Strasbourg

27/9/2010
Today we woke up early and Hannes took us to the train station in Zurich. We got on the train first to Basel and then another train to Strasbourg in France. We arrived at the train station in Strasbourg at 11.10am and our hotel was just across the street from the station which was good as it was awkard carrying our bags around. We went up to our room on the 6th floor, put our bags down and then went for a walk.


Hannes, daddy and me at the train station in Zurich


Strasbourg has a water canal that runs all around it. We walked around the canal and through the centre of the town. It is very pretty with lits of old French and German buildings. My mummy took lots and lots of photos! We looked around some shops and then went into Strasbourg's Notre Dame Church. We saw Jesus on the cross, lots of stained glass window, a big church organ and I lit a candle for Merethe's mum who died on Friday, it was very nice.

Jesus on the cross



Stained glass windows inside the church



Daddy and me in Strasbourg



Me alongside the canal

After this we walked back to our hotel for a bit of a rest and then we went on a boat ride around the whole canal. There was head phones that you put on and they tell you about the history of Strasbourg. I learnt lots of things! Afterwards we had dinner at a really nice restuarant and then back to our hotel to sleep! It was a fun day in a very pretty town!



What a pretty sight!



Switzerland Day 2

26/09/2010
We woke up to find a little bit of rain around. Hannes decided that the place with the best weather today would be the north-east which contains a region called St Gallen. The drive there was very pretty and I saw some valleys with cute houses and some mountains with snow on them. After a while we reached a cable-car which could take us to the top of a mountain, Säntis... but the view from the top was only going to be of clouds so we decided that it would be a better idea to visit another country - Liechtenstein.

The cables disappear into the clouds



The bottom of Säntis mountains 

The cable car

We had lunch at a nice restuarant in Liechtenstein and bought my nanna a sovenier cloth patch, took a photo of the castle that overlooks the town and then headed back to Switzerland. On the way back we could see mountains in Austria and we also saw Germany!

The castle at Liechtenstein

On the way back we visited Hannes' daughter Liza (she is 11). I had a lot of fun playing with her. She speaks very good English. She also speaks German, Swiss German and Ukranian (that is where her mum is from)!
Finally it was back to the house again for dinner and early to bed because we had to leave the house early to get on the train the next day.


Liza and Me



Switzerland Day 1

25/09/2010
Today it rained and rained and rained. I later found out that it was raining all over Europe so it wouldn't have mattered where we were. Hannes took us to the town of Luzern to show us the famous bridge but it was raining there as well. On the way we saw some nice countryside. The bridge in Luzern is famous with tourists but half of it burned down in 1993 and was rebuilt in 1994. When we crossed the bridge the temperature was 8 degrees and it was windy.




Luzern




Luzern's famous bridge

It was very cold walking along the bridge!


We found some lunch in a department store which was nice and warm. After this we went to a museum which contains a picture of a war scene 110 metres long and 12 metres high. It is inside a round building.
Finally we walked back to the car along the lake and took the quick drive back home on the freeway.

Prague Day 3

24/9/2010

Today we had to leave for Zurich but before this we walked around Prague and visited both the National Theatre and a strange building known as the Dancing Building.



The National Theatre



The Dancing Building

Then we made our way back to our favourite shopping strip (called Na Příkopě) before a walk down a very busy street towards the National Museum (from where I called my friend Jessica to wish her a happy birrthday). Then we looked inside the Church next to our hotel- it was very beautiful. Finally it was back to the hotel to catch a taxi to the airport.

Inside the church next to our Hotel



Me in Prague!

 At the airport we had a little while to wait but finally our plane took off towards Zurich. The flight was very bumpy and when we landed in Zurich we found that it had been raining since lunchtime. I met my dad's stepfather Hannes and he drove us to his house which is on the south side of the lake of Zurich. He lives in a village next to the one where Roger Federer (the tennis player) lives.

Hannes made some Swiss food called Raclette for dinner - which is melted cheese you cook in a special cooker on the dinner table. You can also eat whatever you like with the cheese - boiled potatoes are nice. It's now my third favourite meal.

Prague Day 2

23/9/2010
Today we went to Prague Zoo. To get there we needed to take two trains and then a bus. It took about 30 minutes to get there in total. The zoo is quite big and full of animals you do not see at home. We even saw owls that are awake in the daytime.

An owl awake during the day!

My mum really liked the Polar Bear! He was huge and was being very playful in the water. We watched him for ages! My favourite was the meerkats and daddy liked the monkeys.

A Polar Bear

A meerkat

A gorilla

Again we had sausages for lunch - they were very yummy. I wanted to go on a ride from the bottom of the zoo to the top but daddy discovered that all the machines here run on coins (no paper money allowed) and I had a choice of the ride or getting back to the hotel (the bus ticket machines also allow only coins). So we walked to the top instead!

We saw lots of animals. There were giraffes, elephants, penguins, snakes, turtles, all types of birds, tigers and lions plus many, many more!

A baby giraffe

A penguin

A lion

A tiger eating his lunch of fish and rabbit

Elephants

After getting back to the hotel we had a rest until we did some more walking and shopping before finally we had a nice dinner at a restuarant on the other side of the square.

The restuarant we had dinner at

Prague Day 1

22/9/2010
Today we got up at 4.30am to drive to the train station and go to the airport to fly to Prague. The train trip took about half an hour and then the plane trip took about 2 hours. We landed safely in Prague at around 10am (6pm Sydney time) and took a taxi to our hotel, The Hotel Cerna Liska (which means Black Fox). The hotel is in the heart of the old town square and it is really nice. From here nearly everything is in walking distance so after we had put our suitcases in our room we went off for a walk.

Daddy and I in front of our Hotel

Me and mummy at lunch

A church in the old town square

In the square is the famous astronomical clock which shows the sun's and moon's motions as well as the time. Every hour the bells chime, some puppets appear and a trumpet player plays a tune.

The astronomical clock

The trumpet player at the top of the clock tower

We got lost in some streets as they seem to go in all directions but eventually we ended up crossing the famous Charles Bridge. Later on we did some shopping and ate some yummy sausages for an early dinner.

Walking on the Charles Bridge

Looking from the Charles Bridge

Oslo Day 6

21/9/2010
Today is our last day in Oslo. After our very late night we slept in until late. Mummy spent the morning packing and washing ready for the rest of our trip. In the afternoon Per took us to Holmenkollen where they are building a new ski jump ready for the World Championships in February next year. There used to be a ski jump here but beacuse it is very windy they needed to build a new one with wind barriers. It is huge!

The partially built ski jump

Looking straight up the ski jump

Per then took us to an old-fashioned wooden ski jump followed by a place which sells handicrafts (but only to find an ice-cream) and then to a place which makes American-style pizza for an early dinner - I had a (guess what....) margherita pizza. After mummy and I played soccer against some local girls (we won too!), we went to bed early so that we could get up at 4.30am to catch the train to the airport.

The old fashioned wooden ski jump

Looking down from the old fashioned wooden ski jump

Oslo Day 5

20/9/2010
Today we had a lazy day! We got to sleep in and then Merethe drove us to a local shopping centre in Sandvika. It is a large shopping centre and we spent hours looking around. I got to buy a new Pet Shop toy at Toys R Us and some cool yellow jeans. Mummy bought some candle holders and candles. Then we had some lunch and after that we caught the bus back home. That night we went to daddy's cousin Anne-Kat's house for dinner. She lives in the middle of the city in a big fancy apartment.



Fancy light and ceiling at Anne-Kat's apartment



Anne-Kat is famous in Norway as a comedian. Her brothers, Axel and Anders also came to dinner. We had a really fun night and I got to go to bed very late. Anne-Kat has a kitten and she is so cute. I spent most of the evening playing with her. Mummy and daddy had a lot of fun talking, eating and drinking beer and wine! I like daddy's cousins they are nice. I went to sleep on the lounge and then mummy woke me up to go home in a taxi at 1.30am!

Anne-Kat, Anders, Axel and daddy

Oslo Day 4

19/9/2010

Today we slept in a bit. After breakfast I played football with daddy at the park while mummy went for a jog. Then we went into the city to meet daddy's cousin Anne Cecilie, her husband Paul and their kids Vilma and Thorvald. We met them at the Oslo Opera House.

People walking all over the Oslo Opera House

Inside the Opera House

Anne Cecilie works for the architect firm that designed the Opera House, so she wanted to show us her work. It is a cool but strange building. You can walk all over it! We had some yummy icecream and then we found a spot where kids can slide down the building- this was lots of fun!


Sliding down the Opera House

 

Me, Vilma and Thorvald

Then we went for a big walk as it was such a nice day. We walked all around the harbour foreshore (I got to have a ride of the back of the pram which was fun!) and we ended up having lunch at Olivia's restuarant! They have the yummiest pizza's here and I loved it. It was so fun eating in a restuarant with my name!

I got to ride on the back of the pram!

After lunch we had a look around and then said goodbye to Anne Cecilie and her family and caught the bus back to Per and Merethe's place.

Paul, Thorvald, Vilma and Anne Cecilie

We relaxed for a little while and played some football in the rain and then we went to a Norwegian football game. Uncle Per's local team is called Stabaek. Their home ground is where the European Song Contest was held! I had fun but Stabaek lost 3-0 so Uncle Per was not so happy!

Inside Stabaek's stadium

When we got home we had dinner and then off the bed- another fun day in Oslo.

Oslo Day 3

18/9/2010
Today we got up early and Per drove us to Halden. This is where my daddy's mum and Uncle Per grew up. It is a small town near the border with Sweden. We got to walk on the bridge that connects Norway to Sweden and took a photo standing at the border. Daddy really liked visiting here as he remembers coming here when he was a little boy.

Daddy and I at the Norway/Sweden border

While we were in Halden we first visited the houses where daddy's mum and Uncle Per grew up and then we went to the fortress on top of the hill overlooking Halden. It is called the Festning. We walked up a lot of old stone steps and had a good view of Halden from up there. We could also see Sweden from here.

Daddy on front of the house where his mum grew up

View from the Festning

Me and daddy's Uncle Per

After this we went to the grave of daddy's Mormor (grandmother) and Morfar (grandfather), and also the grave of Per's Mormor and Morfar. They are next to one another which is nice. I found a four leaf clover and put it on the grave stone. After we visited the cemetary we went into the town and had a tradtional hot dog called a Pølse. It was very yummy and I had two! Then we went to look at a Sluse which is like a Lock. This is where the water is dammed and is stepped down a hill (see photos as it is too hard for me to explain!).

The Sluse



At the top of the Sluse



Then we went back to Per and Merethe's house and I played some more with Maia- she is really nice. Then her dad, step mother and half brother come over for dinner. We had tacos which was yummy. Then we played football at the park and blew up balloons and let them go off the balcony, I laughed a lot at this as it was funny!

Maia's dad, step mum and half brother

Then Maia had to go home so we exchanged addresses and promised to keep in touch. Hopefully one day she can come and visit me in Australia as this is one of her dreams!

Me and Maia!