The Adventures of Zoe

The last few days have been filled with walks and outdoor experiences. One of my favourites involved walking to a nearby lake where on the way one of our friends told us about all the Swiss plants and the ones we could eat. We had lots of bilberries (very similar to blueberries) and a plant that looked like a clover that tasted of lemons! The lake was freezing but Zac and our friends though it was warm and stayed in for ages!

We did another walk through a national park where there were so many butterflies! Butterflies react to shadows but there were none today so I managed to pick some up! It was amazing!! We also saw many beautiful flowers and wild strawberries!

(I promise these photos were taken by us!)

Today we left Lake Como to go to Switzerland. We boarded a train early in the morning so that we could get there with lots of time. The first train was around an hour and then we reached the halfway point. Next we boarded a famous train called the Bernina Express that took us through beautiful mountains so we could reach Zurich. We realised that this train was also a tourist attraction as many people were taking photos of it!

We sat the entire train journey taking photos and absorbing the view as it was so beautiful and mesmerising. We also saw many cows with bells and both my parents loved that!

We started a steep ascent about halfway through our journey so we had many photo opportunities then. My favourite part of the journey was when we could see glaciers in the distance!

After we arrived in Zurich it was a short train ride until we reached Zuoz, where we met our friends.

Today we went to a cooking course in the hills just out of Varenna. We got picked up at 10 and started the course at around 11. We all had seats around a table and could eat and drink while he showed us how to cook specific things (we didn’t cook).

He showed us how to make tortellini and the sauce then he cooked it and gave it to us to try. That was my favourite dish.

After he showed us a way to cook chicken and risotto which tasted AMAZING (though very buttery)!!

After this phenomenal experience we left with full stomachs, some great recipes and cooking advice that we will never forget.

This will be one of the holiday memories I will always remember!

 

Today we set off on a walk so that we could get to these caves we wanted to walk through. We got all our quick dry gear on as we didn’t know if we would be walking through puddles or if it might rain. We started walking early so it didn’t get to hot and that we arrived there with enough time to see the caves.

We walked for a while until we came to a waterfall that led to a stream so we went down to have morning tea there. After a croissant and a banana we kept walking for about another two hours until we decided to have lunch. We ate bread rolls and cheese with tomatoes for lunch and then we kept walking. In about an hour we arrived at our destination all puffed out.

After an ice-cream we went to see the caves. We found out that it actually wasn’t a cave but a gorge with a waterfall in it. It was still amazing and we also got some nice photos.

After that long walk we took the ferry back to Varenna.

Today we went on a boat trip to Belago for the day. We boarded the boat early in the day and after a little boat ride we had arrived. We went to a cafe to find something to eat and soon we chose a nice one to eat at.

After a got chocolate and a croissant we left to catch another ferry. We soon boarded another boat and ate lunch at the same time. When we got there we went to book a ticket to Como but by the time we got there and back it would be 5:00 so we decided to just go back home.

On the way we spotted a gelato place called il Gelato di Zoe. We decided we had to get one so I got a ‘citrus fruits’ sorbet and Zac got blueberry

After a fun day we went back home.

 

Today we decided to have a relaxing day exploring Lake Como. We woke up late as we had nothing planned and shortly after headed out on a walk to visit another village nearby and the shortest river in Italy.

We found a dried out river instead…

After that disappointment we headed in to the village, realising we had taken the wrong path, it was still lovely though! Eventually when we arrived we found a little bakery where I got a little pastry and Zac got a tart. The view was amazing so we also decided to sit down in a cafe and order some drinks.

After visiting the village we headed home to our villa to find it was stifling hot inside! We opened all the windows and then went for a walk in the opposite direction to see the ferry times for tomorrow.

Then it started to rain, and all our windows were open. We had heard that the weather changed quickly but it went from completely clear to heavily raining, in less than five minutes. Mum and I sprinted home to find puddles on the floor and the doors blowing in the wind. We quickly closed it up and we decided to then have dinner.

Today we all left leaving Rome to go to Lake Como. We had to leave early so we packed our things quickly and headed off to station. On the way we had breakfast at a nice restaurant and I had pancakes!

When we arrived at the station we boarded our first train. It was two hours long so I read ALOT in that time! We had lunch on the train (that we brought) and it was really nice to eat while staring out the window as there was a beautiful view. When we arrived at our first stop we immediately boarded another one to get to Lake Como, our destination.

When we arrived we walked about a kilometre until we came to the place we were staying, a really nice villa! It was two stories and had lots of space. It was also very clean so that was a bonus!

After walking out to get some food, we went down to the lake and decided to have dinner there. Mum chose a salad and everyone else had pasta. It was really good!

After we slowly walked home.

Today we decided to explore more of Rome. We first caught the tram to the Piazza de Spagna where we got something to drink at a cafe and then had a look around. We also passed the Trevi Fountain which we all loved and took some photos of.

We walked for a while longer before we decided to get lunch at a resturant. Zac had a pasta and the rest of us had really nice salads. After we had paid we walked a while longer until we found the best place EVER!

AN ICE-CREAM STALL THAT HAD 150 FLAVOURS!!!

We went inside and our mums let us have three flavours as there were so many to choose from. I wanted to try something new so I had grapefruit, pomegranate and lavender (who knew that was a flavour?)!

They were all really good but my favourite had to be grapefruit as it tasted exactly like one!

After a great day out we decided to all go home.

Today we went to see the colosseum as we had all wanted it to go. (It also happened to be my mum’s (Paula’s) birthday). We had booked a tour with a guide like the one we had in Pompeii and we met her outside.

She took us around all the best bits of the colosseum and told us some really interesting facts. Did you know that people have proven it is possible to fill the central ‘stage’ with water and they think they used to do that and make ships on the spot so they could have the men fight on ships?!

After she took us to another tour of a place called the a Forum. There were lots of old building that were broken and parts of buildings, she even showed us a really cool place where the children used to play games.

After we went for lunch and then headed home.

Today we left Sorrento to go to Rome. We got on a train early in the morning so we could get to the main train station. Mum really wanted to go to the Archeological Museum of Naples so we visited it on our way. I wasn’t expecting much but it was absolutely amazing! There were ancient mosaics and hundreds of statues that were from just one villa. There were even cooking objects that look like ours and amazing glassworks!

After this amazing experience we headed back to the main train station to board our train to Rome. We had booked business class seats as that meant you had air conditioning so it was quite nice when we boarded. They came around with a snack half way through our journey so it was quite nice to get that. Even though we were the first stop we still had one hour on the train so we spent it looking out the window and on our iPads for a little bit.

When we got there we caught a bus to the place we were staying and soon we arrived. We were very tired so we all soon were in bed.