Travelog for: Minnie_cpk

Hey mum,

I am on my way to Portugal now ! Hope I will arrive soon.



Love,
Minnie

Hi Mum!!

I arrived at my host's house safely!



First I came across a Teddy Guard, like the ones in London. I was scared but he turned out to be really welcoming, even though he looked so serious!



After that I was introduced to a nice sheep that had come all the way from Ireland. She says that the weather was much better in Portugal than in Ireland, so she decided to stay.She also introduced me to a leprechaun! He played a song on his fiddle for me!!





Finally I saw a very strange bear. He was wearing an ear ring and had a red mohawk. I wasn't very comfortable, I was afraid that he would be a mean bear. But I soon realized he was just a pretty laid-back guy and we became friends!


]

I think I will have a lot of fun around here Mum!!
Talk to you later

Hi Mum!

Today we came to Lisbon, because my host had a doctor's appointment. Unfortunately, the weather was terribly rainy and we couldn't go outside. She promised that if we come here when the weather is fine she will take me to all the beautiful places!

Anyway I was very well received when we arrived



And then I met Minnie!! THE Minnie! I was really happy, but in the beggining I was very shy because this Minnie was HUGE!



She then told me that she came all the way from Disneyland Paris, as a birthday gift! She told me everything about Disneyland. We have to go there together one day Mum!!



I also saw a guy hangin upside down... I wonder why he was doing that...



My host then suggested that we painted a bit. I had never tried serious painting and I was soo curious about it!
It was really funny to mix and mingle all the colours!!



Then I began. It was hard in the beginning, but after a short time I was already painting like a pro!



In the end this was the result :



Can you believe I did this?? I'm so proud of myself! Aren't you proud too Mum?
I had no idea I had this hidden talent! I'm really happy I want to paint more lovely things for you when I get back!

Talk to you soon Mum!
*

Hello Mum!!

Today my host took me to school with her. We were making experiments in biology class.



I wanted to start right away, but first they handed me a labcoat, as it is mandatory. Unfortunately it didn't really fit well...




Here are some of the ingredients we were using



I was very eager to help with the experiment! Look at this reaction! Did you know that if you mix hydrogen peroxide with manganese dioxide you get a reaction like this? This is because manganese dioxide (MnO2) reduces the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to water and oxygen, which is released as bubbles!



This blue thing is called Lugol iodine. It is used to highlight the presence of starch in organic compounds. The pinkinsh thing at the bottom is animal proteine! This shows us that the Lugol iodine only recognizes starch, although it is mixed with other compunds!



In the end everything was dirty, but we cleaned it all well because another class was doing these experiments later on!



Before class was over, I still had the time to look around the lab... Take a look at all of these different rocks!



Mum, this was a very fun day! I learned many new things.



Hope you're okay and talk to you soon!!
Minnie

Hi Mum!!

Today my host had to go to the library for a schoolwork. Still here is the garden in front of her house. Nice, isn't it??



The weather was sunny and a bit windy, but not very cold. This library is nice, its pillars are shaped like lots of books piled up one on top of another!



Here am I, sitting on one of the books in the pile!



I took advantage of the library to read a bit about the city where I am!



Look at all the books!!



I finish with a book from a very famous portuguese poet called Fernando Pessoa. He created 3 different heteronyms for himself! Can you believe that? He wrote like 4 different persons, each one with a different birthplace, job and interests!



Take Care Mum!!

Hello Mum!!

Today we went to the Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral garden, although it is known by the locals as the Public Garden. Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral were the first to fly from Europe to South America!

At the entrance there is a lake.



There were so many lovely ducks in the lake!!





Look at this mom following her little children



In the middle of the lake there is a wooden bridge for a little island where the ducks live



There were many trees with  dark pink little flowers... They were beautiful!!



They almost matched my dress, don't you think?



Also many of the walls in the garden were covered with Ivy!



I was a little tired so we sat a bit on the rocks enjoying the garden! I had a very nice view from where I was!



Here is a tilework, which is very common in Portugal. You can find it everywhere! On top is the coat of Arms of Beja. It has a bull on it. There's an interesting legend about why the bull is there! I will tell you if you want, Mum!!



Such a green grass!



In the middle of the garden there is a wollemi pine. It was a gift from the Botanic garden. The wollemi pine is a very endangered species!! And apart from Beja, only London, Vienna and Edinburgh have one as well!
The species has survived 17 ice ages and it watched the dinosaurs come and go



There are pansies everywhere! Look Mum, how colourful!



I saw two fountains. The first was a bit scary... It was a fish with a creepy look. It looked like a japanese carp...



I think I like this one better!



Here is the gazebo! Sometimes there are concerts here, specially in the summer, at night, since it gets very hot around here!



Here is a tiny replica of a typical house in the Alentejo, the portuguese region I'm at right now. If you go to the little villages you'll see many houses like this one!  How lovely, isn't it?



This was a great day! I saw many beautiful things

I'll talk to you soon Mum!!

Hello Mum!!

Today my host's grandparents came and brought some fruit from their farm. Look at the size of the oranges! They're almost as big as me!



I tried to eat one, but it was too much orange for me...



I was introduced to one of the portuguese symbol, the rooster of barcelos! The legend says that a man was wrongly accused of a crime, and when he was brought to the judge, he pointed to a roasted rooster on the table and said: "My innocence is as certain as the fact that this rooster will sing when you hang me". Of course that no one believed him, but when the man was being hanged, the rooster got up and sang



What a nice blue and white bench I found! Blue and white are very present colours here because all the famous tileworks are in blue and white tile!



I caught a small flower for you!! Do you like it?



I tried to play on this pan flute, but I wasn't very successful...



Now I have to go train some more! In no time I'll be playing very well!

See you later Mum!!
Minnie

Hi Mum!!

Today was a lovely warm and sunhiny day so we went to the garden in front of my host's house!

Just as we got out, we discovered a bird nest on my host's lemontree!!
I wonder if it had any eggs inside already??



Look at all the sun and the green trees! Spring is definitely here, don't you think??





In this little garden there are 3 very strange trees. The flowers bloom before their leaves grow!! They look very beautiful now, with lots of flowers and the little green leaves starting to grow!







I sat on a tree that was full of yellow lichens! Did you know that you can determine the state of the air pollution in a place by studying the exhisting lichens there? Amazing!



Look Mum, it's raining green!



I found another tree spot to sit down for a bit!



Here I am playing hide and seek! Can you find me amoung the green?



Here I am sitting on the trunk of a pepper tree. My host says it was already a big tree when she moved in, 15 years ago.



I saw some pretty flowers! I don't know their names but they have a yellow, dark blue and purple centre. I really liked them!



Look mom!!! A pansy has grown outside the pot, in between the rocks! Isn't that nice? This shows us that, like the flower, we can also grow and be prosper in an hostile environment, no matter what are the obstacles!!



Take lots of care Mum!!
Love
Minnie

Hi Mum!

Today we went to my host's grandparents' house. It's in a little village called Alcaria da Serra. It was a very warm day and the fields were really green!







In some places everything was covered with little flowers. It looked like a carpet! Spring really has arrived here in Portugal



They found me a nice spot to sit during the journey



The village is about half an hour away from Beja. We didn't take long to arrive!



Here you can read "Terras de Pão, Gentes de Paz". This means something like "Lands of Bread, People of Peace"



There is the house!! Doesn't it remind you of the little house in the public garden the other day?? The typical house of the Alentejo? Although this is a real one!! These colour combinations (blue and white and also yellow and white) are very common in southern european countries, specially Greece and also here in the Alentejo!



Here is a lovely detail in the entrance gate!



More white and blue


My host's grandmother has lots of lovely flowers growing in pots!







I specially liked these pink ones!!





Inside the house there are lots of antique things. They belonged to my host's grandparents, great grandparents and some even before that!

These are copper pans. They are really shiny!





There is this nice clock as well. It has roman numbers! But it doesn't work anymore...



This lamp looks like the ones used by the old miners! It is an oil lamp!



In the corridor there is this copper balance. I wondered how much I weight??



Apparently, less than two sea snail shells...



Also I found a real stuffed fox! My host's greatgrandfather was a hunter and caught this fox! It has quite an evil look, don't you think?





Do you know what this is? It is an old radio!! It has about 70 years old! Of course it doesn't work anymore, but it's very interesting!



And this is an even older balance!! It has around 100 years old! It was used to weight wood, and pigs too!!



In the kitchen there are many ceramic little figures representing the kitchen utensils that were used in the older days. That plate has a sheperd with some sheep!



In the pantry you can also see lots of pans and other utensils... there are wicker baskets hanging from the ceiling. Sometimes they are still used to put the bread when they go buy from the baker in the village!



This is a big heater that portuguese people call a salamandra. It works on wood. In winter it keeps the house very warm and I was told that they roast mushrooms and other things in it!



After this house tour I sat a bit. Look at this chair! It's so little that I almost fit in it! (Almost...)



After that we went outside to explore the big yard. There is a cart there! It was pulled by horses, or donkeys, or another animal. It is 80 years old!



Hello!!!!!!



Look mum, I found a green bug!!



Here there are orange and lemon trees everywhere. In all the mediterranean countries that is very common. Now is the time for orange tree flowers to be blooming!!





It was so warm that I even considered a dive here!



My host's grandfather showed me around the vegetable farm. I was very comfy in his pocket!!



The village goes up a hill. Here you can see a little bit more!



Isn't this a lovely landscape??





If you ever need any parsley, we can get it here!!!



This is the view from the balcony!



This is an old water pump. People used it to get water. Nowadays there is a tap to do it....



Look at the flowers in this lovely tree!!



Look at the nice landscape! All this green that you see here in summer turns into golden yellow





In spring grow a lot of thistles around here. I got close, but not enough for it to sting me!



More lovely flowers in a bush!



All these that you see are olive trees. Every single one of them is hundreds of years old!



Mom, this was a really fun day!



I hope to visit more beautiful places soon!



Talk to you soon!
Love
Minnie

Hi Mum!

Now we're on Easter holidays and guess what? We're travelling with my host's school to France!!
It's a very very long voyage since we're going by bus... More than 24 hours on the road!

The bus was very comfortable



We stopped on a roadside station. It was very pretty, filled with trees!









It's going to be a long time before we arrive, but I'm so looking forward to it!!



Talk to you soon!
Luve, Minnie

Bonjour mum!

We are now in France! After a long night of sleeping in the bus, that wasn't very comfortable, we stopped for lunch in another nice roadside station



We then entered the French region of Alsace, that belonged to Germany in World War I, returned to France by the end of the war, was again part of Germany in World War II, and finally became part of France again by the end of that war as well. Phew!



We then arrived at Riquewihr! Also called a museum village, it is a typical village from Alsace. The houses are so lovely!!



The stork is the symbol of Alsace, did you know Mum?


The whole village was decorated to celebrate Easter, it was very pretty! There were bunnies and eggs everywhere!



This bunny was actually swinging back and forth in the shop window!



Not that cute is this armour! It was placed right outside another shop, I wonder if it's meant to welcome the visitors?



All the houses have this wooden structural beams!





Many of the stores sell pretzels and cakes! Look at all the colours! It made me hungry just looking at it!



This is the post offece building!! Isn't it nice?



After visiting this lovely village we continued our journey until we arrived Strasbourg! We arrived at night and are staying at the CIARUS.
Tomorrow we'll have a guided sight-seeing!

Love
Minnie

Hi Mum!

Today we went on a sightseeing tour around Strasbourg!
Here is the palace of Justice



We met the guide at the cathedral, which is quite impressive!



Strasbourg is more than 2000 years old, when a roman campsite was founded in that place. The main street in that campsite is an actual street of Strasbourg today, and it was called "Via Pretoria" Here you can se our guide Camille pointing the way!



This is the Kammerzell house. It's a very famous house in Strasbourg. It is around 600 years old and when the cathedral square was bombarded by the nazis, it was the only building standing, while everything else fell apart.



This is a statue of Kleber, a "son" of Strasbourg



Look at the nice buildings!



We went to a very picturesque neighbourhood called "La Petite France". Even though the name sounds cute, the history behind it is not as nice: It was when there was an epidemic of syphilis and the french (the ones that had it) were living here, and could not leave to the rest of the city due to risk of contamination...





Then we headed back to the cathedral!



There are three main doors there. This is the central one, with Our Lady and the Infant as the center piece. The prophets are depicted on the sides!



Talk to you soon Mum!
Love
Minnie

Hello!!

Today we're visiting the town of Colmar. My host's dad says that Colmar was a rock capital in the sixties! I couldn't see any of that rock spirit now... It's another Alsacian village!





We passed by a big church.





The day was really sunny and warm, it was perfect for strolling around!



There was an Easter fair! There was a keeper with an eagle. There was also an owl, and I was able to pet it!



We walked around for some time!







Tomorrow we'll be heading to Paris!

Au revoir
Minnie

Hi Mum!

We started our journey to Paris. On the way, we rode up to the top of Mount St.Odile, with 764 meters.

Saint Odile is a saint that is related to curing eye problems, so many people come here to ask for their relatives.

It's an amazing view up here!!







From here we can see all the Alsacian Plain!



Back on the road again...

... We stopped in Reims to visit the cathedral!



It's the Notre Dame of Reims, and all the French kings were crowned here!



Nice entrance, don't you think?



Being a gothic-style church, the ceiling is amazingly tall



One of the Chandeliers!



Very colourful stained glasses, again very common in these churches



The organ was huge, too!!



Also here in Reims is where you can buy the best champagne in all France, at least it's what they say...

Okay, we're arriving in Paris still today mum!