A BLAST IN BARCELONA
By: jessica, 13, NY (AKA tennispro00)

This past summer I went to Barcelona, Spain. It was beautiful. There is so much to see, and I wish I had more time there. In Barcelona we started off by walking down a street, called "Las Ramblas." It is very famous and has little shops, stands, and people posing as mines surrounding you. We also went to the Picasso Museum. It was full of about 30 rooms worth of Picasso's work. All of the art was beautiful - I could have spent days there! The streets are beautiful. There are the main streets where cars drive, and there are a bunch of smaller, cobble stone streets for people. These cobble stone streets have shops and restaurants along the sides. Also, there are a few churches which are beautiful. Even if you aren't religious, they are full of beautiful art works and architecture. I would love to go back - I bet you would too!

THE OLYMPIC GAMES
By: Claire, 9, IL (AKA sparklestar966)

During the summer of 2004, my older cousin was on the US Olympic softball team and my family got to go to Athens, Greece to watch her play! We watched every game. And they won every game they played! We stayed in a house with the Mediterranean Sea in its back yard! We stayed there with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and my other aunt for two weeks. We also did sight-seeing around ancient Greece. We went to a whole city in ruins! Some of it was still in pretty good shape. It was amazing to see how smart the people were. They had public bath houses and temples, and even a town square. We also went to the biggest thing I had ever seen, the temple of Zeus, or the Acropolis. It was amazing! Half of it was being restored and you couldn't go in, but it was so cool! It was hard to believe that thousands of years ago, people walked here every day, and that it's still here now. It was up a giant hill. One moment you're in a busy city, and then, a huge hill with the Acropolis on top appears in front of you! My cousin ended up winning the gold medal and I got to try it on! It was HEAVY! It had an angel holding the city of Athens in his hand. My cousin really inspired me to follow my dreams and that whatever they are, they can come true.