Richardson Family's European Adventure

On Sunday we all went paragliding. Below are both Zack and Ellie's journal entries for the experience:

Zack:
Today we went paragliding and it was awesome!

On the way up to the landing site my sister almost threw up from car sickness which didn't do her good.

The takeoff strip was so steep. You only had to run 3 steps before you're airborn. You are airborn for 10 minutes at the least and 15 minutes for the most. After we took off our pilots stayed around a cliff because good thermals were there. Then my pilot Miki peeled off the cliff to land.

On the way down we did a rollercoaster. A rollercoaster is a trick where the paragloider goes from side to side and you nearly go upside down. After that we turned to be on top of the landing strip. After a couple of seconds and three steps we landed.

On the way down my pilot Miki took photos of me in the air and on the ground he took a photo of all of us.

Ellie:

On Sunday we went paragliding!

We had to drive up the mountain which didn't do me good at all. When we were up there my pilot Dominik got me ready for take off.

When everyone was ready we walked down to the take off strip. First Zack then me.

It was amazing up there. When we were about to land my pilot asked me if I wanted to go fast or slow. I said fast!

Down we went like we were on a rollercoaster spinning around and around. We landed and it was all over.

I loved paragliding!

Yesterday we went up the Jungfrau. It is the highest accessible point in Europe because of the cog trainline that runs from Interlaken to the top of the Jungfrau. The Jungfrau is 4158m above sea level and the train takes 2 hours to get to the top.

The train goes up the Eiger also. At the top of the Jungfrau there is an ice palace in the middle of a glacier. We had lunch at the top. Ellie and I had pork schnitzel. Dad had goulash soup and mum had veal and noodles.

It was actually snowing at the top in summer! There are 2 landings where you can go outside in the snow. The 1st landing you can normally go for ski trips but there was a blizzard with 80 km winds. We actually went outside into the blizzard. The second landing is up at the observation deck and you can't go in the snow but you can go outside.

On Monday we drove from France to Italy. We stopped via Pisa to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was very hot and crowded. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was very spectacular.

We stopped at Florence for 2 days. On Tuesday we went to the city of Florence (Firenze). We went to the Domus which is a church. We had to walk up 467 steps to get to the top of it. The view was spectacular.

We also went to the city square to have lunch. I had pasta of course!

After lunch we wandered up to the markets. I bought a bag that says Italia / Firenze. I really like it.

We wandered back home to get changed to go out for tea. We went to a really posh restaurant next to the lookout where you can see the whole town of Firenze. After dinner we went to the lookout. My brother bought a really weird painting. We walked home.

A couple of days ago we went past the biggest and the longest viaduct in the world. It is in Millau, South France. The highest point on the viaduct is nearly 400 metres high. It can fit the Eiffel Tower in it.

Yesterday (Monday 13th) we went to Pisa and saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The construction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa was begun in 1174 from the architect Bonanno Pisano and was finished in 1350 by Tomnmaso Pisano. The height is 58.63 metres high. The weight of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is 14.452 tonnes.

The maximum slope from the top to the centre of the base is 5.22 metres. The Leaning Tower of Pisa leaned an average of 1.2mm a year until 1993. After 11 years of rebuild the Tower opened on the 15th December 2001 with an inclination reduced of 38 centimetres.