Kayak trip in an Archipelago

So we're back! Posting in a blog in the middle of the Canadian wilderness is a bit weird, but for some reason we felt the need to make use of the cell signal. Tonight is the end of a very long third day of a five day kayak camping trip in the Broughton Archipelago Marine Park, off Vancouver island. Today we paddled eighteen miles into a very annoying headwind due to a serious navigational error. That is, after having to lug our three loaded boats over the mucky bottom of a cove at low tide. I have exceedingly sore shoulders and I'm sure I'm not alone in that sentiment.
This park is nice, but after spending several similar trips in Alaska and Maine, the scenery sort of redundant but still beautiful. I could go on about our adventures here but I will leave you in suspense (ha) because my dad wants his phone back.

NYC!!! by Kayley

I thought I'd never write another blog on this site but here goes.

Bippy and Gramps took Sarah and me to New York City!!! It was everything I thought it would be and more. It was fun to shop there. The streets were just the right amount of busy and the museums weren't to boring.

Everyone says that NYC is a walking city and its true. We probably walked 5 miles every day to and from museums, land marks, and best of all, up and down 5th Avenue, the shopping paradise of NYC. Judging from the other pedestrians, they walked everywhere too. Walking the streets of NYC you wouldn't see the usual American obesity, everyone looked pretty fit, even if they ate fast food every meal of the day. They walked of  most of the calories.

What makes NYC so different from all the other big cities I've seen if that on the bottom floors of all the buildings are shops, eateries and other businesses, and everyone walks everywhere. You could literally go shopping right next door or even on the first floor of your apartment building! New York has the widest side walks I've seen and they are put to good use. The sidewalks were probable 5 times the width of a regular sidewalk, so it feels really spacious when you're walking down the streets.

Going to museums in NYC wasn't that different than in other big cities, and surprisingly Bippy only made us go to two, MoMA and the Museum of Agriculture and Space. MoMA or the Museum of Modern Art was pretty wacky. You know how Modern art is nowadays, random and so complicated that sometimes even the artist doesn't even understand it. My favorite piece of modern art was a painting of an eye with a picture of the sky as the iris. The other 5 pieces I liked were late Impressionist.  Three of them were by Vincent Van Gogh the others were by an artist I did not recognize.

I loved visiting  and getting to know NYC. I have a feeling you would to, if you like walking, shopping or giant museums. Thank You!!! Bippy and Gramps for taking me because I've always wanted to see NYC.

by Kayley Sienna Rolph

The White House By Sarah

                My Uncle Duncan, Cousin Everett, and I went to the White House in Washington D.C. I was very excited about going to the White House because I had never been inside before and of course it’s where the President lives.

                When we were waiting in front of the White House, 2 police cars blocked the road and the Vice President came down the road with lots of police cars. When the person that we were suppose to meet came (he was very nice), he lead us to the security. The security was no stronger than the airport. I think that’s fine. They do not allow a single bag, not even a purse in the White House.

                The first story that we saw was full of pictures of Presidents that lived in the White House. The pictures on the walls were of fun or important times of the Presidents’ lives and under every picture it has an explanation about what is happening in the picture. On the ground floor, there was also a library, the China Room, and the Vermeil Room and of course some security.  The first floor also had a couple of sculptures of gun fights and Indians killing buffalos.

                We went up the stairs to the second floor to see the Green Room, the Blue Room, the Red room, the State Dining Room, the East Room, the Cross Hall and the Entrance Hall. The White House has lots of rooms but I only got to see 2 stories. My favorite rooms on that story were the Red Room, the Blue Room, and the Green Room. Those rooms were the only rooms on that floor that had lots of color and was not white. My favorite parts of the White House were all the chandlers because they were big and made out of little pieces of glass. The biggest room in the White House was called the East Room. It had 4 fire places and 2 giant chandeliers made out of 6000 mini pieces of glass. 

me in front of the white house!

                It was very cool to see the White House in person. The White house is very beautiful but a bit too white but that’s kind of obvious. Anyways, I think that if you get the chance you should go to the White House!!!

By Sarah

Zanders tips on having a good trip

under a dome in Greece

Going on a world tour is a lot of work. You need to have the right mind set and some planning. You don’t want to get off the air plane without a plan.  You will waste a lot of time on your trip and it will not be as much fun.  For instance, if you are going to place like India or Egypt, you need to know if you can drive your own car or do you have to have a driver. You also need to have patience or you will end up really fed up with everyone you deal with, if you don’t you will not be able to tell the difference in between people who want to help you and people who want your money. When on a big trip, to have a good time, you need to have a plan, sort out your transportation, and have a positive attitude and have some personal space.

The worst thing that can happen is to get off an airplane and not know where you need to go.  It gets even worse if it is at night and the grumpy kids just make it worse. When we were in Bali, we walked out of the air port and we were overrun by people trying to get us in their cab to take us to our apartment. It was so crazy that my dad didn't want to use any of the cabs, because they were so annoying. In Egypt, we got to the airport at about mid day.  My dad sat down and tried to shake off everyone. We finally settled for one of the drivers, after some research. I think that it would have been much less stressful if we had planned a pick up. In Europe, in cities like Rome and Paris, having a car is really difficult because parking is expensive and there are buses and a metro system to get places.  When we were in Amsterdam, we had a rental car for the 3 days we were in the city. The car sat at a parking lot that we were paying 25€ a day for and doing nothing. So you should figure out the traffic situations in big cities before deciding to get a car. In places like Egypt and India you can’t rent a car. I think the government thinks that you will get overrun by their traffic.  The drivers can be a little sketchy.  A useful tip is to agree on a price before hand.  The driver won't like it, but the drivers can be a little mean. When we were in Alexandria, Egypt, we hired a driver to take us to the train station.  We had agreed on 800 Egyptian pounds plus a tip. When we got to the train station the driver said that we had agreed on 2000 pounds and it was 800 per person. We ended up shoving the 800 pounds into his hand and running into the station. He followed us into the station yelling loudly and making a scene.  But once he saw the police, he backed down and left us in peace. Keep in mind that in all the different countries, transportation is very different so you have to be prepared for them all.

To make a trip bearable, you need to have the right mind set.  Going on a world tour, no matter how much you plan, there will be some unaccounted difficulties that you need to be prepared for. It is really rare to go through a trip without getting something stolen from you or having another problem. We got our laptop stolen from us in Pisa, Italy.   We had hidden it under our seats in the car, but it still got stolen.  In India and Egypt, we took a picture of your drivers, his car, and our bags before leaving them.  It is a good idea so you can hold someone accountable. Hold all your valuables, like your camera, cell phone, computer, passport, and money on you at all times. You don’t want your bags to get stolen and be left with nothing. I noticed that in the undeveloped countries, they had scary people but they never worked in gangs. But in places like Spain and Italy, the guys worked in gangs. Having a positive attitude is really important, without it you could be seeing the pyramids of Egypt and not be able to appreciate it.

After one year, I sure needed some space from my family!  So taking a walk or getting some space is a really good idea.  So when the trip is over, you don't want to kill each other.  Sarah is a perfect example. If she is around us for long periods of time, she gets really pissed off at everyone. But after a walk, she is much more pleasant to be around. To have a good time you need to have your space, too much time with anyone will get people on edge.

If you are going on a trip, some important things to consider are: personal space, keeping track of your bags, and planning ahead of time. The worst thing that can happen is to say that we are going to wing it. When you land in a foreign country without a plan, you will spend a lot of time and money getting a plan and you won’t have as much time seeing the sights that you want to see. So having a plan, sorting out transportation, having a good attitude, and some personal space is key to having a good vacation.

Some Advice I'd Give to a Friend Who Was Traveling Around the World by Kayley

We have learned how to make traveling fun and adventurous from our world tour, but I wish it had been more relaxing and not as adventurous. Here are some tips on making traveling more relaxing and fun for all.

It is very important to plan your trips well. The thing that really bugged me about this trip was that we didn't really plan every day of it. But in India and Egypt, that fact was nice, since we could go through all the sights really quickly and take a vacation at the end. We all think that we should have planned New Zealand better, because we thought it would be very easy to get into a house and school, but it wasn't.

What really worked was that mommy planned for us to see a little of every thing every day during our travels. For example, we'd see a museum, a cathedral or a temple in the morning and we'd see a tower or botanical garden or the beach in the afternoon. For example, in Paris, we saw Notre Dame in the morning and then we walked to Musee D'Orsay , then we walked to the Eiffel Tower. This theory worked because we didn't get too tired of museums or churches.

I really liked taking little weekend trips with Bippy and Gramps, because all we had to do was drive to our hotel, check in, and see what ever we were there to see. They planned. That type of traveling is so relaxing but that just does not happen with my parents. With my parents, it is usually hectic. In Europe, we did get to relax in town squares sometimes to soak up the European culture. But it is not very relaxing to travel with them because we don't have solid plans and most of the time we were traveling, we didn't know where we would go the next day.

SEE THINGS THAT REALLY INTEREST YOU
We researched all of the sites we saw on the internet, then we narrowed down the list so that we only had a manageable amount of sites to see. For example: In Italy sometimes if we were walking along and we saw some thing interesting and we went over to see it. Being able to see what you want to see even if its not on the itinerary gives you a feeling of freedom. Once in Florence, Italy we walked to a random square and coincidently in that square was the finish line if a running race and we stayed in the square for a little while to watch the runners finish. Another time we were walking around Brussels and we saw a cool looking church and we walked around it and it turned out that the church was originally on our itinerary. I also had a great time in Greece seeing the sites on my list because I am really interested in the ancient Greeks and I admire them. I like the ancient greeks because I really enjoy reading their story's about the history and creation of their world. So it was really cool for me to visit the famous Greek sites.

Having free time was key when we were traveling because it gives you time to settle in, relax, and absorb the culture and some times the sun. While we were traveling, we always needed free time away from each other. Free time could also mean have coffee and ice cream or some pastries in a piazza. For example, starting in Italy we started a tradition of eating gelato while we walked around our sites or eating the gelato in a sunny square. The gelato was really yummy, so I really like the tradition.

I think that we would have seriously benefitted if we had slowed down in Europe and took at least a week in each country instead of seeing Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Paris, and London all in two weeks. We slowed down in New Zealand, Spain, Istanbul, Athens and Rome and we had a lot of fun in those places because we got to know the place and the people. A week for each big city with the exception of Paris would have done the job. We couldn't stay in Europe for very long because school in Spain ended later than we expected, and we had to get to the family reunion on time.

Planning your trip so you have enough time in every place you visit is always key when you travel. You should always be interested in what you are seeing and always go to interesting places. You should plan to have some free time to relax wherever you go.With these traveling tips, anyone can have a nice time traveling.

By Kayley Rolph

Buckingham Palace Changing of the Guards !!!

In London, we went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. The guards in England have a funny dance and outfits.

Their outfits have a very big fury hat with a colored pom-pom on it. The color of the pom-pom depends on their rank. The guards wore a red uniform that was a long sleeved shirt, pants with stripes of shiny gold fabric, a red and gold jacket, and the hat. They had gold decoration on their shoulders. I think the guards have an air conditioner in their hats or something cold because it was very warm out and they looked comfortable. I was hot.

In front of Buckingham Palace, there is a big statue of a person on a chariot in the middle of a roundabout. The roundabout is what the guards march around. The guards walk like a parade, there is a band, people with guns, people on horses, and people with nothing but their outfits.
Some of the guards are doing a dance, some are marching, some are playing instruments, or riding their horses. I think almost 1,050 people were watching the changing of the guards around the roundabout. The changing of the guards that we watched was in the morning at about 11:00. The guards have a huge ceremony because it is a way to check if some one is trying to get into the palace, because only the guards know the dance.

The changing of the guards at the Buckingham Palace was very amazing. I watched the changing of the guards from a wall across the street from the Buckingham Palace with my family. The ceremony looked funny and very hard to coordinate even from my seat on the wall.

The Architectural Styles We Stole by Kayley

I've noticed that we ( the Americans) have stolen the Ancient Greek architectural style for our government buildings and memorials. I think that the most Greek style building is the Lincoln memorial in Washington D.C.

The Abraham Lincoln's memorial looks just like an a Ancient Greek temple except that the facade roof isn't as triangular as the Greek temples. It has a flat roof but in the middle there's a very small triangle. The roof is probably the only thing that would separate it from a Greek temple except maybe the fact that every thing is in English and the fact that it is a memorial to honor Lincoln's greatness in freeing the slaves and not a temple worshipping a god or gods.

The pillars in the front of the building were definitely made in the ancient Greek style and the room behind them too. The statue behind the pillars of Abraham Lincoln sitting down was where the statue of Athena in the Parthenon would be. The only thing that wasn't totally copied from a Greek temple was the statue of Abe Lincoln. He wasn't a god wearing a toga either. He wore his suit. On the walls to the left and right of Abraham Lincoln, there were two of his famous speeches carved onto the white marble ( the choice of stone was also very Greek). I read the whole speech that was on the left of the statue, but I only got around to reading the first five lines on the top and bottom of the other speech. The speeches were about how Lincoln thought that some time we'Il have to free the slaves and stuff like that. I think the speeches were kind of boring.

I thought that it was kind of weak that we've tried to copy the Ancient Greeks to such an extent that practically all of our government buildings have at least Greek columns and are made out of white marble and democracy was the Athenians idea and it worked perfectly until the Romans conquered Athens. What bugs me about every one copying the Ancient Greeks ( especially the Ancient Romans) is that they don't get much credit for the work that we copy.

UBy Kayley Rolph