Saturday 5 September

We travelled back to Olhao the next day and arrived back at midnight. We were so tired that we slept soundly and then got up early in the morning, to fly back to London. This time our stopover was in Düsseldorf, but no problems as far delays or anything else, so that was great.

Dusseldorf from the air.

We arrived back in London in the evening and unpacked. We only had a day to spend in London before travelling to Wales, to visit two schools.

The next day we visited some markets and did lots of walking again. I love walking!!!!!

Then on Wednesday 2 September we travelled by train to Cardiff, Wales. The train was so quiet and the trip took just over two hours, but it was really quite relaxing. I was able to do some work on the train, as they had free wifi.

We went straight to the hotel and checked in. Then it was off to sightsee. We decided to try the hop on hop off bus, as they are always a good way to see where everything is. The bus started just outside Cardiff Castle, which was directly opposite the hotel. Mr Stuart was also so excited because the hotel was right next to the Millenium Stadium and Cardiff Arms Park, where the Welsh Rugby team play. We could also see that everyone in Cardiff was getting ready for the World Cup.

The Millennium Stadium

 A statue named " All Hands" by Brian Fell. It depicts canal workers, working together and pulling on ropes.

The Museum

This building that you see ( not a very good picture), is actually where Dr Who memorabilia is showcased. The television series was filmed in Wales, and some of the filming was done in the rooms at Cardiff Castle. Unfortunately I was not in Wales long enough to visit this building.

The buildings in Wales reminded me of many of the buildings in London. It was also interesting walking around the city centre. It was certainly a much quieter place, than any of the countries, that we have visited on our journey.

The next day was my visit to the schools. The schools were based in Barry, a town about 20 minutes away from Cardiff. We arrived at the first school which was Cadoxton Primary and were met by the Deputy Principal whose name was Ceri Ann. The Principal of the school, Janet, was away on the school camp at the time. Peter,  who was from the Welsh. Ministry of Education also met us to discuss what the government are doing to assist the developments to support teaching and learning using digital technologies.

Cadoxton School is a primary school, which does start with the nursery years. They have some children who are as young as three attending their nursery classes. The school provides a very nurturing environment and it did remind me of May Road School. The teachers that I spoke to were very passionate about what they were doing. The school is a Human Rights based school, Ecofriendly, Health Promoting and also has a real focus on using digital technology effectively. I was able to speak with the E-cadets who are students who help teach other students about being Cybersmart. All of the teaching and learning at this school is done in English.

The outside of Cadoxton Primary School

The mission statement: Learning and Growing Together- Being our best forever! This makes sense to me.

Welcome signs in English and Welsh. Wales is a bilingual country.

Just a few photos of Cadoxton Primary. I loved visiting and talking to the students and teachers there.

Then it was off to visit another school. This time a secondary school that was not too far away. When I got to the school I was told that it was the first day that this secondary school had merged with a primary school and now had childre attending from the ages of three years to 19 years. All of the teaching and learning was done in Welsh although for some of the senior students there were lessons each week in English and other languages. The name of the school was Ysgol Gyfun Bro Morgannwg (a very hard name to say).  The word Ysgol is the word for school in Welsh. 

After visiting the two schools we returned to the city centre and rested. Tomorrow would be our last day in Cardiff before returning to London and we wanted to visit Cardiff Castle.

Below I have posted some photos of the castle. It is a wonderful building with the full castle which has been modified over the years and an original Norman keep. Maybe you can google this and find out more information.  The castle was originally built by the Marquis of Buit who was involved in building up the areas around the canal and also the coal mining that was all around the area. He was a very wealthy man and the property was only one of the properties that he owned. He was originally from Scotland and his sons through the years took over the leadership of his businesses. One of the descendants of this man - I think the 5th Marquis of Buit gifted the Castle and its surrounding parkland to the people of Cardiff. This was a very generous thing to do and the people really appreciate it. This means that any of the citizens of Cardiff are able to get into the castle for free, and can hire it out for weddings and other functions. People such as the Queen, Barak Obama, Nelson Mandela and many other heads of state have dined in the banquet room at the castle. 

The Norman Keep above the castle

 A view of the castle itself.

 The end of the banquet hall

An upstairs conservatory area. Gorgeous for sitting and reflecting.

The stocks. Oh dear!!!!!

A squirrel in the surrounding Park.

One of the parts that I liked the most was the Animal Wall that surrounds the castle. I think the Marquis of Buit was a little quirky and so he had some very interesting ideas for his home. This was one of them. 

Some of the animals on the wall.

After our visit to the castle it was a quick race back to hotel, to pick up our bags and get back to the train station, to journey back to London. 

After two and a half hours we were back in London. We had our last day on the Saturday which was a lovely family time with Mathew and Deb.

After saying our goodbyes on the Sunday morning. it was back in a taxi cab and off to Heathrow airport. 

Two plane trips - the first from London to Singapore which took around twelve hours and then a second flight from Singapore to Auckland which was around eight and a half hours. 

Late on Monday 7 August we arrived back in New Zealand. There is nothing quite like returning home and knowing that your family and friends are waiting for you. 

I am so grateful though for being able to have this wonderful experience and I especially thank our May Road Board of Trustees and the people who make sabbaticals possible ( MOE - Ministry of Education and NZEI - New Zealand Educational Institute). Of course I need to thank the staff and students of May Road school who have kept working very hard while I have been away. I look forward to seeing you all next term and hope that you have enjoyed my blog.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be working on how to share the learning that I have done over this term.

Arohanui to all. 

Portugal continued

After visiting the sights we started our long drive back to the house, as we knew that we would need a little rest, before our next adventure.

Visited a food court at the local shopping mall for some dinner, then home to pack bags before going on an overnight bus trip. We met the bus and our fellow travellers at 1 am - yes that is right one o'clock in the morning. The bus was a big one and we had about 30 people, that we were travelling with. Most of the people were Portugese and very few of them spoke English. It is amazing how we use our body language and gestures to make ourselves understood, when we don't speak the same language, but many of you already know that.

The bus started off and we all prepared to have a sleep. It was comfortable enough, although I wouldn't like to do this each night. It seemed I had just gone to sleep when the bus stopped and we had to get off for half an hour. The law in Portugal says that the drivers have to have a rest from driving every four hours - I am not sure that it had been four hours, but never mind he had his break and we got back on the bus. This time I couldn't sleep, so I just sat there for what seemed like ages.

We had a couple more stops and daylight started to break and then there was a stop for breakfast.
Everyone enjoyed a hearty breakfast and got ready for the day.

Beautiful views

We arrived at our first destination which was at a place where they make a drink called Port, which
Portugal is known for. We were shown all of the big casks which stored the Port and wine and we were allowed to taste one of their drinks. It was quite nice and Custodio and Leonilde bought us a bottle.

So many casks!!!!!

From there we travelled through a town to where all the cruise boats were moored. We were greeted
by people who crowded around us as we got off the bus and wanted to sell us hats. By this time the sun was well and truely up and it was so hot .

Finally after a long wait in the hot sun we got on our boat and climbed down the stairs to the very bottom where we were asked to take our seats.

We were able to see out of the windows on the boat and the boat got ready to set sail. After a little while of sailing we were able to move onto the main deck and could see the sights around. We were
cruising on the river and our final destination was going to be the city of Porto. This is the second biggest city in Portugal after Lisbon which is the biggest city.

The people on the boat were lovely and I now know how much the Portugese people love to sing and dance. They were so enjoying themselves singing to songs that they obviously knew well but I didn't at all. A few popular English songs every now and then which we could join in.

The river itself was beautiful and it was so very peaceful. We were called to go back downstairs for some lunch which was huge but lovely. They sure know how to feed you in Portugal.

It was so hot and I was really worried that I might get very sunburnt so ended up spending some time up on the deck but quite a bit of time downstairs. I am so glad that I did that because I did not get burnt at all.

We went through a huge dam area and were held in a lock while the waters were drained and then released so we could move further down the river. Some of the people were really scared.

What a huge dam.

 Then after about seven hours on the boat the city of Porto was before us. It looked amazing, such an old city with houses and buildings all over the hills ahead.

Porto 

Portugal continued.

The following day we got up early for the long drive to a place called Sagres. Sagres is also known as the end of the world.
Cape Sagres, Portugal: The End of the World

I have included this YouTube clip so that you can find out a little more about it. We walked and walked around the area and I loved the sense of history of it all. To think that Sir Francis Drake attacked the area in around 1543. What a beautiful spot and what gorgeous photos we were able to take. In the photo of me, you can see the outline of the African continent in the background.

This was such a special day and I really enjoyed seeing these sights. We stayed there for quite a long

 time just exploring and then had to leave to move on to the next places.

As we travelled back, we found a lovely little man made beach, where there was a little restaurant. So we stopped for lunch and a much needed drink.  

After a lovely rest , it was off to look at some other places. We found a beautiful ceramic shop which I could have spent hours in. I did buy a few lovely pieces, to bring home for people.

What beautiful colours and designs on these ceramics.

Monday 31 August 2015

It is such a long time since I have posted anything on the blog. Over a week and this is simply because the wifi access has been rather difficult.
The last time I posted we were still in Rome and had visited Orvieto and Assisi which was a wonderful experience. On the day following it was our last full day in Rome so we spent our time wandering through the streets and taking a last look at some of our favourite places. We also bought a few gifts for some very special people. We saw a street artist who made the most amazing painting of different places in Rome - it featured the Colosseum  and the Vatican so we purchased that and carried it very carefully back to the hotel.

Partway through the process.

Getting  towards the final product.

                                                                                                                                                      

In the morning it was another little walk this time before being picked up by the taxi and taken to the airport. The airport in Rome was absolutely packed with people and there were delays to our flight back to London. This meant that we had to wait for quite a while before the plane took off so I spent that time reading one of my many books.

Finally we arrived back in London over two and a half hours late which meant our poor taxi driver had to come back to the airport to get us. It was absolutely pouring with rain and quite cold which
was so different to the hot and sunny weather that we had been experiencing in Rome.

We arrived quite late back to the house that we were staying at with my son but he had some dinner
 waiting for us which was very much appreciated.

The next day which was the Tuesday we spent at Canary Wharf doing a little shopping but because it
was so wet we didn't want to be out too long. We went back to the house and I did some work.

On the Wednesday it was another taxi - this time to Heathrow Airport to travel to Portugal. What an
experience this was as the planes yet again were delayed and because we had to fly first to Brussels in
Belgium and then to Faro in Portugal we missed our second flight. The flight to Faro left without us.

Oh dear!!!!!! We found someone to help us at Brussels airport and they put us on another plane. The
arrangements were a bit different though as we had to fly to Lisbon in Portugal and then fly to Far
which meant that instead of getting to Faro at 3 pm in the afternoon we would not arrive until
midnight. What a tiring day it was.

We were picked up by Custodio and Leonilde, who are now part of our family, as their daughter
Debbie married my son Matthew. It was very late at night so it was wonderful that they came to get
us.

After a good nights sleep we woke to a beautiful day day and after breakfast we got straight in the car and travelled to the wharf area where the fishermen were starting to come back with their day's catch. What a beautiful sight the sea was and we spent time walking around the town and visiting the markets.

Fishing boats at the wharf.

The markets were amazing buildings that were very old. There was one complete building just for the fresh fish that had been caught and another whole building that had all of the fruit and meat.

Fish, fish and more fish.

One of the many stalls.

                                     

Custodio, Leonilde and myself by one of the statues that Custodio told stories about. the name of the girl was Floripes. Floripes was a beautiful Moorish woman who apparently stole one of the men of the village or so the legend says. Custodio told us that as a young child he was always scared of the statue.

It was wonderful spending time with Custodio who grew up in this lovely village called Olhao. He had so many stories to tell us and knew so many people.

The tunnel

Custodio's niece owned a beautiful restaurant in another town called Faro. We went there for lunch and I had a lovely chicken meal. Then we went down a spiral staircase which led to a tunnel which apparently people used when they wanted to escape from their enemies. 

Our restaurant .

After the beautiful lunch we then got back in the car and drove quite a long way to a place called Vila Moura. This was an absolutely amazing area, a little like our Viaduct area, where there were so many very expensive boats anchored to the marina. There were lots of lovely looking restaurants around the area , expensive apartments and hotels and boutique shops.

Vila Moura area.

What a hot but lovely day we had, walking through beautiful areas and just enjoying learning new things.

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