Our appartment was in a red villa with a garden with lots of cats, we went to the food shop and had an ice-cream. 

Day 2

We went to the beach in the morning it was lovely and warm. Then we went into Venice to Piazza San Marco and went into a cathedral with mosaics on the floor and the roof was gold  and then we went to Rialto to see the bridge and did a sketch. The bridge had shops all over it.

Day 3

Grandad was ill so only us went to Murano an island in Venice that makes glass things we saw a beautiful glass gate and then we went to lots of shops and looked at the glass then we went to a glass factory where they showed us them making glass, the man made a horse in under 30 seconds and a vase it was amazing, then we went to a shop and I bought a glass family of ducks that were colourful and Lucy bought a colourful horse. We went to the lovely warm beach. In the evening we went to the restaurant across the road.

the roman amphi theatre

We saw the Duomo with affreshi,

the Duomo

we saw l’arco di Druso.

l'arco di Druso

Then we walked up to the aqueduct and walked across it. It is about 76 metres high and it used to bring Spoleto the water from the hills. It is also a popular suicide place from which people jump off from.

the aqueduct

We then had an ice-cream near the aqueduct and walked back down to the car and drove home.

rafting

Today we went white water rafting near Norcia. It was only an hour and a half away so we got there in time to have a picnic and then our guide gave us wet suits and special shoes and helmets.

We put our swimming costumes on then the wet suits and other things. Then the guide gave us each a paddle and showed us all the commands: avanti that means forward, indietro that means behind and STOP.

The river was beautiful and clean called the Corno. We paddled along and then the guide let us stop and have fun in the river. We would lie down and the current would take us along, it was very good fun.

lying in the current

in the water!

We carried on and got off into a minibus where the next bit of rafting was. It was more fun and we stopped and jumped of the rocks into the fresh and cold water it was very refreshing, someone did a summersault off them it was very impressive.  I saw a group of white butterflies on the rocks it was amazing.

putting on the harnest

When the rafting had finished me and Lucy went on the rope bridges, we even had to climb up a climbing wall and down a rope ladder.

rope bridges

on the rope bridges

All the people there were very nice and helpful.

I was so glad we went because it was a great day out and I would really recommend anyone to go on a hot day.

me with my duck Obama

In Mercatale there was a festa of the pasta Tagliatelle so we went down there and had some with ragu’. It was very nice and there were also some games where you could win things.

Mummy gave me and Lucy five euros each that we could spend on games.

Me and Lucy went to a lady who had a game with corks, they all faced upside down so you couldn’t see which one had colours on, if you did pick one that had a colour you’d win a flower but if you picked up a cork with black on it you’d win a duckling.

I played four times and each time you’d have to pay 1 euro a turn and then I picked up a black cork so the lady gave me a box and a choice out of the black and yellow ducklings, I went for a black little one with yellow patches on bits of her\his tummy.

Quackers and Obama

Mummy and Daddy wanted to go and swap it for a flower but I refused, everyone looked at them and said he was cute. Then Lucy played and came back telling us she’d won

Lucy watching the ducklings swimming

a duckling, no one believed her but then she asked for my box with my duckling in and picked a fluffy yellow one. Mummy and Daddy didn’t want us to play that game anymore but we had fun watching them jump in their plastic carton we had made into a pool. They splashed so much they got the box wet.
They spent the night in the car and today Daddy is making a little pen for them.

ducklings swimming

mud pottery

a really pretty pot

Me and my friends like making mud sculptures in the garden and it is very simple to do.

1- collect some dry or wet mud.

collecting some dry mud

2- put it in a pot.

3- Pour some water in and stir, then keep adding water if needed and stir some more.

adding water

stirring the mud

4- Put a lid on and leave for a night.

putting the lid on

5- If when you open your pot there is still water in it pour it out and stir some more then leave for some more days and nights.

stirring some more

6- when it is ready you can start modelling, but be ready to get your hands dirty!

modelling the mud

7- Leave to dry in the shade, away from direct sun light or they could start to crack and leave them on leaves so they don’t stick.

8- When they are dry, you can paint them, and then leave them to dry on leaves again.

painting

a painted mud ball that rolls

blackberry picking

In the afternoon we went blackberry picking up the road.

We brought a colander to collect them in. We found a wild fig tree and collected some then we walked back down and got in the car to go to the top where the bigger blackberries were.

me eating a wild blackberry

There were some nice and juicy ones that had swelled up from the rain and in the end we had a whole pot full. Mum made some blackberry and apple stew with them sprinkled with cinnamon and mascarpone.

blackberry and apple stew sprinkled with cinnamon and mascarpone

A couple of days later a turned the stew into crumble but we still had to freeze loads.

blackberry and apple crumble

To make the pastry I put 150g  of flour in and some butter then I did that thing with your finger tips where the butter gets covered in flour.

me making the crumble

putting on the the crumble

I put it in a bread tin and put the crumble in the oven.

apple and blackberry crumble: yum yum yum!

It tasted great with some mascarpone and cinnamon.

thumbs up!

We arrived by train from Teddington.
There were some trees covered in red material with white dots all over them.

the trees with red material and white dots on them

Dancers, people pretending to be statues that scared me a bit because one had long arms and reached out to grab me.

huge furniture made out of fake grass outside the theatre on the South Bank

We saw Peregrine falcons threw telescopes resting on the tower near the Millenium bridge that we walked across.

the shadows on the Thames from the Millenium Bridge

We went to a cafe’ with fountains that people would run into.

the fountain in London on the cafe' on the South Bank

After that we stayed in Teddington and went to Kingston to shop.

We drove to Colchester to see or cousins and we had fun together.

friends forever

The next day we left and went back to hot Italy and picked up our pets from our Grandma’s and Grandad’s.

On the 24th of July we set off to England.  The next day we set off to Camp Bestival and set up our tent and my Dad helped put up our friends’ tents. While they did that me and my sister explored the place.

There was a gigantic blue marquee where a stage was and then lots of other places to hang out and a ferris weel. There was also the main stage and we watched Florence the Machine with our friends. There was a castle and on the other side was the kids’ field with a circus, donkey rides and things to make, a beer tent for the adults, boat swings and much more.

On the last day we watched jousting and the evening we watched Chic and then there was the most amazing fireworks display over the castle.

After the three days of camping we went to a friend’s house and stayed the night.

The next day we went to North Devon and stayed at Cloud farm. We set up our tent with a friend and we explored the stream.

tired out on the walk

We went walking in the hills and one day we went riding on ponies. It was lovely staying there but if you do go camping in England make sure you bring wellies!

the beach

Today we went to lake Trasimeno with our friends. We made sandcastles with the imported sand and swam. We found rainbow oysters.

I found lots of these oysters!

Went up to a bar and had lovely presented ice-cream. There are trampolines and a volley ball pitch, two lake side restaurants that specialize in sea food, a sculpture park and two children’s park.

in the lake

At the beach you can go on pedalos that are fun. On the lake there are three islands that are worth to visit and you can catch the ferry from Tuoro to one island, from San Feliciano you can go to another and the other smallest island is a nature reserve. There are showers where you can wash off the sand. There is a campsite that has a swimming pool.

collecting oysters