Posted Mar 27, 2008, 5:54 pm
Posted Mar 27, 2008, 5:58 pm
Posted Mar 27, 2008, 6:00 pm
Posted Mar 31, 2008, 9:27 pm
We have had a little pep talk and she realises that she is indeed an ambassador for her country and she will be on her best behaviour. No political talk, no looking down her elegant little nose at other countries rugby teams and no wistful yearning for blue skies and sunshine. Just remember your manners and always be gracious…
Posted Mar 31, 2008, 9:30 pm
Posted Mar 31, 2008, 9:50 pm
Go on, chin up! Or as we say around here: Vasbyt! You’re a brave little girl… it’s only for a little bit, before you know it you will be stretching your lovely long legs out and be bouncing around the Netherlands under the watchful eye of Magicwoman.
Then off to Germany to visit Fam-united, and then back to the Netherlands to see Eryah. After that? You visit Magickzzl and her fat pygmy goats in the USA. She is going to send you on to Gingermuggins in Australia. Just remember to not mention rugby, especially to her! Or she will be sending you to New Zealand in double quick time to see kjw… Phew, you will be so well travelled after that!
Just a little update: Bokkie will be visiting Pandamao after Fam-united as it makes sense to pass her on in the same country...[/color]
A further update, little Bokkie is proving rather popular! So after magickzzl she will go to BunTraveler and only then on to Australia.
Posted Apr 9, 2008, 6:59 pm
I arrived in Holland today.The weather is really sunny here.
There are some more toyvoyagers here.It is a happy lov coupple from Russia called Just Married.They are so nice and friendly.
I'm so tired now from the long trip,so i'm gonna take e nap now
bye bye
Bokkie
Posted Apr 9, 2008, 7:02 pm
here is the enveloppe.u can see just married is dying to meet me
finally i'm out of the enveloppe
a picture with me and just married,we looked nice togheter
Bye Bye
Bokkie
Posted Apr 10, 2008, 6:15 pm
Today Marije showed me some things around the house
This is the view out of the window ,this look very different at home
offcourse i'm a good jumper,so I saw the lamp and i've jumped in it,that was very easy to do it
another view its typical dutch
Some Dutch friends say hi! They were very nice to me.i'm friends with them,we played a lot.
bye bye
Bokkie
Posted Apr 11, 2008, 11:50 am
They were very rough and they taste like plastic or something.
Marije told me it were FAKE leaves.This plant was fake to.
Later on it was so stupid from me to eat it cause I never see black plants
Marije bringed me to the garden,and in he garden there are real plants,so I can eat leaves
hmm..that was yummy
I saw the beautiful stattue in Marije her garden to.But actually I like the leaves ,so that was more interesting for me then the stattue
Bye Bye
Bokkie
Posted Apr 14, 2008, 9:18 am
Yesterday Marije gave me a sightseeing tour in Ede.It was really great
Before a building ,near MArije her house.They gonna demolished this building
This is a sign were you can see the times when the bus arrives heren in Holland
a picture with a church
A dutch mill
a picture with spring flowers
Bye Bye
Bokkie
Posted Apr 15, 2008, 8:32 pm
Today a New Toyvoyager arrived at marije her house,it was Palmeke a blue bird
I was waiting and very exciting
Finally there is Palmeke
Palmeke and I played on the Playstation.We played Fifa thats a soccer game.We had so much fun
Marije has a real electric guitar.And tonight I rock and rolled away with the guitar
Bye Bye
Bokkie
Posted Apr 17, 2008, 7:22 pm
Today I read the newspaper at marije her house cause I really want to know whats on in the world these days,I dont understand Dutch so Marije has translated it for me.
after that I ride a Bike,it was really fun to do.
I had a great idea,i want to climb in the tree.Just Married and Palmeke followed me and we were playing a game,who is first on top of the tree.But i'm a springbuck so I won
Marije has a real cool moped it looks like a motor cycle but it isnt
we played a game,it was domino
Bye Bye
Bokkie
Posted Apr 19, 2008, 6:52 pm
Today I eat some typical Dutch food.
I eat a "kroket"with mustard its a Dutch meatroll.It was delicious.
After that I eat fries with peanut sauce (it is sauce made from peanuts) and mayonaisse.This is the way how Dutch people eat their fries.
and I eat "drop"thats a typical Dutch candy
Now i'm a bit nauseous
Bye Bye
Bokkie
Posted Apr 23, 2008, 12:49 pm
Today Marije deceided that we're gonna eat a Dutch lunch.It was a biscuit rusk (in Holland we called it a "beschuitje") with chocolate sprinkels (in Holland "hagslag") and butter on it
It was delicious
after that i've take a sunbath,cause its finally great weather in Holland.So I have to enjoyed the sun
But first Palmeke have to rub me in with sun-glare,cause maybe I burned my skin.
Now it was time to enjoy and lay down
We had some visitors this afternoon.It was a Dutch dog and a beautiful Dutch pony.We drink some tea,eat some cookies.And made some fun with eachother
They were really nice.And i have some new friends
Bye Bye
Bokkie
Posted Apr 28, 2008, 6:38 pm
Today we say goodbye to Ede.We are going to Fam.United.We had such a great time here.And we made a lot of friends.And i am gonna miss them all.Just Married they became such great friends of mine ,and so is Palmeke!
Marije was so sweet to us.We really loved it here
Giving Just Married a big and warm goodbye hug.I am gonna miss you so much
giving palmeke a big hug
I'm gonna have so much at Fam United's place
Bye Bye Bokkie
Posted May 30, 2008, 10:27 pm
I'm happy to tell you, that I arrived safely in Bruchsal. I'm really really tired and dizzy now, but nevertheless Petra told me, that she would have to take a photo first before I can rest somewhere.
Posted May 30, 2008, 10:35 pm
Do they want to travel somewhere? Will I go with them? I think, I have to ask.
Petra packed some other toyvoyager guests and me in a backpack and put it in the car. It seems, that we all will go on a big trip, I heard them talking about Denmark. I'm sure, we will go there.
Here we had a rest from the long drive. It was more a stop and go than driving, because there had been several accidents and construction zones. Now I know, that they wanted to stay at a youth hostel for the night, but Petra called them and they told us, that we had to be there until 10pm or we have to search for something else. Petra always said: How can we find something for 6 humans and so many toyvoyagers. So the family and we decided to drive the whole night until we arrive at our destination place.
Posted May 30, 2008, 10:37 pm
on a table in our home for two weeks
and in front of the house. Do you see us???
and now???
We are sitting on the bench, a really lovely place.
Posted May 30, 2008, 11:14 pm
Petra took the backpack and packed us all in it. It was very dark inside and I can tell you, I really don't like it to sit there.
Finally we all enjoyed the beach at Klitmoeller. It is just beautiful.
I'm sure, you believe me, that I had been running and jumping around like crazy. I think, it was a very good training for Petra, who wants to do some sports
Posted May 31, 2008, 10:32 am
We have to go there by a ferry, although the crossing takes only 3 to 4 minutes.
Fur is renowned for its deposits of diatomite, konwn in Danish as 'moler'. We want to go fossil hunting, but unhappily we have ho luck, because the woman at the museum shows us the wrong place. Anyway it is a nice small island.
First of all we visited a nice small museum. I had been very interested to see this fossil.
Then we walked in a small park close to the museum. It was warm and nice to sit on this big stone for a short time, but you know, I don't really like to sit really long, so I jumped down.
Petra caught me and do you believe where she sat me down again? On a wire fence just in front of a dino!!! I'm sure, you can see me trembling on this photo.
This is the place, where the woman told us, that we maybe could find fossils, but she was wrong.
Posted May 31, 2008, 12:08 pm
Posted Jun 1, 2008, 7:55 pm
this morning we got up rather early to get ready with breakfast and preparing lunch for a trip. Petra said, she wants to go to Hirtshals today, where is the biggest oceanarium in Europe. I first didn't know, what this means, but then I really liked it. It contains about 4,5 millions litre sea water. It is about 4 floors high. It was destroyed in 2003 by fire and rebuilt in 2005.
We saw many interesting fishes and I learnt my first Danish word: klumpfisk. The Klumpfisk is called Mondfisch (moonfish) in German and Sunfish in English. I think, this is really interesting.
Here you see me looking at a turbot.
the klumpfisk
They prepared the place like a part of the North Sea, so you see a part of a sunk ship.
I also saw some seals
Posted Jun 1, 2008, 8:50 pm
Due to erosion several metres of sand get ablated each year, so the sand beach is changing its wideness and it steep coast arises from this.
The lighthouse is already covered partly and you only can see a very little part of the houses around the lighthouse, when you walk close to it.
Maybe you see the sand flying on this photo.
You see the sand dune growing in the inner land.
Posted Jun 2, 2008, 1:24 pm
Later Kuma wanted to take a bath. So we all sat around and thought about jumping in or not. Petra said, that it isn't nice to make such an event out of this and asked us to go playing outside again.
Crazy, crazy, crazy! Petra decided to hang Kuma up like laundry. Can you believe this?
Kuma shout out loud and when Petra came back and Kuma asked her, whether it is possible to dry somewhere else. So Petra put Kuma and us on the banister in front of the winter garden.
Posted Jun 2, 2008, 2:56 pm
We got the lunch packed and then jumped in our bag again. We got used to this now, so it wasn't such a problem sitting there during the drive.
There are also some bunkers from the second world war.
Finally we arrived at our destination and we saw: sand and water.
Grenen is the northmost tip of Jutland, north of the town of Skagen, thereby the northmost point of Denmark. Grenen was given its name for its shape like a tree-branch (Danish: gren). It's the point, where Skaggerak and Kattegat flow together.
You see me here at this place with waves from left and right, but the wind was so low, that there nearly were no waves.
Nevertheless we weren't allowed to go swimming.
Kari showed us a really fascinating effect - a rainbow ring around the sun. Petra read about it: This ring is called 22°-halo and is a ring of light with a radius of 22° around the sun.
Sorry, but it was too difficult to take a photo with a toyvoyager and still show the effect, so there is only this one with Kari, but you can be sure, I have seen this too.
Posted Jun 2, 2008, 5:29 pm
Posted Jun 2, 2008, 6:20 pm
We drove to Vestervig to see the large church and windmill there.
Vestervig is a settlement and parish in Denmark, located in Thisted municipality in Region Nordjylland. Vestervig has a population of 754 (2004), but a disproportionately large church which served as a cathedral until 1130. This cathedral is still the largest town church of Scandinavia.
I love this windmill.
Next to the church we found a place with many stones and first we wondered, what it really was. We saw these signs and tried to read it. We realized, that these were really old stones from the Iron Age. It was a village here from about 150 BC until early or mid 5th century AD:
Posted Jun 3, 2008, 1:49 pm
We only walked there a few minutes and then everybody realized, that we were so tired, that we only wanted to go home.
Posted Jun 5, 2008, 3:48 pm
The park is called Jesperhus Blomsterpark.
There was a very special rainwood indoor playground with Aztec monuments.
No, Petra!!! This isn't really a good idea to put me there!!! Please, please take me away
No, please not all together in this terrible mouth!!! Who knows, what happens!!!! Please, let me out!!!
Oh, God!!! Where is Kari now!!! Is there nobody to help us getting out here again???
Phewww!!!! Sometimes it is very dangerous to stay with Petra and her family. Why don't they think of our feelings in this situations???
Yes, this is much better. I had been so happy to have some time for myself to relax in the Chinese Garden, that belongs to the park.
It was really fascinating to see the beautiful Danish flag everywhere - not only in the park, but also next to many houses in Klitmoeller and other towns.
Do you know Hans Christian Andersen? He wrote many fairy tales and some of them also Petra told to her children, but some of them she only knew by name. In the Blomsterpark there were statues of these fairy tales coloured with flowers, although the flowers didn't bloom so much right now.
Here you see a photo with me and "The Princess and the pea".
The Princess on the Pea
A translation of Hans Christian Andersen's "Prindsessen paa Ærten" by Jean Hersholt.
Once there was a Prince who wanted to marry a Princess. Only a real one would do. So he traveled through all the world to find her, and everywhere things went wrong. There were Princesses aplenty, but how was he to know whether they were real Princesses? There was something not quite right about them all. So he came home again and was unhappy, because he did so want to have a real Princess.
One evening a terrible storm blew up. It lightened and thundered and rained. It was really frightful! In the midst of it all came a knocking at the town gate. The old King went to open it.
Who should be standing outside but a Princess, and what a sight she was in all that rain and wind. Water streamed from her hair down her clothes into her shoes, and ran out at the heels. Yet she claimed to be a real Princess.
"We'll soon find that out," the old Queen thought to herself. Without saying a word about it she went to the bedchamber, stripped back the bedclothes, and put just one pea in the bottom of the bed. Then she took twenty mattresses and piled them on the pea. Then she took twenty eiderdown feather beds and piled them on the mattresses. Up on top of all these the Princess was to spend the night.
In the morning they asked her, "Did you sleep well?"
" Oh!" said the Princess. "No. I scarcely slept at all. Heaven knows what's in that bed. I lay on something so hard that I'm black and blue all over. It was simply terrible."
They could see she was a real Princess and no question about it, now that she had felt one pea all the way through twenty mattresses and twenty more feather beds. Nobody but a Princess could be so delicate. So the Prince made haste to marry her, because he knew he had found a real Princess.
As for the pea, they put it in the museum. There it's still to be seen, unless somebody has taken it.
There, that's a true story.
And here we are sitting in front of a small version of Andersen's house.
Posted Jun 5, 2008, 5:30 pm
Today we only go to Hanstholm in the afternoon, but first we just want to sit in the winter garden and relax.
Posted Jun 5, 2008, 6:36 pm
We drove by a very small train and Petra told us, that it was built for the soldiers, who had to go from bunker to bunker. They also carried munition in this train.
This is the view to the Hanstholm harbor.
Posted Jun 7, 2008, 9:17 pm
Posted Jun 7, 2008, 9:43 pm
I thought, that you also would like this sunset today. It was the first and only time, when we saw the sun setting into the sea without any clouds or mist.
Posted Jun 7, 2008, 10:17 pm
This signs explains where we were, so I asked Petra to write it again, so you can read it too:
Welcome to an experience in wonderful nature!
The main objectives of the Aage V.Jensen Charity Foundations are the conservation of nature and the protection of wildlife.
The Foundations support research and acquire and manage properties with a view to conservation of nature and protecting wildlife.
....Aage V.Jensen Charity Foundations has constructed observation towers and facilities from which the public can view even the most difficult to observe bird and mammal species.
These observation sites are constructed with natural materials, and the public is asked to treat these sites with care.
It's really a beautiful place, but Petra prefers to watch birds from outside instead of sitting behind windows. So she would have prefered to just watch them from the parking place. That's where she took these two photos:
Posted Jun 8, 2008, 9:48 am
It is a aquarium there, where you can see about 5 sorts of sharks, which you can find in the North Sea of course.
Sorry for the quality of the photos. I told the fishes and other animals to keep standing at a place while we were taking photos, but they didn't listen.
Posted Jun 8, 2008, 10:12 am
The only problem was, that the photo didn't work properly and so there are only two photos left: one with a horse and one with a cow and its calf.
Posted Jun 8, 2008, 10:35 am
Oh, oh, oh. I think, I can't take more photos now. Petra and we all are sitting in the seat and hoping, that we arrive really soon. It takes about 2 hourse until we arrive at our destination, that's all I know. The waves aren't so terribly high, but I feel it in my stomage anyway.
Posted Jun 8, 2008, 1:17 pm
I'm really happy to tell you, that I arrived safely in Kristiansand, Norway. Travelling on the ship wasn't too bad.
Kristiansand is a city and municipality and the capital of the county of Vest-Agder, Norway. The municipality is the 5th largest in Norway with a population of 78 919 as of January 1, 2008. The urban area, entirely located in them municipality, had a population of 64 930 on January 1, 2006 and is the 8th largest urban area in Norway.
Kristiansand was founded by King Christian IV in 1641, but the area has been settled at least since 400 AD.
The Kristiansand Domkirke is a late gothic cathedral from 1884. (Sorry, no photo with me, but only with Kari)
Inside everything was made of wood and looked really pretty.
Do you see Jesus on this photo? He looks brighter than everything and we had no chance to take a photo without this light, so maybe it is just the way they wanted it to be?
Posted Jun 8, 2008, 1:26 pm
Baneheia is a popular recreational area to the north of Kristiansand city centre. It was laid out by General Wergeland and his troops in the 1870s. There are paths for ramblers, some of which are lit at night. You will find special trails for the disabled here. Marked paths take you through attractive wooded areas. There are swimming and fishing spots by the lake. There are good views from certain points. The area supports a variety of animal and plant life.
So now enough with this, just sit there and enjoy the photos. The water was more blue than you can see it here:
We stood on top of a big rock and Petra thought, that we all should take care for ourselves and don't walk too close to the edge. She said, that in Germany people already would have built a barrier so nothing could happen there, but we all enjoyed it just the way it was and is.
While we were waiting for the ship we had been able to watch, how it arrived at the harbour. The photo is zoomed so it is without me.
Posted Jun 8, 2008, 2:35 pm
But then Selina, Fabian and Petra had a great idea. We all helped to create a fairwell picture in front of the house and then we took photos with all of us.
Posted Jun 8, 2008, 9:31 pm
Posted Jun 8, 2008, 9:41 pm
Just let us sleep here and you can do some work, unpacking everything and washing, okay, Petra????
Posted Jun 9, 2008, 5:56 pm
Posted Jun 22, 2008, 10:20 pm
today I'm able to show you some parts of Bruchsal. Petra decided to go on a short walk and car drive before the match between Germany and Portugal started. Hey, she had been really nervous about that match.
Bruchsal was first named in 976A.D., but surely it is older, because not long ago they found some interesting things next to the City Church.
We started at her house and had to walk only a few hundred meters, when I saw this beautiful baroque church, which is called St. Peterskirche. This church is next to the graveyard of Bruchsal.
Petra saw this statue and took a photo with me.
She didn't really know, why this statue stands there, so she took a photo of the sign too. It is a memorial stone as reminder of the citizens of Bruchsal, who were victims of the Baden Revolution (1827 - 1849).
We found some really old crosses on the graveyard. One of it is called Pestkreuz (pestilence).
We walked through the graveyard, but didn't take photos there, because too many people were there and we didn't want to be disrespectfully. There are some places, where you have a wonderful view to the baroque church and over Bruchsal and there are really beautiful trees.
Here we are on the other site of the graveyard area. It is close to the city border. I asked Petra to take a photo with me and the sign. Behind the Bruchsal sign you see the traffic sign 30 - it is s zone, where you are only allowed to drive 30km/h.
Here is another view to Bruchsal. On the left side you see a part of Sancta Maria, which you will see on another photos again.
Here is a view to the graveyard from outside. I asked Petra to take these two photos so we can show you how steep this is to walk, especially for older people.
So now we went to the Sancta Maria. Let's see, what they write on the sign.
Maybe a bit closer?
Ok and now the photo of the house:
Now we went down the road and took Petra's bag and car and drove to other places in Bruchsal.
This is the Belvedere, a former hunting lodge.
Then we went out of the nice park, because it was too crowded and Petra seems to be in fear to meet some people from school. She really thinks, they could love at her. Petra, we have to work on that.
Here is another place with nice views over Bruchsal.
Turning to the right side, the towers are from left: the Bergfried (tower of the old castle), the city church "Unsere liebe Frau" and the church called Lutherkirche.
Turning to the left side you see the old people's home. The house with the orange strip and the terrace house belongs to it. The grey house in the far with the small tower is the private catholic grammar school St. Paulusheim, which is only open for Christians (no matter weather catholic or evangelic). It was founded by patres of the Pallotti order.
The flat roof in front of me still belongs to the old people's house. Bruchsal must have many old people. In the far you see the baroque church St. Peter and the house Sancta Maria.
Around Bruchsal you can see many crosses like this one.
But we didn't walk to much there, because Petra wanted to show me the palace.
Here you see the Amtsgericht - county court.
In front of the Amtsgericht you see this fountain, which has a funny name "Schnecklesbrunnen" -snail fountain, but you see, why it is called this way.
Just turning around on our heels (on the place where we took the photo of the Amtsgericht) we saw the entrance of the main building of the palace.
Turning to the right there is another part of court and a chamber music hall
Turning to the left you see the building of the church St. Damian and Hugo, a catholic church, which is usually called Hofkirche, because it belongs to the palace yard.
The tower is behind the church, built next to the parish hall.
The left side is the back side of the church. You see the tower much better here.
Walking in the palace garden wasn't that great, because there were some people drinking and Petra wondered, whether nobody can do something against this. There should be a place for teenagers and young people, where they can have fun without drinking alcohol.
She only took some detail photos of the back side.
the sundial
and a photo of the park
On our way home I saw this building and asked Petra to tell me, what it is. She said, that it is called Cafe Achteck, cafe octagon. I thought, that it sounds interesting and asked her to go and drink a coffee there, but she said 'No'. First I was a bit grumpy with her, but then she explained, that it is the jailhouse of Bruchsal and that there are some people in it, who did really bad things. I asked her to drive home as quickly as possible.
So we drove to the right and I saw this nice gate, called Damianstor, which is the entrance to the palace area.
Petra wanted to show me another view to Bruchsal. You see a part of Bruchsal, that is built in the Rhine valley. Bruchsal belongs partly to the Rhine valley and to the Kraichgau.
I thought, that we would drive home now, but no, Petra thought, that she would like to show us this nice chapel, which is built in the fields outside of Bruchsal. Nevertheless it belongs to the City Church. The chapel is called 'Feldkirchle' - field chapel - a really great idea to name it this way.
Next to the chapel is another cross.
There are really beautiful trees around.
I thought, that now it is time to go back to the car and I asked Petra, if she would like to take a photo with me and the car. You see the Swedish and German flag there. Petra is collecting flags it seems. In the car is an Australian paper flag, but it is getting old now
So this is really the last photo of our Bruchsal tour. It is just here to show you, that we really had been in the fields.
(more photos with me will be added soon)
Posted Jun 23, 2008, 6:39 am
It was raining and the sun was still shining, so we thought, that maybe we can see a rainbow. We ran to the other side of the house and looked out of the window and here it is:
You see the two church towers of St. Peter too.
Posted Jun 23, 2008, 6:55 am
I was so happy, when Petra called me to show me this site. I hope, that you all are happy too.
Posted Jun 23, 2008, 6:59 am
There isn't only paper in the room, but also other stuff for the grades 1 to 4.
Posted Jun 23, 2008, 7:01 am
Posted Jun 23, 2008, 7:03 am
Posted Jul 6, 2008, 7:54 pm
I'm here in Germany's oldest city. Trier was founded by Romans and is older than 2000 years.
The brown building in the middle of the photo is the Basilica and not close to this building you can see a dark building, which is the cathedral.
Many places in Trier belong to Unesco World Cultural Heritage:
the amphitheatre, which you can see as a green place in the middle of the trees. Behind the trees you see the thermal bath called Kaiserthermen.
Turning to the left you have this wonderful view. In the far you see a small piece of the Moselle
Here are the "Kaiserthermen".
The most famous building of Trier is the Porta Nigra.
We drove over a really old bridge, which was built by Romans.
Posted Jul 6, 2008, 8:05 pm
Petra and Ralf told me, that the gas is much cheaper there than in Germany. So they drive to Luxemburg each time, if they visit Trier.
There is a street with one gas station after the other.
Posted Jul 6, 2008, 8:06 pm
Petra showed me this column, which is also Unesco World Cultural Heritage.
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 6:35 am
Petra made us some veggies, so we had something to nibble. She said, that this is much better than eating sweets.
The German team is really sad
But here comes a very happy Portugues team. They played a fantastic match.
A really sad face: Lehmann
The German "THANK YOU" to the organizers of the WorldCup 2008
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 10:14 am
She thought, that she wanted to show us a nice view over the Rhine valley. That's why we drove to this small hill called Michaelsberg, which belongs to Untergrombach, one of Bruchsal's suburbs.
In the far you see the Palatine Mountains. The town you see is Untergrombach.
Petra loved to swim in the quarry pond, when she was a teenager. In the far you see a white tower with smoke coming out. This is the nuclear power station of Philippsburg.
Petra told us, that her parents live close to the wood between Bruchsal and Untergrombach. She used to walk in this wood, when she was younger. The town you see here is Bruchsal.
It is a nature reserve area, so you see some signs, which show you interesting places or which tell you to take care of the nature.
There is a beautiful small chapel on the Michaelsberg, called Michaelskapelle. We were sad, that the chapel was closed. We only had been able to take a photo from this side, because it was too sunny.
We are still on the Michaelsberg, but this time we look behind us and see parts of the Kraichgau. It is famous for its wine yards.
Driving down the hill, you see houses of Untergrombach.
On our way to Bruchsal we saw this road works and Petra told us, that they build a new railway bridge.
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 10:44 am
In her garden she has some lovely flowers.
These are called phlox.
And this is one of many butterfly bushes
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 11:19 am
for each whole egg she takes 50g sugar and 50g flour. This time she made a big cake, so she needed 10 eggs and swirled them really long - and we helped her with this, of course. Then we added 500g sugar (yes, that's really a lot of sugar) and one small packet vanilla sugar and again swirled it until everything was foaming. At last we added 500g flour and 1 small packet baking powder, but we didn't swirl this but only folded it in carefully. Then we put it in the baking dish and gave it in the preheated oven (170°C/338°F to 180°C/356°F) for about half an hour.
We had to let it cool down then and Petra told us, that she wanted to the decoration the next day.
But then she needed our help for some handycrafts. She worked on some pages for an album for the headmaster of her school, who left the school. She said, that people, who are older than 63 to 65 years, go on pension. The headmaster will be 64 years old this year and so it was time for him to leave work behind.
This pages we created for those teachers, who take care for their young children at home and who are on parental leave. They thought, that Petra has enough time to do this page for them - crazy girls.
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 11:41 am
For the filling we needed cream, nougat and hazelnut. I have to look, whether I will find the recipe. Petra's headmaster loves to play the saxophone, so she thought it would be a good idea to draw it on the cake.
When we were ready, we had to do some more handicrafts. This time we had to cut out some water lilies for the windows of the school doors.
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 11:53 am
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 3:00 pm
Here is the front of the album. Sorry, but we can't show the pages, because there are many photos with children.
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 4:00 pm
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 4:10 pm
Posted Aug 16, 2008, 2:17 pm
Petra calls them the falling star nights.
Posted Aug 16, 2008, 5:35 pm
Emmh, Petra. Don't you think, it would be much better to help us turn around? It is easier to watch tv, if you sit with your face to it, isn't it???
Okay, that's fine now. Thanks!
Posted Aug 16, 2008, 6:01 pm
Emmh, Petra told me, that these cakes aren't selfmade.
Later we sat on the oven and listened to everyone talking.
In the evening we enjoyed to sing some karaoke with Petra and her family.
Posted Aug 16, 2008, 6:12 pm
Posted Aug 16, 2008, 6:55 pm
Here we are:
At first I felt very scared, when I read this about the "Button in ear". I shouted out loud: Oh no! I don't want a button in my ear. Please call my mum, please!!!
But then Petra told us, that nothing would happen to us. We just would walk through this museum.
"Okay, I said. A museum. How exciting
"
But later I realized, that it is a really great museum, just like toyvoyagers' paradise. We visited the Steiff-Museum.
At first we listened to the story about Margarete Steiff's life. Then we had to help a girl and a toy to search for 3000 bears, which got lost on the way to the USA.
First we searched in the ocean:
Then we saw ice bears and penguins.
At last we found the bears in a big room:
When we came out of this room, we walked through an exhibition of different Steiff toys.
At first I was allowed to sit next to the penguins and ice bears - a bit scary.
Then I had been allowed to stand between animals, which also live in Germany
We also found some African animals
This elephant is taller than Petra.
Then we walked through another sort of exhibition, where the toys are behind glasses. Petra wasn't that happy about it, because the photos were worse than before and also then the photos weren't really great because of the dark light in the rooms.
At last Petra wrote something into the guest book and also mentioned, that we had been part of the family
Posted Aug 17, 2008, 7:07 pm
The only problem was, that we are really really small and our place was too far away to see him sing. Oh, did I tell you, who we "saw" and whose songs we heard? It was Chris de Burgh.
We had a crazy weather, but happily only a few raindrops on our head. You can see it in the clouds, that it rained heavily not far away from us.
We played hiding in a rucksack at first:
our view:
Posted Aug 17, 2008, 8:00 pm
I think, Burrimul Memu looks rather nice, although Petra isn't that great in taking great photos.
Froggie is really funny with the hat.
Don't you think, that Galaxy Bear is a bit too tall?
Oh yes, Kari. Two hats, what a great idea!
Gina Giraffe looks like a clown. Maybe circus Barum will call soon, who knows.
What do we think about Bruni Lila? I don't know.
Baby uses the hat as a good hiding place. Isn't it funny?
Everyone shouted: No, Bokkie. This hat isn't made for you.
Oh, Nicki Bear recaptured her hat again
Posted Aug 17, 2008, 8:24 pm
Don't be too surprised, but you can't see me in the next photo....
.... because I'm here:
Posted Aug 22, 2008, 6:44 am
I just wanted to let you know, that I left my host family in Bruchsal. They are really good friends to me now and I'm sure, I will miss them too, although I'm really happy to travel again. You know, I'm a toyvoyager.
Petra and her family told me, that they miss me already and that I have to come back one day.
I hope to arrive at my new host's home in one or two days.
Hugs, Bokkie
Posted Aug 22, 2008, 4:36 pm
I arrived at olgamaus' home today. Photos will follow soon.
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Aug 24, 2008, 3:36 pm
Emmh, no Petra! You took this photo, when we were on our way to Giengen. Please take a look, there should be another one too.
Yes, that's the right one.
Posted Aug 25, 2008, 8:21 am
But here I nearly felt like being at home again:
Then we went shopping in a big shopping center in Karlsruhe.
Petra told me, that she never had been in a shopping center like this.
Posted Aug 25, 2008, 8:41 am
Here we are on the road, still driving
There is a small railway driving up the hill. I'm sorry, but somehow Petra forgot to take a photo with me included.
Here we are standing in front of the tower and reading the sign:
This tower is the rest of a castle, which was built in 11th century by Earl of Hohenberg, enlarged in 12th century and destroyed by Konrad von Lichtenberg, bishop of Straßburg in 1279 A.D. The donjon was built between 1230 A.D. and 1250 A.D.
On the right you see the small hills and on the left the Rhine valley. If you drive through these towns, which you see here, you will arrive in Bruchsal.
In the far you see the Palatinate Mountains
View over Durlach and Karlsruhe
Posted Aug 25, 2008, 8:47 am
Then it got dark and we asked Petra, whether we were allowed to join her sleeping on the balcony again. We saw many falling stars that night - it's a pity, that we hadn't been able to take photos of them.
Posted Aug 25, 2008, 8:51 am
Here you see a view from the balcony.
You can be sure, that I was a bit in fear to fall down. We were in the fifth floor and it was really high, so I just slipped out of the photo
Posted Aug 25, 2008, 11:30 am
I arrived in Remscheid today. I was welcomed by my new host Katja, Fester, Lollipop and Lady. Katja was already wearing her walking shoes to take a walk with her friend when she found my envelope.
Posted Aug 25, 2008, 11:39 am
You can also find fishing ponds here.
We reached a restaurant which is located here for more than 100 years.
Here you can see me standing in the beautiful landscape.
You can also find a small dam for drinking water in the forrest. Here we are standing on the dam.
I saw cows.
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 climbed into Katja’s bagpack.
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Aug 25, 2008, 11:59 am
today Katja and another friend took us on 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.
We looked for daisies to make me a daisy chain but I think it’s already too late in the year for daisies. We found some other beautiful flowers along our way from wich Katja made a crown for me. Have a look how beautiful I’m looking:
We saw many fruits, for example elder-berries and rosebuds.
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.
Katja’s friend had coffee and muffins for us. They were delicious. We were all tired now.
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Aug 27, 2008, 9:09 pm
today we took a walk in the afternoon through one of the valleys. Behind the bushes in the foreground a creek is running. Last year they had a horrible rainfall here in August, the whole valley was overflooded then.
I saw goats on a farm.
We rested for a while between the roots of a large tree.
Without a doubt Remscheid does not only consist of forrests, fields and beautiful valleys. Remscheid is an idustrial town.
Here you can see one of the arterial roads and the building site of the new central station.
We walked back to our home along the "Werkzeugtrasse" (Route of tools). I'll tell you more about this special lane later.
Along this route you can find many artwork made of tools. This statue is made of varnished decay from punched parts. Can you see us?
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Aug 30, 2008, 3:06 pm
today we took a walk in another forrest. Remscheid is surrounded by forrests so there are lots of forrests I haven't seen so far. Since I saw the area arount the central station I prefer forrests.
We walked along a small farm
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.
I love that golden light in late summer.
We saw Schloss Burg, a medieval castle which was built in 12th century. Maybe we will visit this castle some day.
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Aug 31, 2008, 7:37 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. A few excursion boats were waiting for passengers.
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
Bokkie
Posted Sep 2, 2008, 7:57 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 on the pillar is the heraldic animal of Remscheid.
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Sep 7, 2008, 8:36 am
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.
Some fire engines were ready for a case of emergency.
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.
We also found those cute little bears.
Later we walked through the old town. Let me show you some nice places.
Many fences are overgrown, some of them with grape-vine.
We went to the apartment of Katja's sister then. On the balcony we made a group photo with the three new possible ToyVoyagers.
Now we are all debating about names for those three new friends.
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Sep 9, 2008, 2:33 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 do something really important before.
Katja and BlackCat both had some retired Teddy Bears. In summer, when they met in Essen, they decided to send some of the Bears to Threadbear. Today Katja put the Teddy Bears into a package. I had to take care that all bears were lying comfortably. We also packed some sweets for Threadbear into the box.
All these bears are on their way to South Africa now.
Ready!
The little Teddy Bear waved good-bye to his friend. Both were rescued by Katja on a flea market on Saturday. Teddy's friend decided to travel to South Africa when I told him that they have lots of sunshine there.
When the package was pasted and labeled we went to the post office first. We also had to buy a lot of stamps.
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.
These are some of the tool symbols on the ground. You can find them where roads have to be crossed.
When we left this route we had to walk straight uphill to get to the muncipal park.
This is the observatory.
The next pictures were made in the park.
This pillar is a memorial place for citizens of Remscheid which died as soldiers in previous wars before world war I.
In the middle of the next photo you can see the district where the post office is located.
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
Bokkie
Posted Sep 9, 2008, 8:19 pm
Katja showed us more of the "Route of tools" today. The weather was fantastic.
When she came home from work she brought an envelope with her. Moley arrived today.
In the afternoon we went outside.
From the windows of our living room we can see a church. We wanted to see this church. However it is not possible to take a good photo in summer. The church (Martin-Luther-church) is surrounded by large trees so we had to take a picture from a distance. This church is an evangelic church and was built in 1893 in the New Gothic style.
Then we walked to the route of tools. At a crossroad you can see these large signs. The first one is showing the crest of Remcheid and a few explanations about the route of tools, the other ones are showing brand labels and products of famous companies in Remscheid.
To give you an imagination how these signs look we took a photo of the shadows those signs make on the ground.
These pictures were originally made by a local artist who died in 1988. The graffiti were made by someone who was propably born after 1988 because this building is standing here for only three years now.
Along the route you can find abandonded factory buildings, at least some of them look as if they were abandonded. In the background you can see the church I showed you before.
This is part of the former slaughterhouse. This complex is under preservation order. Nowadays these buildings are used by different companies.
Today I can show some more artwork. We saw a bank that was made of the axis of an old water wheel and an original sleeper.
We even met the artist who made this bank and also the other one, made of a screw clamp. He asked Katja why she took a photo of the bank (it seems that this does not happen often). She explained the idea of ToyVoyagers to him, he seemed to like it.
We went home then.
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Sep 11, 2008, 2:38 pm
today Katja's colleague Elke invited me to accompany her playing skittles.
Skittles is an old European target sport, a variety of bowling. You have 9 pins and balls in several sizes. Skittles is mostly played in pubs and restaurants.
It was nice from Katja to allow me to go with Elke this evening.
Here we are on our way to Leverkusen with much traffic on the streets.
I made myself comfortable on the dashboard and enjoyed the trip.
Let's have a look at the motorway. Is there any traffic jam? A little bit, we'll try to get on quickly.
From the rear window I could see Remscheid disappear. The town is already far behind.
By the way, I'm going with Elke. Where? Playing skittles!
When we arrived in Leverkusen I was very thirsty and I tasted Elke's beer.
I was also hungry. We had bread and curd. In Germany you often get bread and butter or curd in a restaurant as a gift from the kitchen before your dinner or lunch is served. It's called "Gruß aus der Küche", the original french words for it are "amuse gueule". I don't know if it is also usual in South Africa.
The skittles club that I joined today is called "The wilde ones". They even have their own pennant. All members are ladies. They all are really dear to me and they are not wild, except for one ... More will follow.
This is the large board where the score is written. At the end of the evening the score will be written into a large book. Then the ladies will have to pay ...
You can chose several games on the control desk.
These are the balls that you use. They have several sizes and of course different weight.
I wanted to see everything really close. Unfortunately I did not think about the skittling laldies and it almost came to an accident. Thank God I am a springbock! I was faster than the approaching ball.
The skittling ladies are planning on doing something big. They intend to become masters of the city I'll keep my hoofs pressed for them!
It's already late evening, the moon is shining bright. I'll go to sleep now (yes, I spent the night at Elke's home).
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Sep 14, 2008, 11:58 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.
This time we walked underneath the railway track, close to our destination.
Suneshine in the forrest ...
A view from above to the pit ...
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 15, 2008, 12:10 am
We had to walk downhill really steep to get there. You can see many old houses here.
Doesn't look this house, overgrown with wine twines, look beautiful?
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.
I saw this walnut tree here.
From here we walked to Muengsten Bridge.
Posted Sep 15, 2008, 12:21 am
Four bums:
Here I'm standing exactly underneath the bridge.
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
Bokkie
Posted Sep 18, 2008, 5:41 pm
today Katja took me, Hueso and Lady with her in the morning. The weather is getting better just in time for the weekend. So she wanted to show us a little bit more of the town centre because we all 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.
Here I am sitting in the mail box of Katja's boss.
On our way back to the office we enjoyed the morning sun although a cold wind was blowing.
Now you will see a bit more of the town centre with the shopping mall.
Katja had ordered her own ToyVoyagers-postcards. They arrived this week - they are beautiful. I was allowed to send one of them to you.
It was hard to decide which one I should send to you. I like both cards and on both cards there's a photo of me. When I will travel to Eryah she will get the other card. On both cards are photos of her ToyVoyagers, Pip and Desmond.
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Sep 21, 2008, 8:20 pm
today we helped to make dinner for the pet rats. Katja is keeping 6 pet rats.
They are fed in the evening. They have some fresh fruits and vegetables then and their usual rat food .
They have sweet corn, cucumber, red grapes, some peas and yoghurt with apricot.
The rats were eating then. They did not care about us sitting next to them.
The black rat is Matilda and the one with the agouti coloured face is Jordan.
This is Karla, she was born on 21st April 2008, she is Matilda's daughter.
The rats are really cute.
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Sep 21, 2008, 8:33 pm
today we took a walk to the neighbour town Wuppertal. Katja met her friend at her home. They wanted to visit an exhibition there.
These marks are showing hiking trails. The "W" means a trail around Wuppertal which is about 120 km long, the "R" means a trail around Remscheid, which is also called "Roentgenweg", it is 63 km long. "A1" means a shorter hiking trail which starts at one of the parking lots here.
Gelpetal was given it's name by the creek Gelpe which is running through this valley. When you follow the main path through the valley you will reach Wuppertal after 4 or 5 km walking.
In the valley you can only find a few houses.
Many old houses still have such a door knocker. They were used before electricity was available. They are often showing a lion because you can find a lion in the crests of Remscheid and the surrounding towns.
Posted Sep 21, 2008, 9:14 pm
Tony Cragg is a British-born sculptor. He was born in 1949. He bought the estate which contains a lot of woodland and a villa two years ago to build a sculpture park there.
The villa was built in the 1940s by a manufacter who made varnish. The villa was built according to anthroposophic guidelines, without any right angles. The building is under monumental protection today.
In the woodland many sculptures mady by Cragg are installed. The exhibiton as opened in August 2008.
On the path to the villa you can see several sculptures already, but you have to pay entrance-fee to see all of them.
The sculptures are made of several materials. Some of them are made of metals, bronze for example, and marble and sandstone.
This is a view over the city of Wuppertal.
This is the entrance to the exhibiton
and this is the villa.
From here you can walk through a large park with all the other sculptures.
It is a wonderful scenery.
Most of those pillar shaped sculptures a some metres high.
In this glass house some other works of the artist are shown.
It was very interesting.
To get home by bus we had to walk to the town centre.
Here we saw the Schwebebahn, a monorail Suspension Railway. 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.
We were close to the station County Court.
Here you can see the trains.
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Here we are all sitting on a bridge railing.
I will travel to the Netherlands tomorrow. I hope I will arrive there soon!
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Sep 22, 2008, 8:14 pm
I'm on my way to the Netherlands now. It propably will be a short trip.
Bye
Bokkie
Posted Sep 25, 2008, 2:18 pm
Today i arrived in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. The first time i was in Holland i were with Marije and i heard my host is a good friend of hers. So i think i'm gonna have a great time here!
While i still was sitting in my envelope, someone was whaiting for me..
It was Amelie! She's a very sweet TV.
We told each other about our adventures. It's great to hear how other animals experience toyvoyaging.
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Sep 25, 2008, 2:22 pm
Today I asked Eva to tell me everything she know about Alkmaar and the Netherlands. She told me some interesting stories!
Alkmaar
Alkmaar is above all Holland's cheese town. During the season from the first Friday of April to the first Friday of September a traditional cheese market is being held here on Friday mornings between 10 and 12.30. The cheeses are sold by dealers on a clap of hands. Thereupon the 400 year old cheese porters' guild goes into action, carrying the cheese off on barrows after the lot has been weighed at the Waag (the official scales). In the Waaggebouw - in which the scales are housed - a cheese museum that tells everything about dairy farming has been established.
Cheese has been weighed in Alkmaar since 1635.
Alkmaar is historical with around 400 monuments. The Waag, dating back in its earliest form to the 14th century, the 16th century town-hall, Grote St. Laurens Church and the many courtyards, facades and canals give the town an ambience all of its own. With the past as a setting, the town has a modern stock of shops offering a wide choice. Besides the predominantly small shops in the old centre, the Noorder Arcade with large scale shopping facilities stands by the side of the Noord Holland Canal.
Alkmaar is the biggest town in the region. Relaxation can also be found in the Geestmerambacht recreational area close by.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland]) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean. The Netherlands is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy, located in Western Europe. It is bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east.
The Netherlands is often called Holland. This is formally incorrect as North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are only two of the country's twelve provinces. As a matter of fact, many Dutch people colloquially use Holland as a synecdoche, being well aware of the widespread use of this name. For more on this and other naming issues see terminology of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying and densely populated country. It is popularly known for its traditional windmills, tulips, cheese, clogs (wooden shoes), delftware and gouda pottery, for its bicycles, its dikes and surge barriers, and, on the other hand, traditional values and civil virtues such as its classic social tolerance. But primarily, the Netherlands is a modern, advanced and open society. An old parliamentary democracy, the country is more recently known for its rather liberal policies toward recreational drugs, prostitution, homosexuality, abortion, and euthanasia. The Netherlands is also one of the most densely cabled countries in the world; its internet connection rate is 87.8%, the 2nd highest in the world.
The Netherlands has an international outlook; among other affiliations the country is a founding member of the European Union (EU), NATO, the OECD, and has signed the Kyoto protocol. Along with Belgium and Luxembourg, the Netherlands is one of three member nations of the Benelux economic union. The country is host to five international(ised) courts: the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. All of these courts (except the Special Tribunal for Lebanon), as well as the EU's criminal intelligence agency (Europol), are situated in The Hague, which has led to the city being referred to as "the world's legal capital."
A remarkable aspect of the Netherlands is its flatness. Hilly landscapes can be found only in the south-eastern tip of the country on the foothills of the Ardennes, the central part and where the glaciers pushed up several hilly ridges such as the Hondsrug in Drenthe, the stuwwallen (push moraines) near Arnhem and Nijmegen, Salland, Twente and the Utrechtse Heuvelrug.
Religion
Main article: Religion in the Netherlands
The Netherlands is one of the more secular countries in the Western Europe, with only 39% being religiously affiliated (31% for those aged under 35), although 62% are believers (but 40% of those not in the traditional sense). Fewer than 20% visit church regularly .
According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005, 34% of Dutch citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 37% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 27% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".
In 1950, before the secularisation of Europe, and the large settlement of non-Europeans in the Netherlands, most Dutch citizens identified themselves as Christians. In 1950, out of a total population of almost 13 million, a total of 7,261,000 belonged to Protestant denominations, 3,703,000 belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, and 1,641,000 had no acknowledged religion.
However, Christian schools are still funded by the government, but the same applies for schools founded on other religions, nowadays Islam in particular. While all schools must meet strict quality criteria, from 1917 the freedom of schools is a basic principle in The Netherlands.
Three political parties in the Dutch parliament (CDA, ChristianUnion and SGP) base their policy on the Christian belief system.
Culture
Erasmus (1466–1536).The Netherlands has had many well-known painters. The 17th century, when the Dutch republic was prosperous, was the age of the "Dutch Masters", such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, Jacob van Ruysdael and many others. Famous Dutch painters of the 19th and 20th century were Vincent van Gogh and Piet Mondriaan. M. C. Escher is a well-known graphics artist. Willem de Kooning was born and trained in Rotterdam, although he is considered to have reached acclaim as an American artist. Han van Meegeren was an infamous Dutch art forger.
The Netherlands is the country of philosophers Erasmus of Rotterdam and Spinoza. All of Descartes' major work was done in the Netherlands. The Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) discovered Saturn's moon Titan and invented the pendulum clock. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and describe single-celled organisms with a microscope.
In the Dutch Golden Age, literature flourished as well, with Joost van den Vondel and P.C. Hooft as the two most famous writers. In the 19th century, Multatuli wrote about the bad treatment of the natives in Dutch colonies. Important 20th century authors include Harry Mulisch, Jan Wolkers, Simon Vestdijk, Cees Nooteboom, Gerard (van het) Reve and Willem Frederik Hermans. Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl was published after she died in The Holocaust and translated from Dutch to all major languages.
Replicas of Dutch buildings can be found in Huis ten Bosch, Nagasaki, Japan. A similar Holland Village is being built in Shenyang, China.
Windmills, tulips, wooden shoes, cheese and Delftware pottery are among the items associated with the Netherlands.
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Sep 25, 2008, 2:32 pm
I really wanna show you some pictures of Alkmaar and the Netherlands.
The Netherlands
This is the flag of the Netherlands
The Netherlands is a small country next to Germany and Belgium. On the left side lies the Nordsea.
Here you can see the Netherlands and the biggest towns. Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands.
Alkmaar
The flag of Alkmaar
The weapon of Alkmaar
The map were you can see Alkmaar
This was the map of Alkmaar in 1652
The cities wich lies next to Alkmaar
and last but not least: the city hall of Alkmaar
I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Sep 25, 2008, 4:55 pm
here i am again, because i really wanna tell you something.
My new host is a very strange lady.
We wanna suprise her, so we decided to vacuum clean the house:
Suddenly Eva start screaming. We had no idea what was going on, and run to her and asked what was wrong. But she kept screaming and we tried everything to calm her down. The only thing she did was pointing to a book on the table. We decided to take a close look:
First we still didn't understand what was going on. Why are you screaming to a book? Till we saw the name on the book. It was her own book! After years of writing and try to get her book published it finally succeed. Eva her book is in the shops since today, so now we understand why she screamed so loud. To be honest: i still hear a strange beep in my eares.
After we calmed her down we wanna help her cook a meal. We thought she wasn't able to do it herself because of all the emotions.
Tadaaaaa:
I'm gonna tell you in dutch words what this is:
- spinazie met ei
- gebakken aardappels
- kaassoufle
I know it looks very weird, but it taste delicious!
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Sep 28, 2008, 3:53 pm
The last few days i was making a suprise for you.
We collect al kind of items that represents the fall.
Here in Holland it's rainy, windy and cold in the fall. Trees losing their leaves and other stuff, so we had a lot of items to make the suprise. Mirdin was helping us because on his school they also collect items to make a table special for the fall.
Here's the suprise:
I hope you like it.
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Sep 29, 2008, 5:45 pm
Today we went to the Geestmerambacht.
This is a recreation area with a big lake and lots of beautifull fields around it.
First we climbed up on this mountian:
Dharma (Eva her dog) was also with us:
The view on the mountain:
This is me again
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 4, 2008, 12:43 pm
Today we played a game on the computer all day long.
It is called Diamond mind and it's very cool to do!
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 4, 2008, 12:48 pm
Today we found Eva crying on the couch.
Serious: what an emotional girl. First the screaming we had a few days ago, and now this.
We asked her what was wrong....
She cried because Coldplay have a concert this evening and tomorrow and she couldn't be there. To comfort herself she decided to watch a dvd with a live concert on it.
But it didn't comfort her, it make her even more sad than she allready was.
To make her happy we watched it with her and sing along with the dvd.
It cheers her up. Luckely for us...
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 4, 2008, 1:02 pm
Today we played hide and seek.
It always fun to play this game.
First Amelie hide in the plant. Every time I came near her, she hide behind the leaves of the plant.
Finally I found Her. Now it was my turn to hide.
Amelie couldn't find me. I hide myself in the fridge. I thought that was a good idea, but it was so cold! I start beeping, because i really wanna get out. When Amelie finally opened the fridge I said: 'Finally, it was so c-c-c-cold in here'.
Eva and Amelie warmed me up in towels and after that it was Amelie her turn again. I couldn't find her. I searched under the couch, in closets etc. Till i heard her laughing. She was doing exactly like a yogi man. No wonder i couldn't find her!
My turn again. This time i picked a warmer spot.
Unfortunally Dharma gave the place i was hiding away, grmbl...
It was a great day!
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 4, 2008, 1:06 pm
The last two days it rains a lot here in the Netherlands. Yesterday there was also a thunderstorm.
But today we finally see the sun again! Behind the window it's hot, so we decided to enjoy the sun there.
Tomorrow it also gonna rain the whole day, so we gonna sit here now it still can.
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 7, 2008, 4:08 pm
We went to 'Korenmolen 't Roode hert' (translation: mill the red deer) in Oudorp/ Alkmaar.
It is the thirth mill standing on this place.
The first was burned down in 1817. The second one was burned down because of firework on september 15th 1924.
The mill you see now is build in 1925.
In this mill they make the ingredients to make bread. They are thinking about move the mill 300 meter from the place it stand now because the new stores in this area keep the wind away, and a mill needs wind to work perfect.
They are gonna do this is 2011/2012.
Here i am, standing in front of the mill, and we went sneaky inside it, till we get caught. Unluckely we have to leave the mill, but luckely we allready made some pictures.
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 7, 2008, 4:11 pm
I allready heard that the people in the Netherlands ride on a bike a lot. They learn it to their children almost before they can walk and lots of people go to their work on a bike.
But the moment i saw this, i was very suprised....
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 7, 2008, 4:18 pm
Today we went to the dutch Burger King.
Off course i wanna sit in the bag and show it to you.
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 7, 2008, 4:25 pm
Today we eat a typically dutch snack called kaassoufles and kroketten. It taste very strange in the beginning but after a few bites it was delicious!
I also learned some dutch words.
Bites = Hapje
Delicious= Heerlijk
Strange= Raar
Cheese= Kaas
Fridge= Vriezer
Strawberry= Aardbei
Sweet= Zoet
Sour= Zuur
Spoon= Lepel
Knife= Mes
Plate= Bord
Drink= Drinken
Food= Eten
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 17, 2008, 7:29 pm
Today we drived around on the dutch highways. Off course i made a picture of it, to show it to you:
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 17, 2008, 7:34 pm
I'm sorry you haven't heard from me in a week, but it was a very hectic time here. Eva her son went to school for the first time, so it were also exciting times around here.
Today we wanna go to the playground. The moment we arrived it started to rain. And not a little bit, no, it was very hard and there even were some hailstones. We whaited for a couple of minutes and decided to go home.
Hopefully we have better luck tomorrow.
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 17, 2008, 7:42 pm
Today we had better luck!
We finally went to the playground and played a lot.
As you can see we had a great time!
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 21, 2008, 2:38 pm
A new TV arrived here today.
He's joining random act 3: the TV challenge. He was so excited that his adventure has started now. I think we are gonna be good friends. He seems very nice!
His name is *~Mr. Bubbles~*
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 24, 2008, 3:17 pm
Today we went to the Northsea in Bergen aan Zee.
It was raining so hard, that we decided to make pictures and run back to the car as soon as we can.
Here some information about the North Sea:
The North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European continental shelf. It is more than 600 miles (970 km) long and 350 miles (560 km) wide, with an area of around 222,000 square miles (570,000 km2). A large part of the European drainage basin empties into the North Sea including water from the Baltic Sea. The North Sea connects with the rest of the Atlantic through the Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and through the Norwegian Sea in the north.
The North Sea averages about 100 m (325 ft) deep, with a maximum depth of 700 m (2300 ft) and in some areas shallows can be a mere 15 m deep. The North Sea lies above what used to be the triple junction between three continental tectonic plates in the early Paleozoic Era. Movement on the faults associated with these tectonic phenomena can still cause earthquakes and small tsunamis. The sea's coastal features are the result of glacial movements rather than tectonics. Deep fjords and sheer cliffs mark the coastline of the northern part of the North Sea, whereas the southern coasts consist of sandy beaches and mudflats. These flatter areas are particularly susceptible to flooding, especially as a result of storm tides. Elaborate systems of dikes have been constructed to protect coastal areas.
The development of European civilization has been heavily affected by the maritime traffic on the North Sea. The Romans and the Vikings sought to extend their territory across the sea. Both the Hanseatic League and the Netherlands sought to dominate commerce on the North Sea and through it to access the markets of the world. Britain's development as a sea power depended heavily upon its dominance in the North Sea, where some of its rivals sought power, first the Netherlands and finally Germany and to a lesser extent Russia and the Scandinavian nations. Commercial enterprises, growing populations, and limited resources gave the nations on the North Sea the desire to control or access the North Sea for their own commercial, military, and colonial ends.
Its importance has turned from the military to the economic. Traditional economic activities, such as fishing and shipping, have continued to grow and other resources, such as fossil fuels and wind energy, have been discovered and developed.
And here am i in front of the dunes, and in front of the sea:
Big hugs Bokkie
Posted Oct 30, 2008, 9:00 am
Today it was time to say goodbye to Amelie and Mr. Bubbles. They become such good friends of mine. I'm gonna miss them a lot. Maybe we will meet agian sometimes. I hope so!
Bye the Netherlands, USA here i come!
Big hugs Bokkie
guardianicewolf@hotmail.com
Posted Nov 24, 2008, 4:34 am
guardianicewolf@hotmail.com
Posted Nov 24, 2008, 4:41 am
guardianicewolf@hotmail.com
Posted Nov 24, 2008, 4:47 am
After my event Izzy took me out to meet some fellow Springbok! Wait, no, these are to fat to be gracefull leapers, these are pygmy goats!
I got to meet Mama Dale and her baby Darlene, along with Sparkle and Zelena and some other sweet goats.