An adventure of a lifetime in about 8 hours

Right now I am with my aunt and uncle and three little cousins. We went to a little island across from Valleta called Gozo. It was very cute and tiny. The first part of this adventure was intresting. There are nine of us so we needed a big car to fit all of us, then the ferry was full, so we ended up getting a private motor boat, then we got another car to take us around Gozo.  It was a bit like being on The Amazing Race. The boat ride was like something out of Disneyland - it's the next day now, I'm dry, but I still have salt in my hair.

One thing I saw in Gozo were the salt pans. Salt pans are natural pools in the rock where the water accumalates like a pool. After a while the water evaporates leaving natural sea salt.

The rock of Gozo is Limestone which is a soft rock which means there are lots of caves and arches along the coast. We went in some neat caves.

In between Malta and Gozo is an even smaller island called Camino which has nothing on it except for a church and a defence tower. I have no idea what they were trying to defend. It's famous for it's Blue Lagoon. All the water in the area is bright blue and really clear.

Valletta

We are staying in Malta's capital city Valletta.  Here are some pictures of the city.

This is an aqueduct which was built to carry water from the countryside into Valletta.

The streets of Valletta are very old.

as are the buses!

Mdina

Today we went to the ancient city of Mdina in the middle of Malta. The city has had various names. The Romans called it Melita. The Moors called it Mdina and that name has stuck.

This is me in front of the gates of Mdina.

I guess I should have done my homework! No rotten tomatoes please!

We did not go in here.  It was all about the not very nice things people did to each other in the Middle Ages!

This is a Calendar Clock. The picture was taken on May 26, so I would say it is pretty accurate!

This is me besides a Knight of St. John.  Men were not very big in those days.  I guess they should have eaten their Cheerios.  The Knights of St. John ruled Malta for hundreds of years.  The cross on the shield is the same as St. John's Ambulance.

I would explain this for those of you who do not understand Latin but unfortunately there is not any room in this blog!

Caudwell's Mill Rowsley

Today we went to Caudwell's Mill in a little English village called Rowsley. It was very intresting. Here are some pictures from my visit.

This is what they put on their wheat packages they sell

This is a picture of the mill from the outside of it

This is a millstone they used this to grind wheat. This is what Tom, Huckleberry Finn and Jim used in Huck Finn. It's used in India still today.

This is a roller. It was used after the Millstone. Using this enabled them to produce not just whole wheat flour but white flour too.

Copies of the Factories Acts were displayed in places where everybody could see them so that the bosses would have to do what the law said.

This is a cash register from the days before computers. As you can see it is a pretty complicated bit of machinery. In England it was even more complicated because they the money consisted of Pounds, Shillings and Pence, and even half and quarter pennies.

We got to turn the handle on one and watched the flour move from right to left.

Eyam Village

Today we went to Eyam Village. It's this old cute little town just outside of my aunt and uncles town of Buxton. What makes this town interesting is that a plague got spread  there in 1665. Here is some information that you can read about it.

The first one is how the plague got spread.

It came into Eyam by the way of a cloth that was hung up to dry. The cloth was from London.

This is how you got punished in those days. You would put your feet in stocks they are called and get stones and clods of earth thrown at you. Way worse than detention.

Awe they shouldn't have they are giving me a sheep roast on my birthday. I only have two things too say: YUCK!!!!! and nice try guys but i don't like it.

This is my new house do you like it? But i think we need to get the roof redone. What do you think.

I want this house!!!!!!!

Today we went to Chatsworth it's this huge historical house where the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire live. Here are some of the highlight pictures from my visit.

The picture you see above is called the Foot of Hercules. This is just

the foot of it imagine the whole thing. But I think I just found Big Foot.

This picture is of the Veiled Lady and if you look really closely you will see that her veil is also made of marble. What makes this statue unique is it gives you the illusion that you can look through the veil even though it's made of marble.

Cave school

Today was beyond cool. I'm at my aunt and uncle's house and they live near all these historical places. Today we went to Poole's Cavern which is a cave with a bunch of different chambers. They believe that the Romans lived there and our guide told us that some archeologists have found lots of jewellery in different corners. There are "stalactites" that hang down from the cave ceiling that grow 1 inch every 100 years. One little sidenote is that it is called Poole's Cavern because a medieval bad guy named Poole hid from the law and buried his treasure in the cavern around 1440. The picture that you see on the left is of a stalactite named the "Flitch of Bacon" because it looks like a side of salt encrusted bacon.

And we're off!!!!

I'm sitting on the ferry looking out at the million dollar view and saying "why am I going". Then I remember and think "wow I'm going from a really nice place to another". Today was a bit stressful because I had to fit 6 weeks worth of stuff into a small backpack!!! I'm so excited!

Haven't gone anywhere and already Im lost!

Ok so I'm trying to get this blog thing going and it's proving to be REALLY difficult. It's weird because I should be saving the getting lost part for when I'm away but apparently cyberspace wants me to get lost there too. :/