like a boomerang, and by the time it learned that it was supposed to go into the open it was time to bring the boats back in. Cindy's had been sailing really well and Thomas' boat was alright, and even though our boat had sailed the worst, that half hour of pushing it along had been quite enjoyable. <br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q2xeBisLac4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q2xeBisLac4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />After much debate, we decided that the best thing to do would be to got o the Champs Elysee rather than <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Pimkie</span>, as I had originally wanted (we had passed one once the day before and since then I had been set on going). We took the metro there but got off too early so that we ended up walking a long way between trees on our right and portable theatre seats on our left before we got anywhere near the shops. The whole thing reminded me a lot of the Royal Mile in London, especially its length. The whole way down we kept wondering what the stands had been for (they were being taken down, so we knew that the event had already taken place). Finally, someone figured out that the Tour <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">de</span> France had finished just the day before! We had even been here in Paris (well, at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Lourve</span>) and had had no idea that it was anything other than a normal weekend. We eventually reached the real street that was full of shops and began looking for a place to eat dinner. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">The</span> previous nights my dad had been unsatisfied with our <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">restaurant</span> choices, so we decided to let him choose tonight. We looked for a while, then got sidetracked and went into a wonderful chocolate shop. There was chocolate in every <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">shape</span> you can think of, from cell phones to mice and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">lighthouses</span> to bars with Merci! written across them and, of course, the inevitable Eiffel Tower. The smell of chocolate, chocolate, chocolate was overwhelming, so we had to buy some even though it was going to close in two minutes. My favorite thing was a salad made entirely out of chocolate, complete with olives and a hard boiled egg. Anthony kept begging and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">begging</span> for an Eiffel Tower, but my dad didn't think that a two year old would fully appreciate the sculpture, so instead Anthony got a giant chocolate coin with the Eiffel Tower on one side. We also bought a long thin stick of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">squares</span> of chocolate. As soon as we left, the store closed and we continued our quest to find dinner. When we did find it, I got the best onion soup ever. Cindy decided that she would pay for six escargot for the family so that we could try them! She and I each tried one, and then we got my dad to try one too. The snails didn't look that good because they came in their shells, but they smelled really good. We showed the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">waiter</span> that one of them got stuck in the shell, to see if he could get it out, and when he couldn't he gave us another half dozen free! Since no one else really wanted any more, Cindy and I had a few and then made my mom eat the last one because she had tole everyone that they were really good and yet had not had any herself. The reason she didn't want to was because the last time she had escargot she ate so many that she threw up. Eventually she did eat it after we used the threats she uses on us, like no dessert and having to eat the snail for breakfast. This made her feel a bit sick later, but it was worth it for the profiteroles we had for dessert. There were three cream puffs on each of the two plates we ordered, but they were so heaped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream that it was hard to tell where they were. After dinner we walked further down the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">Champs</span> Elysee to do the shopping my mom had promised me. The first hop we found open was Zara, so my mom and I went in there while the rest of the family found the Disney store. We came out, about an hour later, with four things: a khaki miniskirt, white shorts, and a striped white and gold shirt for me and a black shirt with a Parisian scene on it for my mom. I was really excited about the new clothes because I hadn't packed enough for three and a half months. My mom consented to pay for them because she admitted herself that she was sick of the same shirts I keep wearing over and over. When we met the rest of the family outside and told them what we had bought, Thomas asked, "Why do you need <em>more</em> clothes?"<br />I answered, "Well, I only have about seven shirts, and only one pair of shorts."<br />And, being a boy, he had to answer, "Well, isn't that enough?"<br />Tuesday, our last day, began once again at a pastry shop, though this time at a different one. We also went to a candy store by the Pompidou, where we learned that the owners would be opening up another shop in LA soon. Then we had to go finish packing and say goodbye to the Pompidou. When we got to the station we had lunch at Paul, which is really nice normally and passable at the station. them we rode the chunnel where I was lucky to have no one in the seat next to me, so that Anthony could have his own seat, where he prompltly fell asleep. We had missed the last direct train to Hungerford by the time we made it to Paddington Station, so we had to take a really crowded train to Newbury and change there for the train to Hungerford. The only problem was that our train got delayed and we were stuck in Newbury where my parents finished reading <em>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</em>, constantly interrupted by the cool female voice announcing the trains.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-5036912783556337445?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-23150678975343873242007-08-23T05:45:00.000-07:002007-08-23T05:49:32.194-07:00NewHey everyone<br />Just wanted to point out the new countdown timer at the bottom of the blog. It's counting down to Sept. 4 (aka the first day of school- eek!). It really doesn't seem that long, so I've just given up on email (you might have noticed that I seem to have vanished) and have mostly been journaling and blogging. Aaaaaargh! So much for summer!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-2315067897534387324?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-7864247041551829292007-08-21T08:26:00.000-07:002007-08-30T13:04:36.857-07:00ScotlandOur train ride to Scotland was rather uneventful except for that we got on the wrong train during our last switch. There were two trains to Edinburgh within three minutes of each other, and we got on the 12:03 instead of the 12:00. Luckily the ticket lady was really nice and didn’t make us pay a fine. The only bad part was that we ended up being on the train an hour longer than we would have originally. We met Aunt Ellen, my dad’s aunt, at the station. She and Uncle Geoffrey live in a big old house from the 1800s with tall ceilings and servant bells. It was really nice and there were tons of rooms, even enough for our entire family to sleep comfortably. Best of all, I got my own room with THICK curtains! Another great thing was that we got homemade meals that we didn't have to cook as well as huge breakfasts and we got chauffered around so that we didn't have to mess with public transport.<br /><br />You can see some pictures on <a href="http://www.blogger.com/thomas/2007/08/scotland.html">Thomas's blog</a>.<br /><br /><strong>Day One:</strong><br /><br />Our first day in Scotland was very cold (all the others were too) but luckily it didn't rain like is the norm here in the UK. We went to see Edinburgh Castle, the main attraction (and "Boardwalk" in Edinburgh Edition Monopoly) and the site of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo (also featured in Monopoly but I forget where) that happens every fall. There were huge stands set up and more being worked on for the Tattoo that will take place in October. When we got into the castle, we went on a tour of the grounds and then went by ourselves to see the crown jewels. They are the oldest complete set (scepter, sword, and crown) in Europe (I think!). On display with them is the Stone of Destiny where all of the Kings of Scotland have been crowned (while sitting on it) and is sent back to London for the crowning of modern day monarchs (a.k.a. Queen Elizabeth). We also saw the royal apartments where King James VI and I had been born (he was one person, the sixth James of Scotland and the first James of England, he united the two countries). there was also a display on the prisoners of war kept in the castle and what the prisoners left behind, like graffiti and crafts.<br /><br />That afternoon we ate lunch at the Elephant House, one of the two cafes that J K Rowling had written at. They had really good food and a mice view of the castle from the table where JKR used to sit.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Day Two:</strong><br /><br />Our second day in Scotland was spent at Loch Leaven. It's a big loch with good fly fishing and a few small islands, one of which houses a ruined castle. We had been planning on taking the ferry to the castle, but when we stepped out of the car and were blasted by the cold and wind we decided that it was too cold. We almost went straight home, but then my dad found a trail that led to a huge playground. It was huge because it had a lot of equipment and because the equipment was large, so even the adults could play. The best thing was a Flying Fox seat (like one of those things where you hold onto a handle and it slides down to the other end, except this one had a seat) because it was really smooth and went on for a long time. There was also a nest swing that reminded me of a hammock seat made out of plastic. We played at the park for a while, then had a picnic lunch and went home, to Thomas’ great excitement, via the Firth of Fourth Road Bridge. Thomas got a book filled with famous structures and the Firth of Fourth Railway Bridge is in there. Since it’s a railway bridge we didn’t get to go on it, but we could see it from the road bridge. We had to rest up because that night was the Harry Potter release! (for more details see “Getting THE BOOK” “New Harry Potter Book!” and “The Queue”)<br /><br /><br /><strong>Day Three:</strong><br /><br />On Day Three, a very rainy day and our last one in Scotland, we went to an aerospace museum, this time accompanied by Uncle Geoffrey and Cousin Emily. The museum wasn’t just any museum though. It housed, in addition to a ton of other airplanes (or aeroplanes as they say here), a real Concorde jet! Now if you have spoken to Thomas in the past few years, you probably know what a Concorde is, but for those who haven’t it is the first commercial airliner to exceed the speed of sound. Then it had an accident and they all got grounded, so they were put into museums around the world. The one we saw was called “GBOAA” so you can Google that and see pictures of it in flight. (Thomas has done this so many times that he has memorized the code and told it to me as soon as I asked.) The “Concorde Experience” at the museum cost extra, but it was the whole reason we had come so we shoveled out the cash willingly. The “Experience” consisted of going at your appointed time to the Concorde Hanger and listening to the audio guide you received. There were information points both inside and outside the “aeroplane,” so all nine of us crowded into the “toothpick” (you’ll see why it’s called that if you look at the pictures). The inside was really small, with just two seats on each side. The windows were tiny, just about 4in by 5in. Everything was grey, and there were only about 20 rows of seats. At the front of the seats there were many different measurement things displayed so that the passengers could see when they broke the sound barrier and other important things like that. After we finished listening, we milled around for a while and then saw a movie about how they transported GBOAA to the museum. Since it was grounded it could no longer fly, so instead they took it apart and put it on a combination of trains, and trucks through fields and cities. Once the movie was over, Cindy and Anthony played in the play area they had for kids. We had to leave early in order to change and get to church on time. After church we went to a nice Italian restaurant, called something like Vittoria’s, that was on the same street as the Elephant House. The next day we returned home by train.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-786424704155182929?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-88090182284403435112007-08-17T05:13:00.000-07:002007-08-17T05:21:52.414-07:00We're Coming Home!We've just recieved confirmation about our plane tickets home! We're flying home Saturday, September 1st at 11:30 AM my time and arriving 2:30 PM your time or 10:30 PM my time. I'll have Sunday and Monday to recover from the jetlag, then back to school on Tuesday! Aaaaaaaaaaagh! I probably won't be alive enough to visit anyone on Sunday and maybe even Monday, but I'll definitly see you all on Tuesday! I'm so glad I'm finally coming home. It's only 15 days away!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-8809018228440343511?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-83987478506141591022007-08-15T07:42:00.001-07:002007-08-19T13:22:40.805-07:00By the Time I Get Home, I Will Have Visited All These Countries!<img src="http://www.world66.com/myworld66/visitedEurope/countrymap?visited=AUENFRGEIEITSCVCWA" width="400"/><br /><br /><a href="http://www.world66.com/myworld66/visitedEurope">create your personalized map of europe</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-8398747850614159102?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-50789216817191712772007-08-15T07:21:00.000-07:002007-08-30T13:00:13.641-07:00RomeThe train to Rome was a disaster. Just after our stop at Bologna, about 2/3 of the way to Rome, the train stopped. An announcement was made that stated that there were "technical difficulties" and that we would be going again soon. About 45 minutes later another announcement was made that said we would be going back to the last station where we could get onto another train since this one could no longer run. Of course, that train was so full that we had to sit in the pull-out seats in the aisle. Only Anthony and my mom got a seat, where Anthony soon fell asleep. I spent the two hour journey crunched between people trying to walk down the aisle (the food cart was the worst) and trying not to fall off the seat (it was tilted down). When we finally got to the station (two hours later than we had planned, since we had paid for a high-speed train) we stood in line for a long time to get a refund, only to find that we were given free miles for and Italian train company. Seeing as this was our last journey in Italy, they were kind of useless. We stumbled around outside, trying to find our apartment, then eventually found it and got dinner.<br /><br />Places We Went:<br /><ul><li>St. Peter's - Our first full day in Rome was a Sunday, so of course it was spent in Vatican City. We went straight there, but even so we didn't make it through the security line untill 10. We had thought that mass started at 10, but it had already begun, so we stood in line through the whole mass and got second row seats for the next one. The reason we had been so confused was that there weren't signs anywhere saying the mass time, so we just had to guess. The hardest part was that the mass was in Italian, so I didn't understand a thing. The next day we came back to do the touristy stuff. We paid eight euros each to ride the elevator up to the inside of the dome, where I was scared. Then we climbed 300 stairs to the top of the dome where we found an outdoor balcony. That was where I was <em>really</em> scared, especially since there was just a banister, unlike the inside which had had a metal screen.<br /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4PJ-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQJQnGPaJ0nQqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPel%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,400,301" /></li><br /><li>Pantheon - the outside of the Pantheon was in relatively good shape for it's age, but the inside was in perfect condition. It had been turned into a Catholic church and had many tombs in it including that of Victor Emanuel who united Italy and that of the artist Raffaello (eek, I have no idea if those spellings are right!). The big dome (with a hole in the middle!) is really cool because since it's so close to the ground it seems a lot bigger than St. Peter's, but in reality it's only one meter bigger.<br /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4PG-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQJQnGoQQeJeqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPaP%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,400,301" /></li><br /><li>Colosseum - we stood in line for a loooooooong time only to find out that the ticket people only took cash. Since Cindy and Anthony were both full price, and we didn't have 66 Euros in cash, some of us would not be able to go. Even after the lady behind us traded us 15 Euros for 10 Pounds (the exchange rate is roughly 1.5 to 1), we still only had enough for four people to go. We decided that Thomas and Anthony, being boys, were automatically in, and since my mom had been already, twenty years ago, she would take whoever didn't go to get gelato. That left it between me and Cindy. At first she decided that she wanted to go, and that I would be left with the gelato, but she didn't seem sure, so I convinced her to get some yummy ice cream while I went inside. When we got inside, I was thouroughly underwhelmed since most of it had crumbled away. There was hardly any of the outer shell of marble left, since a lot of it had been scavenged a few years after the Roman Empire fell and even used in St. Peter's. We did see some bits of stone with words carved on them though that were supposed to be the senators' seats.<br /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6lQo%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4PG-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQJQnGoQQeooqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPaP%7CRup6aQQ%7C/of=50,301,400" /></li><br /><li>St. John Lateran - was another church that had been used as the "chief papal residence" before St. Peter's was built. It was a little bit smaller, but just as lavishly decorated. The ceiling was almost entirely gold, but my favorite decoration was the twelve statues of saints in white marble that lined the seating area. In a big cage-like thing above the altar there were supposidly some relics of the heads of Sts. Peter and Paul.<br /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4Pl-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQJQnGoQQeoQqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPao%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,400,301" /></li><br /><li>The Forum - Thomas said that he wanted to see some unrestored ruins and he got his wish with the Forum. It was basically a pile of rubble in a hot, dusty, archaological site with a few pillars here and there.<br /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4PJ-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQJQnGoQQe0eqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPel%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,400,301" /></li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-5078921681719171277?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-3363426594542071722007-08-15T05:29:00.000-07:002007-08-24T05:23:01.955-07:00The Hat Incident (part of Venice)On our way to lunch one day, we stopped at a bridge (like always) to let Anthony watch the boats go by. Thomas and Anthony went to one side and I went over with them, but got bored and went to the other side with Cindy and my parents.<br />A few minutes later, Thomas walked over with this look of terror on his face and said quietly “My hat went over.”<br /><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" alt="" src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6lQo%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4PJ-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQ0neelleoJoqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeJ%7CRup6aQQ%7C/of=50,301,400" border="0" /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6lQo%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4P0-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQ0neelleoJ0qpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPe0%7CRup6aQQ%7C/of=50,301,400" /><br /><br />“Ha ha!” laughed my mom, “Really?”<br />“Yeah,” whispered Thomas.<br />“Well, I guess it’s stuck there then.”<br />“NOOOOO!” wailed Thomas.<br />We all went over to the other side of the bridge to watch it float by. Then someone asked Thomas how it had happened.<br />“Well, I was trying to scare Anthony by saying ‘I’m going to drop my hat in the water’ and then I decided to pretend to do it, so I put my finger out below it and tried to drop it on the finger, but it missed.”<br />"Then I guess you deserve what happened, Thomas" declared my mom among peals of laughter from the rest of us.<br />We watched his hat float by and tried to think of how we could get it back. Just then, a gondola came round the corner.<br />"Excuse me," asked a lady nearby,"is that your hat?"<br />She talked to my mom for a bit in Italian, then began yelling "Gondolieri, gondolieri!"<br />Gondolieri is, of course, Italian for the person who poles a gondola, just like biker is English for the person who rides a bike.<br /><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px" alt="" src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4Pl-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQ0neelleoG0qpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPao%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,400,301" border="0" />The gondolieri poled over to the hat and leaned over the edge to pick it up. He threw it towards the bridge we were standing on and it landed in the middle, nearly hitting a tourist.<br />"Yes!" cried Thomas, "My hat!"<br />Even so, he may not have learned to keep a close eye on his hat because the very next day he threatened once again to throw it over, this time out of a water taxi window . . .<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-336342659454207172?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-48018196075176964032007-08-15T05:13:00.001-07:002007-08-30T12:59:13.435-07:00Venice<img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4PJ-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQ0neelleo0nqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeJ%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,400,301" /><br />We took a two hour train ride from Milan to Venice and met the daughter of the owner of our rented apartment, who showed how to find it in the maze of Venice. It was a rather crummy place that had the sense of an old mansion at night. Even so, we had access to our own private canal, where we could dock our invisible boat.<br /><br />Things We Saw:<br />• Casa D’Oro – an old mansion on the Grand Canal<br />• Grand Canal – the main canal that runs through most of Venice<br />• Piazza San Polo – a piazza near our apartment surrounded by shops and restaurants, but empty in the middle. It was always relatively empty, especially compared to San Marco<br />• Piazza San Marco – the biggest square in Venice, home Saint Mark’s Cathedral and hundreds of pigeons. The pigeons are only encouraged by the many stands selling birdseed.<br />• Isle of Murano – the island famous for its glass. We went at 7:00 PM, thinking we were so smart and that there would be no crowds. We were wrong. Everything was closed, even the glass stores, and the island was a ghost town.<br />• Rialto Bridge – after we went to murano we ate at a nice resturaunt by the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge. The bridge is really neat because it’s huge and has shops going up and down it.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-4801819607517696403?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-10082062622670356712007-07-23T12:29:00.001-07:002007-07-23T12:29:29.358-07:00The Queue<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/PjmA24eNwEc' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/PjmA24eNwEc'/></object></p><p>This is the length of the queue at Waterstone's bookstore in Edinburgh when we arrived. </p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-1008206262267035671?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-67503837528372051292007-07-23T00:37:00.000-07:002007-07-23T10:23:16.190-07:00Getting THE BOOK<img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4P0-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQQJxPQPxeoGxQQQJPQPeoGQnaqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPee%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,400,301" alt="My Great Aunt Ellen"/><br />The main point of our trip to Edinburgh was to get the last (sniff, sniff) Harry Potter book by way of an authentic stay-up-till-midnight-release thing. Well, we stayed up till 11, then drove to the bookstore (which happened to be right next to the hotel that JKR wrote the last words in and wrote the secret message (something about "here I, JKR, finished the last Harry Potter book on .....") on a bust of Hadrian. Some people tried to make it connect to the book by saying that there was a guy in history whoose last name was Severus and who defeated Hadrian and therefore it was a clue to who was going to die (they thought it was <em>Severus</em> Snape)) We started walking to the end of the <em>queue </em>(line) and walked for about a minute, then turned the corner, walked for another minute, then thankfully found the end of the line. We shivered as draughts (drafts)<em> </em>came from the alleyway we stood next to, our 45 minute vigil only broken by the shout of "car!" occasionally, to which replied by squishing ourselves together to let the car through the alleyway. We were supposedly only going to have to stand in that alley for a half hour, since the store would open at 11.30, but it actually didn't open until 11.45, at which time we made it a couple yards forward out of the alleyway, but not to the corner. <br /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4PJ-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQJQnnaonnQQqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPea%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,400,301" alt="The famous hotel on the right"/><br />At midnight the line started moving, but we didn't make it into the store until about 1.30. There was a pile of books just sitting there, and it all seemed far too easy. . . so I just picked up a book and could have started reading it then and there, but I felt that after the two and a half hours of waiting it deserved a proper ceremony. Even so, it wouldn't hurt . . . just the first few pages . . . . . .<br /><br />Anyways, I was going to call someone while in line, and boast that I was getting to book 8 hours before you guys!!!!!! but my dad was out of minutes. oh well. Now I'm on Page 331 (halfway through the book) and plan to finish it today if my mom doesn't ban it and make us wait until the whole family can read it together (they're on page 100 or something, it's not going to happen). The book makes to reader like a werewolf, completely inconsiderate of even there friends, some who would bite their "best mate." Thomas and I are mostly civil about it, we switch turns after each chapter, but my mom is being unreasonable!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-6750383752837205129?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-15317912210953501602007-07-21T05:09:00.000-07:002007-07-21T05:17:43.878-07:00New Harry Potter Book!<img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4PJ-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQQJxQnnxenlxQQQJQnnenlPonqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPea%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,400,301" /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-1531791221095350160?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-32496200076278401102007-07-16T06:19:00.000-07:002007-08-30T12:58:17.322-07:00MilanOn the way to our hotel room in Milan, we took 8 kinds of transportation. They were:<br /><br /><ol><br /><li>Car (an 1 1/2 drive from Hungerford to the long term car park)</li><br /><li>Shuttle (from the car park to the airport)</li><br /><li>Escalator (in the airport)</li><br /><li>Peoplemover (a moving sidewalk in the airport)</li><br /><li>Airplane</li><br /><li>Bus (from the airplane to the airport)</li><br /><li>Train (from the airport to the subway)</li><br /><li>Milan Subway (to the hotel)</li><br /><li>Elevator (to the hotel room)</li></ol><br /><p>I had Italian pizza for the first time that night. the cheese is really good and the crust is cracker thin and crunchy, but it still has a crust. My favorite part about Italian pizza is that about half of their pizzas have prosciutto.</p><br /><p>Milan is basically just a big city. It's not quite as tall as New York, but it's almost as big. Anthony's favorite thing was the streetcars, which follow basically the same lines as the subway but is more limited. It's nicer than a subway, though, since it's above ground.</p><br /><p>Things we saw in Milan:</p><br /><ul><br /><li>the Duomo- (Italian for dome, i.e. Cathedral) is extremely Gothic and looks like a drip castle you might make on the beach. I almost wasn't let in because my shorts were shorter than halfway down my thighs. The guard said that if I tied a sweatshirt around my waist then I could get in. It was really big inside, but there were huge columns everywhere that made it like a forest. I saw my first dead saint under the altar, but i forgot his name, San Carlos or something . . .</li><br /><li>Sant'Ambrogio- was the church that my mom went to when she lived in Milan. We couldn't go inside since it was closed for restoration.</li><br /><li>Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore- was my mom's old school. we came during the 2 hour lunch break from 11 to 1, so there were students milling around all over the place.<br /></li><li>Meucci Pizzeria- my mom's favorite pizzeria, located just off Corsa Magenta, with student prices!<br /></li><li>The Galleria- a long shopping area connecting the Duomo with La Scala, the opera house. the center houses a Louis Vuitton, a Prada, and, you'll never believe this, a Mcdonalds McCafe. We hd gelato at a nice resturaunt (my first time to have real gelato), then looked around Prada, took a picture, and were told, "no peekture" by an employee, and left.</li></ul><br /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6lQo%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4PJ-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQ0neelGll0JqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeJ%7CRup6aQQ%7C/of=50,333,442" /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-3249620007627840110?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-62145111017301154452007-07-16T05:58:00.000-07:002007-07-16T06:15:24.822-07:00ItalyOur trip to Italy from the 3 through the 11 of July was a humongous. We went to Milan, Venice, and finally Rome in the nine days we spent there. Since there is so much to write about, I will split up the posts into the different locations.<br />The reason we went to Italy is because my mom stayed in Milan for one year of college and she wanted to go visit again while we were so close (not to mention for the pizza!). Our days in Milan were spent finding her old favorite resturaunts and such, while in Venice and Rome we did more touristy things. I was rather surprised to find that the Italians hadn't really figured out how milk the tourists for money. There were several places that could have made far more money if they had just stayed open for three more hours!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-6214511101730115445?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-70155126614557506372007-07-16T05:50:00.000-07:002007-07-16T05:57:08.470-07:00Harry PotterOn the 18th we are taking the train to Edinborough to visit my dad's aunt and uncle and for the release of the LAST HARRY POTTER BOOK! We're going to go to the release party (one of those things where you go to a book store all dressed up and do Harry Potter things until midnight when you get your books) for the first time. We're also going to go to both of the coffee shops that claim to be the spots where Rowling wrote the books. We'll see the new movie there too, since Hungerford doesn't have a "cinema."<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-7015512661455750637?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-68780367590733142772007-07-10T02:25:00.001-07:002007-07-10T02:25:22.827-07:00Sophie's Room<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/f4TbNQUxjuY' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/f4TbNQUxjuY'/></object></p><p>The long-awaited tour of my room.</p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-6878036759073314277?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-62383049426926061712007-07-03T03:17:00.000-07:002009-06-29T09:37:09.395-07:00London Day Trip<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM3729-704161.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM3729-703695.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />On Saturday we went to London for a day trip. We left on the 9.43 train from Hungerford and arrived in London an hour later. Since we were planning on having tea in the afternoon, we ate lunch at Paddington Station (yes, where Paddington Bear was found) in a pub that was rather nice for being in a train station. Paddington Station has an entire three story food court, rather like a mall. It includes a Krispy Kream, three cafés (including a Starbucks) a nut and dried fruit store, a pharmacist (or chemist as they say here), a clothes store, one pub, a tie and scarf store, one pub, an ATM machine row, and a Hilton Hotel that extends from the second floor of Paddington to about seven more floors above grounds level. Anyways, after that we went to the Tower of London on the Tube (underground/subway) and rose out of the earth to pouring rain and many steps (we had brought our stroller which was apparently not a good move). We bought admission to the Tower waited to go inside the gate, only to find that it wasn’t like a big building but more like a mini city, so we were still stuck in the rain. We went into the keep (Who of my friends paid attention in social studies? My mom has at least five books on British history and we’ve only been here for a month!), or the central building of a castle, where at least half of the people were sheltering. Guess what the keep, where royalty lived in regular castles, was full of. You’ll never guess, so I’ll just tell you that it was full of weapons, armor, and wooden horses. It had been converted into an armory in about five hundred years ago and housed swords, people armor and horse armor as well as a real chopping block and axe that had been used together. I could see the axe marks on the wood of the chopping block, but there was no dried blood. The wooden horses were part of the Line of Kings, a thing that some king started, possibly Henry VIII, where each king’s horse was carved and stood next to a mannequin with that king’s armor and carved head. The horses were in pretty good condition, but the heads weren’t doing so well. Then we looked at two more floors of weapons and saw a display about Guy Fawkes Day. Guy Fawkes was part of a group of people who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 (I know this because they’re circulating commemorative two pound coins for the 400th anniversary) but was discovered the day before it happened. With all of its leaders gone, England would have been a mess and would be nothing like it is today. It’s called Guy Fawkes Day because he was the one who was going to light the gunpowder that had been put under the Houses of Parliament. He was a freako Catholic terrorist just like some modern Muslim ones (think 9/11) and was mainly trying to get rid of the Anglican bishops.<br /><br />After we finished in the White Tower (keep), we went to the Jewel House where the Crown Jewels are kept. We had to wait in line while watching videos of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation through like three rooms. Then we went through vault doors (were they real or just for the tourists?) and saw about ten scepters and some solid gold plates. There was also a coronation dress (I guess that’s what it’s called; it was a cross between a dress and big robes). We got on a people mover (flat escalator) thingie and passed the crowns. There were about ten of them, but the ones that stick out are Queen Victoria’s and Queen Elizabeth’s, as well as the crown used for all of the modern coronations. After we got off that, there were more gold dishes and a giant gold punch bowl about the size of a four-seater restaurant table. The ladle for the punch bowl was as tall as a cane and had a scoop as big as a soup bowl.<br /><br />We went on the Tube to the London Eye and once again found rain to greet us. Thomas, my dad, and Cindy went on the Eye while the rest of us stayed on firm ground and had hot dogs and gelato. Notice that these are the same groups we divided into for the Empire State Building- the land dwellers and the observers. While the observers were on the London Eye, the land dwellers found my dad’s cousin who grew up in Scotland and last came to the US in ’93 at age seven. My mom was the only land dweller who had ever met him, but since he was a kid then she just started asking random guys. She found him after the fifth guess and we met him and waited for the observers to come off the Eye. Dinner followed at a nice Steak House next to Paddington Station, and then we had coffee and hot chocolate at the Paddington food court. Since the last train to Hungerford had been at 6.00pm, we had to take the 10.20 train to Reading and transfer to the last train to Hungerford. Except it turned out that we missed the transfer by ten minutes.<br /><br />(dun dun dun duuuhhhh, dun dun dun duuuuhhhhhhh)<br /><br />Stranded at the Reading train station at 11.00, both my mom and I thought deliriously that we would have to stay overnight at the station. Luckily my dad got us a taxi, except it was 65 pounds ($130) to get to Hungerford and he had already paid the full train fare to Hungerford. I also ended up in the worst seat in the taxi, a little flipdown seat kind of like at a baseball stadium. The only upside was that we didn’t have to walk the 10 minute walk on our sore, exploding feet from the train station to our house. We arrived at about 11.30 and were in bed at midnight. That morning I slept until 9.30, even with the sun shining through my almost nonexistent window shade for five hours.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-6238304942692606171?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-47258098960098367402007-06-26T05:04:00.000-07:002007-08-30T12:56:24.590-07:00Bath<img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxrKUp7BHD7KPfrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQ0nP0aPael0qpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeP%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,300,226" /><br /><p>On Sunday we went to <a href="http://visitbath.co.uk/">Bath</a>. It is a city called Bath because it has working <a href="http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/">Roman baths</a>. There is also a Roman temple there dedicated to Sulis (a local goddess) Minerva (a Roman goddess, the same as Athena from Greek mythology). There were audio tours just like at Stonehenge, even though it was not an English Heritage site like Stonehenge. To do an audio tour you get a little handset. There are numbers spread out throughout the site. Each number turned on a different recording about what you were standing in front of, so when I pushed the number next to the temple ruins it talked about the architecture and the symbolism of the engraving. They also had children’s audio tours, and Cindy was really cute, listening to each number and rattling facts off to Anthony. She even got him to listen to a few on her handset. </p><br /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxrKUp7BHD7Kofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQ0nP0aPaelaqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeo%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,300,226" /><br /><p>The baths themselves were kind of interesting. There were a lot of rooms and artifacts, since both the baths and the temple had been here originally. The reason that there was a temple was because the bath water came from a natural spring and the Anglo-Saxons or maybe the Romans thought that water coming out of the earth must come from the gods and was therefore sacred. The cool thing was that the original Roman drainage system was still in use. At the end of the tour we got to taste the spring water for free with our ticket. It was warm (the brochure said the water was 115 degrees F) and tasted like egg yolk, which is not surprising since the brochure says that sulfate is one of the main dissolved ions (which I think means there’s a lot of sulfur in it?). </p><p>Before we went to see the baths though, the boys (my dad, Thomas, and Anthony) went to <a href="http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/BRI.html">Bristol</a> to get my dad’s jacket which he had left on a train. While they were there, the girls (my mom, Cindy, and I) had high tea in the <a href="http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/index.cfm?UUID=8AC46D2A-7E5B-45A9-8359609A424E2697">Pump Room</a>, the room where they pump the water from the spring and sell it, which has been converted into a restaurant. It was a fancy tea. We ordered a traditional tea for one and got three finger sandwiches, two miniature quiche thingies, a big, rich scone with clotted cream (kind of like butter) and jam, and three desserts: an éclair, a fruit tart, and a banana chocolate layered mousse with banana gel at the bottom. We also got a pot of tea and a refill of hot water. The whole tea was really good, but I was full from lunch and by the time I got to the desserts I could hardly eat.</p><br /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxrKUp7BHD7Kofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQ0nP0aPaeGlqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeo%7CRup6lQo%7C/of=50,300,226" /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-4725809896009836740?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-63360346448853231662007-06-26T04:57:00.000-07:002007-06-26T05:20:31.175-07:00New House!<img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6lQo%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxrKUp7BHD7Kofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQ0nP0aPaeJQqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPaQ%7CRup6aQQ%7C/of=50,333,442"/><br /><strong>Our house:</strong><br /><ul><br /><li>It’s part of a complex</li><br /><li>There are three floors</li><br /><li>There are four houses in the building</li><br /><li>We have building 3 (but for some odd reason they are numbered from right to left, so we are in the second building from the left)</li><br /><li>Our backyard is about half or maybe even 1/3 the size of the one in San Diego</li><br /><li>I got the master bedroom, the only bedroom on the third floor!</li><br /><li>I also got my own bathroom!</li></ul><br /><strong>Random:</strong><br /><ul><br /><li>Anthony’s birthday on Friday is the third celebration we’ve had in Hungerford (first my dad’s birthday and then father’s day)</li><br /><li>Almost all of the entertainment (movies, music, etc.) are half American and half British (I really didn’t realize how much is British. Harry Potter and James Bond are obvious ones, but there are many others)</li><br /><li>I’ve suddenly become addicted to Trident Splash Vanilla Mint Gum (sorry, that really was random)</li><br /><li>Even though we’ve been in our house for three days already, we’ve managed to end up at our hotel each of those days</li><br /><li>It’s officially summertime, but my mom is making me write paragraphs on the blog, stubbornly disregarding the fact that Lulay’s class did the most writing out of all the seventh grade English classes.</li><br /><li>My mom doesn’t want to buy trash cans or laundry baskets (even one!) for our new house</li><br /><li>I missed exactly four weeks of school. I also ate in restaurants every night for exactly four weeks and stayed in hotels every night for exactly four weeks.</li><br /><li>I’ve started two embroidery projects but have finished neither.</li></ul><br /><img src="http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6lQo%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxrKUp7BHD7KPfrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQoJxn0lxelPxv8uOc5xQQQ0nP0aPaeJGqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeP%7CRup6aQQ%7C/of=50,333,442"/><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-6336034644885323166?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-89049801402850274992007-06-17T14:13:00.000-07:002007-06-17T14:14:57.743-07:00I've finally learned to do Pics!<a href="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM3560-794748.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM3560-794741.JPG" border="0" /></a> <br /><a href="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM3580-794804.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM3580-794796.JPG" border="0" /></a> <br /><a href="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM3608-794977.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM3608-794968.JPG" border="0" /></a> <br /><a href="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM3613-795043.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://s93591920.onlinehome.us/blog/sophie/uploaded_images/HPIM3613-795033.JPG" border="0" /></a><div style='clear:both; text-align:NONE'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-8904980140285027499?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-2076120486180842382007-06-15T12:20:00.000-07:002007-08-30T12:55:04.038-07:00London<p></p><p>Things we did in London:<br />We saw: </p><ul><li>Hyde Park- London's Central Park </li><li>The Tower of London- we didn't get to go in, but will come back to London to do that </li><li>Tower Bridge- "London Bridge" from the song </li><li>Houses of Parliament- big, "mock gothic" buildings </li><li>Big Ben- a big clock =) </li><li>The London Eye- thomas wanted to go on it but we didn't, so it ruined his trip </li><li>The Old(e) Globe- we saw both the original site and a reconstructed version built exactly how the original was (no nails, thatch roof, etc.) </li><li>King's Cross station & Platform 9 3/4- they have a sign that says platform 9 3/4 and half a trolley stuck to the wall </li><li>Buckingham Palace- its not that beautiful,the gates are more beautiful than the actual palace </li><li>Paddington Station- Cindy and Anthony took a picture with a statue of Paddington Bear </li><li>The Changing of the Guard- kind of, we only saw the veeeeeeeery end </li><li>The Ritz Hotel- $$$$$$$$$$$$ </li><li>Rainforest Cafe, London- we had lunch there, the thunderstorms scared Anthony and Thomas, but not me or Cindy </li><li>The Drowsy Chaperone on West End (like London's Broadway)- the author was playing the leading role and had apparently been nominated for a lot of Oscars for his Broadway performances </li><li>I counted 360 taxis in one day while walking around London. I saw 100 of them outside Buckingham Palace </li></ul><p>Our Hotels:<br />The Good One:<br /></p><ul><li>The first hotel we went to was called Quality Crown and was part of the Quality chain </li><li>It was rated four star and was really nice </li><li>It was like an american hotel<br />the staff was a little bit stuffy </li></ul><p>The Bad One:<br /></p><ul><li>We had to stay in London for two more nights after our reservation at the Quality Crown<br />the Abbeycourt Hotel was next door to the Quality Crown and had a really nice lobby, so we chose that one </li><li>The room was horrible </li><li>The carpet felt like classroom carpet </li><li>There were no fans or tv remote controls </li><li>For breakfast there was: </li><li>a big bowl of Corn Flakes </li><li>bologna </li><li>cheese </li><li>about half a loaf of white bread toast per table, regardless of the size of your party (My dad went down for breakfast by himself and got the same amount of toast as the other five of us did) </li><li>orange juice </li><li>apple juice </li><li>passion fruit juice </li><li>coffee </li><li>tea </li><li>hot chocolate </li><li>milk </li></ul><p>Notice there were more drink choices than food choices, so it was a big letdown, especially since it had a fabulous lobby<strong></strong></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-207612048618084238?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-30846215658196806402007-06-15T12:07:00.000-07:002007-08-30T12:52:04.324-07:00Stonehenge and Kenilworth Castle<p>Thoughts about <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blog/2007/06/stonehenge.html">Stonehenge</a>: (Friday, June 1)</p><ul><li>It's smaller than it looks.</li><li>There's an audio tour that takes like a half hour, so you don't just look at it and go.</li><li>They had cross-stitch at the gift shop!</li><li>It was 4 pounds ($8) for a keychain, so I didn't get it.</li><li>We went for my dad's 40th birthday so that he could say, "Look at me, I'm not old!" compared to Stonehenge.</li></ul><p>Thoughts about <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blog/2007/06/audience-participation-at-kenilworth.html">Kenilworth Castle</a>: (Sunday, June 3)</p><ul><li>We went on the last day that they had a "living villiage," which means all the villiagers talk about what they do for work.</li><li>There were also some plays and a skittles (bowling) tournament.</li><li>Each villager had many samples of his or her work.</li><li>We got ice cream!</li><li>It looked like there were a lot of families being Medieval people together since we kept seeing little girls running around.</li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-3084621565819680640?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-36918035731760249902007-06-02T07:16:00.000-07:002007-08-30T12:51:17.223-07:00Bellman's DayToday is Bellman's Day in Hungerford. A bellman is a person who spreads town news. They go to a corner, ring a bell, and yell the news. Then they move on to the next corner. One of Hungerford's bellmans has been doing it for 50 years and that's some kind of record (I heard that it was the all-time English record, but how true does that sound?). Anyways there's a big fair and its all celebrating him. In 15 min there's going to be a competition between them to see who's the best. There's also a calliope* that has been playing all day and is really getting on my nerves, especially since it's right across the street from the hotel. I see a bellman going out with his bell, let me listen for a second. They have these really fancy odd-looking uniforms. The Hungerford website (<a href="http://www.hungerford.uk.net/index.php">http://www.hungerford.uk.net/index.php</a>) has some pictures of the bellman. I wonder if they'll let the celebrated bellman win or if another one will.<br /><br />*A calliope is an organ like at a travelling circus. I think they used to be in wagons, but ours is in what looks like a Coke truck without the logo. Also, all the songs its playing are American (including Stars and Stripes Forever).<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-3691803573176024990?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966519357326514.post-76290008495472993272007-06-02T06:48:00.000-07:002007-06-02T07:11:25.770-07:00England!We arrived at the London Heathrow airport after a red-eye flight that I didn't get any sleep on to pouring rain. We stood in the rain trying to find two taxis that took credit card because we hardly had any British money. We finally found one and luckily had enough cash to go in a cash taxi. My Mom, Thomas, Cindy and Anthony went in the credit card taxi and my Dad and I went in the cash taxi. It was an hour long ride to Hungerford, but it ended up more like an hour and a half because the taxi driver had never heard of Hungerford. We came to the hotel to find that it was more like a house and nothing like the fabulous Embassy Suites that we had come from in New Jersey. It was kind of disappointing. We slept for most of that day. Hungerford is basically one street. It's a long street, but most of the shops are on that street. There is one grocery store, but its about 2/3 of the size of Vons. There is also a butcher, bakery, fruit and vegtable store, and a milk truck that comes to deliver milk every day. Theoretically you could live without the supermarket, but you wouldn't get any cheese or yougurt. There are quite a few resturaunts, but all of them close for lunch at 2.30. Dinner closing times vary, but the shops are all closed by 5.00. We have found a house, but can't move in until the 11. I get the master suite on the third floor (that's the only thing on the third floor) so that my parents can be near Cindy and Anthony at night. Our living room is smaller than my parents bathroom in San Diego and one of the bedrooms is smaller than that. Stuff is really expensive here. It seems really cheap, because it takes two dollars to make a pound, but it isn't. For example, cookies at the bakery are about 80 pence (like cents), which sounds great, but really that's $1.60 per cookie. Dinners are the worst. I saw lobster for about 12 pounds and I thought, "Yes! I can finally get cheap lobster!" but really thats about $24. Maybe when we figure out how to do pictures I can put some up of the town.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/86966519357326514-7629000849547299327?l=s93591920.onlinehome.us%2Fblog%2Fsophie' alt='' /></div>jgrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09463529127873902561noreply@blogger.com3