Aura, Calgary, Canada

Eohippus pikkuaasi@gmail.com Posted Mar 17, 2011, 6:23 pm	Hi everyone! I am Aura and I have just born into this world. We insects we leave our homes very young, and I am allready ready to go and see around a bit. Henna, my mentor, is trying to find some nice host to show me some things. Would you like to be the first one?
Eohippus pikkuaasi@gmail.com Posted Mar 27, 2011, 1:57 pm	Hi! It is Auras mentor, Henna, who is now making this short update instead of Aura herself, who is already on her way to visit her first host.  Aura just asked me to tell that she is very enthusiastic about the coming adventures, and to say she is sorry she didn´t have time to make this update herself. She also asked me to tell that she had already become very good friends with my TV Orkku and our visiting TV Ursel HH, although they only had time to make one short trip together to an island where they had an open fire going on.
RikeH Posted Apr 7, 2011, 8:01 pm	Hi Mum, I arrived in Germany - it was a long trip - but now I am here! Dicker Kumpel gave me a warm welcome. He is the host here - and seems to be a very nice bunny. I was eager to start my life missions and went into the garden to fulfill one of my life missions - to see 50 different flower species. Well, here is the first one - a blue flower: Then we found the first Tulip in the garden - RikeH was very excited. This is a yellow daffodil. I was a little disappointed - only three different kinds of flowers here - I have to search more in the next weeks. This guy was really cool - he lives outside all the year. Later I went inside and talked to the nice Toys here. Ein wunderschöner Marienkäfer - that's my sentence in German! I will write more soon. Love Aura
RikeH Posted Apr 12, 2011, 9:08 pm	Hi Mum, we went to Bad Segeberg, a nice city next to Sülfeld. We decided to walk around this Lake - called Ihlsee. You can see the Lake behind me. There were really big trees there. I really liked this place. The place is a nature protection area. Back home I found some more nice flowers. Do you know the name of this flower? Look, yellow - like my eyes! This tree will bloom next week - I hope. I will show it to you! Here I found yellow and blue flowers. There are many flowers here - more than I  found when I arrived. Many greetings Aura
RikeH Posted Apr 14, 2011, 10:51 pm	Hello Mum, we went to the Baltic Sea - to a place called Travemünde. The weather was really nice in the morning. We walked along the beach. There were beautiful buildings. We had a delicious dinner in this funny chair. I found new flowers here! Later the weather was a little cloudy, but no problem for a ToyVoyager. This is the oldest lighthouse of Germany,  but it was not open. Behind me is a big hotel, we should spend some time here, Mum. Look - this is the photo of the afternoon - it was so windy! The trainstation of Travemünde is funny, on the tower you can see, when the next train to Lübeck will leave. At home we had delicious muffins. Bye Aura
RikeH Posted Apr 22, 2011, 8:02 pm	Hi Mum, This weekend RikeH showed me Sülfeld. It is springtime and I saw a lot of nice flowers and blossoms in different colors. This is the old school. The mayor lives here. I liked this beautiful door. This is the nice church of Sülfeld. On the way back we found some more flowers. Can you remember the tree  I showed you some days ago? It is wonderful now! I found some more colorful flowers in the garden. It’s like paradise with all these flowers! Bye Aura
RikeH Posted Apr 23, 2011, 10:07 pm	Hi Mum, We went to a fair in Hamburg. It was so funny. We saw many things. These sharks were very scary! This slide was built in 1907. It was really funny. There was a big wheel. And a fast  carrousel. I didn’t want to use it. I preferred this one! Bye Aura
RikeH Posted Apr 23, 2011, 10:08 pm	Hello Mum, We went to Hamburg again to see the Port.  First we had a look at the new building of a philharmonics. And I saw a very big ship on the Elbe River. This is the Cap San Diego  - it is a museum now. Behind me you see another museum-ship – it is a sailing ship – the Rickmer Rickmers. These are little boats which pull the big ships. This is a nicer view of the Rickmer Rickmers. This monument is a thank you for the crew of the ship Cap Anamur. They helped many Vietnamese people. I really liked the Port of Hamburg. Many greetings Aura
RikeH Posted Apr 24, 2011, 12:26 pm	Hi Mum, Happy Easter!!! Today it is Easter and I met the Easter bunny. He told me that I should seek for some surprises. But first I talked with some other funny guys hanging around here. Then it was time to seek for some nice things. I found something... ...it is an Easter net, as they say here in Germany. It was a difficult search, so I asked Long Hippo to help me. He gave me a hint. There is a bunny with an egg in his bucket. It is for me! The bunny told me that there will be one more surprise outside. So I went out and found a bunny out of chocolate! What a lot of presents for me! When I sat there, some chicken came. They were so cute! They wanted some chocolate, but it is not good for them - so I gave them some grain. I really hope that you have a great Easter weekend, too, Mum! Love Aura
RikeH Posted May 1, 2011, 8:13 pm	Hi Mum, We went to the Landesgartenschau in Norderstedt. They show a lot of plants there, it will last all summer long. First we listened to a choir. Then we went to the plants. First we saw wonderful rhododendrons. There were many. It was the time of the tulips, so we saw a lot of in different colors. There was a funny exhibition of chicken. They were created by different Countrywomen's Associations. I loved this view. Next to some flowers I met this nice lady bird. We talked a lot – and maybe she will become a ToyVoyager, too. There were some flowers inside a building – of course RikeH had to take photos of me there. I hope you like the photos, Mum. Love Aura
RikeH Posted May 7, 2011, 7:12 pm	Hello Mum, Two new ToyVoyagers arrived today.  Ranil the frog had such a long trip – over a month. We talked a lot. They went out into the garden – and of course I went with them - maybe I will find some more flowers. These are new! And I love the color of this one. In Germany they have a song about this one – called Flieder in Germany. We sang it together – if you want to find it in the web – it is called – wenn der weisse Flieder wieder blüht. Many greetings Aura
RikeH Posted May 13, 2011, 9:10 pm	Hi Mum, We had a party today to celebrate Ranils arrival. First we had a delicious burger! But I preferred the dessert – it was a yummy cake with a lot of cream. After the meal we went to visit Dicker Kumpel ‘s grandma. She has nice flowers on her balcony. I enjoyed the sun there and we took some more photos of me and flowers. And I found a very beautiful flower inside! Love Aura
RikeH Posted May 15, 2011, 9:20 pm	Hello Mum, We went to the Landesgartenschau in Norderstedt again. Can you remember the rhododendron from our last visit? There are more blossoms now. There were many rhododendrons in different colors. We made a stop and heard another choir singing this time. I laughed about this funny person – maybe it is a  straw man. We went to a playground and found lovely sheep! Here you can see all of us TVs – can you find me? We visited the chicken from our last visit again. There were many wonderful flowers. Some were inside a building – I would love to send them to you, Mum! And I found many more. Bye for now Yours Aura
RikeH Posted May 17, 2011, 8:07 pm	Hi Mum, It was time to party today.  Dicker Kumpel’s best friend – Murph - came too. He is a blue alien – and came with his guest Ulrich. We talked a lot and had fun. Later RikeH came and told us that it was time to have coffee and delicious cake. We went to the table – or maybe on the table. Of course we had beautiful flowers for our host for this afternoon. Then I had a delicious piece of cake. It was so yummy! Guess what – it was time for presents then. Murph and Ulrich brought some for us. We looked what was in the baskets. There were really delicious sweets. And wonderful friends of me. Then Murph and Ulrich got presents, too. Look what they got. We had a party all day long! Bye Aura
RikeH Posted May 25, 2011, 11:24 pm	Hi Mum, we made a nice trip this week-end. We went to Krakow in Poland. We walked in the old city and saw this nice gate. I played in the miniature. This is a Part of the old City Wall. We will see more in the next days. Bye Aura
RikeH Posted May 26, 2011, 12:34 pm	Hi Mum, We visited the Wawel Royal Castle today. It is situated on a hill next to the Vistuala River. On the way to the Castle we passed this wonderful church. You see a part of the Castle behind me. It was a very steep way. We had a nice view over the River. And when I turned I had this tower behind me. Religion is important in Poland - and I saw the momument for the pope John Paul II. There was a big cathedral on the hill. When we walked down to the river, we saw this big dragon. He was really scary! Tomorrow we will make a boat trip, this will be fun, I hope. Love Aura
RikeH Posted May 26, 2011, 8:07 pm	Hello Mum, on Sunday we made our promised trip on a boat. It was so great. Can you remember the Castle we saw yesterday? We will see it again. But first you see me on the boat. I had a great place! There was a big abbey next to the river. Then we saw the Castle from the water - it was so nice and big! It was a nice boat trip! In the evening we made a walk on the Main Marketplace. It looked great in the night! Bye yours Aura
RikeH Posted May 26, 2011, 8:29 pm	Hi Mum, today was our last day in Krakow. Yesterday we went over the Main Marketplace - but in the night. Now we saw it during the day! There are wonderful gardens around the city centre. I loved this bridge. And this fountain was so nice! On a big place we found this monument. In the afternoon we had to fly back home. I had fun in the plane. The view out of the window was amazing. Love Aura
RikeH Posted May 26, 2011, 8:36 pm	Hi Mum, RikeH told me that I will travel to my next host now. So I had to say goodbye to Dicker Kumpel. He was such a nice host. We had a lot of fun together. Then I got a big hug by the other TVs here - I will miss them. But now it is time to travel to my next host - I will write soon! Bye Aura
Eohippus pikkuaasi@gmail.com Posted Aug 8, 2011, 8:15 am	Aura the Ladybird left from Germany towards Ukraine but never get there.  Because I cannot believe such a cunning little creature could have got lost, the only explanation seems to be she encountered a flying saucer full of enthusiastic space voyagers from the planet of ladybirds.. I hope she finds a way to communicate with planet earth some day.  Her mentor
Eohippus pikkuaasi@gmail.com Posted Apr 5, 2013, 4:19 pm	Hello, world!  I am a new version of Aura, the ladybird who must have been having interesting adventures in some Ukranian post office almost for two years now, since she never came back home. So, Henna found me on a fleemarket here in Portugal last weekend, and took me home, and after hearing exiting things about toyvoyagers I´m now willing to take the post as a new Aura. I wish I can start soon!
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 17, 2013, 9:29 am	Hello mum, I`m in Delligsen  , pictures will follow.. hugs from Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 18, 2013, 1:33 pm	Halli, hallo, hello, Great day, lazing in the sun when spring is in the air is much better than cleaning cat-toilets! Mum thank you for the good choice with this host in Delligsen. Nice weather, nice TV´s, nice garden with windshelter for a sunbath. After a short trip  I arrived here and Dr. Kröbner and his friends  welcomed me very well and since the first moment its comfortable here. Some of the plushies adore me like a lord and I don´t knew wherefore, till Dr. Kröbner take me aside and tell me why. A few days before all the land was covered with snow and no flowers could grow in this frozen enviroment. Just when the postman brought my travelbox the temperature rise up from 0 to 20degree into one day.  That was the reason, why the other plushies are so hard worker with a big grin into their face. Make the garden duty, spring cleaning, looking frogs with springfeelings  in the gardenpond and so on. Mum this is a funny spot, I like it, Hugs from your Aura a big thank you from Dr.Kröbner and Andrea for the nice souvenirs
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 25, 2013, 7:53 am	bom dia, hyvää huomenta, guten Morgen, Good morning mum last weekend I made a trip through East-Westphalia-Lippe and I follow the touristic path to visit the most interesting tourist features of that area  I started in an old half-Timber-town called Bad Salzuflen with an accommondation. Bad Salzuflen is a spa town and is known for its saltwater springs and thermal baths. In former times the town profited from the salt trade. Many houses of well-off citizens from the 16th and 17th century are preserved. My suite was situated in the upperst level of the Hotel so that I could enjoy the sundown with a marvellous view over the rooftops of the city. next morning Next day I went south-west-ward to climbed on a mountain, there is a big statue,  so big that you can ascend it. The statue call Hermann, it´s the Hermansdenkmal near Detmold.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermannsdenkmal  click for more informations From up there I enjoy an panoramic view across the landscape. Back on solid floor I continued my way to one of the oldest sugarloaf lump of  rock in the middle of Germany, the Externsteine. The Externsteine are a natural outcropping of five sandstone pillars, the tallest of which is 37.5 m (123 ft) high and form a wall of several hundred metres in length, in a region that is otherwise largely devoid of rocks. The geological formation consists of a hard, erosion-resistant sandstone, laid down during the early Cretaceous era about 120 million years ago, near the edge of a large shallow sea that covered large parts of Northern Europe at the time. About 70 million years ago, these originally horizontal layers were folded to an almost vertical position; this was followed by various forms of weathering An old mystic place. During all eras the peoles adore different lords. When we approach the spiritual place it feels like entering a magic circle nice trip  Love from your little ladybug Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted May 5, 2013, 2:25 pm	Hello my mum, a trip to Fritzlar with Andrea and Bzzzzz Fritzlar is a small German town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, 160 km (99 mi) north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. It can reasonably be argued that the town is the site where the Christianization of northern Germany (north and east of the Roman Limes) began and the birthplace of the German empire as a political entity here you see the old church...very old The St. Peter's Cathedral is one of the most beautiful Romanesque-Gothic churches in Hesse. The Cathedral of Fritzlar measures 43 meters (from the basement to the top). He continues to shape the cityscape of the small town in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis (formerly Circle Fritzlar-Homberg). built and rebuilt several times, combines the Cathedral of St. Peter Roman and Gothic styles. In the oldest part of the Fritzlarer Domes are the crypts, which can also be viewed as the Cathedral, ..but not in the moment This is the Monk Boniface he felled the oak, without being met, the expected wrath of the locals Donars and built from the wood a church that was dedicated to St. Peter. This event is considered the beginning of Christianity, not only in this area of the present diocese of Fulda. upps.... The Town Hall in Fritzlar originated in Roman times (also called "bailiwick") and was first mentioned in documents in 1109 The town hall is decorated with a stone relief from the 1441 Holy St. Martin, the patron saint of Fritzlar. Even the rest of town around the market in Fritzlar is determined by imposing half-timbered buildings The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. Thirty-eight meters (125 ft) high, the Grauer Turm ("Grey Tower") is the highest remaining urban defense tower in Germany in this half- timbered house Andrea grew up....long time ago  time for a rest flowers for you mummy  a big hug your little Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted May 12, 2013, 2:24 pm	Hi mum! I visited the biggest Lake in Lower-Saxony, Germany the Steinhuder Meer. Striktly speaking, it isn´t a lake, it´s a sea, because it have no water intake. The Steinhuder Meer is so huge;  the lake is located 30 kilometres  northwest of Hanover. It is named after the nearby village of Steinhude. It has an area of about 30 square kilometres , making it the largest lake of northwestern Germany, but it is very shallow, an average depth of only 1.35 metres  and a maximum depth of less than 3 metres . It lies within a region known as the Hanoverian Moor Geest.   enough facts it have an iland, the Wilhemstein (willystone), it´s located in the middle of the water. By nice weather we sailed with open boats to enter the Wilhelmstein, which housed an old fort, build in the 1760th by the earl of Schaumburg-Lippe (Foamcastle- Lippe)…hihihi…. I also visit the fort and it was a little bit spooky inside by the casemate, where the soldiers lived. look mummy , the first german submarine called Steinhuder Hecht built 1772 The design of the engineer, military officer and professor Jacob Praetorius Chrysostom saw an oak wood construction in the form of a fish with sails and movable tail. The plan should have been put forward in 1762 to Count Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe and was realized after initial rejection in 1772 on the island fortress of William Stone in a stripped-down version. It should be dipped in 1772 in twelve minutes Steinhude. But this may be questionable because of the maximum 2.9 m water depth. Love Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted May 15, 2013, 7:09 pm	Hello mum, Two new visitors arrived in Delligsen first Squab, he'd traveled by train ( as you know  .) Mr.Stanley used the opportunity and took the train home. We all have waved a handkerchief. Rocky has arrived today, he is a little raccoon and has traveled all the way from Spain, but he is a Swiss raccoon. By the way, Mom, we travel soon and guess where we are going. I tell nothing. kisses from your little ladybug Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted May 25, 2013, 7:32 pm	Hello mum, Yesterday evening we started our holydaytrip northwards…  we started at 23h and Andrea / Martin drove throught the night so that we awake in Denmark, just before we crossed a gigantic building: The Store Baelt Bridge. 18km long . The Roadlevel ist 65m height above sea level and the Pylons for the suspension bridge are with 254m the highest points of Denmark. After we had solid ground under our wheels we continued our way toward Malmö/Sweden  In Koge we left the motorway to follow the seaside Highway to Kopenhagen. And  we learned something about a special kind of  junction: Rotary Trafic. And one more Rotary traffic. … and an other one….. yummy we left this horrible road and enterd the motorway again. Suddenly it went dark: The motorway disapeared into a tunnel.  When we see the sun again there was no land behind us, we drove the next bridge, the Oeresund Bridge: not so big as the last but a length of 12 km, a roadlevel of 54m and Pylons of 206m are also very impressive!!!. The next solid ground was Sweden. We passed Malmö where the Eurovision Song Contest  will be start this Evening and continued our trip toward Kullaberg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kullaberg Later we continued our journey northward via Gothenburg and Tollhättan to Vänern Lake.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A4nern We went on a rock at the coast and enjoyed the sundown when we heard a quite scraping and little “tröööööt”s…. We looked prying round and took notice of a little blue elefant!!  A BLUE ELEFANT????? We are not boozed or on an trip, …..pinched me if  I am awake The little blue elefant came closer and and introduced himself as Napoleon. He has lost his wind from hurry up the last time to met us, but we were so fast riders, that it was nearly impossible for him to close up till tonight we all welcomed him and now we are complete for our trip to Norway  more soon from your little ladybug Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted May 28, 2013, 10:53 am	Hello my mummy, Next day we visit a masterpiece od engineering: A part of the Dalslandcanal in  Haverud/Sweden. Over 100 years ago they build a couple of  canal lock and a brigde for the canal over some water rapids. And at the same place they build a railway bridge and a highway bridge…. great…. After gazeing  these constructions we continued our way northward, crossed the norwegian border and looked out to a campside for the night. After a great breakfast we left the campground on norwegian roads northward. Kilometers for kilometers we followed  rivervalleys uphill, crossed bridges with water rapids and suddenly we saw snow!!! In the middle of May! Crazy. We drove up and down, more up as down, stoped at nice lookout points at Rondane National Park, passed wide fjell-areas and closely canyons. At a break between a huge Waterfall and a Water rapid, Rocky Racoon had the idea to take out the Gummischnulli to went riverrafting. We were fascinated from this adventure but hostmum ( Andrea) stopped us because we had no life jackets in case of  disaster.  Deeply disapointed we enter the car again and continued our way northward. Next stop was Kristiansund. There we looked out for a place for the night and enjoyed the midnightsun on the atlantic ocean(sorry not realy, because she dipped unter the horizon for a few hours, but the night was constantly bright) more soon from your little Aura kisses for you mum
Dr.Kröbner Posted May 30, 2013, 4:14 pm	Hello again, Now we continued our Holiday-tour  by drove the new build Atlantic- Highway who followed the atlanticcoast from Kristiansund westward from island to island. Great views and crazy bridges..J. Today the weather wasn´t so fine but we sat dry and  have good windscreen wipers.   After passing Molde and sailed with ferrys we passed Andernes toward the Trollstiegen and Geiranger. Suddenly a boom with the sign: “ STENGT”. What a pity!!  The best we could do, was making pictures in front of a very special traffic sign and returned til Andernes. At touristinformation we get the information, the Trollstiegen will open tomorrow morning. To waste the time, we went to the habour to look nice boats and made a trip into the viewy Romsdal. We gaze at some  waterfalls and rapids (Andrea still forbid the riverrafting) and the Trollveggen (Troll wall) the highest vertical cliff in Europe. At evening we campt on the way toward Trollstiegen. Next morning we scaled the road with lots of switchback to a level of over 1000m above sea level. We followed the smal road covered by clouds and suddenly we came to a canyon and looked down on an other Fjord: Geiranger we stoped to take pictures (the lookouts from the car is much more comfortable, warm and dry) and followed the road with countless switchbacks  to the bottom of the fjord. After short stop at touristinfo by reason fo closed roads we continued our way to Sognefjord. But at first we had to cross the sognefjell, the highest montain pass in Norway. At 1000m above sealevel the temperature fell unter 0° and it start snowing.  We made a break and took pictuers with 10cm fresh-fallen snow… crazy We continued our way by mass of snow and a few kilometre later we are back on sealevel. anybody has pinched my bottom  We passed an other ferry, drove into a tunnel, into a rotary traffic into an other tunnel…… but this tunnel would not end!!!! Suddenly, in the tunnel, the light turns blue!!  We entered a big hall with a parkingplace, here in the underground. Than it went dark and we are back in the tube again.  Lots of kilometer later the same situation: Light turns blue, big hall, tube again…. And the same will followed a third time. After near 20min. driving underground we saw a light at the end of this spectaculary building and it realy was daylight. We are back on the surface again. This was the longest highwaytunnel of the world: 24509 m long. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A6rdal_Tunnel by the way..Andrea has claustrophobia.....she could not took a nice picture in the tunnel , only this blurry one After this adventure we climbed up the next smal road to stay for the night at an other lookout point far over Aurland. thats all for today kisses from Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted May 31, 2013, 5:43 am	Hello mummy We woke up in the early morning and the sun let passing her first beams through the clouds. We looked outside and had marvellous glimpse to the Aurlandfjord: The peaks where covered with snow and on the water a cruise liner passing by. Suitable for postcards. After breakfast we started to the next stop, Flam, from where the worldenmost steeply standard gauge railway starts their destination to Myrdal (The Oslo-Bergen railwy). But the train was crowded with passengers of the cruise liner, we saw this morning. So we changed our plan and drove straight toward our summer cottage at Hardangerfjord. In the afternoon we reached this lovely place and appreciated it with a collective Boaaaah for the great view. hugs from your little Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jun 6, 2013, 10:16 am	Hello my mummy, today we made a trip by ferry and bus to Bergen, the second biggest town of Norway. By wonderfull sunshineweather we went sloppy throught the city and visited the World Cultural Heritage Brygge, the habour Edward Grieg and the nice old township aside of the touristcrowds Mummy, did you know that I have relatives in Norway? I have met a large beetle and I think he looks a little like me  more soon from your little ladybug Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jun 6, 2013, 11:37 am	Hello mummy, Today: lazzing at a sunny afternoon  sooo relaxing  your deep relaxed Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jun 14, 2013, 12:02 pm	Hello my mummy, today we made a trip to the 3th largest glacier of the country. The Folgefonna.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folgefonna_National_Park Normally glaciers are surrounded by cold mass of air, so he took his head in the clouds, what a pity...  So we took pictures at the fjell area below the top Hello, is anybody there ? On the way back we saw this amazing waterfall. by the way ...."a beautiful ladybird".. Norwegian language="en kjempe vakker marihøne" hugs and kisses Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jun 21, 2013, 9:50 am	Hello my mummy, Today: Lazzing at a sunny afternoon again. Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jun 21, 2013, 10:28 am	Hello mummy, Time to explore the surrounding area of the summer cottage. Hostdad found an (old) topografic map with a hiking trail. With gusto we followed the sign of the maps, but as longer the walk so obscure was the trail and it splitted into lots of dirttrack, and they all ends in the moor with wet and swampy underground...Andrea was not amused  typical norwegian companion animals  nice little cottages Relatives of Squab  After a short discussion with yummy cokkies, we decidet to turn back. This was a great luck because by break at a creek with wonderfull clear water we took a refreshment und suddenly there stood an other blue elefant……. he looked like Napoleon and introduced himself as James...Napoleon invited him for a beer at our summer house kisses from your little Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jun 28, 2013, 2:34 pm	Hello mummy, Last night at our summer cottage... we have enjoyed the last time the wonderful view and talked about our time in Norway yours Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jun 28, 2013, 3:27 pm	Today we started homebound. At first we had to cross seven brigdes, some tunnels and ferrys. Our next stop for today should be the rock Preikestolen, a Plateau 600m straight above Lysefjord to get there required a 2 ½ hour mountian hike through a typical norwegian Fjell-Landscape. On the verge of the rock unfortunately Hostmum hurts by climbing a crag  and we had to turn back. What a pity. We continued our journey southward and crossed curious landscapes... next bridge  Huch, rustic tunnel…. last bridge  the last night in Norway yours little Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jul 4, 2013, 11:38 am	Hello my mum, Last day in norway…  and we visit the southernmost point of  Norway. The Lighthouse Lindesnes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindesnes_Lighthouse After enjoing a summerday we drove to Kristiansand Ferry terminal and enter the speed ferry to Hirtshals / Denmark I've discovered my own perfume at the duty free shop  kisses from Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jul 4, 2013, 4:18 pm	Hello again, in Lökken we made a stop at  the huge sandbeach to gaze to the sundown. What a wonderfull ending of this spektacular Holiday… whhoouuu bye,bye Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jul 12, 2013, 11:12 am	Hello mum, at the weekend we made ​​a trip to Bavaria, where we have met many other Tvs. I've looked at Lichtenfels, a lovely little town with many large baskets. Lichtenfels is a town in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the district of Lichtenfels. It is situated on the upper course of the river Main (pronounced like the English word "mine"), approx. 15 km southeast of Coburg, and 30 km northeast of Bamberg, in an area called Gottesgarten am Obermain (God's garden on the upper River Main Lichtenfels is the basket-making capital of Germany and has the only college which still teaches the old craft skills. Each year at the end of September the Korbmarkt (basket market) is held when the town is filled with stalls selling baskets from many countries and one can watch many craftspeople at work. On the Market Place in front of the Town Hall you can see the World's largest gift basket. next stop...Kronach Kronach is a town in Oberfranken, Bavaria, Germany, located in the Frankenwald area. It is the capital of the district Kronach. It is the birthtown of Lucas Cranach the Elder and Maximilian von Welsch, as well as Johann Kaspar Zeuss and Josef Stangl. The town is equipped with a nearly complete city-wall and Germany's biggest medieval fortress (Festung Rosenberg). back in Lichtenfels, Yosemite has baked a cake and we took the chance  to celebrate the birthday of Squab and Rockys farewell with 23 TVs.... I hope I counted correctly  Wavy Gravy, Squab, Mr.Lemony, Lina Napoleon, 3*Euro, Joesy, Mr.Casanova, Fipsy Tiffy, Erol, Kikuchan, Bzzzzz Lady Katherine, Dr.Kröbner, Scruffy, Hùlì hùtù your little Aura, Bubele, Günther, *coco*, Rocky  a big hug for you mom Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jul 20, 2013, 10:28 am	Hello my dear mummy, welcome and farewell time here in Delligsen. First, we welcomed Hase she spend a wonderful time in Switzerland and brought delicious chocolate.yummy then it was time to say goodbye Günther and Bzzzzz. Bzzzzz travels to England and Günther travels to Berlin bye, bye my little friends it was a wonderful time a big hug for you kisses from your little Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jul 31, 2013, 10:52 am	Hello my mum, last Friday we watched TV, the weatherforecast for the weekend. The cute man on the screen told anything about 36°C….. did he mean for the whole weekend – 18° on Saturday and 18° on Sunday? Next morning We´ll knew it better…. It should be 70°C 34 + 36…..quite to hot for plushies, because we can not replace our  collar easily.. …. At first we tried to composite the heat with beer…. (hostmum told us to drink 2ltr. Minimum per day)  but Squab learned the she don´t means 2 ltr. Beer, so he first get drunk and second hangover. Bubele and I just tasted the beer  . At next we tried to cool down by a well, but it was not realy a good recreation. Hase and Mr. Lemony carried an old bathtube into the garden and filled it up with cold water. time for a boattrip on the cold water of the gardenpond…. I`m sailing, I`m sailing.... sing Also Squab tried this cooling down after he could walk straight again on his own feets. the next  day I spend on a water colded lily pad. At noon the temperature raise so high, that only a cold shower  prevent from  overheating. Finaly a thunderstorm stoped the extremly heat in the afternoon and after a while we enjoyed the evening with human and plushy temperatures. I love you mum kisses from Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Aug 9, 2013, 3:39 pm	Hi Mum, I was very busy today .... a long time ago, the plushies in the house have got an old sofa as a gift. It`s  high time to re-upholster this sofa. hostmum has chosen the fabric, she think it's better if the fabric is plain, so you can see us colorful plushies better on it. My task was chosen the cord, it`s not so easy  I must rest Bubele has to fix the fabric, Squab has dealt with a large needle  and Hase is testing the sofa. ... and Dr. kröbner is supervisingus .... and then, believe me mummy, it took a lot of persuasion, but then it was time. Dr. kröbner took a photo of hostmum, hostdad and ​​me on the nearly finished sofa ( by the way, hostmum is very shy  ) tataaa a big hug from your little Aura
Dr.Kröbner Posted Aug 17, 2013, 6:37 pm	Hello my mummy, time for new adventures, you found a new host and I must leave my new friends  , but I`m curious and fond of travelling  and because Hase also continued her travels we celebrated our farewell together, with yummy cookies and blueberries..... I needs my traveltag, Hase helped me  puhh, not so easy... tataaa...done  bye, bye Dr.Kröbner a group-hug with Squab, *coco*, Scruffy, Bubele, Mr.Lemony, Dr.Kröbner and Hase bye, bye maybe we`ll meet again  Japan I`m coming kisses from your little ladybug Aura
cocoaby Posted Aug 19, 2013, 10:32 am	Today, The small packet arrived from Germany. White sea gull said. "I guess it is a new TV guest". Yellow frog said "Please open it". When the envelope was opened, the ladybug was sleeping on the pillow of  mint chocolate candy. Zzz...Zzz...Zzz... She is a cute ladybird Aura from Finland. "moi moi, Hallo!, Hello!". She showed a beautiful postcard and mint chocolate candy to everyone. My new host Yoko said "Dear Dr.Kröbner,Thank you for beautiful postcard and candy". See you soon!
cocoaby Posted Aug 24, 2013, 11:53 am	Today I went to Yokohama Kamiooka in order  to watch some public art statue. I saw boy who were fishing star. I think he fished star to use for christmas tree. Then I see boy that looks like frog. and funny plant . At last I see girl. To be surprising ,she play  danger blanco. this blanco at 15m above floor. These are creation of Yoshitomo Nara(Japanese artist).
cocoaby Posted Aug 25, 2013, 9:25 am	I am reading a book at home. Today I was going to go to  local festivals, but today is rain. So I can not go festivals.
cocoaby Posted Aug 31, 2013, 4:38 am	Now AM9:00, but Japan is a very hot and humid(+33c and 62%) and strong wind. But we went to "Umi-Kaze park"(Umi means Sea, Kaze means wind) by bicycle and my host. We enjoyed playground equipment here. And Many people will visit for fishing and camping and barbecue. You can see uninhabited island called "Saru-shima"(Saru means monkey, Shima means island) in Tokyo Bay from this park . Though it is Sarushima(Monkey Island), monkeys do not live... Why called Monkey Island ? We had good old story, monkey helped great monk Nichiren here 750 years ago. Great monk Nichiren had been drifting at sea. Monkey taught direction of land for Nichiren. He narrowly survived. I went back to the home since we too hot.
cocoaby Posted Sep 1, 2013, 3:06 am	Ohayou gozaimasu ! (Good morning !). At first, I found a beautiful morning glory. Morning Glory is plants that first grade of Japanese student grow in science class first. And we went on a bicycle with my host to the "Tonbo no Oukoku(means kingdom of dragonfly, dragonfly means tonbo, kingdom means oukoku)". Today is very hot, we have a hat of orange blossom. But hat was blown off by strong wind. "Kingdom of dragonfly" is a place where plants were grown while recycling the sewage. There were a lot of dragonfly in there, but they refused to photography, and ran away. I rested a little in leaves of water lilies when sun was very dazzling for me. Then we visited home of ants or cicada, But they are going out. We go back home because so hot here. See you soon!
cocoaby Posted Sep 8, 2013, 2:41 am	Hello! I was learn how to say in Japanese "A beautiful ladybird". "beautiful" is "utsukushii". "ladybird" is "Tentoumushi". "A beautiful ladybird" in Japanese... "Utsukushii Tentoumushi". "I am a beautiful ladybird" in Japanese..."Watashi wa Utsukushii Tentoumushi desu." I could say "Watashi wa Utsukushii Tentoumushi desu." Japanese grammar is different from English, but it is easy for me because pronunciation is similar Finnish.
cocoaby Posted Sep 8, 2013, 4:35 am	Fun days is likely to start today. My host's old son have sports festival at the high school. That sounds fun. I get up AM 5:30. I helped my host that so make a Bento(lunch) for her old son in early morning. It is a special Bento(lunch) today. "Futomaki(Sushi roll)" with fried egg, cucumber, sweetened dried gourd shavings, and called Kanikama(crab sticks). This is the tradition of my host's home, she makes Futomaki for special day. Futomaki was yummy.
cocoaby Posted Sep 8, 2013, 6:39 am	We took a train after we made lunch. You can see subway(Oedo line Tochomae station), We arrived It was Tokyo Metropolitan Government. You can see Tokyo from 45th floor observation deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (height of 202m). There are a lot of public art at around and lot of posters of Tokyo Olympics of 2020. When we visited Tokyo, Host of Olympic was not decided. Today,Olympics has decided to Tokyo!!! Many people are pleased. Banzai!(Hurray!)
cocoaby Posted Sep 8, 2013, 7:12 am	Then We came to "Tokyo Skytree". The Tokyo Skytree is a new television broadcasting tower and landmark of Tokyo. With a height of 634 meters (634 can be read as "Musashi", a historic name of the Tokyo Region), it is the tallest building in Japan and the second tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion. A large shopping complex "Tokyo Solamachi" with aquarium is located at its base. I found interesting that plastic food samples shop in "Tokyo Solamachi".
cocoaby Posted Sep 8, 2013, 7:45 am	We went to a very popular Sensoji Buddhist Temple. Sensoji ("Senso" is an alternative reading for Asakusa and "ji" means temple) is Tokyo's most famous and popular temple. Built in the 7th century, it is also one of its oldest, although the current buildings are postwar reconstructions.
cocoaby Posted Sep 11, 2013, 2:03 am	We went to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is one of the popular museum in foreign travelers. The Edo-Tokyo Museum was founded on March 28th 1993, as the place where we come to learn more about Tokyo’s history and culture, and which also serves as a projection onto the city and the living of the future. You can see, in the Permanent Exhibition area, there can be found original and replicated exhibits, as well as large-scale models, faithful representations of their originals, which had been reproduced after painstaking investigations and research. It is easy to lose track of time when We are in here. We had a wonderful time today. See you later. your Aura
cocoaby Posted Sep 14, 2013, 7:14 am	Hello! Today,Temperature is somewhat sultry 30 degrees. It is because the typhoon is approaching. We came to the Kasuga shrine . Sacred air is there and we can relax. You can see Guardian dogs(called Komainu) in a shrine. A komainu "stone lion" in Chinese and "imperial guardian lion" in English) is an imaginary mythical beast that resembles a dog and lion mixed together. Komainu greeted me with a smile. We had hug and said good bye.
cocoaby Posted Sep 22, 2013, 4:05 am	Konbanwa!(=Good evening!) I could see harvest moon. It is said that On the moon's surface,these shadows looked like a rabbit making rice cakes. Oyasuminasai(=Good night)
cocoaby Posted Sep 22, 2013, 4:29 am	We went to "Kanagawa university of human services." Today is closed because it is Sunday. It was founded ten years ago, This university is a small university. Here, it can learn about nursing or social welfare.
cocoaby Posted Sep 29, 2013, 7:19 am	We went to the "Hiroyama park" in Zushi for one of Prajna's life missions "See Mountain Fuji in Japan". Here is a good scenic spot of view. We could see many monkeys,peafowl, etc.in park. We played in lovely small flower garden. Although it may be unable to see with a photograph, we were able to see the slightly highest mountain "Mt. Fuji" in Japan. Mt.Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. The mountain is 3,776 m tall and famous for its beautiful symmetrical cone shape. The mountain last erupted about 300 years ago.  This year UNESCO added Mt.Fuji to the list of World Heritage sites for its universal and and outstanding cultural value.
cocoaby Posted Sep 29, 2013, 8:20 am	Then, We went to the "Oosaki park" in Zushi, not Sushi. This rabbit statue was made for  Kyouka Izumi(Japanese famous writer), because he loved rabbit. When we were walking along the park, cat seemed to hurry very much. You can see a red cluster amaryllis. It is called Higanbana in Japanese. And,It has a nice view from the Oosaki park.
cocoaby Posted Oct 6, 2013, 1:10 am	Yellow frog Houjicha showed us ad paper. He said "The Yokosuka fish festival will be held at 7:00 of a morning tomorrow. There is gastronomic culture which eats a fish in Japan. If you are interested... " We said "We would like to go!". I don’t want to be a sleepyhead tomorrow.
cocoaby Posted Oct 6, 2013, 1:37 am	Ohayou Gozaimasu!(Good Morning!) It's a gloomy day (+20°c). But many people are visiting the Yokosuka fish festival in the early morning. You can see many colorful flag. This flag called "Tairyo-bata". Tairyo-bata are fishing boat flags that are used to signify a good catch. We could see many fishes.
cocoaby Posted Oct 6, 2013, 4:55 am	I ate a fruit "Kaki" of East Asia. Kaki is one of the typical fruits of autumn in Japan. And, Kaki is the healthy fruit containing vitamin A, vitamin C, carotene, and potassium. It was very smooth and sweet. a proverb, "A Kaki a day keeps the doctor away" is in Japan. It is because vitamin and a mineral are said to be abundant and for a doctor to be unnecessary. When harvesting a persimmon, do not take all. It certainly leaves a few fruits to tree for a wild bird. They have a lot of room for the delicious dessert.
cocoaby Posted Oct 9, 2013, 3:13 am	Hello, mum. Today is hot(27°c/81°F) and windy(10m/s). We decided to read a book and many comic(manga) at home or to watch television. We are reading the textbook of English of the Japanese second-year student (for 13 years old or 14 years old)in a junior high school. There is,Thing of the stuffed animal of bear who traveled all over the world was written. I found a page of description of Finland.
cocoaby Posted Oct 9, 2013, 3:32 am	We reading  "The Lost  Generation Strikes Back". Then, We will read comic(manga) called "March comes in like a lion". "Chihayahuru","NARUTO","One Piece","Silver spoon"and more. What a wonderful time!
cocoaby Posted Oct 9, 2013, 3:48 am	We finished reading the comic book . Next, I decided to watch a TV program. We saw the "TED". Then, I saw a TV program of learning Finnish in Japan.
cocoaby Posted Oct 12, 2013, 9:20 am	Hi Mum, Summer seems to have come back to Japan. It is hot(+31°c) and humid(75%) and windy(15m/s) today. We went out to ride a bicycle for here and there. When strong wind blowing, my host and we shouted "+*-+/#$%&')!" because I feel like it's going to blow me away. We decided back go home. We ate icecream at home! "yum yum yum yum yum, yummy!"
cocoaby Posted Oct 14, 2013, 6:40 am	It is sunny today. This is Yokosuka-Chuou Station. I will go to Yokohama, It takes 30 minutes by train.
cocoaby Posted Oct 15, 2013, 7:44 am	We went to Minato Mirai 21 area in Yokohama. Yokohama is Japan's 2nd largest city with a population of over 3 million. Yokohama is located less than half an hour south of Tokyo by train, and is the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture. Minato Mirai 21 is a seaside urban area in central Yokohama whose name means "harbor of the future". Until the 1980s the area was a large shipyard, but the shipyard moved and development began for a new city center. Minato Mirai is blessed with a great location along the water and has a wealth of attractions. We enjoyed sightseeing and street art.
cocoaby Posted Oct 15, 2013, 8:46 am	We visited The Kanagawa Prefectural Government office. Kanagawa Prefecture is located almost in the center of the Japanese Archipelago, sharing a boundary with Tokyo. It is 2,416 sq. km in area, making it the fifth smallest of the 47 prefectures in Japan. We wanted to meet to Governor of Kanagawa Prefectural. We were disappointed because he was not in here. But security guard said "There is a place of press conference, come on Toy Voyagers! You can see."  He showed for me and take photo with governor.
cocoaby Posted Oct 15, 2013, 8:58 am	Right : Yokohama Customs Left : Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters
cocoaby Posted Oct 15, 2013, 9:52 am	Then we went to Nogeyama zoo. Nogeyama zoo established 1951 in Nogeyama park which located at the hill near the Minato-Mirai 21 area. The area of the zoo is 3.3 ha and park is 9.6 ha. It is small zoo, admission free. I could see many animal,white peacock, tiger, condor and more. See you soon. your little Aura,
cocoaby Posted Oct 16, 2013, 1:44 am	We went to Mikasa park on the way home from work. Today is Health-Sports Day, a national holiday. My host working today despite it being a holiday. October 10th was Health-Sports Day, a national holiday. It was designated in 1966 to commemorate the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics held in 1964. According to meteorological data, this day is usually sunny every year, so it's when many people choose to hold athletic events. From the year 2000, the government changed this holiday to the second Monday of October so that people can have a long weekend.
cocoaby Posted Oct 16, 2013, 6:47 am	I was able to see the rainbow. It was just a few minutes. Rainbow has disappeared in no time. I also sang a little bit. Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby (---The Wizard of Oz---)
cocoaby Posted Oct 16, 2013, 7:11 am	Yellow frog Houjicha taught me Shogi(Japanese chess). Shogi is a game like chess. Shogi is played by two persons. One persons' 20 Koma is used in the game. There is a regular moving direction in each. The person who killed the partner's king is a winner.
cocoaby Posted Oct 16, 2013, 7:28 am	Hi mum, Thank you so much for beautiful postcard from Matcha. It was surprised! His twin brother Houjicha and my host seems so glad. We pray many mushrooms good luck!
cocoaby Posted Oct 20, 2013, 1:16 am	Hello, mom. I'm fine . Typhoon No. 26 is passed through on Wednesday , It brought a big damage in Japan(especialy Izu-Oshima) . My host was talking typhoon is very often in October of Japan . There was a landslide in my host's place Yokosuka. The train will not be able to service , it is company and school was off . And to recover the next day , they has regained life as usual . We had plan to go to Rose Festival in "Verny park" on weekends. However, most of the rose was blown away by Typhoon No.26. We can see beautiful roses, They was beautiful roses to survived the Typhoon No.26. We looked at the orange ship. It was Antarctic research ship " Shirase "(second generation). The name of the ship called "Shirase" was given from Nobu Shirase that went to Antarctica for the first time in Japanese . Weekend, it might be cold and rain in the weather forecast. Then, Typhoon No.27 is approaching Japan. Hope no damage is done.
cocoaby Posted Oct 28, 2013, 6:57 am	Hello, mom. Yesterday, It was 2 typhoons passes through near Japan, bringing rain and  winds. With the typhoon gone, today is clear day! I've come to platform of JR(Japan Railway) Yokosuka Station. I'm going to get on JR Yokosuka Line. Today is sounds like fun.
cocoaby Posted Oct 29, 2013, 7:39 am	We arrived Kita-Kamakura station in Kamakura. Kamakura is small city and a very popular tourist destination. I walked 15 minutes. And I came to Kenchoji temple. Kenchoji is the number one of Kamakura's five great Zen temples. The oldest Zen temple in Kamakura, Kenchoji was founded by the ruling regent Hojo Tokiyori in 1253 during the Kencho Era after which it was named. Its first head priest was Rankei Doryu, a Zen priest from China. Although considerably smaller than during its heydays, Kenchoji still consists of a large number of temple buildings and sub temples, and stretches from the entrance gate at the bottom of the valley far into the forested hills behind. After passing through the Sanmon main gate, visitors will see Kenchoji's temple bell (Bonsho), designated a national treasure, on their right.
cocoaby Posted Oct 30, 2013, 8:50 am	We came to the bamboo forest. What a nice bamboo forest! There are Komainu and frog. We are playing in the flower garden of Persicaria capitata. I like this little flower. Then We can see Tourou(stone lantern), I feel historical Japan.
cocoaby Posted Oct 30, 2013, 11:21 am	We can see Karasu-tengu. Karasu-tengu is a warrior priest, with a black feather and face like a crow's beak, It is a creature of legend, They can fly in the sky freely and they are master of swords, Also  protecting this area. We decided to hike where called Ten-en hiking course. It looks so small Kenchoji temple, we visited temple 30 minute ago. We found acorns("Donguri" in Japanese)  and mushrooms("Kinoko" in Japanese). My host was very pleased when we found Kinoko(mushrooms). She said "We can not finding mushrooms around me, It is really hard.”.
cocoaby Posted Oct 30, 2013, 11:55 am	At the end of today, I went to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. It is Kamakura's most important shrine, founded in 1063. Various events are held at the shrine throughout the year. During the New Year holidays, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu is with over two million visitors one of the country's most popular shrines for hatsumode (the year's first visit to a shrine). I'm having a great time. See you later! Aura
cocoaby Posted Oct 31, 2013, 6:19 am	Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen, Voices whisper in the trees, When witches go riding and black cats are seen the moon laughs and whispers this near Halloween. "Tonight is Halloween! " One by one we knock on the door. Everyone gives us sweets Everyone has a good time Now. its time to have a party. Boo! To You, Too! Happy Halloween! We are bats only tonight.(Of course, Stoker is a real bat.) There is no custom of celebrating Halloween in Japan. However, Recently each of which enjoys in many ways . My host bought us donuts at Mister Donut(Japanese famous donut shop), we ate strawberry ghost donut and Halloween donuts of  Hello Kitty and more. May the magic of Halloween be with you!
cocoaby Posted Nov 10, 2013, 12:38 am	I went to the "Kurihama Hana no kuni"(Kurihama flower garden). Many cosmoses are blooming in this season every year. I heard it was so beautiful. However many cosmoses had been blown away by typhoons this year. Today is "Bunka no hi"(Culture Day), it is national holiday. November 3rd was originally celebrated as a Meiji emperor's birthday. It's also the day when the government grants cultural-service awards to people who have contributed to Japanese culture. And at the Imperial Palace the emperor confers orders of Cultural Merit to people who've rendered special services for the development of Japanese culture.
cocoaby Posted Nov 10, 2013, 1:51 am	I came to Tokyo again by train and subway(Oedo Line). You can see subway map, We arrived It was Tokyo Metropolitan Government. And, You can see Tokyo from 45th floor observation deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (height of 202m) again. It is free and open till 11PM. There are a lot of public art at around. Explore Tokyo!
cocoaby Posted Nov 10, 2013, 8:42 am	I went to a very popular place Asakusa again. Kaminarimon is the first of two large entrance gates leading to Sensoji Temple. First built more than 1000 years ago, it is the symbol of Asakusa. BUT!!! I could NOT see big lantern of Kaminarimon in this time. It was screen of big lantern. The Nakamise shopping street leads from Kaminarimon to the temple grounds, There are many people. The Nakamise shopping street stretches over approximately 250 meters from Kaminarimon to the main grounds of Sensoji Temple. It is lined by more than 50 shops, which offer local specialties and the usual array of tourist souvenirs. I could see Tokyo Skytree from here. The Tokyo Skytree  is a new television broadcasting tower and landmark of Tokyo. It is the centerpiece of the Tokyo Skytree Town in the Sumida City Ward, not far away from Asakusa. With a height of 634 meters (634 can be read as "Musashi", a historic name of the Tokyo Region), it is the tallest building in Japan and the second tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion. And we can see beautiful carps in small Japanese garden. There were a lot of foreign tourists there.
cocoaby Posted Nov 10, 2013, 9:19 am	I went to History Garage of MEGA WEB in Odaiba. MEGA WEB is car theme park by Toyota. 1950s to 1970s vintage cars from around the world on display in a nostalgic town setting, where history comes alive. I can see Time Machine "De Lorean(DMC-12)". Back to the Future!
cocoaby Posted Nov 10, 2013, 11:50 am	Odaiba is a popular shopping and entertainment district island in Tokyo Bay. I went to "DiverCity Tokyo Plaza",This new shopping, dining and entertainment complex opened on last year. Its most unique attraction is the Gundam Front Tokyo with various attractions and a shop centered around the anime series' robots. A "life sized" Gundam statue stands in front of the building.  Then The headquarters of Fuji Television, one of Japan's private, nationwide TV stations. You can see some exhibits on popular programs, buy Fuji TV goods at a shop and access the futuristic looking building's observatory deck housed in the sphere shaped part of the building. At last, I can see called "The Rainbow Bridge", The Rainbow Bridge connects Odaiba to the rest of Tokyo. The two story bridge is an iconic symbol of the bay and is especially beautiful during its nightly illumination. Houseboat has tour under the Rainbow Bridge. You can see our tickets, blue ticket is The Yurikamome The Yurikamome is an automated, elevated train with rubber tires, which connects Shimbashi Station on the JR Yamanote Line with all of Odaiba's attractions and Toyosu Station on the Yurakucho Subway Line. Pink ticket is Tokyo 1 day pass ticket from Yokohama. I had a fantastic time! yours Aura
cocoaby Posted Nov 13, 2013, 10:47 am	That was not all for today!. At late night, someone knocked on the door. We were really surprised! There is beautiful turtle Cassiopeia, alot hugging going on, we gave chocolate because she looks like tired. We talked about Tokyo to her, she was interested reading a guidebook. I would like to talk more to Cassiopeia. Well, I'll go to bed. Night- night.
cocoaby Posted Nov 14, 2013, 7:35 am	It is Stoker's birthday, 582 years old. He looks young for his age. We decided to make a birthday cake for him. Usually, He sleeps late into sunset, We must not  make a noise while his asleep. Mix for flour, make a source of strawberries, add decorat chocolate. It was not easier than I thought, we did our best. I love it. He was very pleased with our birthday cake. I think we did a very good job.
cocoaby Posted Nov 20, 2013, 8:51 am	We went to the Kannonzaki park. Here is a very nice park, but it is a very ghost spot where ghosts meet up in the midnight. Ghost is called "Yuurei" or "Obake" in Japanese. In this tunnel, ghost footsteps, strange white shadow, has been witnessed in particular. I was afraid to walk through the tunnel. When ghost smiling when I looked up at the ceiling of the tunnel, What should I do? Then, we went Kannonzaki lighthouse. There is a oldest lighthouse in Japan. November 1 is the lighthouse anniversary to commemorate the start of construction date of this lighthouse. Collapsed in the earthquake of twice, the current lighthouse is the third generation. I found a cute yellow flower. This flower is Isogiku(Chrysanthemum pacificum). We went home and playing in a little seaside . I heard a strange story from my host . One day, 10 children went to play in this park . But when someone count, 1, 2, 3... there are 11 children. It is each other face that everyone knows . At that time, photo was taken, you look at later ...It was 10 children. But it was 11 children certainly in that place! Would it Who was hell. Kyaaaaaaaaa! yiiiiiiiiipe! It is said that you are hearing a scary story with ghost behind you. Abracadabra!
cocoaby Posted Nov 30, 2013, 12:27 pm	We came to Yokohama, get on 30 minutes by train. Standing 296m, the "Yokohama Landmark Tower" is a marvelous cityscape featuring offices, a hotel, and a shopping mall in the central tower, as well as a variety of facilities. Most people in Japan, not only Christians, They will enjoy Christmas Eve by exchanging presents with family and sweethearts and by eating dinner together. By the end of November, large trees decorate shopping districts and the advertising for Christmas sales in department stores and shopping street arcades, We found a Christmas tree. Then we passed Yokohama Sakuragi post office. Post office is closed because it is saturday. And we came to Yokohama Stadium. Game of professional baseball in Japan will take place in April to October. Unfortunately, I could not watch a Japanese professional baseball game. There seems to be a Little League baseball game today. Boys wearing baseball uniforms had to fun. We had little walking, arrived soon Yokohama park. There are green and yellow and beautiful red leaf Looking at all the beautiful autumn foliage here is such a treat.
cocoaby Posted Dec 1, 2013, 1:15 am	We came to Yokohama Chinatown. Beautiful red lanterns for Chinese New Year was being decorated, and Christmas decorated. The main attraction of the Yokohama Chinatown, however, is the cuisine offered at its many restaurants and food stands. Has a history of 150 years, there is 500 Chinese restaurant  in the narrow and colorful streets of Chinatown. And delicious Chinese cuisine smell from here and there. It smells wonderful! It makes my mouth water. We visited "Kanteibyo" . "Kanteibyo" is a gaudily colored temple in the center of Chinatown. Constructed in 1873 by Chinese residents, it is dedicated to the Chinese god of good business and prosperity. Various events and festivals are held in Yokohama Chinatown, such as Chinese New Year around the beginning of February or ending of January.
cocoaby Posted Dec 1, 2013, 2:06 am	I was a walk in the Yamashita Koen-dori avenue. I think yellow ginkgo leaf is very beautiful . Then we went to Yamashita Park. Yamashita Park is a public park that stretches about 750 meters along Yokohama's waterfront. The park is about a hundred meters wide, and consists mostly of open green space. It was constructed after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Strolling through Yamashita Park, it is hard to miss the massive ocean liner in the water beside the promenade. The ship is called the Hikawa Maru, and was first put into service in 1930 along the Yokohama-Vancouver and Seattle line. The ship had first-class cabins that attracted the likes of the imperial family and Charlie Chaplin for the transpacific journey. In 1960, after 30 years at sea, the ship was retired. It now serves as a museum, with informative displays and interiors in the style of the 1930s. You can see the black-tailed gull aligned on the chain. I was able to see the Christmas tree beautifully decorated in Landmark Tower. Christmas coming soon! I'm getting excited! Mom! See you!
cocoaby Posted Dec 1, 2013, 10:04 am	Today is Labor Thanksgiving Day, national holiday in Japan. But my host is little sick in bed. We went to buy Christmas stamps and Christmas postcard and paper tape to go to the shop for her.
cocoaby Posted Dec 14, 2013, 12:48 am	Hi mom, My host has been feeling under the weather the past few weeks. She got better now. She loves to read the travelog of many toys. So, She learned for the first time "St. Nicholas Day" and the "Advent calendar". Especially, It impressed the Advent calendar, she said "That's interesting!", it bought us the Advent calendar from Czech Republic at imported goods shop. Many people not knows the St. Nicholas Day and Advent calendar in Japan. See you soon!
cocoaby Posted Dec 14, 2013, 11:26 pm	It is sunny day. We came to "Kaminari Jinja" in Yokosuka. "Kaminari Jinja" means "Thunder shrine". Here was built in 1581. There are god of Thunder in this shrine. In Japan, people often regard the spirits or natural forces as gods. We went up stairs, And we prayed safe trip and protect us from lightning and thunder in the future. Ginkgo tree is 400 years old in shrine, it is beautiful seen beginning of December from the end of November. We were coming a little late.
cocoaby Posted Dec 15, 2013, 7:16 am	We came to Takatori(It means hunting hawk)-yama(mountain). It is a small mountain height 139m, you can easily hiking. Geology of this mountain is tuff of the third generation layer. It is easy to process and soft, making it ideal for stone for wall and foundation of the house. Here many quarry stone 100 years ago, It was not have quarry now. Many holes's to rock, it is the trace of Harken struck for climbing practice. Also, We were able to see "Magaibutsu". This Magaibutsu is Maitreya, height 8m, width 4.5m. It was carved out about 50 years ago. We enjoyed the hike.
cocoaby Posted Dec 15, 2013, 7:35 am	We were a little tired after hiking. My host bought for us some sweet donuts, shaped Christmas tree  and Snoopy and woodstock. Shaped Christmas tree is chocolate and strawberry chocolate, Snoopy is white chocolate taste, woodstock is lemon chocolate taste. When I actually ate it, I found it tasty.
cocoaby Posted Dec 18, 2013, 6:46 am	I went to "Yokohama Bayside Marina", located 30 minutes from my host's home by car. This marina opened 1996, Japan's largest marina with capacity of 1,500 boats. Currently mooring about 1,200 boats. Situated midway between Tokyo Bay and the open ocean, it is a prime spot for fishing and cruising, also a visitor's pier for many people to enjoy every weekend.
cocoaby Posted Dec 22, 2013, 12:50 am	We went to the Yokosuka city museum (Admission free) today! Although that was a small museum, it was enough to see the life of Japanese people's ancient times. I saw the skeleton model of naumanni,Then, we relaxed sitting together on the veranda of the house of the old fisherman. There was a "Irori"(fireplace) in the living room, square place floor, to cause charcoal and firewood on the ashes, also we have warm here, and can cook. Then I saw a textile machine for weaving yarn into a textile, Farming equipment, fishing equipment, and burial mounds. I was able to see beetles and jewel beetle, a beautiful butterfly at the exhibition floor of the organism. If you were not good at insect you should not better see it. shellfish and giant crab was very interesting.
cocoaby Posted Dec 22, 2013, 12:52 am	Today is "Toji"(winter solstice) in Japan. It is the time when the day time is the shortest and the night time is the longest. In Japan we have a custom to bath with "Yuzu"(kind of Japanese citrus) and eat pumpkin on Toji. If you do so, it is said you won't get a cold. In Japan we soak in the warm water (about 40-42 degrees centigrade) to relax every day. There are many kinds of bath powder to enjoy the fragrance or effect. Yuzu is very good smell.
cocoaby Posted Dec 28, 2013, 12:58 am	We looked Japanese calendar. December 23 became a national holiday to celebrate the present Emperor's birthday in 1989. Christmas was originally an annual Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and is a widely observed holiday around the world, but it is not a national holiday in Japan. With best wishes for Merry Christmas.
cocoaby Posted Jan 1, 2014, 1:02 am	Hello mom. New Year holidays start!!! Most businesses shut down from December 28 to January 5 in Japan, and families typically gather to spend the days together. With end of Year coming soon, My host decided to give her room a makeover. So we visited to IKEA that shopping and get idea. IKEA is a furniture store that is very popular in Japan.
cocoaby Posted Jan 1, 2014, 1:25 am	I went to the "Shinyokohama Raumen Museum" . The "Shinyokohama Raumen Museum" is a unique museum about ramen, a very popular Japanese noodle dish which was originally introduced from China. Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum was founded on March 6th, 1994 as the world's first food-themed amusement park. Nine ramen shops are showcased in a street-scape replication from the year 1958, Japan. It was in this year that the world's first instant ramen was invented. We ate ramen finally. Their soup here is a mixture of chicken bone and seafood with a flavor that invokes the essence of the ocean, and the noodles they use are special, medium-fine and wavy. It was so good!
cocoaby Posted Jan 5, 2014, 12:05 am	This is kind of dried fruit called "Korogaki", dried fruit of Kaki(Japanese persimmon), it is one of food of winter.
cocoaby Posted Jan 5, 2014, 12:23 am	This is "Kagami mochi", it is shaped from rice cake of New Year. "Kagami mochi" literally means "mirror rice cake." It is one of traditional decorations for Japanese New Year, and the name "kagami" came from its resemblance to an old-fashioned copper mirror. This is ornament of "Kagami mochi". That's interesting.
cocoaby Posted Jan 5, 2014, 12:32 am	I ate Japanese noodles eaten on the last day of the year called "Toshikoshi-soba"(New Year's Eve Buckwheat Noodles). Eating buckwheat noodles, and wishing for longevity has remained as one of the good old traditions of the night. The most commonly held explanation for the origin of Toshikoshi-soba is the wish for a "slim but long and healthy life," like buckwheat noodles. Then I ate Sushi and cake. I am stuffed.
cocoaby Posted Jan 5, 2014, 1:23 am	Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu(A Happy New Year) !!! New Year (oshogatsu) is the most important holiday in Japan. Homes and entrance gates are decorated with ornaments made of pine, bamboo and plum trees. Many Japanese decorate the front door of shops, company buildings and houses with a pair of "Kadomatsu" during the New Year holidays. "Kado" means a gate and "Matsu" means a pine tree. "Kadomatsu" is a decoration consisting of bamboo and pine branches and symbolizes longevity and prosperity. It is said that this is the appropriate way to welcome gods. We ate a lot of New Year dishes. Zoni( or Ozoni) is a kind of soup with rice cakes(mochi). Ingredients vary according to each area. Fish paste, black beans, and Chawanmushi. Chawanmushi is cup-steamed egg custard with chicken,  and vegetables. And I ate Sukiyaki. "Sukiyaki" is a Japanese dish in the nabemono (Japanese steam- boat) style. You can see  "Hamaya". Hamaya is an arrow-shaped goodluck charm.  It is said to ward off evil spirits and bring in happiness.  Hamaya is sold at the shrine during the New Year's holidays. Horse is drawn to Ema(votive picture) because 2014 is horse year. May the New Year bring many good things to you !
cocoaby Posted Jan 5, 2014, 4:26 am	I ate "Wagashi". Traditional Japanese confectionery called Wagashi, made from azuki bean paste and fruits, have a delicate sweetness that dissolves in the mouth. Intended to please the eye as much as, they are crafted to reflected the four seasons. Then we enjoyed"Game of Life". It is popular board game.
cocoaby Posted Jan 5, 2014, 8:21 am	We went to Jogashima Island park. I saw "Umanose Doumon", It has been eroded Rock by the sea. It was a strange rock form of 8m height. Then I went to see the Jogashima lighthouse. Jogashima is habitat of kurosagi and Japanese cormorant here. They are black birds, build nests in rock reef wall. Let's expansion! Do you can see they? We found a statue and flower of aloe and narcissuses with a walk in the beach. Narcissus was good sweet smell . You can see Jogashima Island map. I wanted to look for treasures in shattered shells. It was not possible to find unfortunately. We went to Awasaki lighthouse. It was unique lighthouse. There were people who are fishing!
cocoaby Posted Jan 15, 2014, 2:44 am	Hi, mom. Unfortunately, I was not able to go out together weekend because my host was very busy. I'll show you one of Japanese winter food called "nabe (hotpot)". The year's first nabe "Sundubu" is a popular Japanese hotpot with Korean flavours. In this case we used pork, shimeji mushrooms, tofu, and negi. Finally we eat sundubu with cheese and udon noodles. It is easy to warms the body.
cocoaby Posted Jan 22, 2014, 7:41 am	Hello! We came to The Imperial Palace East Gardens, Otemachi of Tokyo by train. The Imperial Palace East Gardens are a part of the inner palace area and are open to the public. They are the former site of Edo Castle's innermost circles of defense, the honmaru (meaning "main circle") and ninomaru (meaning "secondary circle"). None of the main buildings remain today, but the moats, walls, entrance gates and several guard-houses still exist. Edo Castle was the residence of the Tokugawa shogun who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867. A wide lawn and the remaining foundation of the former castle tower can be found on top of the hill, where the castle's innermost buildings once stood. The castle tower was completed in 1638 as the tallest castle tower in Japan's history. But only a few years later in 1657, it was destroyed by citywide fires and has not been rebuilt ever since. Then,In place of the former buildings in the secondary circle of defense (ninomaru) at the foot of the hill, a nice Japanese style garden has been created. We enjoyed walking through this garden.
cocoaby Posted Jan 23, 2014, 8:36 am	Then we visited the south observatory of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is often visited by tourists for its free observation decks which provide good panoramic views of Tokyo and beyond. The 243 meter tall building has two towers, and each houses an observatory at a height of 202 meters. It had been the tallest building in Tokyo until it was overtaken by the Midtown Tower in 2007. We can see Mt. Fuji, Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo Tower from the observatories.  We found a couple of ladybug.
cocoaby Posted Jan 23, 2014, 9:07 am	Finally, we came to Tokyo Midtown. Tokyo Midtown is a city within the city in the center of Tokyo's Roppongi district. And, We went to the National Art Center Tokyo. Opened in early 2007, the National Art Center Tokyo is Japan's largest art museum. The museum maintains no permanent collection, but rather provides a venue for various, temporary exhibitions. It is about time we have to go back home. I spent a really good time! Bye for now. your little Aura
cocoaby Posted Jan 26, 2014, 5:21 am	Hello! We decided to take it easy at home this weekend. My host bought lunch for us at Kentucky Fried Chicken. We ate "Wafu Katsu Sando"(Japanese style pork cutlet sandwitch) and potato, chiken. Eating has made us sleepy... I'm going to take a nap. See you again.
cocoaby Posted Jan 26, 2014, 5:46 am	Hi, mom. Thank you very much for your Christmas Moomin postcard. My host Yoko said "Thank you so much!!!". The first Childrens book she read was on "Moomin". She loves Moomin. Also Moomin is very popular for many Japanese. Thank you again, mom.
cocoaby Posted Feb 2, 2014, 4:18 am	Hi there! We came to Kanazawa-bunko station by Keikyu railway take the train for about 10 minutes. We are going to go to Shomyoji temple, I saw the map carefully because my host might get lost.
cocoaby Posted Feb 5, 2014, 1:17 am	We arrived in "Shomyoji". It is said that the foundation period, here we do not know for sure, but to have been founded in 1258 in the tradition. We walked through the Red Gate. Then I came to Deva. There is two Deva king Statue , but we can not to take pictures because covered with net. Beautiful Japanese garden here in an attempt to reproduce the paradise,　There is a pond in front of temple. We were able to enjoy it was a little cold(+7c) and sunny. see you!
cocoaby Posted Feb 5, 2014, 1:39 am	Most people send traditional New Year's postcards called Nengajo. Nengajo are postcards sent as a greeting for the New Year. It is similar to Christmas cards in the West, though there is no religious significance for nengajo. In late January the post office announces the winning numbers in their otoshidama nengajo kuji (New Year's postcard lottery). The nengajo (New Year's postcards) received in the first few days of the year usually come with a lottery number (shown at bottom left of the postcards above), and that number can bring a variety of prizes, 10,000 yen(100 euro or $100) or all the way down to a set of two commemorative stamps. We were hoping that fortune would ensure us a good prize, and although we did win one set of stamps, the better prizes alluded us.
cocoaby Posted Feb 5, 2014, 1:54 am	It is Setsubun! "Setsubun" is a traditional Japanese event, It is meaning the division between two seasons winter and spring. People scatter roasted soybeans inside and outside their homes as they shout "Oniwa-soto! Fukuwa-uchi!" (meaning "Devils go out ! Happiness come in !"). It's customary to eat the same number of beans as one's age.
cocoaby Posted Feb 5, 2014, 2:08 am	Here you'll see a typical dinner of Japan. Rice and miso soup, grilled swordfish, Hijiki(kind of seaweed) salad, Chikuwa(a tube‐shaped fish paste cake) and cabbage braise.
cocoaby Posted Feb 8, 2014, 7:18 am	In the morning, there are quiet and white view it was surprised me. Today is snow in Yokosuka. It is really really rare!!!!! We will try achieving Cassiopeia's one of life missions. We made "Nyanko sensei"(Japanese famous comic character in "Natsume Yujincho") of snow, and we played to write a picture of snow on the ground. It did not last so long. It was too cold(+2c). I come back home to drink hot cocoa.
cocoaby Posted Feb 19, 2014, 8:09 am	The onset of cold weather brought heavy snow across a wide area of Japan. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued the first heavy snowfall warning for central Tokyo in 13 years. We could not go out because we had a record snowfall at weekend. And my host had a bad cold, few days stay in bed. We gave her some good medicine for cold. It is OK now. We will go out this week end. I am looking forward to go out somewhere.
cocoaby Posted Feb 23, 2014, 8:55 am	Hello mom !!! It is sunny and cold(+5c). We visited the Verny park. The heavy snow has melted away. I enjoyed a walk in the park, we found gate, it was builded 100 years ago.
cocoaby Posted Feb 23, 2014, 9:10 am	We came to Yokosuka Station of JR Yokosuka Line. I'm going to go to Kamakura. My host bought me a ticket. Can you see?
cocoaby Posted Feb 26, 2014, 8:54 am	We came to Engakuji in Kamakura. Engakuji is one of the leading Zen temples in Eastern Japan and the No. 2 of Kamakura's five great Zen temples. Engakuji was founded by the ruling regent Hojo Tokimune in 1282. Temple is built into the slopes of Kita-Kamakura's forested hills. The first main structure encountered upon entering the temple grounds is the Sanmon main gate, which dates from 1783. There was rebuilt relatively recently in 1964 after the former building was lost in an earthquake. The temple entrance, which is surrounded by many maple trees, is a particularly popular photo object. Although it is getting warm little bit here in Kamakura, there is still some snow left on places. We found white plum flowers and pink plum flowers. I think spring is approaching. This temple has some national treasure, but can only be seen from a distance during most of the year. Another national treasure found at Engakuji is the temple's large bell (called Ogane).
cocoaby Posted Mar 1, 2014, 11:39 pm	We went to Mikasa Park in the afternoon, weather is good too! This place is located 20 minutes from my host home by bicycle. There was a monument called "arch of peace", it is height 18m . Many people admire the sea here, relaxed and lying down on the grass.
cocoaby Posted Mar 2, 2014, 12:49 am	March 3rd is celebrated as the Dolls Festival(or the Girl's Festival) in Japan. It's called "Hina- Matsuri"or "Momo no Sekku(Peach festival)". It's the day to pray for healthy growth and happiness for young girls. Most families with girls display dolls called "Hina-ningyo". People began displaying dolls in the Edo period(about 18 century). The dolls depict the imperial court of old. They are dressed in beautiful ancient court costumes(the Heian period 794-1185). People display graceful dolls in ancient court costumes on a tier of 5 or 7 shelves covered with scarlet cloth. These dolls represent the Emperor and Empress, the court ladies, the ministers and the court musicians. I think dolls of ancient costumes is very interesting, isn't it ?
cocoaby Posted Mar 2, 2014, 2:45 am	This weekend is rainy, We can not go out. We are playing Japanese card game "Hanafuda"(Nintendo version)! This Japanese playing cards was called "Hanafuda"or also "Hana　Karuta". "Hana" mean "flower" in Japanese. The origin of "Karuta" is Portuguese "Carta". Hanafuda is Japanese playing cards, which has 12 different flowers of 12 months. January has Pine, February has Plum, March has cherry blossom, April has Wisteria, May has Iris, June has Peony. July has Hagi, August has Susuki, September has chrysanthemum, October has maple, November has willow, December has Tung. My host's toys teach me some rules of Hanafuda. I have a wonderful time.
cocoaby Posted Mar 9, 2014, 8:06 am	Konnichiwa!(Hello!) It is sunny. I found a pay phone in Japan. Unfortunately, I can not to call mom. This pay phone is use for Japanese domestic, can not be international calls. The pay phone also allows we to call the police. I will push the "110" at that time. Push on the "119" when you call an ambulance or fire. You do not need the money at the time of SOS.
cocoaby Posted Mar 9, 2014, 8:54 am	We came to the "Minato-no-mieru-oka" park. The park was opened in 1962. It is very warm today(+10c). I found little cute flowers called "north pole"(swamp chrysanthemum)in Japan.
cocoaby Posted Mar 9, 2014, 9:39 am	We came to a place called "Yamate" in Yokohama. There are Western architecture, many Japanese tourists visit here. We visited 6 Western-style buildings . We decided take some pictures with each my friends Toy Voyagers at each place. Yamate 234 bankan(Bluff No.234)with Aura, Diplomat's house with Jiaojiao, British House Yokohama with Cassiopeia, Ehrisman Residence with Chrissi, Yamate 111 bankan(Bluff No.111) with Betty Bear. I have visited it is the called "Yamate 234 bankan"(Bluff No.234). It was built as apartments for foreigners in 1927. I was able to see a dining room, and we found the sewing machine made in America about 100 years ago. Chocolate and flowers had decorated on the table.
cocoaby Posted Mar 12, 2014, 2:14 am	We went to Bluff No.18. Look at the beautiful Italian garden, Here also "Hina-Ningyo"(Hina dolls)was being decorated. It about time the end of the search of fun, We went red brick warehouse. Wow, there were many "Doraemon". Mom,  Do you know "Doraemon" ? He is a famous character in Japan. They had come to the events of the movie.
cocoaby Posted Mar 12, 2014, 3:06 am	Hi, mom. I went to the Kanou shrine. It is said to have been founded in 1181. The main shrine was rebuilt in 1842. It is amazing wooden sculpture. Many people have visited this shrine. Because this shrine name "Kanou" is very lucky sounds, and this shrine's Chinese character name. It is meaning "dreams come true". Then We ate sushi for lunch at conveyer-belt sushi restaurant. Tastes really GREAT!
cocoaby Posted Mar 14, 2014, 8:34 am	Chrissi set out for USA on full of hope. We said "Have a good trip, Chrissi. I wish you the best of luck in your new journey." with big hugs.
cocoaby Posted Mar 14, 2014, 8:47 am	Cassiopeia has taken her way to Italy!!! We said "So you're really off now. Have a good trip and Take care yourself, Cassiopea. I wish you the best of luck in your new journey." with group hug and hug, hug, hug!
cocoaby Posted Mar 18, 2014, 8:42 am	Hi, Mom! It's sunny sunday(+12c am 10:00). We went to "Yokosuka museum of art". Yokosuka museum of art was founded in 2007. It is you can see the sea in front, mountain park in back, And lawn garden. Wow, Mom, I found cherry blossoms in garden, It is called "Kawazu Cherry blossoms". Kawazu cherry blossoms is an early cherry blossoms and little more deep pink. It was beautiful this pink Kawazu cherry blossoms and new green leaf. I believe the Spring has come at last. "Japanese style painting at seaside museum" was being held as a special exhibition at this museum. Unfortunately, We could not take a picture in the museum. You can see the posters of other museums. Oh! It's not Marilyn Monroe of Andy Warhol? And, We were looking at the sea from the roof. Lastly, I will show you the ticket of the museum. Today was a wonderful day! Take care and a lot of love, bye for now...
cocoaby Posted Mar 19, 2014, 3:34 am	Hello, mom! Today, March 17th is my birthday! And March 16th is my Toy Voyagers friend Jiaojiao and her mom's Monachu birthday. Yeaaaaaah!!! We made cup cake at my host's home. we sang the birthday song. Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to me!? Happy Birthday dear Aura, Jiaojiao, Monachu! Happy Birthday to you! It was a really fun time. Of course, cup cake was delicious!
cocoaby Posted Mar 19, 2014, 4:00 am	My friend Jiaojiao will leave for hanachan's place Takamatsu in Japan today. I said "Have a nice trip, Jiaojiao!  Good luck and safe journey. I hope that the day when we can meet again comes someday.". We have group a lot of love and big hugs. Tears came to my small eyes...
cocoaby Posted Mar 26, 2014, 7:27 am	Hi, mom. We were taught how to fold an origami cranes with yellow frog. Uh...fold in half diagonally, Mountain fold, fold in half, turn the paper over, open and squash. It worked. Little bit difficult, but I was able to make pink paper cranes.
cocoaby Posted Mar 26, 2014, 7:57 am	New guest has arrived today. I can hear little sheep voice. We rescued TV from an envelope. Then we did a heart massage. She is Rachel, cute sheep came from China. She showed me a beautiful postcard in Finland to us. My host said " She came at just the right time. Cherry blossoms will bloom soon." We sincerely welcomed.
cocoaby Posted Mar 30, 2014, 2:44 am	Hi, mom. We decided to go to McDonald's because I've heard that there is a drink of SAKURA(cherry blossoms) related for a limited time at McDonald's from Rachel's mom. Well, McDonald's was 5-minute walk from my host's home. It was a delicious cold drink, sweet smell and good cherries taste. Drink of this pink is like a cocktail that does not contain alcohol at all. We were able to see cherry blossoms began to bloom on the my way home. Cherry blossoms will be in full bloom soon.
cocoaby Posted Mar 30, 2014, 3:15 am	Hello! New guest has arrived from China today. His name is Hansi Hü. I heard it's horse zodiac year of this year(2014) in Japan. We might find something horse-related. We sincerely welcome him.
cocoaby Posted Apr 6, 2014, 4:25 am	My host just came back from work, we explored the cherry blossoms around the house. Many Japanese people loves cherry blossom so much. It is said that it is because cherry blossom symbolizes the ephemeral nature of life due to the way it blooms spectacularly but only for a short while. or feeling spring comes and meaning everything start. Well, we will start a week of searching the "SAKURA"(cherry blossoms) for us. I found small flowers. It is very cute! Then We were looking at this scenery that cherry blossoms were falling. Of all the windy yesterday, the cherry blossoms have fallen off. However, I heard The cherry blossoms are at their best few days. I think I want to more enjoy cherry blossoms.
cocoaby Posted Apr 6, 2014, 5:19 am	We went to visit to hear "Tadodai-buncyosya(Tadodai branch office) " is to be opened only one week during the cherry blossoms season. But it will be closed in one hour, today. It was built in 1913. There were many people taking pictures and watching the cherry blossoms. You can see Japanese-style room and conference room in Tadodai-buncyosya. Stone of Antarctica was also on display. Of course, I tried to touch to stone. We can see the Tokyo Bay below our eyes, cherry blossoms bloomed in a nice garden. Pond was being represented by white stones on part of the garden. This is a typical representation of a Japanese garden. The weather was not good, but we were able to enjoy.
cocoaby Posted Apr 6, 2014, 5:55 am	I  went to a "Hashirimizu fountainhead". The ground was covered in pink petals, and the remaining blossoms and leaves covered the sky giving the place a pink glow. I am afraid the flowers will not last till next week. Although the cherry blossoms were on a decline by the time of our visit, we were nevertheless able to catch some pleasant views. However, with the afternoon showers in the area, more petals will fall and that would bring the cherry blossoms season closer to its end.
cocoaby Posted Apr 14, 2014, 8:23 am	Hello! mom. New guest has arrived from Germany today. Her name is Josie. She is cute tiny dog. We sincerely welcome. Well, Spring vacation has ended, and the new school term started today. In Japan, April is the month when school starts and companies begin a new business year. Everyone seems little busy. Bye for now.
cocoaby Posted Apr 19, 2014, 9:01 am	Hi mom! It's sunny day. We came to Kannonzaki park. First, we greeting an old cat who lives here. He looks very comfortably by basking. A short walk, And we found a very mysterious dark cave. Kind of an old small shrine, any incorporeal supernatural being, Don't you think so? There's a legend that a large snake lived on this dark cave. Monk visited small village Kannonzaki in 741. He heard that a large snake lived in this cave, and afflicts villagers and fishermen, the people of marine transportation. Monk was killed the large snake. Then large snake was enshrined in this dark cave . I think we should keep away from this cave.
cocoaby Posted Apr 19, 2014, 9:36 am	For go to see the Kannonzaki lighthouse, we went up the stairs earnestly. Kannonzaki lighthouse is oldest western style lighthouse in Japan. November 1 is the lighthouse anniversary to commemorate the start of construction date of this lighthouse. Collapsed in the earthquake of twice, the current lighthouse is the third generation. We were able to see big tankers comings and goings in Tokyo Bay when we walking beach. I found Cherry blossom tree in Kannonzaki park here.  We playing at the beach a little. I have enjoying and relaxed. See you!
cocoaby Posted Apr 20, 2014, 4:52 am	We went to Tokyo sightseeing by train. You can see arrival time of trains at the station(in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean language).
cocoaby Posted Apr 20, 2014, 7:00 am	We came to the Meiji Shrine(Meiji Jingu). Mom, I was really surprised! Do you believe in the spirit photo? There is a large white orb in my photo. I heard orb appears in the sacred places such as shrines and temples. Is it just a dust on the lens of camera??? What do you think? Through promenade in forest, I went to shrine buildings. It was one of the visiting typical place for foreign tourists here. Visitors to the shrine can take part in typical Shinto activities, writing out one's wish on an ema. When we visited the Meiji shrine, we witnessed a Shinto wedding procession which  was led by two priests and two shrine maidens, followed by the couple under a red umbrella and the family and friends. It was delightful seeing the colorful ceremony in wonderful surroundings. When you enter the premises of Meiji shrine, you notice barrels of sake wrapped in straw stacked up near the entrance. This is fascinating design. To know more about these barrels, read the following text which was written on information board put up near these barrels. And You can see the otorii, it is the gate of shrines.
cocoaby Posted Apr 20, 2014, 8:13 am	Shibuya. It is one of Tokyo's most colorful and busy districts. Wow, There are a lot of people. You can see the famous crossing in front of Shibuya Station. It is a crossing where vehicles from all four directions are stopped and allows pedestrians to cross in every direction.
cocoaby Posted Apr 23, 2014, 12:49 pm	We came to "NHK Studio Park". NHK(Nippon Hoso Kyokai, Japan Broadcasting Corporation) Studio Park is NHK Broadcasting thema park that is open to the public. It gives visitors a chance to look behind the scenes of NHK broadcasting. You can know the history of the TV show. Stage equipment and costumes that were used in the TV show is on display.
cocoaby Posted Apr 30, 2014, 12:22 am	You can see Tokyo subway route map. It is like a maze. Then We went to the Kabuki-za theater. Kabuki is a part of traditional Japanese classical culture. We saw ladies wearing Kimono, Kimono is Japanese traditional dress, it is worn during formal events. It was a good day! See you.
cocoaby Posted Apr 30, 2014, 2:32 am	Hello, mom! Today, April 14th is my toy voyagers friend Rachel's birthday! We had a surprise birth day party for Rachel. Look! We made cute cup cake for her. We sang me the happy birthday song. Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you Happy Birthday dear little sheep Rachel Happy Birthday Rachel!!! We glad that she liked it.  It was a really fun time.
cocoaby Posted Apr 30, 2014, 3:15 am	It is sunny good day. We went to the "Ootawa, Tsutsuji no oka(azalea's hills) park". 50,000 azaleas have been planted here, pink and white, red flowers very beautiful, so visitors can enjoy the flowers. Many Bee had greeted us. They loves honey too much. Actually, It seems azalea's honey is sweet when my host tasted the azalea's honey in childhood.
cocoaby Posted Apr 30, 2014, 4:10 am	I will prepare for Betty Bear's trip today. We repaired  Betty's red tag. It was easy for us. My host bought her some candies. We are a little sad to say goodbye to her. Hope we can meet together sometime.
cocoaby Posted May 11, 2014, 6:22 am	Hi mom, We came to Umikaze(It is meaning "sea breeze") park by bicycle because it is a lovely day. It was five minutes until the park. Here is very crowded on sunday. Many people visited the park, and enjoyed a barbecue and fishing. We're playing in the playground equipment. I found funny clock tower. Let me see...It is eight twenty five in the morning. You can see a view of the Tokyo Bay. A small island in Tokyo Bay has been called "Saru-shima(It is meaning "Monkeys Island")". But monkeys do not live on the island now. A big love and many kisses on Mother's Day! Aura
cocoaby Posted May 17, 2014, 1:28 am	I will introduce you to some of vending machine in Japan. You can see various drinks. Lactic acid bacteria beverage, coffee, cocoa, cafe au lait, tea, green tea, cola, plum juice, mineral water, soup and more. cold or hot, Cans or paper cups or plastic bottles.
cocoaby Posted May 17, 2014, 2:00 am	Mom, Are you interested in FIFA World Cup 2014? Usually my host has not interested in football. However, She has interested in World Cup and stamps. She showed us to FIFA World Cup stamp sheets, it was issued today at Japan post office.
cocoaby Posted May 17, 2014, 2:37 am	The day has come. I have to say goodbye to my toy friends and my host today. My host said "I didn't speak good English. I'm afraid you had a hard time understanding us. We will never forget about little ladybird Aura. We had a great time with you!" She bought me a Kit Kat of raspberry flavor. I will probably eat it when I get hungry in envelope. I said "Thanks for everything." Mom, I want to meet soon to mom. I want to tell you many amazing thing of my adventures. Soon!
Eohippus pikkuaasi@gmail.com Posted Jan 6, 2015, 4:25 pm	Hello everybody!  After a wonderful, colourful year in Japan, I am at home with Henna and Zoe and the rest of the gang.  This is my first ever time to see snow in Finland, since I'm originally a portuguese ladybird.  I think it is beautiful, it is like being in a fairytale all the time, but I gee how I was freezing, until Henna gave me this silly hat!  Now it is all righ. On next friday we're going to Portugal, and I must say I'm happy about it, but don't tell the others - they're all sking maniacs.  Maybe even the water is trying to run into some warmer place, what do you think?  See you next time in a warmer climate!  Freezing, Aura II
Vunder Posted Jan 23, 2015, 9:43 am	Dear Mummy! I've made it!!! *yahoo!* I'm in Russia! It's a beautiful day here! The sun is shining and it's -16C))) The welcome was very warm on the opposite I send you some of the views through the windows of Galiya apa (they look in two different sides) A nice plant on the windowsill, I liked it I guess I love children)) We estblished rapport with Galiya apa's son I'm happy and content, so don't you worry! Hugs, Aura PS: By the way the phrase "A beautiful ladybird" in Russian sounds like "Krasivaya bozhya korovka" (Красивая божья коровка ) and in Tatar language it sounds like "Matur kamka" (Матур камка ) - that's about me
Eohippus pikkuaasi@gmail.com Posted Jan 26, 2015, 11:41 am	Hello, little Aura! I´m happy to see you´ve arrived safely, and also proud about that you managed to take the sweats to Galiya, without eating them yourself on the way there! Thank Galiya for teaching you how to say "beautiful ladybird" in two different languages!  The Tatar expression seems to be much easier than the Russian! Remember to behave, or else..! Your mom
Vunder Posted Jan 27, 2015, 6:40 pm	Dear Mom! It was rather cold to go outside for a long walk with a child these days, so we mostly stayed at home. We just quickly went to the local chemist's yesterday (part of the inscriptions on the door is written in Tatar, actually it's an official language of the republic of Tatarstan) and we also fed the birds, photos are not so bright as the days were dull, but I liked it! On the last photo you can see the kindergarten that Galiya apa visited when she was a child and she guesses that it hasn't been repaired since then, there was just a painting added))) Drinking hot Tatar tee with dried oregano and sending selams (greetings) to you, Your Aura
Vunder Posted Jan 31, 2015, 7:21 pm	Selam Mommy! Guess what?))) Galiya apa has sent you a parcel today (at last as she said) The post office became very crowded when we arrived)) Galiya apa says "her feet is light" (that's a saying here, meaning that her participation or coming will bring luck) Bigs hugs to you!! And many light feet around Aura
Vunder Posted Feb 1, 2015, 2:55 pm	Hi Mummy!)) Today we went to a manicure salon called "A raspberry" at the nearby shopping centre: a girl should be well-groomed, in fact first of all I'm a lady In the evening Galiya apa treated me to tea and some tastiest delights I mentioned the Tatar tea last time and I thought it would be fair if I could show it to you So,here's the dried origano prepared by Galiya apa's mother-in-law. We just mixed it with some black tea, added boiling water and voilà! Tatars usually drink tea with milk, and they like v e r y hot tea But I prefered a cup of tea with a lemon The delights were: a Turkish one called "baklava" and a Tatar one called "çäkçäk ". It was yummy!!))))) Bon appetit! Your Aura
Vunder Posted Feb 7, 2015, 4:11 pm	Dear Mom! We went for a nice walk yesterday evening! It was snowing all day and then it stopped, the atmosphere was magical, the photos don't quite show it Here is the neighbourhood One of the tram stops around: One of the local restaurants. Unfortunately it's not clearly seen here, but there were several fir trees decorated with some lights and it looked nice actually A small square called "Glory". Many of its paths are dedicated to something or someone connected with the World War 2 (for example, The Prisoners of Concentration Camps Lane). It has a small fountain in the middle, few trees and Galiya apa says that it's more beautiful in winter, because it's almost free of people that like to litter around We passed it by, we didn't go inside, anyway all the stone insriptions and the fountain are under the snow Here's the shopping centre called "Olympus". We have been here for the manicure It's not too large and actually it's not only about the shopping There are cafes, beauty salons, there is a special place for children including a playground, a scene where different festive events take place each weekend, a film projector showing cartoons and a sand pictures workshop. There is even a small zoo here They call it a "contact zoo", because children are allowed to touch some of the animals and play with them And last but not least - the place where I live now Big hugs to you! Take care! Aura
Vunder Posted Feb 8, 2015, 5:55 pm	Hi Mommy!:* Just a short update to show you that I'm a very helpful ladybird!)) Galiya apa and her husband papered the two what they call "dark rooms" (a kind of a walk-in closet where they keep different stuff) You can praise me here Greetings! Aura
Eohippus pikkuaasi@gmail.com Posted Feb 11, 2015, 12:35 pm	Hello, dear Aura! I'm very happy to see you are trying to be helpful to your hosts there! The area you live in there really looks beautiful, with the snow and lights and birches. It is funny how the snow makes the pictures to look warm, not cold. I'm quite proud of you! Say thanks to Galiya for taking such a good care of you! Your mom
Vunder Posted Feb 15, 2015, 9:22 pm	Hi Mommy! We had a wonderful weekend in the village called Kyzyl Yeshler in the Pestrechinskiy district of the Tatarstan republic (I could write that, huh) Galiya apa's parents have a house there and visit it at the weekends usually. It is a small Tatar village, it has only about 100 inhabitatants, but it is now popular with the "dwellers from the city" like Galiya apas parents They were one of the first ones to build here a house though, they remember this village having its own shop, primary school and herd, all of which is gone now. Anyway the village is very cosy and charming in its desolation (this is the area's forestry office by the way) We found a phone box here even! That's an odd thing to see, because they don't have them any more actually, in Kazan at least. The nature is really beautiful around! They have a forest and a branch of the Mesha river, here are the looks: (Yey, there is a skating-rink up there! ) After the walk we returned back to the house and guess what..... It's still New Year here! The male generation then went to muncha and the female one - drank tea))) Muncha?? Well, it's Tatar baths Galiya apa's grandfather prepares the firewood and the bunches of birch twigs (ususally it's birch, but not always) for the baths in summer. They light the "muncha" almost each time they come here. It's a tradition They love to take a steam bath. In winter it is a little bit extreme, so the girls part go to muncha when it gets warmer outside. Well, I had a great day! Hope you too! Yours, Aura PS: Better late than never Love you, Mom!
Vunder Posted Feb 24, 2015, 10:31 am	Сәлам, әнием! (Hi Mommy!) How are you there? Sorry for my delay, but Galiya apa was very busy last week to help me with my update ******************************************* So here we are on the spot Going towards our destination Up and up And here we are! This place is called the "Tropical park of butterflies", but actually there is a terrarium and a "contact" zoo in it too Firstly we watched the terrarium and its surrounding. There were fishes, turtles, several snakes, lizards, a cayman, a tarantula, giant snails, a venomous toad etc. (I took pictures with some of them) And, mom, there were some insects too!! You should look carefully here, they are good in disguise There were 2 types of cockroaches: forest and Madagascar ones. And there were some crickets. I tried to make friends with them, but I guess they were too busy singing Then we saw a playground and a wish tree Of course I made a wish too, but let it be a secret The contact zoo was in a seperate room. There were different kinds of birds, rodents, goats, sheep, squirrels etc., there was a monkey too And we were lucky to see...... You know, peacocks don't do it often At last we entered the tropical butterflies room, they were beautiful, no comments here! Actually the butterflies are brought as chrysalices to the park and they are born here. While we were there we saw two butterlies to see the light That was a very interesting and informative trip! Before going back home we ate a cotton candy, it was yummy and sticky And here is our trolleybus, they are usually green, the one on the first photo is an exception Home, sweet home Hugs and kisses Your Aura
Vunder Posted Feb 28, 2015, 5:53 pm	Hello Mommy! Today I missed Portugal, you will see why Galiya apa goes to Pilates twice a week and this time she took me with her to see the neighbourhood. It's in the city centre almost. There is an alley near the Sukannaya Sloboda metro station dedicated to the Kazan city's railway history. This is one of the entries to the metro (find the M letter) The alley is quite short, from one of the metro's entries to the other. And actually it consists of several trams Starting with the horse traction trams and ending with the Soviet period The alley is very popular with the ones in love. There is a special bench for them here even There is a tradition for a couple to fasten a lock hoping that it will make their relations lasting and strong (a superstition, of course ), so here's the "victim" of such a custom After the training Galiya apa went to the puppet show theatre to buy some tickets for all of us, I'm going too, but that is for another update The view from the theatre's terrace: You can see the melted "ice town" (it was very warm this week), workers are dismantling it there. And on the right is the "tram" alley. And here's the puppet show theatre's front! I'm so eager to go there!   Till the next update I hope I could wake your interest Your loving and dear Aura
Vunder Posted Mar 14, 2015, 6:24 pm	Hi Mommy, hi! Here is the promised trip to the puppet theatre! It is called "Ekiyet" (translated from Tatar as "a fairy tale"). It really looks like an enchanted castle, lucky kids of Kazan The main entrance: The entrance hall: After visiting the cloakroom we entered an elevator to go up to the 3rd floor where the halls are (there are 2 of them: the big one and the small one). We could see the outside from the lift: On the 3rd floor: Oh, I forgot to show you the tickets They checked them before entering the building and the hall The small hall itself: And the stage: The show was so interesting and interactive that I just couldn't take any pictures of it We helped a girl called Gulchachak to free her gosling from a fox! I tried very hard During the interval we went to the local museum on the 4th floor: That was a really great day! I hope you are having good time too Yours truly and faithfully, Aura
Eohippus pikkuaasi@gmail.com Posted Mar 15, 2015, 12:53 pm	Hello, Aura! What a lucky little ladybird you are to see such wonderful things and places!  What a marvellous puppet theatre!  I bet you'd have liked to join the puppet actors on the stage! I'm very thankful Galiya has taken so good care of you! She has been a very great host! Give her a hug! Luck with your new adventures! Mom
Vunder Posted Mar 18, 2015, 4:52 pm	A small update Aura is now on her way to Canada and here is she saying bye to me and hello to her new adventures Happy journey! Galiya
smaug Posted May 18, 2015, 11:51 pm	Hi Mum, I am in Canada ! Today I felt that my envelope was placed somewhere soft and a lot of little paws started working on it . When I came out I found a lot of TVs welcoming me here in Calgary ...and they were very impressed with the gifts I brought with me . Of course, the chatting that folllowed went on and on and on....
smaug Posted May 19, 2015, 12:24 am	Hi Mum, it looks like spring is reluctant to show up . Today we went for a short hike, but from the start we had to deal with fresh snow . Nevertheless, after a bit we had nice views of Kananaskis Valley ... ...and of the mountains around us. The ridge we were following seemed to go on a long way,... ...but, after a bit, smaug decided that he had enough of breaking the trail and we headed back .
smaug Posted May 19, 2015, 3:07 am	Hi Mum, today a new TV arrived. Pepita one of smaug's own TVs has come home for a few days .
smaug Posted May 26, 2015, 5:18 am	Hi Mum, today it was sammino's birthday, so we made him a surprise and had a cake ready for him . We even managed to sing happy birthday before wolfing down the cake .
smaug Posted May 30, 2015, 4:49 am	Hi Mum, today we did a quick visit to Banff , where we were mostly kept wet by a series of showers all day . We don't mind the rain much , but smaug insisted that the camera does not like water at all, so we just managed to get a lonely photo of the mountains during one of the few dry moments of the day .
smaug Posted May 30, 2015, 4:55 am	Hi Mum, today we gathered to say goodbye and wish a safe journey to Shakespeare and Pepita who are both travelling to Germany .
smaug Posted Jun 8, 2015, 2:44 am	Hi Mum, today was a lovely day, so we went for a hike near Banff. Since early in the morning we had a nice view over Lake Minnewanka and Mt Rundle . Further on the view of the lake improved... ...and got even better when we reached Aylmer Lookout . It looked like there was still some snow over the mountains around us. Later we stopped by the lake shore where we planned to lay down in the sun . Too bad it was a bit too windy, so we just took a few pictures before heading home .
smaug Posted Jun 14, 2015, 2:34 am	Hi Mum, today we went over to the mountains where we were welcomed by some nice fresh snow and a thick fog . That made a for lovely mid-winter atmosphere , but visibility was somehow less than ideal . We tried to keep going hoping that things would improve, but we were just treated with more fog and some shadowy tree. So we decided to hide back in the backpack and let smaug wander in the fog at his pleasure and leisure .
smaug Posted Jun 14, 2015, 10:09 pm	Hi Mum, today smaug had to be in Vancouver and we managed to tag along , so early this morning we found ourselves at Calgary airport. Once in Vancouver we spent most time locked indoor , but around lunch time we were allowed to take a walk to Stanely Park . There we had a great view of downtown . As we kept exploring the park we approached Lions Gate Bridge. However the lions were not available to come greeting us . Moving on we reached the other side of the park were we walked along the seawall... ...and enjoy the view over the bay . Eventually smaug clearly indicated that recess was over, and so we headed back indoor .
smaug Posted Jun 19, 2015, 3:36 am	Hi Mum, today we went for bike a ride to Highwood Pass . During the first part of the day we enjoyed riding along Kananaskis Valley . With a little effort we eventually reached the pass... ...and moved on the opposite side into the Highwood River Valley . For some reason, after we turned around, smaug became less and less amenable to the idea of stopping just to take photos , so we just had to stay in his backpack and scavenge whatever food we could find in there .
smaug Posted Jun 21, 2015, 4:17 am	Hi Mum, this morning the weather was great so we headed to the mountains for a quick hike . Most of the trail was below treeline, but we got the occasional nice view of the Elbow River in the distance. Eventually we reached the top of Powderface Ridge, where the view was great . And we even made it back to the car before the afternoon thunderstorms moved in .
smaug Posted Jul 2, 2015, 2:58 am	Hi Mum, in the afternoon, when we got back to Calgary, we were very busy in one of our favourite activities, helping ourselves with whatever we found in the fridge. In this case it was a lovely ice-cream . As it happens, this was proving to be a tough nut to crack open , and we were arguing about the best approach to use to take the damn cover off when we heard a loud crashing sound coming from the balcony . As we went to the window to investigate, we met a TV who had just hopped inside, Squab a nice chicken from Germany who flew all the way here . We were very impressed, of course, but we were even more impressed with all the lovely presents that he brought over ...and lot of chatting and eating followed .
smaug Posted Jul 12, 2015, 3:19 am	Hi Mum, today the weather was gorgeous again, so, of course, we went for a shot hike in the morning . After the usual plodding in the forest we were treated with a nice view of the prairies... ...and of Moose Mountain. Our destination was not too far... ...so, with a final effort, we swiftly reached the summit of Cox Hill where the view was great in every direction .
smaug Posted Jul 20, 2015, 2:38 am	Hi Mum, it's very hot in Calgary these days , so today we tried to find some cooler weather in the mountains . As it happens, most of our hike was within the trees where the air felt even warmer than in town , so smaug was not really inclined to stop for photos until we reached the summit of Midnight Peak. Over there the wind was very pleasant and we could see the Nakiska ski area,... ...Mount Baldy in the north,... ...the prairies in the east... and more mountains in the south .
smaug Posted Aug 4, 2015, 3:31 am	Hi Mum, July is proving to be a fairly boring month since we are hardly seeing smaug at all . But it does not mean that we are not entertaining ourselves . We spend time reading,... ...playing... ...and planning future trips. However the biggest fun is checking out hailstorms from the window . This was a big one and left a massive white blanket all over town .
smaug Posted Aug 4, 2015, 4:06 am	Hi Mum, today, at last, we headed back to mountains again . The drive was a bit long so we decided not to disturb smaug and took a couple of hours long nap . When we woke up, we found ourselves facing the first challenge of the day, wading across the Bow River at the outlet of Bow Lake . The water seemed way too deep and fast for little TVs so along with Squab and sammino we decided to let smaug get wet up to his knees and just encouraged him flying around his head until somehow he made it to the other side . And the view of the lake was really nice . Later we reached the lovely Crowfoot pass... ...where sammino told us that real TVs are not satisfied with just reaching a pass, so we were heading for the summit of Bow Peak up there . With a little effort, we reached the summit safely, and the view was spectacular . We could see Bow Lake,... ...the valley heading up Mosquito Creek,... ...Mt Hector,... ...Hector Lake... ...and the glaciers along the continental divide. On the way down we took a look from above to the lovely meadows of Crowfoot Pass . What a day !
smaug Posted Aug 24, 2015, 2:01 am	Hi Mum, Today the weather was gorgeous again, so we went for a lovely hike near Banff . After a bit of walking in the trees we started having a nice view of the Monarch (that big mountain, not the queen )… …and of the mountains in the south. With a little extra effort we reached Healy Pass where we could see Scarab and Egypt lakes in the north,… …and more mountains to the south . That ridge leading to the Monarch is called the Monarch Ramparts, and sammino told us that we were going to walk along it. From the Ramparts we could see Healy Pass behind us,… …the little tarns dotting Healy Meadows … …and the forested valley that we followed this morning. Eventually we got off the Ramparts and when we reached this beautiful lake sammino told me that I was in for a little surprise : guess what is it called, Eohippus Lake ! I think it is the best lake in the Canadian Rockies . Later on we passed by another nice small lake, but as nice as the last one … …before diving back into the forest.
smaug Posted Aug 24, 2015, 2:21 am	Hi Mum, Today we gathered to say goodbye and wish a safe trip to Batyr, who is travelling back home to Russia .
smaug Posted Aug 24, 2015, 2:52 am	Hi Mum, Guess what, I’m in the States ! I’m not sure how it happened. This morning, as usual for a Saturday, smaug tried to wake us up at fairly ungodly hour and threw us in the backpack, where we continued sleeping assuming that we were going to the mountains. A few hours later we woke up driving on a highway in the Rockies, but we were in Colorado rather than west of Calgary as we expected . smaug was busy driving and was not inclined to stop often for taking photos, so we just snapped a few shots of the lovely surrounding … …before arriving at our accommodation for the week where we found a lovely spot where we could analyse the situation and question sammino about it .
smaug Posted Aug 24, 2015, 3:32 am	Hi Mum, It appears we will be spending the week here in Colorado road cycling in smaug’s backpack . Today, to start getting used to the altitude, we went for a ride out of Dillon up to Loveland Pass and we spent most time riding in a very nice valley . Eventually we reached the pass, which sits at 3655 m above sea level on the Continental Divide . This means that on this side, the north side, water drains towards the Atlantic Ocean (by the way, the view was great ),… …while on this side water drains in the Pacific Ocean. Whichever way the water goes, those dark clouds were about to drop a lot of it , with hail and lighting as sides , so we hastily made our way back into the valley.
smaug Posted Aug 26, 2015, 4:51 am	Hi Mum, Today we were on the road very, very early to ride up Mt Evans. Since it was a tad cold , smaug was reluctant to stop and take photos and when we eventually had a chance to look around we were surrounded by a treeless landscape . From there we could already see the summit . Later we reached Summit Lake, which, as it happens, is still well below the summit . The view there was great … …and the summit was getting closer and closer. Nevertheless, as we gained altitude, we were starting to be short of breath, so we let sammino go outside scouting the route while we stayed comfortable in the backpack . And after some time we eventually reached the end of the road which, at an elevation of 4307 m above sea level, is the highest paved road in North America …smaug pointed out this was very likely as high as he will ever ride a bycicle . The view, of course, was great …a bit hazy maybe .
smaug Posted Aug 28, 2015, 3:46 am	Hi Mum, Today we hit the road again and after some time we could see the in the distance Hoosier Pass’s saddle. On the way we also had nice views over Quandary Peak . Some km later… …we reached Hoosier Pass, which sits on the Continental Divide , just like Loveland Pass that we visited a couple of days ago. As you might have noticed on the sign, here everything is measured in strange units like feet and miles . Since none of us is very familiar with the imperial system we were a bit confused . Luckily sammino had anticipated the problem and installed on smaug’s phone a conversion app, so we spent a lot of time checking it out . Anyway, feet or meters, from the pass we had a lovely view over the Mosquito Range and the South Platte River valley .
smaug Posted Aug 30, 2015, 4:36 am	Hi Mum, Today we rode a nice loop between Copper Mountain, Leadville and Vail . The first thing we saw in the morning were these big ponds. Apparently they are part of a giant molybdenum mine . Further on we reached Fremont Pass, which sits on the Continental Divide, a feature that we started believing applies to all mountain passes around here . At the pass we saw the actual mine. The photo does not do justice to its size (and the sun in our eyes did not help ), but it looked like half mountain had been already mined out . Later on we skirted Leadville and turned on US Route 24 just before entering town. The road took us through this wide and beautiful valley … ….which eventually lead us to Tenessee Pass. And guess what, this pass is also on the Continental Divide . Going down from the pass we had beautiful views… …and crossed this lovely bridge. I better remember to mention that the bridge crosses the Eagle River, or sammino will never talk to me again . Later we turned again and had our first look at the valley that leads to Vail Pass… …that we reached a bit later…and, believe it or not, this pass is not part of the Continental Divide . We decided to take a break and stopped at this rest area at the pass. Eventually we reached Copper Mountain from where we took a final look at the valley leading back to the pass… …before heading back home for a well deserved hearty supper .
smaug Posted Aug 31, 2015, 2:14 am	Hi Mum, Today we went for a short ride near Dillon. The first part of the day we were riding in the Blue River valley . FYI, whenever we saw it, the river did not seem to be any bluer than most other rivers . Anyway, after a bit we turned right and got on the road leading to Ute Pass, and the view soon improved . At last, we reached the actual pass which was not really such an exciting place ,… …so we just headed back home .
smaug Posted Aug 31, 2015, 2:39 am	Hi Mum, Since we came back home early, this afternoon we had time to spare . We tried to strike up a conversation with the living room's "resident-eagle", but she did not really pay any attention to us . So we decided to go out for a walk on the lakeside instead . We passed by the marina… …and enjoyed the view over the other side of the lake . Eventually we came back home where we patiently waited for dinner time to come .
smaug Posted Sep 6, 2015, 10:38 pm	Hi Mum, Today was our last day of riding, but luckily it was a gorgeous day . Early in the day we were down in the valley in the middle of the trees, but soon we gained elevation and the view improved … …and it improved even further later on . Eventually we reached Independence Pass which (it goes without saying ) sits on the Continental Divide and where we had lovely views of the surrounding mountains . On the way back, we stopped at Twin Lakes to take a look at one of the lakes and at the valley leading to the pass that we had just left.
smaug Posted Sep 13, 2015, 5:31 am	Hi Mum, Today was our last day in Colorado. Before leaving we found a nice panoramic spot over Dillon Reservoir . As we moved to another spot a big eagle came down towards us. She seemed a bit aggressive … … so we sent sammino ahead to handle communications ...and he quickly shoved us back into the backpack . After what sounded like a rather unfriendly discussion (not that we really understand eaglish ) we didn’t hear anything for a while, and when we came out we had come close to the lake shore . Eventually we really had to leave and a few hours later we found ourselves at Denver airport, where we killed time watching planes… …and enjoying a few snacks .
smaug Posted Oct 18, 2015, 2:03 am	Hi Mum, this week after coming back from the holiday we were stuck at home since wildfires in the US sent a lot of smoke up here and there were air quality warnings in Calgary every single day of the week . Today it seemed the worst was over so we went over to the mountains for a short hike. To the west things looked OK ... ...and there was only a bit of haze in the east. Nevertheless the air smelled still very foul , so we did not linger and quickly headed back home.
smaug Posted Oct 18, 2015, 2:23 am	Hi Mum, September has been frightfully boring since smaug was too busy at work to take us anywhere . At least October seems to be starting with some excitement . Tonight smaug came home very late, but he had parcel with him, a very TV-like parcel . Of course we were very interested and jumped over it ttrying to open it . And guess what, as soon as we opened it Hansi Hü, a nice horse from Germany, came out . Of course we wanted to hear everything about his previous trips, so a lot of chatting followed late into the night .
smaug Posted Oct 18, 2015, 9:27 pm	Hi Mum, today it was a nice day so we tried to go for a short hike . Early on we had to cross the Elbow River, which at this time of the year flows mostly within the gravel of its large bed ...so there wasn't really much water to cross . As we gained elevation we reached Forgetmenot Ridge, where the wind was blowing at gale force . Nevertheless we managed to take some photos . However, after a couple of near misses, smaug said that he was not risking to spend afternoon searching for us down the slopes of the mountain , so he shoved us back in the bag and said that for today there were not going to be any more photos .
smaug Posted Oct 18, 2015, 9:46 pm	Hi Mum, today we went for lunch in Banff . First we had a lovely and big steak . And for dessert we treated ourselves with delicious ice cream and melted chocolate ...that's what I call a proper lunch . With a full belly we got on our way home, but we decided to stop a bit at Lake Minnewanka, where the reflections in the lake were beautiful .
smaug Posted Nov 9, 2015, 1:36 am	Hi Mum, the weather was not so good this weekend, but today we tried to go for a quick hike in the morning anyway. While we were in the trees we could occasionally see the sun, so we took it as a good sign . Nevertheless, once we reached the summit, the clouds were closing in from all directions . Only in the east and in the south it seemed to be still a bit clearer... ...but since it was starting to snow very lightly we decided not to linger and headed back down the trail.
smaug Posted Nov 9, 2015, 1:54 am	Hi Mum, guess what? Today we had the first proper snowfall of the season . However when smaug came back from work it was too dark to take any photos , so the main reason for this update is that we have a new guest here in Calgary . smaug came back with an interesting envelope... ...and when we cracked it open a new TV came out, Arn Wes Wilde, a nice tiger from China . As it always happens when someone new arrives, story telling went deep into the night .
smaug Posted Nov 15, 2015, 9:34 pm	Hi Mum, After a week of fairly inconsistent weather, today we headed to the mountains keen to find out how much snow , if any, we were going to find. As it happens we found it from the very start and the first hour went by walking on a large snow-covered trail in the trees. Eventually we came out of the tree cover and started enjoying the wind . Once we reached the top of Pigeon Mountain the view was great in most directions . Only in the west the clouds were very dark. Anyway, smaug was having a hard time taking photos while making sure that we did not accidentally fly away in the gale force wind . So he eventually shoved us back securely in the backpack and we did not see the outside world again until we were back in the car later in the day .
smaug Posted Nov 23, 2015, 3:22 am	Hi Mum, We had a new arrival in Calgary today . smaug came home with a new envelope and, as usual, we were tasked with opening it . And a new TV came out, Matcha a nice frog from Japan . And he brought some lovely chocolate with him . As it always happens in this cases, the night went by chatting and eating .
smaug Posted Dec 1, 2015, 2:37 am	Hi Mum, winter is definitely here and today we went checking out the fresh snow outside of Calgary . When we parked the car it was obvious that there was no shortage of it. As we moved up the trail all the forest was clad in white ... ...and occasionally we could see that the it looked pretty much the same all around us. When we reached the highest point of the day the clouds were really nice and opened up to let us enjoy the view . However they were not nice for long , and soon we could not seen 10 m away, so we slowly headed back home.
smaug Posted Dec 20, 2015, 3:27 pm	Hi Mum, We had a bit more snow this week, but today it was quite clear, so we went for a nice walk in the foothills . Well, actually there was a bit more snow than we expected during the first part of the walk, which caused smaug to be a bit grumpy . Anyway, eventually we reached the top of Eagle Hill, where we had a great view of the valley we just followed… …and of the Bow Valley gap into the Rockies . As it happens, the wind was pretty much gale force , so smaug was having some trouble keeping us from taking off and after a couple of near misses, we decided that the inside of the backpack was the place to be in these conditions .
smaug Posted Dec 20, 2015, 3:41 pm	Hi Mum, Guess what, we are going on holiday ! Today we finished packing our suitecase and headed for the airport . See you soon from somewhere else !
smaug Posted Jan 3, 2016, 2:28 am	Hi Mum, I’m in Italy ! Well, at least so I have been told . Anyway, time to have a hearty breakfast and when I recover from the jetlag I will investigate further .
smaug Posted Jan 3, 2016, 3:03 am	Hi Mum, OK, sammino explained us that we were planning to do some skiing , but not a single flake of snow (or drop of water for what it matters) has appeared around here in almost two months . As a result, skiing, despite a lot of artificial snow been prepared and a good number of runs available, does not sound as great as it normally would , so, to avoid those breakfasts turning us in little barrels , we are doing a bit of hiking instead . Today we went close to town and we soon stumbled in what seemed to be a pit with stone walls. As it happens, it appears that in the past it was an oven used to make lime that could eventually be turned into quicklime . After that it was mostly uphill going without any “cultural” excuse for catching our breath , but at last we reached the summit from where we could enjoy great views west ,… …, north… …and east. We assumed the south looked great too, but the sun is a bit low this time of the year and it was parked just there. So looking south just ended in a few burned retinas .
smaug Posted Jan 5, 2016, 9:27 pm	Hi Mum, Today we went to a nice peak close to town . Early on we found this lovely tiny house . We knocked at the door and peeped through the windows to see if someone was home, but no one answered so eventually we moved on. Much, much later we reached the summit where the view was, of course, great . We could also see this lovely lake… …and Trento in the distance . We found a summit log too! It was kind of hard to get it out of its case … …but we eventually managed to take it out and left a sign of our presence here . On the way down we even found a lovely and quiet spot where we could enjoy a little snack .
smaug Posted Jan 6, 2016, 3:33 am	Hi Mum, Today we went out for another short walk near town . As we were walking in the forest we came by this boulder. As it happens, it is not just a boulder sitting in the forest . Well technically it is , but it is also an erratic boulder, that has nothing to do with the rocks found in this area and that was probably dropped here by a glacier at the end of the last ice age . Later on we found another interesting item. This was a rain shelter used by shepherds working in this area a long time ago . It looked frightfully uncomfortable, so we decided against waiting for a rain shower to test how waterproof it is . On the way we found a summit log, despite the fact that we were barely over halfway to the summit (this is a strange trail indeed ). Nevertheless we decided that, of course,  we should sign it . At last we reached the actual summit. There was no summit log here, but we found a lovely spot to rest and enjoy the sunshine while eating a little treat . Back home in the afternoon we had a surprise: Landroval and Sigfrido had just arrived home for the holidays . As usual, a long night of chatting followed .
smaug Posted Jan 18, 2016, 2:31 am	Hi Mum, Merry Christmas ! Tonight we are celebrating Christmas Eve . There was quite a lot of food on the table , but our attention focused mostly on dessert .
smaug Posted Jan 18, 2016, 2:41 am	Hi Mum, Today we are heading to the airport to fly back to Canada, so this morning we said goodbye to Tatanka and Sigfrido who will stay in Europe .
smaug Posted Jan 18, 2016, 3:02 am	Hi Mum, We have quite a long connection in Frankfurt, but luckily we managed to convince smaug to get a few supplies that will help making the wait less boring .
smaug Posted Jan 24, 2016, 1:12 am	Hi Mum, Happy New Year ! We are a still bit too tired and jet-lagged to engage in big celebrations, but at least we still have some of the tasty supplies we grabbed yesterday at the airport .
smaug Posted Jan 24, 2016, 1:38 am	Hi Mum, After a few days of "funny" weather, today it was beautifully sunny, so we headed to the mountains . When we arrived at the parking lot we noticed that it was a bit cold and we therefore suggested to go back home and admire the sunny sky from an indoor location . Nevertheless, smaug would not listen and said that we were going to be fine. So after a bit walking we found a nice spot to peek at the landscape from between the trees. Later we found an even nicer viewpoint . At that point we begged sammino to convince smaug to take us back to the car before our frozen limbs started falling off and eventually we spent the afternoon at home trying to thaw out .
smaug Posted Jan 24, 2016, 1:56 am	Hi Mum, Having survived from hypothermia yesterday , today it was time to say goodbye and wish a safe journey to  Matcha and Landroval who are both travelling to Japan .
smaug Posted Mar 7, 2016, 2:20 am	Hi Mum, We have been a bit stuck at home over the last month , but today, at last, we were able to go back to the mountains . We parked at Barrier Lake, which happened to be frozen solid. A bit later we found ourselves much higher, where we had nice views of the lake ,… …the prairies… …and of the valleys heading in the mountains. Further up we reached a fire lookout, that happens to be shut at this time of the year. Still the view was really nice… …and, most important, we found a lovely spot were to relax and take in a bit of chocolate .
smaug Posted Mar 21, 2016, 1:02 am	Hi Mum, Today we went for a short walk up the mountains . The weather was far from great , but we managed to snap a few shots. As it happens the clouds were getting darker, so smaug decided not to linger too long and took us back home .
smaug Posted Mar 27, 2016, 4:16 am	Hi Mum, Today we were again in the mountains . Interesting enough, early in the day we had a lovely blue sky in front of us… …and not such a blue sky behind us . As we reached the halfway point of our walk the view improved , however the window of blue sky reduced a lot (pretty much only what you can see in the photo was not covered in clouds), so smaug the decided to head back. Of course, by the time we reached the car, there was not a single cloud left in the sky .
smaug Posted Mar 27, 2016, 4:32 am	Hi Mum, Today we gathered to say goodbye and wish a safe journey to Hansi Hü who is traveling to his next host .
smaug Posted Apr 4, 2016, 12:33 am	Hi Mum, Happy Easter! Today we celebrated with plenty of chocolate eggs . Well, they were not exactly the size that we were hoping for , but at least we all got one .
smaug Posted Apr 23, 2016, 10:33 pm	Hi Mum, After almost a month, today we were back into the mountains, and with a very favourable weather too . Of course, the first part of the day was not too exciting, but we reached the point where we stopped a month ago under a lovely blue sky. We therefore decided to go a bit higher, where we found the sun shining, hardly any snow slowing us down and balmy spring temperatures . It was kind of hard to eventually come back home .
smaug Posted May 23, 2016, 3:46 am	Hi Mum, Today we went for a walk around Calgary …well, more a food crawl than a walk . As we missed breakfast we first decided to get something to support us . But since the weather was far from great, we spent most of the time looking at the people moving around this huge mall. Eventually it was time to go back home, but just to make sure we had enough fuel to walk all the way, we allowed ourselves another small energy boost .
smaug Posted May 23, 2016, 11:31 pm	Hi Mum, We have been a bit quiet over the last few weeks, but today we convinced smaug to take us out . Since we left the car the weather looked a tad misty ,… …and as soon as we peeked out of the forest we got the suspicion that it was not going to be a good day for sightseeing . Anyway, we still harboured some hope that we might gain enough elevation to eventually, maybe, come out above the clouds. As it happens, that was not the case. At least the humidity did not affect our supplies , so we managed to fill up with some sugars before heading back to the car.
smaug Posted Jun 11, 2016, 9:55 pm	Hi Mum, Today smaug came home with a parcel, a TV sized parcel, so we got really excited . As we managed to open it, a new guest appeared, Ulani, a nice sheep from Germany . And she brought some lovely things with her . Of course we spent a very long evening muching on those sweets while listening about her travels .
smaug Posted Jun 11, 2016, 11:00 pm	Hi Mum, Today smaug took us out for a bike ride after work . Unfortunately he would not let us ride on the handlebar , but we still managed to enjoy some nice views along the way .
smaug Posted Jun 20, 2016, 1:52 am	Hi Mum, Today we went for a nice little hike early in the morning . The first bit was mostly in the trees, but soon the view improved. And it got better when we reached the summit . Disappointingly, smaug forgot to pack any chocolate , so, instead of having a nice time at the top, we insisted on getting back to the car quickly so that we could drive somewhere to gather some supplies .
smaug Posted Jun 20, 2016, 2:36 am	Hi Mum, Today we tried to go back to the trail where we were blinded by the fog a few weeks ago , and right from the parking lot we had a feeling that it was going to be a much better day for taking photos . And it was definitely the case. The wind was pretty much gale force and freezing cold , but the view was great . On the way back down, when we were a bit more sheltered from the wind, we noticed that someone put a great effort in building a huge and stylish cairn , so we stopped taking a photo with it .
smaug Posted Jul 23, 2016, 1:47 am	Hi Mum, Today we had a new guest arriving here in Calgary . smaug came home with a TV-sized package and, as usual, he left to us the task of getting it open . As we managed to open the parcel, a TV came out, Rachel, a nice sheep from China . And she brought some lovely gifts with her . Of course we spent the night listening to and telling travelling stories .
smaug Posted Jul 23, 2016, 2:07 am	Hi Mum, After a rather surprising (well, at least for us since sammino didn’t mention anything in advance ), uneventful and long trip, this morning we woke up in Italy . And even better, we woke up in front of a lovely breakfast . It is actually very hot here, so I think we will spend a few days just chilling out and recovering from the jet lag.
smaug Posted Aug 1, 2016, 3:01 am	Hi Mum, smaug has been very lazy on this holiday , but at last today he took us out for a little walk . We started the day looking down at the green pastures around Passo Vezzena … …and when we reached the highest point of the day, we had a lovely view over the lakes of Caldonazzo and Levico . As it happens the WWI front used to pass in this area , so we had a chance to do a bit of history tourism when we stumbled into this old Austrian fort . It did not look very comfortable , and the years have clearly taken their toll, so we decided it was not worth exploring the inside and just stayed out an enjoyed the sun till it was time to go back home .
smaug Posted Aug 22, 2016, 1:44 am	Hi Mum, Today we were, as usual, looking for food . In this case we were attacking the last few supplies that we brought back with us from Italy when we had a feeling that someone was looking at us . It was Landroval, one of smaug TVs who just arrived back home after visiting Japan , and he brought some lovely presents too. . Of course, we ended up spending the evening listening to travel stories .
smaug Posted Aug 22, 2016, 3:26 am	Hi Mum, Today smaug decided to take us to a lovely trip to the mountains . What was less lovely is that, to avoid afternoon thunderstorms, he made us start at a very ungodly hour . Nevertheless, after a bit we started having a nice view. For the first part of the morning we aimed for that lovely grassy col … …and when we reached it the view improved further. Sadly, it looked like the trail was not going to be nice and grassy for much longer … …and soon we were in the middle of a fairly lunar landscape . Our destination looked deceiviously close… …but it was quite some time before smaug eventually carried us to the top, where the view was spectacular . Of course, true to the summit name, the weather was far from ideal, so smaug decided to quickly retreat down to an elevation where the odds of being smitten be lightning were a bit less discomforting .
smaug Posted Sep 5, 2016, 1:37 am	Hi Mum, Today we had another day of decent weather so smaug took us again up to the mountains . Early in the morning we were still in shadow but we started seeing our destination in the distance. On the other hand, we had a lovely view over Kananaskis Valley … …and we could see the highway getting smaller and smaller beneath us. When we reached the ridge we were aiming for... ...the view over the valley improved … …and we could also see Kananaskis Lakes in the distance… ...and Mount Evan-Thomas and Mount Packenham right in front of us . We also found a summit log and we all signed it. Of course you write way more interesting things while getting some sugars in the belly .
smaug Posted Sep 12, 2016, 12:15 am	Hi Mum, Today we took advantage of the fair weather and went for a short and quick hike . It was actually still a bit shadowy early on the trail… …but by the time we reached our destination it was a beautiful sunny morning . Recently smaug has been less forgetful than usual about our sugar needs , and luckily today was no exception to that trend .
smaug Posted Sep 12, 2016, 12:41 am	Hi Mum, Today we gathered to say goodbye and wish a safe journey to Arn, who is travelling to Norway .
smaug Posted Oct 13, 2016, 8:39 am	Hi Mum, Today we gathered to say goodbye and wish a safe trip to Landroval who is flying to a new host .
smaug Posted Dec 12, 2016, 1:12 am	Hi Mum, After a long time, today smaug had again some time for us and took us a for a short hike near Banff . It was sometime before we shortly came out of the trees and had a nice view of Lake Minnewanka. This used to be a mining area and it is still full of hidden holes. To prevent distracted toyvoyagers from wondering into one of the deepest ones , there are plenty of chainlink fences around. Further up the trail we reached a nice glacial cirque . With a final effort we reached the highest spot of our day where we enjoyed the lovely view … …and spent some time basking in the sun before heading back to the car.
smaug Posted Jan 9, 2017, 12:25 am	Hi Mum, Today was a lovely morning (we didn’t have too many recently ) so we went to the mountains . We were a bit surprised about how little snow was around . Actually our destination looked really barren. Anyway, when we reached it, the view was great . Alas, the wind was great too…damn freezing cold . So we quickly went back into the backpack and let smaug out dealing with it .
smaug Posted Jan 9, 2017, 12:44 am	Hi Mum, We are going to spend some time in Italy for Christmas , so today we went to Calgary airport and visited the new international terminal …which turned out to be as boring as the old one . At least we had some fun joining a family of bears that was busy playing in the departures area .
smaug Posted Jan 9, 2017, 1:27 am	Hi Mum, So far our holiday has been very quiet , but at least today we were joined by Krystal and Sigfrido who will be spending Christmas with us .
smaug Posted Jan 30, 2017, 12:47 am	Hi Mum, Merry Christmas ! Luckily today there was no shortage of sweets to celebrate with .
smaug Posted Jan 30, 2017, 1:07 am	Hi Mum, Today we said goodbye to Krystal and Sigfrido and got ready to travel back to Canada .
smaug Posted Jan 30, 2017, 1:48 am	Hi Mum, Happy New Year ! We arrived back in Calgary last night and found a typical Canadian weather . Probably a good day to stay nice and warm at home .
smaug Posted Feb 26, 2017, 9:19 pm	Hi Mum, This morning, despite the cold , we went for a short hike . Actually smaug was in early-morning mode , so we reached the trailhead and started going when it was still way too dark to try snatching any photo. Luckily, by the time we reached the top, there was at least a reddish glimmer of light that allowed us to appreciate what a nice morning it was .
smaug Posted Apr 10, 2017, 2:22 am	Hi Mum! It’s been a bit boring around here recently . Nevertheless, even if the weather was not really good, today smaug took us for a short trip to the mountains . It’s full winter and it is usually freezing cold, but sometimes it warms up really quickly and the snow disappear as it looked to be the case on the prairies . Still Barrier Lake was still frozen solid. As we moved up along the trail the sky was getting darker and darker,… …so we found a nice sheltered spot where we could relax and top up the sugars before slowly walk back to the car.
smaug Posted Jun 12, 2017, 1:23 am	Hi Mum, After quite a long time, today smaug took us to the mountains again for a short hike . Interesting enough, it looked like the snow was almost gone, other than from the highest peaks . We almost started wondering if summer was going to come early this year .
smaug Posted Jun 12, 2017, 1:40 am	Hi Mum, Remember that yesterday we noticed that the snow was almost gone on the mountains? Well, it’s back , lot of it, in town too !
smaug Posted Jun 12, 2017, 1:47 am	Hi Mum, Happy Easter ! Today we noticed that last night we had a fresh dump of snow ,… …but luckily there was no reason to go outside since we had plenty of chocolate eggs that we could feast upon to celebrate Easter .
smaug Posted Aug 21, 2017, 12:54 am	Hi Mum, Today we went for a short hike near Calgary . As usual we spent some time under the trees, but eventually the view started to open up … …and we got the first glimpse of our destination. Much later, the view improved… …and it improved even more from the summit . r Still those clouds were promising rain, so we didn’t linger and quickly started moving back down the mountain .
smaug Posted Nov 6, 2017, 12:56 am	Hi Mum, Today we went for another nice trip into the mountains. As usual the approach was tree-covered, but once we reached the crest of Mist Ridge the view was great . We had mountains to the south… …Mist Mountain to the west… …more mountains to the east… …and the Sheep River valley with even more mountains to the north. We were surrounded by mountains .
smaug Posted Nov 27, 2017, 2:01 am	Hi Mum, Today we went again up to the mountains . Early in the morning we walked along Mosquito Creek, which was quite true to its name, so smaug decided to speed trough as fast as possible without stopping for taking photos and somehow we limited the number of bites we got . Later on, we got out of the trees and the wind sent the mosquitoes packing , so we could take a look at the valley from above. Eventually we reached our destination, Molar pass. The view from the west side of the pass was great … …but the view on the east side if anything was even better . After soaking in as much as we could of the view, we covered ourselves with insect repellent and made our way back to the car trying not to donate too much blood to the mosquitoes .
smaug Posted Jan 22, 2018, 2:57 am	Hi Mum, Today we went for another nice hike. It took a long slog through the forest, but eventually we reached Guinn’s Pass, where the view was great . We decided to make a little extra effort and walked up the ridge east of the pass from where we could see lower… …and upper Galatea Lakes. On the other side of the ridge Ribbon Lake was just below us. As we walked up the ridge we meet an unexpected friend . Landroval was flying in the area, spotted us and decided to stop by to say hello . We had lunch with him , and then started making our way back.
smaug Posted Jan 29, 2018, 1:47 am	Hi Mum, October has been a cold one… …and I guess our friend Squab decided he is not in the mood to deal with another winter here and he is ready to go home, so today we gathered to say him goodbye and wish him safe travel .
smaug Posted Mar 26, 2018, 2:50 am	Hi Mum, Today I said goodbye to my friends here in Calgary and got ready to come home . Before I left sammino gave me a big hug and wished me a safe trip .

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