Porto

**Delayed posting 5/12/18**

Yesterday we had a lazy day and Daddy did some tinkering on the the car. We did a walk to the beach and walked back along a boardwalk. We played lots of football too.

Today we went to Porto. We had to walk 3km to get to the train station. After the train we walked down the main street.

Then went to the Palacio da Bolsa. We did a guided tour and the first room was the Hall of Nations. It had the coats of arms of all the countries that Porto traded with. We even saw the UK. The floor was a pretty mosaic. Then we walked up a staircase with lots of carvings, which took 40 years to make. It was made out of granite, which is very hard rock. The best room was the Arabian room which had 20kg of gold leaf on the walls. It was all carved in plaster and painted, see the pictures. It was amazing! There was also a room that looked like it was made of wood, but it was actually plaster painted like wood. You couldn’t tell the difference when you looked at it, but I could feel the difference when I touched it.

After this we went to Igreja de Sao Francisco. This was a church that had lots of wooden sculptures all covered in 100kg of gold leaf. The best one was a tree with Jesus at the top and 12 Kings of Judah around him. We didn’t take photos in the church. We also saw the catacombs. This was a bit creepy, there was a big room with lots of wooden doors in the floor, with numbers on them. Lots of people were buried there and it smelt a bit funny.

We had lunch by the river, and I had a hot dog with cheese and a real orange juice.

After lunch we walked over the bridge to all ‘wine caves’ where you can taste Port.  Port is a type of wine that Mummy and Daddy like. We went to one called Porto Cruz. They have a woman in a black dress as a symbol.

I had to put on a helmet with glasses and earphones and I was flying over the fields with grapes and then a factory where Port was made. (Virtual reality goggles) It was amazing! Mummy and Daddy tried some different ages of tawny port, 7 years, 10 years and 30 years.

Then we took a train home, and had to walk down the road in the dark. I liked Porto.

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Santiago de Compostela

We took a ferry to Spain. We had one night and one day on the boat.  It was a bit rough and I got a bit sick.  But there was a colouring competition and I won!  We arrived in Santander and had to drive in the dark to a campsite.

The next day we did lots of driving, but we had a nice lunch stop by a rocky beach. It started raining, and it rained and it rained and it rained.

Then we went to Santiago de Compostela. It was very hard to find a car park, but a nice English parking warden helped us.  We went into the Cathedral which is the end of a pilgrimage route. The bones of Saint James are there and Genevieve and I got a blessing. The cathedral had a big nativity scene set up – it was the biggest I have ever seen and some of the people were moving!

I emailed my friend Col to learn about doing a pilgrimage, because he has done this one! It was very interesting. We looked for scallop shells which mark the way, and a long time ago people got a shell as proof that they had done the pilgrimage.  There were lots to buy in the shops. Daddy said we couldn’t buy one.

Then we drove to Portugal.

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Staying with people in the UK

*** Delayed Post, written in Portugal***

When we got back from Europe we had lots and lots to do, because we had sold the house.  We did heaps of cleaning, sorting and packing, and some men came to take all our stuff away to put in a container and send to New Zealand. When this was happening Vivi and I were being looked after by Helen, Cecile and Mary. We did lots of really fun stuff.

Daddy and I went to Borough Market without Mummy and Vivi, and I had a massive sausage.  Daddy had lots of cider and we saw lots of his old work friends.

sausage

I did a PowerPoint presentation for my class with pictures from all the places we have been to.  Genevieve did one for her class too.  It was really nice to see all my friends again.  I also went to my friend Metta’s house and played with her.

There were some things Daddy needed to fix on the car after our trip, so Dave stayed and helped him.  It was nice to see Dave (and the help was most appreciated – ed.).

After we moved out of the house we stayed with Cecile first and then Mary and Brett.  We had lots of yummy food and played with Alex and Lorien, and the dogs Bear and Sassy.

I also got my hair cut!

Just before we left the UK again we had a nice day in London.  We met our friends Bos and Keith for a coffee and went to Hamleys and saw the Christmas lights on Regent Street. At Hamleys we got nail polish and glow in the dark tattoos.  Mummy washed them off.  We also had a yummy pub lunch with Mel, Marcus, Amelia and Jemima.  We had double chocolate flowerpots for pudding!

Now we are on the road again!

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Colditz Castle

Yesterday we went to Colditz Castle. This castle was a prison in World War 2, used for soldiers that were either high ranking or because they had escaped from other prisons. Lots of people tried to escape. Some soldiers made a glider (but it wasn’t used because they didn’t finish it before the war ended). Some dug tunnels. One soldier dressed up as a woman. Some people escaped, but lots didn’t make it.

Then we did a very long drive to Cologne. The first campsite was closed, but we saw Daddy’s friend Christian. So we went to another campsite on the river Rhine. We walked along the river to a restaurant, where we met Daddy’s friends Michael and Gabi. Michael is actually a real giant. I had chicken nuggets – but it was called Donald Duck!

Then we drove back to England. There was a big storm and it was very windy. We went on the Eurotunnel. We parked the car on a train. It was fun.

In England, the car broke down about 1 mile from our house. Daddy had to crawl under the car and he took off the broken bit. Then we got home.

It is nice to sleep in my bed.

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The Bone Church

After Austria we drove to the Czech Republic.  We had a campground under an apple tree.  The apples kept falling on our tent.

Then we went to a Bone Church. Inside there were the remains of 60,000 people. Most were from people who died in the plague – it was called the black death. Some were warriors, and you could see holes in their skulls where they had been whacked with arrows, swords or maces. Lots of the bones were piled in pyramids. Some of them were arranged in a chandelier of bones. It was a bit creepy.

After that we drove to Goerlitz and had lunch with Raik and Julia. I had a yummy pizza.

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