Archive for ‘Roaming’

Posts about our travels…

Rock Painting

Yesterday we went to Lascaux. This is a cave with pre-historic rock paintings. We had a tour through the caves, but they are a replica because the originals had a ‘disease’ from too many visitors. There were lots of paintings and engravings of horses, bulls and deer. Some of the pictures were really big. They were found in 1940 by some boys and a dog that was chasing a rabbit. My favourite picture was of some deer that looked like they were crossing a river. There was also an upside down horse. There was a rhino, a beer and some cave lions, but they were hidden. In the museum we had a tablet that you could hold up to the pictures and it told you about them.

Then we drove to Paris, we could see the Eiffel Tower with lots and lots of lights.  Today we are going to explore!!

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Paper Making

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Since Spain we have been driving north. We had a yummy lunch of wraps on the beach, but Vivi dropped hers in the sand.

Then we drove through Andorra. It was very cold and the snow was icy. We saw people skiing and on snow mobiles. We had nachoes for lunch. We took a windy mountain road rather than go through the tunnel to France. It was a good view.

In France we stayed at a campsite next to a church.  The bells were very noisy.  In the night my hot water bottle got a hole and my sleeping bag got all wet. Daddy put the hottie outside and in the morning it was gone. We think it was a fox or a dog. It also took one of our metal cups. But left the woolly cup holder. It was a mystery!

Then we went to a Paper Mill. A lady gave us a tour and it was very interesting. We saw paper made from papyrus (like the Egyptians) and from animal skin.  At this mill, they make paper from old paper, or from clothes, or from elephant or horse poo! The paper is made from the plant skeleton which is called cellulose. She cut up some jeans using a big knife. In the old days children aged 6 and 7 used to do it! Then she put it in a machine that would cut it up and smush it into a paper paste. Then she made some paper and we had a go too! You had to put a screen into the water, mixed with paste, then lift it out.  The water would come out, and you put the paper on some wet wool, then you covered it and put it in a press to push more water out.  I made two pieces of paper. She showed us how they make watermarks in paper where they put a shape on the screen and it makes the paper thinner.  They sometimes make really big pieces of paper and need a swimming pool to put the paper paste in, and they need 8 men to lift it!

Vivi making paper:

Me making paper:

 

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New Year in Seville

***If viewing on facebook, then click on link to see lots more pictures and a video***

We have just had the best New Year in Seville.

We tried to go to the Alhambra, near Grenada but it was sold out. So we just walked round a bit.

Then we drove to Seville. The campsite was a car park and it was a bit rubbish. There were lots and lots of campervans.

We walked into Seville past the Plaza de Espana. It was very impressive with tiles on the bridges, round the fountains, on the stairs and even the lights. There were even rowboats on a tiled river. It was nice and warm.

But the best bit was watching a lady and a man doing some flamenco. They were really good. (See separate post for video)

We walked into town and I got my own beautiful fan. It is black with blue sequins. We walked round the cathedral and had a tapas for dinner. Tapas is lots of little plates with different food. We had bread, olives, toasted almonds, tuna, meatballs, chicken, ham, fries that turned out to be crisps not french fries. And for pudding I had the best chocolate pudding!

Then we went to a flamenco show. I got to sit in the front row. There was a singer, but I couldn’t understand what she said. There was a man playing guitar, and a lady dancing. I liked the dancing the best. She had a long skirt with ruffles at the bottom, and she there was lots of clapping and tapping her feet.  Her feet were really fast! At the end of the show she taught us some flamenco moves!! It was amazing. Then we walked back past all the Christmas lights.

The next day we went to the Alcazar, which is like a palace. We had to queue for ages. The palace was very similar to the ones in Morocco with tiles and painted ceilings, and carved walls.  There were also some tapestries on the walls that I liked.  We liked the gardens too. Mummy wanted to look in the cathedral but the queue was too long.

Now we are driving north.

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Fes

Yesterday we went to Fes. We took a taxi. The driver tooted his horn a lot!

The first thing we did was walk through the Medina to the Tanneries. This is where they make leather from goat and camel skin. We saw the skins being soaked and then all the hair being scraped off. The hair is used for carpets. The skins are dyed in big tubs and then dried. Some of the dyes were: paprika, saffron, henna, mint, tumeric. It was a bit smelly so they gave us mint, which smells nice. We bought a pouffe and he tried to get us to buy more, but we just wanted one.

Then we walked round the medina and saw lots of shops like Marrakesh. I liked it better because there were less mopeds and donkeys in the streets. I saw shops selling leather stuff, wooden bowls, slippers, lanterns, and food. My favourite was one selling carpets, but we didn’t buy one.

I won the lunch stop again. Mummy and Daddy had kebabs, and I had a pastella. This is a chicken pie with almonds and spice (filo like pastry) with sugar and cinnamon on top. It was yummy. The problem with choosing the best lunch is that every one tries to steal it!

We walked through the blue gate which is called Bab Bou Jeloud.

We went to a place called the Medersa Bou Inania which had lots of tiles and wooden carvings. It was used as a religious school.

Then we went to Batha Palace. This was a museum with lots of ceramic plates, jewellery, different clothes, a big gun and a sword. There was a nice garden in the middle.

After Fes we drove through Chefchaouen to Tangier Med Port. All the buildings were painted blue in Chefchaouen. Africa played a trick on us and the GPS took us off road over a hill to the port instead of the proper smooth road. Daddy loved it, it was very bumpy. Then we caught a boat to Algericas, and saw a rainbow. Good bye Africa till next year.

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