Rotterdam Food Day

This day we tried a lot of food🍔. We had a mellow morning. Then we were gonna go to MiniWorld.   MiniWorld is a bunch of mini models of different cities. So we were on our way to MiniWorld when it started heavily raining🌧. So we just decided to have an easy lunch🥗. I wanted to get the pumpkin soup🍲🎃. But they ran out, so I got a salmon salad🥗🐟. Then mom took us to a market, and also mentioned that 2 of her students said stuff about a really good ramen🍜 place. We went to the market and I got a herring dish. Nico and mom wanted to explore, so I ate my herring. Nico came back with a rainbow🌈 bubble tea called ‘Blue Galaxy’ 🌌. So I got one called magic bear pudding taro🐻. We got to smell the different ingredients. Mine had bear pudding🐻 and Nico’s had butterfly pee🦋. My favorite flavor to smell is one from India🇮🇳 called ‘Star Mix’, and my least favorite was one from China🇨🇳 called ‘Jade Dragon Pearls’ 🐲. It smelled like wet dog. Then we got stroop waffles. I thought they were okay, but Nico loved them. Then we got mini pancakes, and I got an amazing Chinese🇨🇳 fish🐠 ball. Then we went to the ramen🍜 place and wrapped up our day.

Nico’s chicken curry

My Shrimp Ramen 

Stroopwaffle day!

Today we woke up at the hotel. Me, Luca and Ms B tried to go to a place called Mini World but it rained really hard so we got lunch at a place called Frobel and I got yogurt. Luca tried to get pumpkin soup but they ran out. Then we met up with Theresa, Hamed and Ms B. We started walking to this market that Mom, Theresa and Hamed had been already. We met up with the students and then they came with us. One of the students named Alex gave me a ride on his shoulders. Then when we got to the market we split up. Me, Luca, Ms B, mom, Theresa and Hamed all went together. The outside of the market was sadly not that great. But the inside was amazing! Luca and Ms B sat down and Me and Mom went to look for food. I found this boba tea place and got a super cool flavor called blue galaxy. Mom got falafel. Then Luca and Ms B got up. Mom got us each a thing called a Stroopwaffle which is a hard waffle full of caramel. I loved it! Then we went to a ramen place and went to bed.

The Zoo in Rotterdam

This blog has other parts than just the zoo. The zoo was just the main highlight. We started out by going to the grocery store🏬. They had Japanese🎌 teriyaki pringles, Malaysian🇲🇾 red curry🍛 pringles, and a new sports drink brand. Then we went to a cafe for breakfast. After that we went to the zoo. We started walking, and saw a crane(bird) by the river. Then we took a bus to the zoo. The first exhibit we visited was the oceanarium. We saw sharks🦈, seals, penguins🐧, skates, stingrays, manta rays, and giant moray eels. Then we went to the arctic circle exhibit. We saw arctic foxes, steller sea eagles, raccoons🦝, and polar bears. Then we went to the North America exhibit, where we found bison and prairie dogs. Then we went to the South America exhibit with Galapagos tortoises, pudus, butterflies🦋, guinea pigs, piranhas, anacondas, and ibises. Then we ate lunch and moved on to the Africa exhibit. We found lions🦁, gazelles, zebras🦓, giraffes🦒, gorillas🦍, crocodiles🐊, meerkats, and what we think is the earth’s last black rhino🦏. Then we saw geladas and wombats in the Oceania exhibit, and reindeer in the Europe one. Then we finished up in Asia, where we saw deer🦌, tigers🐯, cobras🐍, pythons🐍, fishing cats, elephants🐘, leopards🐆, red pandas, Asian rhinos🦏, wild boars🐗, and Chinese🇨🇳 gardens. Then we got to eat dinner on a boat⛴ and finished the day up.

Red Panda

Asian Elephant 

Giraffe 

Sumatran Tiger

Baby Boars

Rotterdam day! (Nico)

Today we got to Rotterdam. The plane with the students was really fun. When we arrived in the Amsterdam airport, we took a we waited until everyone got their bags. Sadly two of mom’s students lost their bags. Then we got on a train to the Rotterdam train station. After we got to Rotterdam, we got in a cab to the hotel. Our cab driver was really annoyed with mom and said she was wasting his time by watching the students. Then when we got to the hotel we went up to our rooms to unpack. Then mom left to a group dinner with her students. Me and Luca stayed at home with Ms B. We were lasy for a bit and then we went on a walk. We found a place called Frites Unique. Frites means fries in Dutch. That is the language they speak here. We had these really yummy Japanese chicken fries and then went home and went to bed.

Rotterdam!

After our last day in Rome😢 we decided to finish our Europe trip in The Netherlands🇳🇱. My mom had some teaching business there. We took a plane✈️ to Amsterdam from Rome. It was my first plane🛬 with Mom’s students. It wasn’t bad though. I chatted💬 with a lot of them. The Amsterdam airport was one of my favorite and cleanest airports I’ve been to. We got Indonesian🇮🇩 food there. Then we took a train🚞 to Rotterdam. There was A LOT of farms on the way full of cows🐄, sheep🐑, and donkeys. Then we took a cab🚕 to our hostel. The guy at the front was pretty nice, and we got free tea☕️. Then we overlooked a canal and looked for good places to eat. We ended up eating at a place called ‘Frites’, which means ‘fries’ in Dutch. I love❤️ the fries🍟 in the Netherlands. They put mayonnaise on them. I got mine with Japanese🇯🇵 teriyaki chicken🍗. I like Rotterdam so far.

Grosseto day! (Nico)

Fast forward! Ms Marley is sadly gone now but Ms B is still here. We woke up and got on a train to Grosseto. We got off the train and walked to the rental car place. After we rented the car we drove for 42 minutes into Porto Santo Stefano which is a suburb near Orbotello. We unpacked in the hotel for a bit and then got in the car. Shoot, I just realized that I didn’t say that Ms B was with us all this time. Anyway, we went into the car and drove to this cool place next to the beach and walked around for a bit there. Then we went to dinner and I got something called Spaghetti alla vongole. If you don’t speak Italiano then ‘spaghetti alla vongole’ means spaghetti with clams. It looked like this.

Then we drove back home and went to sleep.

Grosseto, Porto Santo Stefano, Orbetello, and Cosa.

3 days ago we took a train🚂 to Grosseto. We bought a car🚙, and drove up to our hotel🏨 in Porto Santo Stefano. For day one we stayed in Porto Santo Stefano. We went to the beach and saw a bunch of fish. On day two we went to Orbetello and drove through a national park🏞, and then went to an ancient🕌 town called Cosa. Then we went to a famous boat race called the Palio. I honestly didn’t like it. There was so much colored smoke💨 that I breathed in so I started coughing and my throat started to hurt. Plus, it was so hard to find a good spot without someone smoking🚬 or vaping in your face. But we found a place for dinner🥘 where I ate boar stew🐗🥘. The next day was pretty mellow. We stayed in Porto Santo Stefano and ate at the hotel. We spent a lot of time playing with the stray cats🐈 there and we bought souvenirs and I ate swordfish⚔️🐟. The next day we went to Grosseto and took the train back to Rome.

    Grosseto

  Cosa

Porto Santo Stefano

Orbetello

Tour day! (Nico)

Today we woke up on Rome. The train ride back was yesterday morning. We woke up and went to the Pantheon with Ms Marley and Ms B and showed them around it. Then we went to Roscioli to get some lunch and ran into Theresa. We went and got Fatamorgana which is a Gelateria next to Roscioli. After that we tried to go to the cat sanctuary but they were closed. Then we went on a really long walk to this cool place that I forgot what it was called. We walked some more and then went to the Spanish Steps but it was super hot so me, Luca and mom went home. Then we lazed around and had Verso Sera for dinner.

The Vatican

Yesterday we went to the Vatican🇻🇦. We were eating lunch but running late, so I got a quick lunch. After that we drove to the Vatican🇻🇦. It was funny😄 when we got there because the tour guide was also named Luca. We had water💧 but I drank mine before the tour. Then we got tickets💳. The first room was air conditioned but none of the others were. Luca gave us audio guides, but I took mine off. All I could hear was static. We went outside and Luca showed us a painting🖼, a sacred pine tree🌲, and a moving golden globe🌎🌍🌏. We continued past a man fighting an adder🐍, and a room of carpets. But then Nico went missing. It took us super long to find him, but we did. He had found a security guard and told him what had happened. Then we went to the Sistine chapel💒. Afterward we saw a real dead body of some former pope and left. It was hot and crowded, but I learned a lot.

Cinqueterre day two (Nico)

Today, we woke up and went to the beach. We played there for a while and then we got on a train to a town called Vernazza which is the second town cinqueterre. It was beautiful but it was really dirty and smelly. Then we went to a town called Corniglia which was very nice but there a lot of flies there. Then we got to a town called Monarolla which was extremely beautiful and breezy. We got to watch the sun set which was on Ms. B’s to-do list for summer. Here are some pics I took from Monarolla.

I think Cinqueterre was fun! I do wish we could have gone to the 5th town though.

Wine Factory

A few days ago we went to a wine factory🍷🏭. It was a long bus🚎 ride and we were all tired😪. When we got there we saw grape🍇 farms and wine barrels. Nico liked the cork machine. After that we had a long lunch and this woman talked about the factory for about three hours. After that mom and Nico took some grapes and we left.

Wine Barrels 

Wine Dispensers

Grapes 

Cinqueterre day 1 (Nico)

Today was our first day in cinqueterre. Fun fact: cinqueterre means five towns. We got up and went to the beach. The beach was really fun because mom bought us this cool raft and we paddled the raft to this big rock that me and Luca jumped off of and it was surrounded by fish. This picture is me trying to stand up on the raft. One thing that was fun and cool is that Ms B and Ms Marley came!

After the beach we went to bed.

Cinqueterre

3 days ago we took a train🚞 to Cinqueterre. It means ‘5 islands’ in English. We took a train🚊 to Pisa first, which was really long. After that we took a train🚂 to Cinqueterre. All of them were called Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. We stayed in Monterosso, and spent our first day there. We looked at the view and then went to the beach🏖. We took a pathway but it didn’t lead us to the beach and we had to walk all the way back and start again. I got super mad😡. But we ended up getting there, and it was fun. We got a cool raft and floated to the deep, creature-filled parts of the sea🌊, and dived, looking for sea life. We ended up finding tangs, tropical fish🐠, anchovies, crabs, and marine geckos🦎. We also found a massive rock we jumped off from. On day two we went to the beach again and found sea urchins, pufferfish🐡, and large gray fish we found out were tuna🐟. Then we went to Vernazza and ate lunch🍴. There were these cats🐱 there. One was friendly, but the other swiped at me when I pet it. That’s one of my only problems with cats. Then we went to Corniglia and had snacks there. I liked it. It was quiet and the views were awesome, and we got seafood🦞 cones. Then we ate dinner🍽 at Manarola, which had incredible views. We didn’t explore Riomaggiore but we saw it from the train ride back to Rome.

Corniglia 

Riomaggiore 

Manarola 

Monterosso 

Vernazza

Mouth of Truth and Spanish Steps (Nico)

Today we went to the spanish steps and the mouth of truth. First we went to the mouth of truth after we woke up. It was a long walk so we were super sweaty when we got there. The mouth of truth is something where it is a big stone face and you put your hand in its mouth and it bites you if you’re not true of heart. Here is a video from the mouth of truth.

(Sadly the video wouldn’t upload)

Then we went to a orange mangrove which was extremely beautiful and shady.

Then we were mellow for a while. After being mellow we walked to the Spanish Steps and had dinner at a restaurant next to the Spanish Steps.
This is a pic of me, Luca and mom at the Spanish Steps.

Mellow day (Nico)

Today was pretty mellow. We woke up and layed and did our chores and then we went to lunch with Hamed and Theresa and went to a place that was next to Hamed’s apartment and I got a vegan burger and Luca got a normal burger. Then we went to a place called Del Teatro for gelato and I got a Granita. Then we relaxed and were mellow and went to a place we have never been called Shiroya for ramen and sushi.

The Pantheon

Earlier today we went to the Pantheon🏛 and explored for a bit. It was surprising to me that we had not gone earlier. I just realized I used the word ‘Earlier’ twice in that sentence. Our story starts with us eating lunch at a café called roscioli. After I decided I was done with my lunch we went to a gelato  place🍨 called Fata Morgana. After I finished, we started walking🚶to the Pantheon🏛. There were a few horses🐴  at the entrance. I think there was the most of any year. When I suggested it yesterday Nico said we’d seen it 6 times already. I remembered that when we walked in. I also remembered it in the previous years when we were there. When we walked in, it was completely full of other people. I saw a few candles🕯 first. Then we started taking pictures, but it was hard, because there were so many photo-bombers. Nico and I said excuse me to them but only one lady listened. But it was pretty cool😎 to see stuff like Raphael’s actual coffin⚰️. Pretty good time there.  

Ancient Candles 

Cool Roof

 

Outside View of the Pantheon 

 

Statue (We don’t know what it is)

Raphael’s Coffin 

 

No daddy day/Borghese day (Nico)

Today when I woke up dad wasn’t here. He had left for Seattle. Me and Luca got up and did our chores and stuff. We went to Roscioli for lunch then lazed around until about four o’clock. Then we had to run down the stairs to meet the students. After we got down the steps we got in the black vans that were waiting for us. The vans were really cool. They were black, and I like black. Also they had 3 chairs in the front including the driver’s seat. I got to sit in the front with mom and the driver. Luca had to sit in the back with the girls. When we got to the Borghese, Hamed was there because he WALKED there. And the car ride was like 30 minutes!

Those are the two pictures we took. The first one is a sculpture of Apollo chasing Daphne. Daphne is turning into a tree. Daphne is a girl who Apollo likes but she doesn’t like him so she is running away. The second sculpture is a picture of David pulling back his slingshot to kill Goliath with his rock.

We had a group dinner with the students which was yummy and went to bed.

Cooking Pasta

Yesterday we went to a cooking class where we made 2 types of pasta🍝: Ravioli and Fettuccine. We started by mixing up flour, salt🧂, eggs🥚, and olive oil. That made our dough, and then we chopped   tomatoes🍅 and spinach🥬. We made the chopped tomatoes🍅 into sauce and tore up some basil🌿 and dropped it into the tomato🍅 mix to season. Meanwhile, we mashed up the spinach🥬 and added cheese🧀, and we filled the dough with that mixture, making the ravioli, and than soaked it in the tomato-basil mix. For fettuccine, we used the leftover dough and made it smooth and silky though a machine that soon cut it into noodles🍝. We ate it next, and went home🏡.

Half Tuscany day (Nico)

Today we woke up and mom left. She was going in a tour of an olive oil factory. Me, dad and Luca layed for a bit and then we went down to the pool. There were too many wasps so Luca got scared and me and dad had to convince him to come with me. Dad had a phone call at night last night and he stepped down from a curb wrong and hurt urn his foot so he couldn’t go swimming with us. The pool had just been drained so there was barely any water. After we played in the pool for a bit we layed down again. Then we checked out of the hotel and got on the bus to the olive oil factory. Mom and her students got on and we drove for a while. Then we got to a rest stop that was different from the one last time. There was no yo-yo there. We got roast chicken flavored Pringle’s and a bunch of the students tried them. While we were on the bus I played a lot of a game called Pixel Builer but it made my IPad percentage go down A LOT and my IPad ran out of power. When we got to Rome it was sadly daddy’s last day so we went to Popi Popi and then Trappizino. Then we went to bed.

Santa Marinella Beach

We went to the Santa Marinella beach🏖 yesterday. I saw seahorses🐴🐠, a sea anemone, crabs🦀, and smelt🐟. We saw a rock island🌴 full of crabs and seaweed. A lot of the rocks were slippery and I was always a bit skeptical about climbing🧗🏻‍♂️ the rocks, but I eventually did. We went on a boat🚣‍♂️ as well and got good pictures and fish sightings. After that, we played more, then left. The cons are that both train🚞 rides were packed, and the metro bus🚌 we took back smelled horrible🤮💩, and there is still sand in our bed🛌. But it was cool😎.

Going Swimming 

View of the Mediterranean Sea 

The Mouth Of Truth

Before the Spanish Steps we went to the mouth of truth, where you put your hand🤚in the mouth of a stone face, and if you are true of heart, it won’t bite you.

The Spanish Steps

On Saturday we went to the Spanish Steps, which is a mountain🏔 of stairs that was brought as a gift🎁 to Italy🇮🇹 from Spain🇪🇸. We climbed the whole thing, but it seemed so much smaller than last time we went. It was in good condition considering a drunk🤬 driver had driven his car🚗 down the steps. There was also a cool😎 fountain⛲️ below. We got a picture of it. It was too bad Nico hurt his leg. But we still went up and got got pictures. It was a fun experience.

Roma at sunset 

Spanish Steps

Spanish Steps Church 

Spanish Steps Church 

Ancient Waterfall 

Tuscany day/Giovvi day

Sadly, I don’t have any pictures from Tuscany. I will just tell you about my time. First, we woke up and got completely ready for Tuscany. Then we met mom’s students outside of the Rome Center. We walked for a while until we reached the bus stop and then got on our private bus. We rode in the bus for a while and me and Luca played on our IPads. After we rode in the bus for a long time we got to a rest stop and got some food. I was looking for a yo-yo but I couldn’t find one. 😭 Then we got back on the bus and drove for another long time. After a bit we reached Tuscany! When we got to Tuscany me and Luca really wanted to see Giovvi the dog. Sadly, Giovvi wasn’t there. He was really old so he retired and he doesn’t live there anymore. Luckily the owners said that they would bring him for a bit so he could see us. Me and Luca were sad, but then too make things better we saw a baby deer in the wild! It was really cool and then we went to our room. I got kind of grumpy because I wanted to go swimming but everyone else wanted to take a walk. While we were walking mom said that there were pigs on one part of the trail. The sign said do not enter so Luca got worried we weren’t supposed to be there. It was actually for cars though. Mom said we were close and I said that I smelled animal poop so we continued and then found the pigs. When we went back me and Luca went swimming with the students. Then we went back up to take a shower and then layed down then dad came up and said there was a special guest here. We went downstairs and mom said Giovvi was here. Then he ran away and mom said he was probably going to check out the hotel because he hadn’t been there in a while. Then he came back and we played with him. Then we had dinner which was really yummy and went to bed.

Overall I think it was a good day.

The Borghese

Yesterday we went to the Borghese. They didn’t let us take pictures 🏞🌄🌌🌃🌉 for some reason, but we snuck some. They had all sorts of statues of lions🦁, eagles🦅, ancient hunting dogs🐕,  Roman gods, horses🐎, swans🦢, and they had an Egyptian room with people hunting huge water buffaloes🐃, jackals, people bathing in rivers, and people fighting massive leopards🐆, which was my favorite.

Statue of David

Statue of Daphne and Apollo 

A few dogs outside the Borghese

Athens 3,4 and Lecce, Alberbello and Ostuni (Nico)

Today I am running behind. I am going to squish Athens and Lecce. So we basically hang out and did nothing on Athens 3 and 4 and then got to Rome for the night and then got on a train to Lecce. After Lecce we drove to Ostuni which was a really pretty town and then we drove to Alberbello which was a Town and all then roofs are cones. It was really fun. Again sorry for being lazy.

Puppy FaceTime

Today we FaceTimed our puppies🐶 for the first time this week. They we’re so cute I wanted to reach through the screen and pet them. We have a fat brown male named Emerson and a skinny white       female named Ramona.

Ramona 

Emerson 

Ramona and Emerson’s litter