Plitvice Lakes National Park

Yesterday we drove from Budapest to Croatia. We stopped at Lake Balaton on the way.  At our campsite we had roast chicken for dinner. It was yummy. Genevieve and I also made shapes with our aqua beads. I did a butterfly and Genevieve made a car.

Today we went to Plitvice Lakes National Park. The leaves were all yellow and brown. There were lots of waterfalls and we walked on wooden paths around the lakes. There were lots of fish in the lakes too.  Then we took a boat and at the end we took a bus back to the start. It was very beautiful. We got an ice cream too.

Then we drove to Rozac campsite.  It is on an island near Split.  Genevieve and I went swimming in the sea. It was warmishly cold!

 

 

1

Budapest!

We have had a day and a half in Budapest. It has lots of beautiful buildings. The first afternoon we walked along the river Danube and looked around Pest.

We went into St. Stephen’s Basilica – it had lots of fake candles and big paintings and mosaics.

Today we walked into Pest again and saw the Parliament buildings. There was a memorial to the 1956 Uprising. Lots of people were killed by Soviets. There were bullet holes in the stairwell.

Then we crossed the river and went to Buda. We climbed a big hill to the castle.  We had pizza for lunch, and I had a strawberry icecream.

There are lots of statues in Budapest. We did a lot of walking. (about 35,000 steps!!!)

1

Wieliczka Salt Mine

***If viewing on facebook, please open link for full article, with pictures***

Yesterday we went to a Salt Mine. We had a guide whose name was Maia. We had to go down 378 steps to go to the first level. The walls and floor and ceiling were all made of salt. Genevieve licked it! Salt was very important and used to be used as money.

There were three dangerous things for miners.  The tunnel caving in on them. Explosions from methane gas and water, because it dissolves salt.

The miners transported the lumps of salt by a hand cart called a dog. (Though Geneveieve thought it should be called a mouse, as it squeaked) They used horses till 2002. They also had a machine called a hand cross.  Genevieve and I had a go and had to push it round and round to raise the salt up a level.

There were lots of statues in the mine made of salt, or of wood, because the salt has preserved the wood.

There was a big chapel with scenes from Jesus’ life, all carved from salt.

There were some lakes, but the water was full of salt, so it was not dangerous.

The mine was very interesting. We had to squeeze into a tiny lift to get out. Then we drove from Poland to Slovakia and into Hungary.

4

Krakow

***Delayed publishing 14/10/18***

***If viewing on facebook, please open link for full article, with pictures***

Today we were in Krakow, Poland. First we went to Schindler’s Factory. He was a German man in world war 2, that saved his Jewish workers from being sent to a concentration camp. The museum showed how Poland was invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union. The Nazis made lots of rules and put all the Jewish people in a ghetto, sometimes with 4 families in one room. If you didn’t agree with the rules then you got shot.  Most of the people in the ghetto went to Auschwitz and were killed. Schindler’s factory made pots and plates.  The museum was very good but very sad too.

After that we went into the Krakow town centre. There was a marathon on, but mummy didn’t know, so she missed out. We went to the town square and had a very big icecream. There was a band in the square and marching girls. There was also a bugle call from the church.

Then we went to Wawel castle. It was very big, we went round the state rooms. There was some art and lots of tapestries of Noah’s Ark.

1

Grutas Park

***Delayed publishing 13/10/18***

***If viewing on facebook, please open link for full article, with pictures***

Today we went to a place called Grutas Park. There was loud Soviet music playing while we walked round some statues. The statues were mainly of a man called Lenin. There were also statues of Stalin and other communists. Lenin and Stalin were not very nice.

There were lots of animals, like llama, emu, different birds, camels, goats and bears in a very small cage.

There was also a very big playground that had wooden statues of Snow White and the 7 Dwarves, the Little Mermaid and the people pulling up the enormous turnip.

Then we did a very long drove to Poland, but we had McDonalds for dinner.  Daddy said it was the cheapest McDonalds.

 

1