Travelog for: Imperio

Hi Mum,

Today was another fun day.  There was a Regatta held in Hexham, as well as a fair.  It was great!






And look, there was even rock-climbing!  I wanted to have a go, but there were no harness small enough for me!


And look who I saw rowing - Matt Wells!!  He's a very famous rower, and he grew up in Hexham.


Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum,

There was a beautiful sunset this evening, overlooking the countryside outside hostmum's home.


Isn't it gorgeous?


Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum,

Yesterday we travelled down to Essex, as we're spending the week at hostmum's Grandparents' house.  And since Essex is only an hour or so from London, we went and explored some of London.

Here I am in Camden.


Camden is such a great place - eccentric, with a great atmosphere and awesome shops.


Inside this building is a great market with so many stalls selling lots of great things.


In Leicester Square, we came across this great shop - it only sells M&M products.


Then we went to the theatre.  Here I am outside Her Majesty's Theatre.


We watched The Phantom Of The Opera - though unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pictures of the actual show.


What a great day!

Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum,

We've all been relaxing at hostmum's Grandparents' house.  Hostmum has been busy helping out her Grandparents, so I've been entertaining myself by exploring their house.  And boy - there's a lot to see!  I especially like all the army things that can be found around the house.

Hostmum's Grandad was in the army, and he was given this sword for excellent service.


And look - this was his service dagger.
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This is a picture of hostgrandad's regiment, when they met the Queen.  Can you see her?  She's sitting in the middle.


Just look at all these medals!  Not all of the medals are hostgrandad's though - some belong to his dad (so that would be hostmum's Great-Grandad).


Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum,

We've all just arrived back at hostmum's home.  It was a long car journey.  And look, there was a package waiting for us when we arrived...


We started to open it, and out popped Mefito!


He's travelled all the way from Mallorca.


We've promised him that tomorrow we'll show him around the area.

Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum,

We went in to Newcastle today, but unfortunately our trip was cut short, as hostmum's camera broke!    The repair man said it would take 2 weeks to fix... but in the mean time hostmum will be using her mum's camera.

Anyway.  Here I am in front of Grey's Monument, which was built in 1838 to commemorate Earl Grey, who changed the face of British politics with the Great Reform Act in 1832.


Then we went to one of hostmum's favourite cafes and she bought me a delicious cupcake.  Yum! 


Unfortunately, that's when hostmum's camera broke.  But she's promised to take us all back in to Newcastle to continue the tour!

Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum,

The weather has been pretty bad recently - it's been raining so much!  But today, we had a short time when it didn't rain, so I went for a walk in the countryside.


We came across this village.


And saw some nice views of they countryside.


Then we continued our exploration and went deeper in to the English countryside.


Pretty soon, we were in the heart of the forest, with not another person around for miles.


We came across this little waterfall and stream.


It was so nice getting back in touch with nature!


Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum,

Today we went to visit Alnwick Gardens.  The Alnwick Gardens are part of a stately home and were designed by the Duchess of Northumberland.  They're now a big tourist attraction.


First we went on a tour of the Poison Garden - a garden full of poisonous plants.  The really poisonous plants were locked behind bars.


Then we had a little stroll around the pond - isn't it pretty?


We also walked through this cherry orchard - it's the biggest orchard of its kind in the world.


This is the Ornamental Garden and is absolutely huge, with lots of nice flowers.




Then we came across the Rose Garden, which was very pretty.




And look Mum - a labyrinth made out of bamboo!  That was fun, although I did end up getting lost for a little while... 


These grapes are used to make some local wine.


And here you can see honeybees - there was an observatory where we could watch them make honey!


And finally, we saw this huge treehouse - which is actually a restaurant!




And you had to cross this swing-bridge to get to it (hostmum loved that!)


Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum!

Hostmum would like to apologise for us not being able to write anything for a while - she's been really busy.  But - guess where I am now?  I'm in China!!

We arrived yesterday after a very, very long flight.  And even though all of us are suffering from jet lag, we went to see the Great Wall of China today.  It was so much fun!

But before you get to the wall, you have to walk up to it.  On the road up to the wall, there are people that try and sell you things.


Then... we saw the wall!


Isn't the view quite spectacular?


And this is the massive pot where the oil was kept, so that when the guards spotted intruders, they threw fire on to the oil to warn people that invaders were there.


One final look at the wall...




It was such a great day!

Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum!

Today we went to see the Temple of Heaven - it was amazing!


There used to be 7 of these stones, and they represent the peaks of the Taishan Mountains - which, in ancient China - was a place of worship.


This is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.


It's surrounded by different religious buildings.




This door was built for one of the emperors, who was 70 and whose health was in decline - it was put in so he could use it a short cut.  However, the Emperor was worried that his son would also use it and become lazy, so he passed a law that said you could only use this door if you were 70 years old or older.  Hence the name; the 70 year old door.


And finally, this is the Imperial Vault of Heaven.


Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum,

Today we went to the 798 district, which is the famous art district of Beijing.


It was fun wandering around all the different art galleries.


I saw so many awesome paintings and sculptures.






Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum!

You'll never guess where I was today - the Forbidden City!


It's a huge place!


About 961m - I had no idea it was so big!


It was used as the Imperial Palace for about 500 years.


In total, 24 Emperors lived here.


It also has a beautiful Imperial Garden.


Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum,

Today is our last day in China, so we're spending it relaxing at our hosts' house.  I had so much fun in their massive hammock!




I also played with Lugnut - he's such a sweetie.


I also played with Mecredi, who's a right character!


Love,
Imperio

Hi Mum,

Look at all the stuff that hostmum bought back with her from China!

Do you know what this is?  It's a hat!


And this tea was very yummy.


Don't you think this box is very pretty?


As are the cakes that were inside it!


Love,
Imperio