Michelle's Holiday April 2001

After we had boarded we watched the safety video and we started to move. I was really excited! We had a boy who was my age sitting next to me and my brother he was really funny. We got faster and faster and then we took off! When we had finished taking off and we were straight in the air we got served dinner. Our first destination was Singapore and it took 7 hours to get there from Melbourne!

We landed in Singapore and stayed on the plane while the cleaned it and fuelled up. Other people got off the plane and went to see the airport but because we were on our own we weren’t allowed. We then took off for our next destination, which was Dubai. The boy we were with got off for a plane for Manchester. It was another 7 hours for London!

We had finally landed in London! We got off the plane and went through customs again! Then we went to find our luggage it was a little bit hard but finally found it. We then walked threw Heathrow airport it’s huge! We finally found my Aunty and Uncle! We caught the train back to their flat and dropped off our luggage. Then we went sight seeing!!

We went out to go sight seeing. So we caught a double Decker bus through Kensington to Hyde Park. We then saw Kensington Palace where Princess Diana used to live. Then we took the train to Piccadilly Circus and we sat under the statue of Eros. Eros is the Angel of love and the legend is if you stand under Eros with the person you love tell them you love them and kiss them it will come true for ever! After that we went to see Westminster and Big Ben. When we had got around to seeing Big Ben it was raining so we headed back to my Aunty and Uncles place and went to bed!

At Buckingham Palace

Near Kensington Palace

The next morning when I woke up I was sick. So we stayed home most of the day due to me throwing up. At 2:15pm we left for another airport called Stansted. When we got to Stansted airport we got out tickets and went through the metal detectors. It beeped for my brother so he had to go through again but it still beeped (because of his belt) so he had to be body searched which was really funny! We then got onto the plane for Italy. I was really happy to land in Italy because I was sick on the plane but the airhostesses were really nice to me. When we landed in Ciampino Airport we rented a car and went to the B & B to go to sleep.

At a picnic at Lago Di Vico

Rio Mozzo is the B & B we stayed in. It has two bedrooms on our side and our own bathroom! On the other side it has one room and a bathroom! There can be two people staying there at once. It has a shared lounge room and kitchen, which the two sides both share. We only shared with a couple named Ann and Peter for two days, no one else. Rio Mozzo is an ostrich farm! The people who own the place have 8 ostriches, some ducks, 4 goats, a couple of peacocks and some chickens! If you stay there for long enough you get to do a course on how to paint and decorate ostrich eggs! They have three dogs one named Rosie another named Lila and a puppy but I can’t remember his name only that he bites!

Rio Mozzo Ostriches

Our bedroom

Rio Mozzo

Pompeii is a town. Many years ago it used to be a different town this was before the volcano of mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the land in lava. Many years’ later people started digging there to build and they found the old town of Pompeii! They dug up as much as they could find and they let people come and see what it looks like. There are lots of half steps and the buildings are not even all there. It’s amazing they were able to find it. So they make people pay to come and see it. I didn’t find it that fascinating but I guess some people would! After a couple hours we took the two and a half hour trip home!

Visiting Pompeii

The next day we went to Rome to go shopping for my family. I bought heaps of stuff and spent a lot of money. We also went to Trevi Fountain and the tradition is if you toss a coin over your head and into the fountain you will come back to Rome! Then I bought myself a baby blue skirt and Vince bought some shoes. After shopping we went to see the Vatican! The Vatican is where the Pope lives and he comes out to talk to the people. It’s really big and in the shape of a Dome! The next day we went back to Rome again and went to see the Coliseum!

Trevi Fountain

The Vatican behind the Tiber River

Me at the Colesseum

On Friday we got up all got ready and left for the Airport. We were flying a GO plane back to London (Lucky I wasn’t sick this time) so the flight was good. When we landed in Stanstedn we got a bus to where our car was parked and drove back to my aunty and uncle's house. We came back and had some dinner and went to sleep.

On Easter Saturday my Aunty Karen and her boyfriend Scott arrived in London. We caught the double Decker buses to Piccadilly Circus and went to one of the worlds biggest toy stores Hambleys! We then got back on the train. My Uncle Mike and my brother went home well my Aunty Karen, Her boyfriend Scott, My Aunty Angela and myself went to a shop to find materials for my Viking ship (we got a little lost) but ended up getting there. We also went to Tesco (which is a supermarket) to buy Easter eggs for tomorrow.
In the morning we opened up our Easter eggs and rolled down the stairs because we didn’t have a ramp. Rolling Easter eggs down a hill is one of our family traditions. Afterwards My uncle Mike and Aunty Karen and her boyfriend went to the pub so my aunty Angela my brother and myself went to the planetarium and Madam Tussauds. The planetarium was really cool it felt like the whole room was moving. At Madam Tussauds there were wax dolls of famous people I got my photo taken with Billy Connolly and the Pope! We then went to pizza hut for lunch.

That afternoon once everyone had recovered from the night before, which was about late afternoon, we left for Scotland. We drove up to Manchester to visit some of our relatives. We had dinner there and then left to try and find a B and B to stay in. We found a place to stay and we went to sleep for the night. The next morning we left for Edinburgh. Around late afternoon we arrived in Edinburgh and found a really nice hotel to stay in. We went down to the bar for dinner and then we went to bed. The next morning we went to Edinburgh castle, which was really cool, but it was cold. We then went to our dynamic earth, which was like a museum. After our long morning and afternoon we left to drive up to Glasgow. We checked out where my grandma lived when she was young then we drove to Blackpool and stayed there the night.

We spent Vince’s birthday in Blackpool. First we went and played arcade games for a couple of hours - it was really cool. We also did the dodgem cars, which was really fun except I got pretty stuck. Then we went to Pleasure Beach and we went on this horse ride, which was fun but weird. We then drove back down to London. When we got there it was pretty late we had dinner and went to sleep.

On Friday we didn’t do much. We stayed at my Aunty and Uncle’s house and packed because we thought we were going home on Saturday. On Saturday morning we were ready to leave for the airport when my aunty wanted to video tape us with the tickets. So I got out the tickets and looked at them my other Aunty (Karen) asked what the date was and my uncle said 21st. I looked at the tickets and said the 22nd so my uncle had a look and said we are not leaving till tomorrow. So tomorrow we await the journey home.