Tippi, rotterdam, netherlands

kristl Posted Sep 7, 2007, 7:54 pm	Hi.. I'm Tippi, a small rabbit-girl.. I'm very new here.. Don't know anything in fact.. I just read that my friend piggy Éireannach arrived the day before yesterday to ChristinaB in Vienna.. Kristl said that I can travel a bit to.. And I'd be very glad to.. There's so much new and interesting in the world.. Oh, sorry, I've forgotten.. Here am I: And here the whole I.. with my friend Little Totoro: If you may be want to meen me and want to know how big I am.. Look here.. I'm a bit bigger than a mouse.. and much smaller than an elephant.. And I like flowers very-very much....) Nice to meet you!
kaylihi Posted Sep 19, 2007, 7:35 pm	Hi eveyone, Today I arived at kaylihi's place. It's nice here I already made new friends like Kay the german shepard and the bride and groom.My host and her husband got them a year ago wenn they married at first of september 2006. The bears are nice to me and I am feeling home. My host made plans to take me to nice places in the Netherlands. You will read about my adventures. lot's of love, Tippi
kaylihi Posted Sep 23, 2007, 11:02 am	Today I have been visiting a competition with horses. My host has also never been there before and we both thought the horses are very big. But this one is so sweet and beatiful that I decided to watch her from closer.
kaylihi Posted Oct 3, 2007, 2:23 pm	Today my host wanted to show me the beautiful places from Apeldoorn like the royal palace, a church and a big telephone.We went away by car, but we had to go home again because of the wheater. Like you can see on the photo it's raining very much. My host promised me to go another time before I go to Japan. I am happy about that and like the beautiful flowers she got.
kaylihi Posted Oct 4, 2007, 11:19 am	I have been walking with the dog. Today it's not raining and I hope it stays like that. In the Netherlands I saw a sign especially for dogs! The sign shows that it's allowed for the dog to walk free. I made a photo of it. Kay was very happy that I joined him to the park and I had to play with him. The nature is nice with a small canal and nice tree. And you can't believe I saw a gigant telephone!! I wanted to call home,but found out it was fake!
kaylihi Posted Oct 5, 2007, 8:45 pm	Yesterday my host took me with her for a trip through Apeldoorn. As a tourist you can't go without information so I have visited the VVV. Behind the VVV is the new modern city hall. Let me tell you more about Apeldoorn.It's the biggest town from the nature area De Veluwe. From the Netherlands it's town number 12. About 136.920 people live in the town. I have visited a beautiful church translated in english named the big church. This church was built in 1892 by queen Emma.I have also seen a monument from a man. It's to remember the liberation by the Canadian soldiers at the end of the second world war. Ofcourse my host wanted to show me the most expensive hotel from Apeldoorn. If I was a rich girl I was staying there .
kaylihi Posted Oct 5, 2007, 9:10 pm	We have also visited the Royal Palace like my host promised me. She is fond of the palace and likes to walk in the gardens. The Palace was used by kings and queens till 1975. They lived there during summer. Because there's a lot of nature it was a good place for the hunting. Since 1984 it's a museum with a lot of tourists from all over the world.
kaylihi Posted Oct 5, 2007, 9:14 pm	In front of the palace I saw a tree with the colour orange. It's the colour of the royal family and the Netherlands. On the other photo you see the fruits who are a symbol.
kaylihi Posted Oct 5, 2007, 9:16 pm	Let's talk about the front side again. I really like the candles.
kaylihi Posted Oct 5, 2007, 9:20 pm	Very beautiful are the gardens with trees, flowers and a lot of fountains. I really feel like a princess.
kaylihi Posted Oct 10, 2007, 11:05 am	Yes yes I love food and I have eaten dutch food. You eat it with pommes frites. It's meat the first photo is a frikandel and the second photo is a kroket. You can buy the stuff in a cafetaria.
kaylihi Posted Oct 18, 2007, 11:38 am	Today I met another traveling toy Jade. She's home and ready for her real journey. Before she left we went on the photo.
kaylihi Posted Oct 28, 2007, 1:39 pm	My host, her husband and friends went to Cologne in Germany and they took me with them. The friends where surprised to find out that I was also with them, but they found it a funny idea and where also thinking about nice places to take photos. First I have seen the well known Dom.It's an unesco site and very big and beautiful. After the Dom we have been to the chocolate museum jummie. You can see me on front of the building and inside. My host bought white chocolate with chilli pepper in it to try. But she regretted and became a red face,because it was so hot! I met a very giant animal and I was a little affraid. Afterwards my host saved me . When you are in Germany you have to feel the local culture so we went to a typical German pub. The furniture was very beautiful and the german beer was ok. After a long day in the city we went back to our hotel. It was a nice familyhotel. The next day we have driven to Apeldoorn again.
kaylihi Posted Oct 29, 2007, 12:54 pm	Today was my last day in Apeldoorn. I had a nice time, but I am also looking forward to see Japan. I have said goodbye to the family and at this moment I am in the mailbox.
yumi Posted Nov 9, 2007, 2:37 pm	I arrived at Yumi's house safely. The toyvoyagers-Rangler, Mousy Mouse, FoxForce, Twinette Kani and Tokio waited for me. They walmly wecomed me. I was surprised to meet Twinette Kani. She looked like my sister...
yumi Posted Nov 18, 2007, 3:58 pm	Yumi took me Kanazawa where was the biggest city of Ishikawa prefecture. The first photo was taken in front of Kanazawa station. Don't you think the fountain is interesting? The fountain shows us 'the present time' 'Welcome' 'Kanazawa' and 'Welcome to Kanazawa' in Japanese. Before visiting somewhere, I had lunch at a restaurant. I had an omlet with fried rice.
yumi Posted Nov 20, 2007, 5:24 pm	I went to a park. Red, yellow,orange and brown leaves were falling from the trees. It looked like a fallen leaves carpet. When a strong wind blew, leaves fell on the ground like rain It was beautiful. I wanted to play with fallen leaves, but I gave up as it was wet because of rain...
yumi Posted Nov 22, 2007, 3:41 pm	It got dark there... I found an illuminated shrine (Oyama Shrine), correctly the gate of the shrine  The gate was designed by two Dutch men and was completed in 1875.
yumi Posted Nov 22, 2007, 4:12 pm	Then, when I was walking I found a couple of gold tree illuminations for winter-we can enjoy the illuminations until the end of February. The illuminated tree was made with gold leaves. Most of gold leaves made in Japan are produced in Kanazawa. It was beautiful!
yumi Posted Nov 29, 2007, 1:24 am	I visited a few other places in Kanazawa today. First, I visited Ozaki shrine. The shrine was built at a different place in 1643 and was moved the present place in 1876 The trees with colorful leaves were beautiful.
yumi Posted Nov 29, 2007, 1:43 am	When I was walking, I found a few kinds of flowers. I liked the flower most as it was little (the same size as I) and pretty.
yumi Posted Nov 29, 2007, 5:36 pm	I visited a garden named Kenrokuen. The garden was very large. Most of the tree in the garden were tied with ropes to protect breaking brenches from wet and heavy snow. This technique is called Yukitsuri in Japanese. We can see Yukitsuri around here for winter.
yumi Posted Dec 6, 2007, 3:47 pm	Then I visited an old house where was built in 1928.
yumi Posted Dec 6, 2007, 3:51 pm	When I was walking, I heard the sound of water... I found a waterfall.
yumi Posted Dec 6, 2007, 4:37 pm	Stairs was next to the waterfall. I climbed the stairs and arrived at History Museum. The building was used as an army's armory and as university.
yumi Posted Dec 7, 2007, 2:48 pm	A teddy bear couple performed their marriage at yumi's house today. I celebrated their wedding with other toyvoyagers. I acted as a flower girl! Rangler acted as a priest. Mousy Mouse acted as a best man and Twinette Kani acted as a bridesmaid.
becka_kate Posted Dec 8, 2007, 1:22 pm	Tippi has arrived in Australia and has already started to get into the Christmas spirit!
yumi Posted Dec 8, 2007, 4:40 pm	I was sent to becka_kate in Australia. I really can't wait to celebrate a strange Christmas!
becka_kate Posted Dec 9, 2007, 11:12 am	I arrived in Bec's house in a disguise. Can you see what I am? Here's the real me! Ta-da! (BTW Yumi - Bec really loves the card you sent for her!) On my arrival I was a bit worried. Where was the beautiful weather I'd been promised when I was offered the chance to come here? I was told I'd experience a hot, sunny Christmas, but look....... Instead my arrival was greeted with dark skies and torrential rain. I hope it improves soon!
becka_kate Posted Dec 9, 2007, 11:19 am	Guess what - the weather is much better now. There are still clouds around, but no more rain! And look, I was right about coming to Australia to see a strange Christmas. Look how hot it was at 3:00 this afternoon when we went out to do some Christmas shopping: And that's in the shade of the carport! When we got back home we checked the weather forecast for Russia, which said a prediction of 2°C/35°F  to  -1°C/30°F. Very different huh? We went shopping at Parramatta Westfields where we were surprised by how futuristic (I think that's the word I want!) their decorations are. Very different!
becka_kate Posted Dec 9, 2007, 11:23 am	Look what I found in the front yard. This is a beautiful native tree called a Christmas Bush. It's probably called that because it flowers from late November through December. Aren't the blossoms beautiful?
becka_kate Posted Dec 9, 2007, 11:37 am	Here's what else I did this weekend. When I got here Bec said she'd been looking for someone to help her put up her family's Christmas tree. Of course I instantly offered to help. First we had to get all the boxes containing the tree and decorations down from their shelf in the laundry. There were a lot of boxes! And the shelf was very, very high (especially if you're a small rabbit!) Next we had to unpack everything. Bec's family have a lot of decorations! Bec said before we could do any more we had to blow up the inflatable Santas because they're older than her and a very special part of Christmas. Funny thing that happened though was that the Santas made a noise like they were screaming the whole time Bec was blowing them up! Bec's family uses an artificial tree each year as it's less messy and less expensive than a real one. It didn't take us too long to have it all put together and all the branches sitting right. Then we had to sort out all the decorations. Bec made this candle when she was in Kindergarten! It seemed like we were never going to get all the decorations sorted out. And of course we had to stop half way to apply first aid after Bec dropped the transformer for the Christmas lights on her foot. OUCH! Can you see me? Now we could start decorating the tree. Little by little we got tree looking pretty. I helped as best I could with the small decorations.  Does this ornament remind you of anyone? (That's a fridge he's holding!) And here's the finished product! Now all it needs is the presents!
becka_kate Posted Dec 15, 2007, 4:57 am	Today we had a Christmas picnic at Garrison Point. We were all a little worried about the weather and emails and Facebook messages flew all over south west Sydney as it rained all week. Luckily yesterday afternoon the sun came out and has stayed out. Yay! We were lucky to get an undercover picnic table as it was really warm and sunny today. We had a lovely view of the Georges River where we could watch boats and jet skis go past and close to the playground for the kids. (Those slides looked like fun, but they were burning hot!) No barbeques - there's a fire ban in place, so we had to deal with just cold foods. Very yummy anyway - salad sandwiches, pasta salad and coleslaw and then bliss! Some watermelon for desert. Perfect for a summery picnic. We just had to watch out for the flies. They're a part of every Aussie barbecue / picnic and such a nuisance!
becka_kate Posted Dec 22, 2007, 9:47 am	We have a ToyVoyager sized Christmas tree! With presents even!! Wonder what's in mine? It's the little one. Kalli has one too. (We'll have to go out tomorrow and buy one for Taro too!)
becka_kate Posted Dec 22, 2007, 1:59 pm	Shhhh! Don't tell Kalli! Today I went with Bec's class to Darling Harbour to visit Wildlife World (Kalli can't know because she's been wanting to go there and Bec forgot to invite her along this morning! ) After morning we went for a walk on the Pyrmont Bridge to fill in some time and check out the view. It was a nice, sunny day (much better the weather has been) and we all enjoyed looking at the view. We saw lots of small boats, the South Steyne (a floating restaurant) The naval ships at the Maritime Museum and lots and lots of Christmas flags. And, there is Wildlife World, our destination (after we walk back along the bridge - which is a pedestrian bridge by the way) and down about 100 stairs, well, I might be exaggerating, but there are a lot of stairs!) In front of Wildlife World you can see some of the many cruise boats that travel around the harbour showing tourists the many sights. Once we were in Wildlife World, I got to get an up close view of many many Australian animals, like the cockroaches, ants and spiders. Ick! I hope I don't meet any of these creatures while I'm here. Look at this snake. I was very glad there was a glass wall between us. I bet it could swallow a little rabbit like me in one gulp! This is a Shingle Back lizard. Once a long, long time ago Bec went to South Australia to visit her relatives and got into very big trouble for disappearing for a very long time with one of the neighbour boys on a hunt for Shingle Back lizards. The smaller of the two lizards is a Blue Tongue Lizard. So named because of the colour of it's tongue. Bec has one living in the building debris in her backyard! And a goanna. This one followed us up and down the window to the enclosure. I also got to meet some wallabies. They were having a lunch of carrots, sweet potato and broccoli which made me very hungry! Our next stop was inside the bird enclosure where we got an up close look at some of the native birds. I don't remember what type of bird this is: but this one is a rosella or a rainbow lorikeet. It was very friendly. More wallabies and kangaroos, dozing in the mid-day sun. This is meant to represent a cave with Aboriginal paintings inside. Around this area were many Dreamtime stories, explaining how various animals got to be the way they are. And, now this what you especially can't tell Kalli about. I met a koala! If she'd been told to come along today she might have almost completed her mission by now! We all feel terrible that we visited members of her family without her.
becka_kate Posted Dec 22, 2007, 2:08 pm	We've been doing more Christmas shopping, and it's finally just about complete! I've been a very helpful (very good little bunny - hopefully Santa's been watching while he's been making that list!) and have helped to wrap all (well, nearly all) the presents! It is very amazing how many of the wrappings in Australia don't represent the Australian Christmas. There's lots of snow, holly .... We were busy for a very long time. But, finally we got it done. I don't know how anyone can stand the suspense of wondering what is under the tree for them! How will they wait for Christmas Day to come so they can open them?
becka_kate Posted Dec 24, 2007, 5:28 am	An early Christmas dinner with Bec's cousins who had come down from the Central Coast to celebrate on the weekend. No hot food - ham, cold pork, salad and rolls. I would imagine that this is very different to what I might be eating for Christmas lunch at home? (plus the prerequisite Vegemite for one of the kids! I'm told Vegemite is very yummy as long as you spread it thinly with lots of butter. Not sure I'm game to try it!)
becka_kate Posted Dec 24, 2007, 5:59 am	Today we went into the city to check out all the Christmas decorations in town. We left home late in the afternoon, around 5pm so that we would have some sunlight to view the city sights and not have too long to wait for it to be 8:30pm and the sun to go down so we could see the lights. Last year, Clover Moore, the Lord Mayor of Sydney was criticised for not putting up a lot of decorations, so this year they have tried a lot harder. Our first stop was at St Mary's Cathedral to view the life size Nativity scene. Next we went into Hyde Park to view the gardens, which, like many of the gardens around the city have been planted to represent the colours of Christmas. While we were in Hyde Park we took the time to be regular sightseers and looked at the Archibald Fountain (it was very windy, so we got a little wet!) and we also found one of the many Christmas trees that have been put up around the city. Can you see me? I'm sitting to the right of Taro - I blended into the flower box a bit! Next we went to David Jones (a large department store) to view their windows. Every year they decorate them with motorised marionette puppets depicting Christmas themes. Bec and her family used to come in to see them every year when she was little. This year the theme was The Nutcracker. (There are more photos on Taro's page) Next we made our way to the Christmas tree in Martin Place. This is the largest of all the Christmas trees decorating the city - it is 20-metres tall. We looked at the tree for a while and then moved on with plans to come back to see it light up later. Also while in Martin Place we stopped and listened to the Salvation Army band perform carols. We sang along with them a while before moving on to Circular Quay for dinner.
becka_kate Posted Dec 24, 2007, 6:11 am	While stopping at Circular Quay  to get some dinner (fresh, beautiful fish & chips - Bec was going to take picnic photos but was attacked by seagulls wanting chips, one even hovered over her left shoulder scaring her greatly, so she was a bit distracted) we checked out the traditional tourist sights: Then, when everyone had finished eating - a lot faster than planned thanks to the seagulls! - we made our way around to the Rocks with two plans in mind: a) check out the Christmas scene there b) get Taro a present. By this time at night (7pm) there weren't many shops still open, but we did manage to find him a gift to put under the tree! We also saw The Rocks tree, not as big as the Martin Place one though, but personally (or should that be rabbitally?) I think it might even be prettier.
becka_kate Posted Dec 24, 2007, 6:28 am	Eventually, after a bit of a rest and some hot chocolate at Starbucks while we waited for the sky to get dark, we made our way back to Martin Place to see the tree all lit up. We waited anxiously for the clock to strike 8:30 and the lights to come on. And then, as you might be able to tell from the clock, we waited some more. There was a fault with the timer and the tree lights stayed dark. We got very impatient waiting! The decorations on the lamp posts had come on and they were very pretty, but where was the tree? Finally we decided to walk up the plaza to Macquarie St and look at the Christmas Projections on the building and if the lights on the tree did finally come on we would be able to see them on the way back to the train station. The Christmas Projections are very pretty. What happens is that five landmark buildings along Macquarie Street are lit in a magical display of colour and light. The projection designs explore Summer in Sydney through a variety of themes. This is the New South Wales state parliament house. (Again, there are other photos on Taro's page) And here I am at the Mint building. Aren't the projections beautiful? Luckily, by the time we walked back to Martin Place the tree was all lit up! Yay!! I was so excited!!!!!
becka_kate Posted Dec 24, 2007, 1:31 pm	Tonight we went out looking at Christmas lights. Lots of people in Australia decorate the outside of their homes and the good thing about it being Summer at Christmas time is that it is great for walking around the streets to view them all without getting cold! (Sorry, the quality of the photos isn't that good!) I really liked these one's that move! And this one looked like Santa was climbing the rope up to the window! As you can see from the car's thermometer it was still rather warm out, even at 10:30 at night.
becka_kate Posted Dec 27, 2007, 9:56 am	HAPPY CHRISTMAS! After finishing our travelogs on Christmas Eve all us ToyVoyagers raced to get to sleep so Santa would come to visit us. (Do you like the 'sheet' - It was made in Pakistan and one of Bec's families at school gave the scarf to her as an end of year gift!) To help us fall asleep we listened to some Australian Christmas [size=3]carols Six White Boomers (includes images of Australian Christmases) 12 Days of Christmas An Aussie Jingle Bells I woke up this morning to find that there was a present in my stocking. Yippee! A lollipop! And a balloon! Do you like my Christmas outfit? Bec's cousin made it for me. I'm a Christmas angel! After opening our Christmas stockings we got to open our Christmas presents. I couldn't wait. I've been wondering what is in mine for a long time. I ripped the paper open - I just couldn't take the time to peel the tape off carefully..... And look, it's a Koala wind chime! Next it was time to get ready for lunch. I helped put out the lollies. and just couldn't resist trying a musk banana. Very yummy! Then I helped prepare the salad for lunch. I cut up the cheese very carefully and sprinkled it on top of the vegetables. Bec's family don't have a hot Christmas lunch. It's generally not a good idea when usually the weather is in the mid to high 30's! (Not that it got that hot this year!) Sometimes they have a seafood lunch, but this year they decided to have cold ham, pork and chicken with salad. Oops! We almost forgot the Christmas bon-bons! We had to pull and pull until they popped with a crack! Inside the bon-bon was a very bad joke, a party hat and a small toy. I got a little fish and this joke: What would you get if you crossed an elephant with a flea? A squashed dog! Desert was (again) cold Christmas pudding with custard. Normally Bec's mum makes the pudding, but she's hurt her back, so this year they had to have a store bought one, but it was still yummy! After lunch, everyone else opened their presents. Traditionally in Bec's family they had to wait until mid-afternoon to open the presents because that's when her dad used to get home from work. Taro and I helped to pick up the wrapping paper and put it into the recycling bin. Then it was time for everyone to have their afternoon naps, before starting the eating thing all over again!
becka_kate Posted Dec 27, 2007, 10:18 am	There are three major sporting events that take place in Australia on Boxing Day: 1) The Sydney to Hobart Yacht race starts in Sydney Harbour. This is one of the world's major yacht races and the record time for completing it in is 1 days, 19hours. The average time is around 2days. It is always a dramatic start as not only are there lots of yachts in the harbour lots of other people go out on small boats to wave them off. Plus the shoreline is very crowded from very early in the morning. We decided to stay home and watch it on the TV instead! 2) The Boxing Day Cricket Test is held in Melbourne every year. It runs for 5 days and this year Australia is playing against India. It is a very trying game to watch for long periods. The team that goes into bat first (Team A) bats and gets as many runs as possible until they are all out or until the team captain 'declares' (decides to stop batting). Then they swap positions with the first batting team becoming the bowling/fielding team who try to stop Team B from matching or beating their score. When Team B is either all out or have 'declared', Team A goes back into bat for a 2nd innings until they're all out / declared before Team B gets their final innings. The team with the most runs at the end (once both teams have played two innings) is the winner. Confusing hey? It can have very exciting moments, with dramatic outs or if a batsman scores a Century (100 runs - doesn't happen very often!) but for the most part it can be very boring. My hosts would rather watch the One-day matches, which are much shorter. The final sport (and for this I don't have pictures....) is the post Christmas sales at the stores and people racing to get the biggest bargain they can on items that they probably won't use during the year.
becka_kate Posted Dec 27, 2007, 2:25 pm	Boxing Day is also Bec's future brother-in-law's birthday (boy, is that a mouth full!) so we went to their place for dinner. They have a dog called Angel who I tried playing fetch with, but the ball was way to big, and I was afraid Angel might mistake me for the ball! So, I went inside and introduced myself to the cockatiels, Bib & Bub. I don't think they've ever met a rabbit before, because they got pretty flappy and wouldn't stay to talk. Then I went to see what else there was to do in the house. I found the Christmas tree and tried being an ornament like the little bear at the top. Not a lot of fun. The tree is a fibre-optic one, but it only gets turned on at night to save electricity, so I had to find something else to do while I waited for it to get dark. Look - TV sized motorbikes! This looked like fun! This smaller bike was more my size don't you think? Taro and I went cruising with our new friends. After dinner (where everyone got one of these cute chocolates!) we made Gingerbread Men! The plan had been to make them on Christmas Day. But with people coming and going and afternoon naps and all it never happened. First you have to draw a design using the icing pen. Then you have to add sprinkles to give it colour. This is harder to do than it sounds. I'm afraid my gingerbread man ended up looking like either a yeti or the bearded lady at the circus! Once you're done you can sit back and admire your piece of artwork until the icing sets and it's time to eat it! Eventually Stef turned the tree on for us to admire. Isn't it pretty? Look, it changes colour as the disc in the base turns!
becka_kate Posted Jan 2, 2008, 3:58 am	Summer has finally arrived in Sydney - hot and humid! Bec talked us into coming out in the yard with her while she did some gardening for her mum. I thought that maybe it would be nice to sit in the shade on the edge of the garden bed and watch the world go by (Bec lives on the corner of two fairly busy roads, so there's always lots to see) but before I knew it I was handed a small weeding fork and asked to help out. Look at all the weeds we pulled out! (well, once it was a great big tree called a liquid amber, but now its been cut down and shoots are springing up everywhere, so it's just an annoyance!)
becka_kate Posted Jan 10, 2008, 9:43 am	Tippi left here today and is making her way to visit with Pandamao. Thanks for visiting Tippi!
Pandamao Posted Jan 24, 2008, 7:25 pm	I have arrived in Munich. It was a long journey in the envelope - good to be out again. But hey, it's not like summer here, much colder.
Pandamao Posted Feb 3, 2008, 8:47 pm	Today the weather was really nice so we all went to Munich's city center, Marienplatz and Neuhauser Straße. Lots of people were out to celebrate carneval - it's called "Fasching" here.
Pandamao Posted Feb 3, 2008, 9:17 pm	When we came close to the Stachus we saw a strange creature flying --- we had a nice chat and talked about toyvoyaging. But no way this creature will become a toyvoyager, the postage would be enormous
Pandamao Posted Feb 5, 2008, 8:57 pm	I passed the German Museum (a science museum) when I went shopping with my host. We all sat in front of a big part of a turbine which is used in hydro power plant. Imagine, how big this plant is!
Pandamao Posted Feb 8, 2008, 6:54 pm	There was a knock on the door and when we looked outside there were two little packages sitting on the doorstep. Visitors! Sylphide, Tenderheart Bear and Snegovik!
Pandamao Posted Feb 11, 2008, 12:02 am	Today Barthélémy wanted to visit the "Alter Südfriedhof" (Old South Cemetery) so I just came along. This is what I read about the cemetery: It is a little known fact that Munich's oldest green area is 450 years old, that it's in the heart of town and that it's a cemetery - the Alter Südfriedhof. The cemetery is something of a conservation area and bears unique testimony to the city's cultural history. Its romantically overgrown graves, tombs and mausoleums pay homage to distinguished Munich figures - artists, architects, master builders and scientists. In the plague year 1523 graveyards within the city walls were so overfilled that a new cemetery - the "Äußerer Freithof" - was opened outside the city gate at the Sendlinger Tor. The cemetery wall and all the buildings were later destroyed as a preventative military measure in the Thirty Years War. Well into the 18th century the cemetery was looked on as a poor man's burial ground. In 1844, a new section designed by Gärtner was added and it continued to be Munich's central burial ground up to 1868.
Pandamao Posted Feb 11, 2008, 12:22 am	The cemetery suffered severe bomb damage in 1944-45. Today, only a quarter of the graves are identifiable and many are in urgent need of renovation. Work is underway.
Pandamao Posted Feb 11, 2008, 1:02 am	Even if the cemetery is not in use anymore many people were walking there. It is like a park nowadays. We saw little spring flowers blossom and sat on a bench in the sun. Some of the graves are inside the back wall of the houses. And windows pop up between the statues on the graves.
Pandamao Posted Feb 11, 2008, 2:57 pm	Our host had bought red cabbage ... because she could hardly eat 2 kg of it on her own we decided to prepare and preserve it. Sylphide did the research and found a nice recipe. Then our host had to cut the onions and red cabbage. We sprinkled everything with salt and now it has to rest for a whole night.
Pandamao Posted Feb 12, 2008, 9:13 pm	After one night we washed and dried the cabbage, filled it in glass and filled the glass with vinegar (prepared with oranges and spices - mmmh, great smell). I helped to close the lids. Now the cabbage has to rest for 3 or 4 months - too bad, because I'll travel and not be able to test the taste.
Pandamao Posted Feb 16, 2008, 10:26 pm	For the weekend we visited our host's dad. He lives in a small town in the North-East of Bavaria. I took a walk in the city center - nice houses. The battery of the camera was low so I only took photos of the houses.
Pandamao Posted Feb 18, 2008, 7:30 pm	The weather was sunny but cold. We went for a walk (together with half of Munich's inhabitants) to Nymphenburg Castle and park.
Pandamao Posted Mar 22, 2008, 4:03 pm	It's been a long time since out the last time. Today I went for a little walk and saw the German museum (Science and Technic museum). It is built on a little island in the Isar river.
Pandamao Posted Mar 24, 2008, 11:07 pm	HAPPY EASTER! Today it's Easter Monday and Pandamao went to this little town in the Oberpfalz to see her dad and she took me along. We walked along the street and wondered what was going on in that little park opposite. When we came closer we saw that it was an "Easter fountain". In this part of Bavaria it's the custom to decorate the fountains with Easter eggs. There must be hundreds or thousands of eggs here. They really look beautiful.
Pandamao Posted Mar 28, 2008, 10:56 pm	I did some more sight-seeing today and went to the area where the Hofbräuhaus is located. The first photo shows the Orlando House and then I pose in the front of the nearby Hofbräuhaus. It is a huuuuuuuge beerhall. I also met some local bears. We had a nice conversation about TVs and traveling the world but the Bavarian bears did not want to join. Seems, that they would miss their Sunday morning beer Stammtisch (regulars' table) at the Hofbräuhaus too much.
Pandamao Posted Mar 28, 2008, 11:46 pm	Then I took a look at the "Alter Hof", which was the first residence of the Wittelsbach dynasty, built in the 13th century.
Pandamao Posted Apr 30, 2008, 9:42 pm	I took a tour to Feldafing at the Starnberger See (Starnberg Lake). First I had to cross the golf course - in the background you can see the lake. Then I helped my host to pick some bear's garlic which grows there wild.
Pandamao Posted Apr 30, 2008, 10:04 pm	I took a nice walk along the lake side (Starnberger See). The sun was shining, it was a beautiful spring day and I could even see the Alpes.
Pandamao Posted Apr 30, 2008, 10:22 pm	I took a nice walk along the lake side (Starnberger See). The sun was shining, it was a beautiful spring day and I could even see the Alpes.
Pandamao Posted May 6, 2008, 10:52 pm	As it was a nice spring day we all went out for a walk to Türkenfeld. It's about 45 minutes with the train outside of Munich. The colours of the tree leaves are beautiful, you only find this colour in spring time.
Pandamao Posted May 6, 2008, 11:08 pm	Our host is very interested in herbs so we helped her to search for them. We found lots of blooming wild violets and helped our host to pick them because she wanted to make sirup of them. If we would not have helped her she surely would have needed a long time to fill the small container. Later we also found woodruff which will be dried and used for tea and food flavouring.
Pandamao Posted May 7, 2008, 10:07 pm	We went out for another walk to pick herbs at Türkenfeld. We found deadnettle, chervil, chickweed and lots of other herbs.
Pandamao Posted May 7, 2008, 10:41 pm	Yesterday we had sorrel soup for dinner (delicious!!) and today we used the herbs for chickweed salad, then deadnettle lasagna and wild herb quiche ... I could not resist and tried every single dish. For the quiche I helped to collect more than 10 herbs: chickweed, deadnettle, silverweed, yarrow, sorrel, stinging nettle, dandelion, meadow sweet, ribwort, beech leaves, daisies, chervil, violet leaves .... I think that's about all of them. And all of the dishes were really tasting great.
Pandamao Posted May 9, 2008, 10:48 pm	I'm leaving to discover the beautiful sight of Taiwan.
hsuan1223 Posted May 21, 2008, 10:33 am	today i arrived safe and souund! i met a new friend- maybe.
hsuan1223 Posted May 23, 2008, 10:38 pm	i had fries and coffee yesterday today i took a trip on a bike. we go around along the bridge met some flowers
hsuan1223 Posted Jun 4, 2008, 4:28 pm	it's been raingin for more than a week. i don't get to go out very often. wish the rain will stop soon. however,  i took a trip to ping tung by train. a college-npue. though it's stiil rainging,we met many friendly flowers. here's lunch. i'm learning something about chinese calligraphy.
hsuan1223 Posted Jun 16, 2008, 2:22 pm	when can i go out? it just kept rainging and rainging for weeks. i hope the weather will get better soon.
hsuan1223 Posted Jun 17, 2008, 2:18 pm	we're so happyto have a brief sunny afternoon. so we went out for a while. here's our nearby tranditional market. the bridge nearby the streets
hsuan1223 Posted Jun 20, 2008, 3:36 pm	today,i'm going to learn some chinese. hello i love you goodbye please thanks sorry and finally doing a little favor for my host... save global warming we're all on thin ice and... i met another rabit and three chatty birds who lives on my host's monitor~ a baby koala who like me a lot going on a short trip tomorrow
hsuan1223 Posted Jun 20, 2008, 4:19 pm	we took a short trip today we took the underground from this stop to this stop then we took a bus arrives at this farm which was nearby the airport ordering our cake and coffe... what should i have... look at these models.they're so tiny an artificial lake in the cafe our orders are served enjoying the view of the airport do u see the tower behind me? very faraway and small. we met many cute and beautifil anmals a black swan a blue parrot who seems not willing to show its face to the camera ponies goats piggies a lot of rabbits. they're too far from me to say hi~ we'll be updating a surprise later...
hsuan1223 Posted Jun 20, 2008, 6:43 pm	tippi sees a plane taking off in kaohsiung [url=http://mymedia.yam.com/m/2190775][/url]
hsuan1223 Posted Jun 22, 2008, 5:43 pm	we took another trip to pingtung again. it's a sunny day this time. i have a good look of the view outside we 're having thai food for dinner! let's check out the menu the lemon juice water the container for rice and some dishes.they smell so nice. my dessert pingtung station the railway the view from top of the kaohsiung certral station.
hsuan1223 Posted Jul 12, 2008, 4:56 pm	i'm going to catch my plane now. before boarding.i set and waited... i found a rather suitable seat on the plane! july 4th afternoon we tasted some famous qingdao bear we visited May Fourth Square i tasted  the famous shandong Mantou for dinner july 5th we took a ship and went to Liugong Island there i met a lion who's guarding the door the Artillery that used during the war i lied in this bed mad of Cedar july 6th i visited Yantai the view from top hill friendly flowers we also visited Penglai City july 7th we visited Daming Lake i love having willows as backgrounds july 8th what this i found for breakfast? small red Radish?perhaps? on our last day of the trip i met the most pretty flowers-Hydrangea everyone who comes along the trip loves me. they keep saying how cute i'm. i'm so glad!! i'm going to visited another country-netherland packing up my book and kiss my host goodbye. she and i had fun.
dandilion Posted Jul 22, 2008, 7:53 pm	A box arrived for me, Leonie. I had to pick it up at the postffice, I had a feeling there was a toy voyager inside ready to go on a new advanture in the Netherlands. Lets check that box out Leonie brought home with her today... whats inside???? Somethings moving... I see something.. they look like ears to me... Lets have a closer look come on toys lets climb up eachother to see what it is! can you tell us what you see squiggles? BOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and all the toys fell down.... hello my new friends Im Tippi :-) I hope I didnt scare you too much hihihihihihi Little bunnies like me arent that scary! Lets get to know each other a bit better.. And how that goes on, well you just have to wait till the next adventure of Tippi in Rotterdam.
dandilion Posted Jul 27, 2008, 8:00 pm	The bags were packed and we were ready to set off for a weekend break. The destination was the province Friesland. And we went to the place called Workum: Workum (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) Country  Netherlands Province  Friesland Population - Total c. 4,000 Workum (West Frisian: Warkum) is the largest town of Nijefurd in Friesland. It received city rights in 1374. It lies within the municipality of Nijefurd. Currently has around 4000 inhabitants. Today, Workum is probably best known for having a museum dedicated to the very popular artist Jopie Huisman. Furthermore it is one of the eleven cities of the Elfstedentocht. Here we are enjoying the Dutch scenery view from out the train. We set off early friday morning and arrived about 2 o clock in the afternoon. The flag was hanging outside of the room we stayed at Friesland  (taken from wikipedia) (West Frisian: Fryslân, Dutch: Friesland) is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the bigger region known as Frisia. In order to distinguish it from the other Frisian regions, it is commonly specified as Westerlauwer Frisia, Westerlauwer Friesland, West Frisia or West Friesland. The latter two names may lead people to confuse the region with the neighbouring landscape called 'West-Friesland', in the North Holland province. Up until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian endonym Fryslân. Friesland has 643,000 inhabitants (2005) and its capital is Leeuwarden (Ljouwert), with 91,817 inhabitants, in the center of the province. Friesland distinguishes itself from the other eleven provinces through having its own language, West Frisian, which is also spoken in a minor part of the province of Groningen, to the east. Closely related languages, East Frisian ("Seeltersk", which is different from "East Frisian (Ostfriesisch)", a collection of Low German dialects of East Frisia) and North Frisian, are spoken in the Saterland and in North Friesland areas in Germany, respectively. Friesland was a part of the German empire until 1680 when it separated and joined the Netherlands. Part of Friesland is still considered part of Germany (Ostfriesland) The English language is also closely related to West Frisian. There is a saying about it: "As milk is to cheese, are English and Fries." Another version of this saying reads (in West Frisian): "Bûter, brea, en griene tsiis; wa't dat net sizze kin, is gjin oprjochte Fries", which in English reads: "Butter, bread, and green cheese, whoever can't say that is no upright Fries" (According to legend, the 16th century Frisian freedom fighter Pier Gerlofs Donia forced his captives to repeat this shibboleth to distinguish Frisians from Dutch and Low Germans). The saying plays on the sound differences between the Dutch and Frisian words for "butter, bread, and green cheese", which in Frisian are pronounced almost identically to their English counterparts (showing the original closeness between the two languages), while in Dutch ("Boter, brood, en groene kaas"), these words sound quite different. Friesland is mainly an agricultural province. The famous black and white Friesian cattle and the well known black Friesian horse originated here. Tourism, mainly on the lakes in the south west of the province, and on the islands in the Wadden Sea in the north, is an important source of income, too. Technology companies such as Asset Control have also set up base in Friesland. The province is famous for its speed skaters, with mass participation in cross-country skating when weather conditions permit. In winters that are cold enough to allow the freshwater canals to freeze hard, the province is the focus of the Elfstedentocht (Eleven cities tour), a 200 kilometers ice skating tour. In the warmer months, many Frisians practice wadlopen, the traditional art of wading across designated sections of the Wadden Sea at low tide. Another Frisian practice is fierljeppen, a sport with some similarities to pole vaulting. A jump consists of an intense sprint to the pole (polsstok), jumping and grabbing it, then climbing to the top while trying to control the pole's forward and lateral movements over a body of water and finishing with a graceful landing on a sand bed opposite to the starting point. Because of all the diverse skills required in fierljeppen, fierljeppers are considered to be very complete athletes with superbly developed strength and coordination. Another interesting feature are the many windmills. There are 195 windmills in the province of Friesland, from a total of about 1200 in the entire country. We rented bicycles to explore the area of Workum and the nearby places of interest. Such as Hindeloopen. In Hindeloopen there was a sailing contest, but due to the lack of wind they just sailed around. There was a small market with some stands, look at the delicious Friese kaas  Frysian cheese After we walked around we sat down for a short break, in the back you can see the masts of the boats in the harbour of Hindeloopen.   We cycled back and this is the map we used for the routes: On our way back we came across only farm land, either with cattles (cows) or sheep. Also we saw horses, and only one special Frysian big horse, too bad it was too far for a picture and we were not allowed on the farms premisise. We came back very tired so we went straight to bed: The next day a new adventure.....
dandilion Posted Nov 9, 2008, 10:55 am	Today we have a relaxing day with the other toys, just hanging around on the couch. I meet Little Ro and Pom, there are staying here aswell. We got some cote dor chocolate bonbons for a treat, Yummy! Leonie decide it was nice to bake something today. We headed to the kitchen, where Adelina sheep joined us. Guess what we are going to make:  Muffins! Mixing the ingredients, its looks smooth enough. Some are brown, made with cacaoa powder. Thats mine, I sprinkled some butterflies on my muffin. And now we have to wait till they are ready!
dandilion Posted Nov 9, 2008, 8:15 pm	That smells nice!! The muffins are ready! Some have a weird shape, I think something went wrong during the time in the oven. :-)
dandilion Posted Nov 23, 2008, 1:16 pm	hello here Im with my toy voyagers friends in a flowershop, here we are relaxing at some Tullips, arent they pretty?! They sure smelled nice! Tullips are very popular flowers in the Netherlands, they are something like the national flower. Although they are not original a Dutch flower. They find the origine in the Middle East, Turkey many centuries ago.
dandilion Posted Nov 30, 2008, 11:47 am	Walking past an 'oliebollen' stand we stopped to take some pictures, here we are posing at the delicious treats. The smell was so nice! Its a sweet doughy smell MMM! Dont they look tasty? They are doughy balls, filled with raisins, apple or just dough. This is what Leonie found on 'wikipedia' An oliebol is a traditional Dutch food. Oliebollen (literally oil balls) are traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve and at funfairs. They are also called smoutebollen in Belgium. Sometimes it is referenced in English as Dutch donut. Oliebollen are a variety of donut made by using two spoons to scoop a certain amount of dough and dropping the dough into a deep fryer filled with hot oil. In this way, a sphere-shaped oliebol emerges. The dough is made from flour, eggs, yeast, some salt, milk, baking powder and optionally some sultanas or currants or raisins and sometimes apple pieces and zest or succade. The dough needs time to rise for at least an hour. Oliebollen are usually served with powdered sugar. They closely resemble Italian Frittelle. They are said to have been first eaten by Germanic tribes in the Netherlands during the Yule, the period between December 26 and January 6. The Germanic goddess Perchta, together with evil spirits, would fly through the mid-winter sky. To appease these spirits, food was offered, much of which contained deep-fried dough. It was said Perchta would try to cut open the bellies of all she came across, but because of the fat in the oliebollen, her sword would slide off the body of whomever ate them.

Back