Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Tuesday, April 27, 2010: Leonardo and His Crazy Inventions









































(Alexander). Today we hiked through the old city of Amboise, past a number of cave homes (homes built into cliffs and rock) to Leonardo de Vinci's last home. He lived the rest of his life there (3 years). At his home, I saw the bedroom where he died in. In the painting on the wall, Leonardo is being held by the King Francis I. This King invited Leonardo to live in royality and to move from Italy to Amboise. The King had a special tunnel built to connect between his castle to Leonardo's house so he could visit without disturbing Leonardo. I also saw many sketches and drawings. Most of his paintings he did not complete. He had a private chapel where he prayed. He was a Roman Catholic. I saw some of his writings - these were written backwards so that people could not copy him. In order to read his writings, you need a mirror. I saw were he ate. I also saw many of his models/inventions such as the bicycle, catapolt, the helicopter, the waterwheel for watermill, the first multiple-shot gun which I got to fire (at daddy), the double-decker bridge (which we pulled down by accident - just kidding), paddle wheel boat, the lifting device, the centrificle force swing (which sent me and daddy flying), the armour car (where I spun so fast that I hit the wall), the water screw that did not work. My favorite part of the morning was playing and trying out Leonardo's inventions in the park. I was so hungry that I almost ate the dandylion flowers. But thank goodness for money, mommy and daddy bought me some food and I enjoyed a wierd pizza with eggs, cheese, chicken, green peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni, etc. and I drank cocalac (a cold chocolate drink which was yummy). After lunch, we went to La Chateau du Amboise where Leonardo is buried. We were so tired that we crashed on the grass. On the way home, we stopped too many times for me to handle. First at a chocolatier shop, then a toy shop, then a kitchen shop. Finally, the last stop was the door to our cottage. Daddy just had to go out one more time to catch the moon jumping over the castle.

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