courtesy of RUDDICK TOURS 'Great Tours of Britain & Ireland'
Christopher's Column .... 
Issue No. 7 Spring/Summer 2007
Hi everyone!
My name's Christopher. I'm 11 years old and live in London, England, UK and this is my column for kids. I go to Deanesfield Junior School in South Ruislip.
Since my last column I've had one or two adventures that I'll tell you about.
I had a piano exam last year and managed to pass, (it was my grade 3). It was a bit scary but my third exam, so I suppose I'm getting more used to it; but it's still not much fun at the time!
I went to Spain with Dad and Nan in February, but the first special event this year was in January when we celebrated my Nan's 80th birthday. Family and friends went to North Wales and we all stayed in a high mountain hotel for the weekend. We had a great time.
My dream for a long time has been to visit Egypt, and i have just come back from a great holiday there with my mum.
By the way, if your parents don't know you're seeing this please show it to them and always ask their permission before you surf the net, and before you send e-mails to anyone.
I hope you enjoy this issue - see you soon!
Best wishes, Christopher.
IN THIS ISSUE CBBC News - Egypt - my dream holiday, here's all about it .. My favourite websites - Serious sites, funny sites, cool sites .. Quick Quiz - Can you score 10/10? Knock knock jokes! - More of those annoying jokes. Does anyone know any better ones for the next issue? Write to me here. Friends from around the world - Pics of one of our new friends who did a Roman history tour with his Mum, Dad and my Dad Cute Pics - Here are some good ones ... Riddles ... Can you guess the answers? Very Silly Test - It's just too easy, or is it? Stop press - a strange story ... Factoid of the Day - a new fact uploaded daily |
News from the BBC about events around the World automatically updated every day, plus quizzes and other stuff ...
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Me, big brother Tom and Molly, my sister Katy's dog |
The birthday banquet |
Nan's cake |
My Nan. She loves hiking, is very fit and can still walk 12 miles in a day! This was in Spain last year. We were doing a walk and stopped for a picnic when the donkey appeared and decided to share our meal, whether we wanted to or not! We all had a good laugh because when he couldn't get the sandwich in my hand he took to trying to eat my hair instead, and then insisted on getting into the photo! |
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I've wanted to go to Egypt for a very long time and finally got there in early April this year with my mum. Here's all about my Egyptian holiday adventure ...
We left early in the morning for London Gatwick airport and when we arrived we had breakfast at McDonalds. We had to wait a while before boarding the aircaraft so we read our books. When the plane took off we watched an in-flight movie, Casino Royale. The flight took 5 hours. We had Shepherd's Pie for lunch on the plane. When we got to Luxor we were transferred to our boat for a 7-day cruise down the river Nile. |
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The next day we had a meeting about what was going to happen, and we next visited Edfu Temple it was enormous!! In the evening we went to Kom Ombo, a double temple. The next day we sailed down to Aswan where we saw the Unfinished Obelisk, Philae Temple, the High Dam and the Osirus Papyrus museum. We then went to a perfumery. In the evening we had an Egyptian treasure hunt where we had to find some things. |
On Thursday we drove up to Abu Simbel. It was amazing!!!! In this picture the beard of the Pharoah is straight, which means that he was alive when it was carved. |
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We then got a Feluka (boat) ride to Elephantine Island (a beautiful forest-like garden, with trees from all around the world). Friday was our free day so we went in the pool all day! |
This is one of the birds I saw on Elephantine Island .. |
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We got up early on Saturday and had a hot air balloon ride which went over some houses and the desert. We also saw some goats from above, and though the heat from the burner was very intense, the experience was fantastic. We then saw the Valley of the Kings, the Collosi* of Memnon and Queen Hatcheptsut's temple. On that day it was 48 degrees centigrade (about 120 farenheit). |
The next day we visited Karnak and Luxor temples (Karnak is the biggest temple). |
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Then we flew to Cairo and saw the pyramids and went inside one!!!!!!!! |
We took a camel ride to a place where you could take good photos of the pyramids. The ride wasn't too bumpy and I liked it. |
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This is one of the photos I took from that point .. |
This is the step pyramid at Saquara, the first ever pyramid built! It was built in the reign of King Djoser. Constructed by the architect Imhotep. He was later referred to as the God of Architecture. |
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We then flew to Hurgada, a Red Sea resort for the last three days where we spent some time snorkelling. I saw a Moray Eel when I was snorkelling! It was about a metre long (3 feet+) and about 30 cm (a foot) wide! It might sound scary but it wasn't. We then flew back home and watched Night at the Museum on the plane. It was a fantastic holiday, and I didn't want it to end! |
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My favourite websites
Serious Website
Click here for a Cool Science Site For Curious Kids
- pretty good stuff from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute ..
Fun Website
Click here for National Geographic's Kids' Site
.... You'll find quizzes, games and much more ..
Space games - SpaceDay Website - they've got some cool games
Now why don't you tell me your favourite sites and I'll add them next issue!
Friends from around the World
Many thanks to Pete's Dad for sending in the following pictures. Pete is from New York, USA, and his hobbies and interests include games but also all things Roman. Last year he made a UK tour with his parents, and my Dad took them to see some of the more important Roman finds here. Did you know there are lots of Roman remains in Gt. Britain? The reason is because we were part of the Roman Empire from 43AD to 410AD ... |
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Pete, exploring one of the Roman forts on Hadrian's Wall, Northumbria. The wall was built around 120AD, on the orders of Emperor Hadrian, to defend against the warlike northern tribes, the Picts. It aimed to keep them out of the Roman south, whilst also marking the northern limits of the Empire in Britannia. |
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Here, Pete is walking on a section of the famous wall. |
You can just make out Pete's head; he is looking over the parapet of a mile fort .. |
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Not Roman, but it was no big detour to see this excellent medieval castle. It's where they filmed parts of the Harry Potter movies. The Hogwarts Quidditch games were played on this spot ... |
KNOCK KNOCK Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock |
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Say the word 'MILK' out loud, four times ..........
Now answer the question: What do cows drink?
1. The more of them you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?
2. What goes around and around the wood but never goes into the wood?
3. What word looks the same upside down and backwards?
4. What are two things you cannot eat for supper?
5. How many seconds are there in a year?
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things we like to do
Hobbies and sports and interests .... this section needs some input from YOU!
Tell us what you like to do, why, how to get into it, why you like it, that kind of thing, then we'll include it in the next issue ..
THE QUEEN
The Queen and her husband, Prince Phillip were entertaining the US President and his wife during their Official State Visit to the UK. They were making the ceremonial journey along the Mall in London in very grand horse-drawn carriages.
As they passed the waving crowds one of the horses 'broke wind' and the sound and smell carried to the Queen and the President seated at her side. Embarrassed by this, the Queen decided it would be correct etiquette not to ignore it, but to make a remark in order to save them both any further embarassment.
So the Queen leaned over to the President and whispered: "Please do excuse me, I'm very embarrassed about that." To which the President whispered in reply, "that's ok ma'am, actually, I thought it was the horse".
Cute pictures zone
| ''Go on. Let's be friends ...'' |  |
| ''That one just cracks me up ...'' |  |
Have you got one? Then please send it in
Previous issues of this column |
Is your flag here? If it isn't you should tell me so I can get my Dad to add it with the others!
QUIZ ANSWERS 1: The weather 2: Peter Pan 3: The Snowy Owl 4: Canberra 5: Portuguese 6: The Rand 7: On a typewriter or computer's keyboard 8: 82 9: The Earth. But ever wondered why we call it 'Earth', when 2/3rds of its surface is water?! 10: 50 |
1. Footsteps
2. Bark
3. SWIMS
4. Breakfast and lunch
5. 12. (January the second, February the second, etc.)
Water, of course! If you anwered 'milk', sorry, you're wrong. They give milk but they drink water ..!
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RUDDICK TOURS - "Great tours of Britain" Last up-dated:
April 4, 2008