Gaspode, Torino, Italy

miapearl Posted Mar 29, 2010, 10:43 am	Mummy has received the ToyVoyagers ID for me, woo hoo, bow wow. I would love to see the world. If you would like to show me your corner of the world, please send a message to Mummy.
miapearl Posted Mar 29, 2010, 10:45 am	Off we went for lunch. Mummy had an envelope to open. I wonder who is in it. Wakey wakey, rise and shine. Hello, my name is Gaspode the dog, what is your name? Twix, what a lovely name that is. Squizzle, come and meet our new friend. After lunch, we wandered around the garden centre. They also sell things for pets As well as trees and other plants. We'd best get going - we are going for walkies.
miapearl Posted Mar 29, 2010, 11:10 am	We all went for walkies around Moelfre. There is a coastal path around the Isle of Anglesey. Can you see some of the mountains of Snowdonia with some snow on over in the distance? This is a monument at the Seawatch Centre to the Royal Charter, a steam clipper returning from Australia to Liverpool was shipwrecked in hurricane force gales on the Anglesey Coast near here in 1859. Most of the passengers and crew lost their lives. Some drowned because they were weighted down by the gold they were carrying. Almost a century later to the day, another ship, Hindlea, hit the rocks in the same spot by another gale, but this time the outcome was different as all the crew were saved by lifeboat from Moelfre. The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) has a lifeboat station at Moelfre which opens to the public. We had a look around. Look at all these medals awarded to the brave and courageous people of the RNLI. I didn't get my photo taken with the lifeboat, but Twix and Squizzle did. Before we left, we gave a donation. The RNLI is funded mainly by voluntary donations. We saw fossils in the rocks on the beach too. It was a nice afternoon for a walk, but then it was time to go home
miapearl Posted Jul 4, 2010, 2:51 pm	Today, post arrived. I wonder who is in the parcel. Hello dotdog Here we are, alfie langer the bear, Nippy the penguin, Bubo the owl, Gaspode the original dog - that's me, & Lintilla the sheep.
miapearl Posted Sep 6, 2010, 12:20 pm	Today, we have come to the seaside town of Skegness on the North Sea coast. This is an RNLI lifeboat. The tractor tows the lifeboat down to the sea for launch. A nice boating lake with the funfair in the background. What a nice sandy beach. Shame the clouds have brought occasional rain showers. Almost time for these donkeys to go home.
miapearl Posted Sep 6, 2010, 12:23 pm	Today, we have come to this nice little owl sanctuary Are you a wise owl? Are they looking at me? This is a kookaburra. A nice owl.
miapearl Posted Sep 6, 2010, 12:43 pm	Today, we have come to the Sea Life centre at Hunstanton. These skates and rays like to come up and see the people looking at them. As well as skates and rays, there are also dogfish in this tank. These fish have a toilet they could use! A spider crab. An axolotl. Snakelocks anemones. A shark. Here we all are in front of the shark tank. The fish behind didn't want its picture taken clearly.
miapearl Posted Sep 6, 2010, 1:27 pm	Mummy just returned home from walking big bro to school to find two small packets in the porch. I wonder who has arrived. Hello Dusel and Squizzle
miapearl Posted Sep 6, 2010, 1:28 pm	Today, we decided to look at the map because some of us toys are continuing the journey around the world. Mandy Sheep is off to Germany today, and Lintilla is off to Russia. Tomorrow, Nippy will be leaving for The Netherlands. Goodbye, safe journey.
miapearl Posted Nov 19, 2010, 2:30 pm	Today, mummy has taken me for a brief visit to Lindisfarne before going further south along the coast. The causeway was relatively clear of water but the weather was a bit wet and windy. Lindisfarne is a tidal island. This is Lindisfarne Castle.
miapearl Posted Nov 19, 2010, 4:58 pm	After visiting Lindisfarne, we came to the little coastal village of Bamburgh. Atop a hill and overlooking the sea sits a mighty castle We decided to go and visit inside this castle. The castle has undergone renovation and restoration. The castle is home to a museum about one of its former owners, the Victorian industrialist and engineer, William George Armstrong (Lord Armstrong). A bomb sight and computer. A propeller. Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah Mk.X engine. Bronze model of the castle and various pictures. A nice clock.
miapearl Posted Nov 23, 2010, 12:38 pm	After visiting the castle, we drove further down the coast to Seahouses. This was where my mummy caught a boat last year to take her out to the Farne Islands. This was not going to happen today! Look at those waves. I hope the lifeboat, called the Grace Darling, was not needed to go out in this weather. Grace Darling was a heroine of the 19th century - her father was a lighthouse keeper on one of the Farne Islands when disaster struck. She rowed out to rescue people from a sinking/wrecked boat in dreadful weather. They keep their waterproofs in a room, unlike at Moelfre when I sat on the upside down wellington boot.
miapearl Posted Nov 23, 2010, 4:32 pm	Mummy took me to another castle today. It is the largest in Northumbria, built in the 14th century but was damaged in the War of the Roses. It fell into decay and wasn't restored. The castle overlooks the sea
miapearl Posted Nov 23, 2010, 4:33 pm	Today, we spent a little time in Alnwick. There is a big gardens here and castle. However, time was short and we wouldn't have had enough time to fully appreciate the gardens or castle. We did walk around the outside of the castle. This is the Lion Bridge. Another entrance to the castle. There are statues all around the walls and there were gargoyles too. We did have time to visit a small museum. Alnwick has an International Music Festival. This museum had historical exhibits too. The area being close to the border with Scotland saw action. Upstairs, there was an art exhibition. Outside, there was a statue to Harry Hotspur. He was a fighter, and fought against the Scots and the French. He led a rebellion against Henry IV and was forming an alliance with Owain Glyndwr but died on the battlefield in Shrewsbury.
miapearl Posted Nov 27, 2010, 9:12 pm	Today, we have come to yet another castle, this time it is a ruined one. They have cannons and a portcullis gate. Inside another castle entrance is a museum about the Battle of Flodden Field which happened a few miles away in 1513. These are the flags of some of the people who fought there. This is one of the castle towers, with the gatehouse in the background. The castle was captured by King James IV of Scotland shortly before the Battle of Flodden Field. {img]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7ODftPSZPsY/TOZtHXnVuuI/AAAAAAAACms/1jgQU7h-rRo/gaspodeetal5.jpg[/img] The Tower House We were on the other side of that portcullis earlier. The curtain wall linked all 4 towers of the castle, but only this section remains. That's the tower with the portcullis.
miapearl Posted Dec 3, 2010, 9:20 pm	We've come to Flodden Field itself. Here's the memorial.
miapearl Posted Dec 3, 2010, 9:21 pm	Today, we stayed in the caravan park. We were counting some of the money we had left! These are Scottish banknotes!
miapearl Posted Dec 10, 2010, 2:49 pm	Today, my mummy and grandma have taken us to Berwick-upon-Tweed. We walked around the walls. It'll be our last day before we head home. The painter Lowry visited Berwick-upon-Tweed a lot and painted many scenes here. There is a trail we could follow visiting sites he painted. There is a GeoCache near this information board. It started to rain so we headed to a cafe for lunch.
miapearl Posted Dec 10, 2010, 2:59 pm	We are going home. It is sad to leave the caravan but we must go home. However, we can go via Hadrian's Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The wall stretches across England. This section we are visiting is called Heddon-on-the-Wall.
miapearl Posted Dec 10, 2010, 3:16 pm	We stop off at another spot along Hadrian's Wall. This section is Blackcarts Turret.
miapearl Posted Dec 10, 2010, 3:53 pm	Next, we stop at a third section along Hadrian's Wall. This time it is Housesteads Roman fort built in about 124AD. There it is, up the hill. This was Turret 36b.
miapearl Posted Dec 10, 2010, 3:59 pm	The fourth and final stop we did on Hadrian's Wall is Steel Rigg. The sun was fading but these rocks look impressive.
miapearl Posted Dec 10, 2010, 5:13 pm	We have a new friend to play with Hello Monkez
miapearl Posted Jan 13, 2011, 6:44 pm	We are having a party using the leftover Christmas cake my mummy made. Some of us are going away next week for pastures new. Goodbye Charlie B., mira, alfie langer, Squizzle, Topple, Orpheus and monkez.
miapearl Posted Jan 13, 2011, 6:45 pm	Goodbye Mummy. I am a big pup now but I will miss you. I hope my journey isn't a long one.
BlackCat Posted Jan 29, 2011, 2:02 am	Hey mum, today we ate cake with Fabi and her boyfriend. First Levi cut the cake and then I tried to eat it. It was delicious. I hope you like that pictures. The next week will be full with appointments for Fabi and I guess there will be no pictures because of that. But I will try to make some photos. Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Feb 2, 2011, 5:11 am	Hey, today we had to say Goodbye to Levi. He is leaving to his next host. Bye bye Levi ! Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Feb 7, 2011, 9:46 pm	Today we welcomed Bombus here in BlackCats house. He came from America to us. So we welcomed him really warm and we hope we will have a lot of fun together.
BlackCat Posted Mar 8, 2011, 6:42 am	Hey mum, Today I was allowed to fulfil one of my life missions. I am so excited to tell you. Fabi said: “Gaspode, jump in the bag, I have a surprise for you!” We drove a while until we were in Bochum and then she said: “We will go Geocaching today!” I was so happy mum. Can you believe that? It was a small traditional cache. Fabi said she chosed this one for me, as it was on the way to the shopping centre where they buy food and as they already wanted to do it for some time. So mummy, I hope you like the pictures I have for you! That is the place where the cache is hidden. It is an old train from a coal mine in front of an old exit of a coal mine. That is the old exit. Here I am climbing on the train. My nose was really good, as we found the cache really fast. This is the cache box and the logbook. Fabi wrote them inside and then we left again for going food shopping. And when we went back to the car, I was able to see a bit of the river Ruhr. It was a long and nice day; I really hope you enjoy my photos of it. Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 10, 2011, 2:56 pm	Hello mummy, today we welcomed Droopy. I was really happy to meet another dog voyager. Byebye, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 10, 2011, 3:14 pm	Hey, today we watched a lot TV. Fabi said something big will happen today and we should watch it. We were all excited and then Fabi told us what we will see live in TV. The last landing of the Discovery. Wow, this is a big thing, isn’t it? They said in TV it is a big step for the space travel in America. So we were all excited. And then they showed the Discovery which was over Florida. Everyone came to watch it. Then they showed how it looks from the Discovery itself. Can you see the clouds? We were all excited. It is coming closer. And then: THE LANDING. It was a nice time in front of the TV. We watched some kind of history. Really cool. Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 10, 2011, 3:28 pm	Hey, today we welcomed Herlinde here. She is a really nice dragon. The photo is not so good, but Fabi promised to make better ones later. Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 29, 2011, 11:56 pm	Today Fabi decided to have a walk with us in Herten. You know, she has the guest Herlinde and she is a dragon. So Fabi wanted to show us another dragon near her hometown Essen. We didn’t know what will be waiting there for us, so we were all excited to meet a dragon. And then we arrived. It was a bridge. A dragon bridge. Wow. Really amazing. What do you think? Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 30, 2011, 12:21 am	Hey, Today we visited castle Hugenpoet. It is a hotel and a restaurant. Fabi wasn’t able to go inside, as there was a big private party, but we had a look at it from the outside. It was really cool. But have a look at the photos. It was a nice day and I hope we will visit a lot more nice places in the future. Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 30, 2011, 12:46 am	Hello again, Today there was good weather outside and Fabi was feeling good, so we decided to go out to the Gruga park. We saw a little playhouse which is closed at the moment, due to problems with the roof. After that, we saw a house which was built for the parents of children, who have to stay at the hospital near the Gruga park. It is a Hundertwasser house. The parents are able to sleep there, when their children are in the university hospital of Essen. That is really nice, isn’t it? Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 30, 2011, 1:05 am	Hello, The next days will be separated in different updates. I mean, even if we visited 2 places on one day, we will make it to 2 updates, as it were two different places in this town. Both have an own history and being in one entry would mean that it would be so long. Fabi said we will separate it and we hope it is okay for you. Today our holidays in Berlin started. It was a short flight from Düsseldorf to Berlin and that is the reason why there are no photos of it. When we arrived in Berlin, we went to the hotel and right after that we started with sight seeing. Our first stop was Checkpoint Charlie. It is called like this, as they counted the Checkpoints with the alphabet. There was a Checkpoint Alpha, Checkpoint Beta and Checkpoint Charlie was the third Checkpoint. It is the most famous Checkpoint in Berlin. Here a quote from wikipedia: Quote: Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. For more infos, visit the wikipedia And now I will show you my photos of Checkpoint Charlie. Hope you like them. Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 30, 2011, 1:06 am	Hey, after visiting the Checkpoint Charlie, we went to the Brandenburg Gate. It was already getting dark, so this was our last stop for today. The Brandenburg Gate was a city gate long time ago. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which Berlin was once entered. I think it looks really great. What do you think? Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 30, 2011, 12:11 pm	Hey, today we met some famous persons. I was so excited. Fabi said we will go to Madame Tussauds and that there are a lot famous persons. We weren’t able to make much photos, as it was so crowded there, but we made two group pictures. Here we go. First we met Anne Frank. Her diary of the Second World War was published. Every child here in Germany reads it in school, normally. Did you read the book? Later Fabi said she will be a politician now. We were all excited and asked to join her. So she allowed us and we did. We had a speech with Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany. It was really great there. I really wish I could have seen more. Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 30, 2011, 1:20 pm	Hey, when we left Madame Tussauds we had a walk on the street in front of it. The street is called Unter den Linden. It is a boulevard and really nice. In the middle of the street is a centre strip with trees, little shops, places to sit and such. It is really cute. But we didn’t make photos of that. We walked a while until we arrived at interesting places. First we found a statue of Frederick the Great. Wikipedia tells us about Frederick: Quote: Frederick William (German: Friedrich Wilhelm) (16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was the Elector of Brandenburg and the Duke of Prussia ("Brandenburg-Prussia") from 1640 until his death. He was of the House of Hohenzollern and is popularly known as the Great Elector (Der Große Kurfürst) because of his military and political skill. Then we saw the historical Museum of Berlin. It is a great building, isn’t it? They started to build this house in 1695. So it is really old. It is the oldest building on “Unter den Linden”. When it was ready in 1730 it was used from the Prussian military for their armoury. In 1831 they opened it for the public and showed a collection of weapons in it. In 1952 until 1990 it was the Museum for German history. And in 1990 it became the Historical Museum of Berlin until now. So much to know about these buildings, right? The next photo is from the Berlin cathedral. The Berlin Cathedral had never been a cathedral in the actual sense of that term since it has never been the seat of a bishop. Right from it you can see the “Alex”. The television tower of Berlin. That was a long walk and a long day was over then. We were all tired when we came back to the hotel. So we slept really fast. Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Mar 31, 2011, 5:02 pm	Hey, So this is the last update for our Berlin holidays. Fabi bought some souvenirs today which she wanted to share with you. You know in Berlin they have a Ritter Sport chocolate shop. Fabi was in there and got all crazy. She bought a 2kg “surprise” bag with a mix of chocolate inside. And now we want to share with you what was inside the 2kg bag. And no: She doesn’t keep it all for herself. Some of the chocolate will be send away to friends and others will be eaten by her brother or her boyfriend. So she won’t eat 2kg of chocolate all alone. So that was our Berlin holidays. I hope you like the pictures and enjoyed it as much as I did. Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted May 4, 2011, 10:42 am	Hey , today we had a short walk at Zollverein. Just a short one as Fabi had to visit the shops only. But we made some photos to show you. You can see the tower of the coal mine and the big wheel of the coking plant. Isn’t it nice? Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted May 4, 2011, 10:52 am	Hey out there, today we made a short stop at the Lake Baldeney. We had a short walk there and made some photos for you, which I want to share with you today. It was really nice. But after the walk we were all really tired and went to bed early. Love, Gaspode
BlackCat Posted May 4, 2011, 11:02 am	Hey, today we had a short walk through the fields near the shopping centre, where Fabi normally buys her food and such. She thought that the sunshine was so nice, so she went out with us and had a short walk there. We even made some photos for showing you. Love, Gaspode
olgamaus Posted May 8, 2011, 9:30 pm	Hi Mummy, I arrived in Remscheid today! My new host Katja and the ToyVoyagers Cheerio, Lupus-Tigger, Lady and Miss Lillith gave me a warm welcome. Lady knew that her Mummy hosted me in Essen, Germany. She asked if her Mummy had sent something with me ... of course she did! I brought a delicious chocolate-wafer-bar with me. In the evening we watched "Deutschland sucht den Superstar", the German equivalent to "Pop Idol". It was the final today. Some hours later the winner had been determined, a young boy named Pietro. That's all for today Gaspode
olgamaus Posted May 9, 2011, 5:44 pm	Hi Mummy, today we went to Maastricht in the Netherlands. The daughter of Katja's friend is going to college there. She spent the weekend at home and had to return to the college. We had to drive about 90 minutes to get there. Maastricht is known as a city of history, local folklore, culture and education. The town is popular with tourists for shopping and recreation. Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river (in Dutch and German: Maas) in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands. Thankfully the wonderful historic old town was not destroyed in World War II. We started our trip at the river Meuse. We took a walk in the old town - restaurants and bars everywhere! Here you can see the city hall, built in 17th century. The lovely house in the background (the one with the clock) once was the court house, the "Dinghuis". Nowadays the tourist information centre is situated here. Strolling around we found the lovliest places. We reached the central place in front of the basilica. A fun fair is taking place here! We tried to take a photo of the basilica, but it was not possible due to backlight and the fun fair. So we walked around for another while. At least I can show you a small part of the rear side of the basilica  (I know that it is n ot really impressing ). We found really picturesque places and lanes. In a small park we found the statue of Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan, one of the Musqueteers of the Guard. He died died at the Siege of Maastricht in the Franco-Dutch War in 1673 A.D. We also found a large tree, forming sort of a tent. That was a lovely trip. Bye Gaspode
olgamaus Posted May 12, 2011, 4:14 pm	Hi Mummy, today we took a walk in the city. On the first photo you can see one of the churches in the city centre. We walked towards the station than. Two years ago a new station was built and opened. Now a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists is built to make it easier to reach the station. Now you have to cross several streets to get there. The bridge is made of four ready-made parts of steel. Two weeks ago the last piece was delivered. Now everybody is waiting for the bridge to be completed. This is the view  from the station to the city centre. Here is one more photo, also showing the new bridge. Katja told us that the "Trasse des Werkzeugs" (Route of Tools) is starting here, a lane for cyclists and pedestrians which was built on a closed railway track for freight trains. Remscheid is widely known for it's tool producing industry, many tool producing companies were sponsor of this lane, so it was called "Route of Tools". It is about 5 km long, connecting the city centre with the district Hasten. Along the route you can find find many industrial complexes, partly still in use, partly more or less dilapidated. You can also find some artwork. Still close to the station, we walked along a steelworks. Here you can see signs with the logos of some of the sponsoring companies. We left the Route of Tools to walk home. Katja told us that we walked about half of the lane, maybe we will walk the other half this week. Oh, we would be home soon - I can see this church from the living room window! Bye Gaspode
olgamaus Posted May 14, 2011, 11:55 am	Hi Mummy, Katja's colleague Elke invited me to go with her on a holiday trip to Bavaria. That sounds great! I am off with Elke now. Bye Gaspode
olgamaus Posted Jun 6, 2011, 8:53 pm	Hi Mummy, today we visited Duesseldorf. Duesseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city is situated on the River Rhine, and is renowned for its many events and also for its fashion and trade fairs. We went here by train and started our trip in the city centre, close to the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (Arts Collection North Rhine-Westphalia) because Katja's friend needed to buy some things in an art supply store. Behind the museum we found this special wall. From here we walked towards the old town. Katja and her friend wanted to show us river Rhine. We reached the Burgplatz. Here you can see Burgplatz (castle place) with the Schlossturm (castle tower). An excursion boat had landed just a moment before, so a crowd of people was heading towards the old town. Lots of people were taking a walk and enjoying an ice cream or a beer here. Close to the city the promenade is full of bars. The Rhine promenade was built in the late 1980s in its today's appearance. The traffic is running underneath the promenade. The houses in the background are much older of course. In the distance the Rhine Tower and the old harbour came into sight. Rhine Tower is a telecommunication tower with a rotating restaurant behind the windows. Katja showed us the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, the parliament,. situated at river Rhine next to Rhine Tower. This is the main entrance area of the Landtag, averted from the river. Yippie! Katja and her friend decided to take the elevator to the top of Rhine Tower! We had a spectacular overview from a height of about 170 m. The building shaped like a reversed "U" is called Stadttor (city gate). Here you can see the harbour ... and here the Landtag close to river Rhine. Back on the ground we took a walk to the harbor. We walked along the marina first. Rhine Tower once more ... This part of the harbour is called Medienhafen (media harbour). For decades the harbour has been an area of workers, industry and trade. After the Mannesmann company had discontinued its tube production in Düsseldorf, parts of the central harbour were no longer needed. As a result the eastern part of the harbour started to be redeveloped. Nowadays you can find media companies, but also fashion and design offices here, lots of gastronomy also. You can find some spectacular post-modern architecture, most famously three twisted constructions by Frank Gehry, here. Here you can see the opposite bank, can you see the building with the climbing men? Here is a zoomed photo of the funny facade: It was very hot, but extremely windy. Also a great sight We walked back to the old town than. Here we saw this old dock, even an historic ship is moored here. The city centre was crowded with people, so we decided to walk back to the station to take the train home. We came past the Koenigsallee, the most famous shopping street here,(and the most expensive one ), famous for the fashion showrooms and luxury retail stores located along its sides. When we got home, we all needed a shower immediately. Bye Gaspode
olgamaus Posted Jun 16, 2011, 8:58 pm	Hi Mummy, today we took a walk with Katja's sister and her family in Remscheid-Lennep, one of the many districts of Remscheid. Our first stop was a playground Katja's nephew took me high into the monkey bars. We walked to the Wupper dam, a large raw water dam. Here in Lennep you can find a smaller upstream dam. There was not much water because they did not have much rain during the last three months. But it seems as there was enough water for fishing! Katja told us that the water level usually is where you can see the dark spots on the pillars. We walked through a rural area than, we stopped at a barley field. When we returned to Lennep I was a bit shocked! No more lovely landscape, but Katja assured us that Lennep had a lovely old town. Unfortunately we did not visit the old town today, maybe another time Bye Gaspode
olgamaus Posted Jun 16, 2011, 9:07 pm	Hi Mummy, today we took a walk with Katja's brother-in-law and his dog Bertie. Bertie is an Entlebuch Mountain Dog from Switzerland. We parked the car the district Hohenhagen which is situated close to a large rural area, also woodland. The blackberry bushes are blooming. Bertie taught me some German dog language. Katja told me that you can find a lot of bridle pathes here. Where you can find horses, you can always find horse droppings. What about me? This sign is telling you that food is produced on those fields and on the grassland, so I am not allowed to leave some "dog droppings". Katja told me that another friend also has a dog which probably would like to meet me. Let's see ... Bye Gaspode
BlackCat Posted Jun 21, 2011, 4:26 pm	Hello everybody, sorry for the late updates. Fabi isn't really in the mood for writing updates at the moment. But now we want to show you at least the photos of our trips. Maybe she will add more text to it later! Love, Gaspode
olgamaus Posted Jun 22, 2011, 4:21 pm	Hi Mummy, we are having really bad weather this week. Katja said that all the rain that we should have had since end of March is coming down now. So we spend a lot of time at work and at home. Today Katja introduced me to the ferrets. Shiva is the sable ferret, Brighty the siamese ferret (the almost white one) and Zaehnchen is the fawn coloured ferret. They like me because dogs are also used to tuffle. I tried to frighten them like Bertie told me to, but it did not work with the ferrets Maybe we will take them out to the park at the weekend. Bye Gaspode
olgamaus Posted Jun 23, 2011, 9:33 pm	Hi Mummy, today we walked along the Korkenziehertrasse (corkscrew route) in the neighbour city Solingen, which is a former railway track. It can be used by pedestrians, inline skaters and cyclists. Before we left, Katja took a book out of the book shelf into her bag. We asked why she would take a book with her. She told us that we would come past a place where you can share books ... We started at the station of Solingen. This route is called "Korkenzieher" because its course, meandering through the city, reminds of a corkscrew. We started at "Standort Bahnhofstraße" and walked towards the botanical garden, which is situated close to the Korkenziehertrasse. You can  find graffiti along the route. Some are good, some are not. I liked this one. Soon we left the city centre. Next to the lane you can also find a cemetary. One of several tunnels ... Here we saw some more graffiti - unfortunately over painted by other sprayers. The botanical garden of Solingen is situated close-by the route. Oops! We forgot my leash. Here is a sun dial. Look at this giant butterfly! Isn't it beautiful with its glass mosaic? Do you know that there are existing public bookcases? Here is the only one that Katja has ever seen. You can take any book out of it to take it home, bring it back or keep it. We put our book into the bookcase and had a look at the books. Would Katja find a book to take home? Yes, she found one! It is a book written by the Austrian author Vicki Baum. She wrote this book in 1937 A.D. From here we had to walk back the whole distance to the city centre. Bye Gaspode
olgamaus Posted Jun 30, 2011, 5:18 pm	Hi Mummy, we took a short walk in the city centre in our lunch break, although it was incredibly hot outside. Here you can see one of the entrances of the shopping mall ... ... and the public library. We walked towards the central bus station. In this building the adult education center is situated. Here in this pretty house the music school is situated. A fountain! We went there for refreshment. The shopping street is beginning here. Oh, there were tents in the shopping street. Katja told us that the 5. Remscheider Ess-Kultour is taking place here this weekend. Most of the well-known restaurants of Remscheid will cook special small dishes here, usually two or three different dishes and a dessert. A french market will also take place here. Katja told us that we would go there and taste tons of delicious food. This is the main entrance of the shopping mall. Have a look at the temperature! Before we had to return to our workplace Katja showed us the city hall and the market place. There is a lion on the pillar. The lion is the heraldic animal of Remscheid. Bye Gaspode
olgamaus Posted Jul 6, 2011, 3:36 pm	Hi Mummy, today we went to Hueckeswagen, a small town embedded in a rural area. First we had a look at the riding stable, where Katja's friend is spending her free time. We went to the meadows to have a look at the horses. Three curious goats are also living here Later we went to the city centre to visit a beer-feast. More than 25 different beer stalls from several parts of Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands were here. Hofbräuhaus from Munich! The most famous pub in the whole world We tasted a "Porter beer" from Lusatia and one from Czech Republic. Bye Gaspode
olgamaus Posted Aug 3, 2011, 8:17 pm	Hi Mummy, I am on my way home now! I am travelling with Jelle, so our trip won't be boring. Love Gaspode
miapearl Posted Aug 10, 2011, 1:22 pm	Mummy mummy, I'm home, did you miss me!? My brother did and showed me what he has been doing. He has been making things out of K'Nex.
miapearl Posted Sep 23, 2011, 9:34 pm	What have we here in this box? Hello Jellybean
miapearl Posted Oct 11, 2011, 4:12 pm	Hello! To celebrate Clyde's arrival and also to wish some of us who are travelling to pastures new we shared a doughnut!
miapearl Posted Nov 4, 2011, 11:07 am	Today, we welcomed a new visitor Tiger Lilly Clyde was shy so we had another photo taken.
miapearl Posted Nov 6, 2011, 10:08 pm	We are looking out of the window at the big wide world. Some of us are leaving for new adventures. Bon Voyage and take care. Wheee! I am also leaving, and am off to the post box... I'll miss you mummy!
sunshroom c.spring.hh@googlemail.com Posted Nov 16, 2011, 6:52 pm	Hey. I arrived in Hamburg. It was a cold journey and I'm happy to be here. I met another TV promptly. It's Enton, he helped me out of my package. A really cool guy.  Oh well, I got some flowers to welcome me.
sunshroom c.spring.hh@googlemail.com Posted Dec 2, 2011, 8:32 pm	We have been to the Kiekeberg-Museum in the south of Hamburg. It's an outdoor museum where you see how living in the past between 1600-1960 had been. We just took a few photos 'cause it was really cold. I hope we'll come back again when it's a little milder.
sunshroom c.spring.hh@googlemail.com Posted Feb 11, 2012, 10:52 am	It's christmas eve and we're waiting for Santa. Look what a cute christmas tree we have. I'm a little bit homesick although I've a great time here in Hamburg.
sunshroom c.spring.hh@googlemail.com Posted Feb 11, 2012, 11:17 am	Yes, we made cookies.
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Jun 14, 2012, 4:36 pm	Dear Mum Just a short note to let you know that I've safely arrived in Heidelberg. I was greeted by Coco Presley who's also a ToyVoyager but only travels with her mum. Talk to you soon. Gaspode
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Jun 18, 2012, 12:14 am	Dear Mum Today I took a walk in the fields and vineyards around the suburb of Rohrbach. Hope you like my photos. Bye, Gaspode
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Jul 7, 2012, 4:37 pm	Dear Mum Here are some impressions from the banks of the river Neckar and the Botanical Garden: Bye, Gaspode
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Jul 21, 2012, 7:50 pm	Dear Mum Today I took a walk in the south of Heidelberg where I saw some horses and a huge maize field. Love, Gaspode
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Jul 22, 2012, 5:49 pm	Dear Mum Today I had a look around the city centre where I saw a lot of old buildings and walked through narrow streets. I saw the castle from a distance and crossed the Old Bridge. Bye, Gaspode
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Aug 1, 2012, 3:35 pm	Today I explored the mountains north of the river Neckar. The "Heiligenberg" was quite a busy place in the past. People of Celtic origin already settled there in pre-historic times and in the Middle Ages two monasteries were built on the mountain. Nowadays it's a nature reserve. Hugs, Gaspode
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Aug 5, 2012, 4:46 pm	Dear Mum nuriayasmin decided it was time to teach me how to say "woof" in other languages. As she knows I'm a very intelligent dog, she taught me to say the sentences "I'm a dog and bark. I say "Woof" in German and Spanish. Wow, now I'm a multilingual dog. Gaspode
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Aug 7, 2012, 9:40 pm	Dear Mum Today you made me really happy. A visit from home. Nobody told me before that Zed Dog would come to spend some time in Heidelberg. I'm so happy to see him. Love, Gaspode
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Aug 8, 2012, 11:22 pm	Dear Mum Today I saw a bit of Cologne which is Germany's 4th biggest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. We didn't have much time but took a walk along the river Rhine and visited the Cathedral which was a very impressive building and is situated directly next to the central station. Bye, Gaspode
Blackie Posted Oct 2, 2012, 1:14 pm	Hi Mum! Today I landed to Italy! As soon as I came out from the envelope, Trifolo was there to say hello! It's nice to be greeted by such a smile.... and such a baked pasta dish!  I think I will enjoy Italy....
Blackie Posted Oct 7, 2012, 3:49 pm	Hi again Mum! My new host, Francy, just noticed I am interested in baking, so she decided we should make a cake for tonight's dinner!  First of all, I took a look at the recipe, so I was ready to start! We started by weighting the sugar... ... and mixing it with eggs I mixed it well and then I started adding flour... It became a little hard as I added a lot of flour!  Then I finally finished with flour, and I could add some olive oil... ... a cup of milk... ... and a touch of Marsala wine!  We are making an apple cake, so I had to cut apples!  Still more ingradients to add! Lemon zest... ...butter.... ... and the best part of it, chocolate chips!  We put everything in the baking pan and off in the oven! and here it is! Doesn't it look good????  It also tastes good!!!!  See Mum, I made a cake!
Blackie Posted Oct 7, 2012, 4:54 pm	Yawn... it's Monday morning... and sooo early!  But Francy had to go back to her home in Torino, so we had to catch an early train... As soon as we arrived home, Francy introduced me to the rest of the family: Trifolo, Wellington... ... and a lot of other people!  I also met someone very, very similar to me!  Here he is teaching me how to bark in Italian: it's "BAU"!!! Oh well, I'll have some sleep now, I just slept nothing tonight!
Blackie Posted Oct 17, 2012, 4:04 pm	Hi Mum! Today Francy and me went for a little tour around Torino. We started our day with a nice cappuccino... ... and then we started walking around the city center! Did you know Torino has a lot of Unesco sites? Looks like every palace who used to belong to the Savoy kings is a Unesco site... look at this one, isn't it weird? :P But on the other side, it looks completely different! :P Another one is on the city main square, Piazza Castello. This one is called Palazzo Madama and we also went inside, there are some Roman ruins in the basement! On the other side of the square there's another one, the Royal Palace! Then we moved to the Mole, the symbol of Torino. The weather was horrible and I had to spend a lot of time while Francy tried to take a decent photo! In the meanwhile, she told me that the Mole was a sinagogue, but now has become a museum... Than we reached the river to have a walk towards a park. We walked to the bridge and then walked along the river, isn't it beautiful? It's a pity it was almost raining... Anyway, we got to the park, and soon we saw a squirrel, then another one, and then many more! I tried to take a picture with a squirrell... can you see him hiding on the tree? Then we saw another Savoy castle (they really seem to be common here around...  ) ... and we also went in the medieval village inside the park!  I saw some interesting things... As we came out of the village, we started walking back home. We passed some statues... ... and in another big square, with a statue in the middle On the floor, instead, there is a golden bull. The bull is the symbol of the city, and they say it brings you good luck if you step on a specific part of the body of this one. But you can't do it on purpose, so my step didn't count! Then we finally went back home, I was starting to get tired! :P
Blackie Posted Oct 17, 2012, 4:56 pm	Hello hello!!! We are on the mountains again! Guess what we did today? We went to a traditional festival, it's called "Fiera Franca" and it's held every year. A saw a lot of things and met a lot of people! There were people performing traditional dances wearing old costumes... ...and there was a lot of food! Cheese first of all! But also pumpkins, yep it's almost Halloween!  We saw how cookies are made... ...and we also bought some French sweets, with Nutella filling! Yummy!  And how many animals there were! Chickens and ducks... Horses and donkeys... pigs... and cows, a lot of them! They wear those big bells around the neck. There also were goats... ...and I made a new friend! That's all for today, see you soon!
Blackie Posted Nov 4, 2012, 5:16 pm	Hi Mummy! Today we had a surprise: a new Toyvoyager came to visit! I couldn't wait to find out who would came out of the envelope... "Hello there!" Here came Orkku Orva! She's from Finland, but she was visiting Germany so she gave us a nice postcard and some sweets She came at breakfast time, so we offered her a cup of coffee and something to eat Then I showed her a little around, there still is a nice weather and flowers so it's nice to relax outside!  Later, Francy got some chestnuts, so we helped her preparing them to be roasted... and of course, we also helped her eating them after dinner! Tomorrow we'll be back in Torino, but Francy told us to be ready to leave again soon -where will we go???
Blackie Posted Nov 4, 2012, 9:24 pm	So, here we go!  This morning Francy packed everything, including us! Trifolo the rabbit is coming with us too! So, he took place in one of the bags... ... while Orkku Orava and I jumped in the other one! We're ready to go! We could came out after a while, when we were safe and confy on a train. The journey was quite long, I guess we stayed on that train for 4 or 5 hours...  But Trifolo entertained us for the whole time! He says he's a famous one in Italy, a real VIP. I wasn't really bound to believe him, but then he showed us he's on chocolates packages as well, so maybe he really is an important testimonial here around... We checked it closely and it's undoubtfully him... I'm still not fully convinced though...  When we finally arrived, Francy told us she had something to do that night, so we just stayed in our room.  Luckily, she gave us a guidebook about our tomorrow trip: we're going to visit Venice!!!!  I'm so excited!!!!!
Blackie Posted Nov 4, 2012, 10:22 pm	Can't wait can't wait!!!!  On the train again, but this time only for a short time... And here we are! Venice it's just so.... Venice!  The weather wasn't the best and our hosts had to find some waterproof boots before starting exploring, as the water was high! Luckily, we don't have such problems, as we travel in Francy's handbag and see everything from a dry point of view!  We started from Rialto bridge! And then just went walking around for a while. We saw a lot of Gondolas, you know those typical black boats... each of them has its own decoration, and tourists seem to love them!!! But we didn't catch one as they really are expensive...  Venice is lots of water and lots of bridges!!!! We also went to St. Mark's Square to see the Cathedral, but as you can see, the square was flooded, so we decided to go and have lunch, and come back later! So, we went to a restaurant to eat something - a pizza and a calzone, to be precise! I feel sooooo Italian!  Then we went sightseeing again! We went back to St. Mark's Square -there was no water anymore, so the pidgeons had come back. They usually live on the square, tourists buy food for them and then have fun and take photos with the pidgeons on them! We would have loved to try as well, but Francy was very worried the pidgeons could hurt us, so we didn't...  We decided to go and see the Cathedral from inside instead. While we were waiting to go in, I had a look around the square. Look at the ceiling inside the Cathdral!  They used a lot of gold, didn't they?  On the other side, we saw the Doge's palace. Francy explained us that the Doge was the person who used to govern Venice in ancient times. Actually, Venice was ruling on the whole region at the time -it was not a city, it was a big realm! Just beside it, we could enjoy a wonderful view of the Lagoon... Then Francy took us to the so-called "Sighs Bridge". This bridge goes from the Doge's palace to another palace next to it. She told us the name "Sighs Bridge" was given to it because it used to go from the court, in the Doge's palace, to the prisons in the other building. So, people who walked on it often could look at the sea for their last time, so they were quite sad and gave a lot of sighs! Sound a bit funny, doesn't it?  Walking around we saw a lot of nice shops! So, Francy again explained us something interesting. In Venice lagoon there's an island called Murano, which is very famous for its glass artworks. We saw a lot on them in the shops' windows, they really can to everything with glass! and the masks, of course! Venice's carnival is sooo famous, isn't it Mum? We saw some beautiful ones... ... and what about this window??? I can hardly see the two of us in all this richness, can you find me Mum???  We had one last stop at the local Hard Rock Cafè to grab some souvenirs, as our hosts collect them. Then we decided to go back to the hotel. It was a bit sad to leave Venice, but we were soooo tired... it has been a wonderful day!
Blackie Posted Nov 4, 2012, 10:54 pm	Hi Mum! Today we are going to visit Padua. It actually is the city we slept in the last 2 nights, but we still didn't manage to see it... Well, it's not the best day to do so prabably, it's so cold and windy and rainy!  But we must go back to Torino tonight, so we can't waste a minute  Our first destination is the Scrovegni Chapel! Unluckily we couldn't take pictures inside, but it was spectacular! We could only take photos from the outside... looks quite simple from the outside, one would never imagine how beautiful it is inside! If you'd like to see, I've found this site about it, it's exactly what we saw: http://www.cappelladegliscrovegni.it/index.php/en/ Then we had a walk in the city center. We saw this strange building, called "the Reason's Palace", which now is the town hall. and this one, which I actually didn't really understand what it is. Maybe just a tower with a clock!  The main touristic attraction in Padua is St. Anthony's Church. St. Anthony from Padua is so famous in Italy, he doesn't need to be mentioned. So, this church is usually just called "The Saint's Church", and everybody knows whose Saint is it about. Then we went to see the "Prato della Valle". It may look just like a park, but it's a nice one. There's a sort of artificial river running all around like a ring, with statues on its sides and bridges to go on the island in the middle. Then, the weather became worse and worse and we only had one more hour before catching the train, so we decided to reach the train station, even if we would have loved to see more of the city  But we were tired enough, and slept all the way back to Torino!
Blackie Posted Dec 2, 2012, 3:42 pm	Hi Mummy! Here I am again! I'm sorry I didn't write earlier, my host Francy has been busy with some sort of exam lately so we really did nothing... oh well, we studied a lot and helped her reharsing over and over again, but it's not an interesting thing to take pictures of! Luckily it's over now, so we came at Francy's parents for the weekend. As we all arrived there, there was a familiar-looking little package waiting for us... I couldn't resist opening it, and in the end the others helped me to see what was inside! Who's in??? It's Leila the Sheep from Lithuania!  She took us a Mommin lollipop and a letter we quickly read. Her mum just reccomend us to keep good care of her... we'll do!!!!  As outside there is snow, we decided to welcome our new guest with a look around here! Trifolo was too cold to come outside, but Wellington was very happy to come with us! We even engaged in a small snowballs battle -Wellington and Orkku Orava VS. Leila and me!  Then we tried to build a snowman... ... but the snow was too iced and we couldn't really model it, so we had to give up! It's so cold that all the water now is ice. Wellington looks quite happy, but all of us other wouldn't dare to walk on pure ice!!! Then we went back home for lunch. Did you know it's our host's birthday today???? We didn't neither...  But of course her mother did, so she made a special cake for her!!!!  Something Hello-Kittish... We ate it with some good Spumante, it was really good!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANCY!!!!
Blackie Posted Dec 24, 2012, 1:55 pm	Dear Mummy, how are you doing? Christmas is approaching and today our host decided it was time for some Christmas shopping & sightseeing! So, we walked to the very city centre, passing by the Roman ruins of Torino. Most of Italian cities have Roman origins and so does Torino, but there are not a lot of remainings of that time, the Palatine Gate is the most important one. Then we walked to Castle Square, which is one of the most important squares in town. Here we saw 2 of the Savoy's palaces, the Royal Palace and Madama Palace. I've actually already been here, do you remember Mum? But we wanted to show them to Orkku and Leila! And there also are some Christmas decorations -look, they put an advent calendar in the square! This one is quite weird... can't really guess why it should look Christmassy... but it's artistic it its own way!  On another square thay have an old merry-go-round, which looks much more Christmassy!  But the Department Store is the most Christmassy place of all!!!! Look Mum, doesn't it look beautiful?  When we came out of the store it was dark outside, so we could see all the Christmas lights! The city of Torino puts a lot of efforts in those "Artistic Lights" and some of them actually look gorgeous and bring you a sense of happiness! This one tells you a whole story! But it was in Italian, so Francy just gave us a little summary: it talks about someone walking in the wood with snow...  As we went back to Castle Square, we notice there was a show going on on Christmas music: look at the dancers over the square!!! Then we decided to go back home walking through Via Garibaldi. There are some birds over it, and we followed the red ribbon they hold... where will it go??? Here it is!!!! There's an angel in Piazza Statuto, where the street ends, holding the ribbon!  Can you see it? Unluckily it was dark and the statue is almost black, but you should be able to see its silhoutte! So, here we are back home! Today we bought some Christmas decorations and a few "Panettone", which is a typical Italian cake they eat at Christmas. We wanted to taste one, but Francy told us they are to be given a a gift to relatives and friends. But she says, we'll surely manage to taste it at Christmas. Can't wait!
Blackie Posted Dec 24, 2012, 2:39 pm	Hi Mum! Our host Francy is spending the afternoon shopping for Christmas presents, but we decided to stay home and put on some nice Christmas decorations! We have a lot of them, so we had to pick the best ones! We put up a small Christmas tree, and after that we decided to do another one with a green plant we have at home! Francy will be happy when she'll be back! We worked hard, so we decided it was time to relax with a nice hot chocolate. We made it with chocolate blocks, it's pretty simple! You just have to heat the milk... ...and put the chocolate block inside to melt! It's yummy! It's nice to wait for Christmas this way!
Blackie Posted Jan 7, 2013, 12:12 pm	MERRY CHRISTMAS MUM!!!!! I missed you so much in these days...  Oh well, we went spending the Christmas time at Francy's parents, in the mountain. We expected a nice winter landscape but no, there was no snow and it was sunny and quite hot... but we still had a Christmas tree! We placed there all the gifts we have been shopping for... ...and before night, many others appeared! We're curious, who knows what will be inside?  Well, Francy let us open what looks like her most important present! It's kinda diffucult job when you're just a few centimeters tall... but we are a team!  So, here it is! An e-book reader!  Looks cool, mmmh?  Oh well mum, I would love to tell you more about my Christmas holidays as we did quite a lot of things, we baked a lot and then celebrated the New Year... but the other Voyagers here are getting impatients to update their blogs as well so I have to leave them the pc now... you know, we only have one for the three of us!  Talk to you again very soon!
Blackie Posted Jan 28, 2013, 11:13 am	Hi Mum! How are you???? I’m sorry I didn’t update you lately, but Francy got some good news and she couldn’t really help us blogging a lot lately: she started a new job! But I’ll tell you about it later, now I have lots to tell you about other things we did while we were on holiday! So, my last post was about Christmas… let’s talk about Boxing Day then! That morning we had a nice breakfast with tea and gingerbread cookies. They looked good, didn’t they? So, we decided it was time to contribute as well, and we picked a cookie recipe to try: Peanut Butter Cookies! So, we started working all together, weighting and mixing all the ingredients. We had a lot of fun, and all of us had the chance to contribute someway! The best part of it was adding the peanuts! Trifolo weighted them… ...and then we had to make them in very small pieces, so we put them in cloth and... started jumping on them all together! Oh well, they really didn’t turn out in the smallest pieces ever, but it was pretty good... The mix actually turned out to be wuite hard in the end, and Orkku Orava found it quite hard to give it the final mix... But in the end she did it, and we could form the cookies and bake them! But look! While they were baking, the grew up and become one single big cookie!  We had to cut them to have more cookies! They were good, you know... And we had a lot of fun! I think we could open a bakery soon!
Blackie Posted Jan 28, 2013, 11:52 am	Hello again! Guess what? The cookies we baked on boxing day were so good, we decided to bake something else today! J So, we took the recipe book and picked a new one: Banana Cupcakes! This was quite a long recipe, so we had to work on different things at the same time. Luckily, we are 3! So, Orkku Orava and Leila started weighting some of the ingredients, while I read the recipe and told them how much they should weight. Then Orkku Orava started squashing the bananas, while Leila made some sour cream (did you know it doesn’t exist in Italy??? We had to make it ourselves!) and I mixed flour and eggs. We worked as a team, quickly and effective! Finally Leila and I put the mix in the baking moulds, while Orkku Orava was turning the oven on. But it was not over yet! While the cupcakes were baking, we had to prepare the peanut butter frosting… ...and I had the best idea: I decided to add a final touch by cutting some banana slices to decorate the cupcakes!  Here they are! They looked good and they were delicious, we were very proud of them!  I will make them again for you when I’ll be back home Mum!
Blackie Posted Jan 28, 2013, 12:17 pm	3, 2, 1… HAPPY NEW YEAR MOM!!!!!!!  How did you spend the New Year???? I spent it with my friends, of course! After dinner, we watched on tv the Italian Republic’s President giving a speech but to be honest, we soon got bored, so we decide to pick another channel an wait the midnight by dancing „Gangnam Style“!  At midnight, we went out to watch some fireworks! They were very colourful, but also very difficult to be photographed, so here is the best we could do…  It was pretty cold outside anyway, so we went back in and finally enjoyed a slice of panettone with some Italian Spumante wine!  After the wine, our mood was quite good so we had some social dances...  But when Francy saw us, she said it was cleary time to bed, so the party was over. But it was fun while it lasted!
Blackie Posted Feb 3, 2013, 1:55 pm	Hi Mum! Today, something magic happened!  Francy told us that in Italy, on January 6th, all the children get a visit from the "Befana", an old lady (maybe a witch???) who flies on a broom and brings them candies and sometimes coal. It depends on how good the kid behave during the year. But we've been very good kids last year, so the Befana can only bring us a lot of candies!  We decided to wait for the Befana, so we hide on a shelf all night long. We were very well hidden, can you spot us? Then, with the first lights of the day... here she came!!!!!!  She landed on the table and she looked around to make sure she was alone... But we couldn't resist and popped out of our hiding place and went to greet her!!! She looked quite surprised to see us!  But she allowed us to look in her bag and take the candies!  There were quite a lot of them, and we started tasting right away!  Then the Befana had to go visiting other houses (she actually was quite late, as she was supposed to finish during the night... but she said she's getting too old to rush...  ). So she flied away. Goodbye Befana, we all hope we'll be in Italy to see you again next year!
Blackie Posted Feb 3, 2013, 2:16 pm	Mmmm.... Christmas holidays are over now... and as I mentioned, my host Francy recently started a new job. So, today we decided to go with her and help her getting things done! We went with her in the office and started by turning the pc on, while she was having a coffee.... Then we helped with some difficult accounts... luckily we had a calculator! And before the day was over, we gave the archived documents a new order. Francy was very happy on how we helped her, so she organized a little "pizza party". We got our pizzas delivered home! Working is not so bad!
Blackie Posted Feb 18, 2013, 6:02 pm	Hi Mum! Yesterday Francy gave us the news: Leila had to reach her next host  We all were pretty sad to say goodbye, but tries to help her getting ready to go! She grabbed her letter to show to her next host, and then said goodbye....  Then we slipped the letter in the envelope... ... and then it was her turn! Goodbye, friend, maybe we'll meet again somewhere in the world!!!! As she was inside the envelope, we started working around the envelope to seal it and let her travel safely... I hope we did a good job! Have a nice holiday in Denmark, Leila!!!!
Blackie Posted Mar 17, 2013, 4:44 pm	Hi Mum! My host is busier and busier in these days, but today she decided to take us to see an interesting exibition!  At first, we walked to the river, to the beautiful Gran Madre Church. We also went up its stairs and saw the charming statues and the lanscape from up there. Here is today's destination: the Cappuccini Mount. I was a bit disappointed at first, because when Francy told us we would go there, I was imagining tons of hot milk and coffee, which wouldn't have been a bad thing on such a cold day  But when I told her, Francy laughed had and explained that the "Cappuccini" is a monastic order.  Anyway, we climbed over the hill and could enjoy the view before going into the museum The exhibition was about a Japanese population called Ainu. They live up in the North and are quite curious-looking  We saw their clothes and their tools Then we walked upstairs and we found out there was a panoramic terrace. Even it was very cold, we enjoyed looking to Torino from up above!  We also walked into the Mountain museum, were we met some interesting guys...  Unluckily we couldn't take any more pictures, as a guardian came and told us it's forbidden to take photos in the museum. How bad is that????
Blackie Posted Apr 9, 2013, 10:36 pm	Hi Mum! Today we had to say goodbye to Orkku Orava, the little squirrel... she's visiting Germany next! I helped her in picking and writing a postcard for her next host... ... then we all hugged her and said goodbye. It was pretty sad, we spent so much time together! Goodbye friend, hope you'll have a safe journey to new adventures!

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