Tessa's Blog

Hi everyone! It is Tessa reporting from Scotland. Is it ever beautiful; the sights we've seen are insane. I've enjoyed every moment of it. You should see the amount of sheep we've seen here, it is hilarious. Sheep there wait over there, wait… THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! I am having an amazing time!

We took the scenic route to Apple Cross and was it ever amazing. We went up a huge hill and we went into the clouds. I got out and stood in the clouds!! I found that brilliant. The feeling of being in the clouds was up lifting but cold. The ocean here is amazing too. It is so blue and brilliant! The hostels are great too. I never knew Scotland could be so beautiful. Also they have great food.

Today I had an amazing cake slice. It was fudge and reminded me of home. The lady at the café warmed it up and it was so tasty. Also the people are amazingly nice; always smiling and telling us to have a wonderful trip. They're also very funny. The radio stations are also funny. They play great music too. The music back home actually!! I thought we would be hearing bag pipes, but no I'm listening to all the hot bands back home!! I keep telling myself that were in Scotland but, amazingly, I don't believe myself. I can't believe I am in Europe and away from everyone back home. Imiss you all so much and please keep in contact with me by my email and try not to right personal stuff to me on our blog because everyone can see it so try and keep me updated through my email unless you have some nice words to my whole family and it is related to our trip. Thanks for keeping in touch! Bye! Tessa

Highland Games + York Hey everyone, it is Tessa reporting from York and I am going to tell you about the last couple of days in Scotland and all about York. Well I believe the last thing I told you about was all the scenery and how beautiful it was. Well now I get to tell you about the Highland games!! Was it ever cool. First we watched the Tug O War. It was so funny because there shoes are flat and so they have to dig their heels in to stay from going over the line. It started off being a lush grassy area but by the end of the day it was just mud and dirt from them digging in so much! Then we decided to go sit down and wait for some sky divers to come down. We met up with a lady from Vancouver and had a little chat with her. Then we started chatting with another group of people and one of the men turned out to be the chieftain of the games! Since it was Connor's birthday he wished Connor a good birthday!! Then we saw the skydivers come down. It was really cool. Then we saw this hilarious dog act. The dog had to get the ducks through these obstacles by herding them. Then the runners of the show got 6 adults down to herd the ducks and they actually made it!! Then we watched some of the heavy weight competitions like shot-put and the caber toss. The caber toss was cool because they actually had to pick up a log and toss it to make it flip!! It must have been 8 meters high!! Now I will tell you about York. We went on a 2 hour walk all through York; well mostly just the historic places. There are places there where you can see what the Romans built. It is so cool. We also saw a huge church. It was so beautiful. A really cool but gross thing is that the ground has risen about 20 feet from trash!!! GROSS, Eh? Anyway, that's all I have to say so keep in touch and I will tell you more. BYE!!

Stratford upon Avon- Bath Hey everyone, it is Tessa reporting from….well actually on the road to London. I am going to tell you about our last couple of days in Stratford upon Avon and Bath. In Stratford upon Avon we learned so much about Shakespeare and you know what, he isn't all a bore. He also wrote really cool plays. Do you know the movie She's the Man? That movie is actually based on a Shakespeare play. We also got to see where Shakespeare's girlfriend lived. Her name is Anne Hathaway. She lived in a beautiful little cottage that we got to go in. When we were there we got to see the play Macbeth. It is a story about a man named Macbeth who wins a mighty war for the King of Scotland. After the war three witches tell Macbeth that he is going to be the Thaine of Cawdor and the King after. He becomes the Thaine of Cawdor but not the king. What do you think Macbeth will do? Please email me if you want to know the rest because it is really a good tale!

Onto Bath. Bath is a little city that has really been influenced by the Romans. It is a really beautiful city! They have Baths there….the name gave it away didn't it. Well we did another walking tour through Bath. It was really cool! The houses looked like well….Roman houses. Also we saw a part of land that was from Roman times. Anyway keep checking up on our blog and we will tell you some good tales. BYE!!

London Hey, everyone, it is Tessa reporting from our Apartment in………. PARIS!!! Ya, ya, we're still alive. I'm sure you all had you doubts but here we are in Paris. I am going to tell you about London and the train to Paris AND about our apartment. So, if you are sitting comfortably, we shall begin.

London was amazing. Our Hostel was great, too. The first night we pretty much slept… exciting, eh? In the morning, we got up early and took the tube (LRT/Subway) to Westminster Abbey. There we met up with LUBOS!! If you do not know him, I will give you a brief lesson about how we know him. About 2 years ago, he came to Canada to live for 1 year with my Uncle and Auntie. He was Catholic and didn't want to miss church but my Uncle and Auntie did not go to Church so we decided to take him. Anyway, now we are good friends. Yep. Anyway, we did a whole tour of the Abbey with Lubos and was it ever magnificent and big. I think it took about 1 ½ hours to go all around and learn about it. We saw the clock tower where Big Ben is. Big Ben is actually the bell. We did not really tour it, we just saw it but it was still great. We walked a very long way to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It was really cool and then we hit St. Paul's Cathedral. We did not go inside but it was still magnificent from the outside. We took the tube to Piccadilly Circus. Don't ask…. I will tell you. It is a very big food place. Anyway, we were looking for a place to eat and then there was a person outside that pretty much persuaded us in. It was great food, though. I finally had my lasagne. This whole trip I have asked for lasagne but "No, sorry we're out… so what do you want?" It does get annoying but I was very happy when he said "Ok, we have lasagne." Next we went to Buckingham Palace. It was cool because we saw the guards too. We went through a couple of parks to go to the tube to go find a place to eat. We found a small restaurant that was Italian and decided to eat there. It was great food. I got a pizza and an ice cream after. It was really fun. We decided to go to the Tower Bridge and Tower of London because Lubos said that it really lights up brilliantly at night and was he ever right. Check out our pictures and see for yourself. Anyway, keep in touch and hear about Paris.

Paris/Normandy/Belgium Hey everyone, Tessa reporting from Brugge. If you don't know where that is, it is in Belgium, pretty close to Holland, which is in the Netherlands, which is in Europe, which is in the world, which is in space, which means you pretty much get the idea. Anyway, I am going to tell you about Paris first. The Chunnel ride there was pretty cool… we actually went underwater in the train. We could not see the water though because we were in a tunnel. Yes, pretty cool, I know. Anyway, we got to our apartment and that was a pretty long walk from the subway with our backpacks on in 30 degree heat. We got to our apartment and it was small but charming. We had a bathroom, small kitchen, 1 double bed and a pull out couch and a beautiful view of the Pantheon. We kind of just rested that night. We went out for a meal and chilled. The next morning, we hit a bakery and got some delicious food. We went to the Notre Dame, yes, the church in the movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." It was a pretty relaxed day but we did hit the Louvre. Yes, it is that famous museum that holds "Venus De Milo", "Winged Victory" and "THE MONA LISA!!" I actually got to see the Mona Lisa up close. Check out the picture; we got a picture of it. Afterwards, we pretty much walked around. The second day was a big day. We got up and went to the same bakery and headed out. If anyone knows Rick Steves we actually got a tour from him online and we got to walk around Notre Dame for four hours listening about that part of town. It was actually pretty cool. Then we walked to the Eiffel Tower which is a very long walk. We got there, knowing we probably were not going to get to the top or attempt to walk up. We asked the man if we could walk up but he said only to the second floor and we were all really disappointed. We had a long conversation trying to figure out what to do and we decided to wait to go up on the elevator. After only 4 hours of waiting we were up and we had a really nice view. We were able to see the Pantheon which is right beside our apartment. After that, we headed out for some chow. We went down to Sacre Coure Church in the Latin Quarters. It was really good and I got a beautiful scarf there that I will show off when I get back. The next day, we went onto a train and headed out to Normandy. Normandy is still in France and it is famous for the landing beaches which I will talk about soon. Mt. St. Michel is famous for their sheep. They have a beach that when the tide comes in, it comes into the sheep's grass. Since the water is ocean water, the grass becomes salty and the sheep eat the salty grass which makes them have a natural saltiness to them. Anyway, we went to Mt. St. Michel and it is actually an abbey. We heard it was good to go at night and that it isn't busy at that time so we decided to go at night. We headed in and had a great meal. My dad had the sheep and I had a taste and it wasn't that bad. We went up to the abbey and decided to go in for 8 Euros for the parents and free for Connor and I. My dad heard at night there is always a cello and harpsichord and lights and mirrors. All of that was great and the different parts of the abbey were beautiful (there must have been 20) but the most beautiful thing is when I got to the top. You step outside and see all the fields of sheep one way and see the ocean the other. It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. If you are ever near Mt. St. Michel, you have to go at night. I saw a patch of sand surrounded by the water and actually saw the water suck it up! I found that super cool. I was sad to say goodbye to Mt. St. Michel but sadder things were coming. * * *The next day, we went to the landing beaches. First of all, we had to take a train. We arrived and were all ready to hear about the landing beaches and some of World War 2. We first arrived at Omaha Beach. It was also known as the bloody beach. We had 1 hour to learn about this horrible past. As you all know, World War 2 started with Hitler. Somebody had to stop him so Canada, U.S.A., France and Britain decided to invade in Normandy, France. All the German soldiers were on these beaches ready to attack when intruders came. I will tell you mostly about Omaha Beach (where the half of the American soldiers went) because it had the biggest impact. On June 6th 1944, a French sergeant gave out the orders to send the boats in and to start attacking the Germans even though the sea was harsh. The American soldiers started swimming in and the young soldiers were begging to stay. The men in front were literality walking targets. In a picture, this is what it was like. The G's are Germans and A's are Americans.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGG

The Germans had open fire while the Americans were getting themselves more ready to attack. Thousands of Americans died on that one beach in one night. It was heartbreaking. In the end, on both beaches, 9000 Americans died and they were all fairly young. We went to the American graveyard. All the crosses there were marble and in a straight line everywhere. 12,000 Germans died, too. We went to the German cemetery, as well. It was sad, too. It was really big but there are still 10 more graveyards for the Germans around the world.

Next, we went to Brugges. I already explained where it is so I can just tell you about it. We only had 1 day there but it was very good. Brugge is not famous for anything but people go there for its beauty. It was definitely beautiful and we saw a band there. It was quite cool because it was on the street and the whole town was there. It was free, too!

Next, we went to Holland. My mom's family all live there. First, we visited Marja's family. Marja is my mom's cousin. They had 2 boys, one named Amr and the other Karym. They were really fun and we had a great time with them. They had a small but very cozy house. They had a scooter and a bike each. We rode around and I got to ride on Amr's bike and he's 5 so I felt a little small but that was okay. We went to the Dekker farm for Marja's B-day. It was a lot of fun but there were 14 boys and 2 girls! The other girl was little. I was so alone. The boys all had wooden guns and played a game where you had to shoot each other so they would yell out bang bang. Connor was allowed to play right away because Ron (one of the boys) just grabbed a gun for him. We also got to go into one of those big white windmills that generate electricity. The next day we went swimming. Ron came with Connor, Amr, Karym and I. We had a lot of fun. That night, we were going to leave Marja's family behind and go to Cora's house. Cora is also my mom's cousin. Cora came to pick us up with her son, Joris. He is turning 15 and is already 6 feet tall! We told them we were going out to supper as a thank you. That night, we went to Asian Paradise. It was a buffet where you could choose already cooked things or not cooked and get them to cook it in a special style. It was delicious. We then left to Cora's place. She lives right beside her parents' house so she told us we would be sleeping there because she did not have enough room. They had a beautiful house. The first day, we went to a windmill and we were actually able to go inside. It wasn't like the other one; this one was old fashioned. That day, it was super windy. The car door slammed against my head. It hurt very much. We went to Amsterdam the next day and had a lot of fun. Anyway we just did some sight seeing and saw the red light district… not fun. Anyway stay caught up with me.

Okay, you all might be thinking: Man when is the last time Tessa wrote? Okay, I admit I have fallen behind… like 2 weeks behind so you better get nice and comfy if you are going to read this because it is a doozey. Berlin, Germany, is it ever beautiful. We saw the Berlin Wall which is definitely not what I expected. I thought it would be this big, majestic, beautiful wall. But, to tell you the truth, it is a slab of concrete that has been destroyed and is covered in graffiti. Almost disappointing but it has a lot of history behind it. The Berlin Wall was used to keep Berlin in half, the east side and the west side. Well, the west side had it good, Rock and Roll, champagne and bananas. The east side did not get any of that. Not even bananas. The wall was like this:

In the middle, was a death strip. That is where all the cops and dogs and barbwire were. Only few people made it across. See, people were finding a way to escape and the government could not have that. Anyway, there was an interview and somebody said (by accident) that the wall was coming down that day. The people were so happy because they had children, friends, grandparents and parents who the people had not seen for 20+ years! It was the biggest party ever. It lasted from Friday night until Sunday night! Pretty amazing.

We then went to Poland. I loved Warsaw but I loved Krakow more so I am going to tell you about Krakow. Firstly, we got to our hostel and got our room. The hostel was beautiful! We got the India room. Pretty cool. The breakfast was hot and different everyday! That was good. We mostly hung out around the square. It is the biggest medieval square in Europe. There was a lot of entertainment, always somebody on the street doing something. There were also restaurants everywhere. We had some great desserts at those places. We went to a place called U Babci Maliny. It was a great place to eat according to my mom's ex. student. It was great but BIG!! Definitely filling for me! If you want to see part of the square, check out one of our videos called Wedding Greetings. We also went to the salt mines. It was great; you could actually lick the wall to get some salt!! We had a lot of fun in there.

We then went to Slovakia. We were greeted there by Lubos' mom and sister. His sister's name is Zuzka/Susan. She was very excited to meet us. She is 14, just younger than Connor by 23 days. She was ready to plan everything out. We decided to go to a cave and a water park. Firstly, we headed out to the cave. It is the biggest one in all of Slovakia. It was great. Caves are so cool because of all the different structures. We then went to the water park and was that ever fun. The water was brown because it was straight mineral water coming from the ground. There were slides and entertainment. Zuzka won the limbo contest. We had a lot of fun that day. We were going to leave in the morning of the next day but we decided to wait until later that night so we could see Zuzka's favourite place, the canyon. So, you think we are going to go see a canyon, ohh, cool. Well, we actually got to climb it like a mountain. It was so cool. That night we left knowing that this would be one of our favourite places. That night, we got to Prague. We got in late so we just headed to the hostel to relax. The next day we went sightseeing! We did a walking tour in the morning and lucky us, it was HOT!! 37 degrees doing a walking tour through Prague, AHH! We saw the Old Town and a lot more. We saw a really cool clock called the astronomical clock and did a boat tour. We got around by tram and man, was it fun. We even got some home cooking from the hostel. YUM YUM. Anyway, here I am on a 6 hour train to Munich so be prepared to get hit with Germany and I promise that I will keep up with my blog only if you keep up with me! Bye.

Munich and Oberammergau Dearest readers, I am so glad you have all been keeping up with the blog. It does really means a lot to my family and I. Today I will tell you about Munich and Oberammergau. Now if you are thinking Man she fell behind again, well you know what, I haven't! Today we left Munich and hit Oberammergau for a couple of hours so, HA! Munich was beautiful. The first day we did the traditional walking tour. At least it feels traditional for us to do it everywhere for me!! We saw the Glockenspiel! It is a clock that at every hour it either does a jousting show or a dancing show. We saw the dancing show. The shows are not put on by real people but by mechanical work. It was really too bad because it was under construction so we only got to see the play part of the tower. We also went to the Hofbrauhaus. It the most famous beer garden in the world. The women there carry 6 glasses of beer in one hand at once. Now you may think that that is not so bad but, each glass is one litre of beer. ONE WHOLE LITRE!! My parents, of course had 1 or 2 ;! Connor and I both had lemonade and pretzels. It was too bad because they did not do the Ompapapa! The next day we to the Museum. It is a science museum so it was quite interactive. We got to see a chemistry show. It was pretty cool because one of the experments made a color in a jar flash to a different color. That was cool to watch, but hard to listen to because it was all in German. We then went to a beer garden and got a soaker. The rain came down and almost surrounded us! It was fun any way. The next day we went to Oberammergau. Oberammergau is a beautiful city that it famous for the pictures on the walls and the Passions Play. First we had lunch. I had a really good sandwich. It was called Hawaii Toast. It is a Hawaiian pizza but on toast. YUM YUM. Then we went to find my Oma's and Opa's house. Sure enough we found it. They lived there for about 5 years! They have a really nice house. Check out the pics!! We then got some ice cream and went to the Passion Plays stage. We did not go inside but we got a feel for it. The play is done every ten years and everyone in the village takes play as one of the characters. I hope you all know about the Passion Play. This is the play about the last few days of Jesus' life. That is all for that but keep in touch and read more when I tell you about Garmisch.

Garmisch to Tuscany I fell behind, again. But we have not had computers to update for really long time so don't blame me. I have a lot to tell so be ready. First, Garmicsh; Garmisch has the highest mountain in Germany so we HAD to go up it. It only took 2 hours to get to the top by train. We went up, not to the highest but to the second highest, for now at least. We looked around the second highest part for a while and then had hot chocolate because it was cold. Then we went up to the highest part and luckily it cleared up so we could see a lot better. My dad and brother did a little hike and they told me that where they were it was an edge and nothing else and if you looked down that you would see the ground, 2000 ft. below! I was happy I did not go, I mean, SCARY!! We then played cards and had a bit of lunch and then my parents kept going on about 'Ohh my, WE ARE PLAYING CARDS ON THE TOP OF GERMANY!!' I wanted just to keep playing though…. haha. We then were trying to find our lift down and we almost took the wrong one down, to Austria!! We finally got down after the stunning view of this brilliant blue lake! We then went swimming at the local pool. It was so cool. The water was the perfect temperature and they had 2 water slides. One was just another normal water slide. Twisty, turney, you known but the other one was like a mini sky screamer, STRAIGHT DOWN! It was so much fun there but we had to head back eventually. Now I will tell you about the nights we spent at the hostel. Connor and I were playing basketball when Connor went to go to get something and he returned saying there was a big soccer match going on between 20 little German kids and three older England people so we decided to join England to make it the England-Canada team. Well these guys were pro! The one guy was better than anyone in my class. No joke. He had more moves and speed than any soccer player I know!! Well we won the first night and they one the second so the next night we would finish it but Connor and I weren't going to be there so we missed it. I would not be surprised if Germany won!!

Now to Italy; we first picked up our amazing car! We then headed out. My parents were in Europe for their honeymoon and they found an amazingly cheap but beautiful 5 star hotel so we had to find it but no luck but we did find the area. So close yet so far away. We stayed a night and then headed to Venice!! Venice is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. The canals are amazing and run through the whole city and no worries about traffic because no roads, no cars! We got a massive piece of pizza for 1 Euro to start. It was sad though because I had a cold, IN ITALY, WAHH! We saw some of the beautiful gondolas, the famous boats in Italy, but they were much too expensive to go on! We mostly walked around and enjoyed rather than site see. We stayed a night outside of Venice because it is WAY to expensive to stay there. The next day we went to Pisa and Verona. The leaning tower of Pisa was so cool!! It leaned so much that we had to try and push it up… check out the pictures! We went to Church. We then went to Verona. Hopefully my class is smart enough to remember Romeo and Juliet. That is where the play takes place. You know 'What's in a name by which they call a rose by any other, would smell as sweet.' Thanks to my teacher we all know that! Well we saw the second largest coliseum in the world. What's the biggest, well Rome but of course. (That's is where were going next by the way;)!) We also saw Juliet's balcony. 'Romeo, Romeo, where far at thow Romeo.' My mom is really into Shakespeare as most of you know, so I learn a lot of Shakespeare. We also saw Juliet's tomb. Now you may think that that is weird because Juliet is not real and believe me, I feel the same way!

We then went to Cinque Terre. I am not really sure how to explain Cinque Terre but, in short, it is five cities on the coast. They are all connected by a walkway that tourists take. Anyway we walked six kilometres and visited all 5 cities. Any way it was a HOT day and we decided to go swimming and the waves were massive. My brother and dad were out there and I tried to get to them but I got sucked under and could not get up until finally I managed to pop my head back out but after that I was a bit shaken up so I did not go back out. We walked and walked and got to the last city finally and had some food. It was great then we went swimming again and the waves were not as big so I gave it a second chance and it was GREAT! I love waves now hehe. We went to back to our hostel. Ohh and did I tell you our hostel is a few steps off the Italian Riviera! We had a long stretch of beach so the next day we went well, SWIMMING, again. Beach day hurray yay YES! Relax and breathe. Well I will tell you, I had never seen waves this big before but there was a barrier of rocks so it was not so bad. We just relaxed the whole day. It was great.

The next day we headed out to Tuscany. My dad, being the ultimate booker, booked us a villa in Tuscany. That is where I am now, sitting on my butt writing you. It is beautiful place. Kitchen, bathroom, 2 bedrooms, 3 beds, T.V., Swimming pool, pool boy, neighbours, town of like 18, balcony and best view ever. That's life. Ahh… relaxing, sleeping in! By the way all you 12:00 p.m. sleep inners, not one sleep in for us - up at 8:00 a.m. every morning!! Tired, you better believe it. We slept and then went to Siena. We are about 15 min. out of Siena. We did a walking tour on our own and saw the city. It is really cool. We went grocery shopping after and made tacos at home. The next day we went around to all the little towns. It was a whole day trip but it was fun. The nexty day was a pool day. Just kind of relaxed. That brings us to Florence. We headed out in the morning and hit hard rain in Florence so we bought 2 umbrellas. Florence holds David by Michelangelo. We did not see the original one but the recreation. In ten minutes the rain cleared up to blue sky so we ate. Then we went to a top of a hill and got the view of everything. Now that brings me up to date. AHH feels good. Bye for now but please stay caught up with me!! BYE

We relaxed the next day in Tuscany by the pool… last day… so so sad. The next day we were ready to go when… well… we could not leave! We swam because it was super hot!! We had to leave some time so we went to ROME!!Well we had a long drive to Rome and finally arrived in the city: but not in the hotel. Only an hour went by of people telling us go this way… no that way… that way and this way. We FINALLY arrived at the hotel and were greeted quite nicely. The man working at the reception told us to relax take a shower, he brought us juice so we could quench our thirsts. We then relaxed for the day and met some Canadians. It was three 19 year old boys who had a terrible day. They first got robbed on the train, had trouble getting to the hotel and got some terrible wine. We chatted with them and then went to bed. The next day we went sight seeing. First we took a bus and, on the way to our destination, saw The Coliseum and many other attractions. We went to a virtual history of Rome and then we walked around. We decided not to go into The Coliseum because the lines were too hectic so we sight saw and headed to the hotel for a siesta. Siestas are just breaks that occur from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. We then went to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. It was really cool but the fountain did not work so it was kind of a bummer. We went back and slept. The next day we went to Vatican City, where the Pope lives. We went through to the museum, finally to the Sistine Chapel. It was very beautiful. We then went to Saint Peters Square. We went into Saint Peters Basilica. I was truly amazed by it all. We saw Pieta by Michelangelo. It was behind glass so we did not get to see it up close but my dad says it can bring you to tears because of all the effort put into it. Michelangelo even carved out the veins in his legs and feet!! We then went for our siesta. We then went to a couple of squares and enjoyed our last day and night in Rome. The next day we went to Sperlonga. It is another town right beside the ocean. We went to the hostel to see if there was room. The place was closed so we decide to go to the beach. On our way out to the beach we met some pretty tired British guys named Stratty and Count Duckula. Do not worry the names are Nicknames. We told them it was closed so they decided to hit the beach with us. Well this beach was INCREDIBLE!! It was totally sandy and had an up and down motion from the waves. One second, it was deep enough so I could not touch but then it was shallow again up to my knees. The water was also clear as day! We had a fabulous time. My dad decided to go to the hostel and check if there was any room so Stratty and Count Duckula went to. My dad returned with bad news so we decided to stay a little longer and then hit the road. Our friends did not return to the beach because Stratty was mad. We had to go some time so we hit the road. My dad and mom agreed to check one more time so Connor and my mom went inside to check. They returned only to bring the exact opposite news we had heard before; there was ROOM!! We got an 8 bed room all to our selves! Connor and I were mostly happy because we knew that we would swim again but there was also a dark haze hanging over us. What were our British friends going to do? My dad and I got out to the car and headed around town but (sigh) no luck. We went out for a pizza dinner and remembered that when we got to the town we had seen a big stage. We thought it might be for a band but it was for BUMBADADA… a fashion show? There were cameras everywhere and lights and it was all for free but in Italian. Hard to turn down the offer of maybe getting on T.V. we headed down the stairs only to find our friends. We told them the good news and, MAN were they happy. They were planning to sleep under the catwalk. Anyway, our show finally started and like usual beautiful outfits with the crazy twists!! Anyway, we finally headed home and "snuck" them in because our receptionist was not there so we thought that a free night would be good after there "bad" day. What were going to do with 8 beds anyhow?? Anyway, we got through the night and headed to the beach the next day. The waves were massive and we did some body surfing.

We were there for 3-4 hours before we said bye to our friends. We started our journey to Pompeii. Pompeii is the small town that is close to the Amalfi Coast and holds Mount Vesuvius. Mt. Vesuvius blew its top about 2000 years ago. We found our hostel with ease and relaxed for the day. The next day we went to the Amalfi Coast to do its world famous drive. We were told 'Don't do it. It is just a traffic jam the whole way. The buses are terrible. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.' We did not listen and luckily we did not! We had a wonderful time stopping to swim once and enjoying the lovely scenery. We definitely enjoyed that and were ready for the Pompeii ruins tomorrow. The next day we got up early and headed out to the Pompeii Ruins. We got inside the gate only to find out we are at the wrong gate for our walking tour. Buddy Rick hooked us up again with a walking tour. We met up with some New Zealanders and decided to ask them to join us if they wanted to. They said sure so we started our walk to the main gate. We got lost and said if they wanted to break up with us that it was fine. They said no because they liked hearing English because in Italy you don't get much English. We arrived at the main gate and started our tour. I was amazed that this all survived. We saw bodies that had been covered in ashes that hardened. They poured cement into it and so they recreated the bodies in cement. We got to see the bodies' reactions just before they died which is really sad. We went through the whole city and headed to hostel to start driving to Bari.

In Bari we were going to catch a ferry. (Hehehe rhymes…) We arrived and got some pullman seats because it was an over night ferry. Did I mention it was to Corfu?? We dropped off our car (wahhh) and caught the bus to ferry; we thought. We were told by an old man that we were on the wrong bus. We were on bus 20 but we had to be on bus 20/. Of course we all thought (not)!! Who has 20/ in their town!! Anyway we were getting off the bus when the old man said "NO NO!!" We sat back down and in his broken English said "Next". We got off at the next stop and crossed the street to the other bus stop. We waited and were told by arguing Italians the exact same news that the old man had told us. We finally got onto the 20/ and met some very mice Italians. They were going to Corfu too so they helped us get off with them. They were 17, 19, and 21. They helped us get organised. We got to the ferry and after a long wait we got on. We had an 11 hour ferry so we got nice and comfy. We did not see our friends until the next morning which brought adventures. We got off the ferry and said bye to our friends knowing we would not see them again. We got to the bus station only to find out that the bus did not run to Barbati (the location of our hotel). We were frustrated and hot so we decided to take a taxi. We finally arrived to a beautiful hotel. Our hotel had free breakfast and a pool. It was also right beside the best beach in Corfu. We got to our room, nested and headed to the pool. We loved it (especially Connor and I). We knew it would be a layed back 2-3 days. We had dinner at the hotel for 10.50 euros each. That was not a bad price considering it was a buffet. We rested and went to bed.

The next day was a pool day and I burned. We went to Barbati beach and had a great time. That day was my parent's anniversary. We went out for dinner and had a great time!