The Blue Van – Overland Travels

Cherry Blossom Trees

Annabelle DeCorso — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 19:34:31 +0000

For just a couple of weeks in spring, all the cherry blossom trees bloom and the streets and parks are filled with a floral fragrance. The blossom trees aren’t very noticeable the rest of the year, but in April they become filled with white and pink flowers.

Cherry blossoms (and apple blossoms) are one of my favorite flowers. Last year, when I first began to attend school in Edinburgh, the neighborhood the school was in had tons of these blossom trees and they were in bloom when I started going, and just a week later the petals began to fall to the ground. It made my walk to the bus stop a lot more enjoyable, even though the flowers were only there for such a short time. This year, I was really looking forward to seeing the trees bloom and then getting to watch the flowers and their petals progressively float off the trees. However, that plan was a bit disrupted due to the lockdown and school closure, but that still didn’t stop my determination to see the trees in the school’s neighborhood.

My family had recently purchased bikes so we could do something besides walking outside. My school is four miles away from where I live, which isn’t too far, but being new to biking on the roads made it harder than I thought. Roundabouts were scary to go on and there are a lot of them in Edinburgh. Intersections were also quite confusing and frightening since I had to figure out which lane to go into (I went in the wrong one many times). Fortunately, there weren’t many cars on the roads since you’re only allowed to leave your house for exercise or something essential. It took my 45 minutes to get to the neighborhood near the school, though it was supposed to only be a 30-minute ride. I eventually made it to school, the sight of it being closed and empty was a bit sad. I spent the remainder of the day biking around the neighborhood looking for cherry blossom trees, which I did find. The trees were not in their full bloom yet, so I made plans to come back a week later and look at them too.

Quarantine

Annabelle DeCorso — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 18:49:11 +0000

The schools closed on March 20^th in the UK. Although it was not really a surprise when they announced the closure, it was still sad. The Monday after that the lockdown was initiated and people were only allowed out for work or buying essential items, or for exercise.

Luckily, since I live in Alaska half the year and I’m homeschooled there, isolation was not too different from the way we lived back home. My days are usually spent lounging around the house and shifting between watching shows, working on the art projects I started before quarantine but couldn’t finish due to a busy schedule, going out on walks or a bike ride, just sitting somewhere and the very occasional school. There is quite a lot to do, it’s just mostly about finding the motivation or inspiration to actually do it.

However, I do miss my friends from school a lot. The main reason I was so excited about coming over to Scotland this year was because of them, so its really unfortunate that I can’t see them due to the social distancing laws. I miss getting up and going to school, too. It provided a really nice rhythm to the day, and without having the social perspective or the active one, school has become quite boring.

Something else that’s changed is that I can’t just pop into a store to buy a snack or a drink while I’m out and about (exercising, of course). There are now queues to get into the shops with each person six feet apart. The first time I saw one of the lines outside a grocery store, it looked like a bunch of people just standing there, and it took me a few seconds to realize it was the queue to get in.

Overall, being quarantined during this pandemic is definitely not that fun and it has impacted the general way of life for everyone. Although it will probably be several months until this happens, I hope that a way to deal with the virus is figured out and that I can see my friends again.

Bike Accident

Sylvia DeCorso — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 18:44:29 +0000

Soooooooo today me and my sister Annabelle went for a bike ride for our once a day daily exercise. On our way home, a dog was sitting on the side of the bike path, the owner was off on the other side, as soon as I was about to go past it, the owner called it towards him, I was not able to stop in time, so I hit the dog. Happily, the dog was fine and it ran back over to its owner, I was not that good in shape, my knee was scraped and so were other parts of my body, I got the wind knocked out of me and I’m pretty sure I bruised my chest, it still hurts but not as much now. Other than that point I quite like biking, I learned how to ride a bike when my grandpa took me and my siblings biking when I was about six or seven, I could never really ride my bike in Alaska because it was either too cold or it was a dirt road, and we didn’t have the right bike for that, so it nice to be able to ride your bike down the streets of Edinburgh with hardly any cars on the road. Other than going out once a day for exercise, nothing really happens. I miss school and my friends, but I hope it’ll be over soon. One of the drawbacks of the bikes are the seats, there very uncomfortable, after you ride it for a long time, the next time you take the bike out you can’t really sit down on the seat, so that’s really the only bad part. I’ve come to realize that this so called social distancing it is quite different all over the world, here in the United Kingdom we are only aloud to leave your house once a day for exercise, other than that you can’t leave your house.

Social Distancing — Sylvia

Sylvia DeCorso — Sat, 11 Apr 2020 16:50:56 +0000

A lot has happened, such as, us going back to Scotland, me going to school, oh and well covid-19, how could I forget, well its not like schools shut down across the whole world and we’re only aloud to leave the house for exercise, but one of the lamest things is my school shutting down. I really love my school and my teachers, and it was so different than being homeschooled, you had to actually talk to people that wasn’t your family, it was such a big change, by the time school shut down I had only been in Scotland for a few months ( like two or three ) and so when I found out that school was going to close I was devastated, I had just begun to settle into place, this ment I had to say goodbye to friends for who knows how long, some of friends were supposed to leave at the end of term, and some people were leaving the country, they were horribly blue, they never might see these people again. Now I am simply locked up in my rental house, nothing to do except sit around all day, nothing interesting happens , just same old same, eating junk food and watching TV, this is the affect the corona virus has on people, ripping familys, friendship, relationships apart.

Chamonix, France

Annabelle DeCorso — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 20:17:03 +0000

Chamonix, if you don’t know, is a very ski resorty town. Due to it’s location in the Alps that’s easy to understand. It’s not too cold this time of year here, it was about 29°F today. The adventure of this town starts with the arriving at our campsite, which thankfully had electricity because it gets extremely cold in the middle of the night if we don’t have the heater on. We got there late at night so I guess the adventure didn’t start until tomorrow.

How I woke up was by my mom yelling about something that was currently going on, and it turned out some guy slipped and possibly broke (we don’t really know) his leg which in my opinion seems really lame not just because your leg is broken but because the guy seemed to have skis with him which indicated he was there for a ski trip, and how unlucky it would be to break your leg right before.

The campsite we stayed at had this thing where you can order bread and other such bakery stuff in the evening and have it delivered to you in the morning. That was pretty neat because I do like croissants which they had. The plan was that we were going to go up Augulle du Midi, where you could get a good view of Mount Blanc. The ride up the mountain side was in crowded cable cars, that were pretty fast. The mountain was about 12,500 feet tall, which made me a little lightheaded when we got to the top. It was really sunny out, and even though the town below got cloudy, the mountain was higher than the clouds so it wasn’t affected. It was 3°F on the top of the mountain, which was a lot colder. The views were amazing.

There we snow tunnels you walked through to get to different parts.

There was also a cafeteria with extremely expensive food, but then again they did have to haul it all up the mountain somehow. We still bought French fries; not everyone gets to eat French fries on the Alps, why risk the opportunity?

We stayed about 2 hours, exploring, seeing all the views and warming up inside the cafeteria. The ride down felt more crowded, but it was more fun. At one point the cable cars route suddenly took an abrupt turn downhill, and it gave everyone that falling feeling which made half the car scream (I was one of them).

We wanted to take the cable cars to Italy, but apparently the one to Italy was closed due to being broken by a recent storm. Bummer.

We accidentally got on the wrong bus home which made that journey three times as long, but over all I’d rate this a grade-A experience.

The Alps.

Max — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 20:54:14 +0000

Ever since we started planning this trip I’ve been excited for the Alps as I absolutely love mountains and their scenery. When we first started to get into the foothills of the Alps in France I started looking at which route to take as I wanted to find the best one with the nicest views. We went the way that took us right next to Geneva as it was shortest and still had some amazing views. The many hills and small mountains along with their occasional plateau were breathtaking. As we neared our camping spot at the base of Mont Blanc, snowy rocks where visible on our side as we drove and as they jutted their peaks out of the clouds. I thought the Alps were surprising warm considering its late February and there was snow just a little farther above us. Little towns dotted the countryside, some looking a little run down but were still nice to drive through their tight streets, and the waterfalls that would pop up along the cliff face looked amazing. As we drove we eventually rounded a corner and could see Mont Blanc itself towering over the other Alpine mountains. The snowed covered peak shone a bright white in the late afternoon sun as we drove towards it, the whiteness only being broken by some rocks that protruded from its face. The sun began to set as we arrived at our campground on the outskirts of Chamonix, a town nestled right at the base of Mont Blanc and how you get to the seven-mile tunnel which cuts through the massive mountain into Italy. I think the Alps will be one of, if not the, my favorite part of this trip.

Amsterdam

Annabelle DeCorso — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 21:28:52 +0000

Regardless of the cold, Amsterdam was quite nice. It was mostly sunny for the three days we were there. One thing I loved about Amsterdam is how big on bikes it was. We biked everywhere in Amsterdam, and there was a lot to do.

I visited the Van Gogh Musuem and the Rijks museum. I, personally, love art, especially Vincent van Gogh. The Van Gogh Musuem is the largest collection of his paintings, drawings and letters in the world. Walking through it was like walking through his life, and I found it really interesting. We had to wait about 45 minutes in line to get in, because we didn’t buy the tickets online. But it was worth the wait. I recommend going.

The Rijks museum was also enjoyable. There were lots of different art from different time periods. We saw some of the Dutch masters’ work, and a lot more. It took a while to walk through the museum because it’s pretty big. Over all, I liked it.

Renting bikes in Amsterdam is fairly easy, and the bike paths are just like roads (that is if you’re not biking on the actual road). There are ferries that lead out of central station and across the canals, that are for foot passengers and bikes. And better yet, they’re free. I do think you need to bring gloves, because my hands got really cold while I was biking. At one point, Max and I split up from the group and explored Amsterdam a bit ourselves.

We didn’t go anywhere specific, but we did get pretty lost at one point. Afterwards we got these really good donuts so it ended up being all okay. We hung out with my aunt a lot and she gave us a general tour of Amsterdam too, which was nice.

I didn’t do everything there is to do in Amsterdam, so hopefully I’ll return there sooner or later. But until then, Amsterdam was a very pretty city.

The Black Market

Max — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 23:38:16 +0000

In Mexico City, they are black markets where they sell counterfeit items, such as fake Raybans and Dr. Dre headphones, along with other stuff. People have to be careful when selling counterfeit items, as the police patrol almost everywhere. They often have a person who stands and watches for the police and whistles if they see one coming, the vendors items on a sheet that can be quickly pulled up and looks like a normal bag when the police arrive. you can buy almost anything at the black markets, watches, shoes, and some sell knives, which I would have gotten one if they were allowed in the UK. On Sunday there is a massive antique market at Lagunilla, and next to it is a black market that stretches on for blocks and blocks. You can buy almost everything in this market if you look hard enough. The market is hot and crowded, and tarps cover everything. People walk down the aisles selling frozen fruit and drinks, and vendors play the music they are selling loudly through blown speakers. It is a very nice and fun just to explore and look at all the things they have for sale.

Bakeries Around the World

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 06:18:29 +0000

I have been to many bakeries around the world. I have been to bakeries in London, Dublin, Lima, Cartagena,and Wales and in a lot of small towns but I think of all the bakeries I have been to, Mexico City is the best. British bakeries tasted better than they looked. They had eclairs in every single bakery in the UK. In Melrose, Scotland, I got an eclair and so did my sister Annabelle. Everyone in my family loves eclairs. They are so good! We went home to the camper that day in Melrose and my mom twisted her ankle on a cobblestone and it hurt for months. In Scotland, most of the bakery things we bought were pies. You might be thinking of the kind of pies that have strawberries and cherries in them but no, these pies have mashed potatoes, minced meat, macaroni, and cheese, they were delicious!. My sister Annabelle loved them the most. In Wales, we went to a bakery in Conwy and I asked my mom if I could get a piece of gingerbread, gingerbread is one of my favorite cookies. It was soft, not too hard, I loved it, it was delicious! In Beaumaris, I saw happy meals at a bakery that had cookies, crisps, a sausage pie and a juice box. I wanted one so bad. We were about to leave and I asked my mom if we could get one before we left and she said yes! We ran down and I got one and it was scrumptious. I was happy for the rest of the day. Although I did not eat my gingerbread. In Peru, all the cakes looked awesome, cakes with beautiful round toppings with little points on top and strawberries but when you bite into them, they tasted bad. We ordered one slice and all of us could not finish it. Every single thing was bad. In Colombia, it was boiling hot and we had to drink water out of bags but it was fun in the end. The first night in Cartagena there was a bakery right down the street and the food was great! They had cheese bread and jelly filled bread but afterawhile, I ate there every night, I got sick of them and I ate more street food – my favorite was kabobs but everyone else liked these pastries filled with burger meat but they had onion in them. Nothing compares to the Mexico City bakery, Pasteleria Ideal. The bakery had a window full and stacked high with every kind of cookie you could imagine, chocolate chip, jelly filled, tarts, every single kind. It was amazing. There was a donut section filled with donuts and cupcakes, stacked high, it was beautiful. There were sections and sections and sections for sandwiches and empanadas, bread, jello cakes, it was amazing, amazing, amazing!

I know for sure that the Mexico City Bakery is the best one I have ever gone to in my travels.

Mexico City

Max — Fri, 10 Feb 2017 04:00:28 +0000

Mexico City was originally built by the Aztecs in 1325 on an island they made in Lake Texcoco. They made the island by dumping soil into the lake till an island was formed. The city was called Tenochtitlan by the Aztecs until Cortez came and nearly completely destroyed it in the siege of Tenochtitlan in 1521. It wasn’t officially called Mexico City until 1585 but was called México Tenochtitlán. Cortez used Aztec slaves to build the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral with the ruins of the Aztec temple, Templo Mayor, the Aztec god of war, to heighten the Spanish power in the newly conquered state. Mexico City eventually became home to twenty-one million people, making it one of the largest cities in the world. Due to the fact that twenty-one million people live in Mexico City, they drink around 287 billion gallons of water a year, seventy percent of that coming from the lake below Mexico City, causing it to sink in the ground. Mexico City has sunk thirty-two feet in the last sixty years. The main square, Zócalo, is one of the biggest squares in the world with a total of 57,600 square meters. The Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral is located on one end of Zócalo and a massive Mexican flag is located in the center of the square. The Cathedral’s full name is, The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, or in Spanish, Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Santísima Virgen María a los cielos.