Hi everyone; Tommy here! In addition to my video posts for NMES News, I have been sending written thoughts back to my class. I thought you might like to read some of my thoughts.
Week One – January 14
The last few days have been exciting. 8 days on the Queen Mary 2. On the Queen Mary 2 since we were evidently going to another time zone it went from 11:59 to 1:00 that only 23 hours in a day.
The Queen Mary 2 was very fun. Except the day where we were tossed around. The food on Q M 2 was very good. It was very formal. I tried duck, French onion soup, honeycomb ice cream and a lot more. There was a place for kids that I did not go to much but I did meet some nice people. We played Mario kart together. The whole trip took 8 days that were filled with excitement.
Right now I’m in London. I’ve seen where people were executed, where people have lived and most importantly Ravens. The Ravens are the best part of London, all 6 of them! I’ve seen under London Bridge on a boat. London has been very exciting. It’s not done yet, one more day then off to Germany for a week! London is very “Raveny” (lots of ravens).
Week Two – January 20
In London I met a composer! His name is Howard Goodall. He invited me to lunch so I came. He gave me a book he wrote and then he signed it! We met him at a church and he told us the history of that church! He is very nice. If anyone reading was in my class in fourth grade you might remember that video when I worked with a professional soloist. He wrote that piece. That was a cool day.
Also in London and I saw Phantom of the Opera. I saw it because my mom saw it was in town and she wanted to see it. She loved phantom when she was a kid. It’s actually pretty good. The special effects were killer! The chandelier fell so realistically! In one scene when the Phantom was made they had real giant fire blow out from under the stage! It was crazy!
Week Three – January 25
This week was very interesting.
This week I learned about Hildegard of Bingen, one of the most important composers of the 12th century! I even wrote a paper about her. It goes like this: “Born in 1098, Hildegard of Bingen is one of the most important composers of the 12th century. She was not just a composer, she was also a scientist, nun, poet, visionary, and diplomat. She made up her own chant toons nowadays that seems totally normal but in the 12 century it was considered bold and daring. ext.” I wrote a lot about her!
Throughout the week I had a lot of different foods. Especially German donuts! German donuts are from Germany, that’s why they are called German donuts. The Germans take their donuts very seriously. There are two that I see everywhere. These German donuts are called smiley. It is a smiley face and it has jelly in it. I think that that’s supposed to be blood. I forget the other German donut name. It has a hole in it but there is still filling, and it has crumbled up Oreos on it. It’s my favorite German donut. In all German donuts are very tasty.
You may know that to me the best part of Germany is pork schnitzel. Or judging how I made the word “German donut” you probably think that it’s German donuts . But it is pork schnitzel. So now I’m writing it fancy. I ate PORK SCHNITZEL everyday for 5 days in a row. I did not do that with German donuts. I only did that for PORK SCHNITZEL. For dinner two nights ago I had an ONION AND CHICKEN SANDWICH!! (I loved it so much I’m giving it more fancy font than even PORK SCHNITZEL ). Yes, an ONION AND CHICKEN SANDWICH!! it’s not as bad as it sounds, it’s the best I’ve had in days. I love ONION AND CHICKEN SANDWICHES!!
Week Four – February 3
This week in Turkey I saw the Ataturk Mausoleum. They did not allow me to get news footage.
Free speech is not allowed in Turkey. When I was there I saw the changing of the guards! It was not like Buckingham palace, that fairy tale type thing; this was all military, and scary grunts and shouts from soldiers. At Ankara Castle it was more old town then castle. We explored the castle. Then we walked through the alleyways. There were a lot of stray dogs and cats. I saw about 300 cats.
Seeing the Ataturk Mausoleum and Ankara Castle was fun!
In Germany I saw a science museum! I saw mostly transportation. I saw some robots! There were micro-sized robots, pet dog robots, and more! I also saw planes, helicopters and space shuttles! There was a cool train set that had small humans, animals and cars. There was how they build bridges. They even had a bridge people could cross on! They had a lot more that I can’t name. It was a cool museum.
Week Five – February 9
This week I helped teach kindergarten! My mom was doing a kindergarten music class and I was her assistant. They were a very well-behaved class. My mom did mostly things about Valentine’s day. What the class did looked like this: 1 Hello song 2 valentines day song 3 valentines day song 4 valentines day song 5 goodbye song. It was interesting.
This week I saw how bad the Turkish are at following road laws! It’s daunting how they drive. They do not stop at all for pedestrians. No matter what if someone gets hit by a car and killed it’s legally their fault they died. So they don’t stop. All a crosswalk means is that you might be coming. In all, the Turkish are inexpert at following road laws.
This week I did pre-k recess monitoring. It was interesting how the two perspectives are. I think I understand why some recess monitors are not liked by kids. It was only one class. The class was not well behaved. It was compelling being a recess monitor.
Week 6: February 21
This week I explored Pompeii and climbed Mount Vesuvius! In Pompeii I saw the theater, some shops, some houses, and more! Mount Vesuvius is a steep volcano. It’s the reason Pompeii is dead. It erupted about 79 AD and killed almost everyone that stayed in the city. 90% of the population expected it and left but 10% stayed and that is about 2 ‘000 people. I saw a lot of steam coming from the heart of the volcano when I climbed Mount Vesuvius. It was fascinating.
This week I tried fried pizza in Naples Italy! It was very good even though it sounds terrible. It is amazing. I think it should be everywhere, not just Italy. Fried pizza is like a casserole. The one I tried was bacon and ham. It was amazing.
Week Seven – February 25
I am on a cruise in the Mediterranean and we went to Tunisia in Africa. That was great! We saw a lot of cats! I made a cat friend! They wandered up to me and we were friends immediately! We also heard a lot of history!
We also went to France! It’s a long story. So my Mom didn’t read that much about buses and so we ordered an uber after a lot of waiting. Where we went wasn’t that interesting. Then we took a small road-train back to the bus stop. Then we got back to our ship. It was a long day!
There were a lot of great places we saw outside the ship but inside was a buffet! There were hot dogs, ribs, and more! It was a 9 out of 10 buffet in my book. The only flaw was it closed at an awkward time. Other than that I liked it!
This week was great! The cruise was nice and so was its food! This went by too fast I could go with one more day. This was a nice week.
Week 8 – March 4
In Florence, Italy I went to an art museum and saw a lot of things. My top three are: 1) the Daved. Its feet are bigger than they would be so it looks realistic from the angle where one would be looking. Also Michelangelo thought David had to be a bit strong, that’s why he’s so big. 2) a painting that looks like someone is putting her foot on a part lion part my cat Charlie. And Hercules is in the background. 3) an upside down piano. It was made like that so they could get a grand piano sound in a small place. It was interesting!
Week 9 – March 10
This week I went to the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy. It was painted by Giotto. If you don’t know him. Here are things that you should know about him. He basically started the art Renaissance by finding a way to make painting realistic. He painted one of my favorite chapels with a painting of judgment day. He put a pope in hell in his painting to say not all people in the church are good. Now that you know about him, I’ll tell you about the chapel. Long story short its Christian history. It was fascinating.
This week I went to Venice. There are a lot of things to say about Venice so here are a few. They have beautiful bridges. Mostly little bridges. They have nice little book stores. It’s the little things in Venice that I like the most. They have pretty canals. They are the closest thing they have to roads. They have a wonderful cat bookshop that reuses books. The books were destroyed by water, so they are now stairs and shelves.
I loved it in Venice. Its buildings are beautiful. And old, they are way over 600 years old. In all, Venice is an amazing place.
This week I had a misadventure. I’ll give you the short version. My train to Austria was canceled. So my Mom got us a bus and we waited for over an hour. Then we rode for about 7 hours. Then we got on a train for about an hour. My dad and I had to sit on the floor. Then at 10:00 or 11:00 we got to our air BNB. It was a long, long day.
This week was fascinating. I saw the Arena Chapel, saw cats in Venice, and had a misadventure! This week was fascinating.
PS: We’re in Salzburg, Austria.
Week 10 – March 17
This week was musical. I went to the birthplace of Mozart, went on the Sound Of Music bus tour, and saw a concert.
I think I have to pick out 3 things I saw. It’s hard to pick out only three things from the Sound Of Music tour. I will say my favorite first. My favorite is the small little town with the church. (I think it is a church.) We had about 40 minutes to explore. First, we went into the church. It was where they filmed the wedding scene in the Sound of Music. But it’s not where the real wedding took place. Hollywood thought it was not good enough. So they moved it to the church. When we were done exploring the church we walked around outdoors in a little park. Mom gave me a good idea for having a permanent Lego town! Soon we had to get back on the bus.
My second favorite thing we saw on the tour is the lake. The lake is where they filmed the part where everyone falls out of the boat. The cool thing is when Maria gets out of the water and talks to the captain they are both in different parts of town, because they used two houses for the von Trapp house when filming!
My third favorite thing I saw on the Sound Of Music tour was the gazebo. Well the stop for it. I liked the gardens. I also saw a tractor. The reason it’s in the Sound of Music tour is because they filmed the famous 16 going on 17 song in the gazebo.
One of the days this week I saw a lot about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Three things I saw were… First on the list is his student violin, Mozart’s first violin. The one he learned to play on. (I think.) It’s small. Which makes sense because everyone starts playing on a small instrument. Second is a replica of his piano. (I think it’s a piano.) He played the original one when he was a little boy. Mozart started writing music when he was a little boy!! Last one of his school reports. I couldn’t read it. I can’t read what language it was in. He got amazing grades! It was cool being in the room where Mozart was born! PS: I was in Salzburg Austria.
Week 11 -March 24
This week I returned to Germany. I stayed in two air BNB’s. That may sound normal, but it was at the same time! I had to walk through a patio to get to my room. It’s two apartments in one! I can’t say much about what I did because I have been in Germany before, so I just stayed at the apartment or went for walks.
This week I did a gig with Patrice Tiedemann. She’s from the Boston Pops. Don’t get excited, it’s nothing special. I do it all the time. I thought the concert was easy but my dad (he’s the conductor) was very nervous. I like being a professional soloist. Patrice is very kind. (Nowadays most people let fame go to their head so it’s amazing that she’s that kind.)
Week 12 – March 31
This week I went to France and Spain. Well only had one full day in Paris. On the day I arrived I saw Mona Lisa. On the second day – only full day – I climbed the Eiffel Tower. Also I saw Notre Dame. It’s famous for its Rose window. Last I climbed a hill to see some stairs my Mom likes (Montmartre). We also had dinner there! I liked it. I want to go back to Paris.
We also went to Spain. It was my (not-blood-but-feels-like-it) aunt Jean’s birthday. We met her there. We saw the world’s largest wooden structure. I also saw the cathedral. To describe three things about the cathedral. To describe the roof I’d say: There were little parts that looked like sand because they went up and down its hard to describe. To describe the walls I’d say: It was interesting how you could walk through them. To describe the giant organ I’d say: It was huge. It reminded me of the ones in spooky tv. Spain was very hot. I liked Spain.
Week 13 – April 6
This week was nice. I went to the Netherlands, went to Luxembourg, went to Switzerland, went to Brussels, went to Germany for the last time on the trip, and did a lot of homework.
This week I went to the Netherlands. I stayed with Shelley and Paul. They had an awesome dog named Ziggy. The Netherlands has pretty trees and rivers. I also made a new friend named Fox. I like the Netherlands.
In Brussels I saw the Manneken Pis. It is a statue of a little boy. In Brussels I also had amazing French fries. They are not the best I have had. The best is my favorite restaurant Speedwell. They also have amazing waffles! I had vanilla ice cream and maple syrup on mine. That proves I’ll fit in when I move to Canada!
In Luxembourg city I had a bacon sandwich. In Switzerland I saw a toy museum and an art museum.
Week 14 – April 12
This week I went to Germany for the final time on the trip. I had the same hotel room from last time I was in Germany. The same room!! Anyway my parents did a music workshop with kids on the military base while I sat and read. I went to a car museum. It was amazing!I saw the original double bus. When I was done I got a Lego Yoshi bike set and my dad got a Lego Vespa. Then I had dinner and I had schnitzel. It was sad leaving Germany for the last time.
See you in Scotland