Naples, Pompeii, & Sorrento

9/23/2019 Rome to Naples

 Today we woke up and went to the train station.  We didn’t feel sad to leave our Rome apartment because even though we loved Rome, we didn’t really like our neighborhood.  It was noisy and full of garbage. So, we were ready to move on. Anyway, we got on the train and I read my Kindle the whole trip. I am reading The Ranger’s Apprentice series.  On the way down to Naples I saw a water buffalo!!! Do you know why water buffalo are so important? Because them make fresh buffalo mozzerella!!!! When we got to Naples we walked for 15 minutes and got to our Airbnb. It was great. It wasn’t like the one in Rome it was in a nice neighborhood called Vomero.  I had a TV in my bedroom. When we got there we settled in then went to the grocery store. After that we came home, had dinner, watched a movie in my bed then went to sleep.

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Rome Day 1, Vatican, Pantheon, Trevi, Spanish Steps

9/20/2019

Today we got to Rome.  We took the train from Lucca to Florence and Florence to Rome.  When we got there we had to take the subway to get to our apartment. The name of our stop was Valle Aurelia.  The Rome subway system is easy. It only has two lines. The reason it only has two lines is because every time they try to build another line they have to stop!  Do you know why?? Rome is a city of ancient ruins. These ruins are buried deep underground. If builders find ruins, they have to stop and archeologists have to excavate it. Excavate means uncovering and digging around ruins without damaging or moving them to keep them preserved.  A long time ago, Rome flooded, covering the town, statues, buildings and art in mud and ground. It is covered for other reasons, too, like pollution, dust, and buried on purpose to make the land higher. A lot of it is still covered today!  

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Lucca, Pisa, Lammari, & Florence

9/5/19

Today we took a train to Lucca,Italy a medieval walled city.  (That means Lucca is surrounded by a two and one half mile long, thirty foot high wall).  The train ride was three hours long. When we arrived, we were shown our apartment by a lady whose name was Cristina.  Our apartment was AMAZING. There was a big room with leather couches, a big T.V. and a glass chandelier. There were many pictures on the walls of people and places in Lucca. My bedroom had a king size bed and a fourteen foot ceiling! We loved that apartment!!!

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Santa Margherita & Portofino

9/2/19

Today we got on the train and went to Nice, France and Genoa, Italy. We had to switch trains in Genoa to get to our apartment in Santa Margherita.  We walked for 5 minutes and then got to our apartment. I found this vase that had a lot of dust in it and a 1 cent Euro coin, gelato money!! I was happy.   After we got settled in we went to dinner. The place was called “Osteria” which means a simple and inexpensive Italian restaurant. I ate an octopus salad. It was cut into tiny pieces served in rice.  It was very chewy and tasted great with the rice. Then we went home and went to bed.

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9/2/19

Today we got up really early and went to get a rental car and went to Cassis. The drive was two hours to Cassis.  We went to the beach and got ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The village was called : Village of Cassis.  Then we went to our airbnb and that drive was another two hours. When we got to the airbnb in Cannes (pronounced C-A-N) we went grocery shopping and then went to bed.

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FRANCE

8/21/2019 Today we got in a uber to go to France we got to the airport and went through security.  The Porto Airport is really nice and has a good lounge!! Then we got on the plane we met a boy named Hugo (pronounced You-Go). He’s from France and we tried to talk on the plane but it was hard because I couldn’t speak French and he could only speak a little English. But we still became friends. When we got to France we got a uber and went to our apartment.  We got to our apartment and had to find the keys it was a treasure hunt. After we found the keys (1minute later) we went up to our room. When we got in there was a hallway and a bedroom next to the hallway and a living room which had another bedroom next to it. I liked the apartment. Then we had to go grocery shopping. We always drop off our backpacks when we get to a new place and then go right to the store for food and water and soaps.

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8/18/2019

Today we got to Porto. It’s the second largest city in Portugal and it is where Port wine comes from.  We went on the 2 trains and a long walk to get there.  When we got to our apartment we dropped off our bags and went to explore. There was a performer who could blow a trumpet sound with only her mouth. Then we got dinner I had a hamburger. My dessert was a tiny lime pie it was so good. After that we went home and had a great night’s sleep.

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8/14/2019

Today we got an Uber and went to Sintra. It was 30 minutes to get there from our apartment.  When we got out of the car we had to hike up to the palace. It was not very far. It’s called Pena Palace and it’s a UNESCO world heritage site.  A lot of different kings and queens and Portuguese royal families lived there. We went inside and did a walk that goes around the castle. It was really high. It was called the wall walk.  After that we got in line to go inside. When we got inside we got to see all the rooms of the castle. My favorite room was the Stag Room where they had a miniature model of the whole palace.  After that we got to a terrace and had lunch. We packed a lunch. Mom made sandwiches.  

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Lisbon has been really cool so far.  I will start with the food. My favorite food I ate so far is octopus.  I like it grilled and they make it really yummy here. My second favorite food so far is called Pastel de Nata.  It is a custard tart dessert, a pastry, that’s what Pastel means in Portuguese. And de Nata means with cream. You are supposed to sprinkle powdered sugar and cinnamon on it, but I like it plain.  I ate so many of them. If there is more than one of them they are called Pasteis de Nata. Lisbon is famous for them and they sell them EVERYWHERE!!

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Cole

8/1/19 

Today we got to London on 1 airplane, 2 trains and then we walked for a little and then we got into our hotel in Waterloo which was AMAZING.

Then we unpacked all of our stuff and went to Platform 9 & 3/4 at Kings Cross Station. After that we went to an AWESOME Indian restaurant called Dishoom. I’ve always liked Indian food , but this restaurant made me LOVE Indian food.

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