Our big Adventure

Guten mittag,

Hello guys, we have, after a series of plane rides, arrived in Völkermarkt. (A small town in Austria.) We got picked up at the airport by Gerd and and Kathi's brother who gave us a tour of the city. As we pulled in the driveway, Kathi was standing outside waiting for us. The moment she showed us our rooms, I lept into bed and fell asleep. Eight hours later, I woke up at 11:oo Austria time and went upstairs to the kitchen. Kathi gave me a bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup and a slice of chocolate cake before I went back to bed.

The next morning, Kathi made a huge breakfast of porridge, toast and bread with butter, apple juice, orange juice, tea and coffee, nuts and cinnamon bread. Then at 12:00 in the afternoon, Kathi served supper. In Austria they eat brektfast in the morning, then supper in the afternoon, and at around 4:00 and 7:00 they eat a small meal such as meat, cheese bread and toast with tea and coffee.

That night I woke up at 3:30 in the morning wide awake since in Europe they're nine hours ahead of us so it actually felt like 6:00 supper time in Campbell River.

Today we walked to town in Völkermarkt. It is quite differtent than Campbell River. There only seems to be one main road with little alleyways leading off of it. In the alleyways there are little shops with houses built on top where the shop keepers live. The houses are also quite different. Most of the ones in town are right beside each other and they are all painted in different colours like pink, yellow, green and white. In the town there is a large cobble-stoned courtyard where the town market is held every Wednesday and Friday.

On April 5, Gerd drove us to a castle called Burg Hochosterwitz. The word Burg means castle in German and Hochosterwitz is the castle's name. Burg Hochosterwitz is placed on a samll mountain. We parked the car at the bottom and climbed the rest of the way. To get to the atcual castle part you must climb the castle defence gates. It was really cool because you got to see the dungeon where they kept the prisoners and a very old church.

Now I'm starting to get used to the Austria time, because this morning I woke up at 8:30 instead of 3:30 in the morning. Today we're going to go for a walk around the Klopeiner See. The Klopeiner See is a lake about a twenty minute drive from Gerd and Kathi's house. Near the end of our walk around the lake, Keona and I were so hot, we went for a swim. At first the water was very cold. But then I decided to just run and jump in.

After saying good bye to Gerd and Kathi, mom, dad, Keona and I got on a bus which took us to Klagenfurt. From Klagenfurt, we took a three hour train ride out of Austria and down to a city in Italy called Venice. In Venice there are no cars or roads. Instead they have countless numbers of canals which zig zag all around the city. What you can do if you would like to travel in Venice, is get a taxi on the canals, or walk. We did lots of both. First we tried to find San Marco Square. One of the most famus squares in the world. It was harder than I thought it would be. Venice is a easy place to get lost. Everywhere looks the same and the allyways go off in all directions. At one point in our search I saw a clothesline hanging out the window with laundry hanging off it. So after an hour of searching, we finaly came across it. From San Marco Square, we took a water taxi to an island were our hotel The Best Western was. When we were checking into our room, the man at the front desk asked if we would like to take a free tour of the Signoretti glass factory. The Signoretti glass factory is where they make glass lamps, vases, cups, chandeliers, and other items. He also showed us where we could find good restaurants down by the beach. After we were all setled in our room, we went to look for a place to eat. Keona, mom, dad and I all got an Italian pizza which we took down to the beach to eat. It was probably the best pizza I have ever eaten. That night, we decided to go on a taxi back to San Marco Square to see the large church at night. On our way over, the sun was going down behind a large palace. The sun was beet red from all the pollution. Luckily I had my camera to take some pictures.

Placed in the courtyard of San Marco are little shops on wheels with Venice t-shirts, post cards, masks, hats, and jewellery to buy. As I was walking by one, I saw a cool looking t-shirt with the words Venice on it. I walked up to the man and asked if I could get it. He handed me the t-shirt and I gave him the ten euros. I had just bought a Venice t-shirt in one of the most famus Squares in the world. Wow!

The next morning, we packed our bags and went to the docks where a private water taxi drove us to the Signoretti glass factory. When we arrived, one of the men working there showed us how to make a horse. And withen ten seconds he had made a galoping horse. It was so good it almost looked real. After touring the glass factory, we went on another boat up the Grand Canal. On our way we stopped at the famous bridge called Rialto Bridge. At the Rialto Bridge, I took a few pictures before hopping back on our water taxi. Our final stop was the train station where we boarded a train for home.

I hope all is well back home.

Here are some German words for you to learn.

dankeschöen- thank you
bitteschöen- your welcome
guten morgen- good morning
guten tag- good day
guten abent- good evening
und- and
mutter- mother
vater- father
sonne- sun
see- lake

Auf Wiedersehn- good bye

Parker Vining