Posted Jan 24, 2008, 3:42 pm
my name is Lady and I am a ladybug. I don't have photos until now, but my mummy is making a lot of them of me
! So my next post will have some photos in it !
I am planning my travel around the trails at the moment and I hope I can start with the Asia-Oceania trail soon
!
I am so excited. My friend Winnie the Pooh and Mimi told me what they will do and I wanted to do that, too. So I decided to ask my mummy and she said yes. Even if it wasn't easy for her because she has to let go away 3 of her sweeties now.
But I am happy to visit the whole world.
And now I will help Winnie the Pooh in his envelope and then I will went to sleep for a little while. I am tired of all the photos that have been made
!
Have a nice day,
Lady
My list:
1. The AOTVT
2. The GTVT
Posted Jan 24, 2008, 7:04 pm
!
Me in my bed
!
Can you see me?
Looking in a mirror
Posted Jan 26, 2008, 8:05 pm
It was very boring at home and I don't know where I will go first, so my mummy decided to take me with her to the IPM (Internationale Pflanzen Messe - international plant fair). It was really nice. There were so much plants and flowers and other nice things.
We also take some photos
!
That's me with a big bug there
!
I met another cuddly toy
! We played a little bit and I told him, that I will travel around the world. He was very nice !
My favourite flowers. They are named 'Pantoffelblumen' in German. I don't know the English word
!
Nice, or?
That was funny...I searched the where the water came from
! But now I know where ! Have fun with guessing 
!
A funny dog
!
I felt like in the desert
!
And now I am tired, so I will sleep a little bit
!
Have a nice night ^^,
Lady
Posted Jan 28, 2008, 7:47 pm
today was a quiet day. I slept much, but when I awake, my mummy asked me to help her in the household and I did so
!
Is there water inside?!
So, there was and we watered the flowers
! I really liked to help her.
And now I am tired again. Still waiting for an answer for the AOTVT...hope it will come soon!
Have a nice night and a good sleep,
Lady
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 17, 2008, 4:03 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:11 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:13 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:16 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:18 am
This is Puss, a stray that Nik's family adopted (Isn't he handsome?)
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:20 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:22 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:24 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:26 am
I found something more to my taste - some German tea from Aldi! They do have Aldi here mum!
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:30 am
And Nik said this big scary tiger is her TV Rama's friend...yeah...I think I'll stay away from Rajah!
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:32 am
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Posted Feb 28, 2008, 10:34 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Apr 7, 2008, 12:09 pm
Posted Apr 20, 2008, 9:49 am
.
She's taking a rest now and she'll start to explore Taiwan next week. Stay turned for more adventures of Lady in Taiwan......
Posted Apr 26, 2008, 1:51 pm
.
This morning we went out to eat breakfast. Andrea usually goes to a breakfast shop on Saturday or Sunday and today I went with her.
The shop is nearby the house and the food tastes delicious. Andrea is Dutch, so she chose a western style breakfast shop today.
Of course she ordered also something for me, a ""dan bin" and a coffee. A "dan bin" looks like a crispy pancake with egg and cheese inside. I loved it and it was gone before I knew..
The coffee was tasty, too....
I was still thirsty and also tried some soyabean milk. This tasted pretty good, too.
Posted Apr 26, 2008, 1:57 pm
.
Andrea wanted to scare me a bit and told me that she wanted to make a picture of me on a mailbox...
...but then she tried to put me in the mailbox......ARGH!!!!
She was just teasting me and pulled me out again......
Posted Apr 26, 2008, 2:01 pm
The hotel is very colorful at night. I'll try to post some night pictures later on
Posted Apr 26, 2008, 2:08 pm
At first I had to figure out if I could trust him. I am an insect after all and cats are hunters, but he didn't seem to care about ladybugs or maybe he had finished his meal already..
Then I flew on his back. His fur was so soft, the perfect place for a snooooooze!
Posted May 6, 2008, 1:34 pm
Don't they look delicious?
Let me check if there is still something under this piece of paper..
......Uhmmmmm there is nothing left, too bad
!!!
It's time to play hide-and-seek. Can you find me?
This was the view from your seats, not bad...right?
Andrea told me that she has lived in the community in the background, but they have moved to a new community 1.5 years ago. This was the first community in Nankan and also the tallest one. Nowadays there are new communities built everywhere, because Nankan is growing fast.
Posted May 6, 2008, 1:47 pm
The airport is only a 10-15 min drive away from Nankan and it takes 45-60 min to go to Taipei. Taoyuan International is also the most important airport in Taipei and you'll surely arrive at this airport if you ever decide to visit Taiwan
First we had to cross Nankan
Then we got on the highway
We had to go to terminal 2
We were almost there..
...but first we had to park the car
Here is one of the two terminal buildings.
Andrea told me that this airport is pretty boring. There are so many nicer ones, so you better not stay at this place too long
There was a warm welcome, especially for me
There were also palmtrees inside the arrival terminal
Posted May 13, 2008, 12:42 pm
Andrea drives a car in Taiwan and she told me that it's sometimes very dangerous to drive a car, because a lot of people think that they are the only person on the road. Anyway....we left Nankan in the morning and took the Highway 1 to the north.
First we passed a toll station:
Then I saw a building that was built in Chinese style. Andrea told me that it was the Grand Hotel, a famous 5-stars hotel.
This hotel is located close to the highway and it's also a landmark.
Do you see that tall building in the distance? That's the Taipei 101, the tallest completed skyscraper in the world with its 508 meter. Nowadays they are building a taller skyscraper in Dubai, so it isn't the tallest skyscraper anymore
Do you see the tall building at straight ahead? These apartment buildings are the most expensive ones in Taipei. You'll probably have to win the lottery before you'll be able to buy an apartment there
Posted May 13, 2008, 1:31 pm
This afternoon we spent our time at the Taiwanl Democracy Hall. This place is better known as the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.
This memorial hall is surrounded by a Chinese garden/park, so I have accomplished one of my missions today
.
Don't these trees look weird?
Then we passed an orchid "forest"
Doesn't it look beautiful?
There was an activity going on around the memorial hall itself. That's why there are so many people
We also went to a pond where you can feed the fish:
The memorial hall from a distance:
This the main entrance gate:
An overview of the whole complex:
Posted May 13, 2008, 1:44 pm
I was pretty hungry after some sight-seeing and we went to a noodles shop to have something to eat.
Andrea often goes to this shop, because the noodles taste really good. It was hard to make a decision which one I wanted to order
I chose the vegetarian noodles with clams and it was delicious!
Posted May 13, 2008, 1:44 pm
I was pretty hungry after some sight-seeing and we went to a noodles shop to have something to eat.
Andrea often goes to this shop, because the noodles taste really good. It was hard to make a decision which one I wanted to order
I chose the vegetarian noodles with clams and it was delicious!
Posted Jun 4, 2008, 5:41 am
Posted Jun 15, 2008, 8:28 am
First, we went to see the Sarawak River. The local people can take the road or use the boat to go to the city. The boat is very popular here since back then. I think I want to ride on it later
I also saw The Astana. I was told that it was was built in 1870 by Charles Brooke as a bridal gift to his wife Margaret. It is nowadays the official residence of the Head of State of Sarawak.
Posted Jun 15, 2008, 8:42 am
It is a site covering some 14 hectares of tropical rain forest. Also known as The Living Museum. Located at the foot of the Mount Santubong, it is a cultural village displaying houses belonging to the various ethnic groups or native people.
The bridge leads to the Bidayuh longhouse made from bamboo while the second picture is me at the Orang Ulu house. They have a very TALL house. Isn't the Mount Santubong looks so beautiful from afar?
Posted Jun 17, 2008, 11:33 am
Posted Jul 1, 2008, 3:10 am
Posted Jul 10, 2008, 5:26 am
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 8:56 pm
I am back home now
! I will start traveling the GTVT here now ! I am really happy about it !
It was a nice welcome of Hoppity, Hueso, Nepomuk, Wauzi and Momo!
I hope I will have a great time with mummy and on the GTVT after that!
Lady
Posted Jul 28, 2008, 5:53 pm
today we helped BlackCat finding a winner for her lottery in the forum! It was really funny. First we made photos with the things, that the winner will get.
2 advertising postcards for ToyVoyagers, 1 postcard from Essen and a magnet with one "Mainzelmännchen" on it. The "Mainzelmännchen" were advertising characters for a German television channel. Really cute ones
!
Hueso took one piece of paper. The winners name is written on it.
We opened the piece of paper and a name was written on it:
OLGAMAUS
So, the winner is olgamaus!
I hope she will like her new things
!
Have a nice day,
Lady
Posted Aug 10, 2008, 9:51 pm
!
Today we went to Steele and BlackCat showed us a little bit more of it
! It was nice to have a little walk.
Have a nice day,
Lady
The emblem of Steele
A statue for the miners, that were working in Essen!
Posted Aug 10, 2008, 9:54 pm
!
Today we welcomed a new ToyVoyager in our flat. The little monkey Titch is here now
! He is really nice and I hope he will like it here !
Have a nice day,
Lady
Posted Aug 10, 2008, 10:02 pm
today we went with BlackCat to work. I have just one photo with me, because we were not allowed to go out of the bag.
It was a nice day,
Lady
Posted Aug 12, 2008, 4:13 am
today we drove with BlackCat and one of her friends into the carwash. It was really funny to be inside the car while outside it gets clean. We have made some photos for you, hope you like it!
Lady
Posted Aug 17, 2008, 7:00 pm
!
Today we went to the open pit Garzweiler. We went on the highest place where we can go and watched the people inside while working. It was a really nice view!
We were right in time for a nice sunset.
Lady
Posted Aug 18, 2008, 5:19 pm
!
Today we went on a fair. It was really nice there, but also loud.
I saw the biggest traveling slice in Europe. It looks really big.
Have a nice day,
Lady
Posted Aug 18, 2008, 5:21 pm
!
Today I just want to show you the emblem of Essen.
And I want to say Goodbye. I will travel on tomorrow.
I hope I will arrive in a good condition at my next host.
Have a nice day,
Lady
Posted Aug 21, 2008, 12:32 pm
I arrived in Remscheid today. Hueso and I had to stay at the post office over night. Our envelope did not fit into the mailbox of my new host, Katja. So she had to pick up the envelope at the post office today.
We were welcomed by Fester and Lollipop.
We brought to postcards and the magnet to Katja, which he had won in your lottery.
Look, the magnet is already placed where it should be - on the fridge!
Bye
Lady
Posted Aug 22, 2008, 9:45 am
as you know my right antenna is not as pretty as my left one. Katja knows someone who can make it look as good as the other one.
We visited Dr. C. Occinellidae. He said that my antenna would need a little bit surgery. It did not cost too much so we decided to do it right now.
Here we are standing at the doctor’s door. I was a little bit afraid …
The doctor took a look at my antennae and said that something had to be done about it.
I was prepared for the surgical procedures ...
These are the instruments that the doctor needed for the operation.
It’s almost done …
As a last step the knots were secured with a little bit of black nail varnish so they can’t open again.
Now everything is ok with my antennae.
Bye
Lady
Posted Aug 26, 2008, 12:22 pm
You can also find fishing ponds here.
We reached a restaurant which is located here for more than 100 years.
You can also find a small dam for drinking water in the forrest. Here we are standing on the dam.
The weather has gone bad in the meantime, it’s already raining a little bit.
These houses are typical for this region, half-timered houses with green shutters. The weather side is often covered with schist.
From this moment on it startet to rain heavily and we jumped into Katja’s bagpack.
Bye
Lady
Posted Aug 26, 2008, 12:34 pm
today we took a walk in the outskirts of Remscheid. We started on the same path as on Friday.
Here you can see the sign at the entrance of the path and one of the historic buildings.
We walked through the forrest to the next district. Here we saw much grazing land, in the background you can see the silhouette of the town centre of Remscheid with the towers of the town hall and the water tower. Here you can see that the town centre is located on a hill.
Here you can see a photo of the district „Westen“. It’s funny that the district’s name means “West” although it is lying in the north of the muncipal area.
Katja made a flower chain for Bokkie, she was really looking beautiful with it.
We reached the next district where you can also the typical houses, you can also see that there is a lot of woodland around these small districts.
We saw again pasture and harvested fields .
In the background you can see the town’s silhouette again. We rested on a bank for a while.
.
We went through a meadow with flowers which were almost as large as an adult person.
On our way back to the town we decided to have coffee and muffins at the home of Katja's friend. Here we played hide and seek between the flower pots on the balcony. Can you see me among those red flowers?
We were very tired now.
Bye
Lady
Posted Aug 26, 2008, 12:36 pm
a new ToyVoyager arrived today - Dieuwerke from the Netherlands.
We had delicious cookies: letter shaped chocolate-cookies:
Katja wrote my name with the cookies.
Bye
Lady
Posted Aug 28, 2008, 10:29 pm
today a new ToyVoyager arrived - Pien, a cute little elephant. I was sleeping when he arrived.
Katja took me, Dieuwerke and Pien with her to work in the afternoon. She is working in a law firm. We had a lot of fun in the office and we kept her from working too much successfully.
First we were sitting on the telephone
and on her files.
We found something really exciting - the photocopier! We made a photo of our backsides, but that did not look so good.
We tried it once more
and this time our photo was much better. Have a look!
Now it was time for Katja to work a few hours. We were banished onto a filing cabinet with a really good overview.
This hard work really made us tired.
Bye
Lady
Posted Aug 30, 2008, 2:57 pm
today we took a walk in a forrest. Remscheid is surrounded by forrests so there are lots of forrests I haven't seen so far.
We saw a small farm. Two dogs were watching over the yard.
We saw large stacks of wood. Katja told us that in January 2007 a terrible storm destroyed large parts of woodland. Even today not all the fallen trees are taken away.
That golden light in late summer is beautiful.
We saw Schloss Burg, a medieval castle which was built in 12th century. Maybe we will visit this castle some day.
Bye
Lady
Posted Aug 31, 2008, 7:52 pm
today we visited Cologne. We went there by bus. We arrived in Cologne at 10:30 a.m.
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city. 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. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. It is a Gothic church, started in 1248, and completed in 1880. In 1996 it was designated a World Heritage site.
Katja had a wonderful surprise for us. We met fam-united and her family in Cologne! She was also showing Cologne to a lot of happy ToyVoyagers.
Of course we started our tour at Cologne Cathedral.
We wanted to take a look inside the cathedral but there was still church services going on, so we decided to walk around and have lunch first.
We walked to the river Rhine first. The old town is close to the river.
We found the perfect place to take photos with all ToyVoyagers, both Katja's and Petra's. Have you ever seen so many ToyVoyagers all at once?
We went back into town then to walk to the restaurant we had chosen for lunch. This restaurant belongs to a brewery, Mühlen Kölsch.
Of course we had a "Kölsch" there, a special beer which is only brewed in Cologne.
When we finished lunch we walked back to cathedral. Now we could view the inside.
Cologne Cathedral is one of the world's largest churches, being the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. Construction, with interruptions, of the gothic church began in 1248 and took until 1880 to complete – a period of more than six hundred years. It is 144.5 metres long, 86.5 m wide and its two towers are 157 m tall.
After viewing the cathedral we went back into town again because the ladies were in need of coffee.
We found a nice cafe.
Here you can see Katja, Petra and all ToyVoyagers who visited Cologne today.
Now we had to walk to the central station. We had to get home by train, Petra and her family went home by car.
We took a last photo of the cathedral, this time even with both towers on the photo.
Here you can see the central station.
We said good-bye to all the other TVs and of course Petra and her family.
Bye
Lady
Posted Sep 2, 2008, 8:25 pm
Katja showed us the town hall today.
The town hall was built in 1906. In world war II it was nearly destroyed but rebuilt later. The tower is 48 m high!
The farmer's market is held on Wednesday and Saturday on the place in front of the town hall.
The lion is the heraldic animal of Remscheid, you can see it on the pillar.
Bye
Lady
Posted Sep 7, 2008, 7:34 am
today we visited Katja’s sister. She is living in Remscheid-Lennep. Lennep suburbanized to Remscheid in the year 1929. Lennep was founded in 12th century, receive its town charter in 1230 A.D. It’s one of the oldest towns in the region “Bergisches Land”. Its medieval city centre is mostly maintained, many houses are listed buildings.
We started a little sightseeing tour in a small park. You can see that autumn is coming.
This wall is part of the city's former fortification.
This weekend the annual city party is held, it's called "Altstadtfest". They have a flea market, live music and the shops are open even on Sunday. Unfotunately the weather was not good today.
We saw lots of cute plushy guys who were looking for a new home. We rescued three of them. Katja took a funny little red guy with her and also two cute little bears. I will show them to you later.
Later we walked through the old town. Let me show you some nice places.
Many fences are overgrown, some of them with grape-vine.
Can you see my friends sitting in the plant?
We went to Katja's sister's home then. On the balcony we made a group photo with the three new friends.
Now we are all debating about names for those three new friends.
Bye
Lady
Posted Sep 9, 2008, 2:17 pm
today the weather got better again. In the afternoon, when Katja came home from work, the sun was shining. She wanted to go outside with us but she had to pack the Teddy Bears for Threadbear first.
When the package was pasted and labeled we went to the post office first. The Teddy Bears are on their way to South Africa now!
The post office is located in one of the old districts of Remscheid, in Hasten.
Here you can find many of the old typical houses.
Katja wanted to show us the muncipal park. We walked along the "Route of tools" (Trasse des Werkzeugs) to get there. This is a lane for pedestrians that was built on a closed railway line. It was sponsored by local industrial companies. Most of them are metalworking industry, they make all sorts of tools.
You can find many signs and artwork of local artists along this route.
This bank is made from a gigantic screw clamp.
This is one of the tool symbols on the ground.
When we left this route we had to walk straight uphill to get to the muncipal park.
This is the observatory.
The next picture is made in the park. In spring and summer many flowers are blooming in the park. Now there are only a few kinds of flowers blooming, these for example.
This pillar is a memorial place for citizens of Remscheid which died as soldiers in previous wars before world war I.
Large parts of the park appear more like a forrest than a park. Here you can see that autumn is coming soon!
On our way back home we walked through another little park. Here you can find a pillar that's showing the crest of Remscheid and the names of the partner towns.
Katja's daughter cooked pasta with tuna sauce for us. We'll go to bed soon.
Bye
Lady
Posted Sep 11, 2008, 8:02 pm
we went into the town centre today to buy some things for our dinner. This time we saw the town hall from the rear side. The building site on the left side belongs to the shopping mall which will be enlarged.
Here you can see the water tower. From here the households in the town centre are supplied with water.
The next picture is taken in the shopping mall. They have a Nici-Shop here!
As you can see on the photos there's no longer good weather. Now in the evening it's raining really heavy.
Bye
Lady
It started to rain again. Such a pity.
Bye
Posted Sep 14, 2008, 10:40 pm
we made a fantastic trip today. Katja met her friend Erika at 10:00 a.m. The two ladies had something really special in their minds.
Today it is the "Tag des offenen Denkmals". In english it is called European Heritage Days.
European Heritage Days is a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission involving all 49 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention under the motto, Europe: a common heritage. The annual programme offers opportunities to visit buildings, monuments and sites, many of which are not normally accessible to the public. It aims to widen access and foster care for architectural and environmental heritage. This years’s motto is "Archaelogy and building research".
We decided to visit an ancient mine today. In this region ore mining started in 16th century.
There were three different periods of mining: The first one was before Thirty-Years War (1618 - 1648), the second one from 1758 – 1765 and the third one in 1853. Traces of the second period are difficult to find today.
Mining stopped after the first two periods because there was no possibility for smelting in this region. Actually they had watercraft, but the owners of the lot where smelting would have been possible had no interest in building a smelting works. They even were disappropriated. During this time the slag heaps had become so large that it was impossible to smelt the iron core.
Then in 1853 there was a last effort to revive the mines. In World War I parts of the large slag heaps were assimilated.
In a wooded area a local construction engineer excavated a gallery on his own ground. He found the mouth and built a new pit. Today we were able to see the pit. Before photos of the building site were shown. The engineer startet his work in 2002 and in about two or three years the mine should be ready for visitors.
Now I will show you some photos.
Here we are on our way to the forrest where the mine is located. We are standing on a railway bridge here.
Suneshine in the forrest ...
A view from above to the pit ...
This is the emblem of the association that arranged this meeting.
This is the entrance to the pit, hanging above is the closing.
The pit goes down 6 metres and meets the gallery then. It is revetted with concrete.
Here you can see the mouth, unfortunately one of the outside walls crashed so it was not possible to go inside.
We walked then through the forrest to Schloss Burg, an medieval castle in the neighbour town Solingen
Posted Sep 14, 2008, 10:59 pm
We had to walk downhill really steep to get there. You can see many old houses here.
A cute cat was lounging in the sun.
Here the Burger Pretzels are made and sold. Burger Pretzels are a local speciality, they are sweet pretzels. This is the "Pretzel bakery".
This is the creek "Eschbach", it's flowing into the river Wupper in this district.
We then walked uphill to the castle. It is located above the river Wupper. Those who don't want to walk take the chair lift.
Schloss Burg, located in Burg an der Wupper (Solingen), is the largest reconstructed castle in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and one of the most popular tourist attraction. Its early history is closely connected to the growth of the Duchy of Berg.
In the beginning of the 12th century (after 1133) count Adolf II von Berg built Schloss Burg on a mountain over the river Wupper.
In 1632 the castle was under siege by Swedish soldiers. After the Thirty years war, in 1648, Imperial troops destroyed the fortifications of the castle including the keep, walls, and gates. In 1700, the main building was partially reconstructed and thereafter used for administrative purposes. 1849, the castle was sold to be scrapped, decayed, and became a ruin.
Today’s appearance is not exactly the original castle was. The reconstructed castle of today is a major public attraction. It also contains the Museum of the Bergische Land. The surroundings offer hiking trails to the forests and to Unterburg, that is where the village is located, at the foot of the mountain.
When we walked back downhill we took another photo. Here you can see the distance to the other part of this district.
Here we saw an ancient cementary. It was sided here in 18th century with 105 similar looking tombstones. About 50 of them are preserved until today. They are all made of a special sort of sandstone.
From here we walked to Muengsten Bridge.
Posted Sep 14, 2008, 11:03 pm
The Müngsten Bridge is the highest steel railroad bridge in Germany. The bridge is 107 metres high and spans over the valley of the river Wupper, connecting the cities Remscheid and Solingen. Originally the bridge was named Kaiser-Wilhelm-Brücke (emperor Wilhelm bridge), to honour emperor Wilhelm I. After the end of the monarchy the bridge was named after the district between Remscheid and Solingen.
We could see the bridge from a beautiful look-out pavillon.
Can you imagine how long we were walking now? It was about 16.30 p.m. when we reached the pavillon.
Katja showed us our tour in Google Earth. Here you can see a picture of today's tour. It was about 17 km long!
today's tour
I'm sooo tired now! I will go to sleep immediately.
Bye
Lady
Posted Sep 18, 2008, 4:55 pm
today Katja took me, Hueso and Bokkie with her in the morning. The weather is looking better again and she wanted to show us a little bit more of the town centre because we will leave soon.
We went with her to her working place. In the late morning she had to go to the local court to pick of the mail there.
On our way to the court house we went through a very narrow lane, it is the most narrow public lane in this town.
In the court house they have a room for the lawyers which are working in Remscheid. Every lawyer and law firm has a mail box here. Here the mail between the local lawyers and the court is exchanged so it does not cost postage charges for anyone.
Hueso and I were sitting in the mail box of Katja's boss.
On our way back to the office we enjoyed the morning sun although it was not warm.
Do you know what this is?
These are sweet chestnuts. Katja told us that in winter hot chestnuts are sold on the christmas markets.
Now you will see a bit more of the town centre with the shopping mall.
I will spend the weekend with Katja's colleague Elke. She is taking a trip to the river Mosel with her husband. Hueso is also coming with us. We will join a winetasting there!
Bye
Lady
Posted Sep 23, 2008, 7:19 pm
Katja's colleague Elke took me and Hueso with her for her weekend trip. Elke and her husband spent the weekend at the river Moselle (in German: Mosel).
On our way to the river Moselle we had a stopover at a camping ground in Hahn am See. We visited one of Elkes friends from her skittles club there.
After a short walk we had a sparkling wine with strawberries, called "Love charm". Really refreshing!
When the bottle was empty we had a little nap.
When we reached the river Moselle we needed a refreshment from a well.
Bye
Lady
Posted Sep 23, 2008, 7:45 pm
it's already Saturday and we continued our trip. We are now in Saarburg. A creek is running through the town centre. It's ending with a little waterfall, runs through a wooden channel with water wheels into the river Saar.
This wine press was used long ago. Nowadays everything is more "technical".
From here you can see the river Saar.
Now we reached the Saar loop at Mettlach. A wonderful view!
You can buy treats here, for example liqueur made of vineyard peaches, different brandies and also apples.
On this map you can see where the Saar loop is located, exactly at this white spot (because everone puts his finger there).
Did I mention that we were travelling with Elke and Wolfgang?
We are driving to Idar. Idar is a district of Idar-Oberstein. We'll drive to Oberstein later.
We reached Oberstein in the meantime. We had to climb 265 stairs and we are now on the observation platform of the monolithic church. Only the exterior wall in front of the rock makes you notice that this is a church. The rest of the church is worked into the rock.
Bye for today
Lady
Posted Sep 23, 2008, 8:31 pm
it's already Sunday and we are taking a long walk in the vineyards. The grape harvest has just started so we can still see many grapes on the vines.
Here we are above the town Zeltingen. In the town centre you can see a little red something, this is Elke's and Wolfgang's car.
Wine, wine, wine everywhere you look. But no, not yet wine, but grapes and vines. They want to become wine some day.
This is a part of the vineyard of our innkeepers. They put a sign here because otherwise you propably won't find them to taste their wine. All winegrowers are doing it this way.
You have white grapes growing here and blue grapes.
Walnuts are also growing here.
I had a little rest on a sunflower.
A river cruise ship is coming along.
To continue it's trip the ship has to pass a weir here.
From here we can see Zeltingen bridge. To get home we have to cross the bridge later.
It was a wonderful trip. Many thanks to Elke and Wolfgang!
Bye
Lady
Posted Sep 29, 2008, 2:53 pm
Bye, Lady
Posted Oct 4, 2008, 6:48 pm
Posted Oct 12, 2008, 10:00 am
Posted Oct 12, 2008, 11:26 am
So we headed to Rülzheim and while Ralf bought the egg Petra took us out of the rucksack and showed us the ostriches. I can tell you, it is a really big farm with many many ostriches.
Posted Oct 12, 2008, 12:37 pm
Posted Oct 12, 2008, 1:34 pm
That's a really really big egg, don't you think so?
Posted Nov 1, 2008, 8:45 am
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Posted Nov 1, 2008, 9:15 am
A bit later we bought our first streets. Petra wondered, why we all payed with the 10 000 DM - they all name it Euro now.
Posted Nov 1, 2008, 9:34 am
Posted Nov 1, 2008, 9:49 am
Clowny, Fleckchen (both blue), Wolke (white) and Lilly - Lilius (thought it was a girl, but seems to be a boy
, the green one)
Posted Nov 1, 2008, 9:53 am
At first we helped to make a biscuit.
For lunch we had Käsespätzle (cheese spaetzle), because it was easy to cook.
Then I helped to cook the cherries for another cake.
Here you see carrot cake and the one with the cherries.
Then I helped with the Chocolate-Mango-Coconut-Cake.
Posted Nov 1, 2008, 10:42 am
Then first thing that I saw, when I came into the kitchen in the morning, was the Quiche lorraine, which Fabian baked yesterday night for his birthday dinner.
Then I helped to prepare the table for breakfast. Petra loves to eat honey. They have many different selfmade marmelade too. Of course they don't eat bread rolls every morning. Usually they eat bread, but always with marmelade, honey or nut
Now I helped to prepare the cakes for the afternoon. Here is the Cherry-Amaretto-Cake
and here the Mango-Coconut-Cake
Posted Nov 8, 2008, 11:04 pm
Petra told me, that usually you see a church, when you look out of this window.
Looking out of a window on the opposite side of the house, you see a walnut tree in Petra's neighbours garden.
Posted Nov 9, 2008, 11:33 am
Posted Nov 9, 2008, 11:53 am
Then we took a look, whether we will find something, that we should buy at Aldi.
Posted Nov 9, 2008, 12:29 pm
Posted Nov 13, 2008, 2:45 pm
This house shows the house of birth of Philipp Melanchton. It burned down in 1897 and was rebuilt.
The "Hundles Brunnen (doggie fountain) / Brettner Hundle" - a pug is the town's landmark.
Posted Nov 16, 2008, 2:13 pm
Posted Nov 16, 2008, 2:49 pm
Here you see the backside of the palace. The church tower belongs to that church, in which Petra and her family go on Sundays.
Here you have a great view over the palace garden with the colourful leaves now.
On the other side of the palace you can see the Damianstor (gate). There are art exhibitions every now and then.
Here you see the entrance of the palace. The left wing of the building is the church.
Here we are on the backside of the palace again. One the wall of one building, which belongs to the palace, you see a sundial.
Then we drove to the Belvedere, but it started to get darker now and so it wasn't too easy to take good photos.
The Belvedere was a former hunting lodge. Now the park around it is used as a school yard for a grammar school, which is next to the Belvedere. During summer there is an open air theatre.
Here you see the St. Peterskirche (church), which is only a few hundred meters from Petra's home. It is a nice baroque church, located next to the graveyard.
In Petra's garden I asked her to take a last photo with me and one of the last flowers (Aster).
Posted Dec 1, 2008, 1:06 pm
Posted Dec 17, 2008, 3:55 pm
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Posted Feb 8, 2009, 9:48 pm
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Posted Feb 21, 2009, 9:26 pm
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Posted Feb 21, 2009, 10:26 pm
Posted Feb 22, 2009, 9:55 pm
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Posted Mar 23, 2009, 1:20 pm
Posted Apr 10, 2009, 7:57 pm
!
Lady
Posted Apr 10, 2009, 9:00 pm
Posted Apr 10, 2009, 9:11 pm
Posted Apr 12, 2009, 6:27 pm
Lady
Posted Apr 12, 2009, 7:13 pm
Lady
Posted Apr 12, 2009, 7:30 pm
Lady
Posted Apr 12, 2009, 7:57 pm
On our way up we found some cherry trees with wonderful blossoms - I asked Tine to take some photos and she did it.
Lady
Posted Apr 12, 2009, 8:03 pm
Now I am alone and I am not sure if I like it...
Lady
Posted Apr 13, 2009, 11:31 am
Lady
Posted Apr 17, 2011, 7:12 pm
I was hanging around between lovely flowers, enjoying the sun when I heard some people coming closer.
Do you have the slightest idea what happened next? Suddenly a pig was sitting in front of my nose!
Not only a pig, but also a giraffe and a tiny bear .... and a lady with a camera in front of us!
.
This could oiny mean ToyVoyagers!
Suddenly the lady cried "This is Lady! I don't believe it. What are you doing here in Solingen?"
Hmmm ... I don't know exactly why I was here. Two years ago was flying around when I lost my way. I was in Bedburg that time and thought it would be a good idea to fly to the North, somehow I should be able to find my hometown. But I did not find it and decided to stay at this lovely place for a while. A few days ago I interrupted hibernation and was waiting for some plant louse to come my way.
This lady was Katja who already was my host in autumn 2008. I went with Katja and the ToyVoyagers.
Isn't this a lovely place?
Katja told me that this is one of the rural districts of Solingen, situated in the valley of the river Wupper and we would take a walk here.
Finally we reached river Wupper, in the background you can see it in the bottom of the valley.
This is river Wupper. Katja told us that usually there would be more water.
My new friends are Miss Lillith , K-Bear and Sampson .
This place for resting is made of the old axis of a water wheel.
This old factory building was altered to a dwelling house.
We crossed the river here.
We rested in the country inn "Wupperhof" for a while, enjoying the sun in the beer garden.
We had a large beer
We even found more toys here, relaxing in a beach chair.
We tried to persuade them of also becoming ToyVoyagers, but Teddy Bear and Bunny liked their life in the beer garden.
What a gigantic cooking plate!
We had to walk back to the car than.
Part of the river can be separated here, this part of the river a protect zone for fish, so they can grow to adult size. Angling is forbidden here.
I'll stay with Katja for a few days and will than come home to you.
Bye
Lady
Posted Apr 17, 2011, 7:30 pm
today we went with Katja's sister-in-law and brother-in-law to Witten to visit their son who is in seminary there. Their dog Berti also came with us. With me you can see Kirin from Chile who will leave to Canada soon.
First we went to Kemnade lake. You surely know that Kemnade lake is one of six barrier lakes along river Ruhr.
It was so crowded there that it was not fun to walk. Inline skaters, cyclists everywhere ....
We went back to the seminary along a lovely path through the forest.
From this glade we could see Kemnade lake in the distance.
Almost back to the seminary we saw Witten lying in the distance.
Bye
Lady
Posted Apr 27, 2011, 10:55 am
in the afternoon we went out with Katja's friend and her dog.
We went to Wupper dam, one of three barrier lakes along the river Wupper. Here we took a long walk.
Where is the water?
Katja told me that we would have to walk for about 20 minutes until we reached the dam.
Unfortunately we walked away from the lake, but only to walk through a lovely rural landscape.
We played among the dandelions.
The fresh air made me tired, so I will go to bed now.
Bye
Lady
Posted Apr 29, 2011, 4:08 pm
yesterday it started raining. Usually nobody likes rain, but Katja told us that everyone was waiting for rain after some sunny and warm weeks. She said if we wanted our lakes filled and the nature green, we would need rain.
It's my host's birthday and she had to prepare dinner for her friends who visited us in the evening. Our host is a (almost
) veggie, so we had to make lots of delicious vegetable dishes.
I helped to fill mushroom heads with cream cheese.
This was quite easy. The mushrooms will be baked later.
There were even meatballs, filled with salsa, in the fridge.
Of course Lupus-Tigger was thrilled - he does not like tomatoes or mushrooms
Katja bought tons of different cheese.
This looks like a good party!
In the meantime the cheese tray was nearly ready. We had cheese from Spain, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and of course Germany.
Katja's daughter is a cook in a restaurant (not yet, her final examination will be in May and June). She prepared gravlax, the half of a salmon.
Finally everything was ready and the guest were here. Now it's time to celebrate, not for taking photos
A friend brought this plate with antipasti - delicious!
Bye
Lady
Posted May 2, 2011, 8:25 pm
today we visited Wuppertal. Wuppertal is the neighbour town of Remscheid, famous for the 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.
Two thirds of the total municipal area is green belt: Woods, meadows, gardens and fields. From any part of the city it is only a ten-minute walk to one of the public parks or shady woodland paths.
When we got out of the bus we immediately saw the Schwebebahn.
Katja told us that we would visit the botanical garden and the city centre. On the next photo you can see one of the stops of the Schwebebahn in the background.
Wuppertal is situated in the valley of the river Wupper, the city centre is in the bottom of the valley, the botanical garden is on top of the slope of the valley, on a hill called "Hardt". On our way there we walked along the local court and the district court.
There is also a Schwebebahn stop at the district court, it is rebuilt at the the moment in it's original historic style.
We had to climb some stairs to reach the botanical garden.
We needed about 15 minutes to reach the botanical garden. There are large greenhouses in the entrance area. The botanical garden was founded in 1890 as a school garden.
You can find the former country house of textile manufacturers named Eller, which contained a villa (built 1820), orangery, residential and farm buildings, and the Elise Tower (built 1838) which provides the garden's focal point.
Here you can see the Elise Tower once more.
I saw this funny looking Handkerchief-tree, also known as Dove tree.
Than we walked through the large Hardt park, back to the city.
Flowers like a carpet
We rested here near this fountain.
Than it was time to walk downhill, back to the city centre.
We walked through a lovely housing area.
Soon we reached the city centre with the city hall, the building with the tower.
In front of the city hall you can find this historic fountain.
We walked along the pedestrian area.
What a funny statue! It is called "A new day at work".
We went back to the river Wupper. Here you can see another Schwebebahn stop. Every stop is built in a completely different style. This one is a very modern one.
Next to the modern stop you can find this old bridge.
Here is another historical bridge.
This distinctive building is the company building of a savings bank. Its skywalk is leading to another building, crossing two different streets.
I love this sculpture
Here is another stair to climb.
From here we had a great overview across the city.
The historical concert hall is also situated above the city centre.
We had actually planned to take the bus home, but because the weather was so great we decided to walk towards home and take the bus later. We had to walk uphill for some time than, Katja knew a short cut across the university area.
Here were not only stairs to walk uphill, but also a large bridge, enabling you to cross one or two streets. In the background you can already see the university buildings.
More stairs to walk ...
The university was built in the early 1970s years.
When we walked further uphill, we could see the university in it's whole monstrosity.
When we reached the top of the hill we had missed the bus for only three minutes, so we decided to walk a bit further. Here on the communication-road to Remscheid I liked it much more.
Here we finally waited for our bus. In the background you can see the city centre of Remscheid, also situated on a hill, about 10 km apart.
I will also show you a zoomed photo. One of the two characteristic towers belong to the city hall, the other one is a water tower.
This was an exciting trip!
Bye
Lady
Posted May 9, 2011, 5:52 pm
today we went to Maastricht in the Netherlands. The daughter of Katja's friend is going to college there. She spent the weekend at home and had to return to the college. We had to drive about 90 minutes to get there.
Maastricht is known as a city of history, local folklore, culture and education. The town is popular with tourists for shopping and recreation. Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river (in Dutch and German: Maas) in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands.
Thankfully the wonderful historic old town was not destroyed in World War II. We started our trip at the river Meuse.
Here you can see the city hall, built in 17th century.
The lovely house in the background (the one with the clock) once was the court house, the "Dinghuis". Nowadays the tourist information centre is situated here.
Strolling around we found the lovliest places.
We reached the central place in front of the basilica.
A fun fair is taking place here!
We tried to take a photo of the basilica, but it was not possible due to backlight and the fun fair. So we walked around for another while.
At least I can show you a small part of the rear side of the basilica (I know that it is n ot really impressing
).
We found really picturesque places and lanes.
In a small park we found the statue of Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan, one of the Musqueteers of the Guard. He died died at the Siege of Maastricht in the Franco-Dutch War in 1673 A.D.
We also found a large tree, forming sort of a tent.
That was a lovely trip.
Bye
Lady
Posted May 9, 2011, 8:39 pm
today Gaspode arrived, he told us that we spent some time with you
In the evening we watched the final show of "Deutschland sucht den Superstar".
In the end the boy named Pietro has been determined as the winner, although I prefered the girl.
Bye
Lady
Posted May 23, 2011, 7:05 pm
today it was time to leave my current host - there is another host waiting for me in Italy!
Italy sounds great, like sunshine, pizza and pasta
Katja made a new travel tag for me.
Soon I was ready to leave, but of course I packed another envelope with a souvenir for you
I hope I will arrive in Italy soon.
Bye
Lady
Posted Jun 16, 2011, 8:57 am
the journey was quite long but in the end I'm in Italy and I'm fine! Another ladybird TV was waiting for me, she's HelgaHH, now we have to organize what to do in the weekend!
Love,
Lady
Posted Jun 18, 2011, 9:34 pm
I've just tasted a very Italian dish: pasta! This kind of pasta is called "maccheroni" and this evening my host cooked it with tomatoes, aubergines and mozzarella cheese. I like it and my host promised that tomorrow we'll have pizza!
Love,
Lady
Posted Jun 20, 2011, 9:05 am
I've eaten e typical Italian pizza! Then my host prepared me a cake with cream and almonds but she said that I've to start going out for a walk otherwise I'll become overweight!
Bye for now,
Lady
Posted Jun 22, 2011, 10:44 am
my friend HelgaHH and I went to the park and we had fun looking at the flowers and the little lake.
Hope you're fine!
Love,
Lady
Posted Jun 27, 2011, 11:11 am
during the week end my host took HelgaHH and I to the lake of Como, in a place called Varenna. The weather was so nice and the lake looked beautiful!
Love,
Lady
Posted Jun 27, 2011, 11:14 am
Posted Jun 27, 2011, 11:16 am
Bye,
Lady
Posted Jul 15, 2011, 1:21 pm
look, I have a new friend! Her name is Lintilla and she is just arrived. I took her to see some flower on my host's balcony.
Bye,
Lady
Posted Aug 2, 2011, 4:56 pm
today I'm visiting the Sforzesco Castle. It's a medieval building in the center of Milan, do you like it?
Love,
Lady
Posted Aug 11, 2011, 1:50 pm
today I'm to the Pusiano Lake, together with my host and my friend Lintilla. The Lake looks so relaxing...
Enjoy our pictures!
Love,
Lady
Posted Aug 14, 2011, 7:13 pm
I'm on holiday at the seaside! I'm in Loano, on the Ligurian Sea. Lintilla and I are playing to the hotel pool, we've also found a soccer game and ping pong.
Bye,
Lady
Posted Aug 16, 2011, 8:10 pm
in this picture I'm walking on a bridge that was built about 2000 years ago by Romans! I'm quite excited!!!
Love,
Lady
Posted Aug 16, 2011, 8:12 pm
here I am to the beach! I am not sure if I want to take a bath or not...I still have to think a bit more about it!
Love,
Lady
Posted Aug 17, 2011, 8:44 pm
Love,
Lady
Posted Aug 19, 2011, 7:13 pm
Lintilla and I are playing in the garden just in front of our room!
Love,
Lady
Posted Aug 21, 2011, 1:46 pm
Lintilla and I are playing to the hotel pool. In the morning there is not a lot of peolpe here because they are all to the beach so the pool in just for us!
Love,
Lady
Posted Aug 22, 2011, 4:13 pm
this morning I've had breakfast on the beach. I took a cappuccino with a chocolate heart on it! Then I had a long walk on the seafront.
Bye,
Lady
Posted Sep 15, 2011, 11:17 am
I've finished my holiday at the seaside an now I'm in Como, just in front of Como Lake. This is a very deep lake, more than 425 m., one of the deepest in Europe, I prefer not to bath here...
Bye,
Lady
Posted Sep 19, 2011, 2:07 pm
this is the Lake of Como seen from above! I arrived here with a cable railway...it was funny!
Bye,
Lady
Posted Sep 26, 2011, 2:16 pm
I want to introduce you my new friends: MX Rabbit!
We're having fun together and we also enjoy tasting local food like this rice with saffron, which is called "risotto alla milanese" and is a typical dish of Milano.
Bye,
Lady
Posted Oct 11, 2011, 11:20 am
wait for me, I'm coming!
Love,
Lady
Posted Oct 22, 2011, 11:14 am
When I came out of the envelope, my mum was writing Christmas postcards...at this time of the year? Crazy mum.
But I hope Christmas will be soon!
Love,
Lady