OSLO - Day 2

Today we enjoyed the Froskot in the Froskot room on level 4 of our hotel. The nougatti paste on toast was my favourite - it's like Nutella. Then we went around the corner to the National Gallery. We went straight to the Munch room. My favourite painting is "The Scream" - in Norwegian it's called "Shrik".  It's a abstract painting showing a scream of nature. You can see where Munch spilled wax across the painting. It's behind glass becasue it's worth a lot, it's a piece of history and becasue it was stolen a few years ago. We spent all morning in the gallery. Then we caught tram 17 to lyensgatta skol and walked to the Munch Museum. When Munch died he left all his paintings to the city of Oslo. I got a audio guide - which was on an I-Touch. It was good  and told mee a lot about the paintings. Mum  bought me a Scream T-Shirt :) There is another version of The Scream there - it isn't as big and doesn't have wax on it.  It has many of Munch's etchings too as  well as paintings. Then we walked back to the tram stop and went back to Sentral. We shopped at Magasinet and got some Norwegian products for my Pa. It started raininng - Dad went out and re-adjusted our flag in front of the cathedral. We saw it on BBC news tonight - as a victim was being interviewed. We had dinner at The OSLO hard Rock cafe after walking around the bomb site. When I saw the bombed building I felt terrible for the people who were in that building and all the buildings around it. It must been scary. The opened up the street in front of the building today. Lots of Norwegians laid flowers and walked past while we were there. It's 11.30 and the street lights have just gone on - it's still really light though and I'm still awake! I like OSLO becasue it's full of friendly people.

Norway

We flew to Norway from Paris Charles De Gaulle Terminal 2. We caught the train from Chatelet Les Halles to Charles De Gaulle Terminal 2 station then caught a shuttle train to the terminal. The trip took about 45 minutes. Norway was sunny and hot - about 30 C. We caught the Flybussen from Oslo airport to OSLO and found our hotel on Karl Johan Gate. The first thing we did was go to the Cathedral with an Australian Flag to lay with all the flowers for victims of the  Oslo bombing and shootings on Etoya Island.  Then we went into the cathedral and I lit a candle and laid it in front of the altar. I felt shocked and sad for all the victims. Norwegian Kroner are 6 to $1 AUD. We had a late lunch at McDonalds and it cost $311 Norwegian Kroner. Food is expensive in Norway - even Norwegian food like herring and salmon. We are lucky our hotel has "Froskot" (breakfast) included in the cost.  After lunch we walked to the harbour - we took a wrong turn and ended up in a bad part of  town - I saw syringes and drug addicts - but we soon got out of there and found the Fortress which was huge. The walls were about  3 metres thick and about about 12 metres high overlooking the harbour.  We walked back and had dinner in the deli on the corner. Many shops have broken windows because of the Bomb - it must have been prettty scary. After dinner we walked to the Palace - it's at the end of our street. It was 11pm and still light!!!

Disneyland Paris

About 45 minutes by train away from central Paris is Disneyland park. We caught the train from Chatelet-Halles station which is about 20 m from our hotel door. We got to the park at 9.50am and found out that it was open until 11pm! We had a good day - I went on the  Indiana Jones - Temple du peril (Temple of Doom) roller coaster 4 times - that's 4 loop the loops. I've been collecting Disney Pins since I was 4 yrs old and I got ssome limited editions today - Tron, Bastille Day and Disney Paris 2011. Eeach had an edition of 600, I got 99 and 591. I also got a Disney paris lanyard forr my pins. I got some regular pins as well, and I traded some from Disneyland California for a Disney Paris Pin. As usual we all went ballistic in the Buzz Lightyear Zurg Blaster ride - we love that one. Dad high scored again as usual, but Mum and I got level three. We also did the Haunted House a couple of times. We ran into some people from our Hotel who are from Perth. I prefer Disneyland at Anaheim, but Disneyland Paris is a pretty good park, it's as big as Disneyland, and has some different rides. We left the Park at 10pm just before the fireworks, for our train ride back to the hotel. A pretty tiring day after the Tour De France.

Le Tour De France - History being made - Go Cadel!

We went to the Tour de France final leg on the Champs Elysee today. We arrived at about 10.30 am and staked out a spot with two Australians named John and Sally who are cyclists from Melbourne. The tour started late so we did not see riders until about 4.45pm and boy did they go fast. They went around the Champs Elysee 8 times so we saw them plenty of times. It was great to sing the Australian National Anthem on the Champs Elysee. We were waving our flags and felt very proud. We then watched all the teams do a ride past. We did not leave the Champs Elysee until nearly 8pm. A long day - but worth it. I got Mr. Stringer some stuff from the Tour de Francee because he likes cycling.

Go Cadel

Cadel Evans won the second last stage of the Tour de France. We are going to watch the finish of tthe race on teh Champs Elysee tomorrow. Go Cadel!!

Day two Paris - Norway Bombings

Last night we heard about the bombings in Norway, and we were pretty worried about our trip to Norway. Today DAD spent a couple of hours phoning DFAT, the hotel and the airlinne to find out what was going on. Mum and I went to the Louvre. The Louvre is a very big museum, and very crowded. There was a lack of airconditioning and toilets. But we saw some really good things - The Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, Egyptian sculptures and huge French painintgs of dead saints and people dying on boats. The ceilings of the Louvre were painted and had images of Athena, Poseidon, Zeus and Hades. Mum and I had lunch at one of the cafe's - sandwich du jour. The crowds around the Mona Lisa were huge and I almost had my eye taken out by those guides with umbrellas :{ ( I hate those guides!!) - but the Mona Lisa was worth it. I don't think anyone actually looks at the other paintings in the same room as the Mona Lisa. I bought some cool things in the gift shop and some stamps at the Louvre Post office. Anyway this afternoon we  found out our hotel in Norway is OK and so we are still going. the Hotel have put on extra security and so has all of Norway! A terrible event - I feel a bit concerned about going but I'm happy that our hotel isn't damaged. I feel very sorry for the families of all the people who have died.

Day One Paris

We spent the first day in Paris just walking around all day. We stopped at a McDonalds in the Latin Quarter where you needed a code for the toilets. Then we caught a boat up the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is huge and the lines were very long. I was hassled by some people trying to sell mini Eiffel Towers illegally and they were  chased off by the Police. We walked across the Seine and looked at the Tower from a distance then it started raining really heavily. We walked back to the Seine, under some bridges. (under the bridges smelt really bad) and caught the BatoBus to St. Germain. There was a bridge there with lots of  padlocks locked to it. There were old and new, big and small, all kinds of padlocks with peoples names on them. We crossed the bridge and walked to our Hotel - the Novotel les Halles. There is lots of dog poo everywhere on the footpaths - be careful where you step!! We had dinner in the restaurant - it was pretty good. I was up until 11.30pm playing x-box in the hotel foyer.

This one's for Mr. Inch- Mathematics at sea on the Costa Mediterranea

The nautical mile = 1852m
Our Itinerary on the Costa Mediterranea.
Savona - Civitavecchia = 205 nautical miles
Civitavecchia - Mykonos = 820 nautical miles
Mykonos - Izmir = 143 nautical miles
Izmir - Istanbul = 282 nautical miles
Istanbul - Constanza = 191 nautical miles
Constanza - Odessa = 205 nautical miles
Odessa - Yalta = 217 nautical miles
Yalta - Piraeus = 676 nautical miles
Piraeus - Katakolon - 237 nautical miles
Katakalon - Savona- 787 nautical miles
We sailed a total of 3763 nautical miles in 13 days, to see 5 different countries.
The nautical mile
the exact length of the measurement became an issue for sailors in the early 1600's when they needed to learn how to use the new charts and develop their abilities in trgonometry. During this period they tried to measure with precision the length of a latitude degree. the Englishman Richard Norwood who had also invented the broken Rumble Line obtained a measure very close to reality. As a resuult of these measurements and a more accurate determination of the Earth's real dimensions they decided to adopt a mile that would measure more than the land or "Roman" mile which had been used to determine distances at sea, calling it the "long Mile" In 1730 it received the name nuatical mile but it was not until 1929 when it was accepted as the international nautical mile measuring 1852 m.

Now I just have to estimate how many kilograms of pizza and gelato I consumed.

By Bus to Milan and Train to Paris

We caught a bus to Milan Linate airport which took two hours from Savona. My friend Nils was on the same Bus!! We played with the Ipad and DS all the way. the we said goodbye because they were flying back to Amsterdam and we caught another bus to Milano Central train station where we caught the TGV train to Paris- which took 6 hrs.Thank goodness the train had a cafe! Our seats were 1st Class - the seats were fully reclining and really huge, and comfortable. We arrived in Paris at 11.30pm and walked to our Hotel. Paris was full of people at that time of night, and it looked exciting. Au revoir!

SEA SICK DAY - but not me ( or Mum, or DAD)

The last day of sailing was rough seas and just about everyone on board was Sea Sick!! The swell was huge. The ship moves a lot at the front and the back and the higher you are the more you feel it. The winds were 65km/h which also affected the ship. We were all OK, our cabin (4180) wass in the centre of the ship and pretty stable. Mum and I spent a lot of time on the balcony watching the swell. Hardly anyone was at the breakfast on the last day:)

Katakolon

I met George who ran from Olympia with  the Sydney Olympic torch. Because Katakolon is so close to olympia I think everyone has run with a torch. Other than that is was a sleepy Greek village.

Piraeus- The Taxi Riots in Greece

We arrived at the Port of Piraeus to a Taxi blockade of the port that went for many kilometers. They completely blocked the road which affected the Greek people more than any tourists. We wanted to see the Acropolis so we walked through the Taxi's to Piraeus train  station. We caught the train to Thissio and then we walked up, and up,  and up, and up, and up , and up until we reached the ticket office. Then we walked Up and up and Up and Up and UP until we reached the Acroplis. It was cool - because no one was there, it is really high and we got to see the buildings. I could see where the Elgin marbles I'd seen in the British Museum came from - I think the British should  either give them back OR take the entire Parthenon and put it in the museum. Then we walked down to the temple of Zeus, through riots, where we saw people being attacked, heard police fire tear gas canisters - it was a bit scary, but we walked to the Olympic stadium - I accidentally broke the chain around the stadium and the Greek gurds were a bit grumpy because they couldn't fix it! Any way we decided after seeing more Police, helicopters and hearing more firing that we should go. We had to walk trhough police blockades, armoured busses and police with shields to get to the train station. When we got there all the protestors were there - so we found a back entrance to the train station. We got back to port. We saw the protest where we were on BBC news. A guy ( Eli Nielssen from Perth) Dad met on the  ship was interviewed by the news but we didn't see him on it!

YALTA

Yalta is in the Ukraine on the Crimea peninsula. Yalta has huge mountains  which go right down to beaches on the Black sea. We saw very expensicve cars with Russian number plates - Rolls Royce, Hummer, Bentley, as well as cheap Ukrainian rip off's of Polaris vehicles. We were in Yalta for the International release of Harry Potter 7- part 2, which we watched - in Ukrainian - did not understand a word of it, the movie wwas 26 minutes shorter and none of the voices sounded like the actors, it was fun! It was in 3D and it cost us about $3 AUD each. The Ukraine host the UEFA European cup in 2012 and I bought a T- Shirt at the Adidas store in Yalta. Cost me about $3. Brilliant!

Odessa

We arrived in Odessa, a large port city in the Ukraine. The currency in the Ukraine is the Hirivinia.- known as the UAH ( although Dad calles it the USB - which I'll have to explain later. The exchange rate is about $1 AUD to 11 UAH - which made for great shopping!! We walked up the Potemkin steps which featured in the Potemkin movie. Odessa has lots of French style Art Nouveau buildings - but the writing is impossible to understand! ( unless you are a Ukrainian)

Romania

Constanza port is on the Black sea(Marea Negro). It has beaches, maritime museum and archeological ruins. It is very different because it was at various times ruled by the Greeks, the Romans, and the Russians. The Black sea looks black, not like the Mediterranean which is very blue. The currency is the Romanian New Leu, which is known as "the Ron". It is very cheap to buy things in Romania. Our lunch cost about $15 Australian dollars for pizza, garlic bread, Bulgarian salad and three drinks. We visited an ancient mosaic they found in the centre of Constanza, the museum of Archaeology, we walked along the beach, where you had to swim between the flags! We also went to the Navy museum to keep Dad happy. Would I come back to Romania? -I think I would.

Istanbul-the grand bazaar

The grand bazaar is like the worlds first shopping centre. You can get anything there! We had lunch in a restaurant where Mum and Dad had traditional Turkish Doner Kebap, and I had traditional Turkish fried meat platter. This was followed by a traditional dessert of cheesecake - made from Turkish cheese drizzles in honey and baked. It was yummy! We wandered through the bazaar looking at carpets, jewels, gold, textiles, t-shirts, spices, letter goods, toys, genuine fake watches, and much, much more. We worked our way from the top to the bottom. When we reached the bottom we walked to the Istanbul Modern art gallery ( to keep mum happy) where we saw some pretty good video art. My favorite was an animation of a dog walking. Then we walked around the corner to our cruise ship, The Costa Mediterranea.

Istanbul.

We then walked to the Blue mosque, called that because of the blue Iznik tiles inside. We did not go inside because we were wearing shorts and it is disrespectful to Islam. Many other people went in in shorts and sleeveless tops which I don't think is the right thing to do! Outside the Blue Mosque there were two Egyptian obelisks that were put there in 360AD! So they are old and have been in Istanbul for a long time!

Istanbul, not Constantinople!

We sailed to Istanbul harbor which is the bridge between Asia and Europe. We walked from the cruise terminal over the river to the ancient city Sultanahmet where Hagia Sophia stands. Hag Sophia is huge, and unusual because it used to be a Christian basilica and then it became a mosque. In mosques you cannot depict pictures of people, but Hagia Sophia has mosaics of the Emperor Justinian, Christ, St. John and Mary, as well as Islamic calligraphy from the Koran. It is huge!

Izmir

From the Turkish port of Izmir we visited the ancient city of Ephesus. It is about one hour by car. It is high on a hill and is full of many ruins. There is the biblioteca which Mark Antony gave Cleopatra as a wedding gift. It is also the place where the Virgin Mary died, and also St. John. St. Paul was imprisoned there in a cave on the hill. The harbor used to goal the way to Ephesesus but now it has silted up and is fertile soil for growing peaches, mandarins and,olives. Ephesesus was very good and I would definitely go back there.

Mykonos-Greece

The ship sailed from Rome for two days to reach Mykonos, a small Greek island in the
Ionian sea. Mykonos is hilly and dry, and the houses are white with little blue doors and shutters. Dad and I transferred to Mykonos by tender boat, the sea was rough. When we got to the island Dad bought Greek clothes, and now mum calls him Stavros. The houses and shops were tiny, about the size of mum's office! Mykonos was amazing,

Rome

we arrived in the port of Rome, a town called Civitavecchia. From there we caught a train to Rome, St. Pierrot Stazione, from there we walked to the Vatican city , so technically we visited an extra country! We walked all over Rome , we saw the Coloseum and piazzas, the Pantheon, the Mueso d'Italia, and many archeological ruins. We enjoyed panini for lunch and the gelato was great. Rome was awesome and I would like to go back.

ITALY

We flew from London Gatwick to Genoa Italy. It was a good flight. It cost Euro 100 to get a taxi from the airport to Savona so instead we got the taxi (twenty one euro) to Genoa Principe train station and caught the train to Savona (ten Euro) and then the bus to our hotel. Our hotel - the NH Savona Darsena is great, it is right on the wharf and when we woke up this morning our ship - the Costa Mediterranea- was docked. The ship is huge!! Dad says it is the biggest ship he's ever sailed on and he has sailed on aircraft carriers and war ships. Last night in Savona we visited the old town, I ate gelato and Dad had an espresso longo. We practiced our Italian ( very bad) and DAD kept talking to people in Spanish ( no, no  Espanol). Any way we had dinner at 9pm and enjoyed the sunset from our balcony looking over the harbour before going to bed. 

At the British Museum

I hired an activity pack from the Pauul Hamlyn Library. Mine was Archaeological adventures and took Mum and I on a tour showing some of the archaelolgical digs funded by the British Museum, I really thought the British museum was great, the best bit was hard to decide. Proabably seeing King Ashurpinapals tomb showing him killing lions, although the Parthenon marbles and the Rosetta stone were great too!

british musuem

from london

I'm on a green chair in this video at Southbank.

FROM LONDON

FROM BANGKOK

video

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hi from london

All the places overseas I have been before.

I have been to the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Macau, England, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Sweden, and Singapore. As well as that I have been to every state of Australia. I have travelled the east coast from the Daintree in QLD to Cockle Creek in Tasmania, Darwin, Perth to New Norcia, Wave Rock and Denmark, South Australia,and Victoria.I like traveling with mum and dad.