Posted Dec 30, 2007, 12:27 am
Here are my travel plans:
1) Fam-United-Thank you for hosting!
2) Mizzery-Thank you for hosting!
3) AbbyB-Thank you for hosting!
4) Starbursidereus-Thank you for hosting!
5) Eryah-The Netherlands
6) Kristl-Russia
7) Home!
Posted Dec 30, 2007, 1:00 am
Posted Dec 30, 2007, 1:07 am
Posted Dec 30, 2007, 1:12 am
Posted Jan 14, 2008, 6:13 pm
Posted Jan 21, 2008, 9:38 pm
Posted Jan 21, 2008, 9:48 pm
Bruchsal is a small city with about 27 000 inhabitants, with suburbs about 42 000. It was first named in 976 A.D.
The first place we visited was the Belvedere, which was a former hunting lodge. Now it is a place for summer outside theatre and summer feasts.
Next to the Belvedere is a lovely small park with beautiful trees. The grammar school, that is close by too, uses this park as playground.
This fountain is in the middle of the park.
When you walk out of the park, you have a wonderful view over Bruchsal. Of course we haven't had that wonderful weather.
From left to right you see the towers of the former castle called Bergfried, the tower of the city church "Unsere Liebe Frau" and of the Lutherkirche. The flat roof belongs to the new part of the older peoples' house.
On this photo you see the baroque church St.Peter and the house Sancta Maria, which are both close to the house, where I'm staying right now.
The house next to us with the flat roof and the white big house in the far is the older people's house. The grey house in the far on the left side is a private grammar school called St.Paulusheim.
Then we went to the palace of Bruchsal. It was completely destroyed during the second world war but rebuilt in the 70th.
Here you see a view to the gate Damianstor.
When you just turn around on the place you can see the mainbuilding of the palace on the right side. The left part is the church St. Damian and Hugo, where my hosts are going to service on Sundays. Behind the church you see the tower of the church.
This is the county court of Bruchsal.
Again turning around on the place you see the entrance to the mainbuilding.
We went into the church and I saw the nice crib. I had no luck with my photo, so I hope, we will go there again soon.
In the church you can see some photos of the palace and church before and right after the war. The church was beautiful inside, but now it is only painted in white. Of course the costs would have been much too expensive to make everything as it had been before the war.
Here you see a photo of the palace area.
When we came out of the church, we looked back to the county court on the right and the Damianstor on the left side. Next to the Damianstor you maybe see a red thick tower, this it the tower of the jailhouse.
The building in my back is the backside of the church. And you see the tower of the church, too.
Posted Jan 27, 2008, 6:26 pm
Here are a view impressions of the procession. Petra said, that it was just too much time between the groups, that came along the way. If I'm still here next Sunday, I will go to the carnival procession in Karlsdorf and I hope, that we have more fun there.
Posted Jan 27, 2008, 6:26 pm
Here are a view impressions of the procession. Petra said, that it was just too much time between the groups, that came along the way. Next Sunday I will go to the carnival procession in Karlsdorf and I hope, that we have more fun there.
Posted Jan 31, 2008, 10:38 am
The weather was foggy, so of course I couldn't see the Palatine mountains and very far into the Rhine valley. But at least I saw a part of Bruchsal in the far.
The quarry pond belongs to Untergrombach. Petra liked to swim there, when she was younger.
The houses you see on the right side belong to Untergrombach. It was getting dark rather quickly.
This is the nice chapel called "Michaelskapelle".
It was rather cold there and windy. So we hurried to go back to the car. We took the last photo, while sitting in the car. It is a view to another suburb of Bruchsal, Obergrombach. And you see the Kraichgau hill country. I saw it much better than you do on this photo. It was just too dark already.
Posted Jan 31, 2008, 12:04 pm
Suddenly a hand grapped Yuri and me. I looked at the face and I saw a really young captain Jack Sparrow. Shock!!!!
I needed a while until I was able to open my eyes and to look in that face again. Phew, was I happy to see, that it only was my hosts son, who was dressed up as Jack Sparrow for his school carnival.
Posted Feb 5, 2008, 5:40 pm
Nevertheless we can see them here and some other photos with witches, which are very important for carnival in Germany and a music group, which plays Guggenmusik - a music, that you only can listen to but not explain and some more.
Posted Feb 5, 2008, 5:48 pm
Oh yes, I nearly forgot to tell you, that Sylphide was so nervous, that she crawled into the wrong envie!!! Petra had to hold her and put her into the right box. Although we all had been sad, we had to laugh out loud.
Posted Feb 5, 2008, 9:51 pm
In the evening we danced a little and once I jumped into the photo, so you can see, that I had been with them. It was too dark to find me on the other photos. And yes, you see me with some "Berliner", that they like to eat on carnival.
Posted Feb 6, 2008, 7:30 am
So we got ready with breakfast and jumped into the big rucksack, that Petra always carries around. Happily we were allowed to crawl out of it soon. Our hosts daughter played with us during the drive.
While we were in the museum, we saw many toy trails and other things, that were created by Maerklin.
On our drive home Petra took some more photos with us. You see a photo of the big road works and some other impressions of our drive. The bridge, that you see over the autobahn, is a parkhouse, which is next to the airport of Stuttgart in Leinfelden.
Posted Feb 10, 2008, 6:15 pm
At first we thought, that we could visit the zoo, but then we decided to visit the airport. Everyone was really excited, but unhappily we had no chance to join the family while the had a bus sightseeing tour there.
Hasi, Sabrina's own toyvoyager, took some photos for me, so I hadn't been to sad, that I had to wait in the rucksack in a bus on the parking place.
Now I know, that Frankfurt a.M. has the third biggest airport in Europe after London and Paris. Nearly 70 000 people work at this airport. Due to more than 51 Mio passengers, nearly 480 000 flights and 1.75 mio tons of air cargo this airport belongs to the biggest international airports.
Posted Feb 10, 2008, 6:41 pm
Posted Feb 10, 2008, 7:41 pm
It is called "Waldspirale", what means something like wood spiral. It was created between 1998 and 2000 and seems to be like a fairy-tale castle. No window is like the other.
It has space for 105 appartments.
There are lime trees, beeches and maple trees on top of the roof. A playground and a similated river are part of the garden in the inner part of the spiral. In the tower on the southeast corner is a restaurant with cocktailbar and in the opposite tower a café.
Sadly Hundertwasser died in February 2000 short before the building was completed.
Posted Feb 11, 2008, 7:27 pm
You are a funny one and your place will be really empty, because you left us now.
Posted Feb 16, 2008, 11:22 pm
Today Yuri and I arrived at Martinas place in Greven, a very little town close to Münster. And we arrived just in time to accompanie Martina and a few other toyvoyagers on a little tour through Münster!
Münster is a relatively big town in North Rhine-Westphalia. The town is famous for it's huge university. As most students travel by bike they have nearly more bikes than inhabitants here!
We wanted to started our trip in the late afternoon so the town isn't that crowded and we can see all the places we wanted to go to. We had to go by train, that was really exciting!
The first thing Martina told us about Münster is that they have many many churches here. There are so many that the people always say "In Münster, either the church bells are ringing or it's raining." Furtunately, the bells were ringing and we had wonderful sunshine.
The city is very amazing. They have very very old buildings here and they are next to the modern ones and the shopping streets. So, you can see wonderful architecture in nearly every street.
This, in the middle of the city, is the city hall. Isn't it a cool building?
Wow, everywhere you go you find a church...
After some time of walking we were very tired. It's such a huge town and so long ways to go. So we decided to make a little break at a fountain.
Afterwards we wanted to visit "Das blaue Haus" (The Blue House) a famous restaurant in Münster.
Our last stop was next to the university. Here is a very huge castle with a huge garden around and amazing architecture. It's already very very old but sooooo cool!
As you can see mommy, my first day in Greven/Münster was really cool and I'm so happy to be here!
Greetings to you all!
Ollie
Posted Feb 24, 2008, 7:33 pm
But that shouldn't be a problem there are so many funny things to do at home.
At first we played a little hide and seek....
It was really hard for our host to find us!
And I was really surprised that they have sooo many dragons here in Germany...
Afterwards we had to do some housework... but fortunately, we were all very good in finding pairs of single socks...
Posted Feb 24, 2008, 7:37 pm
We decided to draw a few paintings. It was really funny and we needed a few hours to finish...
Then our host decided to teach us a little German.
And with the help of the dictionarys we learned a few sentences.
I'm on holidays in Germany - Ich mache Urlaub in Deutschland
I'm a Toyvoyager - Ich bin ein Toyvoyager
I travel around the whole world - Ich reise um die ganze Welt
But to study the whole day is to boring and I wanted to listen to some German music to see how much I can understand.
In the evening we wanted to watch a DVD but it was really hard to decide on ONE movie. Unfortunately there are no movies with aliens, dogs, marmots and bears all in one...
Posted Feb 24, 2008, 7:46 pm
We are good friends now!
But you can't stay in bed all day. So we made a toyvoyagers battle on playstation.
To sad, Auggie isn't good in playing such games... his armes are toooo short.
That's why we decided to do something everyone can do: we started to read for a little while.
Posted Feb 24, 2008, 7:48 pm
and then we made it higher and higher...
but it's not easy to build a card house when a little cat is around...
So, unfortunately all broke down before we achieved to build a house of all cards..
But then it was time to say goodbye for Auggie and Alfred, so we made one last visit with them to Siggi who's a huge Viking worrior living in our hosts apartment.
Posted Feb 24, 2008, 7:48 pm
and then we made it higher and higher...
but it's not easy to build a card house when a little cat is around...
So, unfortunately all broke down before we achieved to build a house of all cards..
But then it was time to say goodbye for Auggie and Alfred, so we made one last visit with them to Siggi who's a huge Viking worrior living in our hosts apartment.
Posted Feb 29, 2008, 5:05 pm
I hope that you are having fun at Mizzery's home. I miss you and hope that you are behaving. We hope you have a very special birthday.
XOXO
Mom
Posted Mar 1, 2008, 7:15 pm
Today we had the chance to accompany our host to work!
Martina has to learn for her exams at the chamber of commerce and industry next week so we decided to go with her.
There are a lot of books and papers to go through and we helped Martina to learn all thats necessary.
It's pretty boring to learn all day so we took the chance to play with the Laptop and watched a few toyvoyagers blogs to see what other toyvoyagers are doing. There are so many places we want to see!
Posted Mar 1, 2008, 7:26 pm
Unfortunately it's a bit difficult as all the training machines are sooooo huge (or our arms are just to short...)
but when you are creative and do teamwork you can have a lot of fun!
Finally we found some exercises we can do that fit to our size!
I think this one is a bit tooooo heavy to start with...
Afterwards we were really tired and in need of some rest.
Posted Mar 1, 2008, 7:41 pm
We arrived in the afternoon and ready for some cake and coffee.
Unfortunately, coffee wasn't my taste so we decided to search the house and play a little.
Wow, this picture on the wall is a handcraft made by Martina's father-in-law. It must have taken hours to finish!
Look! I'm sitting on a really really huge bird! And I'm not scared!
And we found this huge egg! First, I though it belongs to the huge bird I was sitting on but Martina told me that it's a souvenir from a trip to Africa.
And more birds...
Tomorrow is my birthday!!!! I'm so nervous and curious!
I think I won't sleep tonight.....
Posted Mar 1, 2008, 8:00 pm
Today is my birthday, today is my birthday!
Thank you so much for your birthday greetings mommy! I had a cool day! It's the first day it doesn't rain so we spend the entire day in the garden and played hide and seek or catch me if you can!
It's not yet spring but here are already a lot of flowers!
Look mommy, if you don't know what to do with your old frying pan - just make a hole in the bottom and you can use it for your flowers!
Look, I climbed up a wall of flowers!
The flowers outside are very small...
But this one inside is three times taller than me!
Unfortunately it's still very cold otherwise we could swim in the fountain!
I'm soooo tall that I can sit on a house!
ok, it's a bird house...
but the birds here are very big!
Posted Mar 1, 2008, 8:15 pm
So in the evening we started our party without them.
We had some really good food!
And this is my special birthday photo with Yuri!
After the meal, Martina tough us how to play chess! It's a really interesting game so we played a few times!
In the evening I wanted to call you but stupid me, I forgot our telephone number...
But no problem, I can show you here that I'm absolutely fine and on Monday I'll go on to my next host! I'm soooo curious!
Posted Mar 19, 2008, 7:39 pm
Me posing with another TV, Lemony, who said he'll be leaving soon on his own trip.
Posted Mar 20, 2008, 8:14 pm
There were a ton of these in the garden, all identical, all named Smedvik.
Climbing a little tree with buds on it. My host says the flowres will be purple.
One of Abby's cats came outside to play in the garden
And another one
Before we went inside I had to see these yellow flowers
Abby says that we might be able to look around her town today. I hope so. She said something about a giant metal horse.
Posted Mar 21, 2008, 12:12 am
The local theatre
The big metal horse...
There's a legend that goes with the clock and the horse. The horse represents a beast that fought for Mother Nature against those who were hurting the environment, but was gravely hurt in the process. Mother Nature set up the clock as a reminder to not hurt the environment.
City Hall
After this it was off to eat brunch with Abby and her parents. I played with creamers while waiting for food.
Mmm, spinach, feta and tomato omelette.
Posted Mar 22, 2008, 12:10 am
I'm going to tell you the recipe as I show you pictures of me making them. I got to stir and everything!
Okay, first you need a box of pudding, 1/3 cup of hot water and 1/3 cup of margerine. We used pistachio pudding, because that is my host's familys' favourite.
You mix the ingredients together...
Then you add three cups of icing sugar, one cup at a time. We needed to use a little extra sugar to get the right consistancy.
Eventually it should look like this:
Then you roll it into balls and place it onto a cookie sheet. I didn't want to get my hands dirty, so I made Abby do this step.
Then you chill the pudding eggs until they are firm. While we were waiting for the pudding eggs to be cold and hard enough, Lemony helped Abby make butterscotch pudding eggs.
When they're cold, take the eggs out of the fridge and melt some chocolate in a seperate bowl. You can do it over the stove, but we just used a microwave.
Then, you dip each egg in chocolate.
Then you put the eggs back into the fridge to chill again.
Finished!
Yum :]
Abby says we might decorate them later, but I think they look fine and taste even better.
Posted Mar 23, 2008, 3:20 am
Posted Mar 23, 2008, 3:24 am
This woman was standing in the corner.
Look at all the seeds they bought!
After, we went into town. My host's family went into an antique store, and I met the bear who lives there.
I saw a totem pole outside the museum.
Posted Mar 23, 2008, 3:29 am
The wharf
I coloured while waiting for food.
I worked really hard on it and was able to finish by the time we were ready to leave.
There were a lot of boats at the mouth of the river
It was very cloudy all day, so you could look at the sun without worrying that it would damage your eyes. Abby advised me not to look directly at it just in case.
Posted Mar 23, 2008, 3:34 am
These benches were designed to look like buoys. There are three of them.
There were these really comfortable chairs.
Abby told me she used to live here. I didn't believe her because there were no houses in the park, but she told me that hers used to be where the spray park is.
Posted Mar 23, 2008, 5:59 pm
There was this basket of treats too!
Happy Easter, Mom!
Posted Mar 26, 2008, 1:36 am
We looked up and down the tracks.
Then we waited for the train. When it arrived Abby took me up to the top floor.
I got my own seat :]
Crossing Pitt River
After the stop before the one where we got off, we switched sides so that Abby could show me Fraser River, the one I saw the mouth of the other day.
Those buildings across the river near my head are all house boats.
Posted Mar 28, 2008, 2:58 am
I wanted to get to know the area a little better, so I read Abby's best friend's geography internal assessment.
In History class they are preparing for exams so they were looking at old exams.
One of the exams had a cartoon in it
This is the package that tells everyone what to expect on their exams
Then we prepared for English by studying King Lear
I wanted to watch Abby's rugby practice, but the weather wasn't very nice. We took the train home from school.
Posted Mar 28, 2008, 3:06 am
In her biology class they are learning about evolution. While Abby was taking notes she gave me this package on punctuated equilibrium to read.
During lunch Abby bought me a cookie. It was very good :]
We read 24 Hours, a local, free, daily newspaper.
During math, it started snowing. It only snowed for ten minutes and it didn't stick so there was nothing for me to play in when we were dissmissed from class.
Then, I helped Abby with her calculus homework.
I wrote you a note, Mom, on Abby's graphing calculator!
I couldn't watch rugby practice again because the weather was even worse and it was really cold and windy out, but Abby told me that she has a game next Tuesday and I'll probably get to watch that. I'm so excited :]
Posted Mar 30, 2008, 5:25 am
Abby and I weren't doing so well after the first game, so she brought out her secret weapon, Everglot, the Lucky Woodbug.
Look at the hand I got!
Everglot gave me a congradulatory hug just as 9:00 came and the lights turned back on. He doesn't really have arms, so that's how he hugs things.
Posted Apr 2, 2008, 3:54 am
Abby says that I'm going to downtown Vancouver tomorrow. I'm very excited :]
Posted Apr 3, 2008, 5:52 am
I spent the morning checking out this model. It was designed by a man who is a former professor of architecture at the University of British Columbia. Abby's mom said that he's now retired and living his days as an actor/playwrite.
I also got to meet Abby's mom's lucky rat. It was given to her by one of the people who works for her on Chinese New Year this year, because this is the yearof the rat.
On her lunch break, Abby's mom took me to see Chinatown.
These banners mark the first pedestrian walk connecting downtown Vancouver to Chinatown.
This gate marks the main entrance of Chinatown. It is not old at all, in fact it was designed and built to commemorate the new millennium. It was formally opened in 2002 and is called the Gate of Thousands' Happiness.
There are two of these lions, one on each side of the gate. They are protectors of the gate and each has a concrete ball in its mouth to symbolize prosperity.
This bell, called the West Han Dynasty Bell, is in Chinatown to commemorate Chinese history in Vancouver and marks the first Chinese settlement in the area. It was a gift from Vancouver's sister city, Guangzhou in China, and it was modelled after a bell found in Guangzhou.
This next building is the world's thinnest building. It was built by a man known to Vancouverites as Sam Kee. At one point he owned more land in the area, but the city demolished his building to widen the road, leaving him with a strip of land just under five feet in width. Rather than sell what remained of his property for practically nothing, Sam had another building built, one that fit into the strip of land. For years the building belonged to a silk merchant, but now it's leased by an insurance company.
The front of the building as seen in a photo
Posted Apr 4, 2008, 5:07 am
This is the steam clock, the only steam-powered clock in thw world. It's a big tourist attraction. It chimes every fifteen minutes and emits a ton of steam, but you can't really see it in photos and this picture wasn't taken while it was chiming.
This is the only picture Abby's mom took of me of Gastown. You can't really tell, but it's a very historical, picturesque place.
Gastown also has a lot of tourist shops. In front of one shop were these fine Canadians:
This is a convention centre being built in time for the Olympics.
A view of the mountains across Burrard Inlet.
This place is called Canada Place and it's right on the water. At night the sails are lit up by coloured lights. Inside are many large rooms that are used for conventions and proms and similar things. On the other side of Canada Place there is a 3-D theatre.
Vancouver shipyards
Abby's mom takes the train home from work, just like Abby does from school. This station is called Waterfront Station and it has been around for quite a long time. Trains are not the only type of public transportation that uses the building anymore; buses, the Skytrain and the Seabus also depart from Waterfront Station.
Inside the main hall
Before we left today, Abby's mom gave me a souvenier to remember my trip to Chinatown.
It's a small replica of a Chinese gold ingot. They are generally given out on Chinese New Year and are believed to be lucky. Abby said that it will bring me luck during my travels. It fits nicely in my back pocket :]
Abby says that I'm leaving soon for my next host. I'm very eager to see more of the world. She would also like to apologize for any spelling errors she made while helping me type this up. She sprained a finger during her rugby game today.
Posted Apr 5, 2008, 9:28 pm
In the background you can see the two hosts, Captain Moody and Clowny the Clown, who are the captains of the school's improv team.
This was taken as the rock band was playing. They are right next to my head. Underneath the word 'phoenix' you can see the senior jazz band, who were also very good.
The 'put on fake heads and try to knock the other person's head off with a foam stick' competition
At the very end of the pageant, as the lights were coming on. Behind me you could see the hosts and contestants congradulating the winner. The girl we were cheering for was runner-up.
Posted Apr 16, 2008, 2:11 pm
My host mom works at a big law firm and can't take too many pictures here... but there will be adventures everywhere else!
Posted Apr 29, 2008, 2:36 pm
Here I am on the bed, and in the closet!
AND! After that short visit, my host mom allowed me to go to MEXICO for a week! My host mom is writing this just to let you know that I'm okay and should be back tomorrow already! :-)
Posted Dec 9, 2008, 6:47 am
I have had a long trip and now it's off to bed for me!
Posted Dec 14, 2008, 5:13 am
Look, the pond in the Academic Quadrangle is partially frozen!
Brr! Time to get inside.
Posted Dec 17, 2008, 10:07 pm
Today's walk was to the mouth of Kanaka Creek. The area around Kanaka Creek is a protected wetland habitat, home to many different organisms. It is also a very historical place, which I learned about as I walked.
Kanaka Creek meets up with the Fraser River, the largest River in Western Canada.
This is looking straight across the river:
To the east:
To the west:
What a beautiful view!
Walking along the path in the Dense Deciduous Forest, I saw a woodpecker.
Erin came along because she was geocaching. This is her at the first one we found:
We came to a lookout with lots of information.
This is the view down the Fraser,
And here is the mouth of Kanaka Creek.
Here you can see the log booms that were mentioned in the information plaques.
Then, it was time to walk back.
Posted Dec 25, 2008, 6:47 am
Christmas isn't here yet, but it is back home, so Merry Christmas!
Posted Jan 5, 2009, 7:29 am
I also listened to the Queen's message at noon.
