Provence

Provence

We spent one and a half days travelling by train to get to Provence. Along the way we stopped off one night in Nice (France). The hotel we stayed in was very nice and posh! We got given a little stuffed toy each...

The next day we picked up our rental car in Marseille and drove all the way to St Remy de Provence. We went to our little house in the middle of nowhere.

The little house had a downstairs bathroom, kitchen and lounge, and there were 2 upstairs bedrooms. In the late afternoon we went for a dip in the swimming pool we had in the garden. We shared this large garden and pool with two other holiday houses.

We rescued a frog from the pool one day. We didn't eat him though - his legs were too small!! Chantal

We went to Les Baux...

This is a mediaeval village and castle built into a stone hill.

While we were there we saw the biggest catapult in Europe in action!! It was amazing how it worked, with ropes and chains and things that pulled, until the catapult finally got set off. In the old days it used to fire 'greek fire' which a fire that can't be put out by water, only earth and sand. Today they used a giant water filled balloon.

We then walked around the old village and visited the amazing castle. When we climbed the steep steps to the top, we found that it was very windy. We had a great view of Provence.

The next day we went to the Cathedral d'Images.

This was an old quarry built into a hill.

Pictures were projected onto the walls, ceilings and floor, with music in the background.

The current exposition here is on Van Gogh...

(I found this quite boring and it isn't one of the highlights of my trip-Sabine)

I found it really amazing because everything was so huge-the quarry was really big. It felt weird when you walked over moving images on the ground. I would just love to put on a dance production here!!

We did a day trip to Toulon.

Mum and Dad tried to take the back roads, but it took a LONG time, so we jumped on the motorway to get there on time - it still took us four hours !!

We didn't see Tana Umaga, but we did see mum's friend Daniele. Daniele and her partner Jean-Claude showed us around the old part of town, and then shouted us lunch at a creperie. Mmmmmm!!

After lunch we walked around the port looking at all the boats, shabby or posh. We then had icecreams, shaped like Pinnochio.

We said our goodbyes, and headed off towards the motorways. Dad got really excited when he found that you could drive 130km per hour on the motorway which we soon did, Mum clutching her seat and wide-eyed. Then there was thunder and lightening, so we had to reduce down to 110km. Oooooohhh....:(

The next day we went to the bonbon museum (LOLLY Museum!!) :)

It was really cool - it was the Haribo Museum. You see Haribo lollies everywhere around Europe. At the museum we learned the process of how lollies were made, and got given a lot of free lollies along the way. They had lots of interactive games and I particularly liked one where you could send photo emails of yourself, decorated with lollies.

After the Haribo museum we then went to the Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman acqueduct.

It is a huge old bridge spanning the river. Before we saw the bridge itself we popped in to look at the ludo kids museum. This was very good and easy to understand, and I knew some of the stuff already because we studied ancient Rome earlier in the year.

Then we walked across the bridge, and paddled in the water. It was cold, and the rocks were very slimy. The bridge itself is a UNESCO world heritage site... we have seen a few of these in our travels now!

On a gondola, in Venice...

In front of a mask shop window...

Venice

We took one train to Venice.
When we got there, we did a two hour orientation walk around Venice. During this walk, Kate accidentally slipped and fell into a canal. Luckily she fell onto a submerged step. The steps were very slippery!!

We went into an amazing chocolate shop, where we bought lots of mini chocolates. Delicious! (Though expensive).
We continued the walk and made our way through lots of narrow streets to the Piazza San Marco at the bottom of Venice.
There are lots of shops selling masks, and lots of shops selling glass!

Venice is an island. There are lots of different canals running through it. There are no cars. To get anywhere, you catch a boat (bus) or walk. We mostly walked.

The next day we caught a water bus to Murano Island. Murano Island is known for it’s glass. I learnt that most places are expensive – but turn a corner and you find the same thing 10 euro cheaper (Sabine).
We went shopping, and Mum and Dad bought us glass pendants with our initials. I also bought a lovely necklace and a clock (Sabine). Mum and Dad brought me a lovely blue Venetian glass necklace that I really liked (Chantal).

We had lunch on Murano, then we caught a boat bus to St Mark’s square. We then went on a Gondola. The Gondola’s are sleek and smooth black boats. They are very long, and take people on trips down the canals. The Gondolier stands up at the back of the boat and steers the gondola down the narrow canals, using one oar. We had many close calls, though we didn’t scrape once! If you are very lucky, your gondolier might sing, but ours only whistled!

Then after the ride we walked to the Bell Tower in the Square, which is opposite the Basilica and Doges Palace. Luckily, this Bell Tower is only accessed by elevator. Phew! At the top we had a lovely view of Venice.

After that me, Sabine and Dad found our way home, while Mum went shopping!
That night we had our last meal with the group. I (Sabine) was very excited about the tacky contest – the tacky contest (if you didn’t know) is a contest to buy the tackiest souvenir within the group, for 5 euro or less. In the end, me (Sabine) and Dad won by a large majority. Our tacky item was a naked lady holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa!
Mum and Chantal’s team lost.
That night we got to stay up really late playing card games and watching MTV with Kate and Ben.
Tomorrow we leave the group, and make our way to France …

On top of the mountain, looking out...

On one of the Palace Walls in the garden...

Us in Lake Maggiore...

Stresa

Stresa is a small town on Lake Maggiore. Lake Maggiore is at the top of Italy, and goes all the way through to Switzerland!
When we arrived here me, Sabine, Kate and Ben went down to the lake and had a swim in it’s freezing cold waters.

After that us kids played a game of mini golf with Jason. This was a ruthless course, and you had to hit really hard. We loved it! I fell backward off a tree stump and grazed my leg (Sabine).

That night we went out for dinner (as usual!!). I had a lovely basil and tomato pasta dish which remains the best meal so far (Chantal). I had the usual - a marguerita (tomato and cheese) pizza (Sabine).

The next morning we got up early for a long day. We went to two of the three islands in the lake in the morning. One of them had a lovely palace and gardens, and the other one was smaller with lots of markets. When I was walking through a palace, a little girl, about 2 years old, came up and took me by the hand. I was led around by her for about 15 minutes (Sabine). Meanwhile, I (Chantal) was trying to catch lizards with Ben.

Next we took a cable car up the mountain. We walked up the next bit to get to the very top. The view was amazing, and we could apparently see Switzerland. There were lots of grasshoppers and one bit Jason!

After that we caught the cable cars back down, and caught a boat to the last island. We were pretty tired! On this island was another palace and another garden, not quite as spectacular as the last. At the end, we saw a woman pointing down the cliff face, yelling in Italian. We went over and looked down. At first we couldn’t see anything, then we saw a snake weaving in and out the rocks. A man came with a big stick and started whacking it. Then, when it fell off the cliff onto the rocks below by the lake, they started chucking rocks at it. We were both very shocked at this, and felt very sorry for the snake.

That night we had an early night (for once!) and packed, ready to travel to our last destination in Italy, Venice…

LEVANTO
On the day we travelled here from Lucca, there was a train strike!
This means that no trains were running. While Jason (our tour group leader) was sorting it all out (coz we were meant to be going on two trains) me and Sabine were up on top of the city wall, rain falling on our shoulders, watching the BIG tropical thunder and lightening storm.
In the end we took five buses and one train to Levanto, and it took three and a half hours more than expected!

On our first day in Levanto we did the Cinque Terre (“5 lands”) walk.
It is a track (and UNESCO world heritage site) that winds up and down hills between 5 pastel coloured villages on-top-of cliffs.
It was a lovely walk with beautiful scenery. It was fun, but challenging.


After the walk, in the evening, we went to a pesto shop. We took a course on how to make pesto. It was a lot of fun. All 9 of us had a go each at making our own pesto using…
Garlic
Basil
Pine nuts
Salt
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese
I liked Kath’s pesto the best (Chantal).I liked Kate’s pesto the best (Sabine).

Tuscany

Tuscany

Within Tuscany we were staying in a small town called Lucca. Lucca was within walls, and you hardly ever saw a car – everyone biked or walked. The roads were very narrow and cobbled. Everyone in Lucca recycled everything.
On our first afternoon there we hired bikes and cycled around the city walls. We cycled around once with our tour leader, stopping to look at the sights. We then could go around a few more times by ourselves. Each lap was 4 km.

One day we went to Florence or Firenze. There we went to the Uffizi art gallery. I found it quite boring.[Sabine] I found it very cool looking at the old portraits of royalty.[Chantal]
We went to the Ponte Vecchio bridge. The Ponte Vecchio is famous. It is very old and has lots of jewellery shops on it. We saw all the huge fish in the water waiting for someone to throw food in the water.

On our free day from the tour we walked around the town and climbed the Torre Guinigi [the tower of the seven oaks.]
It had 233 steps and as you went up the stairs there were pictures that told a story of olden times. At the top the view was spectacular, and there were 7 oak trees planted there.

The next day we went to Pisa. There we saw the leaning tower and climbed it. The tower had 308 steps and it was strange climbing on a lean. There was a great view of the Tuscan hills and Pisa itself.
That night Sabine, Kate, Ben (the other children on our tour of Italy) and I made dinner for the adults (with a lot of help from our leader Jason). We made rock melon and ham, figs with reduced balsamic vinegar, pecorino cheese with local honey, spaghetti Bolognese, chick pea salad, a green salad, tomato and mozzarella salad, and a barley salad. For dessert we had straciatella ice cream with strawberries and raspberries.

Roma

Rome…

Rome is full of motor scooters and cigarette smokers !
Rome is HOT and Romans are crazy drivers !

Here is Chantal at the Coliseum.
The Coliseum is a place where gladiators fought each other and exotic animals for the emperor’s entertainment nearly 2000 years ago…
It could seat around 80,000 people!

It was amazing being able to walk in the same places the gladiators had walked. And to see the tunnels where the animals used for fighting were kept.



We visited the Vatican City where the Pope lives, which is like another country within Rome.
We did a tour around the Vatican museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St Peter’s Basilica.

It was amazing to see all the artwork that had taken artists so long to do, like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel which took Michelangelo around 15 years.

It was very good being on a tour because the tour guide explained the meaning of the art.

Here we are in front of the famous marble Pieta by Michelangelo in St Peter’s Basilica, which is the biggest church in the world – it was two football fields long.

The Vatican City is guarded by these guards.
They wear these costumes. If you want to be a guard you need to be:
· A man
· A virgin
· Catholic
· Swiss


Here is Sabine at the Bocca della Verita (the Mouth of Truth).
In the old days someone behind would have a sword and chop off your hand if you replied with a lie.





This is just one of many Gelati (Ice cream) shops we have visited. This one had 100 flavours to choose from ! The ice creams here are real ice creams that taste of what they say they are. They are DELICIOUS!




We threw coins into the Trevi Fountain. This is so we will return to Rome…
There was a man in a shop across from the fountain, and as the fountain was being built he complained about how he did not like it. So the builders built a huge vase so it blocked the man’s view of the fountain.

The day is here

The view from our hotel room across the harbour to Kowloon
Us up at Victoria's Peak...
The holiday begins !!

The first flights…
The flight from Wellington to Auckland was good – it only took an hour. The only bad bit was when our ears ached at the end. We flew over Kapiti Island, and saw snow covered Mt Ruapehu and Mt Taranaki. It was gorgeous! Going through the clouds was amazing.

The flight to Hong Kong was ok, up until the last four hours, when it started to get tedious. (The flight took 11 and a half hours). It was a smooth ride. There were screens on the back of the seats, and they gave us blankets and pillows. We barely slept as it was uncomfortable(Chantal) no it wasn’t (Sabine).

Hong Kong airport is huge. When we walked out of the airport it was like walking into a wall of steamy bathroom air. By the time we got to our hotel it was 03:00am New Zealand time, and 11:00pm local time. I slept like a baby that night (Chantal) I didn’t – Chantal kept hogging all the covers (Sabine).

The next day we had a big buffet breakfast. This was yummy and we stuffed ourselves full of melons, fruits, hash browns, bacon, eggs, cocoa pops, croissants, sausages, and an unidentified delicious asian food!!

We spent most of that day recovering from the flight, as well as reading and swimming. We took a walk around the local area, trying to find the biggest mall in the Southern Hemisphere, but we couldn’t find it. After half an hour, we stopped looking as me and Sabine were suffering from dehydration and couldn’t breathe due to the heat and humidity!

Today, our last day in Hong Kong, we went on a tour. Hong Kong is very tall. It is filled with tall buildings. They are currently building one which will be 118 storeys high. We are on the 21st floor, which is tall enough for us. However, the view is great. We can see Kowloon across the harbour and millions of tall buildings, some scungy, some new.

We went to Victoria’s Peak which is a mountain on Hong Kong Island. From the top of this we couldn’t see too much as the fog/smog was too thick. We then went to Aberdeen, a fishing village. There we went on a boat called a Sampan, which took us to see the boats where people lived. A sign on the boat said that it was only allowed in the typhoon sheltered harbour parts! That really freaked me out (Chantal). Next we went to a jewellery factory which was semi interesting (Chantal) and boring (Sabine). Most of the time was spent looking at jewellery that was far too expensive. Dad whinged and moaned as we did this. Each counter full of jewellery had a person behind it. When you went up to the counter the person immediately jumped up as though the Queen was coming. Dad said this freaked him out. Lastly we went to the Stanley Market. This was cool, and we bought souvenirs. They had lots of cool togs there. Tonight we have a twelve and half hour flight to Rome… which we are not looking forward to!