139_3950.JPG We drove through Switzerland to get back to Italy.  We did not stop there.  The middle flag is the Swiss flag. 

139_3961.JPG These are the Swiss Alps next to Lake Lucerne.

139_3965.JPG This is a Swiss Alp.  It is snowy on the top because the higher you go, the colder you get.  And down on the grassy part are houses. 

139_3967.JPG A mountain with a Swiss building in front.

139_3975.JPG We saw waterfalls going down the mountains.  They lead to Lake Lucerne.

139_3972.AVI In our drive through Switzerland, we went through lots of tunnels that went under the Alps instead of over the Alps. 

139_3977.JPG This is a choir that sang in English in front of the Cathedral in Milan.  I think it was a college choir that came from America and they came here to sing.

139_3980.JPG This is a mime.  They're not supposed to talk.  This one was holding still as a statue, pretending not even to breathe, and not blinking.  When I put a coin in her basket, I got a surprise!  She signaled for me to come over, shook my hand, kissed her finger and touched it on my nose!  I felt happy!  I decided not to wash my nose after that, but eventually my nose got wet.  The mime tried to kiss a little baby, too, but the baby ran back its mom.

139_3982.JPG The cathedral of Milan is the third biggest cathedral in the world. 

139_3981.JPG My sisters and I took the elevator to the top of the cathedral.  If we had taken the stairs, it would have taken a long time. 

139_3984.JPG My sisters and I are in front of a cool kind of car called a "Smart Car".  It only takes up half a parking space and it only holds two people.  It turns corners really easily.  There are some very pretty ones, and if you say "that's a pretty smart car", people won't know if you mean "pretty smart" or "pretty car".  We saw a lot of them in Italy, and when I say "a lot", I mean A LOT.  We only saw one or two in Germany.

139_3985.JPG We went to the National Museum of Science and Technology.  We saw a lot of Leonardo da Vinci's creations in the part of the museum that was about him.  There was a computer where you tapped things and the animations showed how some of his inventions would work. It might be on the web - try looking for it.  You could also tap other things and see art.  I tapped on the Mona Lisa, one of his most famous paintings, and up came a copy with a moustache on it! 

139_3986.JPG I am standing next to a pretty cool building the Leonardo da Vinci designed.

139_3987.JPG Another one of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous paintings is called The Last Supper.  This is a copy, made by someone else.  The real one is in a convent nearby, but we didn't go to see it. 

139_3988.JPG There were a whole bunch of different inventions that were designed by Leonardo da Vinci.  They built them for this museum based on his drawings.  My little sister and I are in front of a glass grinding machine designed by him.  You spin the handle and the grinding wheel spins and a plate of glass spins below it. 

139_3989.JPG My sisters and I are in front of a real moon rock.  We are now in a different part of the museum, the astronomy exhibit.  We are standing on a bunch of broken up white rocks that covered the floor.  They put them there so we could get an idea of what it felt like to walk on the moon. 

139_3991.JPG I'm kneeling next to a big pendulum.  It looks like the pendulum slowly changes directions, but this is because the earth is rotating underneath it.  This proves that the earth rotates under the sun and moon and stars and that they don't go around the earth. 

139_3992.JPG We are standing in front of a huge bicycle.  It's a racing bicycle but it's not for kids.  There are steps for a grown-up to climb up on it.  They didn't have chains and gears back then, so they used really big wheels to make them go fast.  It's really unsafe. 

139_3993.JPG We are standing next to a real train.  It was in the part of the museum on transportation - how people got around.  These old trains are from the days before they had cars.

139_3998.JPG We are in front of a real ship that once used to sail on the sea.  A part of the boat is in front of the mermaid so it looks like it's split in half. 

139_3999.JPG We are in front of an airplane that only holds one person. 

139_4000.JPG We are in front of a car from a long time ago, when cars were just invented.  I would hate having this car because it had no roof and you'd get soaked in the rain. 

140_4001.JPG We are in front of a racing car.  In between me and my big sister is the seat where one person sits.  There's room for only one person. 

140_4002.JPG We are standing in front of a rocket car.  Rocket flames come out of the back so fast that it pushes the car forward.  I'd love to own one of these because I bet it would go really fast. 

140_4005.JPG I could finally have Stracciatella gelato because it had no eggs here.  It's a kind of delicious chocolately tasting white ice cream with chocolate chips. 

140_4007.AVI This is a movie of a fountain we went by.  My little sister and I are jumping up and down because there had been only a low spray, and suddenly a high spray came out of the middle. 

140_4008.JPG My sisters, my Dad and I are in front of the big spray and the low spray at the same time. 

140_4010.AVI This is a movie of the fountain.  Finally the high, the medium, and the low spray were all on at the same time. 

Back