These large things are to knock down castle wallls.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A ruin of a wealthy house
This is a ruin of a wealthyy house used long ago. If you look closly and the back wall, you should be able to see large squares carved in the rock. That's where they used to store their food and put candles to light up their house at night. Now look up to the left hand corner of the picture and you should see a line of six squares carved deep into the rock. That tells us that there was a house here. What they did was put a log into each hole making suport beams for a roof. Then they would stack grass ontop so the rain couldn't get inside.
Stuck in a pilory
This old torcher machien was used to punish crimanls and prisoners. Long ago, they would put someone in the pilory for one houre before letting them out. I was in there for only two minutes and my neck hert.
Anciantrock throughing machiens
This is a very large trebusher which was used to defend castles, and to knock down giant castle walls. To load and fire this large anciant machien, you need six to eight men to do it properly. As you can see in this picture, there are two very large weels at the base of the trebusher. What happens is, four men, two on each weel, wind it around in a circle so that it spins toward them. Atachted to the weels is a thick rope while the other end is conected to the top of the tall poll. As the men turn the weel, it winds up the rope causing the huge weight at the back to lift up and the tall poll to lower. When a man gets tired spining the weel, the spair man behind him takes over. When the weight is raised up high as it goes, and the the tall poll is just about tuching the ground, someone will clip the tall pull down so that the weight stayes up in the aire. Then you put a water balloon inside the net. When it's loaded someone will pull the rope that's atached to the clip so the weight swings back causing the oposit end with the balloon to fly forward. With eight men working one machein, they will fire the trebusher five times in one houre.
Fire...
In the south of France in a town called Arle, we went to explore a castle called Les Beaux Province. On that castle, I got to fire a trebusher which is kind of like a catupolt. But instead of fireing a rock, I got to fire a water balloon!
A good Italian resterant with the best home cooked food
Like in Roma, we stayed at a campground. But instead of a nice warm bungalo with a stove and fridge where we could cook our own food, we got a tent! It was kind of like a hunters tent with the canves for walls, and the steel poasts holding it up. It was a nice tent, but that doesn't mean it's going to be warm. There were a fiew holls in the canvas so the night was pritty cold. Another thing we were disapointed in, was the fact that there was no stove or fridge inside to cook our food. Come to think about it, there was only three beds, three blankets, three small lights above each bed, and nothing to heat up the tent at night. So, without a stove or fridge, we spent some time looking for good resterants. From the campground the the city isin't a far walk, but when your absalutly starving, it's actualy three time longer. Lucky for us, there's a bus that stops right at the enterens to the camground and it goes right to the city. It wasn't long before we stumbled apon the resterant you see in the picture on you right. It looked Okay but it didn't open for another houre and a half. Infact, almost all the resterants don't open until seven O'clock.
One and a half hours later we came back the this place and had a fantastic supper. The deal was this. If you orderd of their special menu, it's only twelve euros for one supper which includes: firts cours, second cours, dessert, and a glass of wine and it was all the best food I'd ever had. So, for the travellers who are going to Florance this place it the place to go. One tip on this place. If you plan to eat hear for supper one night, come back again the next day for supper and they will lower the price a bit. And if you go there three times, they give you and extra good deal. Believe me, I know from experience.
Directions to the resterant:
It's about one hundred meters away from the train Station heading down the road going south. When you get to the bottom of that road, cross over to the other side of the street. Turn righ, then walk a fiew meters and your there.
One and a half hours later we came back the this place and had a fantastic supper. The deal was this. If you orderd of their special menu, it's only twelve euros for one supper which includes: firts cours, second cours, dessert, and a glass of wine and it was all the best food I'd ever had. So, for the travellers who are going to Florance this place it the place to go. One tip on this place. If you plan to eat hear for supper one night, come back again the next day for supper and they will lower the price a bit. And if you go there three times, they give you and extra good deal. Believe me, I know from experience.
Directions to the resterant:
It's about one hundred meters away from the train Station heading down the road going south. When you get to the bottom of that road, cross over to the other side of the street. Turn righ, then walk a fiew meters and your there.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Headless Keona and her no bodied brother
Having fun in the sand at the beach in the south of France at Le Mas campground.
The best out door swimming pool...
This is the best out door swimming pool in Le Mas campground.
P.s.
Click on the picture to get it bigger so you can se the stepping stones behind me.
P.s.
Click on the picture to get it bigger so you can se the stepping stones behind me.
He runs... he jumps... splash
After spending a week in Presqu'il de Gien, we move onward to another campground called Le Mas. It wasn't exacly my opinion of a good campground. The Bungalos were very dusty. Every night my nose got snify, itchy and runny; and I probably went through one and a half rolls of toilet paper. And the grounds wern't taken care of to good. The only part I liked about this rotten place was the fact that there was a good sandy beach with giant sized waves only a two minute walk away, and that the campground had the best out door swimming pool. It was so amazing I'll have to show you instead of telling you. But one thing I can tell you is that on a hot day, this is the place to go.
P.s.
Click on the picture to get a closer look. Then press the back button when your finished.
Strippers beach...
Off to strippers beach! There is one reason I named this beach Strippers beach; because all the girls don't wear their bathing suit tops. So strippers beach is not the real name, I just made it up. Strippers beach was alot better than the last one. It was and gazillion times longer, the water wasn't filled with slimy seaweed, and there was no leaping sand bugs. Any travellers who are exploring the south of France and their planning to stay at Presqu'il de Gien, and they like the beach, I request Strippers beach to the left.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
NO top beach
In the south of the land of french fries (France) was a good place to chill out under the sun at a sandy beach. Our first night was spent at a hotel right on the border of France and Italy, then we made our way to the campground called Presqu'il de Giens. It was my favorite campground so far. But it still didn't have a swimming pool which really stunck. But luckily there were two beaches near by. One on the right, and one on the left. So in the last dying hours of the sun, we went to explore the beach to our righ. I thought the beach was going to be a huge long sandy beach with no sea weed. It was exacly the opsite. It was covered in it, along with thousand of leaping bugs all over the place. And the girls don't sun tan with their hole swim soot on. Almost every girl was not wearing ther tops exposing the 'mmms.' When we finaly found a place where there was no half naked women, we went for a swim and made stuff in the sand with seaweed. Hopfuly the beach to the the left was sandy, and everyone wore their baithing suits!
234 stairs to go...
Climbing to the top of the Laning Tower of Pisa was work out. All the stairs had a worn dip in the middle from endless amounts of people hwo have climbed it before. What was really cool was when I was walking up the stairs, you wold lean one way, then the other because the Tower is leaning fourteen feet.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Shoots he scores!
At the Starting out our trip, I took one hundred and thirty dollars out of my bank account for souvinors. I had already planed out what I was going to get. Itanlian soccer boots. The first thing I got was a Venice t-shirt for ten euros. The rest was for some goal scoring soccer boots. As we were exploring the city of Florance, we came across a store with some pritty cool boots. So we took a look inside. After searching for a while we didn't find much. But then my mom said, 'how about these?' I came over and the moment I looked at them I knew they were the one's I wanted. The price was origanaly one hundred and seventy five euros which adds up to around three hundred Canadian dollars. That's alot of money. Luckily they were on sale for seventy five euros. Now who could say no to a deal like that? Well I shur coul't. So in the end it turned out, I came walking out the door with a pair of 100% kangaroo leather soccer boots.
At the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
From the top of the Leaning Tower, you get a good view of the small town Pisa far below.
The Leaning tower of Pisa
Trying to push a leaning tower up right is harder than it looks! During ou visit in Florence, we took a day trip to Pisa. The Reason why was to see the Leaning Tower. Why this leaning tower was built, was to do an experament on gravitation. when the construction was finished, a man leaned over the side and droped a led ball and a fether from the top at the same time and they both hit the ground at the same time.
Tumb of the unknown soldier
This large building is in fact a extremely large tomb of an unknown soldier. This soldier represents all the soldiers who fought in world war two. For those of you who are going to Roma, and your thinking of visiting the tomb of the unknown soldier, take the ear wax out of your ear cause I'm going to tell you three very important travel tips of Roma.
Tip number one - watch out for the Roman soldiers scattered around the city. They are not actualy Roman soldiers; rather just random people dressed in Roman costumes asking if you would like your picture taken with them. After you've said yes, and you take your picture with them, then you hear the word you were hoping not to hear - MONEY!
Tip number two - If you decide to walk on the tomb, it would be a good idea not to sit down; weather you have to find your camera, tie your shoe lace, or if just need a break. Unless you would like to be whistled at by a police cop, which I'm probably guessing that you wouldn't
Tip number three - Tip number three is going to be the your favorite one. I can tell already by the drool dripping down your chin. You must have a Italian gelato. Not just one of those one you get in a freezer wrapped in paper. I'm talking about the huge piles of ice cream behind a glass window. When you get stumped between two or three gelatos, ask if you could get a mix of all three.
Tip number one - watch out for the Roman soldiers scattered around the city. They are not actualy Roman soldiers; rather just random people dressed in Roman costumes asking if you would like your picture taken with them. After you've said yes, and you take your picture with them, then you hear the word you were hoping not to hear - MONEY!
Tip number two - If you decide to walk on the tomb, it would be a good idea not to sit down; weather you have to find your camera, tie your shoe lace, or if just need a break. Unless you would like to be whistled at by a police cop, which I'm probably guessing that you wouldn't
Tip number three - Tip number three is going to be the your favorite one. I can tell already by the drool dripping down your chin. You must have a Italian gelato. Not just one of those one you get in a freezer wrapped in paper. I'm talking about the huge piles of ice cream behind a glass window. When you get stumped between two or three gelatos, ask if you could get a mix of all three.
A Roman theatre, the colleseum
The Roman colleseum is a large theatre where plays were eld along time ago. But not all were pleasant. At times, the Roman Emporer would send in a fiew Christians and a lion or two for pure intertainment.
Friday, May 22, 2009
The Beginning of the Roman domination...
If you look closly at this picture, you should see a small white dot in the north of Italy. That small dot is the beginning of the Roman Empire, the beginning of the biggist anciant army in worlds history.
Romans start to take over...
Now as you can see, the white dot has now grown; covering all of Italy, all of Greece, and all of spain. What country will meet their fate next?
And the Roman Empire still grows bigger...
Now as you can see the Romans have conquered most of Europe.
Roman Empire in full force
This is how big the Roman Empire was before they started to crumble from countless attackes from the Hannables who came over the Alpes on elephants; and numerous encounters with the Vickings up north.
Parthanon...
This morning at five a.m. in the morning, a taxi drove us to the airport on the island of Samos. From there we got on a one houre plain ride to Athens. Waiting for us in the Athens airport was the all time famous taxi driver: George. We all hopped in his bright yellow car and went on an amazing sight seen drive around the Roman ruin filled city of Athens. Our first stop was the first Olympic stadium ever built. The stadium was constructed by the Greeks and made completly out of marble.
Now George will take us on a drive through the city and eventually arrive at a breth taking Roman structure, the Parthanon. George parked his taxi and the bottom of a hill while we climbed to the top. On our way up, someone asked if we would like to go on a privite tour for half price with only two other people. How could some one say no to that. Well come to think of it, we almost did. But in the end we had a fantastic tour of the Parthanon; and got some spectacular photo's.
From the Wow Traveller,
Parker Vining
Now George will take us on a drive through the city and eventually arrive at a breth taking Roman structure, the Parthanon. George parked his taxi and the bottom of a hill while we climbed to the top. On our way up, someone asked if we would like to go on a privite tour for half price with only two other people. How could some one say no to that. Well come to think of it, we almost did. But in the end we had a fantastic tour of the Parthanon; and got some spectacular photo's.
From the Wow Traveller,
Parker Vining
Friday, May 15, 2009
Roman clay pipes
Back in the time of the Romans, the pipes were made of clay. They attached one pipe to another with sment. The sment was made by mixing egg white and volcanic ash, then pooring it onto the crack where the two pipes are joyned. When it hardens, it becomes sment. While they are placing the pipes into the ground, a Roman will pun
How a Roman pillar is built
During the time of the Roman Empire, two thousand years ago, there was no sutch thing as cranes and bulldozers to help buid thier masive counstructions and to stand up all of their heavy pillars. Instead they used ropes and their own muscles to lift the rocks. So while touring around Ephesus, we were showed how the Romans made the large pillars which were used to make the old library and great walls. What they did was get a large chunck of rock, carve it out in a circle, then put three holes in the middle. You can see this in the picture. If you look closly, you should also see small trofs carved into the rock, starting from the primater of the large rock and leading into each of the small holes. Then they will place an iron barr in each hole. After doing that to the first rock, they get another one, carve three holes into the middle, then place it on top of the first stone so that the iron barrs in the first rock go into the holes into the second rock. Now that the rocks are placed on top of one another, a Roman will poor molten led into the trof which leads down to the three holes which contain the iron barrs. When the led drys up, it goes hard and fills in the gaps so the two rocks stacked on top of each other won't fall off. Now hwo could think of something as intelagent as that?
A good place to socialize...sitting on a Roman toilet!
While exploring Ephesus our tour guide showed us loads of cool things. One of them, as you can see is the Roman washroom. All it is, is a large room with a stone bench going all around the primater. Carved into the stone, are small holes about two feet apart from one another. Inside the holes is a large pit where all the droppings go. It sounds like a good place to talk and meat other people while going to the bathroom.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Kadir Tree house...to cool
During our stay at Olypmos, we stayed in the coolest place you could stay...Kadir's Tree Houses. Kadir's is an awsome place for packpackers and new travellers. You get to sleep in rustique tree houses, all with their very own name. Our tree house was called the Camels toe! At night, just as it's starting to get dark, a huge bon fire is built, along with fresh home cooked popcorn cooked in olive oil and salt. Mmm... After traveling for a fiew days and you are looking for a dood place the hang out for the day, the Olympos beach would be a good option. It's a mile walk from Kadir's, and on the way you will bump into some old Roman ruins right next the the trail. Kadir's Tree Houses is defanatly the place to go. Living in a tree, good food, a big fire and night with mouth watering popcorn, and a brilliant beach with Roman ruins to look at. What more do you need?
Parker and the Cotten Castle
Exploring the calcium pools in Pamakale was something I'll never forget. The calcium pools are constructed from underground water that comes up to the suface of the mountaine made of calcium. As it runs down the mountaine, it creates small pools, slowly getting bigger as more water runs down. Pamakale is named after the calcuim pools which are also nknown as the Cotten Castle. So the town name, Pamakale, means Cotten Castle.
minaral pool
This is a jacuzzi in pamakkale. Inside the water, it has a minaral that is good for your skin. That's what makes the water brown. Year's ago, people would come to this spring for helth when they got sick. But they always died!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Spice Bazaar
The spice Bazaar is like the Grand Bazaar but instead of the clothing and all that, it's filled with spices, flavord tea's and Turkish dilight. All the stores were filled with them. We happend to walk out with a bag of Turkish dilight and a bag of appel tea.
The Grand Bazaar
The Grand Bazzar was almost too mutch to grasp. Walking through the maze of path ways and shops was breth taking. Inside there are four to five thousand shops and just as many people. It was like a huge shopping mall but mutch more cool to see. There were clothing shops, book shops, metal shops, food stores, candy shops, shops with watches, shops with teas and spices, and many many more.
Old Roman ruins
This is a pease of a Roman wall in Pamakkale. On the inside of this wall is where the Romans held their market. It was quite a site.
Underground city
Can you imagane living in a city under the ground? Well today in Cappadocia, our guide led us to where the Hittites used to live under the ground while their fight agenst the Romans. Hundreds of years ago, the Hittites had built an underground city made to hide themselves from their enamies. While exploring this anciant underground city, we saw what they used for a kitchen, how they made the stables for the animals, what they used for a toilet, and saw all their defence forces they used underground. For defending their city, they used large rocks in the shap of a circle with a hole in the middle. What they would do is roll the fiew hundred pound rock infront of an entrance way so the enamies couldn't get in. The hole in the middle was for poring boiling oil into the attackers on the other side. Living inside this city was a population beetween one thousand and five thousand people. Now that, is alot of people.Then again, after exploring the city for one hole hour, our tour guide said that we had only seen ten percent of it. Now theirs a wow!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Me and the mud make a messy match
Swiming in a pool filled with mud is something I will never forget. On our tour in Pamakkale, we stopped for lunch at a four star hotel. But first we had fouty five minutes of free time to splash around in some wicked pools. First, I'm going to check out the mud pool. The water was warm, and when you steped inside, an inch of goopy mud would xquish between my toe's. When I got out, the mud that was in my hair, went stiff causing my hair to look like spaghetti sticks. This, as you can see is me in enjoying the life of a pig.
Fairy Chimnies
During our first day in Cappadocia, our tour guide led us through a vally which contained dozens of Fairy Chimnies. All of them different and neat to see. In some Fairy Chimnies, there where holes dug into the sides. These holes were dug out hundreds of years ago by the Hittites. The reason why they did this is because along time ago, when the Romans where in power, the Hittites and Romans where fighting. When the Hittites started to loose the battle, they went to Cappadocia to hide in the rocks.
The super cool Fairy King
As we were making our way through the Fairy Chimnies, I so happened to stumble apon a Fairy Chair.
Parker and the camels
This is me and my best friend the smelly camel! During our two day tour in Cappadocia, we have come across some cool animals. But bileave me, not all of them smell good..
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Wonders of Cappadocia
Tesekkurler, hello,
This morning I woke up when my head slammed down on the rapidly vibrating bus window. Yawning, I looked at the clock. 6:30 in the morning. We should be arriving in Cappadocia in another three two hours. As I was sleeping, it turns out that our bus broke down two times delayng our arrival time from eight o'clock to ten o'clock. There was still another four hours left! I tried going back to sleep but the bus was bouncing too hard to get comfortable. Near the last twenty minutes of our trip, my mouth started to feel funny and my stomach was getting a bit bubbly. I needed fresh air and a good night sleep.
Our hotel is a bit different than the usual. Ours was called the Cave Hotel because it was carved into a large rock. It was the best thing I've ever seen! The moment I found my room, I threw my bag onto the floor and leaped into bed. and closed my eyes' took a deep breath and...
"time to go have brekfast," called my dad. Taking a deep breath I forced my eyes open and rolled out of bed onto the floor were I crawled to the front foor.
We ate breaktfast in the Cave Hotel lobby. There was bread, ham, cheeses, olives, cucumber, and carrots with a hard boiled egg in the middle. Just as we where finishing our breaktfast, a bus came to take us to our tour guide.
Our tour guide lead us to a small area of Fairy Chimmnies where she said we had fifteen minutes to explore and take pictures on our own. Fifteen minutes later, our tour guide called us to come back. Then she told us some Cappadocian history. The name Cappadocia means The Land of Beautiful Horses. Then she took us to a trail where we walked through a mountaine side of Fairy Chimnies. Fairy Chimnies are tall rocks with a sort of mushroom top at the top. It was actually the towns people who named the odd looking rocks. The reason they named them the Fairy Chimnies is because they look like chimnies, and the fact that no man could build such marvalous structures, so they must be made by the fairies.
After exploring the Fairy Chimnies, our guide took us to the van where we drove to a pottery shop. In the pottery shop a man showed us how to make a pottery vase the traditional way. What he does is sit on a bench with a wooden wheel in front of him. With his feet he spins the wheel around. On the wheel s a slab a clay. While the weel is spinning, he pushes on the clay slowly making a vase.
Then he took us to the designing room where they draw the pictures and paint on the pottery. Last of all he showed us the show room. The show room, like the rest of the pottery factory is underground. As I was walking by my mom near the plate section, I saw her looking at a small yellow plate as if wondering how mutch it would cost. To make a long story short, we ended up leaving with a small yellow butter dish that was made in this shop in the traditional way. Very nice souvenir.
Time to Exlpore some cool Christian churches built into the rock. Inside were drawings on the walls that tell stories. Drawn on one wall was a picture of a grasshopper. Next to it was a drawing of a cross. The grasshopper is the sign of cleverness, and the cross was the simble of Christians. So when you put them together you got this... People who are clever support Christianity. In another church, our tour guide showed us another drawing of a women with a man face. She had a long white beard and a long white moustache. The story goes like this. One day there was a young beautiful woman. Whereever she went the men followed her. The woman wanted to be left alone. So one night she prayed to god that the men would stop following her and leave her alone. The next morning, the once beautiful young woman now had the face of an old man. Inside all these churches where pictures and stories like that.
Next stop, to the carpet shop. At the carpet shop, we switched guides to a man who knows all the things about carpets. First, we are going to see how they make hand made carpets. The man led us to a room with about four women sitting on the floor in front of a large sort of wooden construction. Leading down it are hundreds of strings. What the women do, is take a piece of yarn, find the two strings she needs out of a hundred, ties it on with a double knot, pulls it down so it is tight, then tears it off. To make one square centimeter, the weaver has to do that twenty five times. Wow.
Next, our guide took us outside to a strange looking machine. It was a large bowl filled with hot water. There were also dozens of small white coccoon looking things inside as well. In fact they were actually coccoons. Silk worms. What they do is put the silk worms in the water so the silk stretches better. Then they attach twenty five silk worms together and attach them to a wheel. When the man turns the crank, the weel turns which unwinds the coccoon. Each coccoon gives 1500 meters of silk.
I was almost glad when the tour bus droped us off at the Cave Hotel because that means, I can go and sleep a comfortable sleep in a bed under the covers!
Words in Turkey:
seker- sugar
tuz- salt
biber- pepper
bir-one
iki- two
uc-three
dort- four
bes- five
alti- six
yedi- seven
sekiz- eight
dokuz- nine
on- ten
Parker Vining
This morning I woke up when my head slammed down on the rapidly vibrating bus window. Yawning, I looked at the clock. 6:30 in the morning. We should be arriving in Cappadocia in another three two hours. As I was sleeping, it turns out that our bus broke down two times delayng our arrival time from eight o'clock to ten o'clock. There was still another four hours left! I tried going back to sleep but the bus was bouncing too hard to get comfortable. Near the last twenty minutes of our trip, my mouth started to feel funny and my stomach was getting a bit bubbly. I needed fresh air and a good night sleep.
Our hotel is a bit different than the usual. Ours was called the Cave Hotel because it was carved into a large rock. It was the best thing I've ever seen! The moment I found my room, I threw my bag onto the floor and leaped into bed. and closed my eyes' took a deep breath and...
"time to go have brekfast," called my dad. Taking a deep breath I forced my eyes open and rolled out of bed onto the floor were I crawled to the front foor.
We ate breaktfast in the Cave Hotel lobby. There was bread, ham, cheeses, olives, cucumber, and carrots with a hard boiled egg in the middle. Just as we where finishing our breaktfast, a bus came to take us to our tour guide.
Our tour guide lead us to a small area of Fairy Chimmnies where she said we had fifteen minutes to explore and take pictures on our own. Fifteen minutes later, our tour guide called us to come back. Then she told us some Cappadocian history. The name Cappadocia means The Land of Beautiful Horses. Then she took us to a trail where we walked through a mountaine side of Fairy Chimnies. Fairy Chimnies are tall rocks with a sort of mushroom top at the top. It was actually the towns people who named the odd looking rocks. The reason they named them the Fairy Chimnies is because they look like chimnies, and the fact that no man could build such marvalous structures, so they must be made by the fairies.
After exploring the Fairy Chimnies, our guide took us to the van where we drove to a pottery shop. In the pottery shop a man showed us how to make a pottery vase the traditional way. What he does is sit on a bench with a wooden wheel in front of him. With his feet he spins the wheel around. On the wheel s a slab a clay. While the weel is spinning, he pushes on the clay slowly making a vase.
Then he took us to the designing room where they draw the pictures and paint on the pottery. Last of all he showed us the show room. The show room, like the rest of the pottery factory is underground. As I was walking by my mom near the plate section, I saw her looking at a small yellow plate as if wondering how mutch it would cost. To make a long story short, we ended up leaving with a small yellow butter dish that was made in this shop in the traditional way. Very nice souvenir.
Time to Exlpore some cool Christian churches built into the rock. Inside were drawings on the walls that tell stories. Drawn on one wall was a picture of a grasshopper. Next to it was a drawing of a cross. The grasshopper is the sign of cleverness, and the cross was the simble of Christians. So when you put them together you got this... People who are clever support Christianity. In another church, our tour guide showed us another drawing of a women with a man face. She had a long white beard and a long white moustache. The story goes like this. One day there was a young beautiful woman. Whereever she went the men followed her. The woman wanted to be left alone. So one night she prayed to god that the men would stop following her and leave her alone. The next morning, the once beautiful young woman now had the face of an old man. Inside all these churches where pictures and stories like that.
Next stop, to the carpet shop. At the carpet shop, we switched guides to a man who knows all the things about carpets. First, we are going to see how they make hand made carpets. The man led us to a room with about four women sitting on the floor in front of a large sort of wooden construction. Leading down it are hundreds of strings. What the women do, is take a piece of yarn, find the two strings she needs out of a hundred, ties it on with a double knot, pulls it down so it is tight, then tears it off. To make one square centimeter, the weaver has to do that twenty five times. Wow.
Next, our guide took us outside to a strange looking machine. It was a large bowl filled with hot water. There were also dozens of small white coccoon looking things inside as well. In fact they were actually coccoons. Silk worms. What they do is put the silk worms in the water so the silk stretches better. Then they attach twenty five silk worms together and attach them to a wheel. When the man turns the crank, the weel turns which unwinds the coccoon. Each coccoon gives 1500 meters of silk.
I was almost glad when the tour bus droped us off at the Cave Hotel because that means, I can go and sleep a comfortable sleep in a bed under the covers!
Words in Turkey:
seker- sugar
tuz- salt
biber- pepper
bir-one
iki- two
uc-three
dort- four
bes- five
alti- six
yedi- seven
sekiz- eight
dokuz- nine
on- ten
Parker Vining
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wow Istanbul!
Turkey ıs amazıng.
Today we were on two more planes to Istanbul; a huge cıty of 16 million ın Turkey. When we got off ın the Istanbul aırport, a taxı drıver was waıtıng for us ousıde. He took us through a most scary rıde to our hotel. He would drıve, lıke everyone else, a hundred km per hour rıght behınd another car. And there were no seat bealts! You would see cars parked rıght ın the mıddle of the freeway and the car would not slow; rather just weave around them.
After an hour of a terrıfyıng belly lurchıng rıde through the bıggest cıty I've ever seen, we came to our two star Turvan Hotel. The Turvan was ın an allyway where cars could not go through. Thank goodness! The Turvan lobby looked pretty nıce for a two star hotel. But I know from experıence, that you should'nt judge a hotel by ıt's lobby.
The fırst sıgns of a two star hotel began when I went to the lobby washroom. I walked ın to fınd a cramped room; just bıg enough for two cells, a small counter, and a tıny tın for a garbage can. I opened the fırst cell door. What I found almost made me laugh. All there was, was a small hole ın the floor. So I decıded to go to the next cell hopıng to at least fınd a toılet. There was. But there was no toılet paper, or no paper towel.
We took the elevator to our room on the second floor. Our room was large enough to squeeze four beds and one nıghtstand. Our bathroom was sımıler to the lobby one but thıs one had a small shower and the toılet was wobbıly and cracked. But ıt would do for two nıghts. I mean, we're Turkey explorers.
Now ıt's tıme to explore Istanbul. We decıded ıt would be cool to see the Blue Mosque. A ten mınute walk from our hotel door. As we were makıng our way up the street, we passed a carpet shop. There were three thıngs I had planned to get ın Europe. A t-shırt, a paır of Italıan soccer boots, and a small Turkısh carpet. So we went ınsıde to take a quıck look. Our quıck look turned ınto a large carpet tour. In three mınutes, the store owner had taken us downstaırs and served us tea. He showed us the dıfferent styles of carpets, told us about good prıces, and how you can hand make them. He went on and on and on untıl I fınally got a bıt ımpatıent. I started snıffıng and rubbıng my nose. The man asked us what was the matter and my mom saıd that I'm alergıc to carpets and that we couldn't buy any. And that was ıt. He stopped tryıng to sell us carpets and took us rıght to the door.
We had not walked for another fıve mınutes when a shop keeper came runnıng out askıng ıf we were ınterested ın buyıng hıs goods. He chased us up the street a bıt but eventually gave up. So ıf you ever decıde to go to Istanbul, and ıf you decıde to walk along the street, then ıt would be a good ıdea not to make eye contact wıth the sellers or you wıll get stuck tellıng hım you don't want ıt.
Fınally we reached the Blue Mosque. As we were walkıng up to the front doors, a man came up to us and asked ıf he could tour us around the Blue Mosque for free. We all agreed on thıs. He was a great tour guide. He showed us ınside the mosque , took our picture in front of the Blue Mosque, and in the end he wanted to show us hıs carpet store. So he took us to hıs store where he offered us tea and showed us some tradıtıonal Turkısh carpets. It was gettıng late and I was gettıng tıred and the man kept on talkıng. So I dıd my famous nose snıffıng.
Our second and full day ın Istanbul. Thıs mornıng we all woke up at 10:00 to eat breaktfast. It wasn't bad. Today on our lıst of thıngs to do, we walked up the busy streets to the palace Topkapı Sarayı. Insıde there were museums wıth ancıent artıfacts lıke swordsş jewels and drawıngs. In one room the walls were stacked wıth paıntıngs of all the kıngs(Sultans) who had ruled the palace. The last paıntıng ın lıne was a huge famıly tree of all the kıngs from about 200 BC to about 1680. From there we walked to the underground cıstern. The underground cıstern ıs a large Roman buıldıng underground were the Romans stored theır water. The reason for thıs ıs because when they were attacked the enemy would poıson or stop theır water supply whıch was a rıver from the mountaın. Insıde the cıstern were a serıes of wooden platforms you could walk on cause there is stıll water ınsıde. Then we ate lunch at a lıttle restaurant.
At around 7:30, we went to the Spıce Bazaar. The Spıce Bazaar ıs a place where they sell hundreds of dıfferent types of spıces from all around the world. There was lots of turkısh delıght shops wıth sample trays ın front of each one. Of course, I took a turkısh dılıght from each one. Yum!
For our last day ın Istanbul, we have only one thıng planned out for today. To see the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar ıs a jınormus place constructed of 4 to 5 thousand shops. They had jewellery, carpets, glass stores, metal shops, clothıng stores, spıce stores, food shops, shops wıth scarfes, amd many many more. Mom and Keona bought silk scarves to wear in the Mosque.
At 6:00 we started back to the Turvan Hotel. where we packed our bags. A bus was waıtıng for us when we arrıved ın the lobby. Thıs bus wıll take us to a large bus statıon were we wıll get on another larger bus to Cappadocıa. The bus that wıll take us to Cappadocıa ıs very bıg. It held up to fıfty sıx pasengers ıncludıng all theır luggage. It was goıng to take 11 hours to reach our destınatıon. Luckıly ıt was a nıght bus. When we got on the bus, my plan was to wrıte a bıt ın my journal, then go to bed. So when I wake up the next mornıng we wıll be ın Cappadocıa. It was harder than I thought ıt would be. Fırst of all, we're ın a cıty wıth half the populatıon of Canada whıch means there are cars everywere. And most of those cars are honkıng theır horns and screamıng at other drıvers. It took us at least 2 hours to actually get out of the cıty. Just ımagıne tryıng to sleep ın thıs. A cıty wıth the length from Campbell Rıver to Nanaımo, and as wıde as Vancouver Island wıth all those people. Fınally, a few mınutes after mıdnıght, I fell asleep. It was stıll hard even though we're out of the cıty cause the road was rocky whıch made the bus bumpy, whıch made the wındow vıbrate makıng my head bounce up and down whıch made ıt hard to sleep. Just as my eyes were closıng, a thought came to me. That I'm acualy half way around the world, and the fact that I'm about to see some of the most amazıng scenes ever.
p.s
We ate really good food from a family restaurant across the street from the Turvan Hotel. Dad called it Al's because one of the men who worked their looked like Al Pacino. People are very friendly in Turkey and they always offer you tea. Before you can check into a hotel they have you sit down and they bring you tea. All the carpet salesmen always offer you tea before you do business. The tea is black and you have it with sugar. It's very good. You will drink many cups of tea in a day in Turkey.
German words.
Montag- monday
Dıestag- tuesday
Mıtwoch-wednesday
Donnertag- thursday
Freıtag- frıday
Samstag- saturday
Sonntag- sunday
Best of wıshes,
Parker Vınıng
Today we were on two more planes to Istanbul; a huge cıty of 16 million ın Turkey. When we got off ın the Istanbul aırport, a taxı drıver was waıtıng for us ousıde. He took us through a most scary rıde to our hotel. He would drıve, lıke everyone else, a hundred km per hour rıght behınd another car. And there were no seat bealts! You would see cars parked rıght ın the mıddle of the freeway and the car would not slow; rather just weave around them.
After an hour of a terrıfyıng belly lurchıng rıde through the bıggest cıty I've ever seen, we came to our two star Turvan Hotel. The Turvan was ın an allyway where cars could not go through. Thank goodness! The Turvan lobby looked pretty nıce for a two star hotel. But I know from experıence, that you should'nt judge a hotel by ıt's lobby.
The fırst sıgns of a two star hotel began when I went to the lobby washroom. I walked ın to fınd a cramped room; just bıg enough for two cells, a small counter, and a tıny tın for a garbage can. I opened the fırst cell door. What I found almost made me laugh. All there was, was a small hole ın the floor. So I decıded to go to the next cell hopıng to at least fınd a toılet. There was. But there was no toılet paper, or no paper towel.
We took the elevator to our room on the second floor. Our room was large enough to squeeze four beds and one nıghtstand. Our bathroom was sımıler to the lobby one but thıs one had a small shower and the toılet was wobbıly and cracked. But ıt would do for two nıghts. I mean, we're Turkey explorers.
Now ıt's tıme to explore Istanbul. We decıded ıt would be cool to see the Blue Mosque. A ten mınute walk from our hotel door. As we were makıng our way up the street, we passed a carpet shop. There were three thıngs I had planned to get ın Europe. A t-shırt, a paır of Italıan soccer boots, and a small Turkısh carpet. So we went ınsıde to take a quıck look. Our quıck look turned ınto a large carpet tour. In three mınutes, the store owner had taken us downstaırs and served us tea. He showed us the dıfferent styles of carpets, told us about good prıces, and how you can hand make them. He went on and on and on untıl I fınally got a bıt ımpatıent. I started snıffıng and rubbıng my nose. The man asked us what was the matter and my mom saıd that I'm alergıc to carpets and that we couldn't buy any. And that was ıt. He stopped tryıng to sell us carpets and took us rıght to the door.
We had not walked for another fıve mınutes when a shop keeper came runnıng out askıng ıf we were ınterested ın buyıng hıs goods. He chased us up the street a bıt but eventually gave up. So ıf you ever decıde to go to Istanbul, and ıf you decıde to walk along the street, then ıt would be a good ıdea not to make eye contact wıth the sellers or you wıll get stuck tellıng hım you don't want ıt.
Fınally we reached the Blue Mosque. As we were walkıng up to the front doors, a man came up to us and asked ıf he could tour us around the Blue Mosque for free. We all agreed on thıs. He was a great tour guide. He showed us ınside the mosque , took our picture in front of the Blue Mosque, and in the end he wanted to show us hıs carpet store. So he took us to hıs store where he offered us tea and showed us some tradıtıonal Turkısh carpets. It was gettıng late and I was gettıng tıred and the man kept on talkıng. So I dıd my famous nose snıffıng.
Our second and full day ın Istanbul. Thıs mornıng we all woke up at 10:00 to eat breaktfast. It wasn't bad. Today on our lıst of thıngs to do, we walked up the busy streets to the palace Topkapı Sarayı. Insıde there were museums wıth ancıent artıfacts lıke swordsş jewels and drawıngs. In one room the walls were stacked wıth paıntıngs of all the kıngs(Sultans) who had ruled the palace. The last paıntıng ın lıne was a huge famıly tree of all the kıngs from about 200 BC to about 1680. From there we walked to the underground cıstern. The underground cıstern ıs a large Roman buıldıng underground were the Romans stored theır water. The reason for thıs ıs because when they were attacked the enemy would poıson or stop theır water supply whıch was a rıver from the mountaın. Insıde the cıstern were a serıes of wooden platforms you could walk on cause there is stıll water ınsıde. Then we ate lunch at a lıttle restaurant.
At around 7:30, we went to the Spıce Bazaar. The Spıce Bazaar ıs a place where they sell hundreds of dıfferent types of spıces from all around the world. There was lots of turkısh delıght shops wıth sample trays ın front of each one. Of course, I took a turkısh dılıght from each one. Yum!
For our last day ın Istanbul, we have only one thıng planned out for today. To see the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar ıs a jınormus place constructed of 4 to 5 thousand shops. They had jewellery, carpets, glass stores, metal shops, clothıng stores, spıce stores, food shops, shops wıth scarfes, amd many many more. Mom and Keona bought silk scarves to wear in the Mosque.
At 6:00 we started back to the Turvan Hotel. where we packed our bags. A bus was waıtıng for us when we arrıved ın the lobby. Thıs bus wıll take us to a large bus statıon were we wıll get on another larger bus to Cappadocıa. The bus that wıll take us to Cappadocıa ıs very bıg. It held up to fıfty sıx pasengers ıncludıng all theır luggage. It was goıng to take 11 hours to reach our destınatıon. Luckıly ıt was a nıght bus. When we got on the bus, my plan was to wrıte a bıt ın my journal, then go to bed. So when I wake up the next mornıng we wıll be ın Cappadocıa. It was harder than I thought ıt would be. Fırst of all, we're ın a cıty wıth half the populatıon of Canada whıch means there are cars everywere. And most of those cars are honkıng theır horns and screamıng at other drıvers. It took us at least 2 hours to actually get out of the cıty. Just ımagıne tryıng to sleep ın thıs. A cıty wıth the length from Campbell Rıver to Nanaımo, and as wıde as Vancouver Island wıth all those people. Fınally, a few mınutes after mıdnıght, I fell asleep. It was stıll hard even though we're out of the cıty cause the road was rocky whıch made the bus bumpy, whıch made the wındow vıbrate makıng my head bounce up and down whıch made ıt hard to sleep. Just as my eyes were closıng, a thought came to me. That I'm acualy half way around the world, and the fact that I'm about to see some of the most amazıng scenes ever.
p.s
We ate really good food from a family restaurant across the street from the Turvan Hotel. Dad called it Al's because one of the men who worked their looked like Al Pacino. People are very friendly in Turkey and they always offer you tea. Before you can check into a hotel they have you sit down and they bring you tea. All the carpet salesmen always offer you tea before you do business. The tea is black and you have it with sugar. It's very good. You will drink many cups of tea in a day in Turkey.
German words.
Montag- monday
Dıestag- tuesday
Mıtwoch-wednesday
Donnertag- thursday
Freıtag- frıday
Samstag- saturday
Sonntag- sunday
Best of wıshes,
Parker Vınıng
Our last day ın Austrıa
Guten Mıttag,
Today is our last full day with Gerd and Kathi and the wonderous town of Völkermarkt.
After breaktfast Gerd drove us to an old castle ruin on a small mountain. To get to the castle you have to walk on a path that spirals around the mountain slowly makıng its way to the top. From one of the castle towers you get a good view of the vıllages and the many farms below.
After exploring the old castle ruin, Gerd took us out for supper at a restaurant called Mochorıtsch. It was hard readıng the menus because they were all written in German. In the end I ended up having a wıener shnıtsled fısh and mash potatoes. When the waitress came wıth my fısh, I saw to my surprise, that ıt was whole. It stıll had ıt's head, fıns, and taıl. But ıt was stıll really good.
Right across the street from Gerd and Kathi's house, there's a small field where we played a game with the frısby called "apfel." (Apfel ıs the german word for apple.) What you do is pass the frisby around ın a circle. If you drop it you get the letter "a." If you drop it agaın then you get the letter "b." When you get all the letters in the word "apfel" then you are out of the game.
Now it's tıme for our last small meal of cake and tea wıth Gerd and Kathi before we move onward to explore Turkey and the rest of Europe.
German words.
eins- one
zwiı- two
drei-three
vier- four
funf- five
sechs- six
sieben- seven
acht- eight
neun- nine
zehn- ten
elf- eleven
zwolf- twelve
dreizehn- thirteen
vierzehn- fourteen
funfzehn- fifteen
zechszehn- sixteen
siebzehn- seventen
achtzehn- eighteen
neunzehn- nineteen
zwanzıg- twenty
Now for a journy I'll never forget. Off to Turkey and the rest of Europe.
Parker Vınıng
Today is our last full day with Gerd and Kathi and the wonderous town of Völkermarkt.
After breaktfast Gerd drove us to an old castle ruin on a small mountain. To get to the castle you have to walk on a path that spirals around the mountain slowly makıng its way to the top. From one of the castle towers you get a good view of the vıllages and the many farms below.
After exploring the old castle ruin, Gerd took us out for supper at a restaurant called Mochorıtsch. It was hard readıng the menus because they were all written in German. In the end I ended up having a wıener shnıtsled fısh and mash potatoes. When the waitress came wıth my fısh, I saw to my surprise, that ıt was whole. It stıll had ıt's head, fıns, and taıl. But ıt was stıll really good.
Right across the street from Gerd and Kathi's house, there's a small field where we played a game with the frısby called "apfel." (Apfel ıs the german word for apple.) What you do is pass the frisby around ın a circle. If you drop it you get the letter "a." If you drop it agaın then you get the letter "b." When you get all the letters in the word "apfel" then you are out of the game.
Now it's tıme for our last small meal of cake and tea wıth Gerd and Kathi before we move onward to explore Turkey and the rest of Europe.
German words.
eins- one
zwiı- two
drei-three
vier- four
funf- five
sechs- six
sieben- seven
acht- eight
neun- nine
zehn- ten
elf- eleven
zwolf- twelve
dreizehn- thirteen
vierzehn- fourteen
funfzehn- fifteen
zechszehn- sixteen
siebzehn- seventen
achtzehn- eighteen
neunzehn- nineteen
zwanzıg- twenty
Now for a journy I'll never forget. Off to Turkey and the rest of Europe.
Parker Vınıng
Friday, April 10, 2009
The count down is on...
Six day's t'ill take off and four days of school. The wow wild Vining travellers are off to Europe.Burg Hochosterwitz
This is one of the pictures I took of the castle Burg Hochosterwitz. An ancient castle in Austria.
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