Month: April 2012

Today we left Venice. I was hoping that we would go for a ride on a gondola yesterday, but the weather was not good for us in Venice. Yesterday it rained for a long time and a gondola ride in the rain would not have been much fun.

Today we had a long trip from Venice in Italy to Munich in Germany. We had two train trips: one was one hour, the other five to six hours.

We got up really early to get a water taxi to the station. In Venice there are no roads; there is water instead! So the buses are water buses because they are boats, not road vehicles .

When we were on the second train we crossed into Austria. Then the first thing we did was look out the window and guess what , we saw snow! I have ever seen snow falling before. Unfortunately we weren’t getting off at that station, which was called Brenner 🙁 . The Brenner Pass is high in the mountains; that’s why it was snowing there.

Now we are in Germany all safe and sound. In Munich it is cold and damp, but it isn’t snowing.

The last stage of the journey was by tram to reach our apartment. So today we have travelled on water and by rail through three different countries.

Your friend,
Sophie

Imagine gleaming green views and little flower pots. Imagine perfectly laid bricks or stones and little alleyways. Imagine a quiet place and tiny shops. You’ve just imagined Assisi. It is the most gorgeous little town and a beautiful place to stay. When I arrived I was dumbfounded and couldn’t think of any place more spectacular; not even Florence.

All the buildings are old, but magnificent. You could be sitting having a hot cup of coffee, then you suddenly look up and realise that you are sitting in a building 800 years old or more. All the buildings are like this. They are built with thought and creativity.

The house that we stayed in was 1000 years old. It was filled with little archways and steps. There were shutters on the windows that looked eye-catching since we come from Australia where you don’t see that type of thing. The place was cosy and comfortable.

As you wander the streets of Assisi you see monks roaming up and down the streets, almost with you. It makes sense since the church is just down the road. It is a striking church too. The paintings are filled with deep blue and other stunning colours.

When we left we all lugged our suitcases up a big hill. It was like climbing Mount Everest. Of course we went the wrong way – the long way. As I took my last breath in Assisi, I knew I would come back one day.

By Courtney

On Good Friday we went on a big tour of Rome. We learnt a lot of history about the landmarks and how they came to be. We learnt about emperors and how different emperors built different places. Out of all the places I looked at my favourite was the Colosseum.

In case you don’t know what the Colosseum is, it is a big entertainment arena – practically a theatre but there is a catch! It is where gladiators used to fight each other or a variety of animals. 5000 animals died in the first 100 days! How sad. We saw bones of all the animals that they found. I saw some from an ostrich, a bear, a lion and a chicken. The gladiators who fought there were well trained and therefore more animals died than gladiators.

I learnt a lot about the architecture of the Colosseum too. One thing I learnt was that it has 80 arches, so there were lots of entrances. It was made of limestone and covered in white marble. I also learnt that if a woman didn’t have a man with her, she had to sit on the 5th floor, which is the top floor. They had to walk up lots of stairs! The Colosseum has three rings too; however, half of the 2 outer rings are gone. The Colosseum was built in only 8 years from 72 to 80CE.

Here’s a picture: