Amsterdam - Day 1

17.04.2011

Pühapäev/Sunday

12:18 sõitsime rongiga Amsterdami. See oli meie mõlema esimene rongisõit. Kahe tunni pärast olimegi Amsterdamis. Rongijaamast ostsime ka kohe pileti Cologne. Sõitsime oma hotelli kus meid võeti väga hästi vastu. Toas ootas meid troopilistest marjadest tere tulemast pakike. Panime kotid tuppa ning läksime Amsterdami avastama. Hotellist kesklinna oli kusagil 15-20 minutiline jalutuskäik. Ilm oli ilus nii et jalutuskäigu vastu pole meil midagi. Ilmaga oli meil väga vedanud kuna soojakraadid ulatusid kuni 26 kraadini. Museumpleinil kus asub Van Gogh ja Rijksmuuseum asus ka suur park. Park oli inimesi täis. Enamus kohti oli kinni kuna oli pühapäev. Leidseplein väljak oli puupüsti inimesi täis kuna seal asus väga palju söögikohti. Jalutasime natukene aega ringi et näha millised restoranid seal on. Meie valikuks osutus Itaalia restoran. Küsisime taksojuhilt kes meid hotelli viis et mis on Amsterdami kohalik toit. Ta ütles, et sellist toitu nagu polegi. Inimesed pidavat sööma siin paljude erinevate riikide toite. Imelik on siin see et inimesed alustavad sinuga rääkimist inglise keeles mitte nende emakeeles. Ehk nad teavad et turiste on nii palju ja peamiselt räägitakse inglise keelt. Trammid ja jalgratturid on seal küll väga ohtlikud. Amsterdam on väga lahe linn. Eriti vahvad on kanalimajad kus inimesed elavad. Neil kõigil peab olema majades elekter ning vesi nagu tavalistel majadel. Toit on tunduvalt parem kui Madriidis. Valik on suurem. Jalutasime peatänaval ringi aga ega ka seal midagi väga näha väga ei olnud kuna enamus poode olid kinni. Eks me peame ootama homseni. Coffee shopid on iga nurga peal. Kyle oli nii vaimustatud neist. Läksime korra hotelli puhkama ning õhtul jalutasime peaväljakule-Dam ning käisime uudistasime ka punaste laternate tänavat. Kyle arvas et see tänav on poole hullem ja räpasem, haha. Homme võtame tõsiselt linna uudistamise käsile. Tänane päev oli kiire ülevaade kus teatud kohad asuvad. Kyle’ile väga meeldib Amsterdam. Ütles, et siiamaani on see ta lemmiklinn Euroopas.

Rohkem pilte: https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/AmsterdamNetherlands#

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At 12:18PM we were on our way to Amsterdam. It was our first train ride in Europe. When we arrived to Amsterdam we bought train tickets to Cologne right away. We took a taxi and drove to our hotel. We put away our bags and went for a walk. It was about 15-20 minutes walk to the city center from the hotel. The weather was beautiful so we didn’t mind walking. We’ve been so lucky with the weather all through our trip. It’s been +26C. First stop was Museumplein where was Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum and Diamond museum. There was also Iamsterdam sign. There was a big park next to the museum and that day it was full of people. Most of the places were closed today because it was Sunday. Next stop was Leidseplein square what was full of restaurants. We asked from the taxi driver that what was a traditional Amsterdam food we should definately eat. He said there wasn’t any that people here eat different kinds of food. So we could eat everything, we like that. We felt like eating pizza in a italian restaurant.Usually when you travel to a country the people over there start speaking with you to their native language and then when they see that you speak English they start talking to you in English. In Amsterdam people started to talk in English not in Dutch and it was like that every place we went to. It was so much easier than in Madrid where most of the people doesn’t understand english. Trams and bikes are really dangerous over there. They are everywhere. You better not walk on the bike road because you might get hit. The city is well kept. There are flowers everywhere. It is a very cool city. The food is better than in Madrid, there are more choices here. We walked also on the main shopping street but most of the shops were closed. There are coffee shops in every corner. You just go in and buy weed and smoke it in there. Kyle was so excited about the coffee shops. I bet most of the people are, lol :D We walked back to the hotel to rest a little bit and in the evening went to the main square- Dam. We ended our day walking around the red light district. I’ve been there before so I know what to expect. Kyle thought it was worse but when he saw it it wasn’t that bad. Definately place to see in Amsterdam. Today was a quick overview where the things are and tomorrow we are going to tour around more. Kyle said that Amsterdam is his favorite city in Europe so far.

More pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/AmsterdamNetherlands#

H.

Amsterdam - Day 2

18.04.2011

Esmaspäev/Monday

Pidime kell 13:00 Mary ja Juliega kokku saama, kes ka eile õhtul Amsterdami jõudsid. Söime hommikust ühes armsas pannkoogikohvikus ning suundusime siis meie kohtumispaika. Võtsime oma suunaks Albert Cypti tänava kus asub ka suur tänavaturg. Seal müüdi igasuguseid asju- riideid, toitu jne. Mulle jäi kohe silma heeringas hapukurgiga. Ma lihtsalt pidin selle maiuspala ostma. Madriidis pole kusagil heeringat nagu Eestis ja selline isu tuli kohe peale. Soovitasin ka teistel proovida. Keegi polnud eriti vaimustatud aga kui nad ampsu võtsid hakkas meeldima :D Ma ikka vahel tean mis on hea ja mis pole. Minu sõbranna Silvia soovitas mulle ühte väga head restorani Bazaar mis pidi olema väga populaarne ka kohalike hulgas. Meie hommikusöögist oli möödas juba paar tundi nii et oli aeg süüa lõunat ning miks mitte selles samas restoranis. Tegemist oli türgi toiduga. Restoran oli väga lahe ning seal istudes tekkis isegi tunne et oled Türgis kuna sisekujundas oli super. Ma soovitan kõigile kes Amsterdami lähevad sinna sööma minna sest toit oli seal väga maitsev.

Kõhud täis söödud suundusime Heinekeni tehasesse. Tutvusime õlle ajalooga, saime enda nimelise õllepudeli valmistada ning loomulikult saime õlut juua :D Piletiga koos sai 2 tasuta õlut, aga kuna me istusime baarileti läheduses saime veel lisaks paar klaasi. Üldkokkuvõttes oli päris vahva muuseum. Igast põnevaid tegevusi leidus seal aga mis ma nendest räägin kuna kes teab äkki mõni lugejatest tahab mõni päev sinna minna ja eks nad siis ise näevad mis see endast kujutab. Ostsime kõik piletid õhtusele kanalikruiisile (Blue Boat Company). Paadi sõit kestis kusagil 75 minutit ja päris vahva oli mööda kanaleid ringi tiirutada. Paljud inimesed elavad paatmajades mis näevad välja nagu päris majad, aga paiknevad kanalis. Saime ka teada et nendel kõigil peab olema elekter ja vesi sees ning nad peavad maksma makse nagu iga teine maja omanik. Lõpetasime oma paadisõidu päikeseloojangul ning suundusime õhtust sööma mehhiko restorani. Õhtu tipphetkeks osutus live sex show punaste laternate tänaval. Mis ma ikka muud ütlen kui et soovitan vaatama minna ja Amsterdam on just õige koht selle jaoks.

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We were supposed to meet with Mary and Julie who arrived to Amsterdam last night too. Before meeting them we ate breakfast in a pancake cafe and then headed to our meeting place. We walked to Albert Cypti street where was also a street market. You could find so many different things from there-clothes, food, furniture etc. I saw herring with pickles and I had to buy it. I haven’t had a herring since I was in Estonia on Christmas time because Madrid doesn’t have a herring, at least I haven’t seen anywhere. Nobody were so excited about trying it but when they did they liked it. Sometimes I know whats good. My friend Silvia from Estonia recommended a good restaurant on that street. She said that it was very popular with local people. It’s been couple of hours since breakfast so we were ready to eat lunch. It was a Turkish restaurant. The interior was cool and the food was amazing. I recommend to go there! After delicious lunch we went to Heineken brouwery. Heineken exerience was about 2 hour tour where you hear about the beer history, you can do a lot of fun things, make your own heineken bottle and finally drink some beer. It was a really fun!!! With ticket everybody gets 2 free beers but we were sitting next to the bar so we were lucky and got more. When you go to Amsterdam, definately go there. Another cool thing what we did was a canal cruise (Blue Boat Company is the best). The cruise was 75 minutes long. Driving around the canals and seeing all the boathouses were people live was pretty cool. People who live in the boathouses have to have electricity and water like every normal house has. Our cruise ended on a sunset and after that we went to eat dinner in a mexican restaurant. Amsterdam is fun.

H.

Amsterdam - Day 3

19.04.2011

Teisipäev/Tuesday

Minu enesetunne polnud just kiita teisipäeval seega istusin pool päeva hotellis. Käisin hommikust söömas ning peale seda läks Kyle teistega rattastega ringi sõitma. Nagu nad mulle mainisid siis väga kaugele nad ratastega ei jõudnud. Olid pargis käinud ja natukene linnas ringi sõitnud ning oligi aeg rattad tagasi viia. Enne õhtusööki läksid kõik oma hotelli ennast välja puhkama. Õhtu Amsterdamis lõpetasime väga odavas itaalia restoranis mis oli üllatavalt hea. Nii pizzad ja pastad olid ainult 5 eurot. Kahju küll et mu enesetunne mind alt vedas aga mis teha... Igatahes meie 3 päeva Amsterdamis oli vahva ja ega see meie viimaseks korraks siis ei jää....

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I didn’t feel good on Tuesday so half of the day I stayed in the hotel. I wasn’t happy about it but there was nothing to do about it. I went to eat breakfast with everybody and then went back to the hotel. Kyle and everybody else rented a bikes. They ride around the Vondelpark and just around the city. They didn’t get far because I think they only had 2-3 hours. Before dinner everybody went back to their hotel and in the evening we all met in the city center. We walked around to find something good to eat and we saw italian place where all the pizzas and pastas were only 5 euros each. Italian it is. It was cheap and good. I was sad that I didn’ feel good but we still had a great time and hopefully it’s not going to be our last time here because we both like Amsterdam.

Cologne - Day 1

20.04.2011

Kolmapäev/Wednesday

Kell 14:36 sõitsime rongiga Cologne. Sõit kestis 2 tundi. Rongis oli passikontroll aga õnneks Kyle pääses sellest. Tundub et Saksamaal on see kontroll natukene rangem kui mujal. Mary ja Julie ööbisid samas hostelis kus meiegi. Õhtul läksime jalutasime naabruskonnas vähekene ringi ning söime õhtust kohalikus restoranis kus šnitsel oli populaarseim söök. Me kõik tellisime ühe prae aga mitte keegi meist ei suutnud seda ära süüa kuna see oli lihtsalt nii suur. Järgmine kord me teame et enne küsime kui tellime midagi. Kõhud kurguni täis söödud läksime kõrval asuvasse baari et jalgpallimängu vaadata- Real Madrid ja Barcelona. Õhtu lõppes varakult kuna tahtsime homseks ennast välja puhata ning linna uudistama minna.

Rohkem pilte: https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/CologneGermany#

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Our train from Amsterdam to Cologne departured 2:36PM. It took us 2 hours to get there. There was a passport checking on the train. They asked passport from Kyle but I was in the bathroom and I had the documents so when Kyle said that they left. That was lucky. We didn’t know that it was so strict in Germany. Mary and Julie were staying in the same hostel as we. In the evening we went walking around in the neighbourhood. We ate dinner in a schnitzel restaurant. We ate schnitzel in Estonia too. I love it. We all ordered one and when they came we were surprised because they were huge. None of us couldn’t finish it, because it was too big but it was delicious. Next time we know that we should ask before we ordered that how big is the meal, lol :D We were so full. After dinner we went to a bar to watch soccer game- Real Madrid and Barcelona. Our evening ended early because we wanted to start our day tomorrow early to see the city.

More Cologne pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/CologneGermany#

H.

Cologne - Day 2

21.04.2011

Neljapäev/Thursday

Magasime ennast välja ning kella 11 paiku võtsime suuna vanalinna poole. Jalutasime peatänavale mis viis vanalinna. Enna peatänavale minekut söime väikeses pagariäris hommikust-saiake ja kohvi. Sain üle pika aja kohupiimakooki süüa. Peatänaval leidsime paar lahedat poodi. Üks neist oli fotograafia pood, kus müüdi üliägedaid fotosid ning teine oli õlide ja maitseainete pood. Poes sai proovida erinevaid maitseaineid ja õlisid enne kui ostad. Kyle läks päris pöördesse kuna ta ei suuda oliivõlist eemale hoida, haha :D Lõpuks jõudsime peakiriku juurde mis oli vägev. Ei tea miks see kirik musta värvi oli, nagu õudusfilmist. Kiriku kõrval oli ka rongijaam kust ostsime rongipiletid Brüsselisse. Ostsime pileti kus peame 2 korda rongi vahetama. Kiirelt otsustades tegime vale otsuse. Eks näis kui tüütu see saab olema, aga mis tehtud see tehtud. Siiamaani ei olnud ma eriti Cologne’ist vaimistatud aga kui jõudsime Rheini jõeni oli jutt juba teine. Istusime jõe kõrval kohvikus mõnda aega ning seejärel jalutasime üle silla. Silla küljes oli tuhandeid tabalukke. Seda nimetatakse armastusesillaks. Selline sama sild on ka pariisis. Paarid kirjutavad luku peale oma nimed, lukustavad selle silla külge ning viskavad võtme ära – see peaks tähendama siis et nad on koos igavesti. Hommikusöögiks oli möödas jube tunde ja kõhud hakkasid korisema. Otsisime restorani mis pakkus õiget saksa toitu. Rheini jõe kaldal oli neid päris palju. Meil kõigil oli ikka päris raske suhelda inimestega kuna mitte ükski meist ei osanud rääkida saksa keelt. Ma küll õppisin 3 aastat gümnaasiumis, aga midagi külge kahjuks ei jäänud. Õhtusöögiks tellisime verivorsti saksa moodi mis oli hea aga mitte nii hea kui Eesti oma ning erinevus oli ka see et see oli külm. Pearoaks tellisime praekartulid vorstiga mis oli imehea. Peale pikka päeva ringi jalutades suundusime hotelli ning paari tunni pärast läksime istusime hotelli lähedal asuvas baaris ning lõpetasime oma reisi Cologne’is paari saksa õllega.

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Our day started at 11AM when we start walking towards the old town and city center. We walked to the main street what took us to the old town. Before starting our tour we ate breakfast in a small cafe on the main street. We found a couple of really cool stores on the main street. One was a photography store and they had so amazing photos on sale. The other one was oil and vinegar. The store had so many different kinds of olive oils, vinegar and herbs. You could taste everything before you even buy. Kyle wanted everything from there especially olive oil because he just loves it. The store had a personality, it was pretty cool. After walking 30 minutes we made it to the cathedral. I was so big but it was also very dark. We have seen a lot of cathedrals travelling around Europe but it was a scary looking color for a cathedral. I’m curious why it’s so dark. The train station was next to the cathedral so we bought our tickets back to Brussels. We got a ticket and we have to switch train twice. I don’t think it was a good idea, but I guess will see tomorrow. Finally we saw the river- Rhein. That area next to the river was pretty. We sit down to a cafe for a while and enjoyed a beautiful weather. We were getting hungry but decided to walk around a little bit more. We walked across the bridge to the other side. There was a high glass building where you could go on top and see the view over Cologne. The bridge was also like in Paris – lover bridge. There was a thousands of locks on the bridge.Couples write down their names on the lock, lock it to the bridge and throw away the key and they are together forever. Again we didn’t had a lock with us but like Kyle always says that he wants to put a combination lock just in case, lol :D We all were hungry and on the way back strated to find a place were we could eat some german sausage. Didn’t took us a long time to find a place. There were so many restaurants next to the river. None of us didn’t know any german language but somehow we managed to do things all through our Cologne trip. I studied German 3 years in high school but I don’t remember anything what is sad. So, we finally got some Germany sausage what was really good. We also tried blood sausage German style. It wasn’t that good as in Estonia. After long day of walking around we went back to the hotel and in the evening went out to eat dinner close to the hostel. We all were happy with Cologne and I think it was a nice little city.

H.

Brussels and back to Madrid

21.04.2011

Reede/Friday

Reede hommikul sõitsime tagasi Brüsselisse. Seekord pidime 2 korda rongi vahetama kuna saime soodsa rongipileti. Mõtlesime et see võib väga tüütu olla, aga õnneks laabus kõik hästi. Enne rongile minekut Colognes nägime jälle rongijaamas passikontrolli ringi jalutamas. Õnneks jalutasime ruttu eemale, et nad meie juurde ei tuleks. Nad olid päris karmid ja kisasid seal ühe hiina pere peale. Jõudsime õnnelikult Brüsselisse. Brüsselis leidsime hotelli kus me saime tuba jagada neljakesi kuna nii on odavam. Mary ja Julie läksid linna peale ringi jalutama me natukene puhkasime kuna olime Brüsselit juba näinud. Mõne aja pärast läksime otsisime linna pealt midagi süüa. Söime vahvleid jälle ning leidsime tervisliku söögikoha kust ostsime oma lõunasöögi. Käisime ka toidupoes kust mõtlesime et leiame ka midagi põnevat näksimist ning ostsime õhtuks ka mõned belgia õlled. Õhtul hiljem läksime neljakesi vanalinna õhtust sööma ning sellega ka meie reis lõppes.

Tüdrukutel läks lennuk varahommikul meie lendasime õhtul kell 6 ajal. Pidime rongijaamast bussiga lennujaama sõitma ning seal veel paar tundi lendu ootama. Ryanairi lennukid lendavad alati lennujaama mis asub linnast vähemalt tunni bussisõidu kaugusel. Eks see tüütu ole, aga piletid on odavamad. Lõpp hea, kõik hea. Reis oli super äge ja oleme tagasi õnnelikult Madriidis kus meil on jäänud veel ainult 1 kuu ning siis algavad juba uued seiklused uues kohas. Enne Euroopast lahkumist lähme veel Itaaliasse ja suveks tagasi Eestisse.

Kohtumiseni

Heleri

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On Friday morning we went back to Brussels. This time we had to take 3 different trains that means switching twice. We had to do that because we wanted the cheapest tickets. Me and Kyle thought that it was a bad idea, because switching and finding trains is so much trouble but everything worked out. Before going to the train we saw the passport controls walking around the train station. We walked away from them as soon as we saw them. They were yelling to a chinese family asking where they are from and so on. I guess the passport checking is a little bit stronger here in Germany. We made it back to Brussels. We found a hotel big enough for 4 of us to share because it’s cheaper like that. We had 2 queen size beds in the room. Mary and Julie went to walk around in the city center but we stayed in the hotel to rest a little bit. We have already seen Brussels. After a couple of hours we went out to find lunch. We just had to buy belgium waffles because those are sooooo good and we also found a organic food place where we bought our lunch. When I’m travelling I always want to go to the grocery stores because every country has different things in the stores and I want to try them. We bought some belgium beers too to drink in the hotel room before we went out. In the evening we went out to eat our last dinner of our trip.

Mary and Julie flew back to Madrid early on the Saturday morning. Our flight was 6PM. We had to took a bus from the train station to the airport. Ryanair always flies to the airport away from the city so you pretty much every time have to take a bus to the city center. Sometimes it might not be comfortable but the tickets are cheaper. We made it back to Madrid and our trip was awesome. There is only one month left in Madrid and then there is going to be new adventures in a new place. Before leaving from Europe we are going to Italy and then back to Estonia.

Until next time ;)

Heleri

Siit ja sealt!/Here and there !

14.03-20.03.2011

Teisipäeval oli minu esimene tööpäev 30 3 aastase hispaania lapsega. Tunnike möödus kiirelt videoklippe vaadates, laule lauldes ning loomulikult lapsi korrale kutsudes. Lapsi on seal igasuguseid- nii häid kui halbu, aga üldkokkuvõttes mulle meeldib. Neljapäeval tähistasime St.Patricku päeva iiri pubis. Laupäeval käisime india toitu söömas ja kinos. Meie korteri läheduses on nii palju india restorane ja mõnikord sa lihtsalt ei suuda sellele toidule ei öelda. Pühapäeval käisime ühes väikeses hispaania linnakeses- Segovias.

Rohkem pilte Segoviast https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/Segovia#

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On Tuesday I had my first day at work with 30 3 year old spanish kids. An hour went by quickly while watching cartoons, singing songs and of course trying to calm down the kids because they are running around all the time. There are good and also very bad kids in the class but overall I like it, they all are cute. On Thursday we were celebrating St.Patricks day in a irish bar. I’ve never celebrated it before. On Saturday we had a movie day and also decided to eat some indian food. There are so many indian resturants near our apartment sometimes you just can’t resist. On Sunday we went on a day trip to Segovia. It’s a small city near Madrid, about 2 hours train ride. It was beautiful and it was also good to get out from the city, even only for a day.

More pictures of Segovia https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/Segovia#

21.03-27.03.2011

Sellel nädalal ei kuulanud 3 aastased kohe üldse sõna, jooksid ainult ringi ja kisasid. Reedel käisin tööintervjuul-eratund 3 ja 6 aastase poisiga. Sain selle töö. Alustan järgmine nädal. Nädalalõpul olime mõlemad natuke tõbised, seega olime kodused, ravime ning lõbustasime ennast filmide vaatamisega.

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This week the 3 year old kids didn’t listen at all. They were running around all the time and screaming like crazy :) I don’t mind it because that is their job right now-play, lol :D On Friday I went to a job interview.Private class with 3 and 6 year old boy (they are brothers). I got the job and I start next week, yay. On the weekend we both were a little bit sick so we didn’t go anywhere.

28.03-14.04.2011

Kuna olin haige kaotasin oma hääle ja teisipäevases tunnis ei saanud üldse rääkida aga see on päris raske kui pead 3 aastaseid korrale kutsuma ja häält pole. Reedel käisime kinos, aga peale meie filmi hiilisime veel teist filmi vaatama - tasuta :D Laupäeval käisime ja proovisime ära Madriidi Hard Rock Cafe toidu. Päris maitsev oli! Järgmisel laupäeval läksime sõprade Retiro parki ja pidasime piknikku. Ilm oli lihtsalt imeilus. Järgmisel päeval käisime linnast väljas asuvas kaubanduskeskuses. Vahel on lihtsalt hea korraks linnast välja saada. Uue nädala kolmapäeval asendasin ma ühte õpetajat koolis- 6 7 aastast õpilast. Tund möödus hästi ja nad kuulasid mu sõna. Õhtul oli mu eratund 2 vennaga, nemad aga ei kuulanud sõna üldse. Alates uuest nädalast vanemad üritavad samal ajal kodus olla, et poisid sõna kuulaksid. Ka sellel perekonnal on koristaja ja lapsehoidja kodus. Vahel ma ikka imestan kas hispaanlased ise üldse midagi teevad- ma mõtlen just koristamist ja laste kasvatamist. Neljapäev oli viimane tööpäev sest alates esmaspäevast algab hispaanias puhkus-9 puhkepäeva :D Õhtul pakkisime oma kohvrid sest reedel sõitsime oma 9 päevasele puhkusereisile, haha :D

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When being sick I lost my voice and working on Tuesday at school was so hard because if you don’t have your voice you really can’t do anything with 3 year olds. Friday was a movie night again and we also sneaked in to another movie after the first one. 2 for 1 :D Next day we went and ate lunch at Hard Rock Cafe in Madrid. It was good, but I don’t know if US has better food than Madrid Hard Rock Cafe, because I’ve never been there before. On Saturday we had a picnic in Retiro Park with friends. It was a perfect weather for a picnic. Last day of the week we went to a mall outside the city. We had to buy some things but sometimes is just good to go out from the city. Next week Wednesday I was substitute teacher for 6 7 year olds kids at the school. It was a good class. At the evening I had a private class with the brothers. They didn’t listen at all. Starting from next week the parents are going to be at home the same time so the boys will behave. Like my last family this one has also babysitter and a cleaner at home. Sometimes I’m thinking that do the spanish people ever do some things their own. I mean cleaning and raising kids. I just don’t get it. Thursday was the last day at work and on Friday 10 day holiday began.

Heleri