Lauren's class trip to Rome

Roma by Lauren

Day 1-  After waking up extremely early in the morning and making sure that I had everything needed I was driven to the airport. We arrived at about 6:45 a.m. Some of my classmates had recently arrived and looked and felt as tired as I was. After some trouble with getting checked we almost missed our flight and then we finally boarded. We had a quiet and uneventful flight. Ha ha. Sure we did..... We finally arrived in Rome and the first meal that we had was a very delicious ham and cheese sandwich. We then set off for (drum roll please) the Catacombs! Woohoo! First thing that we go and see after getting off an airplane is a place where tons of dead bodies are buried underground! Just kidding because it was actually pretty cool and cold. We saw a fourteen year old boy wrapped up in white linen and a really old dead person named Alexandra. (Not to be confused with the Alexandra in grade 7) You could still see her hair, bones and teeth. (We are still talking about the old Alexandra) After getting really creeped out from seeing extremely old people we went and frolicked in the fields and took pictures. And we saw SHEEP!!!! Ok then. We headed to our hotel called Hotel Casali which was somewhere in the center of Rome I think. We unpacked our bags and chilled out till it was time to walk where we were going to eat. We started out with pasta and the main course was salad. Weird..... We ate gelato for our dessert and it was delicious. After getting back to the hotel we “went” to bed at 10. Ha ha. Sure we did. Sure we did.

Day 2- So, day two of our marvelous journey! (Please note that we walked EVERYWHERE this day) We started off by going to see “The Moses” which was made by Michelangelo. We then set off to the Colosseum. We met our tour guide there and he  showed us around and told us many interesting facts. It was so cool and we got to explore on our own for a while. We then went to the Forum and Palatine Hill. It was really cool and kind of hot. Afterwards we went and found a café where we are pizza and pop. On the way to our next destination we saw a fountain, Renaissance building and huge market. We then arrived at our destination which was the Pantheon! You know the building that has the giant hole in the ceiling?? They never put anything over the top even when it’s raining or snowing! But it doesn’t really snow that much in Italy.....  Anyways we went to the gelato shop which had 150 different flavours of gelato!!!! I got a big cone which had strawberry chocolate, raspberry chocolate, chocolate and peanut butter. Yum..... We then walked to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. Both were extremely crowded but they were pretty awesome. Did you know that the Spanish Steps were made by a French person, paid for by the Italians and called the Spanish Steps? We went back to the hotel, went to dinner, and then got more ice cream. We “went” to bed at 10 again.

Day 3-  The third was also very exciting because we went to the Sistine Chapel! But first we walked through the Vatican Museum. We saw many sculptures, rugs and paintings. But we were all excited to see the main event. Once we arrived in the Sistine Chapel we were all silent (because we were supposed to be) and very interested. The ceiling looked 3D, like the painted people were about to fall off. It was very pretty and detailed. Afterwards we went and got extremely lucky because we saw the Pope! Although we got there right as it was ending it was still pretty cool. We quickly ate a lunch of pizza and headed to St. Peters Basilica. We learned and saw a lot of stuff. The place was huge and very decorated. We then went back to the hotel. We went to dinner and then we went to the gelato shop again. It was still really good because we had been in the sun a lot that day. After we actually went to bed at 10 because we were exhausted.

We saw the Pope at his weekly Wednesday address.

Day 4- The fourth day of the adventure in Rome we travelled by metro and train for about 30 minutes to Ostica Antica. It was a an ancient city and it was really cool. We walked around and explored everywhere (or at least as much as we could!) and learned a lot of how they used to live. We did this till around lunch time and then we went back out and explored more. This time we were allowed to go about on our own. We explored  temples, buildings and amphitheaters. We spent a good part of the day here and then we headed back to Rome to go shopping. After we made our purchases we headed back to the hotel and from there we went to our last dinner and ice cream in Rome. We once again “went” to bed at 10.

Day 5- The last day of Rome. The end of the adventure. The day we return to cold, rainy and not so sunny Finland. We woke up extra early in the morning in order to get to the airport on time. We had an uneventful plane ride back to Finland. Although we had an awesome time in Rome we were kind of glad to be back home.

Derek's class trip to Lapland

Lapland Trip by guest blogger Derek

During April, Grade 6 went in a trip to Lapland. One of the fateful members of Grade 6 is Derek Detter. Consequently, he had to write this post. Anyway, everyone basically unleashed their alter-ego on this trip. When we landed in Ivalo, some people clapped. I hid all signs of my school logo on my shirts and put my head down. We took a long bus ride to the place where we were staying.

There were six rooms that we used, which I gave a variety of nicknames: The huge cabin, the noisy people cabin, The quiet people cabin, the crazy boy cabin, and the normal boy cabin. I got the huge cabin (4 bunk beds) which I shared with 3 people. Sweet. I used the top to sleep, and the bottom for luggage.

After lunch at the buffet, we went geocaching. For those of you who have no idea what that is, you find stuff with a GPS. Pretty simple. Until you have to walk across waist-deep snow to get to it. Our teacher had to crawl across. I actually found one for our group. :D Anyway, we had the option of going to the sauna (throwing buckets of water at each other) and shower, then we had to go to dinner. I ate some kind of meat with some kind of salad. Weird, but good. We were given about two hours of free time until 10, when we had to go to sleep. Fat chance. Crazy boy cabin, noisy cabin, and normal cabin are awake the entire night. Knocking on doors, playing music loudly,and bugging people trying to sleep. Because we already had a party at 9, I wanted to sleep. I remember vaguely shoving people out of our room after one of my roommates let them in.

Next day, I wake up and the sun is shining brightly. Turn on my iPod: 5:00 am. What the heck?!? I end up listening to music until 6:00, when I decided to wake up. Person from crazy boy cabin knocks on the door. He wanted to get away from his roommates, who had 3 1.5l Pepsis in one hour. He comes in, and leaves later. Fast forward 4 hours. After breakfast and a 2 hour wait, he go to a husky farm! While the person is demonstrating safety, I suddenly realize how hungry I am. I had breakfast, but I’m still hungry. The smokey campfire reminds of American delicacies, like s’mores and hot dogs. Not helping. Anyway, we get on the sled and start riding. When we get back to the farm, we hear news of a flipped sled. One teacher and two students. The students were smart enough to jump out. Teacher held on to the sled. Comedy gold. After that, we went into a smallish cabin to eat some pancakes. I bought two more pancakes after my first two. Keep in mind, they are not American. Think crepes. I have never appreciated pancakes and jam more. Next day, I wake up and the sun is shining brightly. Turn on my iPod: 5:00 am. What the heck?!? I end up listening to music until 6:00, when I decided to wake up. Person from crazy boy cabin knocks on the door. He wanted to get away from his roommates, who had 3 1.5l Pepsis in one hour. He comes in, and leaves later. Fast forward 4 hours. After breakfast and a 2 hour wait, he go to a husky farm! While the person is demonstrating safety, I suddenly realize how hungry I am. I had breakfast, but I’m still hungry. The smokey campfire reminds of American delicacies, like s’mores and hot dogs. Not helping. Anyway, we get on the sled and start riding. When we get back to the farm, we hear news of a flipped sled. One teacher and two students. The students were smart enough to jump out. Teacher held on to the sled. Comedy gold. After that, we went into a smallish cabin to eat some pancakes. I bought two more pancakes after my first two. Keep in mind, they are not American. Think crepes. I have never appreciated pancakes and jam more.

After that, we take the bus back to the hostel, and we go skiing. No, not the crazy ‘flying down the mountain at 100 mph and doing ninja tricks over sheer drops while fighting polar bears.’ It’s more like walking with skis on. Yawn. And then, we have a snowball fight. Basically, there were three things you could do: Sit on the snow and watch, throw snowballs at people, or crash through whatever defenses and wreck havoc upon the world. I chose the third one. After drop kicking the defenses, I tackled the teacher (which was perfectly acceptable, as you joined at your own risk.) Then he tackled me. When I was making my extreme escape, he through an golfball-sized ice-ball  which smashed me in the mouth. Oh well. After dinner, we get to have a meeting. For some, inexplicably strange reason, people didn’t get enough sleep. I was laughing in my head. The teachers start patrolling the corridors for 30 minutes, and check if you are asleep. Coincidently, I have a peaceful night.

Where we stayed.

To the food.

Day 3, we go snowshoe walking 6 km up a mountain. No problem. Only half of Grade 6 got up, the rest went back down at the halfway point. I was fourth up the mountain. Next up, reindeer farm. We got a fast reindeer. I could tell because we were going for about 5 seconds before we had to slow down for the others. Then we learned about reindeers. Males have incredibly huge horns, unlike females who have small horns. :D And after a lecture on reindeers, we had the Great Kick Sled Race. At the beginning, someone fell off their sled and blocked the track. We had to ram into him a lot until we got through. We started our pursuit for first. When we got stopped up again, I pushed the sled onto the side of a snow pile and ran ahead. In the end, it was me and my partner vs. a teacher. I never stopped kicking, and then my opponent took a wrong turn, sealing their fate as the losers of the race. We got first. Dinner, sleep.

Me getting ready to rein in the reindeer.

Day 4, we could choose if we wanted to snowboard or downhill ski. I chose snowboarding, which is very, very hard. No more comments on snowboarding from the author. We then had a smoke sauna. It was nice, except it was kind of hard to breathe. After you were in the sauna, you had to go into the pool of ice. I put my head under five times. I didn’t try to stay in very long, because my head was freezing after I put it under. Then, a Lappish ceremony. One of the Sami people told us about the magic of Lapland, and gave us a lecture about reindeers. One of the stories is that when you cross the Arctic circle into Lapland, the Lappish spirits plant a seed in your heart, so that one day you will return. As a reindeer. He then made us a reindeer of his tribe so that we will forever belong to that tribe. Really, I even have certificate proving I’m a member of the Kilopää herd.

Day 5, after packing, we had a snow sculpting contest. We were given a giant pillar of ice to make something that involves Lapland. We made an arctic tree, basically a pine tree covered in snow made of snow. The sculpture that won looked like a deformed mushroom with pine tree branches on it. They winning team got chocolate bars. Then we flew home. The one word that describes the trip: weird. Or wacky. Or zany. Something that is completely random that has never happened.

Gran Canaria Part 2

To market to market.

Yes, we'd like the special price.

On our way to the beach we found a fish pedicure place.

After I got used to the creepy feeling of fish trying to swim between my toes, I liked it!

Dinner at a tapas place.
This is us with George, the owner.

Goat.
It was awful.
We hid it in a napkin and dumped it in the garbage.

Lighthouse at Maspolomas.

I liked this statue guy.
Not only was he taking a chance being on the wall,
he was so into character he let pigeons roost on him.
And he gave me a gold pirate coin.

Cindy can find a pet anywhere.

Catamaran tour!

We sat by a Scottish couple.
Ainsley and David.
They were incredibly hard to understand.

Cindy snagged this pic of the whale.

Me in the COLD water.
Not pictured...
boats and jet skis driving around.
It made me nervous with all the swimmers in the water.
Especially since I was a swimmer!

Bus tour of the island.

A simple looking church.

Very ornate inside.

All the school groups we saw wore uniforms.

The tour guide was hard to understand.
She'd say everything in Spanish, then English, then Italian, then German, then French. Some times we'd miss the English part entirely. Like for this spot. A crater. We thought maybe of a meteor or something. However it was made it is now used for sweet potato farming. I think.

Mountain view.

More.

We stopped in a tiny town of 400 people. This is one of the two streets in town.
Cindy is an excellent poser.

Interesting little Italian man who spoke to himself the entire tour.

So if a car is coming from the other way....

Great, relaxing trip!
Cindy and I can be travel buddies anytime!!!