Lycée Chateaubriand de Rome

Leonardo B. 4°4 Diary Location : Rome –- Bahamas.

Oh yeah ! After one year of exhausting work, what I need is a nice holiday. I looked for a nice holiday in the net with my mother and my father. So we decided to go to the Bahamas, a fantastic group of islands. But since I would have been just with people older than I ,another family with their respective child was added to our journey :

Saturday 6 of June, 05:00 Yeah I’m not joking, we woke up at sunrise !! (As you can see ) Our flight was at eight o’clock, so our meeting was near my home. So I hung up my phone to call Federico ( my pal who comes with us) before I hung up my clothes. At 05:15 we were in the taxi. We didn’t take any car because at the airport, it’s not sure that there is place to park it. At 06:00 we were ready to do the check-in. We put the luggage(and I can say that we took all the house with us) At 07:10 we were waiting for the airplane to get on the aircraft and sit in our respective place. I won’t spend too much time to explain how we got to the Bahamas, and I’m sure that you would be bored.

We had been travelling since 08:00 , exactly for ten infinite hours… From the plane we could see an impressive landscape.

Saturday 6 of June, 20:00 Oh my god , it’s what I said when I saw this fantastic resort , Four Seasons Hotel , a luxury five-star hotel. All the walls were painted in blue and white, that put happiness and joy in our souls. When we got there the staff came to take our luggage. Then we went to the reception desk and our fathers spoke with the owner about our rooms, how the hotel worked, where the dinner room and the swimming pool were. After that, the staff returned to take our luggage and they let them in front of our rooms. We took our rooms, one for my parents , one for Federico’s parents. I and Federico slept on the floor.. Another joke, imagine if our parents , the most apprehensive persons in the world , didn’t take another room near them. So, my room was spectacular, the beds were so large , with a blanket of white linen and blue pillows as everything around us. There was also a magnificent balcony which gave an amazing view of the swimming pool and the sea. After all, we were so tired and we went to sleep without having dinner.

Sunday 7 of June , 08:00 Damned time zones !! I haven’t slept one minutes (except for my mother , who wouldn’t wake up even if the terrorists tried to blow up the hotel ?) We were so hungry, so we ran to the dinner room and we had breakfast, there were so many kinds of foods to eat, from salty to sweet ; I took eggs , ham , cheese , sausages and a wonderful orange juice. Yes it was really wonderful and tasty .After 20 minutes our parents came to have breakfast, I and my pal asked if we could swim in the pool, so we went to our room and we took our swimsuit. The pool was very very nice and the water at the perfect temperature. Around the pool there was no one, just us. We stayed in the pool for approximately one hour, then we went to the hotel beach and we took a long bath ; then our parents came to the beach. At 14:00 we were so hungry but because it was the first day we ate at the hotel. After lunch , my father went to the reception desk to ask if there were cars to rent. So we took a Panda !! Viva Italia !! It was time to go and have dinner, in the dinner room there were a lot of kinds of people but no teenager. At 22:30 we went to sleep in our beautiful room.

Monday 8 of June, 08:30This night I slept one thousand times better ! But it’s hard to sleep with forty degrees… I just opened the luggage to take my little games for the beach ( freesbee, volley ball ). So I and Federico invented a new fantastic game. One stays on the sand, he makes a circle around him with a diameter of 3 meters, then the other guy does the same. After we throw the freesbee( it must pass above the circle), those who don’t catch the freesbee have lost. We argued in an absurd way, because when someone had lost he said that the freesbee hadn’t passed above the circle. For that reason we have not spoken anymore ; but we started to speak at the dinner, finally we made peace !! After all that we went with our parents to the beach to see the sea in the night and after everybody went to sleep.

Tuesday 9 of June , 09:00 Oh no !!! The sausages were finished , how will I survive , how can I take my breakfast without sausages , the eggs are nothing without sausages ! After this shock, I tried to take my breakfast without them ( I say them because I will cry if I remember this shock ) At 11:30 we took the cars because we wanted to visit the island a little, we found a lot of small and spectacular beaches and we stopped there because there was a little bar close to them . We sat there and we ordered a picturesque typical dish of the Bahamas, lobster with rice and other little veggies. Guess a bit how much we paid for six(plus the drinks)… forty euros !!! If we take that dish in Italy or in another Nordic country we should pay the triple. So after this fantastic lunch we went to the village. Luckily we saw a market where we could buy cookies , chips , drinks and something like that. After that we came back to the hotel and we let the things that we bought in the rooms. While we were walking to the dinner room we met a little turtle near a tree, I tried to bring her in the hood but the staff said that she will do it herself. After the meeting we went to the dinner room, or we could say that it was a showroom, the dishes were set in a remarkable way . Before going to sleep we played “Risiko” , it’ s a game of strategy, each player has a box with tanks (of course in plastic) and the mission is to reach your objective . So we finished the game and the winner was… my father  . After the defeat we went to sleep .

Wednesday 10 of June , 09:00.We were woken up by the singing of the birds , what does it take to start the day ! So after the breakfast we went to the reception desk , because we were looking for a boat to go on an excursion , but unfortunately they couldn’t rent a boat ; he said that they organise a lot of excursions. Of course my father asked when we could have a wonderful excursion… At 12 sharp we had to be in front of the pier. There , a middle-aged man was waiting for us near a blue boat. I took the mask with me, the snorkel , and everything you need to go snorkelling. We had been sailing for one hour when we arrived near an amazing tongue of sand, I put on the mask and the rest. There were shoals of coloured fishes, until we met a great barracuda , our mothers were so scared, to tell the truth everyone was scared ; the sailor said that it wasn’t a problem for them but if we had things that sparkle , we have to put them away or the great barracuda will attack this person. After that we went to eat in an island that the sailor knew very well. There was a little bar , everyone took hamburgers ( there wasn’t so much choice) after lunch we rested on the beach and after one hour we returned to the Four Seasons. We were so much tired … we took our dinner and we ran to our beds .

Thursday 11 of June , 10:00 I didn’t know how to wake up because I was very very very tired !! We bugged our mother to bring something to eat in our room. When I opened the windows I was amazed, it was raining !! Not really a good day ! So we waited for half an hour and after I and Federico went to the tennis courts , we played a little but I had to stop because I had a backache. We didn’t know what to do , so we asked our parents if we could go to the village. I found a little shop , I entered the shop and I saw a little submarine . I approached to see it better , I bought it immediately, it had two little white propellers and the rest was orange. When we came back to the resort , I put it in the pool to see if it worked well. It worked perfectly well and it had two lights that I didn’t see. I played with it for a long time then we took the freesbee and we did our usual game … We returned full of sand , so we took the shower outside ; then we went inside and we put our clothes on and we went to eat. After dinner we went to the pool , we sat and we played cards. We finished the match at 22:30 so our parents sent us to the rooms.

The day that You don’t want to live : I don’t remember the time when we woke up , I remember the black sky and lightning all around me, I remember each flash . Our parents had already packed the bags. I asked our parents what was happening , but they didn’t say anything, they just said “ take your things and go out !”. A man with a little car was waiting for them . We went in the car , the man brought them to the airport where there were so many people . I asked a man : “What’s wrong ?..” he answered with fear : “A Tornado !”. So everybody got into the airplane. This time from the windows we could see only fear and destruction. No one could sleep in the airplane , everyone had to hope for the best . After 10 hours of fear we arrived at the airport of Fiumicino , in the screens of the airport we could see the tornado in the direction of Bahamas .. I had never experienced so strong a feeling of fear and if I remember this moment I feel the chills down my spine. However, apart from this bad moment I had a fantastic experience and I advise all to go there, maybe not in June !! 

Lola D. 4-4 DIARY : A VERY SPECIAL JOURNEY IN SCOTLAND

Rome, the 12th of July 22:26 I finally finished packing ! I can’t wait to leave tomorrow morning ! I still can’t believe I’m going to go to Scotland ! It all happened so fast ! I hadn’t heard from James since we met in London, two years ago, and this morning I got this surprising email from him : "Hello ! How are you ? It’s been such a long time ! Do you still live in Italy ? I just wanted to let you know that I just moved to Scotland ! My dad just inherited ... a castle ! Yes, I’m not kidding, I’m actually living in a castle ! And you haven’t heard the best yet ! The castle is ... five minutes away from the Loch Ness !!! My dad is in London this week, so I’m allowed to invite a friend to stay here with me - the castle is a bit isolated... Do you want to come ? Bye ! James" This seemed too good to be true. My friend James, a Scottish castle, the Loch Ness... I didn’t even think about it. A few minutes later, James got a very short reply : "Arriving tomorrow at Glasgow, 10h20. See you soon !" And here I am, all ready and packed. I’m going to try to sleep now, I have to wake up at 4 am to go to the airport ! Scotland, here I come !

Glasgow, the 13th of July 13:52 It’s raining... The great Scottish weather was here to welcome me. Alone. Because my great friend James sent me a message as soon as I landed : "Can’t come to meet you, Very busy today. Take a train to Loch Ness station, I’ll send Gordon, the gardener, to meet you there." Great... So here I am, after a 3 hours night sleep, and a few hours in a plane, waiting for a stupid train in the station only coffee shop. Amazing holiday isn’t it ? Macness Castle

the same day, 23:48 The train journey was even worse than the plane. Gordon was waiting for me there, as my pal had promised. This man was weird. He had very short legs, but a very muscular torso, and square and large shoulders. But the weirdest part was his accent. I couldn’t understand a single word of what he said. I just understood he was the man I had to follow to go to my friend’s castle. He took my luggage and we left the station. I thought we were going to take a car. Or a taxi. Or a bus. I was completely wrong. We walked under the Scottish rain. Gordon was not very talkative, and I was in a very bad mood. And that’s when I saw the castle. A massive old medieval building, with huge towers built with large grey stones. "Wow" I said. Gordon laughed. Or at least he did some kind of strange noise that I interpreted as a laugh. James was waiting for me in the living room, and showed me my room, in the highest tower. The view from the window was wonderful : I could see the lake ! After I got changed, James spent the rest of the afternoon showing me the castle. It was good to see him again, he hasn’t changed at all since the last time ! Before I went to bed, he said we might visit the village tomorrow - it should stop raining for a few hours !

Macness Castle, the 17th of July, 3:31 I can’t sleep. I can’t sleep in this room, I can’t sleep in this castle. The first night, everything was fine. The two nights ago, around 3 am, some lights woke me up. They were coming from the window. Who could it be ? I got up, and looked down the window. Nothing. It was all dark. Had I been dreaming ? Yes, probably. And I went back to sleep. A few minutes later, some voices woke me up. This time I was certain I had heard something ! There was someone in the castle ! Who could it be ? Probably thieves !!! I was terrified. I had to go and wake James up. I left my room, as quietly as possible, and went downstairs. The voices were still there, I couldn’t tell where they came from, in this huge castle, it sounded like they were in the stones themselves ! I went through the living room, and the dining room, and the library.. Almost there... Then something stopped me. I was about to scream, when I recognized Gordon. "There’s someone in the castle !" I told him. He didn’t seem to listen. He just walked me back into my room. The next morning I told James what had happened. "You’ve just been dreaming !" he answered with a smile, "Gordon said he heard someone walking in the castle, and got up to see who it was. And that’s when he saw you walking in your sleep, and saying something about thieves. You were just sleepwalker !" "I wasn’t ! I wasn’t sleeping ! I remember it all !" He didn’t believe me. So I stopped trying to convince him. He would just think I was crazy. We spent a nice day out, under the rain, and came back only late at night. I went to bed exhausted. And then, at 3 am, the voices started again. Louder, this time. I didn’t get up . I put my head under my pillow, and tried to ignore them. But I couldn’t. They seemed to be in my room ! Then they finally disappeared. I opened my eyes. It was just 4 am. But I couldn’t go back to sleep, I was too afraid they might come back. I waited till dawn, then I finally fell asleep. Macness Castle the 19th of July Today was alright. We went to see the Loch Ness, it was so beautiful. I had a great time with James, but he said I looked quite pale and worried. I told him I had a bit of problems falling asleep at nights. He just laughed. Is it their voices I’m hearing ? Am I getting crazy ? I just can’t sleep tonight. I waited till 3 am, to see, being more awaken, I could find out where did those voices came from. But I still haven’t heard anything. It’s 4 am now, I thing I’m going to try to get some sleep.

Macness Castle, the 24th of July, 22h30 I saw him ! I saw the monster ! In the lake ! He really was there, last night ! I was about 3 am when the voices woke me up again. This time, I could understand them. "This way ! " they were saying. "This way ! Follow us ! " So I did. I don’t know why, but I did. I walked out of the castle. Out of the gardens. I followed the voices... Then they left. And I suddenly realized I was in front of the Loch Ness. The lake was so dark it was hard to see where it ended. The water seemed to be black. And all of a sudden, he came out of nowhere. He jumped out of the water. He was way too big to be a fish, and they didn’t have whales in a lake ! He was Nessie ! I stayed there for about half an hour, not believing my eyes, waiting for him to come back, to prove me I hadn’t been dreaming... But he didn’t. And I started to realize I was freezing. I run back to the castle. I was too excited to sleep, I woke James’ up and told him about the lake . "You’ve been dreaming again." he said. "Everybody knows the Loch Ness monster is a legend." "But I saw him ! " I wasn’t that sure though. I remembered the weird circumstances in which he had appeared. The night, the voices... Maybe James was right. I wanted to be sure. "Let’s go to the lake again today" I suggested. It wasn’t raining. "Good idea." And we went to the exactly same point where I had saw Nessie. "Hey, isn’t that yours ?" asked James, pointing me a teddy bear on the floor. "Teddy ?!? What is he doing here ???" "Ah ah, very funny. You have just put it there, haven’t you ?" "No ! I..." I was so confused. I always slept with Teddy. But he would never leave my room. I would leave him there all the time. So how did he end up there ??? "You really want to make me believe your crazy monster story don’t you ?" asked James. "But this proves it ! This means I was here last night ! I didn’t dream !" "Yes, of course you were here, you’re a sleepwalker !" No one will ever believe me. Tomorrow I am going back to Rome, and I won’t have another chance to see Nessie. But I know I haven’t dreamed. Last night, I saw the Loch Ness monster.

Clémence C. 4-4 My diary : a trip to Australia

Monday ,13th of April 2010 For my Easter holidays I will go to Australia , tomorrow , by plane. I’m so happy to have some fun with my friends. My best friend Janet and two guy(Sean& Nicolas) will accompany me.

Tuesday,14th of April 2010 I finally arrived in Australia. When I was in the airport it took me three hours to find my bags. Fortunately I caught a cab immediately and I went to the resort I had booked. At first it seemed correct but in fact , the lavatory was dirty and I saw some insects which made me disgusted . So, with my friends we decided to go someplace else. We found a hotel where we will be better ,I hope !! I was a little bit surprised to see that the weather was stormy ,after all we are in April, summer in Australia. I regretted that I had no umbrella in my suitcase.

Wednesday,15th of April 2010 Today, because we love beaches, and the weather was sunny , we went to one of those famous Australian beaches. Because I’ m very particular about my appearance, I laid on the sand to suntan. Unfortunately , I am as red as a lobster !!!! When we came back to the city ,we decided to eat some well-known and popular Australian dishes. But when we went into a restaurant which seemed good and popular we didn’t find any special dish, but we learned that the Australian love barbecues (we also loved it). At 11 p.m. we came back to the hotel and slept (personally I slept like a log)

Thursday,16th of April 2010 Today was Bank Holiday and we were amazed to see people in the streets in colorful costumes, they were singing ! Just my luck to have forgotten my camera. Then because we were told that a thing to do is a tour with a boat we boarded , and we didn’t regret it because we could see an impressive landscape from the ship. Someone said that the world is a book ,and if you don’t travel, you’re only reading one page of it. I totally agree with him. I already know that this travel will be a really interesting experience for me.

Friday,17th of April 2010 Today , the thing we desire the most was to go to the Blue Mountains, because we had heard that we can see koalas and I love animals. But I’ve forgotten to tell you about a crucial problem : the accent of Australian people is T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E !! All the lessons with Mr. Stoops seem to be useless because I can’t understand one word of what they say. Maybe at the end of this week I will understand one word or two in a sentence ! Oops , sorry I was talking about Blue Montains, wasn’t I ?? In order to be sincere , I will tell you what I really think : I am disappointed. When I was there, at first I saw many tourists , and very few koalas. But my friends are happy . Maybe I expected too much.

Saturday,18th of April 2010 Today we went to Melbourne, have you ever heard about the balloon flight at sunrise ? In fact, we didn’t know what it was . Let me explain to you what I saw : in the sky ,there were many balloons which were in different fluorescent colors. We jumped into them ,we appreciated the landscape . Oooh ! Sorry the guys are calling me.. see you

Sunday ,19th of April 2010 Could have I been as stupid as I was ? Today , when I woke up , the first thing I saw was an enormous spider in my bed. But I didn’t realize that actually the spider was in plastic ! In fact, the guys wanted to make fun of me . But the fear I felt made me angry and ratty for the rest of the day. But it was a joke and right now I regret not to have apologized at once.

Monday,20th of April 2010 Because of the weather raining again, today we couldn’t go to the beach. I made up with the guys and we did a society game(monopoly) all day.

Tuesday ,21th of April 2010 Today the sun was shining as much as it can. It made life worth living again. Maybe I exaggerate but I came here to have some fun because I hate winter ,especially in London because the rain never stops. Wednesday,22th of April 2010 I can’t say how happy I was when I dived into the hot sea . I did it once, but bearing in mind the water wasn’t as hot ,as clear and as transparent as it was today . I sent a letter to my parents. Actually I should have done it three days ago as it is. Because I love sport I went to a fitness center . In the gym room I met some girls who seemed friendly and I understood some words in their sentences ! I’m the boss !! Thursday ,23th of April 2010 Today after breakfast I saw the guys. They were digging the garden . When I asked them what they were doing they answered to me that they were burying a bird. It’s amazing how sensitive guys are sometimes, isn’t it ?

Friday ,24th of April 2010 This is my last day in Australia. It was an experience ,and I loved this country ,but to be honest I prefer India. Next month I will go there to see Nagma. Do you remember who she is ? I will surely write another diary and I will talk about my travel in China. See you