Snuttig, Dubingiai, Lithuania

marcie08 Posted May 27, 2009, 12:22 pm	Hi! I'm Snuttig. That's a Swedish name because my Mom adopted me from IKEA. I would really like to travel the world! As you can see on my life missions, I'm interested in food, tourist attractions and sports. Do you want to help me and be my first host???? Can't wait to start my travel! Snuttig
marcie08 Posted Jun 5, 2009, 3:35 pm	So, I'm off to California now! I hope I'll get there soon! I had a goodbye party with my fellow TVs and now I'm heading to the post office! I'm so excited! Snuttig
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jun 13, 2009, 9:55 am	Hi Mom!! So I've made it safely to California...my new hostess,Sara, was very happy to see me. yes! some fresh air! She was pleased to see the note you wrote her and the yummy chocolate you sent! (She says Thank You by the way :] ) I then got to meet her Eeyores and told them about my journey from Austria to California. Then it was off to work for Sara and me!! There is so much traffic on the other side of the freeway because this is the time most people go home after a long day of work. But not for Sara and me! We have an easy time getting to work with no traffic...see? Oh and on the way we got to see the Goodyear Blimp ...can you see it in the background?? We finally get to the office and Sara let me press the button on the elevator. And then she showed me her humble desk... Phew! We're tired so now it's time to get home... Overall it was a nice easy day for me on my first trip away from home as a TV.  Sara has some plans to go to Los Angeles next week and she plans to show me around. I can't wait! I'll let you know when we do or see something special. Bye for now!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jun 23, 2009, 8:50 am	Hello Mom!! So today me and Moony went to the beach with Sara and her friend. We were safe and used Sun protection... We saw some people playing beach volleyball...can you see them in the back there? We then got hungry and decided to take a walk on the pier to get lunch... Look at all the people who went to the beach! We found this truck on the pier... And this is where we had lunch! Sorry there aren't any pictures of food though...Sara and her friend were so hungry they gobbled it up in a hurry!! Then after we ate we took some more pictures of us playing at the beach. Enjoy!! I had a fun time at the beach. Later on we'll be going to Los Angeles and having alot of fun there. Can't wait to tell you all about it Mom! Until then!!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jun 28, 2009, 10:04 am	Hi Mom! So there has been a slight change of plans. Sara's brother has just left for Costa Rica for 2 weeks and she thought it would be a better idea if I went with him and then when I come back to go to LA or around Long Beach. Hope you don't mind! I'm looking forward to showing you lots of pictures from the trip so look forward to a BBBIIIIGGGGG update from me in a few weeks! Love you and talk to you soon! Bye!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jul 16, 2009, 8:58 pm	Hi Mom! Wow did me and Moony have some fun times in Costa Rica...I have alot of pictures to show you!! There are so many that i will divide them up into three updates...one of pictures of me there...one of the different animals I got to see and one of the scenery there. Ok so here goes! On the plane...I kept Moony calm...he was a little nervous Where we're going Arriving at the house Out to dinner...sorry no pictures of food here! Out around the house...no neighbors in sight! A river near by Look! Riding a motorcycle taking a little adventure... HANGING out...haha get it?
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jul 16, 2009, 9:35 pm	Now here are all the animals I got to see...it was like the whole country was an open zoo!! Horses at the house Birds nest dogs at the house and the different birds there too and frogs... one is in the house!! a big bug...yuck! and look! an anteater in a tree!!...he was shy haha ok one last update left...hope you've been enjoying my adventures mom!!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jul 16, 2009, 10:08 pm	ok Mom...the last of my pictures of Costa Rica...there are so many so I will let most of the pictures speak for themselves :] the airport the food a church the house the money Costa Rica!!! View of us coming back from the plane...aww...so good to be back :] Well i hope you enjoyed my adventures as much as i did! i had such a good time mom! Sara might take us around downtown later on this week.  i'll keep you updated. bye for now!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jul 23, 2009, 10:25 am	Hi Mom! Today we got to meet a new TV her name is Nathalie. She came over from Florida on monday. Sara decided to take us along on a walk with her dog Kika...we are going to see the riverbed since her brother told her they fixed it up and it looks really nice. Here we go! Sara thought this was a nice picture of her neighborhood we saw this crazy pair along the way... We stop by a park on the way to the riverbed...there is a school across the street from it as well behind the park are the tracks for the Metro train that runs by and behind that is a driving range for golfers...kinda hard to spot in this picture here's the school they have an amazing old school bell there we then continue on our way to the riverbed...we have to walk along this street thats next to the train tracks...but there are trees and a wall between them.  Sara found this little path she never noticed before we then reach the gate of the riverbed trail Sara doesn't recognize the place...when  she used to run here 8 yrs ago it used to look like this...all dried up and ugly Now look at it!! we saw some ducks in this picture u can see the train as it passes by some signs we really enjoy the way it looks now...so pretty! and so many birds and animals it was a hot day so we got some rest before we headed back home I will be leaving sunny (and hot!) California soon to go to my new host in Canada... I'll keep you posted on my last days here. Bye for now!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jul 25, 2009, 10:38 am	Hi mom! So we went walking around Signal Hill today.  Its a small little community on top of a hill where you can see everything! It has alot of little parks and a rich history dealing with oil welling.  Here are the pictures...enjoy! At the park... the views up here were fantastic! unfortunately...Sara's camera died so she had to use her camera phone...hope you don't mind the bad quality :/ in addition to the views there was so much else to see...like statues... flowers... A post truck... a plane fly by... Sara thought it was interesting to see an FCC tower in a neighborhood... We even saw some monks walking around! The park had some exercise areas so we decided to try it out... the different areas and neighborhoods had different names...this is Panorama Promenade there was once a fire up here you can see the Long Beach airport from here...(the big brown field in the back) a gated community another park it had some flags near by...the American flag, the California flag and an unknown third flag... it was another hot day so we decided to cool down and go home.  I am enjoyiing my final days here in California and am eager to move on to Canada this coming week. Bye for now!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jul 29, 2009, 5:45 pm	Hi mom, So I just wanted to let you know that today I will be leaving California to move on to my next host in Canada. Moony and Nathalie gave me a nice goodbye. Bye mom! let you know once I've reached my new host!
smaug Posted Aug 16, 2009, 5:23 am	Hi Mum, I have arrived in Calgary  , where it’s just a bit colder than in sunny Califonia, brrr, what a change  . Here I met other TVs, Sully Monster, who is visiting from Australia, Purple Haze who comes from England and sammino who is a stay-at-home TV.  This morning the weather was a bit better, or so they told me , so we went with smaug for a site visit in Cochrane, a small town west of Calgary. Apparently the main business in town is still ranching Here is the Bow River flowing past the town... And here are a couple of photos of Cochrane, you can see the Rockies in the background. On the way back we stopped at Canada Olympic Park. This was the main venue for sky jumping, luge and bobsled during the 1988 winter Olympics and it is still used for training and international competitions....in winter  . In summer people come here for the mountain bike and hiking trails and last week there was a big music festival. First we checked out the luge track This is one of the starts; there are different start points for man, women, junior athletes and tourists Later we had a look at the HS123 (90m) jumping tower. In summer the tower is the starting point of the fastest zipline in North America, with the riders flying down at up to 140km/h  , that should be exciting
smaug Posted Aug 18, 2009, 2:47 am	Hi Mum, today it was still cold and the weather was rather bad so smaug decided to go to work...and we went with him  . The others have been there before, but it was my first visit to the office. First we checked the view out of the window, not too exciting  . Then, since smaug was working in another room we took control of the computer. Ehi, those are our updates from yesterday  . After surfing the net we started playing with the screens....mmm, these screens are so thin that you can barely sit on them And after that we checked the plotter out. After so much activity we decided that we needed some sugars, so we stopped at the snack packs in the kitchen for a well deserved break  ...yumm, almond covered with chocolate, delicious  Tonight we all gathered to say goodbye to Purple Haze. She is going back to England to spend some time at home. I wish I had more time to know her, but I might meet her again somewhere around the world
smaug Posted Aug 25, 2009, 6:20 pm	Hi Mummy! It’s been some time since my last update, but smaug  was a bit busy  . Good news is that we have come with him to Toronto for a few days, wow  . After spending a day resting at the hotel, today we had our first chance to quickly check out the city. First we walk down towards the CN Tower and took a photo there. Close to the CN Tower is the Rogers Centre (that used to be called the SkyDome), the main stadium in Toronto for baseball, and Canadian football. There was a baseball game on today, with touts trying to sell tickets at every corner, even in front of the police (isn’t that illegal??  ). Anyway, smaug doesn’t really care about baseball so we just took another photo and moved on. And here are again Rogers Centre and CN Tower from a bit further away. Later on we had to get in the north of Toronto to see the tennis Canadian Open, how cool  . Here I am out of the Rexall Centre, just before reaching the main gate. And here it's me again inside the stadium  . Just while we were taking the photos it started pouring down and we had to run for cover. It kept raining for a good hour delaying the whole programme, but eventually the evening session started.  The only casualty of the downpour was the camera that refused to work again  , but the tennis was good  . sammino almost caused a bit of turmoil when he saw that the system used by the players to challenge calls is called hawk-eye and decided to fly down to the umpire offering to upgrade that to a much more reliable eagle eye (his own  ), but smaug kept a good hold of him  .
smaug Posted Aug 26, 2009, 5:19 am	Hi Mum, Today the camera was working again...well, it was more or less working. It was actually working quite selectively as, for example we passed twice in front of the City Hall and twice it decided not to work so smaug told us that obviously it wasn’t our destiny to take a photo there  . But it worked at other locations  . Here I am at Queen’s Park in front of the Ontario Legislature. This man is supposed to be the first Canadian prime minister, but he didn’t even bother to turn around when we said hallo to him, how rude  Wondering around the city we came across this leggy building that hosts a the Ontario college for art and design. We then visited the shore of Lake Ontario and we stopped a bit looking at the boats sailing in the bay between Toronto and the Toronto Islands. From there you can also see Toronto City Airport...if you squint you can see a plane taxiing on the runway behind me. Then we visited the Music Gardens. The garden design interprets in nature Bach’s First Suite for Unaccompanied Cello, with each dance movement within the suite corresponding to a different section in the garden  . Here we are in the Courante section of the gardens. And then it was eventually time to go back to Calgary: bye bye Toronto
smaug Posted Aug 28, 2009, 4:36 pm	Hi Mum, today smaug had to work in Penticton, BC and he took all of us TVs with him  . Not that we had much time to explore around as we flew into Kelowna airport and drove quickly down to Penticton where we spent the whole day stuck in an office, and then back the same way  . Still, on the way back we managed to take a couple of pictures along Okanagan Lake  . The lake valley is beautiful: full of vineyards and peach trees. Pity we couldn’t stop a bit longer and enjoy the sun on one of the beaches lining the lakeshore. Instead we took a couple of more photos at Kelowna airport: this is a view of the valley….yes, it is also a detailed view of the car park, we couldn’t really get it out of the photo without climbing on a tree  … …and this is Kelowna airport main terminal. It was a nice day, at least we could enjoy the view from the car without having to drive  . Bye
smaug Posted Sep 1, 2009, 4:22 pm	Hi Mummy, today the weather was gorgeous, not a single cloud in the sky. So smaug took us out for a hike near Banff. We left the car at Mount Norquay car park…that was actually almost empty. Mt Norquay is one of the three main ski resorts within Banff National Park but in summer everything is closed around here. This is the information map with all the slopes in the area. Most of them are labeled as black-diamond or double-black-diamond: that means they are only for experienced skiers  . On our trail at one point we had to cross this thunderous stream and we were really excited at the idea of wading through it  … …of course, smaug opted for a less wet way to cross  . After a couple of hours we saw the first glimpse of our destination: the place is called Cascade Amphitheatre.  Cascade because it is just below Cascade Mountain and amphitheatre because the valley is closed by an amphitheatre of vertical rock walls. As we got closer we could get some more photos of Cascade Mountain… ...while on the other side you can see other mountains in the distance. And here I was almost below the vertical walls of the amphitheatre. On the way back we stopped to play a bit with the chairlifts in Mt Norquay  . And we also met these bighorn sheep who were kind enough to take a picture with us  . Bye Snuttig
smaug Posted Sep 7, 2009, 5:36 am	Hi Mum! Today we went hiking in the Sunshine Village area. Sunshine is one of the most popular ski resorts in Alberta. The valley leading to our destination was covered by a thick forest on all sides with just the road cutting through it. Here we are at the car park. Behind me is the gondola that in winter takes the skiers up to Sunshine Village, in summer there is a shuttle bus carrying hikers there. And here you can see some of the gondola cars left on the ground during summer. We were actually heading to the opposite side of the valley, so we didn’t take the shuttle but followed a trail in the deep of the forest. Occasionally there was some clearance where we could see the surrounding valley. At one point the trail was crossing many times this little stream. The water was so clear  As we slowly got higher, the forest was giving way to alpine meadows. And here we eventually reached our destination, Healy Pass. On this side of the pass we could see Egypt and Scarab Lake... ...and Pharaoh Creek valley and Pharaoh Peaks. I am not sure about the reason for all this “Egyptian” references in the names around here  ...but apparently someone called the pyramid like mountains Pharaoh Peaks, and his followers decided to keep the same theme when naming the other local features  . The campground at Egypt lake is supposed to be the most popular backcountry campground in Banff National Park and Healy Pass is its most popular access route so we were expecting a busy trail...but we didn’t meet more than 20 people in the whole day  . On the other side of the pass the view goes on forever  ... While we were having some rest we convinced smaug to show us the canister that he always carries at his belt when hiking in remote areas. Wow, bear spray  . I can’t believe it, they actually make a spray to be used against bears  ....but Smaug assured me that it is some sort of last resort only if we met an hostile bear  .
smaug Posted Sep 15, 2009, 3:59 am	Hi Mum! What a boring week was last one  , smaug was busy and all we could do was sitting at home and chatting. But today the weather was gorgeous and smaug was free, so we decided to spend the day on one of the most spectacular day hike near Banff  . The first part of the day was a steady steep uphill trail in the forest...but not too hard when sitting comfortably in the backpack  . At one point we got the first glimpse of our destination, Cory Pass. While on the other side we could see the Bow Valley that we had just left below us Once we reached Cory Pass the view over the valley was even better. This is the shoulder of Mount Cory behind us While this is a side of Mount Edith... ...and that thin line on the side of the mountain is actually the trail that we followed to get up here. A bit of history now:  Cory Pass is a narrow gap between Mount Cory and Mount Edith. Mount Cory was named after a deputy minister of interior in the early 20th century, while Mount Edith was named after an assistant of the wife of Canada Prime Minister at the end of the 19th century. (smaug pointed out that there could be a Mount Snuttig if I had been visiting here  a 100 or so years ago  ). The other side of Cory Pass looks very rugged And that was exactly the way we took and we ended up in a narrow valley called Gargoyle Valley... . Once we reached the bottom of this valley it was a gentle downhill trail in the forest all the way back to the car park, perfect for us TV to enjoy the view from the backpack and to start thinking of a well deserved dinner  .
smaug Posted Sep 16, 2009, 2:26 am	Hi Mum, today a new TV arrived here in Calgary. He’s name’s Ronnie and he is a Spanish elk who travelled from Scotland. We were expecting him so when smaug showed us the envelope we got very excited He is really nice and even brought us some presents  , but he was also very tired from the trip, so we let him go to sleep. Plenty of time to chat tomorrow  .
smaug Posted Sep 19, 2009, 5:20 am	Hi Mum, Today smaug had to do some field work within Banff National Park and we TVs were allowed to go with him . The weather was really bad, it was pouring down most of the time  , but we still managed to take some pictures, here I am on the road between Lake Louise and Kicking Horse Pass, as you can see it was quite wet When we reached the pass the weather improved slightly. By the way, there is not really any horse kicking anyone at the pass  , apparently a member of one of the first exploration expeditions that came here was kicked by his horse while in this area and hence the name  . The pass sits on the Continental Divide. That means that rain falling just east of it flows towards Hudson Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, while rain falling on West side ends up in the Pacific Ocean  . Actually near the pass there is a small creek called Divide Creek that forks at the pass and its waters flow part towards east and part west. Here I am standing on the divide: We didn’t really leave Alberta, but it was kind to welcome us back  On the way back the weather improved even more and we found a nice spot for a picture in the Bow Valley. Bye  Snuttig
smaug Posted Sep 19, 2009, 7:16 pm	Hi Mum! Wow, today a new guest arrived  . His name’s Lysander and he’s a lobster from Scotland. As always we get very excited when smaug comes home with a parcel, so we gathered around to give him a warm welcome  .
smaug Posted Sep 23, 2009, 4:30 am	Hi Mum! How cool, today a new guest arrived: and guess what, it’s my friend Nathalie who I already met in California  . smaug didn’t really warn us that someone else was coming so we got extremely curious when we saw a typical TV envelope, and what a great surprise was seeing her coming out  ...I introduced to her all the TVs here and I guess we’ll spend the whole night chatting
smaug Posted Sep 24, 2009, 5:07 am	Hi Mum! Wow, it was so hot here today, it went up to 34C  . It is a bit funny to have the hottest day of the year when we are officially already in autumn, but smaug told us not to get use to it: the forecast for next week said that morning temperature could go as low as -5C or less, brrr  . So, when he came back from work he told us that we should make the most of the nice weather and we went out for a walk along the river  . Here we took a picture from a bridge on the Bow River looking at downtown Calgary. Then we went walking a bit in the river channel and took another couple of pictures As you can see it was getting a bit too dark to take more photos but we kept walking a bit longer before coming home. It was nice, pity it soon will be time to get the tuque out  .
smaug Posted Sep 29, 2009, 3:40 am	Hi Mum! today was a lovely sunny day so smaug decided to have a final (for the season) high mountain hike.  Our destination was Mount Allan in the Kananaskis Provincial Park. We spent the first part of the day climbing up a thick forest (where we tried to take some photos without getting anything presentable in an update  ). When we eventually came out of the trees we were on a steep ridge overlooking Kananaskis Valley. From the ridge you could see the valley heading north… …and south… …this big mountain called Mt Kidd... ….and the top of the ridge, called Olympic Summit. Just next to it is the Nakiska ski area (that you can't see in the picture) where all the alpine ski races where held during the 1988 Winter Olympics, hence the name…or at least I guess so  . Once we reached Olympic Summit we were not even half way to our destination  . We had to follow a long and very, very windy ridge (so windy that the rucksack was shaking all the time, just like being in a boat  ).  From the ridge we got some lovely views over Kananaskis Valley and the surrounding mountains  . ….and we could also see our destination, Mount Allan. Here you can see Mount Allan on the right and the much higher Mount Lougheed on the left. Halfway through the ridge we came across these funny pinnacles formed by rock that obviously couldn’t be eroded as quickly as the rest of the mountain  . Eventually we reached the top at 2819m  and the view, of course, was great  : we could see the Bow River Valley in the north-west… …Kananaskis Valley in the south-east… …endless mountains in the north… …and Mount Lougheed just in front of us On the way back smaug decided to enjoy a bit the sun by laying in the grass. So we took the chance to come out of the rucksack, have a bit of fun by ourselves and so we went climbing  . First we organized the team: smaug (before falling asleep) suggested to have the two best climbers leading and closing the team. Everybody agreed that black bears are natural born climbers and I should go first…everybody but me  . Nathalie and sammino, being flying TVs, were going to support us by indicating us the best routes and holds from the air. Phew! Climbing is hard work  !! It is a good to have Nathalie supporting from above…and I have to say that maybe people are right about black bears, I was feeling quite comfortable climbing up  . Here I was resting and waiting for the others to join me at the top of an angled fissure…with sammino and Nathalie keeping a watchful eye on us all the way. How tiring!! But how great to reach the top and sit all together watching the landscape  ! I think I actually like climbing  .
smaug Posted Oct 4, 2009, 7:23 pm	Hi Mum! Today it was Sully Monster’s birthday, so this morning we all gathered around to sing Happy Birthday for him  . Since smaug was at work and didn’t leave anything special for us, sammino decided that we should raid the kitchen and find some proper party food. We started with the fridge without too much luck  (I kind of noticed that the man didn’t come back home with any shopping bag for quite few days). The first cupboard we checked wasn’t much better than the fridge, all canned food  Now this is better, not healthy maybe, but tasty  So we stuffed ourselves with nutella, cookies and crisps. After that we checked out the latest updates on toyvoyagers Then, since it was a fairly cold day, we spent the afternoon wrapped in a fleece blanket chatting and watching TV on the sofa...keeping a few extra cookies nearby, just in case
smaug Posted Oct 4, 2009, 11:26 pm	Hi Mum! Today I said goodbye to all the other TVs here and jumped in my envelope to go to my new host  . It is a good time to leave: local bears are preparing themselves to go into hibernation for the winter and I started feeling a bit sleepy myself too  . But the sun of California sounds much more attractive than a few months sleep  . sammino gave me such a big hug and wished me a safe trip  . Next update from the USA
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 6, 2009, 7:10 pm	Hi Mom!!! I am SAFE!!! I am at Papelbons house!!! I was rescued with four other TVs!! we were stuffed in a envelope and flew 3000 miles across the USA and now we are SAFE!!! I am kicking back drinking some egg nog and looking at the Christmas tree lights.  I want to come back here next spring if that is ok with you?  Maybe when Papelbon is ready to come home I can double back with him?? I think you are going to have a hard time getting rid of him because he LOVES the cold weather!!  anyways I have been invited back when there are not so many TVs in the house!! Hugs from Richlands, North Carolina, Snuttig
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 7, 2009, 12:50 am	Hi mom! Tonight we eat Pepperoni Pizza for dinner!! We are now watching a Christmas movie every night!! Tonight we watched *Christmas with the Kranks* it was really funny!! I am going to go get some hot cocoa and look at the Christmas lights!!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 10, 2009, 11:10 pm	Hi mom! Tonight we are doing a easy dinner.  Fishsticks and french fries!! We eat dinner and everyone agrees that this was very yummy! we then bake some Blueberry Muffins. We then all gather by the Christmas tree.  We love to look at the lights and we go around in a circle and talk about what kind of customs and traditions each of our own Country has.  It is fun to be in a different country and see how they decorate, display the ornaments, hang stockings and burn yummy smelling Yankee Candles. We want to watch a musical tonight so we go and get Darcies favorite one of all time *Sound of Music* filmed in beautiful Austria!! Darcie starts singing........... Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings These are a few of my favorite things Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes Silver white winters that melt into springs These are a few of my favorite things When the dog bites When the bee stings When I'm feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things And then I don't feel so bad
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 16, 2009, 1:14 am	Hi Mom!!! Yesterday me and the other TVs went down to Wilmington.  Darcie's car club was meeting up and then went to a senior rest home to deliver Christmas Presents.  We were suppose to take the Porsche but it was raining!!! The Porsche does not have a top so we would of gotten soaked!! The rain really ruined the entire day but we still had a fun time.  While we were at the rest home a new TV asked if he could join our gang.  His name is Tuffy and he is now a official TV.  We went to McDonalds for lunch.  Here we are with our Happy Meal Inside the Happy Meal is a horse from the new movie *Avatar* he hears all of us outside eating and talking so he jumps out.  He is very strange looking and he has six hooves! We introduce everyone to him and he asks if he can join us for lunch.  We say yes and we start sharing our traveling stories with him. We finish our lunch and when we get home Darcie says that she got a package from you and sent some beautiful and delicious chocolates and a beautiful postcard from home!!  Dont we all look cute with our Santa hats on? Next I  lay down and start pointing and explaining all the beautiful pictures of Gratz and I tell the other TVs about each place that is pictured.  They love the history lesson and I sense that they are also trying to figure out how to get the chocolate!! I see what is going on, they are trying to steal the chocolate! I grabs a hold of the bag and pulls with all my bear strength and rescues it for Darcie to eat!! Well mom that is about it for now.  We are busy wrapping presents and getting ready for Christmas to arrive!!!  hope you are well!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 24, 2009, 7:52 pm	Hi Mom!!!! It is Christmas eve!!!  Today Darcie showed us some of her Vintage Christmas books.  She loves the 1950s and had some wonderful things to read about.  First though we want to bake something so we make some Orange/Cranberry muffins and put butter on them! They are sooo good! Do you like our Santa hats?  Next we get on the floor and start looking at the books...this one has old decorations from 1930-1960 and the photos are great! Here we are with a few more oldies from the 1950s. We decide to sing Christmas carols.  We start off with *Santa Claus is coming to town* Here we are with a book called *Its a wonderful Christmas!*  it is filled with all the old toys from the 1950s.  They sure had some neat things!! Here we are with the Christmas card holder.  I do not know if you can see it, but the card holders are shaped like Mickey Mouse!! Darcie is a big Disney fan! Today we went to a store called Lowes.  It is a HUGE store that you can buy things for your house.  Darcie had to get some replacement bulbs but then discovered all the Christmas stuff was 75% off!!! we bought a Cinderella Advent Calender that talks, Winnie, Piglet and Tigger singing and moving toy and a Santa Claus that sings *Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer*  tonight we are making Enchiladas and Darcie showed us this really cool website!! It is called Santa Tracker!!  www.santanorad.org  please go look at it because it is sooooo much fun! We started tracking him last night when he took off from the North Pole.  He flew to Australia, then off to Russia and India.  He was last spotted flying around the Taj Mahal (see videos of all his stops)  we cant WAIT for him to arrive with all the presents!!!  Go Santa Go!!!  Darcies husband will be happy to see all the Motorcycle stuff for next race season!! boy is that stuff expensive!!!  well mom I am going to go eat some more candy and play Xbox!!!  Merry Christmas!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 28, 2009, 11:48 pm	Hi Mom! Christmas was a lot of fun!!! we started the day with snuggling up on the couch before our host woke up.  We wanted to look at all the gifts that Santa had brought! Here we are under the nice warm blanket at 5:30 am!! We go over to the fireplace and see the presents that santa has left as stocking stuffers.  In America everyone hangs a stocking and it gets filled with small gifts and candy.  Looks like Santa also leaves things for dogs! He left all kinds of treats and toys for the two host dogs   Of course he also left us some nice candy! Here we are with a gift card to Starbucks Coffee house, a gift card to Red Robin hamburger shop, Skittles, orange flavored chocolate and Reeses peanut butter cups!! Y U M!! Next we help Darcie open some presents.  Here are just a few of her favorites! she loves old 1950-1960s TV shows.  Here is season one of *Bewitched* it is a show about a woman who is a witch and is married to a regular man.  It is VERY funny!! Here we are with four more shows from the 1950s-1960s.  They are called *I married Joan* *Father knows best* *Petticoat Junction* and *The Donna Reed show* Next we open really nice smelling bath products!! Here is stuff from the Bath and Body works store! Nutcracker bubble bath,  Candy apple body spray,  Ed Hardy perfume and Pear Glaze body lotion! it all smells so good! Next is a wonderful gift! a *Twilight* duffle bag and the *New Moon* soundtrack!! We have a wonderful day watching movies and eating candy and talking about Christmas!! I had a great time and will never forget it!! I hope you had a Merry Christmas and hope you have a Happy New Year!!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Jan 4, 2010, 10:38 pm	Happy New Years Mom!!! I hope you had fun on New Years!! we stayed home and made a bunch of drinks and watched movies all night long!!  Here we are with all of our alchohol LOL Here we are with very expensive Tequila.  This is called Patron and it is very smooth! we all drank a few shots and then licked some salt then ate a small piece of lemon Here we are with our shot glasses from around the world.  There are two in the photo.  One is from Kaiserslautern, Germany.  The other is from Holland. We follow the Television all day.  We watch Time Square in New York City.  People start arriving at 6am to secure a spot.  Then they have to wait ALL DAY till midnight comes.  Darcie has done it one time and says the crowds are HUGE. The reporter checks in a few hours later and it is SNOWING!!! the police work hard to barracade off the roads and set up everything for the big ball drop. Here it is later in the evening.....we are waiting and waiting!!! Now it is 9:00 pm so I know that overseas has just struck 12am!! Here is a beautiful shot of places around the world that were celebrating the New Year. We took a bunch of photos at Midnight, but the flash went off on the TV and messed everything up! we still had a great time and wished each other a Happy Traveling 2010!!!  I am now packed up and leaving on January 4th for my next host!!!  I had a fantastic time here in North Carolina and want to return again someday to visit my new friends!!
marcie08 Posted Jan 13, 2010, 2:47 pm	Hello World, I'm back home!!! Yippppeeeeee  I arrived today, together with SunnyHH. We have both been rescued by Darcie and stayed with her for the last weeks. I was really worried to get lost there in the US and I'm really grateful to everyone who helped with my rescue! A huge THANK YOU! Now that I'm back home it was time to meet the other TVs who are currently staying here with my mom: Atta, Mr. S and Sandi Rose. I'll stay home now for a couple of weeks and in february I'll visit SunyyHH's mom!
marcie08 Posted Jan 22, 2010, 10:25 am	Hello World, I just met her, but now it's time to say goodbye again! Atta is leaving for the Netherlands today! I hope she'll have a great time there! Take care! The rest of us had a great breakfast of custom mixed cereals and then we went to the market and bought some nice salads!
marcie08 Posted Jan 22, 2010, 10:57 am	Hello World! In the last post I told you it's a coming and going... today another toyvoyager arrived. His name is HappyLeopard. He is from the Netherlands! And he brought lots of snow with him! So we decided to take a walk in a little forest nearby! We played in the snow there. Wow, there was a lot of snow and it was really cold too. You can see that by the frozen lake - my host mom told me that there are normally some fish in there, but they are now deep down in this lake and not visible from the outside! Our walk made us really hungry and luckily we have been invited to my grandpa! We had a really nice meal there: Spareribs  In the afternoon we watched the ski-race on tv! That was a great day!
marcie08 Posted Jan 22, 2010, 11:31 am	Hello World! We went to a big celebration today! The Styrian branch of the Austrian nurses association celebrated their 40th anniversary. The celebration was held in the Old University building of Graz, a beautifully newly renovated building in the city center. And because my step-grandma is the president of the Styrian Association we have been invited, too! There were nurses of all ages present, some who have founded the Styrian branch and some who have just been newly qualified! We also saw a dance performance of nursing students and a quartett of musicians played classical music! Some nurses were given honorary medals and flowers! We also got some flowers because we took some of the decoration home with us! After the official program has ended, we were allowed to join the queue for the buffet. No photos because we were too immersed in our food
marcie08 Posted Feb 2, 2010, 12:18 pm	Hello World! Today we have been invited to a birthday celebration. Therefore we had to get a present ready: We went to a shop where you can choose from a huge variety of different oils and vinegars and some alcoholic stuff. First you have to choose the design of the bottle and then you can see how they fill the bottle with the chosen oil from a big barrel. We bought 5 different flavours as it was a 50th birthday celebration. You can see us with the parcel! Then we went to a restaurant and had a great meal there- as ususal, no photos from the food! We are always to busy eating for taking pics  Bye for today!
marcie08 Posted Feb 8, 2010, 2:39 pm	Hello World! The weather in Graz is not so great right now, it's always grey and cold and it snows almost every day! So it's not really the best weather for sightseeing, but we decided to have a look around the city anyway! We started at the Main square and looked at the town hall. That's where the mayor has his office and where parts of the city's administration is located. You can also marry there. Then we went on to the Franziskanerplatz to look at the church and the cloister. During the summer, you can sit outside of the small cafés and enjoy the sun and a cup of coffee. We walked on to the Kunsthaus, the museum of contemporary art and photography. It was built for 2003, when Graz was cultural capital of Europe. The building looks quite strange and it is therefore called the "friendly alien". Near the Kunsthaus is the second building that has been built for Graz 2003: The Murinsel, an artificial island in the Mur- the river, that floats through Graz. You can walk on the island, it has a small amphitheatre on it and a café inside of the island. From the bridge from where we took the photograph, you also have a view up to the Schlossberg and the clock tower. Maybe we will go up there some day- when the weather is better so you can see the whole city from above! On our way back home we went to a bakery and bought some Krapfen. It's Fasching here now and the Krapfen are some sweet yeast dumplings, fried in oil, filled with apricot jam and dusted with powdered sugar. You normally just eat it this time of the year. Fasching is what other countries call Carneval. It's not that big in Austria as it is in Germany, but the most Southern country, Carinthia, has a lot of activities during this time of the year. Kids like to participate on the Faschings-Umzug, which is kind of a pageant, where you dress up in costumes and some have decorated wagons with music. The Krapfen was really delicious! I want more
marcie08 Posted Feb 8, 2010, 2:40 pm	Hello World! The weather in Graz is not so great right now, it's always grey and cold and it snows almost every day! So it's not really the best weather for sightseeing, but we decided to have a look around the city anyway! We started at the Main square and looked at the town hall. That's where the mayor has his office and where parts of the city's administration is located. You can also marry there. Then we went on to the Franziskanerplatz to look at the church and the cloister. During the summer, you can sit outside of the small cafés and enjoy the sun and a cup of coffee. We walked on to the Kunsthaus, the museum of contemporary art and photography. It was built for 2003, when Graz was cultural capital of Europe. The building looks quite strange and it is therefore called the "friendly alien". Near the Kunsthaus is the second building that has been built for Graz 2003: The Murinsel, an artificial island in the Mur- the river, that floats through Graz. You can walk on the island, it has a small amphitheatre on it and a café inside of the island. From the bridge from where we took the photograph, you also have a view up to the Schlossberg and the clock tower. Maybe we will go up there some day- when the weather is better so you can see the whole city from above! On our way back home we went to a bakery and bought some Krapfen. It's Fasching here now and the Krapfen are some sweet yeast dumplings, fried in oil, filled with apricot jam and dusted with powdered sugar. You normally just eat it this time of the year. Fasching is what other countries call Carneval. It's not that big in Austria as it is in Germany, but the most Southern country, Carinthia, has a lot of activities during this time of the year. Kids like to participate on the Faschings-Umzug, which is kind of a pageant, where you dress up in costumes and some have decorated wagons with music. The Krapfen was really delicious! I want more
marcie08 Posted Feb 14, 2010, 12:06 pm	Hello world! Becasue it is always so cold outside, we decided to make a nice cake, to warm ourselves up. We looked through a cookbook and chose a quick apple pastry recipe. You need some puff pastry, apples, lemon juice, sugar and apricot jam. First you have to wash the apples and remove the apple cores. Then you slice it and put it in a bowl with lemon juice and sugar. You have to cut the pastry and put the dough in tins, then you spread the dough with jam and line it with the apples. Put it in the preheated oven and bake it. After approximately 20 minutes you can remove the tins from the oven, but you have to be careful as those are really hot. My mom told us to stay away from the oven and wait until the cakes have cooled a bit! But then we were finally allowed to eat them! Mmmmmmhhhhhh delicious! Bye for today!
marcie08 Posted Feb 14, 2010, 2:27 pm	Hello World! Today I got a very special present: a new toyvoyager t-shirt! When I was lost with this terrible host, they somehow even stole my t-shirt! So when Darcie finally rescued me, I was naked  . After I had returned home, my Dad promised to buy me another t-shirt and today, it finally arrived! You can see me here with my fellow TVs oopening the present! I showed them my new t-shirt and I'm very gratefull for my new clothes! Thanks, Dad!
marcie08 Posted Feb 14, 2010, 3:20 pm	Happy Valentine's day, everybody! Here are some flowers for you:
marcie08 Posted Feb 16, 2010, 6:12 pm	Hello World! Today is what people call here: "Faschingsdienstag". That means kind of "Carnival-Tuesday". It's the last day of carnival time and a day, when everyone is putting on a fancy dress. It's a great day especially for kids, as school closes up earlier and many offices have reduced business hours. In the afternoon, everyone gathers in the city center to watch the traditional parade. Everyone can join this parade and the best costumes get a prize. But we watched the parade on tv because you have to get early to the city center to get a place where you can watch the parade. But in front of the tv, all of us had great seats and we watched the colorful parade and the great costumes. And of course we also dressed up! You can see us wearing our costumes! I'm dressed as Winnie Pooh's friend, Tigger. Happy Leopard is a flower, Sandi Rose is a Swedish moose, Mr. S is a pretty angel and our SunnyHH is a soccer player! What do you think of our fancy dresses? We had a great time today, eating Krapfen, watching the parade and playing games!
marcie08 Posted Feb 23, 2010, 6:22 pm	Hello World! Today we went to a neighboring town, called Thal bei Graz. That's actually where Arnold Schwarzenegger grew up. There's a lake where you can ice-skate or play hockey. Near the lake is a golf course, but now, in the winter, there are also cross-country slopes! You can see the signs indicating the easier slopes (blue and red) and those for trained skiers (black). But we just went for a walk. It was a beautiful winterday, with sun  We also saw animal-tracks! I guess its been a cat and some birds, but I'm not entirely sure... Can you guess what kind of animals made the tracks! All I know is that it hasn't been a Snuttig Winterly greetings!
RikeH Posted Feb 27, 2010, 1:31 pm	Hello Mum, today I reached Sülfeld, where RikeH and Dicker Kumpel are living. Dicker Kumpel gave me a warm welcome. Guess what – he knows Lupus-Tigger – and we saw in the web that Lupus-Tigger came back here today. Maybe he is not lost – we would be so happy about it. Then Dicker Kumpel introduced me to the other guys here. It seems to be a great place – some of them are here for months now. And Murph maybe found a new home here. We talked a lot – and S and I shared our sweets with the others. Next Saturday we will go on a holiday – I am so happy to be here. Greetings and a big hug Snuttig
marcie08 Posted Mar 1, 2010, 3:09 pm	Hello World! My mom received a nice surprise today! Guess what, she got a small package with a stuffed Elmo from Sesame Street in it! But Elmo was sooo flat, because he was vacuum-packed! He needed some air to expand to his real size. We helped him to escape his package and then he told us about his friends from Sesame Street. Maybe he will become a toyvoyager, too? We have to wait and see!
marcie08 Posted Mar 1, 2010, 3:32 pm	Hello World! Today we went to a nearby town called St. Radegund. From there we took the cablecar up to the Schöckel. That's a mountain near Graz and the people like to hike up there all year round. We took the easy way, but walked around at the top of the Schöckel. Up there is a huge tower with antennae for the tv reception. We even found some animal tracks again! That was a beautiful day!
marcie08 Posted Mar 1, 2010, 3:46 pm	Hi Mom! I had to say Goodbye to Mr. S today. I'm a little sad, as I have spent quite some time with him... I'll also miss the others! But I'm traveling to SunnyHH's mom, so I know that I will have a great time! The others put some sweets in our travelbox and then us to the postoffice. I hope I will arrive soon!
RikeH Posted Mar 3, 2010, 8:46 pm	Hello Mum, today Dicker Kumpel and I had a great evening. We went to Hamburg by car. First we had a delicious meal in a restaurant with food from Pakistan. Great fish... and some meat. We talked a lot by candlelight. Later we went into a theater called Alma Hoppes Lustspielhaus. There was the stage. We had something nice to drink – and a wonderful funny evening. Greetings Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 4, 2010, 7:28 pm	Hi Mum, because the weather outside is horrible, we had to stay inside the house. But RikeH offered us delicious cakes. Look, they are really big. It's too cold outside – there were'nt any tulips, but we had some inside. They were wonderful. After eating two big peaces of cake I relaxed and talked to the fishes. Bye for now Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 7, 2010, 8:57 pm	Hello Mum, today we started our trip to Amrum Island – a nice German Island in the North Sea. We drove some hours – unfortunately the winter came back yesterday, but we arrived safe on the Coast – and saw our Ferry – called Schleswig-Holstein. Here you see me inside  - with the typical greeting – Moin Moin. I went outside – the weather was sunny – but it was cold. We stopped at another Island, called Föhr. Some people left the Ferry, but we went on to Amrum. What a great trip. I will write more from Amrum soon. yours Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 10, 2010, 5:38 pm	Hello Mum, we made our first walk on Amrum. Here you see me in front of a typical house. They are so beautiful. Then we went to the Dunes. I enjoyed my time on a beach chair. They had nice paths out of wood in the Dunes. Amrum is a really nice place. yours  Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 12, 2010, 9:28 pm	Hello Mum, we went to Nebel and visited the church. We went inside – it was wonderful. Outside are interesting tombstones. The life stories of the dead people are written on the stones. We read a few. Then we walked through the village – and saw some nice old red houses. There was a beautiful wind mill. We saw two old white houses – both colours are nice – and we loved the thatched roofs. Amrum is a beautiful island. Yours Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 15, 2010, 7:59 pm	Moin Moin Mum, it was a very cold day outside, so I decided to have a nice evening in front of the fireplace. First I had to work for it. Then I had a relaxed evening – it was warm – and comfortable. Yours Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 17, 2010, 7:18 pm	Moin Moin, I want to show you some nice things in the flat we are living. Some beautiful mussels. A nice lighthouse. There are many lighthouses in this part of Germany. Two strange fishes. They are able to live outside the water. And here are two funny bunnies. They are sitting in an egg-sleigh and have fun all the day. We all have fun here in the holidays ! Greetings Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 18, 2010, 10:34 am	Hello Mum, RikeH asked us, where we wanted to go today. So we took the map of Amrum Island and had a look. We decided to walk to the highest point of  Amrum Here you see me on the highest Dune – it is 32 m high. This was the way we walked on. A nice view over the other Dunes. I saw Norddorf in the distance. RikeH gave me a coin – so I looked through this telescope. I saw the North Sea – amazing. On our way back we stopped in a nice cafe. I had a delicious hot chocolate with advocaat and a yummy tart of raspberries. A big hug Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 18, 2010, 8:51 pm	Hello Mum, We went into the Dunes  - the others told us that there is a wonderful lake. The lake is wonderful – there was still some ice on it. There was a wooden way on this side of the lake. The lake looked nice from another point next to it. The path went through the Dunes – we had nice views from the highest point. Back home I tried something special for this region. It is called Küstennebel  - and really delicious. Cheers Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 20, 2010, 10:55 am	Hello Mum, today we visited an interesting place called Vogelkoje, The birds came to this nice sea – and felt good. But sometimes they went into this cage – and were caught by the people here – this is not fair... But today nobody does it anymore. We went to another nice place then - -a small lighthouse. You can see it behind me – far away. Here I was in front of it – it is very beautiful. We had great views over the Dunes! What a nice walk. Many greetings Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 22, 2010, 12:07 pm	Hi Mum, Our last day On Amrum Island – we were all sitting together and talked a lot. Most of the others will leave us and our Host RikeH tomorrow. We are the lucky ones and can stay here for more days! We celebrated the last day on Amrum drinking a delicious bottle of wine. Oups – very delicious. We sat a very long time – and had so much fun. It is great to be a ToyVoyager! Hugs Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 29, 2010, 8:21 pm	Hello Mum, we drove to Hamburg today. In the train we read a book... and had a look out of the window. We went around the lake called Alster. The weather was nice – many people were there. I saw many nice ducks. We made a beautiful group photo. This was on the other side of the Alster – a really great place! Here you see another beautiful place – the Townhall. It was a nice trip! Greetings Snuttig
RikeH Posted Mar 29, 2010, 9:27 pm	Hello Mum, Because I want to see the main attractions we went to Hamburg again. This is one of the most famous buildings in Hamburg, the church Michel. Near to it is a modern building. I saw this funny monument – it shows something from the Easter Islands. We made a photo of the Church Michel from the distance. Then we went to the Port of Hamburg. A really interesting place. We saw different kinds of ships. Another interesting monument. That was me in front of the old sailing ship Rickmer Rickmers. Later we went into a café. We saw a nice piece of cake. And a delicious cappuccino. I jumped out of the bag and enjoyed this meal! Back home there were two new ToyVoyagers. They are both new ones – so we told them a lot about the life of ToyVoyagers. Yours Snuttig
RikeH Posted Apr 4, 2010, 9:34 pm	Frohes Ostern Mum, Today is Easter. A little Easter Bunny came to us. He told us that there are some nice things for us hidden in the room. Of course I started to search. First I looked under the arm chair, but I didn't see anything. I walked around – and look what I saw... A great success. Minutes later I jumped onto the table. There were beautiful flowers. But it was no time to admire the flowers. I had to search Eggs – and look – behind the flowers were more sweets. I went back to my place – I found so many sweets – wonderful. In the afternoon we had some delicious cakes – they were really big, but I ate one! Happy Easter! Snuttig
RikeH Posted Apr 7, 2010, 8:46 pm	Hello Mum, we are full of Easter Chocolate! So we decided to make a walk in the morning. Here you see us having a rest. There were nice big trees here. I sat in the sun – although you cannot see it on the photo - and relaxed. We found a nice small river – lovely in both directions. In the afternoon we visited RikeH's Mum – and met the Easter Bunny. He was so nice! I found other funny bunnys. There was a hen and her children. We loved it there. Now I will leave and go to my next host in Germany. First I said good-bye to Dicker Kumpel. He is such a great host. All the others gave me a big hug – I will miss them! Now I am on my way to the next host! Yours Snuttig
olgamaus Posted Apr 16, 2010, 7:04 pm	Hi Mummy, I arrived in Remscheid today. My new host is Katja. My last host told me that I would meet a lot of ToyVoyagers here - but I met only one TV so far - Ceryni. Soon we were three. Oops! This guy is looking familar to me! His name is Frankie_Blue and he asked me where I come from. I told him about ToyVoyagers and how great it is to be a ToyVoyager. He asked me how to become a ToyVoyager. I told him that it is quite easy as long as his Mummy still has some travel tags. Of course Katja found a few Now Frankie_Blue will be a real ToyVoyaer soon. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted Apr 18, 2010, 11:34 am	Hi Mummy, we took a long walk today along the so called "Obstweg Leichlingen" (translated it must be something like "Route of Fruit"  ). Leichlingen is a small town, halfway between Remscheid and Cologne. The walk is following a route through traditional orchard meadows, along homesteads and through rural hamlets. It is about 9 km long. We had to follow the marking showing an apple. You can find information boards along the walk, telling you interesting facts about local fauna and flora, about the region itself, about fruit-growing and special sorts of apples, peas and other fruits. These are pea trees, their blooms are not fully opened yet. On the meadows the first daisies and Cuckoo Flowers are blooming. You can find blooming fuit trees everywhere, even in the forest. This is  blooming hawthorne. In the gardens also lots of flowers are blooming. Leichlingen is closer to the river Rhine than Remscheid, so the climate is milder. These trees are apple trees. We are really enjoying the sunshine. We had to walk along a street for a while. Here you can see the city centre of Leichlingen in the valley. We went into town than, looking for refreshments. The river Wupper is running through the city centre. Here is our reward for more than two  hours walking That was a really nice trip! Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted Apr 26, 2010, 7:30 pm	Hi Mummy, we are celebrating a really important commemoration day today: The Day of German Beer. Since 1984 the issuance of the "Reinheitsgebot"  (German Beer Purity Law) is celebrated by the German brewers. We also did Cheers! Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted Apr 26, 2010, 9:09 pm	Hi Mummy, today it is a wonderful sunny day. We took a walk with Katja's brother-in-law and his dog Berti in one of the valleys which are surrounding the city centre of Remscheid. First we had to walk to the South of Remscheid, from here you have a good view to the city centre on its hill. We went to the "Eschbachtal" (Eschbach Valley). The "Eschbach" is a creek which is running through this valley. We saw several ponds which belonged to mills in the past. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted Apr 27, 2010, 1:23 pm	Hi Mummy, we took a walk today in the suburbs of Remscheid. We started in Remsched-Hasten, which is one of the oldest districts in the municipal area. In Hasten you can find lots of pretty old houses. They are often half-timbered houses or covered with slate. They usually have green shutters. This is the creek "Morsbach", this valley is named after this creeek. I saw a running water wheel here. Several creeks are running through this valley. This one is dammed to a fish pond here. We walked uphil through a shady forest than. The shady forest changed into a sunny forest ... From here you had a good look at the city centre in the distance. You can see the tower of the city hall and the water tower from here. We walked along a small hamlet. That was a quite long walk, more than two hours. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted May 1, 2010, 9:15 pm	Hi Mummy, today it's the International Worker's Day, so Katja suggested to visit a very important former workplace, the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen. To get there, we met Katja's friend Erika and went to Essen by bus and train. We met in Remscheid-Hasten. Erika brought a birthday present for Katja, she was celebrating her birthday last week. Erika covered pieces of bananas with dark chocolate and decorated them with real flowers, with ground ivy, in German they are called "Gundermann".  Those plants are edible, in ancient times they were used as a preservation spell against plague and also as a medical plant. Of course everyone tasted them, they were delicious
olgamaus Posted May 1, 2010, 9:46 pm	We reached Essen and went to Zeche Zollverein by tram. The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex is a large former industrial site in the city of Essen. It has been inscribed into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since December 2001. The first coal mine on the premises was founded in 1847, mining activities took place from 1851 until 1986. The two parts of the site, Zollverein Coal Mine and Zollverein Coking Plant ranked among the largest of their kinds in Europe. The Zollverein Coking Plant was erected in the late 1950's, closed in 1993. Shaft 12, built in Bauhaus style, was opened in 1932 and is considered an architectural and technical masterpiece, called "the most beautiful coal mine in the world". After it had been closed down in late 1986, shaft 12 was declared as a memorial. You can see it on the very first photo. You can walk in the area everywhere, so we took a walk around. We decided to visit the coking plant than, we had to walk a few minutes to get there. On our way we saw this gigantic hauling machine. Soon we reached to coking plant Zollverein. You cannot imagine how large those tubes are! Everything is gigantic here - there are screws which are larger than Ceryni. We reached the end of the coking complex. The artificial channel is opened for ice skating in winter. We walked back on the rear side of the coking plant. We went to the visitor's center than which is situated in the former coal washing plant. You can see the old machines here. It is quite dark here in this part of the complex. We found a beer garden on the estate, we all needed refreshing. When we went back to the central station, we had to wait for our train. We made good use of our time I am glad that I do not have to work in a coal mine. Bye Roderich
olgamaus Posted May 6, 2010, 12:45 pm	Hi Mummy, we took a walk in the afternoon. Although the sun was shining it was rather cold. We went to the municipal park first to have a look at the ducks. We hoped to see cute ducklings but it seems there are still no ducklings. The rhododendron is alredy blooming. This memorial is dedicated to the dead of severals wars earlier than World War I. We left the park than and walked to one of the oldest districts, to Hasten. You can find those typical old houses here, also old factories among dwellings. This district is surrounded by woodland. To walk home we had to walk uphill for an eternity. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted May 8, 2010, 10:29 pm	Hi Mummy, we visited the neighbour city Wuppertal today. The first thing to see when you enter the city centre is the "Schwebebahn", a suspended monorail, the worldwide one and only of that kind. The Schwebebahn is built above the river Wupper. It was opened in 1901 and it is still in use as a local transport system. It travels along a route 13.3 kilometres long, about 12 metres  above the surface of the river Wupper  and about 8 m above the city streets. We took a short walk along the river Wupper. Here you can see the Schwebebahn in front of a bank building. The Schwebebahn has 20 stations, each of it built in a different style, some in the original old-fashioned style, some in a modern style. This one is definitely one of the modern ones. Here you can see me inside the station. We wanted to take a short ride with the Schwebebahn. We went with the Schwebebahn for three stations. Here you can see the train leaving into the other direction. Katja told us that we would visit the Botanical Garden than, high upon the hillside. The city of Wuppertal is situated in the valley of the river Wupper, the slopes of the valley are really steep, so in Wuppertal about 500 stairs were built  along the slopes. Most of them were built in 19th century when the housing areas grew. Here is one of them. We reached the Botanical Garden than. It was originally built in 1890 as a school garden in the place which is now the rose garden. Between 1908-1910 it relocated to today's site, the Villa Eller'schen, a former country house of textile manufacturers named Eller, which contained a villa , orangery, residential and farm buildings, and the Elise Tower (built 1838) which provides the garden's focal point. First we had a look at the greenhouses. A real rainforest! We decided to climb onto  the tower. The outlook is fantastic! On this zoomed photo you can see the city centre with the characteristic bank building. Here you can see the greenhouses. this is the villa, in the former orangery nowadays a nice café is situated. We saw lots of pretty flowers. Of course we posed for a nice group photograph. It was time than to leave. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted May 15, 2010, 10:17 am	Hi Mummy, we took a walk today in the neighbour city Solingen, in the valley and hills of the river Wupper. We started our trip in Solingen-Widdert. From here we walked downhill to reach the Wupper valley. In those rural districts you can often find the traditional old houses, called "Bergische Häuser". This is the river Wupper which I already saw last weekend in Wuppertal. About 20 km from here the Wupper will flow into river Rhine close to Leverkusen. We followed our path uphill until we were about 120 m above the valley. You have great overlook from here. We walked through the forest, over hill and dale. Sometimes we had to cross smaller creeks. We took a group photograph ... ... at the foot of this impressive rock. We had to cross another creek. This is the bridge that was once leading across it. We had to balance over a few stones instead. Finally we reached the river Wupper again. We walked through a hamlet with lots of pretty old houses. One of the local farmers is selling potatoes, eggs and honey here in this booth. Nobody is watching over the goods here, you can take what you want to buy and put the money into the savings box. We bought potatoes and eggs. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted May 17, 2010, 9:07 pm	Hi Mummy, we went to Remscheid- Lennep today. Lennep is the oldest district of the municipal area, with own municipal law since the 1260's years. This district belongs to Remscheid as part of the city since 1929 A.D. Lennep still has its medieval  city core. Many of the old houses are under monument protection. Some of the old lanes are really narrow. This is the "Roentgen-Museum". Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, the founder of the x-rays, was born in Lennep in 1845 A.D. This is the school which Katja attended until 1982. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted May 21, 2010, 9:22 pm	Hi Mummy, the sun was shining, so we could not wait to go out. We took a walk in the early evening, of course in the forest The first photo was taken in Hasten, I have been here before to admire all those pretty houses. We picked up Katja's friend Erika and walked along Morsbachtal. We saw a flock of sheep, they had a lot of recently born lambs. What a lovely surrounding! We crossed the road which follows the valley. Soon we reached another forest. Finally we took the bus back home. Can you see the water  tower in the background? It is really small, We would have had to walk uphill for at least another 40 minutes, so the bus was a good idea. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted May 21, 2010, 9:30 pm	Hi Mummy, we took a walk in the city in Katja's lunch break. She told us that we would know the whole surroundings of Remscheid, but not the city itself. The first photo was taken in a street close to my current home. All around are pretty old houses. Here are allotment gardens. Katja told us that you can find lots of allotment gardens here because Remscheid is situated on a hill with really steep slopes. You cannot build houses everywhere, but it's great for gardens. In the background you can see Wuppertal. We reached a housing area, a former working-class quarter. Some of the houses are really small. All around it is green. Back in the city centre ... the city hall in the background. In 30 minutes we'll have to return to Katja's workplace. This is the water tower. The drinking water is pumped uphill from a dam in a valley. You can see the towers of the city hall and this water tower from everywhere around. Than let's go back to work. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted May 21, 2010, 9:35 pm	Hi Mummy, today we welcomed two new guests, Squirt and Bart. Than we had to say goodbye to Paddington Bear and Ceryni, Bernd the Bread packed his things and will probably leave tomorrow. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted May 23, 2010, 5:02 pm	Hi Mummy, we took a walk today to Muengsten Bridge, Germany's highest railway bridge. A feast is taking place there this weekend. Muengsten Bridge is connecting the cities of Remscheid and Solingen. It overspans the valley of the river Wupper. To walk to the valley took us about an hour. We walked along some pretty rural areas. In the forest we found this lookout point. From here you can see part of the large bridge looking through the trees. We reached the river Wupper than. Muengsten Bridge is made of steel. It is 107 m high and  spans the valley of river Wupper, which is marking the border between Remscheid and the neighbour town Solingen. The bridge is 465 m long and was completed in 1897 A.D. Lots of people are enjoying the sun here, kids are playing in the shallow water and some dogs also. I heard a train crossing the bridge, but I could not see it. Later we took the bus home. Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted May 26, 2010, 9:08 pm	Hi Mummy, we made a really long  hiking tour today. We followed the so-called "Roentgenweg", a circular route following the limits of the municipal area, 65 km long. It is running along the borders of the neighbour cities Hueckeswagen, Radevormwald, Wermelskirchen, Solingen and Wuppertal. This circular route is named after Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, the founder of the x-rays. He was born in Remscheid-Lennep in 1845. We started our tour at Roentgen-Museum. Here is a map showing the hiking trail. Soon we left the housing areas of the district Lennep. We walked along Wupper dam for a while. Rural areas followed, we saw some farms. You can find wind turbines here as energy generators. We had to follow the sign with an encircled "R". We were on the right path - even after hours We walked along a commercial area. This was a regular road once, the tunnel is only broad enough for one car. We had to cross a state road here. We were opposite the city centre on its hill than. In the distance you can see the city with the city hall tower. Here is also a zoomed photo. We reached "Eschbachtalsperre" than, the first drinking water dam which was ever built in Germany. We crossed the retaining wall and walked down our to the valley. Here is the rear side of the retaining wall. Here is the water works, the drinking water is pumped from here in the valley to the water tower on top of the hill where the city centre is situated. We also walked along the open air bath which was opened this weekend. From here we walked for another few kilometres through the forest and left the circular route to take a bus home. Here you can see that Remscheid is an industrial town, despite of the beautiful surroundings. They have a lot of metalworking industry here, tools are produced and all sorts of machines. We did not make the whole tour today, but about one third. Katja showed it to us on the slate map. We walked 25 km today! Now my feet are aching, I need a rest on the sofa Bye Snuttig
olgamaus Posted May 31, 2010, 3:37 pm	Hi Mommy, the weather here is so bad that I decided to hop into my envelope and travel to Lithuania - hopefully the weather will be better there. I took a postcard and some chocolates with me. I hope my journey won't last too long. I said good-bye to Katja and all my friends here. Bye Snuttig
egn Posted Jun 6, 2010, 1:58 pm	Dear Mummy/Brangi Mamyte,   I have reached Lithuania today!   And egn was double happy due to me and due to she passed her driving exam in her school. However, she will have to do that one more time in a much bigger town than Lazdijai.   So, that is why egn had forgotten all her diets and ate a chocolate that I with olgamaus got her. She said thanks for both of us.   There were so many nice TVs. They welcomed me with big smiles and very warmly.   Hugs, Snuttig
egn Posted Jun 6, 2010, 2:04 pm	Dear Mummy/Brangi Mamyte,   today is the Father's Day in Lithuania. That is why egn's family is having barbecue in their garden this evening.    I went outside to see how they are preparing for this evening.   I found there so many beautiful flowers. Here are my favourites.   I helped egn to mow the lawn.   Hugs, Snuttig
egn Posted Jun 6, 2010, 5:19 pm	Dear Mummy/Brangi Mamyte,   today is Father's Day in Lithuania. That is why we had a barbecue in egn's garden and her father had made it. It is said in Lithuania that it is a man's work to make a real barbecue and it is a very popular Sunday evening meal.   Here I am, watching how egn's father is preparing barbecue.   Here we are, waiting for our dishes.   Meat with rice and carrots and a bowl of eggs salad. Bon Apetitue!     Hugs, Snuttig
egn Posted Jun 8, 2010, 12:06 pm	Dear Mummy/ Brangi Mamyte,   we travelled to Poland today. We visited tiny city, called Sejny, which is about 20 km from Lithuania.   Here we are, waiting our trip to start.   Today was a bit cold day. To compare-yeasterday it was 30C in Lithuania!   Here I am in Sejny. I saw a map of this district.   In the centre of this city I saw a nice statue.   Here is a church of Sejny.   I saw former synagogue there as well. Now it is being used as a theatre.   Nice ornaments near former synagogue.   Hey, what a nice children    Walking in Sejny, I found these nice steps. Egn said that they seem like one in Dubrovnik.   Going back to Lithuania I and Pepita noticed that something was happening.   Is it a fire?   Why police is here?   Oh, what a relief, it was only a firebrigade training.   With huge smiles, chating with Pepita, we came back to Lithuania. Here is a sign "Lietuvos Respublika"   Hugs,Snuttig
egn Posted Jun 20, 2010, 2:33 pm	Dear Mummy,   it is raining and raining all the time. I feel a bit depressed due to rain and there is so little to do during this weather. So, egn decided to make traditional Lithuanian dish-cepelinai. It is huge dumplings, usually with meat. It is eaten with sour cream and greaves.   I think in this photo it looks like soup or something like that. However, ir isn't. And it tastes good.   Hugs, Snuttig
egn Posted Jun 20, 2010, 2:41 pm	Dear Mummy,   it was such a nice evening that I suggested egn having a little walk. We walked away from Lazdijai, just to look to nice sunset in fields.   Going away from Lazdijai.   What a beautiful sunset it was!   I helped egn to take this photo. She said that I should be proud of myself to have made such a beautiful photo.   Hugs, Snuttig
egn Posted Jun 25, 2010, 4:17 pm	Dear Mummy,     egn told that her plans has changed a bit and we will travel in another places than she had written you. It is due to weather...It is raining raining and raining...   So, our first visit-Alanta palace. Quote: Alanta (dialectal Aukštaitian  name Alunta) is a small town in Molėtai district municipality, Lithuania. It is the administrative seat of the Alanta Elderate. According to a census in 2001, Alanta had 464 residents. It is situated at the crossing of two roads: Molėtai–Anykščiai and Utena–Alanta–Ukmergė. The town's St. Jacob's church was built in 1909. The name of the town is derived from the Alanta River, tributary of Virinta. The name of the river is derived from an ancient Lithuanian verb "alėti", which means 'to stream merrily' or 'to run'. The palace of the estate, which houses a library and an ethnographic museum, has been renovated and its park trimmed. The founder of the Alanta library, Elvyra Satkūnaitė, was named "The best librarian of Lithuania" in 1996.   Here is the palace.   Hugs, Snuttig
egn Posted Jul 2, 2010, 12:06 pm	Dear Mummy,     I have seen the longest lake in Lithuania! It is called Asveja.   This bridge may be the oldest wooden bridge in Lithuania.   Hugs, Snuttig
egn Posted Jul 8, 2010, 12:44 pm	Dear Mummy,   I saw the oldest pub in Lithuania. Now it is tourist information center as well. Hugs, Snuttig

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