<![CDATA[Grade 5 On the Go

<![CDATA[Grade 5 On the Go - My Blog]]>Tue, 29 Aug 2023 11:22:08 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[The London Series : Day 1]]>Thu, 28 Jun 2012 22:38:08 GMThttp://www.grade5onthego.com/my-blog/the-london-series-day-1

Our first day in London was amazing - amazing, amazing, AMAZING! Absolutely fabulous... Sue, Mom's friend, had planned and arranged practically
everything! First thing we did after leaving the house (or rather a mansion of five stories) much later than when we planned was go to the tube station, where we hopped on the tube and then onto a tour boat, which told us . . .

little facts about some historical facts along the way.
When we got off at our stop at Greenwhich, where we went into Discover Greenwhich. We learned a lot about Christopher Wren in just fifteen minutes, before we had to go to another museum up the hill called the Royal Observatory Museum, where the big red ball on a pole on top of the roof is (I missed the proper name for it).

The 0 point of the Earth on a globe -- the beginning of it all. Birch is listening to an audio guide . . .

We got there at about12:50 pm, and at 12:55 pm it raised itself half way up the small pole, and at 12:58 pm all the way up the pole, and at precisely 1:00 pm it dropped down. What's so special? Why were so many people crowded around it? I have no idea, really, but it's purpose in the olden days was to let sailors know where they were, if it wasn't too misty or fogged up.
The museum was amazing, and Mom sent Birch and I with the challenge to really understand what Longitude and Latitude were - that wasn't hard, because we had the audio guide, and after going through some rooms we found two documentaries, one on Longitude and the other on Latitude.
You can measure your latitude form the height from the sea to the sun (not literally - just from where you're standing in the crow's nest or something) at noon. The closer you are to the equator, the higher the sun is. The farther away to you are, the lower. The latitude lines are parallel to each other and just keep going around and around the Earth in circles, whereas longitude lines meet at the North and South pole. You can also measure latitude at night using the same method with the sun, only with the Pole star.
The 24 longitude lines are the 24 hours of the day. They are based in Greenwhich London, where the founder of longitude and latitude lived as well as the Monarchy. It was also based off here because all the stars had been observed from the founder's house, and the lines were based off the stars. Noon in Greenwhich is midnight on the other side of the world (Fiji, New Zealand) and a line called the International Line runs through the former countries mentioned, from Greenwhich to the opposite side of the world. Canada and the U.S. are divided on the 49th parallel, in the west.
Combining longitude and latitude at sea, you can pretty much know where you are on the map, if you know how to read it right.

After finding out that, we were rushed out because we still had to go to the Tower of London. I'll skip pass our delays and all the boring stuff, and just get to the actual fun part - the tour! We'd thought we'd missed it but we actually hadn't, and good thing, because with audio guides in a place as big as the Tower of London I sometimes tune out after half an hour, just like any other kid (I think -- I hope).

The tour guide was SO funny, giving the gruesome stories some humour to them! He told us about Anne Berlin, Jane Grey and Katherine something-or-other (I confess I'm horrible with names - you're lucky the other two stuck!),
wives of Henry (don't know which), and they were all beheaded - Anne for not producing a baby, Jane because someone older than she was was jealous (she was only seventeen!) and Katherine because... Well, I don't really remember. May I remind you that it's eleven o'clock at night and I am extremely tired, so are you still really expecting me to remember small details when I already remember so much? Anyways, back to the Tower, he also told us some funny stories of love, and dungeons being wine cellars and such... It was really enjoyable, and I
was a little disappointed when the tour ended.
Here are some pictures for your pleasure . . .

Question: Why do they wear their chin straps on their face?

Classic picture of London! You've got everything; a bit of the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, the Thames, adn the typical lamp-post.

We went to see the crown
jewels - oh, magnificent! Emeralds, saphires, rubies, amythests,
pearls, velvet, gold, silver, and the world's largest found diamond!
Everything was glorious... But why just sitting there in cases? Well,
I guess there's only one queen with one head, so she can't possibly
wear them all at once! After that we went back to the house for dinner, and then to a theater to see The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe! It was amazing, far beyond any of our expectations! There was snow and smoke and fire and lights and - oh, the costumes were magnificent! Whoever the costume designer is, they definetly need a lot of credit! It was amazing - especially Azlan! And all the woodland critters - and the actors were fabulous too! I especially liked Mr. and Mrs. Beaver as a pair, they were hilarious!
Now I'm afraid (not so much actually) I'll have to settle down and
sleep for the rest of the night, and I hope you enjoyed this blog,
because it was a lot of work! (Just joking!)
Bye,
Allie
P.S. Did you know, I'm actually writing this thinking in an English accent? It's odd!

]]><![CDATA[ The Sad Story of Lost Soldiers]]>Thu, 28 Jun 2012 21:56:57 GMThttp://www.grade5onthego.com/my-blog/the-sad-story-of-lost-soldiers

So, we arrived in a little village called Bayeux, near a beach called Juno Beach where the Canadians first landed in World War II. There was a museum there, and we slipped into the daily guided tour just in time- only two minutes to spare. Our guide was nice, and he had to keep switching from english to french because there were other people in the group from other places in France. I could partly understand the French, but I'm missing all the key words... Like tanks or soldiers or grenades or guns.
The tiny building is right on the shore of . . .

Juno Beach, and just a few meters away from the entrance are big tank-like-guns, 'obstacles' for the tanks and ships (depending whether it was low or high tide), and the original German bunkers, that had once been on top of the ground were now burried in 67 years worth of sand, and now were just poking out of the ground - another smaller one was completely engulfed.

These are the obstacles -- dangerous!

All along Juno Beach, as far to the points as we could see, were thirty bunkers lined up together, and when the Canadians attacked there would've been part of the Atlantic Wall, a huge line of wooden
triangles with mines and bombs strapped to them, all along the coast
of France.
One man, Garth Webb, who had lived through the war had come here with his family many, many years later to visit the site where he fought and to his surprise and disappointment and most likely anger there was nothing about the Canadians. So he went back to Canada and contacted all his old army buddies and friends and family and raised enough money to build a museum. Mom and Dad were really surprised to find out that almost none of the museums here - even throughout France - are supported by the government. Instead, they're privately owned and sponsored. There were flowers piled on top of one gun - a similar gun that Garth Webb used and we soon learned that he had died recently - just a week ago.

Heading into the German bunkers . . .

The villagers living here were forced to build the bunkers and one
man was sixteen when he worked on them... When he was eighteen the Canadians attacked and somehow he met up with some French-Canadians and he sketched out a map of the whole plan of the bunkers - they then knew all about the connecting bunkers, the fake ventilation systems, the pile of sand and contraption system, and many more German secrets... But that was after the first day, the D-Day, when they had already lost hundreds of soldiers. On D-Day 150, 000 men attacked along the different sections of the beaches - Americans, British, Polish and Canadians. It slipped from my mind the reason, but they named three beaches after fish starting with the letters 'S', 'G', and 'J'. The other two were named Omaha and Utah, randomly, because the person picking names thought they were just cool words and good for a military use. (The Americans took two beaches, The British two, and Canadians one - Polish soldiers were more involved in the massive air-force squads.) 'S' became Sword, 'G' became Gold, and 'J' became... What, jelly fish? They soon discovered that yes, jelly fish was the only fish starting with a 'J', and they weren't about to name their beach Jelly. So they started going through code books, and although the museum doesn't know what fish it stands for, the name became Juno.
Anyways, back to the tour, we went in into the bunkers and he
explained a lot about it. We went onto the beach and he told us how
the Canadians had marched through; explosive experts had to go ahead and blow up the bombs, running behind the tank, then go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth to make a little path for the huge tanks to come through, then they'd do that over again and over again until the Atlantic Wall had a gap in it, all the while the
Nazis shooting at them. After the explosive experts went through the
soldiers followed behind and then the tanks. The guide also explained how Juno Beach was great for tanks - back then it was just hard packed sand with no rocks to mess up the tank's track (Dad says they're called that - you know, the black belt that is attached to the wheels and makes the tank move).
After the tour we went into the museum, which is totally kid friendly and inter-active. They had videos you could watch with head phones explaining about a bunch of different wars. There were also videos of some soldiers who had survived the war, and were being interviewed. One guy remembers being in Holland, and the Germans destroying the dikes so the whole place was flooded. They had to wade through the murky water - so they communicated with the military base and they sent some boots. When the package arrived, it turned out that all the boots were left-footed - so they had to walk all the way through the marshes with two left feet! He said you just had to laugh about it - if you'd cry, you would never survive.

Prepare to be sad.

Afterward we headed to the Canadian cemetary, where 2500 Canadians were buried. It was row after row after row after row after row after row after row after row after row after row after row after row after row after row after row of the same white tomb stone with the Canadian maple leaf carved into it, and their name, date of birth and death, and little message written into it from their family. There is one
grave that Dad had seen twenty years ago, when he had last visited,
and he found it again.

This is what it says:

He sleeps in a foreign land
In a grave we never see
May God guide some kind hand
To lay a flower for me
Mother

We put our flowers down there, and then left... Now here's a bunch of photos of the Canadian cemetary.

Are you sad? This is only the Canadian Cemetary, and the American one is devastating; just rows and rows of crosses, and the occasional star. It was an emotional time . . .

I remember a theater production I once saw in Cate's Hill Chapel, with only one person in it. She played three parts; a little girl who grew up there, the little girl's grandmother, and an old military man who was visiting from Montreal to see his brother's grave. She cleaned the graveyard, 'cleaning their windows so they can see out', and this was the place.
It was really sad, but those men and women fought for us. They wanted us to keep living, so they risked their lives to fight. Just say thank you.
-Allie

]]><![CDATA[The Glorious Gardens of Claude Monet]]>Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:43:10 GMThttp://www.grade5onthego.com/my-blog/the-glorious-gardens-of-claude-monet

Giverny, home to the ever-famous painter, Claude Monet. We waited in line a little, and then when in opened everyone piled in. I was shocked by the gardens - an amazing assortment of every flower (almost)! Paths weaved in an out of the wet, fresh plants and people milled all around. There was a sligth drizzle, but no matter; we headed straight to his pond and bridge, which was located across the road, accessed by a tunnel.
Everything in Giverny was beautiful -- the brick wall, the pond, the bamboo islands, the water lillies, the tiny streams, the bridges, the . . .

famous Japanese bridge covered in wistiria (very wistirious), the
willow tree... And so much more! Lilacs, irises, pansies, tulips... So many brilliant colours, so much the draw and paint! We settled down on a bench, and Mom took out the pencils and paper and of course, THEN the clouds decided to let down buckets of water! It was almost impossible to not get the paper wet and not let the graphite smear without an umbrealla, so we ran for the cover of the gift shop.

It was still endlessly raining, so I went out and enjoyed myself all the same. After it had cleared up to a just a simple rain, we went into the house where everything was the way it had been -- with such a view of the garden! It was magnificent! I'd just love to have a garden as brilliant as this, somewhere quiet to paint and write amongst the greenery and flowers.
Bye,
Allie
P.S. Is it rude to take pride in saying that I took the close-ups of the flowers? I hope not. I'd like to become somewhat of a photographer one day -- that, or (maybe even 'and') and author.

]]><![CDATA[Le Mont St. Michel (pronounce with French accent)]]>Sun, 17 Jun 2012 18:51:15 GMThttp://www.grade5onthego.com/my-blog/le-mont-st-michel-pronounce-with-french-accent

I wasn't too keen on going out that day, feeling rather sick, but Mont Saint Michel was beautiful -- of course I had to go! Immediatly Birch wanted to go walking on the wide, open beach! Dad persuaded me to come, so we decided to walk to the very end for at least an hour. The other day Mom had . . .

fallen on the curb, so we walked with her to a coffee shop and while she read we set off...
It was like quick sand! Birch had run out far, but Dad and I tagged behind on the solid sand until I got too bored... We went out on the quick sand, the wet stuff, and Birch demonstrated too many times how it worked, and gave me a good 'science' lesson on it. (I hate it when he does that. Mom's my
teacher, not him!)

After an hour we ran back, and then peeked around the shops, soon getting bored and taking our picnic lunch up to the church. I also had a crepe there, and Dad, Birch and I went into the abbey while Mom waited for us in the graveyard, where it was a nice place to draw. I didn't particularly like the church... I'm not sure what it was about it, but it just didn't appeal to me. We sketched the graveyard a little, but Birch began to get jumpy (I was getting to that stage too but I knew Mom doesn't like it when I abandon my drawings) and Dad thought we should get on the road again, so... We did!
-Allie

]]><![CDATA[Many Famous Sights and Amazing Views]]>Sun, 17 Jun 2012 17:09:41 GMThttp://www.grade5onthego.com/my-blog/june-17th-2012

We went to pretty much every sight in Paris; the Eiffel Tour, Notre Dame, and the Arch of Triumph. They were all really amazing, and lived up to my grand expectations to the absolute and beyond...

Eiffel Tower:
The Eiffel Tower was originally built by Mr. Eiffel, as an art exhibition to compete for the world's tallest building - I guess it was, but the silly competition is for some reason quite important to some powerful people in the world. I mean, really, there are more important things than winning (such as the pollution caused by all that construction and related topics). Anyways, the original plan was to . . .

dis-mantel it after a certain amount of time, because the prediction was that nobody would like it. That's on thing I'm really not clear on; did everybody like it, everyone hate it, or both? What I came out with was that the egineers loved it, because it represented what building and engineering was. But the other townspeople hated it, because it was so ugly and big. I guess it was because the engineers liked it that it stayed up. Or, maybe my whole interpritation of the history is all wrong. Sometimes I loose my concentration when somebody else reads aloud something dull (a.k.a. facts - even though it's educational does not mean it's interesting. Any kid my age can relate.).
Well, I don't want to bore you, do I? Now I'll move onto my experience, not the one of Mr. Eiffel. (Wouldn't it be awesome to have that name? It makes me think of a cartoon character!) We got up and left around seven o'clock, the tour opening at seven thirty. We were actually the first in line, and super excited. Seven twenty came, then seven thirty, then seven forty and seven fifty and still they hadn't opened the tour to people who wanted to walk up! The lift people were going up, but where were we supposed to go? Birch was getting really angry because he wanted to be the first one up, not those other silly tourists who don't deserve the best picture because they take the lift and not the stairs... And it was infurriating to him and frustrating to the rest of us that someone came and tapped the person at the very back of the line, telling them to move to somewhere else... Silly. Anyways, we noticed that a mob of people were rushing towards a different ticket booth and Birch burst in anger, pushing past people in the line. We stayed where we were, and it wasn't too bad, since the line was moving quickly.
Moving on, let's skip to the top, after all those stairs... The view was magnificent!

(Don't worry, it was raining, that's mist. Not smog.)
Amazing, glorious, super, splendid, exciting, dazzling, eye-goggling, horrifyingly high... What else describs it? I've exaggerated on other places, but I'm definetly not on this. I met up with Birch after a while, having split from Mom and Dad a while ago, at the bottom of the stairs, to speed up them as fast as I could. Did I mention it was raining? The ground was incredibly slippery and I was numb from the cold... I'd expected sun, so I'd worn a tank-top! I didn't mind at all, I was too happy... Before the deck got too crowded, Birch and I found a game to play, where I grab onto his sweater and he pulls me sliding all around the deck (it didn't work vise-versa -- he just pulled me backwards!). We did this a while, but then we started getting 'looks' and the deck started to get a little too crowded. So we went off to hunt for Mom and Dad, and after circling and circling the deck, Birch finally gave in to my suggestions and we went inside. Of course, they were in the information section, and caught us before we could turn away and run. We got our filling of facts, and then they came up with us, and we pointed out places we'd been; Notre Dame, Sacre Couer, Napoleon's Tomb (we'd only walked by it), the Louvre, Tuilleries, the Arch de Triumphe, and we even tried to find the road to our little apartment on the fifth floor - no luck with that, of course. After a little bit we went down to a caffetirea and had our packed lunch, as well as some hot chocolate, and then went down again, just as the sun was peaking out of the clouds, to have a glorious day again.

Notre Dame:
To me, Notre Dame wasn't exactly the best church I've ever seen. Notre Dame de Starsbourg was, in my opinion, better and grander, but what am I to be the judge? You must visit Paris and really see for yourself. Anyways, we waited in line for a short time, and then went around, lighting a candle. Then we split, and I wandered around fro about half an hour until I was ready to go, and then I spent another half hour looking for everyone... The choir and sermon started, and I began to wonder if they were outside. Sure enough, Birch came in and rushed me out. Why? What had brought it to their minds that I'd be OUTSIDE? Meh, I don't know... Notre Dame is absolutely beautiful, but better described in pictures, because of my poor memory... And, sadly and not, I've seen so many amazingly splendid churchs that Notre Dame was 'just another cathedral'. Is that good or bad? Both?

The Arch de Triumphe:
We went first down the Champs Elysees after visiting the Louvre and Tuilleries (which were beautiful), and they had a parade going through the Arch, with trumpters and drummers and a few accordians, and there was a pile of flowers and a huge flag of France under the actual arch.
The time when we actually went up was one of our last nights in Paris, with Auntie Jen, Uncle Bill and Zak. It was at nigth and we climbed the many, many stairs up to the top, where the view was fabulous, and the city was beautiful at night... Lights popping up everywhere, the Eiffel Tower glimmering with flood lights. It was magical, but also cold and windy... After many circles going around and around the Arch, we headed back down.

-Allie

]]><![CDATA[What Paris is Known For]]>Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:56:20 GMThttp://www.grade5onthego.com/my-blog/what-paris-is-known-for

Here some of the amazing art galleries we went to... After all, that's one of the things Paris is most famous for!

Musee Rodin:
I loved it! The gardens were massive, and statues were sprinkled everywhere. Unfortuantely, I couldn't find anything to sketch - all the scultures were either naked or missing heads or some other limb... And the only one which was suitable to draw was standing alone with no bench in sight. It was a pleasure walking around, and right before it closed we had peak inside the . . .

indoor museum, which was the perfect size; just big enough to hold a lot of information, but just small enough to enjoy.

   (Starting from top to bottom, Mom and I in front of Musee Rodin, Zak, I and Birch in the gardens, a wierd chunky plaster model of the model of the picture above.)
   (We also met up with some family, Auntie Jen, Uncle Bill, and Zak. We toured some of Paris with them and went to Sacre Couer again, and to the Musee Rodin... It was a lot of fun, and I'm even more excited to get home to see more family and friends!)

D'Oragerie:
   It was amazing, with a collection of Monets original paintings displayed in the way that HE wanted - in a circle room, surrounding you in a way to make it seem like you're actually in the garden. It looked a little like it, but with a twist of imagination you coukd walk through the garden and into the pond, touching the water lillies. The only problem was that the walls were incredibly white... I would've helped the slightest bit if they were blue or green or even purple. Those were the main colours in the paintings, and the way he did the reflection of the water was dazzling.
   We went around to the lower floor, which were a bunch of other paintings. I liked one where there were two girls whispering something in each others ears. They reminded me of a peticular friend and I who I've known since I was in pre-school.

Louvre:
   Well, it was the slightest bit too big... Okay, a LOT more than slight. We hardly went into any of it. Arriving early, I had no idea the big glass pyramid was the entrance and couldn't figure out why we were lining up for it. Anyways, after a while I figured it out, and when it opened we all rushed in.
   Straight to the Mona Lisa! Run, run, run... Signs pointed every which way to it, and we wanted to get there fast so there would be no crowd in front of us (at least Birch and I ran -- Mom and Dad are adults). And what about it? Sure, it's a really good painting, but what about it?

Sure, it's a really good painting, but what about it? Why is it so famous? I had expected a lot (but wasn't too disappointed, it didn't mean a lot to me), and the only thing that was different about it was that her eyes followed me... Always staring at you. It was kind of creepy. I guess that's really amazing, but was that all? Is that the reason why it had a whole seperate wall all to itself? Is that the reason why the whole empty wall was behind a huge glass pane? Is that the reason why the glass pane was ropped off? Is that the reason why there were four security guides standing by it? Is that the reason why there were at least sixty tourists crowded around it at eight thirty in the morning taking millions of pictures? Is that the reason why the name 'Mona Lisa' is known all over North America and Europe? No, I don't think so.
Mom said later that the King bought it, and whatever the King buys must be amazing. Also, it must've been the best, most beautiful, most amazing, most magnificent painting in it's time. Not now, but back then, when the impressionist style of painting was just introduced; in the Mona Lisa, Leonardo De Vinci didn't paint every leaf on the trees in the background, he just put streaks (they were still pretty detailed in form and shape), and the lake had the reflection on it. Back then almost everyone was a reaslist; they painted what IS, not what they saw. Actually, Claude Monet invented impressionism, which you can clearly understand in his water lily paintings. His first impressionist painting was Impression; Sun Rise. But thats just another story.

The rest of the Louvre was, too, amazing, especially the three rooms filled with statues! There was one of Athena in purple marble robes and battle helmet, sitting in a throne that I just love! Then there were two men, both of whom who had probably been the sculpture's version of a portrait. They were aristocrats, and they were positioned across from each other so that it looked like they were arguing, or having a deep discussion. One of the men had such beautiful lace around his neck and tufted up at the front that it was hard to believe he wasn't real! And then there were Phsycy and Cupid, and all the legend.

Enjoy,
Allie

]]><![CDATA[My Dream City -- Paris!]]>Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:40:37 GMThttp://www.grade5onthego.com/my-blog/my-dream-city-paris

We arrived in Paris!!! The first night we got there, we moved into our little apartment and while Dad and Birch put the car in a legal pay parking, a half hour walk and hour drive away, Mom and I cleaned and put into order the apartment. The cielings were low in some parts (especially the door) and Mom, Dad and Birch kept hitting their head... Thankfully I'm still too shortin the main room!

On our first day we tried to wake up early, but only managed eight o'clock. Ugh! I was really frustrated, and even more when Mom and Dad stopped at . . .

the ticket booth in the metro to get week pass (so useful - totally reccomend it). When we arrived at our first destination, I was really on edge, and we were just in time to meet what looked like a four hour line-up! I was really annoyed, but in five minutes we were already half way through! Birch and I got ourselves some crepes, the booth smartly set-up ten minutes into the line. Mom kept regretting not getting the Paris Pass, a pre-paid ticket for as many days as you'd like, and you can bypass all the lines for getting tickets... But when we finally got to the end of the fast line, we found out it was for security! Even with the Pass, we would've still had to wait... And there wasn't a line for tickets!
To tell the truth, the Mussee D'Orsay was a little bit of a disappointment - I'd really been looking froward to the impressionist paintings, which I had developed an interest in, but soon found out that what I had really been expecting was called post-impressionism, or pointism. It really was a great art gallery, but I have always had that habit of raising my expectations to point where the drop changes my attitude a lot.
The ground floor is filled with statues - amazing! The only picture we got was of a bust, with crazily realistic stone cloth draping itself around a moustached man.

I walked around with Birch, and he drew such a good drawing of a Hercules statue, that even a stranger stopped by, gasping "Cest magnifique!" (Translation: It's magnificent!). We stayed about half an hour after that, before we got on the road for Sacre Couer, after having some crepes at a nearby take-away restaurant.
It was beautiful - white church, white steps, white everything. I thought itwas really funny, though; there was a funicular going up a hill that could hardly be called a 'hill'! Sacre Couer wasn't really elevated from the ground below, but I guess it was, because it had an amazing view.

We went inside, and it was magnificent! We lit a candle, and then wandered around a little, before leaving. There were a lot of street sellers outside, and one busker had real talent -- amazing skills with the soccer call, climbing polls and doing flips!

We staying and watched a while, before it started to rain and we headed back down the slope, and walked around a really tourist-y area, we dozens of shops selling the same thing; cheap trinkets, hoodies, metal Eiffel Tower immitations, racks of key chains, prints of famous sights, barrets (!), and a tonne of scarves. I think Mom and Birch did some birthday shopping for me there (another story which I wil explain)...
Then we went home, and had a peaceful sleep... Sleep... I am exhausted!
-Allie...
P.S. I'm warming up to french, but still too shy to converse with any french person... I can still speak the language well, but all the key words are missing.

]]><![CDATA[My very, very, very, very, very Early Birthday!]]>Tue, 15 May 2012 16:51:50 GMThttp://www.grade5onthego.com/my-blog/my-ery-very-very-very-very-early-birthday

My dream, since I started french emmersion (and then sadly quit because we moved to Beautiful Bowen Island) and found out Europe existed, was to go to France and Paris, to see the famous monuments and the Eiffel Tower most of all. So, when Mom asked me a year ago where in the world I wanted to go, I chose Paris. We decided (or rather Mom and I did) to celebrate my birthday REALLY early, in Paris!
It was amazing -- we found a bench below the Eiffel Tower, and had croissants and baguettes for lunch. Everyone got me everything; from a bag to TWO barrets (thanks Birdy!), a memo board, a book on the Louvre, several pencils and a lot more, which we sent home! It was great... Everyone just made it amazing!
Bye,
Allie

]]><![CDATA[Holiday Park]]>Fri, 04 May 2012 17:12:41 GMThttp://www.grade5onthego.com/my-blog/holiday-park

    Yesterday we went to Holiday Park, the place Mom used to work 25 years ago, in 1987, as a proffessional water-skier! We arrived, and I discovered that it was just like Canada's Wonderland or Disneyland with roller-coasters and face-painting and shows and people dressed in lumpy, fuzzy costumes that look ridiculous.
    First we started with the Free Fall, which is similar to the Drop Zone in Canadas Wonderland or the Hellevator in the P.N.E., except that I wasn't allowed on the Drop Zone because somebody got their leg cut off on it. Anyways, that was my first ride like that.
    Next we went to the . . .

rafting ride (three times, actually, we went on it three times) and I got SOAKED! So mcuh that Dad had to come with me back to the car so I could change my shoes and socks and pants!

    While Dad and I made our way to the car, Mom and Birch found a ride called Expedition G-force, the biggest roller coaster in the park. We met them there and found that Mom had gone on it once and did NOT want to go on again. Dad somehow convinced me to go on, but by the time I was sitting in the seat I was past the point of 'anxious'. Birch came and hopped into the seat in front of us, and I've never found the click-clack-clack-click-click-click-clack of the tracks so terrifying! It reminds me that it's a machine... A machine that COULD breack down!
    I kept my eyes shut tight as we gathered speed and flew down the first hump (or rather hill -- mountain, maybe) with TOO much speed! I clung to the bar and my seat. If I'd opened my mouth to scream somethign else besides noise would come out. By the end I was the slightest bit shaken, but decided to go on again, this time determined to peak out a little.
    After a few more times going up and down on the roller coaster, Mom suggested that we'd probably lost more brain cells than I could count and that we should get a move on the the water-ski show. We ate our picnic lunch, and then took our place in the stands...

The skiers did marvelous tricks, their costumes fabulous! The special show they had on was with zombies, aliens, Darth Vader and gangsters... They perfomed in beautifully, and there were a lot of magic tricks too! It was great, and afterward we got to go behind the scenes, and Mom told them all about her time here and we even looked along the rows of skis which were signed by performers every year -- we managed to find some friends of Mom's name, but no luck with her own... The first ski there was was from a year after she left.

After that we explored the rest of the park, but at the end of the day, Birch and I rode the Expeidition G-Force (my first time on such a roller-colaster without an adult -- Mum and Daddy were at a cafe near the entrance to the park) five times, and I even managed to put up my arms and open my mouth (forget the mouth part when you're the first car -- way too many bugs!).
-Allie
P.S. All the blogs from here on after were actually written during the trip (on the plane still counts), even though they were posted much later.

]]><![CDATA[And Even More Castles!]]>Tue, 01 May 2012 16:56:43 GMThttp://www.grade5onthego.com/my-blog/and-even-more-castles

I sometimes like to write about this moment, this PRESENT moment, and carry around a notebook to jot things down (or forget to and do so afterwards). I also like to draw, but that can't really be put into a blog. Here are the entries copied from the notebook, in order;

    Fussen:

    We walked around for an hour in the pedestrian zone (here they all them footgenger zones). I wish Vancouver had pedestrian zones, they are just SO nice to walk around in!
    There was, of course, a musician, who played with both hands: one playing the trumpet and the other the accordian! I dropped a euro in and was surprised that he had hardly any coins in his open case, considering how well he played.
    Mom and I were looking for clothes in a store for Mom. She bought two shirts, one blue and white, and the other black and stretchy like the on that got bleach spots on it (by accident). She looks really nice in both.
    Birch and Dad were eating . . .

pastries at the time, and at our request Mom got a coffee and I got an apple pastry - SO good!
    Here they paint sort of 3D looking paintings on the walls of their house, like stone carvings, especially around their windows. It looks really nice that way, and much more fancier than just a blank wall. They do that a lot in Germany!

Schloss Neuschwanstein:

    We arrived and it`s just beautiful! Mom told us the story about King Lui II and all the 'crazy' things he did and thought up! I like the windows of the castle. We're just sitting in the coutyard, waiting for our tour to start (you can't go in the castle without a guide). The castle itself is great and honey-brown, which, surprisingly, make a good combonation!
    I'm surprised to find out that inside we're not allowed to take any pictures... I guess that's one reason why you have to have a guide (besides the learning part). I love the arches - they're all painted!
    The Throne Room:
    The cieling is beautiful, and a 2000 pound (!!!!!) chandelier hangs from the centre of a golden sun, it's rays streched across the blue circle of cieling it was in. The floor has mosaics as if from Africa - antelope, rabbits, elephants, dogs, ect. Paintings take over the walls, very bibical paintings, as King Lui II was a very religious man. Some other paintings are of past kings or stories of other relatives. There are smooth red marble pillars, and white marble stairs leading up to an empty platform, where the throne used to be.

Bedroom;

    The sink faucet is shaped like a swan. The guide tells us how, even though it was before the light bulb and water systems were invented, he had running water and electric lights! His bedroom is dedicated to a certain man and women (I missed the tour guide saying this, but later I learned from Mom that they were Tirstan and Isolde). His bed is very grand, gold and blue velvet, with four posters and a delicate yet BIG and detailed wood carving at the top.
    Living Room;
    Dedicated to the swan, King Lui II was also known as the Swan King. There is, of course, another chandelier of gold and jewels, and white marlble pillars with jeweled gold clasps around them. Some paintings are actually weaved out of some string or other. He also had an artificial cave made, with stalactites made out of plaster and everything!
    The stairs are carpeted and electric original lamps hang off dragon`s. There is also a detailed gold carving.

Singer`s Hall;

    The paintings everywhere have become my favourite thing in the castle. The king listened to concerts here, and although it`s really big he only meant it to himself. The hall is dedicated to King Aurthor, and all the paintings have him in it, except the back wall which is a forest scene. There are lots of seats and coaches of silk and velvet lined up against the wall. Everything possible is gold and there is never one blank spot on the wall! Literally!
    Kitchen: All the pots and pans are big and brass. The cupboards are huge and painted black. All the counters are wood.

    This is the Disney Castle and part of the Harry Potter castle (by which I mean Hogwarts), and also the Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang castle from the movie!
    The construction of this place is amazing! One tower, the Tall Tower, was never completed although King Ludvig II intended it to be his chapel.
    The exit is underground, though renevated to be safe. It`s cold!

-Allie

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