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
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
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.
Our big Adventure
Guten mittag,
Hello guy's, we have, after a series of plane rides, arrived in Völkermarkt. (A small town in Austria.) We got picked up at the airport by Gerd and and Kathi's brother who gave us a tour of the city. As we pulled in the driveway, Kathi was standing outside waiting for us. The moment she showed us our rooms, I lept into bed and fell asleep. Eight hours later, I woke up at 11:oo Austria time and went up staires to the kitchen. Kathi gave me a bowl of home made chicken noodle soup and a slice of chocolate cake before I went back to bed.
The next morning, Kathi made a huge breakfast of porage, toast and bread with butter, apple juice, orange juice, tea and coffee, nuts and cinnamon bread. Then at 12:00 in the afternoon, Kathi served supper. In Austria they eat brektfast in the morning, then supper in the afternoon, and at around 4:00 and 7:00 they eat a small meal such as meat, cheese bread and toast with tea and coffee.
That night I woke up at 3:30 in the morning wide awake since in Europe their nine hours ahead of us so it atcualy felt like 6:00 supper time in Campbell River.
Today we walked to town in Völkermarkt. It is quite differtent than Campbell River. Their only seemes to be one main roead with little alyways leading off of it. In the allyways there are little shops with houses built on top were the shop keepers live. The houses are also quite different. Most of the ones in town are right beside each other and they are all painted in different colours like pink, yellow, green and white. In the town there is a large cobble stoned courtyard were the town market is held every Wednesday and Friday.
On April 5, Gerd drove us to a castle called Burg Hochosterwitz. The word Burg means castle in German and Hochosterwitz in the castles name. Burg Hochosterwitz is placed on a samll mountain. We parked the car at the bottom and climbed the rest of the way. To get to the atcual castle part you must climb the castle defence gates. It was really cool because you got to see the dungeon were they cept the prisoners and a very old church.
Nown I'm starting to get used to the Austria time, because this morning I woke up at 8:30 instead of 3:30 in the morning. To day were going to go for a walk around the Klopeiner See. The Klopeiner See is a lake about a twenty minute drive from Gerd and Kathi's house. Near the end of hour walk around the lake, Keona and I were so hot, we went for a swim. At first the water was very cold. But then I decided to just run and jump in.
After saying good bye to Gerd and Kathi, mom, dad, Keona and I got on a bus which will take us to Klagenfurt. From Klagenfurt, we will take a three houre train ride out of Austria and down a city in Italy called Venice. In Venice there are no cars or roads. In stead they hace countless numbers of canals which zig zag all around the city. What you can do if you would like to travel in Venice, is get a taxi on the canals, or walk. We did lots of both. First we tryed to find San Marco Square. One of the most famus squares in the world. It was harder than I thought it would be. Venice is a easy place to get lost. Everywhere looks the same and the allyways go off in all directions. At one point in our search I saw a clothesline hanging out the window with laundry hanging off it. So after an hour of searching, we finaly came across it. From San Marco Square, we took a water taxi to an island were our hotel The Best Western is. When we were checking in to our room, the man at the front desk asked if we would like to take a free tour of the Signoretti glass factory. The Signoretti glass factory is were they make glass lamps, vases, cups, shandaleers, and other items. He also showed us were we cold find good resterants down by the beach. After we were all setled in our room, we went to look for a place to eat. Keona, mom, dad and I all got an Italian pizza which we took down to the beach to eat. It was probably the best pizza I have ever eaten. That night, we disided to go on a taxi back to San Marco Square to see the large church at night. On our way over, the sun was going down behind a large palace. The sun was beat red from all the pollution. Luckily I had my camera to take some pictures.
Placed in the courtyard of San Marco are little shops on wheels with Venice t-shirts, post cards, masks, hats, and juilery to buy. As I was walking by one, I saw a cool looking t-shirt with the words Venice on it. I walked up to the man and asked if I could get it. He handed me the t-shirt and I gave him the ten euros. I had just bought a Venice t-shirt in one of the most famus Squares in the world. Wow!
The next morning, we packed our bags and went to the docks were a private water taxi drove us to the Signoretti glass factory. When we arrived, one of the men working there showed us how to make a horse. And withen ten seconds he had made a galoping horse. It was so good it almost looked real. After touring the glass factory, we went on another boat up the Grand Canal. On our way we stopped at the famous bridge called Rialto Bridge. At the Rialto Bridge, I took a few pictures before hopping back on our water taxi. Our final stop was the train station were we boarded a train for home.
I hope all is well back home.
Here are some German words for you to learn.
dankeschöen- thank you
bitteschöen- your welcome
guten morgen- good morning
guten tag- good day
guten abent- good evening
und- and
mutter- mother
vater- father
sonne- sun
see- lake
Auf Wiedersehn- good bye
Parker Vining
Hello guy's, we have, after a series of plane rides, arrived in Völkermarkt. (A small town in Austria.) We got picked up at the airport by Gerd and and Kathi's brother who gave us a tour of the city. As we pulled in the driveway, Kathi was standing outside waiting for us. The moment she showed us our rooms, I lept into bed and fell asleep. Eight hours later, I woke up at 11:oo Austria time and went up staires to the kitchen. Kathi gave me a bowl of home made chicken noodle soup and a slice of chocolate cake before I went back to bed.
The next morning, Kathi made a huge breakfast of porage, toast and bread with butter, apple juice, orange juice, tea and coffee, nuts and cinnamon bread. Then at 12:00 in the afternoon, Kathi served supper. In Austria they eat brektfast in the morning, then supper in the afternoon, and at around 4:00 and 7:00 they eat a small meal such as meat, cheese bread and toast with tea and coffee.
That night I woke up at 3:30 in the morning wide awake since in Europe their nine hours ahead of us so it atcualy felt like 6:00 supper time in Campbell River.
Today we walked to town in Völkermarkt. It is quite differtent than Campbell River. Their only seemes to be one main roead with little alyways leading off of it. In the allyways there are little shops with houses built on top were the shop keepers live. The houses are also quite different. Most of the ones in town are right beside each other and they are all painted in different colours like pink, yellow, green and white. In the town there is a large cobble stoned courtyard were the town market is held every Wednesday and Friday.
On April 5, Gerd drove us to a castle called Burg Hochosterwitz. The word Burg means castle in German and Hochosterwitz in the castles name. Burg Hochosterwitz is placed on a samll mountain. We parked the car at the bottom and climbed the rest of the way. To get to the atcual castle part you must climb the castle defence gates. It was really cool because you got to see the dungeon were they cept the prisoners and a very old church.
Nown I'm starting to get used to the Austria time, because this morning I woke up at 8:30 instead of 3:30 in the morning. To day were going to go for a walk around the Klopeiner See. The Klopeiner See is a lake about a twenty minute drive from Gerd and Kathi's house. Near the end of hour walk around the lake, Keona and I were so hot, we went for a swim. At first the water was very cold. But then I decided to just run and jump in.
After saying good bye to Gerd and Kathi, mom, dad, Keona and I got on a bus which will take us to Klagenfurt. From Klagenfurt, we will take a three houre train ride out of Austria and down a city in Italy called Venice. In Venice there are no cars or roads. In stead they hace countless numbers of canals which zig zag all around the city. What you can do if you would like to travel in Venice, is get a taxi on the canals, or walk. We did lots of both. First we tryed to find San Marco Square. One of the most famus squares in the world. It was harder than I thought it would be. Venice is a easy place to get lost. Everywhere looks the same and the allyways go off in all directions. At one point in our search I saw a clothesline hanging out the window with laundry hanging off it. So after an hour of searching, we finaly came across it. From San Marco Square, we took a water taxi to an island were our hotel The Best Western is. When we were checking in to our room, the man at the front desk asked if we would like to take a free tour of the Signoretti glass factory. The Signoretti glass factory is were they make glass lamps, vases, cups, shandaleers, and other items. He also showed us were we cold find good resterants down by the beach. After we were all setled in our room, we went to look for a place to eat. Keona, mom, dad and I all got an Italian pizza which we took down to the beach to eat. It was probably the best pizza I have ever eaten. That night, we disided to go on a taxi back to San Marco Square to see the large church at night. On our way over, the sun was going down behind a large palace. The sun was beat red from all the pollution. Luckily I had my camera to take some pictures.
Placed in the courtyard of San Marco are little shops on wheels with Venice t-shirts, post cards, masks, hats, and juilery to buy. As I was walking by one, I saw a cool looking t-shirt with the words Venice on it. I walked up to the man and asked if I could get it. He handed me the t-shirt and I gave him the ten euros. I had just bought a Venice t-shirt in one of the most famus Squares in the world. Wow!
The next morning, we packed our bags and went to the docks were a private water taxi drove us to the Signoretti glass factory. When we arrived, one of the men working there showed us how to make a horse. And withen ten seconds he had made a galoping horse. It was so good it almost looked real. After touring the glass factory, we went on another boat up the Grand Canal. On our way we stopped at the famous bridge called Rialto Bridge. At the Rialto Bridge, I took a few pictures before hopping back on our water taxi. Our final stop was the train station were we boarded a train for home.
I hope all is well back home.
Here are some German words for you to learn.
dankeschöen- thank you
bitteschöen- your welcome
guten morgen- good morning
guten tag- good day
guten abent- good evening
und- and
mutter- mother
vater- father
sonne- sun
see- lake
Auf Wiedersehn- good bye
Parker Vining
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