The hills are alive with the sound of music.. 🎶

Hi Room 11, 
Since I last posted which was ages ago, we have almost finished our trip. 
After Rome we went to Corfu, Greece for 3 nights. Here we mainly spent time by the pool in the sun and went on a boat tour over the to many parts of the main island of Corfu. We nearly didn't make it here due to ferry strikes but our tour manager managed to pull some strings to get us there. There were lots of stray dogs and cats around but they seemed to be well looked after and looked well fed.
Following Corfu, we spent 24 hours on a ferry similar to the ones we have that go over the Cook Strait and we headed to the Venice. Venice is a city built on water designed to escape the approaching enemy. Today it is sinking but the old city still attracts tourists every year for the infamous gondola ride - boats that navigate the narrow canals. There are no cars or bikes allowed in the old city and people catch bus boats and drive boats along the canals to get to work every day. 
Then we moved from Venice to Vienna, Austria we saw many amazing buildings and spent the event at Prater Park - an amusement park - we rode many rides and won a giant minion on a claw machine. We also spent an afternoon in a museum that had many artefacts including bones of dinosaurs and a robot T-Rex. Austria reminds us a lot like New Zealand - green and clean. 
After Austria we started our drive to Munich, Germany. On our way we stopped at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. These started around the time of World War 2. Jews and other who didn't conform to Nazi Germany. A place of torture, hard labour and death. A very sad place to visit but one that makes you think about where the world is now and makes you thankful for the country we live in. When we arrived in Munich we went into the city and saw the Marienplatz - a gothic clock with 32 dancing figures and 43 chiming bells. 
The Austrian Tyrol was calling and on the way we went white water rafting. The air temperature about 10 degrees celsius and the water even colder. We were  It was great fun in grade 3 rapids and would highly recommend white water rafting if you haven't done it. We then stayed in in Hopfgraten a small village below the Alps. Think of the Sound of Music and you'll understand where we were. 
We then began our trip through the Swiss Alps and stopped at our next stop Lucerne and went to the home of the Swiss Army Knife and Swiss watch mechanisms. We arrived at Engelberg where we caught a gondola up the mountain to our accomodation half way up Mt Titlis. It is hard to believe they are heading into summer and it is still snowing on the mountain. We spent the next morning on toboggans, in glacier caves and walking along wire bridges. The next morning we woke to snow so left the mountain with a fresh layer of powder. If only our mountains received this much snow our season would never end. 
We have arrived in St Goar, a small village in Germany. We are here for the night until our last two nights in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Our tour is coming to an end and we have made many life long friends and I hope many of you will experience these things one day. I trust you are all well and have heard you made the final our Super Sport and hopefully you came away with a win. If not, we will play harder in the next super sport and hope to come away with the trophy. Hope you all are behaving and are enjoying your specialisation choice and Kapa Haka. I will send Mrs Wood some photos via email hopefully so you can see what I have seen. 
Talk soon! 
Miss V and Luke

Too busy to update.. 🚌

Hi all,

Luke and I have been super busy with our trip we haven't really had the opportunity to sit down and reflect on what we have been doing. So here are a few things we have done since my Paris update - 

We went to Bordeaux in the South of France - here we more cathedral like buildings and a fountain called the mirror fountain - this was a stop over so didn't really get to see a lot of this city but what we did see was beautiful.

After Bordeaux, we moved to Barcelona, Spain. This place is supe cool and again has a lot of history to how the city came about. Again "entrepreneurs" lined the streets trying to sell selfie sticks and useless bits and bobs. We found the language barrier really hard here too and often spoke French instead of Spanish as this is what we had grown a custom to in the first week of our trip. My favourite part about Barcelona was the La Sagarda Familia. A monstrous church originally started by Guidi who later died being being hit by a tram. His masterpiece is still being completed and won't be finished until 2026 - 100 years after this death. We also had tapas - traditional small meals shared amongst a group of people and watched traditional Flamenco dancing. 

Barcelona ended and we moved onto Nice in the French Riveria. Luke and I walked a lookout at the top of a hill and could see all the amazing super yachts that lined the harbours. Nice is a place where wealthy super yacht owners and holiday makers spend their summers. We hired bikes and rode for about two hours along the water front which was great for a change instead of walking. We also went to Monaco where only the very wealthy can live - they have to apply to the Prince of Monaco and show their worth which he can either decline or accept their application. They haven't had a murder in Monaco in 15 years - random fact for you! 

We then moved on to Florence and on the way stopped at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We took the typical holding/touching the tower photos and finally had of first gelato. We arrived at our stop in Florence to warm weather - finally - It has been very cold here. We ventured around the city at night and had our first taste of Italian pasta which was very good. The following day we got lost in the streets and ate at a popular panini bar. 

A shorter drive to our next destination, Roma, where we also started with a city tour and more gelato. They following day consisted of a Vatican City tour - which I might add it is its own country inside the city of Rome, and the Colosseum. The Colosseum is one place I haven't wanted to visit for so long and it definitely lived up to expectations. The history around the Colosseum and its purpose is not a happy one but when you see the structure in real life and think of the lack in technology to make something of its size is truly amazing. 

I am unable to post images on here for some reason so I will try put some on Schoology. Some you may recognise and some you may not but I shall explain further we I get back to school or you can do your own research on these places before I get back.

Hope you are all behaving and hopefully I will get time to post again soon. Bye for now! 👋🏽

P.S - don't let Whaea Jamie in our room again she is a bad influence and you know how I like to keep our classroom tidy. Also, good to see our stools have turned up. I hope you are looking after them, the classroom and Mrs Wood. 

Miss V and Luke 

Paris 🇫🇷❄️

Paris
Commonly known as the city of love has been designed to be a beautiful city and that it is. The streets are cobbled and stone faced buildings tower above the small people below. Cravings of ancient kings and mythical creatures adorn the buildings. The Effiel Tower stands pride of place and we were fortunate enough to make our way to the top floor to see stunning panoramic views of the city. Electric cars and motorbikes or scooters feature regularly on Paris roads, many taking their life into their own hands as many intersections are a free for all with no lines indicating where you are to go. Walking across streets is even dangerous as cars often don't stop for pedestrians unless you stare them down. We got snowed on at Notre Dame and haggled with street vendors known as "enterpueners" here in Paris for a €4.00 selfie stick (about $6.00 in NZ) Hopefully we will try escargot (snails) before we leave France. Barcelona next..💃🏽

Flying.. Not my favourite thing in the world

Hi guys,
Have just woken up from a 10 hour sleep. It is currently 5.46am here in London and pretty cold. Yesterday we arrived in London after 24 hours flying over cities and countries I had never even heard of. It was raining and cold which I am told is normal for London weather. This place is huge! I can't even explain in words how big it is you will just have to come and see for yourself some day. Just a short message for now as I plan on taking some photos today of what we see. Bye for now!

Welcome Room 11!

Hi guys, 

On Thursday 21st April Miss V and her partner Luke are going to be embarking on a journey they have been planning for over a year now. 

We are heading to Europe - a continent we have looked at in class - and we are going to share with you as much as we can from our trip. 

I hope this will encourage you all to follow your dreams and travel the world. This has been something I have wanted to do for a very long time. 

Because we are traveling a long way away it means I have to take some time off school so you will have Mrs Wood until I return in Week 6. I plan on keeping up to date with what is happening at school via the school Facebook page and Schoology and you can keep up to date with what I am doing on here.

Have a good term break and I will see you Monday 6th June.

Miss V