Travelog for: Claire

The final place I went to today was to the war memorial. After reading what it said and thinking how stupid people are - you don't see giraffes having wars - I rested for my journey back to England.

It's my final evening. I've really enjoyed all the things I've seen and my surprise trip to France.

Maisie cat decided to say goodbye. Tomorrow I'm off to Germany.

Hello!
Today I arrived in Hamburg in Northern Germany. I already heard a lot about this city. But first I had to get out of my envelope. Ah, and as a surprise Pip was waiting for me right outside.

Pip told me about his visit at the harbour last weekend and I am sorry that I coulnd't celebrate the birthday of the harbour. But I had so much fun in France, I had a lot to tell Pip either. I also met a friend of Pip who he got to know here. We had a snack together and then went to bed as it was really late and I had some days of travel to recover from.

Bye,
Claire

Hello!
Today I visited the inner city of Hamburg. It was great to see all the people running from shop to shop. First we visited the lake "Alster". It is just in the middle of Hamburg.

There was a small river going from there to the town hall. We followed it and I really liked the town hall from Hamburg.

As Jenny didn't had so much time for me, she decided to take me on top of the St. Petri-church and to show me Hamburg from the airview.

It was not easy going up the stairs and it was a very hot day. The first steps were from stone but later it was wood and it was shaking all the time. I was really happy to arrive at the top and even happier to be safe on the ground again. All along the stairs were little windows to look out.

On top it was really narrow and there were only small round windows to look out.

I was able to see the town hall again through one of the windows.

I could also see the old St. Nikolai-church. It was burned and bombed in World War II. Behind the church I could see the harbour. It was not so good to see but I saw some ships!


A short time after my visit to the city I continued my travels and went to the Netherlands.

Bye,
Claire

Hi mum,

I arrived in Den Bosch today! I'm excited to be back in the Netherlands! It's already very crowded in this house haha. There is Nick, Chompers, TheOutsider, Davy and Roots Bear. On this photo you can see them all!

Atfortunately the weather isn't very good here. I watched the rain all afternoon. It did smell great though. Very fresh.



I'm looking forward to seeing more of this part of the Netherlands when the weather is better. And of course I'm looking forward to going to Italy!!

Hugs Claire

Hi mum,

I went to Groningen! We ate at a Tapasrestaurant. Tapas are little Spanish snacks. We ate lots of stuff like spare ribs, dates (dadels), lambs, melon in honey and lots more. And for dessert a chocolatecake!! The restaurant had some beautiful and colourfull stairs!! After diner we had some drinks on the Marketplace called the 'Grote Markt'. We also went to a bar called the Newscafé and to the cinema. To the movie called In Bruges. It was a weird but cool movie. All and all we had a really nice night in Groningen!

Best wishes,

Claire

Hello,

In Nieuweschans, in the province Groningen, was a very cool festival today. It was called Celtic Midsummer Festival (Keltisch Midzomer Festival).



It was so cool! Lots of people where dressed up.









Asterix and Obelix where even there! There was a battle between the grown-ups and the children and the children won everytime! Of course I was cheering for them



We had beers and spare ribs.



And we danced to Celtic music from the Dutch band Rapalje. And the German band called Faun.







Marjolein coloured a candle and her boyfriend Kasper got a very cool stone mug with 'Rapalje' on it! They also bought special tea. Marjolein's mother bought lots of juwelery and she flirted with Obelix! He didn't have a shirt on and was getting very red in the sun. So she offered him some sunblock!

I had a great time!!

Hugs Claire

Dear mum,

Another tv arrived today! Her name is Finja and she is also going to Italy with us! We are very looking forward to it! And of course I musn't forget my notebook!

Hugs Claire

Dear mum,

It's almost time to leave for Italy! We will leave tomorrow from Den Bosch at 7:30 am with the bus to our first stop in Beek, wich is near Arnhem. From there we will get into the bus, that will get us to Italy! Firstly we will stop in Germany, near Freiburg, for a good night sleep in our first hotel. Tuesday we will continue our journey and in the evening we will arrive in Toscane, Italy! But I will not tell too much already, I will update as much as possible!

I have already learned some Italian:

Yes: sì
No: no
Thank you: Grazie
You're welcome: Per favore
Here you are: Prego
Fantastic: fantastico
I don't speak Italian: non parlo italiano
Do you speak English?: parla inglese?
0: zero
1: uno
2: due
3: tre
4: quattro
5: cinque
6: sei
7: sette
8: otto
9: nove
10: dieci
What time is it?: che ore sono?
Goodday/morning/afternoon: buongiorno
Goodevening: buonanotte
Hi: salve/ciao
Welcome: benvenuto
How are you?: come sta?
Have a nice meal: buon appetito
See you later: arriverderci
Have a nice holiday: buone vacanze

I will speak to you in Italy soon!

Hugs Claire

Dear mum,

Today was a traveling day. I am in France now, just over the bourder with Germany. Our hotel is very good, the bed nice and soft, and there is a swimming pool! Too bad it is too cold to swim. And because we are soooooo tired, we just went to sleep!



Apart from the nice bed, the view from the window wasn't all that.





We had a nice diner, a good night sleep, and after breakfast it was time to really go to Italy!

More traveling today! We went across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Wow I'm seeing a lot af the world today! I will show you some photo's of Switzerland.





This is the bus I am traveling with and will be traveling with for the next days.



We went through the Gotthard Tunnel and after that we almost where in Italy. Just a few kilometres now!



Our first stop is in Toscane. The town in called Montecatini Terme.



We took a strowl through the town.



There wasn't much time, so we went back to our hotel, had some diner and went right to sleep!

Time for the holiday to begin! I started in Pisa and saw the Tower of Pisa!!



This building is where people are baptisted in.

After our visit in Pisa, we had some wonderfull lunch in the mountains of Toscane. We tasted lots of wine and olives made from the people who live in the farm.

Then it was time to go to Lucca. Lucca is a wonderfull old city with lots of beautiful buildings and old squares.









This square used to be an amphitheater. They build houses on top of it, but it still has the shape of the theater.



I had a nice shaken ice tea and a sorbet on the square!