Posted Apr 20, 2012, 9:04 am
It is Katie Pillar. We welcomed her and hoped that she will have a great time with us.
Posted Apr 20, 2012, 9:07 am
My mummy registered me here and I hope that many, many people will receive me and show me there place. I am so excited!
If you want to host me, please write my mum.
Posted Apr 20, 2012, 3:48 pm
Posted Apr 20, 2012, 3:52 pm
Posted Apr 20, 2012, 4:03 pm
We drove by car to Burgdorf. The diddl-mouse next to me is the guardian angel of the car.
Then my mum had to make an allergy test. How colourful she was.
Then we drove back with bus. I also had a bus ticket.
Posted Apr 20, 2012, 4:17 pm
The cat is called Dicker. It is the german word for people who have a couple of pounds too much. So he is really fat.
And the budgerigar is called Racker, named after the little Sea Turtle of the movie "Finding Nemo". In english the Sea Turtle is called Squirt.
sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi
Posted May 11, 2012, 5:36 pm
I arrived here to my new host Susanna a while ago. And I have been busy getting familiar with her and surroundings here. Weather has been typical Finnish spring weather cold and rainy, so we haven’t been able to go out much.
Yesterday weather was nice, and we took a long walk. We went to neighborhood, where is lots of small old wooden houses. Susanna loves those kinds of houses, and they are quite nice, don’t you think? Way back, I noticed beautiful old trees and of course want to climb. Susanna didn’t let me climb very high, she was afraid I might hurt myself. She is so funny, what we squirrels do best….climb….hurt myself…hah!
At least she let me climb to this very small tree. Well we hope weather is getting better and we can go out at weekend (and maybe see some squirrels too)
Love you Mom!
Emma
sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi
Posted May 19, 2012, 6:35 pm
Today we were finally able to go out. It was brilliant, because I was literally
climbing up and down the walls here inside. Weather was warm and sunny. We take a walk in small forest nearby. There are these big spruces in the forest and of course I “try” them a little. Spring time is here and everything is so green and beautiful. I also found these little white flowers; wood anemones. I virtually send one of them to you mom. I even had a little snack, cones as you can see. Our walk was very nice and relaxing.
Take care Mom!
Emma
sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi
Posted Jun 2, 2012, 5:22 pm
Yesterday we took quick one day trip to Seinäjoki. We haven’t got time to take many photos, but here is couple. I got to see glimpse of famous church called Lakeuden Risti. And of course it was fun to travel with train. Can you see Mom, there is character of Richard Scarry’s children’s book painted on the train.
Mostly I travelled in my host’s bag, but in train I sit at window and was able to see Finnish sceneries.
Take Care Mom, Love you!
Emma
sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi
Posted Jun 16, 2012, 7:17 pm
Yesterday was very fun day. We travelled to small town Porvoo and spent easygoing day there. Porvoo is famous of it’s old town and beautiful old church. “The story tells that in 1346 Maunu Eerikinpoika (Magnus Eriksson), then the King of Sweden, visited Porvoo and granted the town rights there and then”. “Porvoo Cathedral, dedicated to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, gained its present form at the end of the 15th century”.
As I have told you, my host loves old buildings, so you can see lots of pictures of them. People actually live in those old houses, and my host would love to live there. There are also small shops in old town with decoration stuff, antique and clothes, and we did little shopping too. One of the shops has little Moomin house as window decoration, I would love to live there.
You can also see me at riverside of Porvoo river. Well really exciting day for a change. At home we ate chocolates we bought from local candy store called Brunberg , yummy.
xxx
Emma
sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi
Posted Jun 27, 2012, 6:59 pm
Last weekend we have holiday here from Friday to Sunday. It was time of Midsummer. Days are long and nights are short in this time of year. There is an old saying, that after Midsummer days are starting to get shorter by rooster step every day. My host really don’t know, where that saying comes from.
Midsummer eve we went to market place and bought new potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, peas, strawberries and beautiful flowers. Growing season here in Finland is very short and when new vegetables and berries are ready, they are so good. That’s true Mom, I tasted everything (except flowers).
We took few pics at my host’s balcony, and you never guess, what time is it? Almost 11.00 p.m.
Many Finnish people go to summer cottages or to see bonfires at Midsummer. My host is not a fan of either, so we stayed at home. We eat well, relaxed and have a good time.
Love you Mom!
Emma
sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi
Posted Jul 15, 2012, 7:14 pm
I got new friends. Last week arrived two funny fellows called Wotwots.
And last weekend we all travelled and spend few days at small community called Haapamäki, with our host’s school mate. As you can see, she lives in beautiful old house. There are also other nice buildings, like sauna (last small red building), at her courtyard.
And of course we had to go to sauna. It is old fashion sauna, which we heated up with wood, not electricity. And we had birch whisk, which we used in sauna. We spend nights in little room, where there was old stove and this funny old radio.
We went by train, and Wotwots were excited. I have travelled so much by train, that it was nothing new to me. But in last photo you can see Lahti railway station from different angle, than before.
Take Care Mom!
Emma
Posted Jul 24, 2012, 1:43 pm
I finally arrived at my new house! I've met Zed Dog, a lovely puppy from England, and now I became friends with Leila! I brought my new friends and my host mum Karolina many presents from Finland. They really enjoyed it!:
Karolina said that it's time to go and see Vilnius! What a great start - we stopped here, next to the fountain:
And this is the Town Hall! Isn't it beautiful?
Here I am near the Barbora Radvilaitė statue. She was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as consort to Sigismund II Augustus:
Look! I'm posing in front of one part of the Vilnius University - it is the oldest university in the Baltic states and one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. It is also the largest university in Lithuania:
The Presidential Palace is located in Vilnius Old Town, in 1997 this place became the official seat of the President of Lithuania:
Here is the very famous Cathedral of Vilnius (Vilniaus Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika). It's the main Roman Catholic Cathedral of Lithuania. You can also see the Bell Tower!
We were going back home and stopped to see the panorama of Vilnius. You can see Gediminas' castle here!
Whoa, that was a great day and I had so much fun with my new mum and my awesome friends! I'm a bit tired now, I guess I should rest for a while.
Love,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Jul 28, 2012, 1:38 pm
First of all, I'm so sorry that I couldn't upload new pictures within this week - Karolina was really busy, so we didn't have much chances to go and see something. But we spent a really good time at home!
Soap bubbles are so much fun!
And look how many nice postcards Karolina has received from Belarus, Italy... (maybe one day I'll visit these countries, too?):
We wanted to choose a place where to go next (in Vilnius). Our host mum gave us a map of the city and we had a really hard time thinking what would be the best place to go next week. But we did it, we chose it! You'll see it in my other updates...
A day with a movie is even better -we saw "Tangled". It was such a great story!
And then Karolina decided to take us for a walk outside, near the house. Another friend came with us - it's Karolina's rabbit, named Mr. Rabbit
He's so adorable:
Well, that's it for now. It's really hot outside, so I'm almost melting here. But I guess it's the real summer, right?
Hugs,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 1, 2012, 1:37 pm
Today is the first day of the last month of summer and also the day when I have to say goodbye to my friends.
Zed Dog and Leila are going to Germany and I'm going to miss them so much! I wished all the best to my friends and to have a safe journey.
Love,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 5, 2012, 8:32 am
Today I had an amazing time in Klaipėda, Lithuania. This city was celebrating SEA FESTIVAL 2012! We woke up very early and spent 3 hours in the car. Firstly, we went to the beach in the morning:
The Baltic Sea looks great!!
Can you see a big ship behind me? It's huge!
After realxing in Melnragė's beach, we went to the city centre where we saw really old cars driving - it was an Old Cars exposition! I got a chance to take a picture with some of them:
Here is a beautiful ship made of flowers:
I saw a lot of wonderful decorations and fountains:
There also was a big fair, where people were selling fish, kvass, wooden things, handmade jewelry and so on:
Here I am with the ferry:
What a spooky decoration! Brr... It's like a ghost from the water!
In Germany, there are also some houses like this, which I've found in Klaipėda:
Street artist gave us a nice performance:
Wow, what a day! I had so much fun near the sea! I got really tired when we came back to Vilnius, so I guess I'll take a nap now.
Love,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 9, 2012, 9:59 am
This morning I ate big blueberries that Karolina gave me - in Lithuania it's šilauogės. They are so delicious!
After that, I tried to read the book that my host mum is reading right now - it's "Altorių šešėly" by Vincas Mykolaitis Putinas. It was hard to understand Lithuanian, but Karolina helped me and we read one chapter together!
Today Lithuania's basketball team is playing against Russia. We are going to watch it on a bigger screen in the city restaurant, but first - something for Lithuania! This bracelet will be my little support for the basketball players!
Have to go, don't want to be late! Wait for other updates
Love,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 9, 2012, 10:11 am
Here is a part 2 updates for this day - we arrived safely to the city centre and we waited for some Karolina's friends at Vincas Kudirka square. Vincas Kudirka was a Lithuanian poet and physician, and the author of both the music and lyrics of the Lithuanian National Anthem, Tautiška giesmė. Here I am near his statue:
And this is a very interesting knitted tree! It's a one project of an idea, called "urban knitting":
We went to the restaurant, but it was so crowded, that we hardly found a place where to sit! We ordered some light snacks (no peanuts, huh..) and got ready for the Olympic games!
Here it goes, everyone is watching the basketball games, where plays Russia's and Lithuania's teams...
Well, what I have to say - too bad that it all finished soon and Lithuanian team lost. But they still played very well and, as Karolina says, they are still the winners in Lithuania's heart!
Hugs,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 13, 2012, 8:20 am
This Saturday we went to a big mall called "Panorama". It looked really interesting!
And look, how many nice shops with all the autumn collections and warm clothes
There was a contest going on to win this baby! Too bad that squirrels can't participate in that one...
We went back home by car and Karolina decided to take some quick photos of me and nice views from the window! First picture - me and Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. It's closed for the summer, but will be opened again for a new season starting September!
Here is Vilnius Neris river embankment with planted flowers - they form the words "I love you" ("Aš tave myliu") and a heart. Isn't that romantic?
Buildings in the Old Town...
And here you can see Gediminas' castle!
That was a nice day, though the weather was tricky and sun didn't want to come out - guess autumn is really soon...
Love,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 13, 2012, 8:27 am
Today we've visited Karolina's best friend and decided to cook something delicious at her house! I was very pleased to find my friends - cool toys!
They told me some interesting stories about this beautiful town Vilnius...
First of all - summer salads...
Then - tasty roasted chicken!
And "London Olympics 2012" closing ceremony. Wasn't that great?
I was very happy to see so many cool artists and singers like "Spice Girls" or listen to the "Queen" music once again!
Well, see you soon, mum!
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 15, 2012, 9:30 pm
Today Karolina had to go to the Old Town and meet one friend there, so I came with her!
We waited for a friend near the beautiful building - St. Kotryna's church. I took a picture of it, look:
We went to a cafe called "YOGIS" to eat frozen yogurt. Yummy! Karolina chose natural flavor with waffles (I would choose peanuts, but it's okay, too
) and she gave me a bite - that was very delicious!
When we came back home, there was a package, waiting for us! Maybe it's a new voyager?...
Nope, it's just sunglasses for my host mum! She waited for them really much:
Seems like my face is too small to wear them...
The weather is not so good outside, so maybe Karolina won't need the glasses soon... Maybe it will be better soon?
Bye,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 15, 2012, 9:41 pm
Today was a great day, because a new toy voyager arrived - it's Diddl-Maus! I gave him a big friendly hug:
We went for a walk in Žirmūnai, a district where we are living, and we saw this amazing fountain not far from our house!
Also, we decided to rest for a while on the meadow...
... and then to have fun - we wanted to swing!
These are the houses in Šiaurės Miestelis, another area in Vilnius:
What a great experience and a cosy evening with a cup of tea
Love,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 16, 2012, 9:19 pm
Today me and Diddl-Maus went on a mini trip on a bike!
We went to the Old Town from Žirmūnai and we saw some interesting buildings like this nice white house near Tuskulėnai Rimties Park:
Here is Tuskulėnai Rimties Park entrance. This memorial museum is a chapel - columbarium where remains of the victims of the Soviet totalitarian regime rest in peace:
You can see The Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports (Koncertų ir sporto rūmai), it was built in 1971 in the southernmost part of Žirmūnai in the middle of the former cemetery. The Palace was, until the 1990s, a major venue for sporting events, especially local and international basketball matches, as well as concerts and shows. Now it's closed:
Once again I saw The Cathedral of Vilnius and, again, it really amazed me!
I had so much fun during this journey!
And I saw a bit more of Vilnius... I like this city!
Love,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 19, 2012, 9:24 pm
Guess what we did this Friday - we went to the forest near Pabradė where we picked some berries and mushrooms!
We will make whortleberry jam from these berries:
And these orange little mushrooms are Cantharellus in english. In lithuanian it's "voveraitės" which means "small squirrels"
We came back home quite tired after all the mushroom searching, but we were surprised, too - Karolina bought some Lithuanian sweets which she will send to other country via postcrossing. Oh, they all looked so good - coconut, coffee, peanut flavor! Too bad we couldn't taste them, but we got something very delicious instead - cupcakes!
Love,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 20, 2012, 9:09 am
This morning was a bit sad - I had to say goodbye to Karolina, my host mum, and Diddl-Maus, my new friend.
He gave me a big hug:
It was so great to know Lithuania more - I enjoyed Vilnius and Klaipėda very much! Maybe I'll come back here one day, who knows?..
Thank you, Karolina, for showing me your country and your home, thank you all the toy voyagers, that I've met while being here, for being so friendly to me! I'm going to miss you very much!
But I have to go. My next stop is... GERMANY! Hope the journey won't take long...
Hugs,
Emma Squirrel
Posted Aug 30, 2012, 8:17 pm
I arrived in Germany today, in a city called "Remscheid" in North Rhine-Westphalia. I am not the only "new" guest" here, HolgiHH also arrived today.
MuhKuh, Orkku Orava, another squirrel and my new host Katja gave us a warm welcome.
I brought a chocolate bar from Lithuania with me and also a lovely postcard - thanks to coraline
Now we are tired and will go to bed early.
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Sep 4, 2012, 8:02 pm
today we visited my host's daughter. She is living in a district called Luettringhausen, half an hour's walk from my current home. We took a walk with her in the surroundings of Luettringhausen.
We walked along a lovely valley. Katja's daughter is living in one of the houses you can see in the background.
We saw meadows with horses here.
Katja loves to cook jams, elderberries and blackberries are already looking great.
We found a fantastic place in the forest - a hammer mill. Iron and steel was produced here since 15th century.
Katja toldl us that the signs was saying something like "Hosts are responsible for curious squirrels".
This water wheel was not working.
A large millwheel was lying on the ground.
We had a closer look at it - a great place to enjoy the nice weather
Later I found mushrooms - it seemed that someone had taken a bit of them
When we walked towards Luettringhausen, we went along a parkway. Some dozen apple trees were planted here, some of them sponsored by citizens of the city, some to commemorate celebrated public characters.
From here we had to walk about ten minutes to reach the town centre of Luettringhausen. Here we saw lovely old houses and narrow lanes.
We had an ice cream as a reward for our long walk
Yummy - raspberry ice-cream!
Good-bye and greetings from the forest
Love
Emma Squirrel
Posted Sep 12, 2012, 8:15 am
in the late afternoon we took a short walk in the city. We walked through the municipal park to the district Hasten. Here in the park you can find several allotment garden areas, that's why there are parked cars.
Hasten is one of the historic districts of Remscheid, here you can find old factory buildings between dewellings, also many on the traditional houses with green shutters.
For getting home we walked along the Route of Tools (Trasse des Werkzeugs) for some time. The Route of Tools is a lane for pedestrians and cyclists which was built on a former, now closed track for freight trains. It was sponsoed by local companies, most of them producing tools. So it was called Route of Tools. Along the route you can find informations about the factories, prominent buildings and life in general in ancient times.
The Route of Tools is following the former track from the central station to Hasten, about 5 km long, running through industrial complexes close to the central station, along woodland areas and dwellings.
Here are distance data, painted to the ground. 3 km from here to walk to the central station.
Can you see the pattern in the tarmac, stamped with wrenches?
There are signs with the logos of the sponsoring companies, also one showing the coat of arms of Remscheid.
That's all for today
Emma Squirrel
Posted Sep 12, 2012, 8:43 am
as long as we are having wonderful weather we would take a long walk every day, Katja promised. And she is keeping word! Today we picked up a friend at her work place in Lennep and took a longer walk in the surroundings. We started in Lennep and soon we left the city to reach rural areas.
I had a snack
We reached the Eschbach dam than, Germany's oldest drinking water dam. Here you can find a nature trail, telling you facts about fauna and flora.
Isn't this a lovely place?
Here you can see the rear side of the concrete dam.
In Eschbach valley we walked along the open air bath. It looks at it was closed already.
Or course there were several creeks running towards the valley.
Too soon we reached the outskirts of Remscheid ...
We walked along the company complex of a famous company. The historic factory building was preserved among the new buildings.
From here we took the bus back home.
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Sep 12, 2012, 3:57 pm
we visited Wuppertal today. Wuppertal is one of the neighbour cities of Remscheid. Katja's daughter is working here as a cook. We picked her up when she finished work in the afternoon to take a walk to the botanical garden.
One of the city’s greatest attractions is the suspended monorail (Schwebebahn), which was established in 1901. The tracks are 8 m above the streets and 12 m above the Wupper River. There are 20 stations, each of them built in another style. There are modern ones and also historic ones.
Like every city with a river running through it you can find lots of bridges in Wuppertal, here is one of them.
This big fountain is situated in front of the city hall (which is hidden behind a scaffolding).
On our way to the botanical garden, which is situated on a hill we came across several smaller parks.
There is a large area on a ridge, called "Hardtberg". Here you can find a fantastic landscape park.
Everywhere people were enjoying the sunshine.
We reached the botanical garden than. You can find more than 5.000 intercontinental plants here!
This is a Styrax tree, originally from Anatolia.
Here is a moor bed, I had to keep away from lots of carnivorous plants.
Finally we reached part with millions of flowers.
Sunflowers are so beautiful.
Here you can see Elise Tower, built in early 19th century by a local factory owner, together with a beautiful villa with an orangerie. The tower is about 21 m high, originally built as an observatory, nowadays used as an outlook tower. We would have climbed it to enjoy the spectacular view, but it was closed due to a wedding party taking place there.
In the villa I found an exhibition about cones.
We went to another part of the botanical garden, with this basin where lots of kids were playing - and the and the bridal couple was leaving!
We also visited the greenhouses with tropical plants.
We rested on giant leaves for a while.
We found banana trees here ...
... and also oranges.
Walking back steep downhill we reached the city centre, close to the local court and district court.
At the left side of the next photo you can see the station "Landgericht". It was rebuilt two years ago in its original style.
Here we are inside the station.
Our train was coming than!
We went to the central station to get home by train.
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Sep 13, 2012, 8:44 am
the weather here is rather bad, so my host decided to decorate the walls in the living room. She moved to this apartment in July and did not finish all the painting works. Today was the perfect day to do it
With the help of o stencil we painted roses onto the wall.
Have a look at the result!
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Sep 17, 2012, 1:30 pm
today we visited an arboretum in Wuppertal, the "Staatsforst Burgholz". An arboretum is a collection of trees, sort of a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study. We went to "Staatsforst Burgholz", a woodland area which is situated in both urban area of Wuppertal and also the urban area of Solingen, but only a small part of it.
When World War II was over, there were nearly all trees felled for rebuilding of destroyed city areas and also as firewood.
Searching for fast-growing forest species trees from foreign counties were planted than in this area to study their growth in local weather conditions. Plants from North America, South America, Asia and Europe were planted.
There are several walking paths through the arboretum, of course we chose the longest of them, about 6 km long, displaying a variety of trees from Europe, America and Asia. At the parking lot we found a map of the arboretum area.
We decided to walk along a path showing trees of Northern America.
In the background, along the slope different kinds of conifers were planted.
This is the sign we had to follow.
You can find informations about the foreign trees.
Of course I found lots of different delicious cones here
Our path is meandering through the forest. I found a feather and decided to be "Chief Curious Squirrel" today
More cones for the hungry Chief.
Finally we saw sequoia trees.
This was a very interesting trip.
Bye
Chief Emma Squirrel
Posted Sep 17, 2012, 2:45 pm
today we made a fantastic trip to Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr area. We visited a zoo there, the ZOOM-Erlebniswelt.
This zoo is specialized in animals from Alaska, Africa and Asia. The whole area is divided into three parts. We started our adventure in Alaska.
I said hello to the snowy owls.
My host could have spent hours here with the raccoons
They are extremely cute.
Nobody has to starve here.
We saw several bears here: Grizzly bears, Kodiak bears and polar bears.
The bear was separated from the visitors only by a thick glass panel.
We entered Africa than!
It is so cold today that I prefer the comfort of a heated apartment to those huts
The lionesses were very lazy behind their glass panel.
Zebras and antilopes were much more agil than the dozing lion...
... as well the giraffes.
Those monkeys were living free on a small island.
We entered Asia than.
[img] [/img]
Here we also found a typical hut.
They have a giant greenhouse here with several birds and turtles living free.
We had a lot of fun with those monkeys, gray langurs. They were playing endlessly in their enclosure, chasing each other and climbing and jumping from their ropes and nets.
What a fantastic trip!
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Oct 20, 2012, 9:24 am
we took a short walk in the late afternoon in the surrounding forests, most of them are nature protection areas.
Summer is over now, have a look at the fruits of a plane tree.
The path was following a railway track for some time.
Once more we walked through a housing area with those lovely houses.
We had to hurry home than, it started to rain again.
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Oct 20, 2012, 9:32 am
we had almost two weeks with really ugly weather. It was cold als also raining the whole day. Today it was a bit better, so we took a walk in the city centre when our host had her lunch break.
First stop was the city hall, originally built in 1906, than partly destroyed in WW II and rebuilt afterwards in a more modern style.
There is a pillar on the large place in front of it, showing a lion, the heraldic animal of Remscheid.
This is the theatre.
The shopping street ...
... and the central bus station.
A wall was coverd with those lovely leafes.
We went towards the central station, here several larger buildings were built in the last ten years.
The whole station area was rebuilt from 2007 until about 2010.
Back in the city centre Katja showed us this funny fountain.
This is the main entrance of the shopping mall with the tower of the city hall in the background.
At the end of the pedestrian area you can find this statue, two large forceps. They are a symbol for the tool producing industry here.
There is a water tower close to the city hall. The silhouette of Remscheid with those two towers close together is visible from all the surrounding cities.
On the right side of the next photo you can see the parking and loading zone of the shopping mall.
We had to return to the work place than.
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Oct 20, 2012, 9:38 am
we are having lovely weather today - a good opportunity to take a walk in the surroundings of Remscheid.
There is a lot of green around, several outskirts are hidden there.
We met a flock of sheep.
We found the remains of a villa hidden in the forest. The house is no longere there, but those stairs.
We walked through a rural area than.
We enjoyed the sunshine
Back in the valley we found some old mill ponds.
This is the creek the valley was named after - Morsbach.
From here we had to walk uphill for some time to get back home. Why does my host has to live on top of this hill?
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Oct 20, 2012, 9:44 am
today there is a national holiday in Germany - it's German reunification day! This means my host does not have to work, but to take a walk with the TVs instead
We went to the neighbour city Solingen to take a walk in the outskirts.
First we walked through a forest for some time.
We reached a more rural district than.
A lovely medieval castle came into sight than.
Although it seemed to be rather close to us my host told me that we'd had to walk some minutes to get there. Time for a rest
Than we reached the castle. Katja told us that it was originally built in 12th century by one of the former reigns of this county. We took a look at the courtyard with many shops.
Here you can buy wine and several spirits. One of them is called "Hexenschuss" - German colloquial speech for low back pain.
This memorial is showing Adolf IV, count of Berg who originally built this castle in early 12th century. In the following centuries it was enlarged, destroyed an rebuilt until nowaday'Äs appearance.
You have a stunning view to the surrounding valleys and forests.
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Oct 20, 2012, 10:16 am
the weather has gone crazy - we are having sunshine and about 20°C. This was a good reason to make an excursioin to one of the touristic highlights of this reason. Because my host does not have a car, we took a long walk through lovely rural areas and forests to get there. Katja's son accompanied us.
We walked to a distrcit in the West of Remscheid and reached this lovely point soon.
We went into the forest than. Oh, what a lovely view, all those golden leafes!
We rested on a bench for a moment.
This is an extremely large beech - Katja loves this tree.
This tree is showing several route markings. The encircled "R" means Roentgenweg. It is following the border of the municipal area of Remscheid, about 62 km long. It is named after the founder of the X-rays who was born in Lennep, one of the historic districts of Remscheid.
We simply had to follow our path downhill to the bottom of the valley.
River Wupper is flowing in the valley.
I saw a cute little outlook pavilion at the opposite side of the valley. Katja told me that you had a spectacular view to our destination from there. We were visiting Muengsten Bridge, Germany's highest railway bridge. It is connecting Remscheid and the neighbour city Solingen, overspanning the valley of the river Wupper.
Here it came into sight.
The bridge was built of steel in late 19th century, it is 465 m long and 107 m high. You can find more information here, in German.
The bridge is so wide that it is nearly impossible to take a proper photo of the whole bridge. Of course our host knows the location where she could take a halfway proper picture. On our way there we had a look at the leisure park which was built under the bridge some years ago. You can find large lawns with benches for relaxing, playgrounds for the kids, a crazy golf course and riddles. We preferred sitting on a bench, enjoying the lovely surrondings and the sunshine.
This is river Wupper.
Isn't it looking fantastic?
It is was time to walk back home than, this time straight uphill.
We came along a stadium, construction works were taking place there.
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Nov 10, 2012, 5:11 pm
we are already having late fall now, the trees lost almost all of their leafes.
At the shopping mall the christmas decoration is already mounted.
Bye
Emma Squirrel
Posted Nov 26, 2012, 6:00 pm
I'm coming home now!
Today it was time to say good-bye to Remscheid and all my friends here.
Katja helped me to write a postcard and I even got a poster print!
Although the trip will probably not take too much time I decided to take some supplies with me.
Walnuts - my favourite food
See you soon!
Love
Emma Squirrel
Posted Dec 15, 2012, 7:37 pm
I heard some excited discussion outside my envelope and two voices commenting 'the envelope says there's a TV inside!' Well, I'm glad they didn't spend too long discussing my envelope as I wanted to get out! 
I emptied out my walnuts from my travels with Olgamaus, thanks for sending them with me mum! Sienna the monkey greeted me me and introduced me to the others; Midori Rabbit, Edelweiss, Patka and Jala. One of the nuts had sadly broken, but Patka and Edelweiss thought it would be funny to wear the shell as hats
Hehehe.
Edelweiss was also very happy with the stamps on my envelope, since they are flowers and she loves flowers
I will be updating again soon!
Love Emma
Posted Dec 15, 2012, 8:45 pm
We went along with our host for a walk around Durham on the way to the last day of lectures. We went along what is called 'The Bailey' and then stopped off at the cathedral. It was a very cold day but the mist was pretty. On the 8th picture down I am sat outside Castle college. I then decided to take a silhouette picture of myself and the cathedral. Don't I look cool?
We walked back into the centre of the city to market square, then across the bridge where the sky and river looked lovely. However we made an error in uploading so that picture is now at the end, sorry!
Next we went to the science site where the lectures are and took a picture of the new statue in front of the library. The statue is so depressing it is actually quite funny. My host thinks that the statue accurately represents how students feel when entering the library
People start crying and screaming 'Nooo!' Haha, that is a joke... I hope
The next picture shows a multicoloured round lecture building, which is quite a contrast compared to the very old buildings in the middle of the city. Then we faced the hill up to the psychology department which was our destination. Apparently there are often squirrels in the trees either side!
But it was so cold they were nowhere to be seen Except me of course, I'm a hard core squirrel who doesn't need to hibernate Can you spot me in the leaves? I am pretty camouflaged!
When we went back it had gone dark so we went back through the centre to see the lights. Our camera isn't that good in the dark though. I saw santa's grotto and had a little rest watching the little train go round
We have now travelled back to the north west for christmas, so I will explore this new place soon!
Emma
Posted Aug 23, 2013, 10:33 am