Posted Apr 20, 2007, 11:40 pm
Unfortunately it was such a beautiful day, and there were so many things going on, that we didn't manage to ...
The next step of his journey is in your hands
We will be looking for hosts from ToyVoyager members. Please help if you can. Thanks!
Posted May 14, 2007, 8:35 am
Travel well, Decker!
Posted May 14, 2007, 2:16 pm
Just a quick message to let you know that Decker has arrived in the South of France.
Of course the trip was a bit too long for him but he says hi! He's a bit disappointed because the weather is not so great today, but I'm sure it will be ok in the next few days.
We will update this very soon of course!
Bye for now
Kana & Decker
Posted May 20, 2007, 8:10 pm
Finally I can tell you a few things about my stay here in the South of France!
Kana lives in Nice, and on the 1st evening here, I got to meet her 2 flatmates.
Nestor and I had a bit of a fight, but I showed him who's King of the Jungle!
Zaza on the contrary is very nice and friendly.
Posted May 21, 2007, 7:15 am
So I'm reading all about it in the local newspaper.
Posted May 21, 2007, 7:36 am
Posted May 21, 2007, 7:41 am
Kana told me it's called that because it was the English community who financed it at the time, when they were all coming to spend winter here.
We also sat down for a while on the blue chairs, they are really emblematic of Nice. We just looked at the sea and at everyone on the beach...
Posted May 21, 2007, 7:43 am
We tried lavander and vanilla & meringue, that was OK I guess! (Kana really liked it!)
Posted May 21, 2007, 7:34 pm
The road was so windy that I started feeling sick in the car, and I had to get some fresh air at the window!
It was a very nice bright day, and from the highest spot, we saw the bay and the airport in Nice!
There were some ruins there :
Posted May 21, 2007, 7:39 pm
In Nice there are pebbles and no sand, so we went to Théoule-sur-mer, that's a bit after Cannes.
This is the view from the top, we had to walk down a path to the beach :
It was nice to lie on the beach for a while, but a bit boring as I did not dare go in the sea! Kana did and said it was nice, but I'm not really the swimming type!
Of course I thought of wearing sun screen :-)
For lunch we had a "pan bagnat" : it's a local sandwich! Always in a round bread I'm told, with salad, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, tuna, anchovies, olives and lots of olive oil. Nice but a bit too big for me!
Posted Jun 21, 2007, 12:05 pm
Hi! I arrived to Spain, it was a good travel
;
Here, Belessita was waiting for me. She bring me to her house and there I knew Snape the squirrel ^^
In this photo snape and me in belessita´s house
To celebrate my arriving, I went with belessita and her friends to a concert., but we arrived very early to the place, so we decided to go first to the beach.
In the first photo, you can see me enjoying the beautiful view of the beach, In the second one, me and the Spanish flag, and in the third one, the bag that carried my all the time
Later, we went to the concert of: Deluxe, Happy Mondays and Siniestro total. I enjoyed the music and the party, wow!!!
After the concert, we went for a beer, There was a pretty and old “writing machine” in that pub and I decided to write a letter for Isabel&Noll
But it was too late (01:00 A.M.) and i was too tired to write with my small lion’s hands.
Posted Jun 29, 2007, 6:55 pm
Today i visited the shopping zone , in the center of the city. I saw the obelisco, a famous monument here in A Coruña.
Later I went to the McDonalds, where I ate one Mcmenu and get this glass of coca cola free!.
Here i´m into the glass.
23. 06.07
I went to visit the train Station and I said bye bye to the train´s voyagers
In the station there was a lot of games for kids. I had to ride that horse because it´s very funny!!!
And I have a good new!!!!!! I´m famous!!!! I´m actor in a spanish theatre!!!
Here I left all the photos!
Posted Jul 4, 2007, 4:59 pm
Later, I decided to go for a walk. I went to the Santa Margarita´s Park, where the science museum is.
While I was walking, I remembered the old jungle days.
But, I need to drink some water, so I looked for a fountain
Here i´m in a part of the park
There was another old fountains there
And a typical construction of Galicia called Horreo. This is very old too
This is one of more famous towers of the city.
Posted Jul 11, 2007, 10:17 pm
Here in other zone of the city.
Posted Jul 11, 2007, 10:45 pm
As the night went by, i was fallen in love with her.
And finally, i kissed her. The time stopped in that kiss.I think she is the sheep of my life.
Posted Jul 11, 2007, 10:56 pm
Here I put some images of the party. I will never forget them! Good Bye Spain!
Posted Aug 4, 2007, 8:17 am
Now, I'm at Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square), one of the most visited sites in Kuala Lumpur. Here is where, the Union Jack was lowered on August 31, 1957. This year Malaysia is celebrating its 50th years of Independence. I hope I can join the celebration end of this month! Flanking the square are the Selangor Club and Sultan Abdul Samad Building. The clock remember me of Big Ben. Oh, I miss home
Posted Aug 4, 2007, 8:27 am
Posted Aug 4, 2007, 8:50 am
I want to try base jumping from one of the towers but the management won't allow me to do so because I'm not tall enough for the minimum height they require. I guess I have to drink a lot of milk and wait for a few more years to grow taller.
Posted Aug 7, 2007, 4:04 pm
Posted Aug 7, 2007, 4:07 pm
Good night...
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Posted Aug 22, 2007, 8:16 pm
I'm outside of the envie again and met many other toyvoyagers at my new hosts home. I was so dizzy from my travel, that I had to lay down for a while.
Now I'm sitting on the oven together with the other toyvoyagers and watch the football match between England and Germany. For the hymn I stood in front of the tv and sang together with the football team.
I'm for England of course, but my hosts are for Germany. Nevertheless I think, that this is no problem, they are very fascinated by the atmosphere in the Wembley stadion. And they like to sing the hymn "football's coming home". I'm sure, we will have a nice football evening.
England seems to be the better team.
9th minute: Goal!!! for ENGLAND!!! I'm so happy!!! It's time to win against Germany here in the Wembley stadion.
It's really interesting to watch that match, but Germany seems to get better now.
I'm too close to the camera, because I had to turn my head after that goal for Germany. Now it's 1:1, but still time enought to win that match.
Oh, no!!! Another goal for Germany. 1:2, we have to do something!!!
England has many chance to score to 2:2.
But the match ended 1:2 and I'm a little sad, while my hosts are happy.
At the end I was happy too, because I was allowed to sleep in the same bed like Sabrina
Posted Sep 23, 2007, 3:29 pm
Right now I'm playing with Sabrina and the other toyvoyagers, which are going with us on this trip.
We had a little break with dinking coffee and eating a "snowball" and Kari and I had been allowed to go with my hosts and their family
Posted Sep 23, 2007, 3:41 pm
I prefered to sleep under Sabrina's jacket.
This is a Hall of Fame and Honour, modelled after the Parthenon in Athens and located 10km west of Regensburg on the Donube River.
It was an idea of Crown Prince Ludwig I. of Bavaria in 1807. It was meant as a place for the commemoration of great figures and events in ethnic German history, at a time covering 1800 years, beginning with the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9AD).
Some of the most recent additions were: Albert Einstein, Sister Gerhardinger, Konrad Adenauer, Johannes Brahms, Sophie Scholl.
Posted Sep 23, 2007, 3:50 pm
Unhappily our hosts meant, that they would sleep in the beds and we should sit and sleep on the windowsills
While Petra and Sabrina went swimming, we cuddled together, because it wasn't that warm so close to the window
Posted Sep 23, 2007, 4:01 pm
In the park was a water wheel. I saw Tux, who wanted to jump into the water, but brrrr - water is wet and I don't like that.
Then we went into the shop. Alfie Langer found that ball and we thought we could play a match, but Petra told us, that this only is a lantern made of glass
Upstairs in the store we found this crib. I'm sorry, that you can't see it very good
It stood in a room, that was more a room for meditation than for shopping.
Posted Sep 23, 2007, 4:03 pm
Since 1939 the area around the Arbersee is nature reserve area. Each year 1/2 million of visitors come to see the lake.
Posted Sep 23, 2007, 4:10 pm
Posted Sep 23, 2007, 4:23 pm
At last we want to visit Regensburg.
Regensburg is located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. The old town of Regensburg is Unesco World Heritage.
The first settlements in Regensburg date to the Stone Age.
Posted Sep 30, 2007, 7:00 pm
At first everyone sat on the place, where he or she was supposed to be. You only had been allowed to move on the place by turning around, but without walking. Alfie Langer was the referee. He was the only one with a real soccer shirt.
At once Tamalyn tried to score, but Elisabeth did a good work and
just jumped to the right place and caught the ball. But then her punt was bad and luckily Bongo got the ball. He tried to score, but I was just at the right place to defend in front of Tux, who was our goalkeeper.
At the end of the first half we still played 0:0, but of course we had some chances for the first goal.
Start of the second half
Somehow Glory fell. I know, that I didn't hit her or something.
Small Fry nearly shot a goal after that, but Tux was such a good goalkeeper and caught the ball. Glory fell again, maybe she already was very tired, she is so tiny.
Here Tamalyn got the ball and tried to play to Glory.
Small Fry got the ball to play, but had no chance to score.
After a while Alfie Langer had to talk to Dottie Grace, who complained about something I didn't understand.
1:0 against my team!!! Thanks to Dottie Grace!!
And then a silly thing happened, but this was a big luck for my side. Bongo and Small Fry tried to catch the ball with their bodies, but they had no luck.
Elisabeth jumped to the right side of her goal, but the ball rolled into the goal on the left side.
So at the end the result was 1:1
After the match we danced around the ball, because we were happy that nobody had lost in this match.
Posted Sep 30, 2007, 7:37 pm
You became a very good friend and we will miss you. Especially Sabrina is very sad, that you will leave us tomorrow.
Posted Oct 10, 2007, 12:38 pm
Posted Oct 10, 2007, 8:44 pm
Here you see a part of the rosegarden, which belongs to the palace.
Here you see the backfront of the palace. It was destroyed during the second world war and rebuilt during the 70th.
This is one of the statues in the palace garden. There are four statues showing the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. And four other statues show the four elements: water, fire, air and earth.
Here is a pond with many ducks. Especially kids love this place.
Here is the beginning point for a guided tour through Bruchsal.
This building is called "Belvedere". It was a former hunting lodge and now it is a place for open air theatre.
In the park called " Stadtgarten" next to the Belvedere you find this fountain.
Posted Oct 10, 2007, 8:50 pm
As young girl she loved to swim in that quarry pond, but since she is married and has kids, she prefers to go to the swimming pool of Bruchsal. In the background you see the hills of the Palatinate.
This chapel stands on the top of the Michaelsberg and it is called Michaelsbergkapelle (chapel)
On this photo you see a part of the Kraichgau hill country. Bruchsal lies at the border to the Kraichgau and Rhine Valley.
Posted Oct 10, 2007, 8:52 pm
Also you see on the photo, that Bruchsal has parts belonging to the Kraichgau. The first photo with the view to Bruchsal (in Untergrombach) showed a part that belongs to the Rhine valley.
Posted Oct 10, 2007, 8:52 pm
Also you see on the photo, that Bruchsal has parts belonging to the Kraichgau. The first photo with the view to Bruchsal (in Untergrombach) showed a part that belongs to the Rhine valley.
Posted Oct 13, 2007, 4:54 pm
Decker also saw a "Fiaker" in front of the castle - something very new for him. But he liked these horses with their carbage alot!
Posted Oct 13, 2007, 4:57 pm
How impressive for a little lion! He was very interested to see all these engines, satellites, aeroplanes and other technical stuff there. He even was allowed to push some buttons and do some little experiments.
Posted Oct 24, 2007, 3:45 pm
Posted Oct 24, 2007, 3:53 pm
When Decker woke up on Saturday morning he was shocked! Not only that he didn't know where he was at the first moment, no, everything was very very different and no-one warned him before that the world could also look like that! Everything was white - completely white. The whole world was covered with a white "something". Decker was confused! What did it mean? What was it? Was it something to eat? Something dangerous? It was hard to convience him to go out-doors but finally he did his first steps into snow. What an exciting adventure for a little lion!!
Posted Nov 3, 2007, 6:39 am
Last weekend we went to a part of Austria called "Waldviertel". It was very quiet there with alot of nature, woods, hills etc. and Decker had a relaxing time there. He had a looong walk in the woods and he visited an exhibition in a castle called "Schallaburg" there. It was about knights and it was very interesting he thought.
Decker also went to see a church far above rive Danube: Maria Taferl. It is very popular there, even Pope Johannes Paul II visited it once. Decker was told that usually there is a very beautiful view from there to thr river and the valley called Wachau, but unfortunately it was so grey when we went there that he couldn't see anything.
Posted Nov 4, 2007, 6:17 am
Together they went sightseing in the city center of Vienna - have a look which wonderful places they discovered!
They started at Hofburg, the castle where the Habsburg family used to live as long as they were on power. Can you also see the carriages with the horses? In former times people really used them for transportation - nowadays they are only there as a tourist attraction. Of course Decker would have loved to go by these Fiakers but they were really too expensive. Decker was very astonished by the beautiful gates Hofburg has. He especially liked "Michaelertor" with the golden cupola, but "Heldentor" was nice for him, too. He tried to translate what there was written in Latin... But, you know...he never was so good in Latin....
Posted Nov 4, 2007, 6:29 am
When they walked down Kärntner Straße, the most popular (and expensive) shopping street in Vienna, they met this funny guy making various creatures from balloons. Have a look! Decker would have liked one, but the clown wasn't able to make a lion, so Decker was a bit disappointed.
They passed by the opera house and reached another church then, Karlskirche. It is very special with the 2 little "towers" next to it telling a story from the bible on the relief. Just next to the church there was a beautiful subway station in "Jugendstil" (which was very popular in Vienna, there are many buildings in this style). Beautiful, hm? Another building in "Jugendstil" they found when they just walked a little longer: Secession. It's a museum and in the cellar there you can find a large fresco of Gustav Klimt. Decker hasn't heard about Klimt so far but now he's curious to get to know who he was...
Posted Nov 4, 2007, 6:35 am
Just accross the street there were 2 other museums: the museum of historical arts and the historical nature museum. They are located face to face and look exactly like twins.
Decker and his friend walked along the "Ringstrasse" the street that surrounds the city center (it was built where the city wall was in former times) and passed by the Austrian Parliament and the Old Imperial theatre until we reached the City Hall. You know what Decker found there??? People who were already building up the Christmas market! Decker was very confused when he heard that it will take only 2 weeks until it opens. Decker would love to go there but he is afraid that he won't be in Vienna anymore when it opens.
Posted Nov 4, 2007, 6:39 am
While they were sitting there they discussed about the European Soccer Championship will take place in Vienna next year in June. Decker thinks that the people are already quite excited about that and he found a watch counting the days, hours and minutes until the first game starts. Strange...
Posted Nov 4, 2007, 6:44 am
And guess whom they met just in front of a café? It was Decker who recognized him first: Good old Mozart himself! What a sueprise!!!
Posted Jan 2, 2008, 9:03 am
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And have a look at the hugh sculpture I found there! Doesn't it look like me??
Posted Jan 4, 2008, 10:28 am
Posted Feb 7, 2008, 3:23 pm
Tpday I safely arrived to Moscow!! And there're many other TVs here - it's so funny!
I'll write more soon
Posted Mar 3, 2008, 11:46 am
Today all the TVs went for a big visit! Kristl took us to another flat (where she had to wait while a new door was being installed). And there we met many new stuffed friends!!
Rangler who has already been there once and knew some Toys there invited us to meet his friends - 4 Dogs.
When I and Flora head that we're going to meet dogs we became a bit angry and didn't want to go.
Then Rangler told us that these dogs are very kind, that they're his friends and that they'd like to make new friends. Only then they we calmed down and decided to go.
When we came to the 4 dogs Rangler introduces them to us
The light dog with light ears is called Sunny, the brown dog is called Cloudlet, the light dog with black ears is Glasha (it's and old Russian name) and the Dalmatian is Glasha too. That's so funny that two diffenet dogs with the same name live together!!
Then Rangler introduced us to the dogs!
The Dalmatian Glasha liked Flora very much. I'm sure they'll become good friends!
I and Squiggles discovered that we can hide ourselves with the dogs
) That was mich fun! Can you see us?
Posted Mar 3, 2008, 11:48 am
Minerva had to come already, but she han't arrived yet.
Can you imagine how happy we all were when Kristl got a box and there was Minerva!!!
As it stood on the box, she was sent somewhere wrong. But now she's safe and soun with us an we're happy!
Posted Apr 19, 2008, 9:48 pm
Posted Apr 19, 2008, 9:50 pm
Posted Apr 20, 2008, 12:42 pm
We walked in the small street right in the centre when we saw (just near us!!) a fire in a house (there were many fire engines and many people) - we went from this place as soon as possible. It was there - you can still see the smoke..
The photo is taken prom a small square near the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
This way is Kremlin:
And in that direction is the Moscow-River:
Posted Apr 20, 2008, 12:44 pm
All the pupels are use to visit this museum, there are alot of interesting things there, but almost all of them are copies of famous artworks, good for studying, I think
It's strange, but from here the Cathedral is seen very good!
Posted Apr 20, 2008, 12:52 pm
I studied the plan of Kremlin in details to be able to find there everything I want if I get there one day.
Then we went to the Red Square
Behind me you can see the Nikolskaya Tower and the State Historical Museum.
Here is GUM - the most famous shopping centre in Moscow:
In front of it there was a skating rink but now it's being removed.
The walls of Kremlin:
The Spasskaya Tower:
The Saint Basil's Cathedral:
Another wall of Kremlin and more towers:
Posted Apr 20, 2008, 12:54 pm
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Posted Apr 20, 2008, 1:00 pm
But it was not so!! Everybody was happy to meet us!! And me too!!
And there were not only Bear!
And I have even met a LION there!!
I felt myself as Simba near him...
Posted Apr 20, 2008, 1:03 pm
FLOWERS!!!! The first flowers here!!!! The're called coltsfoot
and here I'm with Helen Bear!
all the TVs were so happy!!
Posted Apr 20, 2008, 1:06 pm
Posted May 10, 2008, 5:29 pm
Here I am with Prince Charming, Jimbo Elephant, and Ossa:
After my snack, I explored the yard and found lots of interesting things. First, I found a coconut. I tried to open it, but I couldn't figure out how:
I climbed the mango tree:
and I climbed the banana tree:
and I climbed the hibiscus bush:
I was tired after all that exploring, so I took a nap in the hammock while listening to classical music on the radio:
Posted May 11, 2008, 2:05 pm
First, we gathered all the ingredients that we will need:
We mixed up the batter and then cooked the pancakes in a pan. The pancakes turned out to be very delicious!
Happy Mother's Day!
Posted May 12, 2008, 7:04 pm
This afternoon Jimbo and I went to Emerald Acres Stable with our host and her daughters.
We met Tigger, but he was taking a nap at the time and wouldn't wake up to talk to us!
Lucky was a little more sociable, but he didn't have much time as my host's daughter was going for a ride soon.
Posted May 12, 2008, 7:19 pm
Here we are in the bike's basket:
We stopped at this pretty little fountain:
Posted May 14, 2008, 3:50 am
I saw lots of big buildings in downtown Miami!
Here I am with Jimbo Elephant, Ossa and Jadzia Tam enjoying the sunshine and pretty view.
I saw a statue of Christopher Columbus:
On our way home, Jimbo Elephant and I sat on the dashboard as we drove down Biscayne Blvd:
Posted May 16, 2008, 1:13 pm
Yum, there is nothing better than fresh orange juice in the morning!
Posted Jun 1, 2008, 3:08 am
They needed a bath, so we helped with cleaning them:
They are now ready to go!
Posted Jun 2, 2008, 2:30 am
I found a cave with a waterfall,
I met a meerkat,
I played on this pelican sign,
and I fell in love!
Posted Jun 7, 2008, 3:16 pm
We had to cross the Julia Tuttle Causeway to get to Miami Beach.
After visiting with our host's daughter and cheering her up we went to see the bay and go for a walk.
Here we are sunbathing on the seawall:
After exploring around the hospital, we went for a walk to find the church that we could see from the hospital window. We passed through a pretty park, but I forgot to get a picture of it, but Dilbert got a picture of it. We finally found the church, but we don't know what kind of church it is, but it is pretty.
Posted Jun 12, 2008, 2:36 am
Our host thanked us for trying, but said we should go play while she mowed the lawn. So, Dilbert and I decided to play on the float. Dilbert wanted to put it in the water, but I didn't want to go near the water!
Posted Jun 14, 2008, 11:03 pm
Here are some of the things we saw there:
the entrance:
a pretty fountain:
Dilbert and I on a chair. The hole at the top of the monolith is part of the telescope that points to the north star.
the crescent moon:
Here's the barbecue pit. he used car parts to cook with!
another picture of the barbecue pit:
inside living quarters of Ed Leedskalnin:
the well:
Ed's bathtub:
Ed's bed:
Here we all are on top of Ed's desk with some pretty bougainvillea:
Posted Jun 16, 2008, 2:52 pm
In the picture are Theodore, Prince Charming, JamaBanaDukLuv, Winnie The Pooh, Strider, Leo Lion, Leo, Dilbert, HitchaRideDooey, and me.
Posted Jul 22, 2008, 11:59 pm
Thank you to all his lovely hosts - he will rest up for a while before venturing out again soon!
Posted Oct 27, 2008, 7:06 am
I am finally here and I received a grand welcome from all the TV's visiting as well as some soon-to-be new TV's. Vicki photographed us sitting on the South African flag.
There is an 'aardvark' (or anteater), a rhinocerous, a wild dog and a babboon who are hoping to be registered and released to enjoy adventures in the world as toyvoyagers, soon! And Olly the ostrich too, who might stay and enjoy SA a bit more first.
Things are a bit quiet at the moment because Vicki is studying for exams but when they are over and Vicki's children, Juanita and Nicholas, have finished their year-end exams too, our first visit will be to the Lion Park!!! That is certainly something exciting to look forward to.
We are also saying farewell to Jubilee Bunny who is continuing her adventures in SA with her next host.
Will keep you posted!
Love from me!
Posted Dec 29, 2008, 1:22 pm
Nicholas got to bat and to bowl and his team won so he was very happy. We all went home hot, tired and hungry!
Posted Dec 29, 2008, 1:39 pm
We had breakfast on a platform overlooking the gorge.
I'll pass on the yoghurt and peaches thanks! Bring on the bacon!!
We watched the zebra come up to the pool for a drink. it was soo hot we didn't get to see any other animals, they stay in the cool of the shade.
We didn't get to see any of the animals that the signs warned of.
The breakfast was good but the sight seeing a bit disappointing. When are we going to the Lion Park you were talking of Vicki??
Posted Dec 29, 2008, 3:45 pm
First the lights, then the baubles. There were so many old baubles.
We were sitting admiring the decorated tree and saying our farewells to Migui+Gui. They were travelling back home for Christmas.
Posted Dec 29, 2008, 3:54 pm
Look at all the parcels...
We had delicious coffee and croissants for breakfast and then opened gifts for quite some time!
Holiday Harry was up to his usual mischief and Vicki was scared she would loose him in the packaging and papers.
Look at the beautiful painting that Nicholas made for Vicki!
We enjoyed the day and relaxed, then had supper on the patio, by candle light! It is so hot here, it feels strange to have such a different Christmas.
Posted Mar 6, 2009, 6:17 pm
I arrived at my new host's home today. I have already played with a lot of ToyVoyagers. It's like a zoo here: a chipmunk, a giraffe, a wombat, a tiny teddy bear, a toy rat and six REAL rats. Not to forget a little gingerbread man.
Outside it's raining and raining and raining. I hope Katja will show me around tomorrow!
Bye
Decker
Posted Mar 7, 2009, 6:45 pm
today the weather was much better than yesterday. In the afternoon we took a walk to the muncipal park and to the town centre to do some shopping for the weekend.
But first I want to show you the front page of today's newspaper. There's an intrauterine photo of an unborn lion as a preview to a National Geographic Channel production on German TV tomorrow.
In the afternoon we went to the muncipal park. The next photos was taken in the vicinity of my current home. They are mostly showing pretty old houses which were not destroyed in World War II.
Sorry, no more pretty houses.
In front of the police station there is a little park with a pillar dedicated to the town twinning of Remscheid and Quimper in Brittany, France. You can see the city arms of Remscheid here. It's showing a lion!
We went to the muncipal park than. Here is a pond with ducks and turtles. The ducks were coming to us because they hoped we would have fed them.
The next photo is showing the observatory, situated in the muncipal park.
This is the rose garden. In summer all of those white climbing aids are full of rambler roses, Katja told me. Now it's looking a little bit dismal. The pillar is dedicated to the deads of several wars before the world wars.
In the background you can see the outskirts af the neighbour town Wuppertal.
We left the muncipal park than and walked to the town centre. Here you can see the police station.
These are allotment gardens. Are there allotment gardens in the U.K. also? The town centre is situated on a hill. Nearly all of those steep slopes are filled with allotment gardens.
Here you can already see the tower of the town hall and the water tower.
The next photo is showing an old house where the local court once was situated.
Here you can see the back side of the town hall and the shopping mall.
Here is the water tower. The drinking water for the whole town centre is pumped from a dam in one of the valleys to this water tower.
We wanted to take a photo on the front side of the town hall, but unfortunately something like a beer tent was assembled there. So we took a photo which does not show the space in front of the town hall, but me, the tower and a pillar showing a lion.
We went shopping than and went back home.
Bye for today
Decker
Posted Mar 9, 2009, 5:16 pm
it was raining like hell in the morning. In the afternoon a friend called Katja and asked if she'd like to take a walk. She was unsure because of the weather but we got onto her nerves until she finally said "yes".
The ladies decided to walk to Morsbachtal, one of the surrounding valleys where the creek Morsbach is running.
First we had to walk to the district Hasten than always downhill.
What you can see in the background belongs to the neighbour town Wuppertal.
The next photo is showing the church of Hasten.
They have lots of pretty old houses here, they are called "Bergische Houses" because this region is called "Bergisches Land".
Look, what happened to the weather within only 45 minutes!
Here you can see creek Morsbach.
They seem to like lions in Remscheid. Those two are watching over the entrance.
There are some industrial plants along the creek, mostly companies which are existing for a long time already.
Here you can see trail markings for several hiking trails.
The R in the cirle is standing for "Röntgenweg", a hiking trail around the muncipal area of Remscheid, it is about 63 km long.
The second marking is standing for the project "Regionale 2006".
The encircled W is standing for a hiking trail around Wuppertal, the neighbour town. This hiking trail is even about 130 km long!
This valley is marking the border between Remscheid and Wuppertal, so both hiking trails are overlapping here.
The N means that is this a hiking trail which connects Friends-of-nature-houses.
The next photo is showing one of the old companies in the valley.
We left the valley than and had to walk uphill again to return to the town centre.
It's really exhausting to take a walk here: First you have to walk downhill for a long time only to walk uphill for more than three-quarters of an hour.
Although it was a really nice trip today.
Bye
Decker
Posted Mar 13, 2009, 7:59 pm
since Monday we had really lousy weather. It was foggy, it was raining, simply horrible. Today ist was looking much better. Katja had to return some books to the public library, so she took off with me, Peti, Harold and her camera.
Here we are in front of the library.
From here we walked to the central bus station.
A music school is situated in this pretty house.
Katja decided to show us the district you can see in the left side of the next photo. It's situated on a hill like the town centre and is mostly adjoining woodland and green space.
On the path along this road you can find a coal tub. It was a present from Wansbeck, Remscheid's twin town in the U.K.
We reached Hohenhagen than and we took some photos. From here you can see the town centre with the tower of the town hall and the water tower.
They have one-family houses here, multi-family houses and also multistorey buildings.
You can see here that behind those houses there is nothing but grazing land and forrests.
Can you see the transmission tower in the background? Katja does not know its purpose, maybe for radio or television.
Those houses were built in the 1970s.
We rested in the late afternoon sun for a while. We are now close to the central station, or better, close to what is supposed to be the central station in about half a year. They are building a new one, like Katja told us.
You can see one of the most unattractive parts of the town here, the main traffic junction.
We than walked along the building site of the central station.
We found a dry place for another rest.
Really ugly!
We even made it home without getting too dirty.
Bye
Decker
Posted Mar 17, 2009, 9:23 pm
today we took a walk around Eschbachtalsperre, which is Germany's oldest drinking water dam. It was built since 1889 A.D. and was opened in 1891 A.D.
There are several walking paths around the dam and in the vicinity of the dam. We chose one which was about 8,5 km long, only a short walk because of the bad weather.
We started at the dam and walked than into the forrest.
Motorway A1 is close to the dam. Here you can see the motorway service area.
We were sitting comfortably in the fresh moss.
A part of the forrest was overflooded, propably by lots of rain we had last week. Can you see the dark spots in the foreground? It is frog spawn. Large parts of the tarn were full of it.
Our path leaded us away from the dam into the hinterland. Here we saw farms.
We saw an interesting weather vane on a roof. Usually they are showing a weathercock.
Finally we returned to the dam.
A large collecting box is standing in here!
We reached the masonry dam. In the background you can see a hotel.
Here you can read some informations about the dam, about the hold capacity, about height and lenght of the capstone.
This memorial is dedicated to the architect of the dam, Robert Boeker.
We took a last group photo, sitting on the masonry dam.
Although the weather was bad we had a lot of fun.
Bye
Decker
Posted Mar 24, 2009, 12:28 pm
we're going to travel to Munich tomorrow, I'm so excited!
Bye
Decker
Posted Mar 24, 2009, 12:32 pm
we are at the Airport now. Our flight to Munich will start at 10:00 a.m.
Posted Mar 24, 2009, 12:42 pm
we arrived in Munich soon. We went to our hotel and than immediately into town.
Here we are at Karlsplatz, also called Stachus.
Here you can see me at Promenadenplatz. In the background you can see one of the most exlusive hotels in Munich, hotel Bayerischer Hof.
This is Wittelsbacherplatz. The statue is showing elector Maximilian I, who lived from 1571 till 1651 A.D.
We walked through the old town and reached Odeonsplatz. On the right side you can see Theatinerkirche (Theatine Church St. Cajetan).
Katja wanted to meet another host of ToyVoyagers here, Pandamao, in the Englischen Garten. We still had some time and so Katja showed us Hofgarten (Court Garden).
The garden was built by Maximilian I, whose statue I already showed you. In the middle of the garden you can see Dianatempel, a pavilion dedicated to goddess Diana.
Here you can see the inside of the temple.
Facing the Hofgarten on the east side is the Bavarian Staatskanzlei ("State Chancellery"), housed in the former Army Museum. The glass wings were added to the orginal building.
From here it'n not far to the Englischen Garten.
Here we are!
With an area of 3.7 km² the Englischer Garten is one of the world's largest urban public parks. In the background you can see Monopteros, a greek style temple built in 1836 A.D.
There are many creeks in the Englischen Garten.
We are now in the famous beer garden at the Chinese tower.
Almost no visitors were here but we had a delicious beer although.
Bye for today
Decker
Posted Mar 24, 2009, 7:13 pm
on our second day here we planned to walk through the old town and than visit Westpark.
We started at Sendlinger Tor, which is a city gate at the southern extremity of the historic old town area of Munich.
From here we walked along Sedlinger Straße to do some shoppings.
This big friend was watching the street in front of an opticians.
Katja told me that the lion is the heraldic animal of the German state Bavaria, that's why they have so many lions here.
Of course we also visited Marienplatz with the famous new town hall.
On the next photo you can see the Mariensäule (Marian column) and also the towers of the Frauenkirche (Cathedral of our blessed lady).
We had lunch in a famous restaurant, Ratskeller (cellar of a town hall). Almost every town hall in Germany has such a restaurant in its cellar. Here I found the next lion, showing the way to the entrance.
From here we went to Westpark by metro.
Westpark is a large urban public park in Munich. It was completed in 1983. It hosted the fourth International Garden Show (IGA 83) that same year.
I saw a bush which seems to consist only of thorns.
They have an area here which is called Little Asia which consists of a Chinese garden, a Japanese garden, a Thai sala and a pagoda.
Unfortunately the part with the Chinese garden was closed for visitors at the moment.
So let me show you the Japanese garden.
This is the beautiful Thai sala.
We took a long walk in the park and went back to the town centre than.
This is Karolinenplatz, an important intersection here.
From here we walked to Königsplatz. The square is framed with the "Ionic" Glyptothek and the "Doric" Propylaea (Propyläen) and the "Corinthian" State Museum of Classical Art.
Löwenbräu is a brewery in Munich that produces a traditional Munich-style beer. Like other premium German beers, it is brewed according to the German “Reinheitsgebot” (Purity Law) dating back to 1516. Löwenbräu means "lion's brew". Löwenbräu is one of the oldest breweries in Munich.
Have a look at the brewhouse on the right side.
Later, when we left the brewhouse, we could see that the lion was moving, roaring and toasting with his beer mug.
Inside we had a beer, of course. Katja's daughter Alex even ordered "a mass", which means one litre beer.
Of course we also had the traditional Bavarian pretzel, covered with coarsed salt. They are glazed with lye and salted.
Pretzel?! No, hearts!
That's enough for today, my paws are aching and I will have a hangover tomorrow (I helped Alex to empty her "mass")
Bye
Decker
Posted Mar 24, 2009, 7:19 pm
today Katja joined a meeting of a rat keeper's association here in Munich, that't why we travelled to Munich. She only took Louis the rat with her - that's mean!
When she returned to our hotel we took a walk in the old town and along the river Isar.
Bye
Decker
Posted Mar 24, 2009, 7:27 pm
we visited Tierpark Hellabrunn today.
We saw lots of interesting animals.
Here is a cheetah.
Have a look at those giant turtles!
I saw many ducks and goose
and a pretty lioness (unfortunately she is out of focus).
We also watched a show with raptors. They showed a barn owl, a peregrine falcon and a golden eagle.
The girl is showing the peregrine falcon here.
They let the birds fly and they came back after performing how to kill their prey.
This is the golden eagle.
We had to leave to zoo than to get back to the airport.
Here we are on our way back home.
I had a fantastic time in Munich!
Bye
Decker
Posted Mar 29, 2009, 4:45 pm
we had very bad weather here this week. It was raining like hell and on Thursday we even had snow. But it melted away within the next day.
Today the sun came out, but only for a few minutes. We went out immediately to see if there are any signs that spring is coming.
We decided to walk to the municipal park.
We saw the first signs that spring certainly is coming in front of Katja's friend's house.
We found more signs in the park, have a look at this rhododendron.
The weather worsened again, it started to rain once more.
We are pacified now, it seems that spring will be here soon.
Bye
Decker
Posted Mar 30, 2009, 8:55 pm
today we had the first sunshine day here since at least half a month. Katja took us to her working place in a law firm to show us a little bit more of the town centre after work.
First I'm going to show you the town hall, with a blue background today
This is the main entrance of the shopping mall.
In the shopping mall cute little gardens are shown an the moment. I liked this one with a pond and a water wheel.
These giant forceps are marking the entrance of the shopping street. They are meant as a symbol for the local tool producing industry.
Katja promised to take a walk with us in the afternoon.
Bye
Decker
Posted Mar 30, 2009, 9:14 pm
in the afternoon Katja met a friend and the two ladies took a walk with us, like Katja has promised.
We started in Hasten, one of the oldest districts of Remscheid. Here you can see Haus Cleff, a beautiful patrician villa which was built in 1778/1779 A.D. Today a museum is situated here.
We walked downhill to the valley, here you can find an area called "Clemenshammer". "Hammer" means sledgehammer or blacksmith's hammer. Here you can find some of the oldest buildings in town.
We walked into the forrest here and soon we reached a fishing pond.
Not far from here you can find this pretty restaurant which is here for more than 100 years now.
Due to the heavy rainfalls last week every creek in the forrest is carrying lots of water at the moment.
From here we walked to a little dam which belongs to the neighbour town Wuppertal.
The concrete dam was renovated some years ago. They have information panels here where you can read a lot about the building of the dam and also about the renovation.
This house is a typical one for this region: Houses are often covered with slate, they have green shutters and often a green painted front door.
It's really exhausting to take walks with Katja. We had to walk for more than two hours, uphill and downhill. I'm so tired now ...
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 1, 2009, 6:12 pm
today we took a walk with Katja's friend Kerstin and her family's dog, Pepe. We went to Wuppertal, Scharpenacken, which is a former army training area. This area was used for military purposes until 2004 A.D as a shooting range. Today there is a local recreation area with vast open areas.
Many people are coming with their dogs to let them play with others. There are also people flying model aircrafts or kites.
The complete area has a size of about 185 Hektar (or 457 acres). There are open ranges, trees, creeks, you can walk steep uphill or downhill.
Nothing but green and the blue sky!
We were resting here close to the creek while Pepe was playing with some dogs.
We are all hoping that the weather will stay like this.
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 2, 2009, 2:27 pm
Katja showed me some new places when we went home after work.
In this street many beautiful old houses remained.
This is one of the most famous restaurants in town.
This is the local court, here an outbuilding which was completed a few years ago.
This is the main building of the local court.
This is a large intersection, close to my current home. I can the church tower from the living room window,
We went to a bakery than to buy some bread rolls for lunch.
They also have delicious pastries.
I asked Katja if she could buy some of them but she murmured something about broad bums ...
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 4, 2009, 12:23 pm
today we took a walk along the Trasse des Werkzeugs (route of tools). It is a lane for pedestrians and cyclists through the town, made on a closed railway route. It was financed by many local industrial firms, most of them tool producing companies. Along the lane you can find signs of those producers.
At a crossroad you can see these large signs. The first one is showing the crest of Remcheid and a few explanations about the route of tools, the other ones are showing brand labels and products of famous companies in Remscheid.
When you walk along the route you can see the rear sides and gardens of houses.
We saw a blooming willow here.
You can finde some artwork along the route, usually made of tools. I'll show you a bench which was made of a large screw clamp.
We reached the district Hasten now, one of the oldest districts here.
At this part of thr route you can see imprints of tools, stamped in to the tarmac.
Here you can see the corparate building of a company which was incorporated in Remscheid in 1920 A.D. It's Keiper, producing car seat moduls for international automobile manufacturers. Nowadays the company has locatioins all over the world, alone seven in Germany.
We are now in a part of the district with really old housings. Those houses are built between 18th century and the end of 19th century.
I rested for a while in this pretty Easter decoration.
On our way back home we went shopping. Katja will make a mojito for us tomorrow, so she had to buy limes, a bottle of Havana Club and fresh mint. I'm looking foreward to taste a mojito.
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 4, 2009, 8:51 pm
we went to the town centre today. There is a spring market (the last years it was called Easter market and it was there for two weeks). This year it is taking place only this weekend. There are some booths for food and also some where they sell Easter decoration. There is also an exhibition of local artisans. They are showing their work which is related to gardening and construction of houses.
The owner of a local restaurant wants to set a new world record: He wants to sell the longest bruschetta which was ever sold. It is about 800 m long, sold in the shopping street.
When we went there, we walked along the town hall.
Here we are on Alleestraße, the shopping street, a pedestrian area.
Oh, food for a hungry lion!
Here you can see a few metres of the world record bruschetta.
And a few more metres ...
This artisan is carving all sorts of figures out of tree trunks, with a chainsaw
They are also showing animals, chicken and goats. I became hungry immediately ...
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 4, 2009, 9:03 pm
in the afternoon one of Katja's friends called and asked if she wanted to take a walk with her. What a question to ask! Of course she wanted to take a walk. She needs only sunshine and a forrest to be happy (okay, maybe a little bit more ...)
We started our tour in Kueppelstein, a district in the southwest of the municipal area. It's a rural area. From here we went into the forrest.
We reached river Wupper than.
We found a rock which has an engraved board game on its top. Do you know this game, mills? Katja promised to take 18 gaming pieces when we should come here again. Then we would be able to play here.
In the background you can see Muengsten bridge, which is Germany's highest railway bridge. It was made of steel. It is 107 m high and spans the valley of river Wupper, which is marking the border between Remscheid and the neighbour town Solingen.
The bridge is 465 m long and was completed in 1897 A.D.
We had to walk uphill again ...
... and reached the bridge.
I'm standing exactly under the bridge!
We rested close to a small waterfall for a moment.
We reached an outlook pavilion than. From here you can take perfect photos of Muengsten bridge, as long it is not late afternoon like now and you have to take care of backlight.
Almost perfect
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 5, 2009, 11:53 am
in the late evening we helped Katja to prepare a mojito.
The mojito is one of the more famous rum-based highballs, originally from Cuba. You need five ingredients: white rum, lime juice, fresh mint leafes, cane sugar and carbonated water.
First you put the juice of a lime into a large glass, add two or three teaspoons cane sugar and mint leafes. Than mash with a muddler, so the sugar dissolves and the mint leafes will be bruised. It was my job, because I am the strongest guy here at the moment.
You fill in 6 cl white rum, carbonated water and crushed ice or ice cubes.
It's delicious and refreshing.
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 9, 2009, 8:20 am
we took a walk today in Eifgental, a valley which is following the creek Eifgen in the neighbour town Wermelskirchen. We went with Katja's friend Kerstin, a girl named Tina and four dogs. One of them is Pepe, Kerstin's dog, and Kira, Bonny and Pino, Tina's dogs.
The valley itself is a nature protection area with only few houses. Here is one of them.
We walked along meadows and through forrests.
The forrest soil was covered with anemones in some areas.
Doesn't is look pretty here?
We even managed to take a group photograph of the dogs.
From the left they are Pepe, Pino, Bonny and Kira.
This is our last photo for today. The dogs had to clean their dirty feet and legs in the creek before getting into the car.
Bye
dECKER
Posted Apr 9, 2009, 9:55 am
today we made a trip to the Eifel. The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia and northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate. It's close to the border of Belgium and the border of Luxemburg. We went to the northern part of the Eifel.
We had planned a hiking tour and a visit of Monschau, a little town with a beautiful old town, situated at the river Rur (not to be confused with the river Ruhr).
We parked the car at Perlenbachtalsperre, a drinking water reservoir dam. We started our hiking tour here.
Posted Apr 9, 2009, 10:07 am
We reached the small town Rohren than. Here we saw something really special: A small replica of the grotto of Lourdes, a major place of Christian pilgrimage and of alleged miraculous healings.
Posted Apr 9, 2009, 10:15 am
They have steep stairs everywhere to reach the streets which are lying at the hill.
What a pity that the weather became so bad, we would have liked to sit down on the market place to have a coffee.
On our way back home we saw this base load power plant next to the motorway A4. Not a pretty sight!
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 9, 2009, 11:12 am
we visited Katja's parents today. They are living in the district Lennep, the second largest urban district.
Lennep has a historical old town, rebuilt afer the last devastating major fire in 1746 A.D. Many houses are under preservaton order.
We saw a blooming tree in a park.
A part of the town centre is still surrounded by remains of the former city wall. We are sitting on this wall.
Typical for the townscape are narrow lanes.
This is the market place, the farmer's market is taking place today.
When wee took our photos the sun was shining. In the afternoon it started raining again.
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 11, 2009, 10:49 pm
Gui and her cute cat Migui arrived today. Gui is a witch.
We went to Duesseldorf by train today. Duesseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city is situated on the River Rhine and has a high population density.
From the central station we walked to the city centre.
What a beautiful fountain!
This is Koenigsallee, the most famous shopping street here (and the most expensive one
)
We walked to the old town than, most tourists are going there. This is the town hall, situated in the old town.
You can find many bars and restaurants in the old town, it is called "the world's longest bar".
This statue is showing the coat of arms of Duesseldorf: A lion and an anchor.
We went to river Rhine than. Lots of people were taking a walk and enjoying an ice cream or a beer here.
The Rhine promenade was built in the late 1980s in its today's appearance. The traffic is running underneath the promenade.
This is one of many excursion boats which are starting their tours here.
Here you can see Burgplatz (castle place) with the Schlossturm (castle tower).
We visited a little park and watched the blooming trees. Duesseldorf is only about 40 km apart from Remscheid, but almost all trees are already green and those magnolias are blooming.
Katja and her friend sat down in a beer garden to drink a beer.
The large beer is an Altbier (dark beer), which is only brewed in this region.
We walked back along the Rheinuferpromenade into the other direction.
The regional parliament, Landtag, is situated here at the river Rhine. This is the side which is showing towards river Rhine.
This sculpture has many functions. It is a sun dial and all sorts of information are engraved into the circles on the ground.
These are famous buildings in the Mediahafen (media haven).
This is Rheinturm (rhine tower), a TV tower. There's a restaurant in its top, which is circling one complete round within an hour.
We returned to the Landtag than, this is the main entrance at the front side.
We went back to the old town than.
Here once more a photo of the world's longest bar.
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 16, 2009, 1:53 pm
we took a walk today. Katja told us that now the forrests are nearly green, so we should have a look. Yes, she seems to be right.
This is Muengsten Bridge, which I already showed to you. Katja knows a walking path which is directly beneath the tracks. It's hard to believe that this bridge is 107 m high.
This is a blooming apple tree. If I would still be here in late summer I could pinch some apples here.
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 20, 2009, 9:19 pm
we took a walk today through the outskirts of the neighbour town Wuppertal. First we had to walk downhill to the valley of Morsbach, a creek which is marking the border between Remscheid and Wuppertal.
From here we had to walk uphill to Wuppertal. Here we are in the middle of the forrest.
We left the forrest here and walked through some streets.
From here you can see part of the municipal area of Remscheid, the hill in the background.
We walked into the forrest again and returned to Morsbachtal. We rested close to the creek for a while.
We decided to walk to Muengsten Bridge again, because today we could take pretty sunshine photos. Here we are on the way to Muengsten Bridge.
This time we went to the leisure park which was built beneath the bridge a few years ago.
Bye
Decker[/font]
Posted Apr 22, 2009, 10:48 pm
Posted Apr 23, 2009, 10:55 pm
in Germany they have a lot of holidays and commemoration days. Today it's Take Our Daughters To Work Day. Yes, only for the daughters, In Germany it is called Girl's Day. It is meant to introduce girls to professions which are not the typically professions for females.
But even better, it's Day Of The German Beer (Tag des deutschen Bieres) which referes to the German purity law, which was edicted on April 23rd, 1516 A.D.
Katja bought several bottles of beer for us. We had a Paulaner Salvator first, a double beer.
Katja bought some more beers, have a look. Is there any beer which is also known in the USA Beck's beer, I think, is also known in the USA.
Bye
Decker
Posted Apr 30, 2009, 9:17 pm
today we took a walk in the neigbour town Solingen. Katja wanted to show me Schloss Burg, a medieval castle. Katja's friend Kerstin went with us, this time without her dog Pepe.
We parked the car in Solingen-Unterburg, one of the oldest districts of Solingen. The river Wupper is flowing though this district. High on a hill above Unterburg you can find Schloss Burg. You have to walk there, always uphill or you can take the cablecar. This is the valley station of the cablecar. Of course we had to walk uphill.
You can find really old houses here, mostly those timber-framed houses.
In Solingen they have a trolleybus system with a reverser disk. There are only three reverser disks in use worldwide: The one in Solingen and two in England.
Here you can see the cablecar going uphill.
We had to walk uphill, for hours as it seemed to me. We rested in an outlook pavilion, where we had a fantastic view across the valley where we had come from.
The ceiling of the pavilion is decorated with the city arms of the surrounding towns, so here is also the city arms of Remscheid.
In the background you can see the castle.
We reached an outdoor facility first, here you can find memorials for the dead of both World Wars.
We went to the castle then. The castle was built in early 12th century on a mountain over the river Wupper. It was enlarged later, sometimes destroyed in wars and also fires. It was reconstructed in 1925 A.D.
Unfortunately we could not get to the courtyard because it was prepared for some events in the following days, especially for Walpurgis Night.
This is the gate, facing the street.
Inside the castle complex you can find several artisan shops.
We left the castle than and walked on through the outskirts of Burg.
I saw syringa in a garden.
You can find farms here, pastures, forrests and large piles of tree trunks.
Here someone decorated his fence with planted shoes.
When we reached the valley again we saw a pump which was once used in a nearby drinking water reservoir.
We walked back along the river Wupper.
This is an ear trumpet which is intensifyieng the sound of the flowing water.
Here is a weir. We rested here for a while.
We reached the car than and went home. Tomorrow we will go to the fun fair
Bye
Decker
Posted May 2, 2009, 11:06 pm
we visited Cologne today. Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city and is the largest city in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded by the Romans in the year 38 BC. Cologne lies on the River Rhine.
We went to Cologne by train and reached Cologne Central station after about an hour train ride.
The first thing you see when you leave the central station is Cologne Cathedral. The cathedral is a World Heritage Site, being one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany, and Cologne's most famous landmark. Cologne Cathedral is one of the world's largest churches, being the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. Building of the Gothic church began in 1248 and took, with several interruptions, until 1880 to complete – a period of more than six hundred years. It is about 144 metres long, 86 m wide and its two towers are 157 m tall.
In the afternoon we took much better photos of the Cathedral, with much better light incidence than. We went inside the Cathedral. Of course I will show you the inside.
We went to the shopping streets than, especially to Schildergasse.
Many peple are riding bike here, because it's really flat here.
We went to the Altstadt (old town) than. This is Guerzenich, part of the old town.
From here we went to Heumarkt. We had lunch here.
This is one of the most famous pubs here, Paeffgen.
More pictures of the old town are following.
Finally we reached River Rhine! There are some excursion boats waiting for passengers.
Here you can see Hohenzollernbrücke (Hohenzollern Bridge) which is a bridge for rail and pedestrian traffic.
Back to the old town with it's narrow lanes than ...
We left the old town and decided to take a walk along the river.
Here you can see the Schokoladenmuseum (Chocolate museum). We didn't go inside because we enjoyed the sunshine, besides the museum was really crowded with visitors.
Katja told us that they have a fountain with molten chocolate, you can dip cookies into the chocolate.
They have an outlook platform on the museum, from here you have a really good overview.
We went back to the cathedral than. On our way we saw many more interesting things.
In the background of the next photo you can see one of the most famous breweries of Cologne: Früh Kölsch. They are brewing Kölsch beer here, a top-fermented beer.
It's almost impossible to take a photo of the complete cathedral because it is simply too large and standing among many buildings. But we tried our best to take some photos showing some details.
I forgot to mention, but we relaesed six ToyVoyagers here in Cologne.
Bye
Decker
Posted May 8, 2009, 1:59 pm
lots of news from Remscheid. Theodore left yesterday, duckling Nathalie went with him. Today Roo and Ewan E. Ewok arrived today. We took them with us when we had to do some shopping during Katja's lunch break.
We walked along the shopping street.
Did I already show you this funny fountain? Maybe I did, but it was probably covered and out of action than.
Do you remember that I showed you the building site of the train station a few weeks ago? It is looking much better now, almost finished.
This is a ring road which leads you directly to the city centre...
... and to the bus terminal.
Once again the city hall and the market place with the shopping mall.
We had to go to work than.
Bye
Decker
Posted May 8, 2009, 2:06 pm
in the evening we took a short walk to the municipal park. Ewan needed to see some trees.
This is the pond with ducks and turtles living there.
Here you can see the outskirts of Remscheid and Wuppertal, the neighbour city.
Bye
Decker
Posted May 10, 2009, 9:33 pm
today we visited Wuppertal.
Wuppertal is the neighbour town of Remscheid, famous for the worldwide one and only Monorail Suspension Railway (Schwebebahn). The suspension railway travels along a route about 13 kilometres long, about 12 metres above the surface of the river Wupper and approximately 8 m above the city streets. At one point the railway even crosses the A46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes. One of the stations is "Zoo/Stadion". Here we entered the Schwebebahn.
This is the station where we left it. A train was coming in right than.
We wanted to visit the botanical garden, situated high on the steep slope of the valley. For pedestrians you can find many long stairs leading uphill, like this one:
In this part of the town which is called "Hardt" you can find many pretty old villas.
We reached the botanical garden than. In the background you can see Elisenturm, an outlook tower which is 21 m high. The botanical garden was founded in 1890 as a school garden.
On the left side you can see a greenhouse, than the Elisenturm and the entrance area of the garden.
First we climbed onto the tower to have an overview. From here you can see the city lying in the valley.
We walked through the garden and saw lots of pretty and interesting plants.
Here we are sitting under a date palm.
The botanical garden is running together with the park "Hardtanlage". Here you can see many people relaxing in the grass.
Again an overview across the city, this time from the edge of the park.
We walked back to the city centre.
This is the famous quarter "Luisenviertel", where they have many pubs and restaurants.
In this pub we enjoyed a cool drink.
Katja wanted to show us the Briller Viertel (Bril quarter), which is a quarter with a lot of villas. First we walked upstairs again, but the overview was worth the effort.
This was a really nice day, although a little bit exhausting.
Bye
Decker
Posted May 12, 2009, 11:19 am
I'm coming home for a while.
See you soon
Decker
Posted Aug 17, 2009, 11:37 am
Will post some pics later.
Neil