Alghero, Italy

Wow! Italy is very Picturesque!

Boy am I a lucky duck!! It's not every day you get to go to Olbia. Olbia is a town in northeastern Sardinia--Sardinia is a little island off the coast of Italy. My friend Giuseppe and I went there for a visit. I was planning on flying over, but decided to take the boat with my friend. While waiting to leave the Port of Livorno Toscany, my friend and I decided to take a look around. The trip to Olbia, Sardinia takes eight hours so we had plenty of time to explore.

What? He's creepy!

While looking around the boat, Giuseppe and I found Wile E. Coyote. I thought he was pretty scary looking. What if he was hungry for duck at the moment?? I didn't want to go near the thing, but Giuseppe insisted I pose for a picture. He says Wile E. is a very popular cartoon character in a TV show. That didn't change my mind though!! Right after I saw the camera flash, and heard it snap, I got off that thing as fast as my wings could carry me!! Though I do have to admit, it did make a pretty good picture.

Bugs bunny, Tweety bird, Giuseppe and me.

After visiting Wile E. Coyote Giuseppe   decided we should go visit Bugs Bunny. I agreed. I like Bugs Bunny quite a lot. I think he might even be my favorite! He was really funny and he kept telling us jokes and we couldn't stop laughing. We must have chatted for at least an hour.

Tweety Bird didn't disappoint me either! She even let me practice flying take-offs from her beak!! How awesome is that?? Pretty awesome, right? I would start on her beak and then I would stretch way up into the air, jump, and take off! I got really good at take-offs after I was able to practice a while.

At the Piano Bar

After visiting with some friends Giuseppe and I decided to spend and hour or so at the "Piano Bar" before bed. We had a lot of fun drinking cokes and playing the piano. Giuseppe even taught me how to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb." We played a duet together. He whistled, while I flew from key to key. After all the fun, we were finally able to flop down on a bed and sleep.

When we woke in the morning Giuseppe and I discovered that we had arrived safely in Sardinia!! We weren't in Olbia yet, instead we were in a little town called Codrongianus. Giuseppe and I decided to take a look around before heading over to Olbia, because there we could admire a church in the Pisan Romanesque style!! The Basilica of Saccargia.

We still hadn't reached Olbia yet, but here we are in Alghero. Alghero lies in the province of Sassari in northwestern Sardinia, next to the sea. Because of it's strategic position in the Mediterranean Sea, Alghero was built around a fortified port. It was founded around 1102, by the Genoese Doria family.

We have reached Alghero!!!

Wow! That's HUGE!!!!

Giuseppe and I knew it would make a cool picture, so we decided to sneak a peek at the catapult. I thought it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I wonder what it would be like to be in one of those and get shot into the ocean. It might be like a diving board or something!! I hope I can afford to buy one of those someday so I can try it out.

If you stand on the walls of Alghero you can see "The sleeping Giant." I didn't notice him at first, but if you look closely you start to notice his head in front, and behind him you can see his shoulders and his bumpy back. I thought he was even scarier looking than Wile E. Coyote! I think I might be having nightmares in my sleep tonight.

Doesn't he look like a "Sleeping Giant?"

Here Giuseppe and I could see part of the old walls of Alghero. From the area northwest of Alghero Bay you can see the rock, Porto Conte, and the relatives, Punta Giglio and Capo Caccia, a limestone promontory. They offer several fields of study and activities from geology and biology to sports and adventures: activities like trekking and climbing, caving, scuba diving, and even cave diving! There are more than 300 discovered caves above and under water and even semi-submerged!! Neptune's Grotto is the most famous and the most visited thanks to the accessibility and connection by ferries and steps from land.

Neptune's Grotto

Giuseppe and I decided we might as well see the city wall from a different angle and splash in the sea. I liked the look of the walls because they were ancient, and rough. They looked pretty rocky to me. My favorite part about the walls, though was the little turret behind me. I think it would make the coolest fort. I could make a little hideout in there--and even stay the night!! I could work on my maps and plan where to go next and decide which friends to see and when. I could even turn it into a little watch tower, and warn the people when intruders were on their way!! I hope someday I'm able to get myself one of those.

Don't you agree that would make the coolest fort??!

Have you ever heard the song "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles?

 In the town where I was born, Lived a man who sailed to sea, And he told us of his life,
In the land of submarines, So we sailed on to the sun, Till we found the sea green,
And we lived beneath the waves, In our yellow submarine, We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine.... 

Have you ever heard that song? If you haven't I suggest you do. It's a classic.
  

"We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine, yellow...."

After all the fun Giuseppe and I had on the way, we made it to Olbia, Sardinia! I had a wonderful time in Italy. I am sooo glad I went!

Giuseppe and I returned to Pisa, Italy and Giuseppe went to "Antony and Roca" for a new hairstyle. While he was at it, I decided to get a hair cut also. It fits me quite nicely.

Pretty nice haircut, am I right?

Quack Report:

My quack was good, but not as good as I'd hoped. The echo wasn't the best either--that's okay though. I'll always be able to try again a different time. 

Wow!! I can see a lot with these!

Splash! Splosh! Splish!

Camp Casey-- South Korea

That's me on the soldier's hat!

My friend and me at camp.

Guess what? This week I got to visit some of my friends in the army in South Korea!! I visited some soldiers stationed at Camp Casey, the home of the Army's 2nd Infantry Division.

My friend is a platoon sergeant in a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Field Artillery Battery. A battery is basically the same as a company but since he's field artillery it's called a battery.

I visited during Hooah training. That is when the men go into a gas chamber so they will know what it feels like to be gassed if it happens during battle.

Coming out of the gas chamber.

The soldiers let me go into the gas chamber with them--which I thought would be pretty fun. Boy was I wrong.

Being gassed is not something you would want to do. Your throat starts burning, and your eyes hurt, but I guess it's good to practice so you're ready if it really happens.

After Hooah training, my friend and I got to go and explore Camp Casey.

Me in front of the 2nd ID Statue

This is a picture of 2nd Infantry Division Native American statue just inside the main gate on post.The statue was huge!  I wish I could grow to be that big someday.  Then my quacks would be ginormous and my echo could be heard a thousand miles out. But unfortunately, I don't think it is possible for a duck to have that kind of growth spurt.

This picture is of the US and Korean flags with the 2nd Infantry Division patch in between. I thought the 3 flags all right next to each other were pretty cool. Especially because they were right in the middle of camp.



Quack Report: 

I tested out my quack right when I arrived because I wanted to quack before I went into the gas chamber. It was okay, I guess. The echo was definitely satisfying, though, my throat wasn't working quite well that day. However, the gas from the chamber played havoc with my quack for days. Too bad they don't make duck sized gas masks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to stop by to say Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends! I hope you are all having a great holiday!

Dubai

Splish, splash! I bet you can't guess where I am!

Don't you just LOVE the beach? Well I do! This week I had the pleasure of visiting the beach in Dubai.

In the background you can see the Burj Khalifa.

The beach I visited is called Jumeriah Beach. It was pretty amazing because I had the perfect view of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It's HUGE!! I am so glad I got to go and see a building that is 829.84 meters tall. They started building in September of 2004 and it wasn't finished until October 2009 and it finally opened in January 2010! I guess it takes a lot of work to build a building like that.


Not only could we see the tallest building in the world, but we also got to look at the Burj Al Arab. The Burj Al Arab is a famous building because it looks like a sail with kites in the background. Its a 5 star luxury hotel and it is the fourth tallest hotel in the world. It is also on an artificial island connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. Boy! I wish I could stay there for one of my adventures!

Behind me you can see the Burj Al Arab.

 After seeing all the cool sights, my friend and I played in the sand and splashed in the water. I think the Dubai beach was one of the greatest  beaches I've ever been to because of all the cool things to look at. I'm pretty sure I would like to visit again sometime.


Quack Report:

My quack was pretty satisfying. All of the people at the beach heard it!! My echo bounced back and forth all over the place!! It was pretty amazing.

This is me checking out a Dubai license plate

National Aquarium and Science Center: Baltimore, Maryland

Last weekend I went to Maryland.  This is a view of the Inner Harbour.

 
I had a lot of fun sitting by the water and visiting various shops.  I ate fudge at a fudge factory until my beak was sore. At the factory the musicians sing while they make the fudge, I quacked out a tune with them. They said I have real musical talent. They also have an outdoor pavillion where clowns and magicians perform. 

Because I am a duck, fish are one of my natural friends. That's why I was so excited to visit the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland.

Outside of the aquarium I came across a boat that looks exactly like a shark.  He was so big and his teeth looked so real that I was afraid he was going to eat me. Luckily I made it out of there safely.

At the aquarium there is a four story shark tank walk-through. I decided I like sharks better when they are behind glass. They were really cool to look at. One of them kept bumping up against the glass because he wanted to eat me. I was glad he couldn't and thought it was fun watching him try.

When we came across the hands-on section I held a starfish. I've always wanted to hold starfish! I thought it was cool to feel the rough texture on the top and the suckers on the bottom. I even got to holds a horseshoe crab.  He was my favorite.  He kept smiling at me so I smiled back.

There were a lot of other amazing things at the aquarium, like glow in the dark fish, electric eels and a real life rainforest!  If you've never been you should go.

After the aquarium I decided to stop by the Maryland Science Center. When I arrived I saw an amazing art sculpture that is currently on display in front of the museum. I didn't want to fly under it because I was afraid one of the spikes would hurt me so I very carefully walked around it instead.  Spikes or not, I thought it was sublime.

The Maryland Science Center is a lot of fun.  I got to learn about all sorts of sciencey things like dinosaurs, physics, and the way a body works.  There was even a ball that when I touched it made my feathers stand on end. We also saw an amazing giant bubble machine. I got stuck in one of the bubbles but I poked my tail feather this way and that and managed to pop the bubble.

We even saw this really cool picture of a T-rex. I have a big imagination and enjoyed pretending the T-rex was eating me.  But I got away by a feather.





Quack Report: 

I decided to give my quack right in front of the T-rex. He looked pretty scared to me. It was my best quack yet. In fact, it might have been the best quack in the history of quacks.

Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurt, Germany

 Last time I visited Germany, I had a very fun time, and learned a lot. And so I was especially excited to embark on another spectacular adventure with my friend Nicole in Frankfurt.

Germany is made up of 16 different states and Frankfurt is the largest city in the German state of Hesse.  It is also the fifth largest city in Germany. Being such a large city there are a lot of places for me to explore.

Ding Ding! Here comes the Apple Wine Express!

Nicole and I decided to take a ride on the Apple Wine Express.  The Apple Wine Express is a way for tourists to see the main sightseeing attractions in Frankfurt.  It takes about an hour but its worth it! They give you yummy pretzels and you can choose to have a glass of apple wine or apple juice.  Because I knew I would be flying later, I chose the apple juice.  It was fantastic.

Wow this bridge is really high.

After that we decided to visit the "Eiserner Steg" or The Iron Footbridge. The Iron Footbridge was built during 1868 and 1869 as a way to get across The Main--the river in Frankfurt. I asked Nicole if people ever ride their bikes across the bridge but she said that it is usually crowded so everyone walks across it.  I could have flown across a lot faster but it is a footbridge so I walked across it like everybody else. While I was walking across it, I saw some amazing skyscrapers. No other city in Germany has skyscrapers like Frankfurt so some people call Frankfurt "Main Hattan."

Frankfurt is full of privately owned little restaurants with all different types of food.  They don't have many chains--though they do have some like McDonald's and Pizza Hut.

The restaurant that Nicole and I decided to stop by for some dinner was a small, local, cozy cafe.We had Hot Applewine and some Applecake. All of it was yummy, and warm.

The sign for the restaurant we went to said: Hot Applewine (that is a specialty from Hessen which is a bit like cider),  Hot Glühwein (a hot spiced wine) and Cheese and Apple-cake. It was one of my favorite restaurants to go to.

Quack Report:

I tested my quack while we were at the Main.  The echo bounced off the water a few times.  It was great!

Los Angeles, California

Wow!! LA is huge!!

This week I got to visit LA with my friends Rebecca and Reza. We had the best time!

See the sign upside down?! Pretty cool huh?

We stayed in a hotel named The Standard, but things at The Standard are anything but standard. For starters the sign out front is upside down! I asked why and they said there was no particular reason. They did it just because it was fun.

Then, when we checked-in we saw a mermaid in a pool behind the front desk. While my friends were getting our room, I splashed around with her for a few minutes. The hotel was very unique and really cool.

I'm on top of the organ getting ready to jump to the keys

In the lobby at The Standard they had an organ so I decided to play it--or at least try to. My wing tips didn't quite reach, but I wasn't too broken up about it because I had a lot of fun jumping around on the keys.

Checking-in was so exciting that when we got to our room, I plopped down on the bed and took a nice, long nap.

When I woke from my nap, we went to see my friend's office. He has a great view of the L.A. city sky-line. L.A. has a very pretty skyline because there are tall buildings everywhere.

While my friend worked we looked out over the city. I pondered all the things I've been seeing on my travels these last few weeks. I really am a lucky duck!

Seriously, what an amazing view!

I also got to see the Library Tower. It is the tallest building west of Chicago, in both North and South America. It is called Library Tower because it was built as part of the Los Angeles Central Library redevelopment area after two fires destroyed the area in 1986.

Library Tower is the white round one.

I'd had so much fun my wings were too tired to fly home.  I took a plane instead. The flight was long, and I dozed off several times, but it didn't matter. I had a great time anyway.

Quack report:

Before I drifted off to sleep in the plane, I decided to test my echo--so I didn't forget. I was kinda drowsy, so my quack sounded scratchy, but the echo was pretty good on the plane.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam is very picturesque!

This past weekend I decided to visit some of my friends in Amsterdam. Amsterdam is the largest city in the Netherlands. It is also the capitol of the Netherlands. Pretty Amazing, huh?

Duck on a Bike

Amsterdam is a great place to live.  My friends say that Amsterdam has everything except parking spots.  That was not a problem for us though, because we walked and rode our bikes everywhere.  Whew!  I sure got a lot of exercise!

We saw bikes everywhere! Amsterdam is considered the bicycling capitol of Europe.  It is estimated that there are about 700,000 bikes in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is a very cultural city.  Did you know that the Dutch painter Rembrandt had a house in Amsterdam between 1639 and 1660? We swung by to check it out.

Rembrandt was a Dutch painter and etcher.  I think he was one of the greatest artists in history. He painted and etched during a time called the Dutch Golden Age because there were so many amazing  Dutch artists at that time.

Amsterdam has great food too! For lunch we had a hard decision, there was Cafe De Sluyswacht, and Cafe in De Waag. We finally decided on Cafe De Sluyswacht. It was all very tasty. They even had these little things called a poffertjes. Poffertjes are like mini pancakes, with powdered sugar on top. It was oh, so good! Yum!!

Cafe In De Waag and Cafe Sluyswacht

Quack report: 

While riding the bike, I decided to test out my quack. I wanted this to be a good one, so I put a lot of air into my lungs, and tried really hard. Unfortunately, I may have tried a little too hard, because I ended up falling off of the bike, and into the canal. My quack was squelched by the water. Needless to say, there was no echo.That's okay though, I had a fun swim.

Lake Arrowhead, California

I have been traveling quite a lot lately, so I decided to take some time off and go on a little vacation to Lake Arrowhead, California. It was amazing!

I got to relax, enjoy the scenery, and visit and swim with some of my duck friends who live at Lake Arrowhead. My friends even showed me where some of my favorite movies were filmed--like"Heidi", "Space Jam," and "Parent Trap." I was a little jealous, because they told me they got to be part of the extras in some of them.



Half way through the swim, I got a little hungry, so I bought some food. I thought 50 cents for duck food was a pretty good deal. But you get what you pay for--their duck food was nothing like the hot dogs at Autzen Stadium, or the Oysters at Hog Island. But it was still pretty good.

The lake is 782 acres long so my friends and I had plenty of space to play. We played games, and all sorts of fun stuff! All in all, I had a pretty fun time.


Quack report: 

I tested my quack's echo in the water with my duck friends.  My quack was super loud and the echo bounced all over.  My friends were very pleased.