Venice 1998

Jo-Ann

St Marks Square - Venice

18.7.98 - Caught train to Venice, took about 30 mins - Good Trip.  Venice was very busy, lots of sellers.  Caught a water taxi to St Marks Square looking through beautiful church.  Lots of small gold tiles on the roof a beautiful marble floor.  Bought mum some rosary beads.  I wanted a glass photo frame but couldn't find one.  Open market bought some fruit.  Walked a lot today and paid for toilets 500 lire - 50 cents.  Toilets were very dirty. We saw a huge P&O liner.  Lots of street sellers, I bought a handbag for $40 - good bargaining os Stephen's part.

Christian
Day 23 - Today we went to Venice, to get there you catch a train.  When we got there we caught a boat to the other side of Venice so we could walk back to the train station on the way we saw lots of glass and jewellery.  We went to a church called St Marco and the whole roof was covered with little tiles about 1cm by 1cm wide.  It was a big church as well.  We also saw a big American cruise ship 296m long on the docks.  In Venice they have water taxi called gondolas but we didn't go on one.


Joshua
 Day 23 - Today we got up early and went out for breakfast at McDonalds but that was closed, so we went to a place called Autogrill where we had a croissant. There was a Sega Planet right next to it.  When we finished we caught a train to Venice, when we came out of the train station we got on a boat.  On the boat we saw a big American cruise boat it was nearly as big as the Titanic, it was called the Grand Princess.  When we walked around Venice we saw lots of glass and jewellery.  We went to a church and the whole roof was made of tiles.  We walked over to the big ship and the crew told us it was 296 metres long.  When we got back we went to Sega Planet and we nearly finished a game.  We went to McDonalds and the food was as good as Australian McDonalds. 

Sea Princess 296 m long

Padua 1998

Jo-Ann
17.7.98 - Drove all day and got into a little town called Padova.  Very old and depressing town.  Found it difficult to find a motel as they all looked run down.  Found a 2 star, fairly old, but the shower dripped - just like camping.  Booked in for 2 nights at Padova.  We walked for a long time before we found a restaurant. Got there just in time before the crowd arrived at 7.30.  In Italy they all start to come out at around this time.  Got to bed about 10.30 - Venice tomorrow.


Christian
Day 22 - Today we drove to Padua which is a town in Italy near Venice.  On the way we stopped at this big eating place where we ate breakfast.  Then we went to a bank and exchanged our money into Italian Lire.  One Australian dollar equals 1000 Lire.  Then we got our room and walked around for a while and had tea at an outdoor restaurant.  I had and Italian pasta and Josh had a pizza it was really nice. Then we looked at some more shops and saw some street bums cleaning and washing feet and teeth in a water fountain.


Joshua

Service station on Italian Border

Day 22 - Today we left really early and started to drive across the border of Italy.  We stopped a a little service station and we had something to eat and drink.  Then we while we were driving again we drew some pictures in our sketch books.  When we got to a bank on the way we exchanged our money and I got 149000 Lire because here you take three zeros off and it will be 149 dollars, so it is easy to work out your money.  When we crossed the border of Italy we saw lots of army trucks.  We found a hotel next to a road and the railway but it wasn't very noisy. 

Schronbronn and shopping 1998

Jo-Ann
16.7.98 - Another breakfast of rolls, cheese and meats.  Drove to a shopping centre and caught a tram to the city.  Stephen got a $40 fine from the police for not following the road lines. Went to Schronbronn and went on the self-guided tour.  Got back to the shopping centre and looked at shops.  Went back to the pension and had a lovely dinner at a lovely restaurant in the local town, lovely setting.  Went to bed early ready for an early start.


Christian
Day 21 - Today we went to Schronbronn Castle.  We went on the guided tour of the palace which took 2 hrs and it was an audio tour.  At the back of the palace is a garden and lots of statues and hedges in it.  After that we went to Toy-R-Us for the rest of the afternoon.  It was the biggest toy store I had ever seen.  It was so big it had a whole wall full of Lego and another full of Barbie Dolls and it even had sunglasses and lollies and tons more.


Joshua
Day 21 - Today we drove to the shopping centre and we went to Toys-R-Us for a look.  There we had to catch a tram and train to Schronbronn.  When we got to Schronbronn we had to go through big gates and we bought tickets for the tour of the castle.  Then we went out back and there was a little castle on the hill and there was lots of rows of trees and gardens.  Then we went on the tour and we had to listen to a phone thing to hear it and I didn't follow the tape and I got lost.  Then we went back to the shopping centre and we bought some things this time and we looked at a pet shop.

Vienna 1998

Jo-Ann
15.7.98 - Warm, sunny and hot, left hotel at 11 am after a typical bread roll breakfast.  Got a tram to Vienna - 50 mins.  Did walk of the town lots of lovely buildings and statues.  Had a look at the crown jewels and caught the train to the fair.  Had a ride on the big ferris wheel.  Bought some souvenirs at the fair.  Got home very late about midnight.  We all crashed as soon as we got home.


Christian
Day 20 - We went to Vienna to go on the biggest ferris wheel in the world.  When we got on it it was pretty high and slow so you could see the view.  We also had a look at the rides and sideshows and bought nothing.  Josh and I had a ride on the dodgem cars and killed each other and another big fat fellow.  In the souvenir shop I bought a cap and a snowball shaker.  That night we got home really late because we missed our tram and had to wait for it to go all the way around.


Joshua
Day 20 - Today we got dressed and went to the tram station so w could go to Vienna.  When it came we got on and the seats were comfortable.  It took 40 mins to get to Vienna because it stopped a lot.  When we got to Vienna we went into a shopping centre and Christian and I played soccer and pool.  Then we went to a museum that had the crown jewels and lots of gold and silver.  After mum went shopping we caught a train under ground that went really fast but the seats weren't comfortable. The train took us to the biggest ferris wheel in the world and next to it was a fair that is open every day and we went on the bumper cars and I went on my own.  

Gumpoldskirchen 1998

Jo-Ann
14.7.98 - Drove for 3 hrs on the highway to Baden, not a very nice place - dark, not a lot of character.  Decided to drive to modling - nothing their either.  Found this little side road through the vineyard and came to a quaint little town called Gumpoldskirchen.  Staying in a pension owned by a nice lady.  Only trouble is, it is near a train line and very noisy.  Verandah overlooks an old church and vineyard. Had to take Christian to hospital for X-ray of his arm.  Ate chinese in Modling, very nice.


Christian
Day 19 - Today we drove to Gumpoldskirchen, a town near Vienna to stay 3 nights. On the way we had pizza for lunch and it was really nice.  I went to the toilet and on the way out I got my fortune, unfortunately it was all in German.  I went to the doctor about my arm, she told us to go to the hospital to get an X-ray and there was nothing broken.  On the way home we had chinese.  It was the first German speaking Chinese person I had ever seen, but at least the food tasted like Chinese and not Wiener Schnitzel.


Joshua
Day 19 - We started to drive to Baden when we go to Baden there were no hotels that had a room for us, so we drove to another place called Modling.  We went to the doctor she gave Christian some gel and told us to get an X-ray but there was no broken bone so we drove back home.  On the way we had Chinese and we gave them a kangaroo badge and it was the first Chinese restaurant I've been to in Austria.

Wolfgangsee 1998

Jo-Ann
13.7.98 - Went to Bad Ischl today to shop, boys got a haircut $25 each and not very good.  Had a look at the shops and posted some cards.  Got home quite early and went boating with the boys and Stephen on the lake (Wolfgangsee).  Little motor boats that go very slow.  A lovely ride for 30 mins.  Had tea in a side street cafe and just as we finished this huge storm came across very quickly.  Christian feel off a cement seat and hurt his arm.  We'll have to get it checked tomorrow.


Christian
Day 18 - Today we went to the boats to cruise around for an hour.  After that we went to Bad Ischl to spend the rest of the day.  In Bad Ischl I had a haircut and it was really painful, she used a shaving blade to do my undercut and to do my hair.  She had a funny little thing that ripped the hair out of my head.  For lunch we went to McDonalds we had, as they called it, a Big Mac Menu.  Mum and dad had a Greek Salad which we had never seen before at McDonalds.  For tea we had Wiener Schnitzel.  Josh and I were jumping around on seats and I fell over and nearly broke my arm.


Joshua

Day 18 - We got up in the morning and went up to hire a boat and we went on one for an hour.  I drove first and I over turned (steered) a lot then it was Christian's go and we parked in lots of docks.  Then we drove to Bad Ischl and we stopped at sports shops.  When we found a hairdresser she scraped our head with a thinner and it hurt.  We came out looking like a bowling ball. Then we went back to Wolfgangsee and went on the boat again but we only went for 30 mins.  We had tea at a little restaurant and it was really windy.  Christian and I had Wiener Schnitzels.  We were playing in the wind on the seat jumping around and Christian fell over and nearly broke his arm.

Hallstatt 1998

Jo-Ann
Went to Hallstatt and went down the salt mine.  Quite a trip up to the top of the mountain in a railed cable car.  Got dressed in special clothes and went into the salt mine on a train, then slid down wooden slides to the mine.  Very good trip we were gone about 6 hrs.  I would recommend the salt trip to everyone.  Walked Hallstatt, saw the church and the graveyard.  They dig up the bones and put them into a room and paint the skulls.  This is because the graveyard is too small.  We were going to stay in Hallstatt but I'm glad we stayed in St Wolfgang, more to do.


Christian 
Day 17 - Today we went to the salt mine at Hallstatt.  It's the oldest salt mine in the world.  Before you go in the salt mine you have to dress in special clothes because you go down on a big wooden slide to get into the mine.  We went past a pool of water the size of a football field, 5 degrees cold and 18 m deep.  It's a perfect reflection of the roof.  The point of this pool is to mine salt.  It dissolves the rock form of salt into brine which is salty water.  If you swam in it you would float without even paddling like in the dead sea.  Tomorrow we are going on boats.


Joshua
Day 17 - Today we went to a salt mine and on the way there was a skeleton in a hut.  It took a long time to get up the hill, then when we got to the place where you had to get dressed we sat down and waited for our number to get called out. Then we walked up to a little train that took you into the mine.  We went to a slide show, then we walked a really long walk and got to another slide down that slide was a pool that used to fill up and the roof would cave in. They turned the lights on and there was a reflection of the roof in the water.  Then we went on a spiral staircase and we did a long walk again and went out.