Posted Nov 12, 2011, 6:24 pm
my name is Stoker and I am a new ToyVoyager, although I am really old.
I will write my first update soon.
yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 12, 2011, 6:57 pm
I heard from a big German Round Robin. And I want to join. It will start next year, but this doesn’t matter.
I will visit lower Saxony before we start.
Today Murph showed me Bad Salzdetfurth. It is an old mining city - and it is my home now.
Here you see a photo of the emblem.
This is a museum with many old machines of the mining time.
Can you see us?
There were Salines in the Park. The people used them to produce salt in the Past.
I decided to sleep in this wonderful cave, when it will get warmer.
There is a street of planets In Bad Salzdetfurth. All planets are in the correct distance to the sun all over the city. We found the Earth.
It is a really beautiful city.
Then we drove to this funny sculpture. Do you know these two guys?
They are Max and Moritz.
Wilhelm Busch wrote about their story in a book. He lived here.
Many greetings
Stoker
Posted Nov 20, 2011, 6:26 pm
Today we made a trip to the wisent park in Springe. We saw a lot of animals there.
First we saw these beautiful birds.
They were almost as beautiful as Buzz.
This is a hotel for bugs.
We met moose…
… and many deer.
These lazy animals gave the name for the park. (No - not the nice ones in the front - look behind us!)
This big sign was really interesting for me!
More beautiful animals!
It was a great trip.
yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 2, 2011, 8:04 pm
It was cold and windy today, but we wanted to make a nice trip to Alfeld.
In Alfeld everything is decorated for Christmas.
I would love to see this old tower in the summertime – I think that it will be more beautiful then.
On the marketplace there is a funny monument.
And a beautiful fountain.
The marketstreet and the townhall.
What a shock! I thought that the church burned.
Luckily it was only smoke from a factory behind the church.
I found this wonderful houw – the old Latin School.
Near to it there was another statue.
On our way back we saw this big angel. I wanted a photo with it.
At home we we lightened the first candle of the Advent wreath.
We were not able to celebrate the first Advent for a long time. Buzz will travel to his next host tomorrow – fam-united is waiting for him.
He climbed into his envelope.
Have a good trip, Buzz.
Many greetings
Stoker
Posted Dec 8, 2011, 6:44 pm
today I show you our Advent calender. Yes – it is right – we have our own calender for TVs.
Murph found the number one – what will be in there?
So many sweets!
Then we all searched for the number 4.
I found it!
I had to look, what was in it.
What a wonderful Advent calender.
Many greetings
Stoker
Posted Dec 19, 2011, 8:06 pm
two days ago I was allowed to open a gift out of our Advent Calendar.
Today we went into the forest with Murph. We searched mushrooms. First we found a lilac mushroom.
Murph told us that it was eatable.
This mushroom was a wood blewit.
We loved this too. It is called hair ice.
Unfortunately these mushrooms were frozen.
Oyster mushroom, really yummy!
This big mushroom is eatable, too.
It is a trooping funnel mushroom. Sadly it was too big for our basket.
There were many of these mushrooms.
We searched for these mushrooms, but they were too small.
Their name is velvet foot. We found bigger ones.
We cut them and put them into our basket.
Then we went home with our full basket.
At home we said goodbye to Snakey.
Snakey will travel to his next host. Have a safe trip.
What a wonderful day in the forest.
Greetings
Stoker
Posted Dec 22, 2011, 9:08 pm
Have a look, what Bine and Holgi brought home from their shopping trip.
Do you know it? It is a „root of rutabaga“! We want to cook it today. First we had to cut it into small pieces.
Then it was ready in the pot.
Then we put meat and potatoes into the pot – and it had to cook for a long time.
Murph mashed it.
I cut the sausages for the stew.
At Bine’s home it is called „Schlunse“
It was delicious.
Many greetings
Stoker
Posted Dec 23, 2011, 5:01 pm
Today we made a trip to Seesen. First we saw this funny sign. I wanted a photo. Can you see me?
This house was so beautiful!
Next to the sights in Seesen there are always windows to sit in.
Here you can see the museum.
We went to a playground. What a great seesaw!
Next to the playground there was a lake with a lot of ducks. We talked with the ducks.
This statue shows Wilhelm Busch, a German poet.
He wrote the story of Max and Moritz. Do you know the story and the boys?
And another window. You can see the Sehusa-Castle.
Then we drove some more kilometers and – look, what we found.
I will go on holidays with my friends now – we won’t have internet – but I will tell you more, when I am back.
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Stoker
Posted Dec 31, 2011, 1:28 pm
When we arrived, we saw that we had a Christmas Tree in our holiday flat.
How excitiing. We received a big parcel for Christmas. It was from Hummel, RikeH and Dicker Kumpel. What will be in it?
We had a look.
A present for me!
A beautiful candle. Thanks a lot Dicker Kumpel!
We found another nice thing in the Parcel. It was a big candleholder for Bine and Holgi. We decorated it for Christmas. It was wonderful!
We received a lot of sweets. Thanks Hummel!
What a great Christmas Eve.
Many greetings
Stoker
Posted Dec 31, 2011, 1:37 pm
today we visited Hann.Münden. There was a wonderful town hall.
This was the Weserstein.
This is the place where the Rivers Werra and Fulda meet to form the River Weser.
A wonderful bridge over the Fulda.
Hann.Münden has a lot of beautiful half-timbered houses.
I really loved the old town gate.
We took a photo of the Castle from this nice bridge.
I really loved this old Town.
Love
Stoker
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 2:54 pm
Today we went to Kassel.
There were wonderful orchids in the greenhouse.
We made a rest at this small fountain.
Then we walked through the wonderful palace garden.
An old aqueduct.
I didn’t know, what this pyramid is for.
The bridge of devils.
Look at this wonderful palace!
I loved it – I want to live in it.
This would be a wonderful home for me, but unfortunately Bine had not enough money to buy it.
Many Greetings
Stoker
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 6:06 pm
Today we wanted to visit the Sababurg. Unfortunately it was closed.
We decided to go to the jungle Sababurg.
At the beginning we found this cabin.
Let’s go.
There were many wonderful tree-mushrooms.
Which roundtrip should we choose?
The trees were very old.
We continued our walk.
What a pity, we had no basket with us, because we found theses oyster mushrooms.
In this jungle all trees will stay at their places, when they fall – no ranger will come and tidy up.
What a wonderful forest!
Many greetings
Stoker
Posted Jan 2, 2012, 9:04 pm
today we were in a baroque town . There was a ‘Invalidenhaus’. It was built for injured people during the World Wars.
At this little Tower you can see the water-levels of the River Weser.
We all wanted a photo with this friendly man.
Here was something I know from Bad Salzdetfurth – a saline.
You stand next to the saline and breeze the healthy air.
To tell the truth – our saline at home is much better.
Our last photo in Bad Karlshafen – it is the town hall.
I was so excited. The German RR will start. And I am a member of it.
I said good-bye to Murph and Orpheus.
Then I jumped into my envelope.
I start. Noisy - I am coming!
Until soon
Stoker
Posted Jan 13, 2012, 6:21 pm
Many greetings from Weilburg, Hessen!
It is quite boring here, my host mom was down with influenza some days, now she is a little bit better...
So we TVs have to be quiet and have to play alone.
Here are still a lot of TVs, some of them will go on until the next days.
There are Potamus, Hessen-Leo, Leopoldi
and Herlinde and Taru.
We have finished a puzzle, that the other TVs have started earlier.
And we played cards, learned some basic facts about Hessen.
We needed a new calendar and got a new orchid
Posted Jan 13, 2012, 6:30 pm
Noisy has to take some more pictures when she isn't shaky...
Posted Jan 13, 2012, 6:37 pm
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Posted Jan 26, 2012, 6:34 pm
She showed it to us TVs and we should think about where she could put all the nice postcards. Maybe we will put them to a pinwall? Thats not so nice
So we decided to hang them to a line near our bed
Posted Jan 26, 2012, 7:26 pm
Today it was very cold outside, but we made a walk at the river Lahn.
There is a lot of water because of the many rainy days we have got here.
In Weilburg there is a little ship going across the river like a ferry - only by men craft. There is a strong rope from one side to the other side across the river and the men in the ship is pulling the people across and over- but only when the weather is warm.
Near the Rollship is a nice garden. We only could take a picture from outside the fence -- because the garden is closed while the winter. Noisy told us, that it is very nice and full of ideas when it is warmer weather.
Than we walked to the three tunnel. They are near beside the other - and Weilburg is the only town in the world having 3 tunnel like this. There is one for trains, one for cars and one for ships. In summer many Lahn- tourists will be there and and take the sluise with the canu.
There is also a Modell-machine-park. It took several years to build the little landscape. There is a little train , where you can sit on, going around. And there are many little construction machineries, and all streets and gardendesigns and walls and so on were build with this! But we could only have a look over the fence
Then we were on a little bridge made of steel. It was very wobbling
when we walked over it, and Herlinde almost fell down to the river
Posted Jan 26, 2012, 7:52 pm
Noisy told that she has had a St.Bernhards-dog all the time she is living with her husband on the farm. But the last one called Ricky died very young, he only was 4 years old
and he was ill most time of his life.
Now she has got a Australien Working Kelpie, a very funny little dog.
This breed is special for herding sheeps, here the dog called Noisy
should herd the ducks. But Noisy- the dog- is very young and has to learn a lot...
Posted Jan 26, 2012, 8:16 pm
The ingredients
*some rolls of handcheese
*onions
*pepper
*oil
*vinegar
*cumin
We have put this all into a big boul and than we must wait for the next day.
We got a bread fresh from the baker, put some butter and one piece of cheese on it.
Puuuuuh, that was a stinky matter!
But it was soooooo yummi....
P.S. If you don't know why it is called ..."with music", you have to try this, and after that you will find out
(it's because of the effect of the many onions 
)
Posted Jan 26, 2012, 9:31 pm
Each Tuesday Noisy is going to the primary-school for helping some pupils with their homework.
There was a Teddy waiting for me, he gave me a warm welcome.
Behind the board was a map of Hessen.
I read a poster showing the right snack for pupils.
And I looked at the nice pictures and the calender and the funny snowman.
Posted Jan 26, 2012, 9:45 pm
Look, what I have found!
A book only about bats!
I studied this instruction how to craft an origami-bat, and tomorrow I will try it myself.
Greetings from Hessen, it is nice here, even when we couldn't go out so much because of the bad weather and the flu of Noisy.
Posted Feb 2, 2012, 6:12 pm
Today is the day my journey goes on. I have to hurry, because iloveletters has got a big surprise for me, but Noisy didn't tell me what it will be
Potamus, Taru and Herlinde will leave Noisy, too. We had a great time, even when Noisy wasn't able to go outside with us as much as she would.
But guess what she said to me!? I'm invited to visit her again in summer, when the RR is over. Than she will show me my relatives living here on the farm and around!!!
Now I have to jump in my travelbox!
Lovely greetings from Hessen
STOKER
Posted Feb 2, 2012, 6:22 pm
Tomorrow we all have to leave the warm house of Noisy, so we made a little "say-good-bye-party".
We had a lot of yummi things and talked a long time.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Feb 2, 2012, 6:57 pm
Have I told you, that Noisy has got a farm?
Today we made some pictures of the calves and the cows and the tractors and the chicken and.....oooh, there is a lot to see here!
The calves on the first two pictures are only some days old
and it wasn't easy to take the photos.
The next calves were a little bit older and soooo curious about me, one even thought I was a sweet and he wants to lick me. But Noisy took me away in time! Than she told me, that Cows cannot bite, because they have only one row of tooth. Have you known that?
The cows on the next picture will get their calves the next weeks.
Than we have had a look into the next stable where the cattles live. These were the cows of tomorrow, Noisy said. They will get their first calves in the next year, and a cow is only a cow if she has even one calf.
The chicken and the rooster wouldn't come out of the house, because it was so cold. This is a very old breed caled Altsteirer. They don't lay as many eggs as a turbo-hybrid, but the meet is much better! Some years ago they were danger of extinction, but now there are many breeders again.
And the ducks have to eat all the naked snails, and they do! Last year Noisy got one pair of this funny ducks, now she has 3 pairs. They have to sit on some eggs in spring again. Hessen-Leo will show me the pictures than!
There is a big garage with a lot of machines. The biggest one - Noisy calles it her house,because it was so expensive like a house- is the mower -I don't know if this is the right word in english. It means the machine that cuts the corn.
The white car is the newest toy of Noisys son Florian. He's got one Golf and this one is the "spare parts store"
Can you see the box under the roof? there is an owl living and -as Noisy told me- has up to 5 young little owls each year. When she can catch a photo she wants to update it in the travelog of Hessen-Leo.
And in the dark part of the roof, somewhere are sleeping --guess what! -- MY RELATIVES!!!! There are a lot of bats around here in summer!
The last pictures show you some views out of the windows of the house.
It was a sunny day today, but it was very coooollllldddd, brrrrr, but I have seen a lot of new things.
Bye
Stoker
P.S. I forgot to show you the two MOST BUSINEST animals of this farm! The dog should herding the ducks and the cat should catch the mice. Normally. But what are they doing the whole day long??? Look yourself!
Posted Feb 2, 2012, 7:33 pm
Tomorrow is the 19th birthday of Noisys son Florian.
And I could help baking a Frankfurter Kranz, another hessian speciality!
What a job!
Can you spot us TVs on the last picture? No? Why?
If you want to have the recipes of the meals and so, Noisy will write them all in the travelog of Hessen-Leo soon!
Bye
Stoker
Posted Feb 4, 2012, 7:37 pm
After quite a long journey within Germany I arrived in Thuringia today.
The other TVs living here were very curious when they discovered the package.
Then finally I saw some light and looked into the friendly faces of
Dancer, Shesh and Aidan.
I brought some present with me. My host says 'Thank you' to Noisy!
Bonnie the cat liked the little balloons, too!
We used them as decoration for a little welcome party!
Then my host told me that tomorrow is a big day because we are
going on holidays for a week. What a surprise! I am not only going
to see Thuringia but also Spain! So don't worry mom if the next
updates will only follow in about 8 days!
Hugs, Stoker
Posted Feb 15, 2012, 1:02 pm
First we drove to the airport in Frankfurt. It was about 12 noon
when we arrived and the flight was at 2:30 pm.
We spent some time waiting and watching the planes outside. I am so excited!
Posted Feb 15, 2012, 1:15 pm
at the hotel we took our first day here to discover the hotel and
area here.
We have a great room with a balcony and view on the Mediterranean Sea! Look at that - blue sky and only a single cloud.
It is very very warm here. I love it! It was -20°C in Germany when we left and now it is +20°C here! I am glad that I am a vampire
who loves sun otherwise it would have been a shame to stay inside the room all day.
The hotel
was near the center of the town and we took a walk to
the famous lookout 'Balcon de Europa'. Here people can read some
information about it:
All these palm trees!
And then the beautiful view from the balcony onto the Sea.
In December 1884 an earthquake hit the area and town and
therefore Alfonso XII visited Nerja in January 1885 and gave a
speech on the balcony. Today a statue commemorates this event.
Ok then, let's move on...
... through the little narrow streets in the town.
Posted Feb 15, 2012, 1:29 pm
we arrived at the Caves of Nerja.
These caverns are one of Spain's major tourist attractions.
As a bat I felt like home in these dark caves!
But since it was so dark and we were not allowed to use flash for
photogaphing you can only guess what to see here. Unfortunately!
The place was amazingly big with giant stalacites and stalacmites!
There is one column about 30 metres tall and is the largest in the
world. It is in the Guiness Book of Records.
Posted Feb 15, 2012, 1:33 pm
We had to rest after the long walk, enjoyed and ice-cream and the sun!
Posted Feb 15, 2012, 1:38 pm
It took us about 1.5 hours to get to Granada.
We drove through the mountains and it got really colder going north.
It was only about zero °C when we arrived in the city.
We started out walk at the Plaza de la Universidad.
Next we visited the Hopital San Juan de Dios. As you can see from
the pictures the hospital is very old but it is still used today.
Near the hospital is the monastery San Jeronimo.
The cathedral of Malaga was built from 1523.
It used to be the first Renaissance style cathedral.
Following the little streets with markets ...
... we walked up the hill to the Alhambra Palace.
Alhambra means 'red fortress' and one theory says that because of
the red stone walls the palace was called like this. The history
dates back to the 10th century. The Palace has been an UNESCO
world heritage site since 1984.
Granada lies north of the Sierra Nevada. Can you see the snow
covered mountains in the background?
Posted Feb 15, 2012, 1:40 pm
I was always kept safe in a trouser pocket and could rest and see the surroundings while my host was walking and walking and walking....
On the way back the sky was a little darker and we were afraid it would rain.
But, no, back in Nerja it was still warm and dry.
Can you see me!?
Posted Feb 15, 2012, 1:41 pm
The town is well-known because Picasso was born here.
We did not have enough time though to visit his birth house and the Picasso Museum.
I guess I have to return one day....
But let's take a look at the map to decide what else to see.
Malaga Cathedral
The Roman Theatre
And the Alcazaba. It's like a little version of the Alhambra.
We had a beautiful view from the top over the town and the harbour.
I could have stayed here....
But no, we finished our day in the harbour area with a waffle and coffe!
Posted Feb 15, 2012, 1:52 pm
we had a look at the toyvoyagers site to see what was going on
while we were away.
And I could not believe my eyes: Me somewhere else!
I have got a twin! I didn't know and have to find out more about him later!
We also read the newspaper to get updated.
A look at the weather forecast confirmed what we thought: It is still
very warm in Spain and cold here in Germany. I want to go back!
But there is still only little snow here on the ground.
I decided it is better to stay inside at the moment.
Bonnie and Clyde, the two cats living here, thought so, too, and I joined them.
Their fur is so soft and warm.
At least I had a look at an aerial view of the village where I am now.
Can you see where I point with the biro? This is the house my host lives in.
I will discover more of the village the next days!
See you!
Posted Feb 18, 2012, 12:38 pm
It was built in the 17th century and is one of the best kept Baroque buildings of this kind.
There is also a large park which is modelled like an English garden.
Maybe we will return when the weather is better and take a stroll.
Did you realize that the two towers have different roofs?
That is because there once was a fire and they rebuilt the roof differently.
Otherwise the castle is very symmetrical, as you can see inside.
Opposite the castle is the natural history museum, or the building used to be used as such.
At the moment they are restructering the exhibitions and the museum is closed.
Near the castle I found the Studnitz-Pyramide, a tomb for Hans Adam von Studnitz.
Posted Feb 18, 2012, 1:32 pm
Fasten your seatbelt and get ready for take-off!
Posted Feb 22, 2012, 10:04 am
Finsterbergen is a small village near Gotha but Carnival is big!
They have a Carnival Club called FKK (Finsterberger Karneval Klub -
the German readers will get the joke with FKK...), and here is their logo.
First the Carnival Prince and Princess entered the stage.
And then we had 4 hours of fun, music, songs, rhymes and and and!
A great evening out!
Posted Feb 22, 2012, 10:12 am
we decided to have our own Carnival party at home!
First we needed some decoration.
Noisy had sent some crackers with my package and they came in very handy!
I pulled hard but the cracker did not go off.
Then I asked Dancer for help and we pulled and pulled - but the cracker did not go off.
We asked Shesh for help and we pulled and pulled and pulled - and finally
the cracker went off and we were all covered in paper streamers!
Now we needed costumes.
One of us decided to go as Santa, one was a mummy and one of us was a ghost.
Mom and Dad, can you guess who is who?!
For a real Carnival in Germany you need doughnuts!
Mmmmhhhhhh, they were so yummy!
We had a great party!
Posted Feb 26, 2012, 2:32 pm
A lot of people were there. We looked at all the stalls.
There was also a fashion show which I liked very much!
Posted Feb 26, 2012, 2:34 pm
Posted Feb 28, 2012, 12:55 pm
First I looked again where exactly Thuringia is.
Then I got some more information about it on Wikipedia.
There live about 2.2 million people here and the state capital is Erfurt.
This is the coat of arms of the state:
We then walked through the village a little.
As you can see from the map it is very small with about 1000 inhabitants.
We came across the village hall
the mayor's office
and there is even a little grocery shop.
Posted Feb 28, 2012, 1:00 pm
This is 'her' school.
It is a lovely little campus with a park in which you can find two busts of famous teachers.
After school we went to the town center. Waltershausen is not
really big. We took a stroll and I saw the town hall on the market square
the town church
and this the 'Klaustor', an old town gate.
Posted Feb 28, 2012, 1:02 pm
So I crawled into my box.
I was told my next stop is Bavaria. I am looking forward to it!
CU mommy and daddy!
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The Deutsches Museum possesses over 100 000 objects from the fields of science and technology. The large number of valuable original exhibits makes the Deutsches Museum one of the most important museums of science and technology anywhere in the world. The collections are not restricted to any specialized range of topics: they include objects from mining to atomic physics, from the Altamira cave to a magnified model of a human cell. They extend from the Stone Age to the present time. Collecting historically significant objects is still one of the Museum’s central tasks, so that the stock is constantly growing.
About a quarter of the objects are on exhibition – in the main museum on the island in the river, at the transport museum on the Theresienhöhe, in the hangar at Schleißheim airfield, and in the Deutsches Museum Bonn. These illustrate important developments in science and technology, right down to current research.
Among the particular highlights (besides many others!) are the first motorized aircraft built by the Wright brothers, the U1 submarine, the first program-controlled computer (Conrad Zuse’s Z3), and Diesel’s original engine on the island; the first motorcar by Karl Benz in the transport museum; the Douglas DC3 at Schleißheim; and the first Fischer wall plug in Bonn.
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Bye, Stoker
Posted Apr 22, 2012, 1:07 pm
Today we were invited at my host parents' place to celebrate Easter together.
At first we had lunch.
We ate bone marrow dumplings soup with unripe spelt grains. I loved it.
At next there was a tasty salad with croutons.
I nearly had been full, but I also tried some pieces af the main part.
After this tasty lunch we went for a short one hour walk into the wood, which is close to their home. It's nice to see the lightgreen spring trees.
I asked Princess Sarah to carry me for a while and she did.
At their home again we had coffee and cakes. As it was also my host mum's birthday we had a birthday cake.
Princess Sarah and I shared a Bienenstich.
Then we went into the garden in the backyard and searched for some Easter eggs and found an Easter bunny.
I love the tulips there
and the daisies, too.
While we were outside the house, the Easter bunny must have been inside, because we found the Easter eggs there later.
That's it for today. I will write again
Bye, Stoker
Posted Apr 29, 2012, 11:54 am
I found some nice cards and thought about buying one, but I had no money with me.
German Asparagus is famous and so is Asparagus from Bruchsal. I hope to eat some before I go on with my journey.
Here's the marketplace and the old city hall right in front of me. It is the heart of the pedestrian zone, but also home to the twice weekly market, that takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
This is the so called Stadtkirche, town church, "Of Our Beloved Lady" stand on the foundations of a church first documented in 1268. Construction of the choir began in 1447 as evidenced by the inscriptions still visible on its outer walls. As the building was destroyed many times, the interior is now spartan. However, the 15th Century statue of the Madonna is worthy of note.
Next to the church we walked through a labyrinth.
There also is this shelf next to the church, where you can take a book with you to read it and maybe bring other books, which you already read, so that other people can read it too.
We walked around the church and faced the red entrance of the savings bank.
On the other side of the church entrance we found this board, where we could read a bit about the church. On the large photo you see the church side next to the marketplace and the fountain.
You still see nice windows in the church
Here we are at the fountain, which I mentioned above.
Our way let us to the Bürgerpark, civic park. We walked between the houses with number 3 and 10. Number 10 is the library of Bruchsal.
The building on the left is the library on the right the civic center and you see the tower keep of the old castle.
We read the board again. The Castle Keep is 38metre tall and was bult in 1358 as the defensive tower of the old castle. Its outer walls are over three metres thick and it is the town's oldest surviving building. Today the keep affords excellent views over the town and surrounding countryside.
The left building is the civic centre. The grounds of the current Bürgerzentrum (civic centre) were previously the site of the prison and a women's penal institution was also located in nearby Huttenstraße. 18 political prisoners from the Baden Revolution were also freed from these two prisons.
The Bürgerpark (civic park) was built at the end of the 1980s in connection with the construction of the civic centre, which is home to the town theatre. Today the Bürgerzentrum and Bürgerpark host a wide range of cultural and social events.
These following two memorials remind of the victims of National Socialism.
We found another board where we read about the Bürgerpark and we've seen another memorial as a plea for understanding between nations.
Now we are at the end of the Bürgerpark and see the "Big Crossing" which leads over the river called Salbach. The building on the right is the city hall.
Now we are close to my host's home again. We saw some nice houses there. 80 % of the old houses were destroyed during World War II.
Posted Apr 29, 2012, 1:40 pm
After the training Petra visited the Palais Thermal and then came back. We both still slept in her bed.
But then it was dark enough to go out on my own and I sneaked out of the balcony door.
Petra had no chance to take more photos during the night, because she was too tired and too slow to catch me. I had a great night out.
Greetings, Stoker
Posted Apr 29, 2012, 2:07 pm
You surely see the tent roof in the middle of the photo. It belongs to the terrace of the Palais Thermal.
There is a sort of pedestrian zone, although there still drive cars and the tram.
The river Enz flows through Bad Wildbad. It is situated 420 m above sea level, in the romantic pine-clad gorge of the Enz, a tributary of the Neckar in the Black Forest, 45 km west of Stuttgart and 23 east of Baden-Baden by rail. It covers a vertical difference of about 300 m.
It is historically a popular medicinal spa.
There are many narrow streets and houses.
Here we are in front ot the Palais Thermal.
Posted Apr 29, 2012, 2:11 pm
The big houses you can see belong to the Landesakademie. That's where we stayed during the last two and a half days.
Here's the old Kurhaus.
I have to say goodbye to Bad Wildbad. It is a nice town, but I'm happy to go back to Bruchsal again.
Bye, Stoker
Posted Apr 29, 2012, 3:22 pm
Posted Apr 29, 2012, 3:45 pm
The other newspaper page is about the baroque palace of Bruchsal. I think, you have a good view to many different parts of the main building with the church tower, but still many houses are missing.
Posted Apr 30, 2012, 6:23 pm
Posted May 13, 2012, 3:56 pm
The church St. Peter is in my hosts street. It is a nice baroque church, one of the few remains after world war II. About 80% of Bruchsal was destroyed on 1rst of March 1945. The church is at one corner of the graveyard.
We walked next to this small wall. In the middle of the photo you see a grey building in the far. This is a catholic grammar school, which was founded by padres of the Pallotti order.
Then I learnt something about this nice old church. It was designed by Balthasar Neumann.
A memoral stone on the graveyard is a reminder of the Baden Revolution. We still don't really know, where this stone is
because it isn't the one next to the board.
We didn't take many photos on the graveyard, but here you see some. The graveyard is a difficult place for older people, because it is rather steep.
There are many nice chestnut trees on the graveyard.
This is a reminder for people, who lost there lifes in World War I.
These are the newest graves of the Jewish graveyard.
We are at the upper entrance of the graveyard. You see the newbuilt new apotholic church.
Standing next to the church we tried to catch a view to the Palatinate mountains in the far. If you look more closely, you will see them too.
Here we see the backside of the house called Santa Maria. I will tell you more about it later.
Between the two trees you can see two towers. The right one is the keep of the ancient castle and the left is the tower of the catholic church, which belongs to the palace of Bruchsal.
Here is the front of Santa Maria.
The institute Santa Maria was opened in 1908. In 1981 it became a private school for social-pedagogy. Since 1988 there is also a Kindergarden Museum.
We are close to home now, so this is the last photo of our walk. I really enjoyed it.
Posted May 13, 2012, 4:13 pm
Posted May 13, 2012, 4:54 pm
Three pupils had to find out interesting places for pupils. Here are two of their posters:
Other pupils had to tell something about the Black Forest, the Schwarzwald, which is only about one hour drive from our host's home. The Black Forest is famous for the Kuckucksuhr, Black Forest Cake and the Black Forest costumes.
The Mummelsee is a 17-metre-deep lake at the western mountainside of the Hornisgrinde in the northern Black Forest of Germany. It is very popular with tourists travelling along the Schwarzwaldhochstraße. According to legends, the lake is inhabited by a Nix and the King of the Mummelsee.
The Schwarzenbachtalsperre (Schwarzenbach river dam) is also located in northern part of Black Forest. It was finished in 1926.
Konstanz is a city at the Bodensee (Lake Constance). It is close to the neighbour countries Austria and Switzerland.
Heidelberg is famous for its castle and the river Neckar with a nice bridge.
Karlsruhe is the main city of the Baden part of Baden-Württemberg. It is only about 20 km from Bruchsal and my host told me, that she studied there ages ago.
And finally Stuttgart, which is the maincity of Baden-Württemberg. It is called Stuttgart, because there were farmhouses for mares - in German "Stuten". That's why you see a horse in the coat of arms. Stuttgart is also famous for Porsche, the oldest television tower and Wilhelma, the Stuttgart zoo.
At last I was allowed to sit on the large Germany puzzle. I sit next to Baden-Württemberg, you can see the red dot Freiburg. At the border, which is the thick green line you maybe can spot some blue, this is the river Rhine, which flows through Bodensee (the blue part at the border to Switzerland (CH) and Austria (A) to the Netherlands. Bruchsal is located in the Rhine valley.
Two pupils talked about the Rhine, because a part of it flows through Baden-Württemberg.
Posted May 13, 2012, 5:26 pm
Schloss Bruchsal is one of the most beautiful Baroque palaces in Germany and the only episcopal Baroque residence on the Upper Rhine. The foundation stone was laid in 1722 by Cardinal Damian Hugo von Schönborn, Prince Bishop of Speyer, who made the palace the centre of his absolutist dominion.
There are nice chestnut alleys in the palace garden.
At one crossing you see statues of the four seasons. This here shows summer.
There's also a small pond with green water and some ducks.
At the next crossing there are statues of the four elements water, air, earth and fire. This statue shows fire.
Here we are in the rosegarden.
On this wall we found a sun dial, but we wondered, whether the time was right on it.
You see, that many houses belong to the palace area. The house with the little tower is the county court.
Petra wanted to take a photo of me with the palace entrance, but the battery stopped working
So this is my last photo of my stay with her. I left her home in the late afternoon.
Posted May 14, 2012, 3:46 pm
The tip of this biro shows, where you will find Bruchsal on the map.
Here's the coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg. The deer on the left is the heraldic animal of Württemberg and the griffin on the right is the heraldic animal of Baden.
On this map of Germany you see Baden-Württemberg in green. You can spot Stuttgart and Bruchsal.
Here's a map of Baden-Württemberg with some important cities and the Bodensee (Lake Constance).
The green part is the Rhine Valley, the brown is the Black Forest and Swabian Mountains and the blue is Lake Constance.
I had to answer some questions like, which city in the Rhine valley is called "Fächerstadt" (Fan-City): Karlsruhe, because it is built like a fan around the palace.
I learnt some Badisch and Swabian, like Grumbiere for Kartoffeln (Potatoes).
And of course I had to learn the Badner-Lied.
Posted Jun 10, 2012, 6:16 am
I'am at the first time in Bonn and it's a really nice little town.
Yesterday i made a first lookaround...
Doy you know this men? He was born in Bonn and lived here in the 17th century and was a musician....
Here a view to Bonn-Beuel at the over side of river Rhine...
...and now a view to Bonn. It's a small town. But very nice...
At the back left you can see the "Langer Eugen", the headquarter of the United Nation...former it was a building from the german government before the move to Berlin...
The promenade beside the river rhine...normally full of people..
After that, i climbed on top of a hill called "Kreuzberg", located at a district called "Endenich". From here you can see the "Kölner Dom" at the horizon. And yeah...the weather was good enough!!!
I have marked it to show you where it is....
So this was the first tour for me!!!
Have a nice weekend!!
Greetings
Stoker
Posted Aug 1, 2012, 1:31 pm
I arrived safely at my host Marie's home and was welcomed by two tvs! On the left side you can see Kuromi-chan from Singapore and on the right side _Mishuta_ from the Ukraine. They are very friendly and showed me round my new home for the next month. At the end of our little tour I had a look at Klea, Marie's guinea pig. Isn't she cute
?
I'm really looking forward to the following days.
Greetings
Stoker
Posted Aug 16, 2012, 6:30 pm
today_Mishuta_, Kuromi-chan and I visited the zoo in Leipzig. After one and a half our by train we finally arrived at the central railway station. From there we took the tram to the zoo.
We saw different animals like monkeys, zebras, meerkats, turtles, elephants and many more as you can see. We also visited "Gondwanaland", a big Tropical Hall. Inside I felt like I was in a real rainforest! Doesn't it look great?
Greetings
Stoker
Posted Aug 27, 2012, 1:31 pm
Mishuta and I visited a Trümmerberg (mountain of rubble) together with Marie and her family. It is called like this because it consists of debris from World War II. Now everything is covered with plants and we took a little walk.
On our way we collected many elderberries, you can see them on the fifth photo. At home we made soup out of them, I liked it very much
.
I miss you, Mum
Stoker
Posted Sep 1, 2012, 11:24 am
.
Greetings
Stoker
Posted Sep 3, 2012, 4:33 pm
Love you, Mummy
Stoker
Posted Sep 6, 2012, 8:19 pm
Just in time I arrived in Sülfeld.My cousin Dicker Kumpel was a little surprised where I landed.
Then he gave me a warm welcome!
He introduced me to the other guys here.
Some of us will travel to another country soon – this will be fun.
Then I showed the others the best way to sleep.
I think I will like it here.
Love
Stoker
Posted Sep 12, 2012, 5:19 pm
We went to Poland – and I had a look out of the window of the plane.
In the evening we made a walk through Warsaw and saw this nice fountain.
At this place the people think of dead soldiers.
This is one of the best hotels here – but we didn’t have a room here.
The home of the President – if I remember it right.
To tell the truth – I have no idea what building this was.
This is the Sigismundsäule.
And this is the castle of the town. Yes - a new Castle for my collection!
Do you know the man on the photo?
Another beautiful building.
This is a nice big place in the old city.
Here you see a monument – Polish people love monuments like this one.
And Mum and Dad – this was my famous place in the city! RikeH allowed me to sleep here – it was so much fun and I met some other bats.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Sep 12, 2012, 6:10 pm
We left Warsaw and I saw this funny building.
Then we went to a region called Masuria. We took a trip on a river called Krutynia.
Look – we sat on a boat like that one.
We had wonderful weather!
There was a nice tree – sadly dead, but it looked great.
I loved this trip.
Later we stopped at another place and had a great view.
I loved the wooden houses here. You can see me with my friends in front of this house.
Love
Stoker
Posted Sep 15, 2012, 9:17 pm
Today we visited a nice church – called Mariä Verkündigung in Swieta Lipka.
We had a nice time in the church and listened to an organ recital.
In front of the church I saw this nice harvest crown.
A pilgrimage route seems to be here.
Can you see this nice Castle – unfortunately it was a ruin.
We had a nice stop at the port of Mikolajki.
On the market place there was this fountain with a fish on it.
Near to our hotel I had fun in this boat.
I had a great view from a hill there.
Around the hotel there were some funny guys.
It was a very beautiful hotel!
yours
Stoker
Posted Sep 16, 2012, 11:50 am
We took a boat trip today – but it was a special trip. On this water channel the ships drove some parts without water – this was strange. On this postcard you can see how it works.
This was our boat.
This photo shows the nice nature.
Behind me you can see our way over the hill.
Our ship was on a wagon like this behind me.
Here you see the moment, when we went onto the wagon.
It was so interesting!
With the help of water and these wheels they moved the wagons.
Here you can see the machine room.
After this interesting trip with a boat we went to Frambork and visited the big cathedral there.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Sep 17, 2012, 6:54 pm
We started our day with another big red building. But this one was bigger. It is the Castle Malbork/Marienburg. It is the biggest medieval fortress in Europe.
It looked great!
We went into the Castle and saw this nice altar or whatever it should be – I am not that good in religious things.
This was another nice room.
The kitchen was great, although I look like a ghost on the photo.
In the castle courtyard we met these 4 guys. They were important for the Malbork!
After our visit we went to the other side of the river and had wonderful views.
Enough for the Castle – it was time for the seaside. We went to a place called Sopot. They have a very long pier there.
It was strange – at the end there was a little harbor.
Maybe I will be a pirate someday?
It was a hot and sunny day – so the people spent their time on the beach and in the water.
Next to the beach there was a really big hotel - I would have loved to stay in it.
In the city I saw this funny house…
It was a great day - with a new Castle for my Castle-Collection.
Love
Stoker
Posted Sep 19, 2012, 9:22 pm
Normally we had good weather here in Poland – but today it was not so good – fortunately we had no rain. Our city for today was Gdansk. Behind me you can see one of the town's landmark - the medieval port crane.
We had a nice view over the river.
There were many gates in Gdansk – I liked this one.
This was inside the old city – this house is called Artus' Court with the Neptune Fountain in front of it.
Next to it there was the town hall.
Our lunch was very delicious.
Back on the road I saw another Gate.
And this was the armory.
love
Stoker
Posted Sep 23, 2012, 1:01 pm
We visited this nice castle from the family Krockow
I saw some nice rooms in the castle.
Later we went to a big wandering dune.
It was really big – and I loved the view from here.
Later we went to the beach.
After the walk we relaxed in a small dune.
Our next stop was the little town Leba. I liked the boats there.
In the evening we saw some folk dances.
It was really interesting!
Love
Stoker
Posted Sep 26, 2012, 4:01 pm
It was our last day in Poland – and we spent in in Gdansk again. Because the weather was much better, I wanted to have new photos of course.
Everything looked good today.
This time we crossed the River and had a nice view. The medieval port crane looked much better in the sunshine.
Dicker Kumpel and I wanted to have a photo together!
We took a walk through the old city.
It was a nice and sunny day – then we had to fly home. I really hope that you like the photos of our holiday in Poland.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Sep 26, 2012, 5:35 pm
We were back in Germany and I was so excited that you both and Murph will come and visit us here in Sülfeld.
We wrote a Welcome-Poster. Then I asked all the other TVs here to hang on the chair like this.
Can you read your names and the names of Murph, PinkyHH and Sofia?
It was fun – you arrived. But both of you didn’t want to be on the photo. Fortunately the ToyVoyagers hadn’t this problem.
I am sure that they loved our welcome!
They climbed onto the chair and we talked.
Then they came to us!
Love
Stoker
Posted Sep 28, 2012, 1:22 pm
Today it was the day of the party. Dicker Kumpel came and invited Dottie Mouse for a party with dotted animals.
Unfortunately only Murph and Clairchen had dots and were allowed to join Dottie Mouse.
Some other guys with dots came for Dottie.
We others were a little sad, because we wanted to have a party, too. We went onto the back of Long Hippo and had a look.
Back on our chair Dicker Kumpel had an idea.
He found some stickers with dots.
I look like a dotted bat now.
We were all ready.
We went to Dottie and asked her, if we were allowed to join her party.
She said yes – and we gave her a Thank-You-hug.
Fortunately RikeH had more things to eat, so we all started our party together.
Later Dicker Kumpel and Murph had a surprise for us – a wonderful firework.
We decided that Murph started it – together with the help of a part of HoBi. You know, who helped!
If you have a closer look – you can see some blue parts in the air above us.
This was fun!
Back home on our party-table, we ate the rest of our dinner. Unfortunately we ate everything.
Everything was empty – what should we do?
Well – I am in the home of Dicker Kumpel – and he knows how to party. We drank a delicious cocktail.
It was yummy – Mum and Dad.
Some hours later – no comment…
I loved this party!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Sep 30, 2012, 8:27 pm
tomorrow I will travel to my next host - it is the Mum of Clairchen, this is fun. Dicker Kumpel visited ScillyHH and told me that I will have a great time there.
But before I will leave, it was time to work on my life mission to have photos with the full moon.
Unfortunately we didn't have nice weather for a photo. But we tried it.
Here is the first photo:
Yes - it was the moon - but where was I?
You can see me on the next photo - or at least a part of me...
But the moon was very small.
A nicer photo of your little Stoker - but again the moon was far away. And there was no nice atmosphere in the photo.
I couldn't believe that it is a problem to take a nice photo. We send RikeH to a course for taking better photos, but without success...
Next try - you can see a part of my ear in front of the moon. We tried it out - it seems to be better that way. But I looked at the moon.
Of course I turned back to RikeH - so you have this great photo.
Okay - it was a big flop.
I went into the living-room and talked to Dicker Kumpel. He had the great idea that I will come back after my visit of ScillyHH, so RikeH can practice to take nicer photos - and we will give it a try again in a month or so.
I said goodbye to Dicker Kumpel, we had a lot of fun together.
Then I got a big hug by the other TVs here.
I will write soon from Hamburg.
yours
Stoker
Posted Oct 3, 2012, 2:18 pm
today I jumped from RikeH to Scillys bag. When we came home I heard voices. I took a look out of the bag.
Then I saw some other TV`s. The big bear must be LewisHH and the colorful TV is Whitby. They are my new hosts. The other TV's are Tiplitaps, Bärnd and dog Alex24.
Because I am a bat they showed me this Halloween toy they got last week.
Scilly and Richy are going to Zurich tomorrow. We made sure that they will not forget us. So we all jumped in in Scilly's bag.
I am sure I will have a great time with my new friends.
All the very best
Stoker
Posted Oct 3, 2012, 2:53 pm
the day began with a flight from Hamburg to Zurich.
See me enjoying the view out of the window.
You know I can fly by myself, but flying with an plane is more comfortable. I had the full service with tea, a coke and a chocolate bar.
The only thing I did not like was the seat belt.
Zurich welcomed us with sunshine. It is a very nice town.
First we went from the airport to the main station and from there to the place called Paradeplatz. Here you can find two of the most famous banks: UBS and Credit Suisse.
In this building behind me you can find the well known Lind Sprüngli Café.
This is the Bahnhofstrasse leading to the Zurich lake. Can you see the swiss flag hanging in the middle of the road?
This is a nice church in the middle of town.
See me in front of the "Großmünster", another church near the lake.
The building on the right side is the town hall of Zurich.
We walked to the lake and went on boat trip.
See me and my friends sitting on the boat.
Here are some impressions from our boat trip.
In Rapperswil we left the boat. There found this funny and huge shoe.
Back in Zurich we had a break with a hot chocolate in the Lind Sprüngli Café.
Then it was time to fly home. We had a last view to the planes at Zurich airport.
This was a great day!
Alle the very best
Stoker
Posted Oct 4, 2012, 7:03 pm
it is time to say Good Bye to Bärnd. Tomorrow he will travel home.
W gave him the last heart from our flight on tuesday as a Good Bye gift
Good Bye Bärnd!
All the very best!
Stoker
Posted Oct 14, 2012, 1:53 pm
today we found a lot of conkers. See me collecting the conkers. Later we will use them for the autumn decoration.
On our way we saw this funny man. He is very famous in Hamburg. His name Hans Hummel. In former times men were carrying the water through the town. And one of them was Hans Hummel.
We went to the airport to do some planespotting.
But I prefer flying on my own
All the very best
Stoker
Posted Oct 20, 2012, 8:34 pm
the weather is fine. So we decided to take walk in Mellingburg. It is situated in the northeast of Hamburg. It is hard to believe that Mellingburg is a part of Hamburg because it is so green.
First we found this old building. Very nice but it looks a little bit wobbly.
This was an old watermill.
Oh look. the autumn can be so nice!
This is the first lake we saw in Mellingburg.
These ducks are very nosy to see who we are.
We especially liked this lake, it is very idylic.
Look, we found a "Waldkindergarten". It is a special kind of kindergarden. The children only have the house as a base and they play in the forrest every day and learn o lot about the nature. I like this idea.
This was a nice afternoon out.
All the very best
Stoker.
Posted Oct 21, 2012, 1:24 pm
today the summer is back in town.
First we went to the Hamburg harbour.
See me in front of the "Landungsbrücken" where the boat trips starts.
Then we went to Övelgönne with its museum harbour.
This boat is an old ice breaker.
This is an old tug.
This is an old harbour ferry. Today it is a museum café.
I especially like this old sailing boat.
Look, what a nice frame house. It is a restaurant. But it is not the best photograph of me
Because of the weather we went to the beach on the river Elbe. See me enjoying the day on the beach with this fantastic harbour view.
All the very best
Stoker
Posted Oct 26, 2012, 10:29 pm
today was a foggy day. But nontheless we went to the harbour and took a ferry.
See me in front of a dry dock. As you can see there is a big ship in it for general overhaul. They are even building a big helicopter pad at the bag.
This is another ship we passed.
Look at this sigh with the seaman decoration on the top
Our aim was the Kölbrandtbrücke. It leads over the river Elbe and is very important for the harbour. It is very imposing, isn't it!
This is the proof that we are in Hamburg. You can read "We are Hamburg" on the top of our ferry.
All the very best
Stoker
Posted Oct 28, 2012, 6:15 pm
I am back in Sülfeld and visit Dicker Kumpel and aunt Rike again.
We tried it again to take a photo of me and the moon. Well - first try:
Second try:
Maybe this one is the best?
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 3, 2012, 2:50 pm
We flew to South Africa. Isn’t that exciting? I looked out of the window.
On the map I saw that it won’t take too long anymore.
Today we took our first trip here. We went to a colony of penguins, but first I met this nice guy – it was a Dassie.
Then I saw the penguins – there were hundreds!
I went closer to some of them.
Look – there were parents with their child.
These guys were very close to our way.
I wanted to have a photo with this penguin. He was not afraid of us.
It was a nice time here with the penguins!
Back ‘home’ we had delicious Sushi.
It was a lot to eat, but ToyVoyagers are always hungry.
I have a great time here!
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 4, 2012, 5:27 pm
I am in Hermanus now. It’s a city where you can see whales. We saw some from our balcony – but wanted to see more. A funny taxi brought us to the city center. It is called Tuk Tuk.
From this point we saw one of the whales very close, but unfortunately RikeH took photos of the whale at this moment – and not of me and the whale.
But here you can see how big the whale was. (About 15 meters!)
We decided to walk back to our home. The Cliff Path seemed to be a good idea. There were nice plants next to it.
We had nice views from the Coast and some Whales – but the Whales were too far away for a good photo without zooming.
We took a rest, because the way was long – and we loved this stone formation.
Wow – they have strange but beautiful flowers here.
Can you remember the photo we took half an hour before? It was nearly the same photo. The path was longer than expected. Because I am an intelligent bat - I travelled in RikeH’s bag.
Fortunately we reached our home – and I want to show you our view from the balcony.
We relaxed in the sunshine after the long walk.
Mum and Dad, have you ever seen a big flower like this one?
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 8, 2012, 5:03 pm
It was time for adventure –we lived in this tent for 2 nights.
We relaxed next to a beautiful lake and in the late afternoon we went onto a safari in this car.
We watched out for wild animals and saw some – but you cannot see them on the photo – they were far away!
The nature looks different here to my home country!
Our guide told us that maybe a hippo is living in this little lake. But we didn’t meet one here. We saw three others earlier in the afternoon – but it is always the same with these wild animals – they didn’t want to be close to us.
This is a typical tree for this part of the world.
Look – can you see the rhino on the hill? It was amazing – and so big!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 9, 2012, 8:46 am
It was RikeH’s birthday and we sang a wonderful song for her in the morning.
In the morning we visited an ostrich farm and learnt a lot about these birds.
This one was older than the first one we met.
On this photo you can see a family. The black one is the male, the brown one is the female – and you see some children.
Their eggs were soooo big.
Later we saw some stupid people riding on the ostriches.
These 3 (or 4) ostriches wanted to have a group photo with me.
Later we visited the Cango Caves. It was not so easy to take good photos – but I wanted to show you how the cage looked like inside.
Back home in our lodge we relaxed some hours – then it was time for meeting elephants. They should be there behind the lake.
We were really close to the elephants. These elephants were orphans – their parents were killed in the Krüger National Park. Now they were about 10 years old – and really tall!
Look – the elephant played soccer!
It was so interesting to meet them!
We went back to our tent – you can see it far behind me!
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 11, 2012, 9:32 am
It was our last day in the tent – and I wanted to show you how it looked like.
Before we left we had a morning safari.
It was amazing – we went really close to many giraffes.
There were 10 of it.
We stopped at this wonderful point and saw other animals – but they were far away.
Here you see me with my friends on our vehicle.
I liked this nice flower.
We went to Plettenberg Bay – the world looked different there! We went to the beach.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 11, 2012, 4:32 pm
Today we went to a place called Birds of Eden – the largest free flight bird aviary in the world.
We saw a lot of wonderful birds there .
Can you see this colorful bird? He ran away when he saw me.
There were a waterfall – we walked behind it.
Then we crossed this adventurous suspension bridge.
At the end we came to the ducks, swans and other birds who live on lakes.
These red birds were wonderful!
The last birds were these blue parrots – they were so big!
What a nice day here.
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 13, 2012, 10:34 am
After visiting the birds yesterday, it was time to visit the Robberg. We saw it from our balcony.
Then we were there – and behind me you can see the beach of Plettenberg Bay – and maybe our hotel far away.
We took a walk on the Robberg – and had amazing views.
Here you see me at the point called the Gap.
Then we went to the other side of the Mountain – another nice beach.
We climbed up the mountain and relaxed, hearing the sound of the ocean.
What a wonderful trip!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 14, 2012, 10:43 am
We drove to a town called Graaff-Reinet and had a wonderful home there. We stayed in the feather baron suite. Look at the beautiful bedroom.
This was the room for the daytime.
A beautiful garden was just in front of our room!
This angel played a song for me.
There was a funny bike with flowers.
Around the pool there were colorful plants.
I would love to have such a nice garden, too.
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 15, 2012, 6:12 pm
I want to show you the house we live at the moment.
Isn’t it beautiful?
We walked around Graaff-Reinet and saw this colorful tree.
This is a typical house for the town.
And look – they have such beautiful church here.
I found another nice plant…
… in front of this house.
In the evening we celebrated my 100th birthday! The other blindfolded me.
Then the others sang a birthday song for me.
And I was allowed to look.
I loved my Birthday Candle.
I had to blow it out – and had a wish free!
Then I receive my presents…
…some roses…
… and a big hug.
We ate my chocolate together – I had a great birthday!
Thanks for your and Murph’s greetings!
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 16, 2012, 7:29 am
We went to the Camdeboo National Park - and stopped at this beautiful point. We had a great view over Graaff-Reinet.
In another direction I saw this funny mountain.
Then we continued our trip to the Valley of Desolation.
I liked these stone formations.
Today I am a ToyVoyager for one year - it is so great!
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 16, 2012, 3:54 pm
We went to another lodge and had a drive in the afternoon. We saw so many animals – starting with elephants.
There was a big elephant family!
Then we met the hippos.
Earlier the day we saw them outside of the water – you can see them here: hippo1 and here is a closer look. hippo2
Sometime later we saw cheetahs.
Closer photos here : cheetah1 and cheetah2
Back on the road we saw some antilops and zebras. antilope1, antilope2, gnu, zebra1 and zebra2.
The last animals for this day were lions – we were very close to them. lion1, lion2 and lion3
It was a wonderful experience!
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 20, 2012, 12:38 pm
I want to show you more of our Lodge. There were many interesting things to see. Here you see wooden characters from South Africa.
I loved this guy.
This was the small pool.
From the pool I saw our tent!
This was the main lodge.
Then I played chess.
Time for dinner?
I have no idea what these things were for. But it was fun playing here.
This place was a little scary.
Back in our room.
This was the view to our balcony.
And here is our balcony. One day we saw baboons on the hill in the back.
In the evening we had another drive and met friendly giraffes again.
And lions. This time you can see them better, I guess.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 21, 2012, 5:56 pm
We stayed two nights in a town called Wilderness – and took walk here. It was so funny – we had to cross a river – and used this kind of boat.
We had to use the roped to pull us over the river.
Then we walked on this nice way.
The river looked so nice.
Then I met this beautiful guy.
At the end of the trail we took a rest next to this water fall.
This was the view into the other direction.
Two relatives live here – we had so much fun together.
Back on our way home we saw lovely flowers.
And the river again.
Before we went back into our guest house we went to a place called maps of Africa. Can you see why?
From that place we had a great view over Wilderness and the ocean.
I climbed up a tree – but didn’t see much more from there.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 21, 2012, 5:57 pm
This is the church of Montagu, another town on our route.
There were many houses with beautiful gardens.
And a really big tree with so many birds on it.
We didn’t do a lot in this town, because it was so hot – about 32 degrees in the shadow. So we relaxed on our terrace.
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 22, 2012, 6:30 pm
What a wonderful view! Yesterday we were on our way to Stellenbosch and stopped at the Franschhoek pass. I loved this view!
Behind me you can see our street.
In Franschhoek we stopped at this monument – it was big – and we didn’t went nearer to it.
Red flowers in November – what a wonderful country!
Today we walked through Stellenbosch. This church looked similar to the one in Montagu.
They have beautiful houses here.
This is the mill river – in the past it brought water for the mills – now it is here for nice photos.
Look at this manor!
This plant is so funny – it looks like a bird, I think.
This was art!
We went into this building – there is a funny store in it – with so many different things.
We had a nice time here – now we will drive to our last city on this trip – it is called Cape Town. I will write you from there soon.
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 25, 2012, 5:03 am
We arrived in Cape Town – and went onto the Signal Hill. I had great views from it. I saw the ocean…
… the Table Mountain…
… and next to the Table Mountain was a mountain called Lion’s Head.
This is the big stadium of Cape Town.
And I saw the port with the Waterfront.
I love this place!
Then we went to our hotel – we had such a nice room. It was funny – there was a window between the bathroom and the living-room.
And look – we saw the Table Mountain and the Lion’s Head from our balcony!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 29, 2012, 12:17 pm
Today we visited a beautiful garden near to our hotel. Look – so many colorful flowers!
I loved this view with the monument, the Table Mountain and the beautiful building.
This is another nice building with a wonderful garden.
Then we went to the Castle of Good Hope.
They had a wonderful balcony. You can see it behind me.
In front of the balcony we saw the changing of the guards.
Look - I saw the Table Mountain behind the Castle.
Then we drove with a bus through Cape Town. We stopped at the station for the Table Mountain Cable Car and had great views!
Look – there is the Signal Hill, where we stood yesterday.
I had lovely views from the mountains around Cape Town.
We continued our trip and drove along the beautiful beaches.
Christmas is coming!
This was the clock tower near the Port.
Another part of the Port.
Love
Stoker
Posted Dec 7, 2012, 12:37 pm
It was time to visit the Cape of Good Hope. On our way we stopped at this nice point.
Then we arrived at the Cape of Good Hope. First we went to a place called Cape Point. I had lovely views there.
There was a beautiful small lighthouse.
Behind me you see the Cape of Good Hope.
This was the view to the Cape Point.
We saw some baboons.
Everyone took a photo at this point!
It was a nice place!
Love
Stoker
Posted Dec 8, 2012, 3:49 pm
On our way back to Cape Town we stopped at a colony of penguins. We visited another colony at the beginning of our trip – and it was nice to see penguins again.
There were less penguins in this colony – but they had a beautiful beach.
Our next stop was the botanical garden of Kirstenbosch. I saw nice flowers again.
These ones were so funny.
This is a typical tree for South Africa. They have only plants from South Africa in this garden.
Behind the garden there were mountains!
I am sure that you know this man – he is very famous in South Africa.
The next day we had to say good-bye to South Africa – we had a great time here – and saw so many interesting things!
Love
Stoker
Posted Dec 9, 2012, 11:26 am
I wish you a nice ‚Nikolaus-Tag‘.
In Germany it is normal to put the cleaned boots in front of the door – and you get sweets. Unfortunately we all had no boots – and decided to draw some.
We wanted to wait for the Nikolaus, but he didn’t come and we felt asleep.
The next morning we saw that he visited us in the night.
I was so happy!
Hopefully the Nikolaus brought you something, too!
We have snow in Sülfeld at the moment.
We tried to build a snowman – but the snow wasn’t good for it – so we will try it later this year.
Love
Stoker
Posted Dec 13, 2012, 8:39 pm
I went to Hamburg today – and wanted to see some Christmas Decoration there. Look – what I found in the main station. There were big balls with trains and houses from different cities.
I especially loved the one from Hamburg – it was the biggest with the emblem of the city on it.
This was one of the biggest Christmas Trees in the city.
Look – what a wonderful Christmas Pyramid in such a lovely light.
I saw these wonderful lights on our way home.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 15, 2012, 7:47 pm
We went to a town called Bad Segeberg. First we saw these strong guys.
There was a nice building – but I loved the carousel and the Christmas tree more.
Behind me you see the church of Bad Segeberg.
There was another big Christmas tree on this place.
Back home I met some funny guys – first one in the garden.
This guy had a warmer place in the living-room of my grandma.
Then I had fun with this Santa...
...and a snowman.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 19, 2012, 8:21 pm
It was time to take the Underground. This was the plan – where should I go? I decided to visit the Christmas Market.
On the plan you can see, where I was at this moment.
You can see when the Underground will come – and where it will drive to. Strangely the Underground in Hamburg is not always under the ground.
Then the Underground arrived.
I will drive in it!
Then I was inside and looked out of the window.
And this is the view inside – not so interesting.
I had my own place.
More houses outside.
And snow...
Then I arrived at the Christmas Market.
I loved this beautiful pyramid.
We saw a nice Christmas Crib.
Behind me you see the town hall.
Unfortunately the weather was not so good, so we decided to drive home. This time the Underground station was under the ground.
It is more interesting when you see trees and houses outside!
It was a nice experience!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 21, 2012, 10:19 am
Look – what happened to me?
Believe it or not – I am a knight now…
I told Dicker Kumpel about my dream of meeting a knight and he told me that a knight is living in the house.
I was really surprised and played with him.
Then I asked him, what he is doing here as a knight and he told me that he works as a….
…fire-breather.
This was funny. But to tell the truth I would love to meet a bigger knight in the future.
Greetings
Stoker
Posted Dec 23, 2012, 10:00 pm
Christmas is coming – and today I helped decorating the Christmas tree. We started with the Christmas baubles.
These two baubles were so funny!
This is a very special bird for RikeH, because it belonged to her Grandma – my great-grandmother.
We had more decorations for the tree.
I loved this friendly star most!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 30, 2012, 2:14 pm
It was Christmas and Murph and his guests went to Sülfeld to celebrate it with RikeH, Dicker Kumpel and us.
First we met Murph and his guests – and we shared our gifts! Great, everyone got chocolate!
I received a funny bear!
Then it was time to talk to Snowy the snowman and Rudi the reindeer. Santa was very busy this Christmas – so he sent his two best friends to us.
I started and sang a song. Then I performed a poem.
I must have been great – and I received something nice from Snowy and Rudi.
It was wonderful.
Then I played in the Christmas tree.
In the evening I had to leave Dicker Kumpel – I was a little sad, because we had a wonderful long time together but now I am together with you and Murph – and we will have some great days together. Hopefully we will find nice new hosts for me in the next year.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 31, 2012, 2:04 pm
We are on holidays – but the weather is awful. It is raining all day long. Everything is wet and grey!
This is the Elbe. It is a very big river in the North of Germany.
There are beautiful villages behind the dikes. We even saw a mill.
Many of the farm houses had wonderful gates.
I saw many lighthouses- great, isn’t it?
Big ships were on the way to Hamburg.
There were many beautiful houses and churches here, but we already were so wet and wanted to go home.
Keep your fingers crossed for us – that the weather will be nicer soon, because we planned a lot of nice trips here!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jan 2, 2013, 1:05 pm
Today the weather was better – and we drove to the North Sea.
We drove to the beach and took a wonderful walk. But it was very windy!
At this place the Elbe flows into the North Sea.
This is the harbor of Cuxhaven.
On our way back we saw the fall of tide – the water went away.
Hopefully it won’t rain tomorrow.
Many greetings
Stoker
Posted Jan 5, 2013, 2:29 pm
it was our last day here – and we took another long walk. I saw beautiful houses and a nice gate.
The dikes of the Elbe were really high.
This is important. We found this sign. You can see how high the water during storm floods.
I cannot imagine it, that the Elbe was 6 meters higher during the floods.
This region is called „Altes Land“ (old country). It is famous for the fruit-growing. You can see fields with fruit trees everywhere.
These trees were so funny!
#
At the end I show you the mill from Jork. It is beautiful, isn’t it?
I am sorry, because we have to drive home tomorrow.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jan 7, 2013, 4:58 pm
After a short stop at home – I start travelling again. I said goodbye to Murph and Sofia – and jumped into my envelope.
It was nice to be at home, but now I am happy to see Remscheid.
Until soon
Stoker
Posted Jan 12, 2013, 5:20 pm
I arrived in Remscheid today!
I already made new friends! They are Arimbi from Indonesia, Mr. Stanley, Suny and Lady Katherine, all Germans, and Luc Zeke from England.
My new host Katja told me that today it did not rain - the first day without rain since mid December! That's why she already planned to take a walk in the afternoon.
We walked to a nearby valley.
Soon we left the streets and walked towards the forest, through a rural hamlet. I met Cameroon sheep here.
This pretty house is hidden in the valley. Katja told me that those half-timbered houses were typical for this region.
It was rather cold - about freezing point!
We reached the district Luettringhausen than, one of the historic districts of Remscheid. When we came here the sun came out for a few minutes.
I was a bit tired afterwards, so I went to bed early.
Love
Stoker
Posted Jan 17, 2013, 9:37 am
the weather forecast was right - we are having fantastic weather. We decided to visit Muengsten Bridge, Germany's highest railway bridge.
Here you can see river Wupper, marking the border between Remscheid and the neighbour city Solingen. Muengsten Bridge is crossing this valley. Before it was built, it took people more than 40 km to get to the nearby neighbour city by train.
Here you can see the bridge overspanning the valley.
First we walked uphill on the Solingen side of the valley.
Muengsten Bridge was built of steel, completed in 1907. It is about 480 m long and 107 m tall. There are extensive repair works going on in the last few years, and there will be more this year from April till at least October.
All the puddles along the path are frozen!
Later we crossed river Wupper here at this small bridge.
We walked back on the Remscheid side of the valley than.
On the very first photo you can see an outlook pavilion. We came here on the way back and had a fantastic overview across the valley.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Jan 20, 2013, 9:10 am
today we met Katja's friend Kerstin and took a walk with her and her dog Pepe. It snowed during the last days and it was rather cold, about -5°C. My friend PieksiHH also went with us.
We went to Wuppertal, to Scharpenacken, a former army training area. This area was used for military purposes until 2004 A.D as a shooting range. Today there is a local recreation area with vast open areas.
First our path took us through a woodland area.
On these signs you can find information about this interesting area. It will be renatured in the coming years.
A lot of people come here with their dogs to let them run and play. Because it is very windy here there are also some people with their kites. The young man in the background of the next photo was practicing some kind of kite surfing on ski.
In the background the district Ronsdorf came into sight.
After crossing the open ranges we walked into another valley.
Do you know where we were sitting? On a bracket fungus, a tinder fungus!
This is Pepe the dog, he also had a lot of fun playing in the snow.
We made a side trip to a nearby country park, Vorwerk-Park. This park was built in early 20th century by the founder of a business company as a private park on his own estate, as a garden for his villa. Even a stone pit was comprised into the park, planted with rhododendrons. You can find some natural pools here, fed by a creek which is flowing in the valley.
The villa itself and the oldest part of the park were already built in 1895. In 2001 the park was sanified and opened for the public. Soon we found an access balcony which is leading into the park.
From the high points of the park you have a stunning view across the valley.
Taking a look behind we saw some of those famous villas.
Although we are having winter most bushes already wear buds for the coming spring.
We found an outlook balcony, from here you can see the next part of the terraced park - a pond and a "rock" created by rhododendron.
Stairs were leading downhill to the pond.
Here is a map of the park.
And because we are in Germany, there was a very important sign:
Does anybody expect paths freed from snow in a park?
We spent three hours outside!
Love
Stoker
Posted Feb 6, 2013, 5:23 pm
the weather is playing up. Snow - melting snow - rain - snow again - rain again - mud and fog.
Today it seemed to be much better, so we took a walk in the afternoon with our new guest Paula Hip. We went to Hasten, one of the historic districts of Remscheid. Here you can find lots of lovely old houses, like this one.
They have a small shopping area here.
Although Remscheid is an industrial city, it is surrounded by woodland, valleys and rural areas.
The sun came out for a moment
Only narrow lanes are between those houses.
Those pretty houses with the green shutters also often have a green door, like this one.
A museum is situated in the Patrician Villa on the right side of the next photo. The villa was built in late 18th century by a local factory owner.
The German Tool Museum is also situated on this estate.
We went home than - uphill for a long time!
Bye
Stoker
Posted Feb 11, 2013, 9:19 am
after some days with crazy weather (snow, rain, black ice, snow again) the sun was shining today. A good opportunity to take a walk to the nearby municipal park, like my host said. Indeed, we had only a few minutes to walk to reach the park.
The municipal park ist mostly a landscape park. In the background you can see the outskirts of the neighbour city Wuppertal.
Here you can see the observatory which is situated in the entrance area of the municipal park.
There is also a pond in the park. Usually ducks and turtles are living here, but not a single duck was here.
When we walked back home Katja told us that this church was only visible in winter. In summer it would be mostly hidden behind the surrounding trees.
Bye for today
Stoker
Posted Feb 13, 2013, 2:09 pm
a brown rat visited us this morning. He told us that he had spent the whole night in the mailbox because it was frozen over. Today Katja managed to open it. The poor rat! But Easy seems to be fine.
Later we visited a medieval castle in the neighbour city Solingen, Schloss Burg, It is situated high upon a hill above the River Wupper.
We went to the courtyard with many shops. You can find souvenir shops and shops whose owners are doing an "old" handcraft, for example handmade brushes, brooms, soap, lovely yarns and wooden knitting needles, toys like swords and helmets and much more.
Schloss Burg was built in 1133 by Count Adolf I von Berg on a hill above the river Wupper.That's why this region is called "Bergisches Land". Many people believe that it's name refers to the landscape with hills and valleys. (For those who do not speak German: The German word for mountain or hill is "Berg", so many people think that the name "Bergisches Land" means "land of many hills" )
About a hundred years later it was enlarged by Count Engelberg II von Berg. This is the man on the horse in the courtyard.
In Thirty Years War (17th century) large parts of the castle were destroyed. It was rebuilt then, but it was used for industrial purposes for many years. In the end of the 19th century they began to rebuild it as it appears today.
We took a walk in the surroundings of the castle than. Katja took a group photo with the castle in the background.
Soon we reached an outlook pavilion. You have a stunning overview across the valley here and also a good view to the castle.
A terrible storm destroyed large parts of the forest some years ago.
We took a side trip to the concrete wall of a nearby dam, Sengbachtalsperre. We thought the surface had been frozen, but it wasn't frozen at all.
Far in the distance (the middle of the photo) you can see the city of Remscheid lying in the sun.
You can see it better on this zoomed photo.
On our way back to the car we walked through a lovely rural district.
Walking through the cold is really exhausting
Love
Stoker
Posted Feb 19, 2013, 11:08 am
today the weather became much better unexpectedly. Of course we went out for a walk. We went to the neighbour city Wuppertal, to the district Cronenberg. It is an historic district with many old factory buildings.
Here you can also find those lovely old houses like in Remscheid.
Katja told us that we would walk to a nearby woodland area.
Most of the snow already melted away.
Soon we reached the forest, a very special one: An arboretum, Staatsforst Burgholz
An arboretum is a collection of trees, sort of a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study. We went to "Staatsforst Burgholz", a woodland area which is situated in both urban area of Wuppertal and also the urban area of Solingen. When World War II was over, there were nearly all trees felled for rebuilding of destroyed city areas and also as firewood.
Searching for fast-growing forest species trees from foreign counties were planted than in this area to study their growth in local weather conditions. Plants from North America, South America, Asia and Europe were planted.
There are several walking paths through the arboretum. We decided to walk along a path showing trees of Northern America.
The soil is partly covered with soft moss.
Finally we walked through the sequoia tree area.
Walking back we saw this historic train, situated on the "Sambatrasse", a former railway track, now a walking trail.
After enjoying so much sunshine we were very lazy in the afternoon, visiting a friend and having coffee.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Feb 22, 2013, 8:13 am
Katja's colleague Elke invited PieksiHH and me to go on a trip to Bavaria with her. She is going to visit relatives in the Fichtel Mountains area.
Of course we want to accompany her!
We will stay for about a week. Updates will follow later
Love
Stoker
Posted Mar 20, 2013, 9:24 am
at Elke's home we checked if everything was packed. Tomorrow we will leave in the early morning.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Mar 20, 2013, 9:37 am
it is 05:16 a.m., another check if everything was packed into the car.
Later on the motorway ...
When we reached our destination we were really tired and went to bed early.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Mar 20, 2013, 9:50 am
the first morning here .... fresh snow! This means lots of fun!
Later we took a walk around the city. This is the city hall of Marktdrewitz.
Than we went playing in the snow
A snowball fight ended with draw.
In the afternoon we read the local newspaper.
We also tried a local beer, from the Nothhaft brewery. Yummy!
Before enjoying a second beer we made helmets for us - so falling would not be too painful
Before falling Elke brought us to bed.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Mar 20, 2013, 10:03 am
even more snow fell during the night. Someone is shovelling snow so we can leave with the car later.
When we took a walk in Wunsiedel we found an interesting sign:
Some of my relatives seem to be living here. What a pity that the window pane was dazzling. Unfortunately the information bureau was closed, but you can read more about the bats here
Really exciting what kind of hotel you can find here
A hotel for insects.
On a nearby graveyard I found lots of "diners" for birds
If there was also a bat hotel?
Bye
Stoker
Posted Mar 20, 2013, 10:16 am
no, we did not make a side trip to France
We visited the area around Waldsassen, close to the Czech border. We found the replication of the Lourdes grotto. It was built in early 20. century, in the year 1905.
This was a lot of ecucation for today. We also needed a bit fun outside. All the fish ponds were frozen.
This is the beautiful Kappl church.
Bye for today
Stoker
Posted Mar 20, 2013, 10:20 am
back home with Elke we attended a birthday party.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Mar 20, 2013, 10:33 am
there is still snow, but at least it is a wonderful day with sunshine.
We went to the district Luettringhausen to pick up Katja's daughter for a longer walk. Luettringhausen is one of the historic districts of Remscheid.
Soon we went into the forest. We are planning to walk to Lennep, also an historic district.
We reached a valley with a creek running through.
We found the remains of an old weir.
We followed the path through the valley.
There are even a few houses in the valley.
When we left the valley and walked towards Lennep we saw the inner city of Luettringhausen in the background.
To get to Lennep we followed a main road for some time until we reached the historical inner city. Here you can find lovely narrow lanes and those typical houses.
This is the market place.
Later we went home by bus.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Mar 24, 2013, 7:51 pm
today a friend visited us who brought her two ferrets. Katja's friend Marion is going to take a trip to London soon and she invited me to come with her. She said that I would like there, with all those historic buildings and the subway.
Kitty and I will have a good time there!
I'll come back to Remscheid when Marion will pick up her ferrets in about two weeks.
Bye!
Stoker
Posted Apr 3, 2013, 4:59 pm
although we are still having winter instead of spring we took a walk in the city centre. You can see my current home situated beyond the little park.
Close to the station there is a large intersection.
This bridge is for pedestrians, leading towards the station.
The Route of Tools (Trasse des Werkzeugs) is starting close to the station. We decided to walk along this former, now closed railway track which was built to a lane for pedestrians and cyclists. It is about 5 km long, following the former freight train track from the station to the district Hasten.
Remscheid is famous for its tool producing industry. Companies sponsored conversion, that's why it was called "Route of Tools".
You can find recreation areas here ...
... and lots of industrial buildings, both historical buildings and those of still working companies. You can see the former slaughterhouse on the next photo, now several offices and crafts enterprises are situated here.
Distance data were painted to the ground.
You can also find large signs along the lane, showing the logos of sponsoring companies.
One of those signs is showing the coat of arms of Remscheid.
No doubt that this is a working area!
There is also artwork along the route, here we found a wrench pattern stamped into the tarmac.
We went home than, hoping that we will have spring soon!
Bye
Stoker
Posted Apr 6, 2013, 6:12 pm
I am back from my fantastic trip to London. Marion was so kind to buy souvenirs for me and Katja. Have a look!
Marion got a postcard and a lovely pin for me, for Katja she bought the cute police man.
My photos are not ready yet, but nontheless I will travel to Portugal on Monday.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Apr 8, 2013, 6:44 pm
today I packed my things and left Remscheid. There are only two ToyVoyagers left here, nosyblue and Manganinnie.
I am on my way to Portugal now, hoping to get there in time. I will send my souvenirs to you at home.
Love
Stoker
Posted Apr 12, 2013, 4:16 pm
greetings from London!
Look, we were travelling by underground.
Inside the train it was too crowded to take photos. Everyone needed both hands to take care of his money and little vampires
So Marion took another photo when we left the train.
Strolling through the city Marion showed me Tower Bridge...
... and the Tower of Londond (Uuups, it's blurred).
Later, in front of the door gate of the Queen, we wondered if we should have asked for a cup of hot cocoa - it was f***ing cold!!!
Marion encouraged me to fly round the Victoria Memorial.
And still it was so damned cold that I closed my wings and refused to fly around anything else.
Finally Marion showed me this gorgeous knight armor (please don't ask me where it was, I don't know it any more).
I spent the rest of the trip in the hostel in bed, close to a flu!
Thanks to Marion for taking me with her and for buying a lovely souvenir for me.
Bye
Stoker
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Jun 2, 2013, 6:49 pm
How are you?
I´m at last in Nuuksio, Finland, phew!
It took some time..
I was travelling quite comfortably inside my envelope.
Mainly I was asleep, but when I wasn´t, I was watching
the nice postcard you sent with me and wondering about my new destination.
The postman left my envelope onto the stairs of the little cottage in the forest, although I of course knew
nothing about my whereabouts - but I heard lots of birds and squirrels chatting outside and also some mosquitoes who knew I was in the envelope and were desperate to get inside!
So I kinda guessed I wasn´t inside a postbox!
At last I also heard sounds of small paws, and rather highpitched voices shouting.
"Hey, there is post for us on the stairs!"
"Gee, do you think it is someone new?"
"Where do we put him to sleep? There is no room in my bed, unless he is VERY small!"
"What if it is a tyrannosaur rex?"
"Camoon, there is no room for a tyrannosaur inside that envelope!"
"What about a small tyrannosaur?"
"Hi there! Let me out so you´ll see what I am and what size!" I shouted, and then the envelope was ripped open and this is what I saw.
There was four pair of eyes watching me very keenly, and I felt slightly awkward, so I pushed my way out from the envelope and introduced myself.
"Good day, I´m Stoker, a little bat from Germany".
"Good day, Stoker!" they shouted, and then they all introduced themselves at the same time so that the names and countries of origin were all mixed in my head.
But they all gave me a wellcome hug, and Zoe the kiwi said it was nice to get another winged creature to the gang.
Then I showed them the postcard I brought with me, and the present.
Specially Henna, my new host mom, was very enthusiastic about the morels and started to search for morel cooking recipes, drooling.
My new friends were introducing to me the little cottage were we´re going to live in.
It is about hundred years old and it is in the forest, just next to the big Nuuksio National Park.
There is many old syringas on the yard, and they were in their best bloom and smelled wonderfully!
The gnarly old appletrees were blooming too, and there was many plump bumblebees circulating happily around them.
Since it was a very beautiful day, we went for a trip to see something more of the surrounding areas.
We headed towards the Espoo "centrum", outside the forest, on our first trip.
This small stream is the Espoonjoki river.
There was some other little cottages on the shores of the river, and some big houses too.
We followed the river and saw a big bridge.
And the medieval church of Espoo on the other shore of it.
This is the old belltower.
Tuli told me that according to a local legend there is a ghost of a priest playing the bells sometimes at midnight when the moon is full!
We walked along beautiful paths, and when the sun was shining through the bright green new foliage, the forest seemed to be glowing golden light!
We saw some wonderful rhododendrons!
The ground under them was like a pink carpet and I felt like dancing!
We came onto the seashore, and the sea was glimmering in the sun.
We climbed the cliff to see as far as possible over the Baltic sea.
You are somewhere there, mom, on the other side of the water!
I felt a bit homesick for about five seconds, but then I heard the others shouting "Hey, look, there is an icecream booth!"
and I run after them!
I was having a liquorice icecream!
It was really njammy!
We were laying in the sun on the smooth rocks, letting the icecream to digest, listening to the seaguls telling dirty jokes when they flied over us, carrying herrings.
It was such a peacefull, happy feeling of neverending summer, on that rock.
But little, active toyvoyagers cannot lay doing nothing for very long time, so we continued our trip and encountered another stream called the Siuntionjoki river.
There was an old manorhouse on the rivershore called Kosken kartano.
One of the buildings had a lot of russian cyrillic writing on its walls from the time that part of Finland was under Soviet occupation.
There was a small rabid and we went to investigate it.
There was an old mill and a dam.
It felt a bit funny in the head to watch into the raging water, and its sound was so loud we had to shout to each other.
We were trying to catch each other, hopping from stone to stone, screaming and sprinkling water.
I found a shell of a rivershell, but there was nobody home.
After wetting ourselves totally in the river, we headed into a café, which is situated in an old stable building, to celebrate our first day together!
We had coffee and chocolate cake,and the others let me take the first spoonfulls, because I was the newcomer!
So, that was my first day here in Finland.
I rather think I´m going to like it here!
A warm hug to you, mom! See you soon again.
Your Stoker, full and wet.
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Jun 10, 2013, 3:37 am
How are you?
I´m just fine!
I have been coming good friends with the other voyagers here, and they have been taking me around, to see different places.
I told my new friends I would like to learn something about the history of this country, and last weekend we went for a walking trip onto Seurasaari island, which is a popular place to spend summerdays, and where there is also an open air museum.
There is an old wooden bridge leading onto the island.
Seurasaari island was a popular place even hundred years ago to go to spend summer days.
It was specially targeted for the common workers of Helsinki to go and spend time in nature to balance the unhealthy working conditions.
We started our museum round in an iron age house.
We walked there along these duckboards.
There was some kind of totem pole wellcoming us to the house.
Henna told us that in stone age the finns had three totem animals they considered their foreparents - elks, bears and swans.
If they still believed in such things on ironage is unsure, though.
These buildings were made together by archaeologists and people who have past and roleplaying as their hobby.
They have few times a year iron age happenings here where people can buy iron age handicrafts and food or learn some iron age skills in workshops.
This is a typical finnish iron age building.
There were people living in one end of the building, and animals in the other end.
In wintertime the animals and their dung helped to keep the house warm.
These houses had open fireplaces and no chimneys, which were only invented in the 13th century.
So all the smoke came in, which wasn´t very comfortable.
Some poor people lived like that still in the 1950´s !
So, on summertime, when the fire was not nessessary for warmth, people didn´t cook inside the houses, but in this kinda cooking huts on the yard.
It was common to have magical symbols on the door- or windowposts preventing any malevolent powers entering the house.
On this doorpost there is carved a looped square or Saint John´s arms (käpälikkö in finnish), although it can be a bit hard to see.
We walked to see some more modern historic buildings and passed by these wonderful lilies called Solomon´s Seal.
I don´t know if I would like to live in an iron age house!
Full of smoke and still rather cool in winter, brr!
Although it would be nice to sleep under the same roof with sheeps and cows and horses..
Well, here we have a more modern building.
Hmm.. I would have said it is from iron age too, but as Henna pointed out, it has a glas window, which means it cannot be older than from 17´th century.
Otherwise there is not much difference!
Then we walked and watched many old countryside buildings, all from the 17th to 20th century.
There was some very grand houses and some very humble ones.
Red was the most common color for houses, and the paint was made of red ochre and tallow.
The mix is actually pretty similar than it was in rock art.
Probably the red color, as the color of blood and life, was also considered to be quarding the house and the inhabitants from evil.
Usually only the main building was painted, and the sidebuildings were left grey.
I could very well live in one of the houses from this period!
They are only lacking electricity and running water compared to the modern times, but, actually, we don´t have running water either in the little cottage we live her in Nuuksio, and we´re doing quite well without.
The electricity is another thing. Without it I could not even write my updates!
We a saw a windmill of the type called "magpie mill" because it had a tail with which it was possible to turn the mill so that wings catched the wind as well as possible.
We had a little pause in a café selling traditional foodstuff, and tried something called "kalakukko" (fish rooster).
It is rye bread inside which there is baked lots of fish called vendace.
It looked horrible, but tasted rather good!
These buildings are "aittas", granaries or storage houses.
Big houses had many aittas on the yard, one for meat, one for milk products, one for flour, one for clothes and so on.
Usually the sons and daughters of the house had an own aitta each of them, and sometimes the servants too.
There they kept their personal belongings and also slept in them in summertime.
Specially in western Finland it was quite normal that young people slept together before marriage, and if a girl had couple of kids already while marrying, it was just taken as a proof of her fertility.
The food aittas always had this kinda little hole under the door. Can you guess why?
It was the private entrance for cats, so that they could get in to take care of the mice and rats trying to eat the foodstuff.
This is an old wooden church.
It is an extremely popular place to get married.
And this is its belltower.
This is a house from the Karelia area.
In these houses the animals still lived under the same roof - in the downstairs, while people lived in upstairs.
I guess the animals helped again to keep the upstairs warmer.
This little cottage had a wonderfully blooming apple tree on its yard.
Then we saw couple of saw called church boats.
The villages built, owned and handled them communally, and competed with other villages whos boat was fastest.
It was possible for the whole village to get into the boat at the same time for the trip to church.
The construction of these huge boats is pretty similar than the socalled viking boats, and probably they are their late descendants.
The boats smelled of tar, with which they were painted.
I sat inside the boat, enjoying the wonderful smell of the tar!
Mom, I would love to be rowing in a boat like this!
We saw still tens of different buildings, and that was all very interesting.
I peeped into some attics to see if there would possibly be any bats hanging there, but I didn´t see any yet.
Then it was time to go back home, but I think I already learned something of the finnish history.
See you soon again, dear mom!
Hug from your Stoker!
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Jun 20, 2013, 3:29 pm
I wish you have not floated away with the floods!
We have been having warm and sunny days here in Finland -
well, and also cool and rainy..
On sunday we went to Suomenlinna fortificated island in front of Helsinki.
We took a small ferry from the Helsinki Kauppatori market square.
We checked fastly around on the market place, and saw some wonderfull strawberries.
The ferries to Suomenlinna leave from Kauppatori, and on summer weekends they are usually full
of both finns and tourists.
Our little ferry passed couple of big boats which sail to Stockholm, Sweden.
The trip took only about ten minutes.
Here we are just arriving to the islands.
The two islands connected by the bridge are allready part of Suomenlinna.
Here is our little ferry, already on its way back towards Kauppatori.
Here you can see the islands on a map.
Suomenlinna was built during the Swedish era as a maritime fortress.
Work on the fortress was begun in the mid-18th century.
Today SUomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Suomenlinna is also a district of the city of Helsinki, with a permanent population of more than 800.
We went first to walk a bit in the living district, to see the houses and surroundings.
People live in old barracks and beautiful old villas, which were originally officers apartments.
The life on the islands is almost like living in some small country village.
Only the masses of tourists and finns who come to enjoy the beautiful landscapes (and vodka
) in summertime put the life here into an upheaval.
Almost everyone living here naturally has a boat. It´s like owning a car in other parts of Helsinki.
We also saw an old submarine.
It is built in Finland in the 1930´s and it is called Vesikko (=mink).
This is the church of Suomenlinna.
It also works as a lighthouse - the is a light on the top of it.
The church bell is not up in a belltower, but on the groundlevel.
I felt a strong urge to play it, but I realised there would be some angry people coming to make difficult questions if I did..
There is syringas growing everywhere on the islands - they were plamted here in the 18th century.
They were the first ever syringas growing in Finland, but they soon started to spread when the people who had come here to build the fortifications went back to their homes round the country and took little saplings with them.
We went to have some refresments before going to walk the rest of the islands.
Then, our bellies filled we walked to the area where the ruins of the old fortifications fight against the time and wall-peeing drunkards.
There is tunnels and cellars and dungeons, narrow staircases and rumours of ghosts of the unlucky people who were kept as prisoners in the humid, icecold caverns during the wars between Sweden and Russia, Krimean war and the finnish civil war.
It looked like a classical horror film surroundings, and bats hanging there would fit into the pic perfectly!
So I tried how it would feel to hang there..
But I must say I rather hang, well, lets say, on the ceiling of a sweet shop, or something..
We didn´t go much inside the murky buildings - the earthen floors inside were very muddy and there was icecold water dropping over us from the ceiling.
The open air is so much better!
Everything was blooming and wonderful and it was a bit difficult to connect the horrible history of the place Henna was telling us to the lovely landscapes around us..
One things I mostly enjoyed in Suomenlinna is the lack of cars.
People living here use bikes or their feet.
There was small bridges connecting the islands.
We walked along the small roads and saw everywhere people having a picnic or playing petanque or flying a fresbee or something like that.
We came to the western shore of the island and there we saw some people flying kites on the roofs of the old gunpowder storages!
We all lay down on our backs to watch the kites on the sky.
Then we walked along and saw many more interesting paths and buildings and roofs of them..
we were climbing a lot, you see.
I think we saw much more than most tourists, because Henna and Zoe both have this odd syndrome which makes them to go straight ahead whenever they see signs or plakes saying "private" or "don´t enter" or "danger of falling" or other things like that.
The landscapes were so beautiful, mom!
Sun made the yellow flowers to glow and the sea to glisten!
We were feeling again a bit peckish..
Luckily we had taken some provisions with us - small karjalanpiirakkas (carelian pastries), berry pies and juice!
We were eating and drinking and singing a finnish song called "Sua lähde kaunis katselen" (I´m watching you, oh beautiful fountain).
After the picnic lunch we had to sit down for awhile.
The tourists come here to see the fortress, but I guess many of them are more impressed by these views.
This is the little official swimming beach.
Henna told that when she was five year old girl she was swimming there and meanwhile a magpie stole her panties!
We started to walk back towards the ferry..
We saw some old cannons over the banks.
We saw still many more old fortification walls and things on our way back.
Then we found a small pool, growing yellow irises.
Soon we were again near the ferry platform and on our way back home.
It was a lovely day!
I hope you enjoyed it too!
Kisses from your little adventurist!
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Jul 12, 2013, 10:52 pm
How are you?
Good news! Henna has got her new camera and I can go on with my updates!
First we just have to learn to use it!
So, the past couple of days we´ve been running around like crazies, and taken photos of everything, each other and the landscapes, different insects and whatnot.
Here we are walking in the forest surrounding our little cottage here.
Kukkuu!
There is yet no mushrooms, it has been too dry summer here, but the berries are ripe now!
We were picking lots of blueberries.
But I guess we were eating even more!
So the bucket was getting full very slowly!
Specially because the softness of the moss lured us to lay down on our backs,
and the heavy smell of forest flowers and the buzzing of the insects over the swamp started to make us feel kinda sleepy.
The treetops swaying sleepy too against the blue sky, and the light clouds sailing lazily across it didn´t help much either, and soon we were all in deep sleep.
Henna woke us up few hours later.
Meanwhile she had picked the bucket full of blueberries.
She said she let us sleep because we were so cute there, laying on the moss, snoring slightly and ants investigating over us.
We found also some wild forest strawberries!
They are small, but so delicious!
These flowers are in finnish called "Kurjenkello", which means the cranes bell.
Their latin name is Campanula persicifolia and in english they seem to be "harebell"!
Maybe both cranes and hares are playing them at nights..
Then we marched out from the forest, because we had to make a visit to Hennas mother.
Henna had promised the blueberries to her.
So we take the bus and the train to Helsinki.
I always like to watch the views!
And to just "hang around".
Hennas mother was giving us cakes and thanking us for the berries.
What a nice lady she is!
You can see her chin in the photo.
Then we were "behaving", like we had been told, watching the views from the windows..
And keeping company for dolls living there.
They were very civilized dolls. They had to be - they had lace dresses and even parasols.
I bet their conversation was civilized too - teaparties, new dresses and gossip. Ugh!
After fifteen minutes of that we pressed Henna to save us from the dolls by threatening to tell her mother some interesting details we had been reading from her teenage diaries we had happened to find in the attic.
So we left and Henna took us to see a rather peculiar church, called Temppeliaukion kirkko.
It is also known as the Church of the Rock.
It is behind me in the pic. Or actually, that is the roof.
The roof dome looks a bit like an ufo landed on the rocks.
The interior is excavated and built directly out of solid rock and it is bathed in natural light which enters through the glazed dome.
I think it looks a bit ufo inside too.
But actually it is a really peacefull and silent place.
I like it.
Well, haha, silent when there is no hundred tourists nor a concert going on.
It is a very popular place for both.
I´ll end now this update, but I´ll be soon back!
A tight hug to you, mom!
Your Stoker
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Jul 20, 2013, 7:14 pm
(Hi again, mom!)
How are you?
We have been spending a lot of time rummaging round the forests around us.
One day we made a long walking trip trough the nearby countryside.
We walked a long way trough fields and meadows.
Every now and then we saw a farmhouse somewhere behind the fields.
We saw also some cows and horses, but usually they were too far away for us to see them properly, but on one house they had these longhaired cows right on the yard.
"Hello, cow!" said I, "why do you have such a long hair?"
"Muu muu, little cat!" answered she, "maybe my hairdresser just happens to be on holidays!"
Do you think she was pulling my leg, mom?
There was a river making its slow way trough the fields too, and since we seemed to be heading to the same direction, we decided to go on same foot.
She didn´t seem to mind the company either.
There was beautiful rantakukka/Lythrum salicaria/Purple loosestrifes growing in many places on the shore.
In some places the river was running faster, and we had to run too, to keep the same speed.
Other times we wer much faster, and had to sit down to wait for our friend.
(Do you understand my ramblings, mom?
Henna doesn´t. She´s just rolling her eyes and saying there must be the full moon up soon,
reading our writings.)
At one point we crossed the river and said goodby to her and reached a road.
On the road we met a little sisilisko/Zootoca vivipara/Viviparous lizard.
The poor thing had lost its tail!
You know, they can save their life by dropping their tail, if, say, a hungry crow attacks them. So they drop the tail for the crow to eat and go on, growing slowly a new tail.
Quite handy, but also very tiring. It takes a lot of energy to grow a new tail!
"Hi, little lizard!" said I, "what did scare you so much you had to drop your tail?"
"Well, mister Cat", answered she, "it was two evenings ago while I was peacefully eating flies, when suddenly a huge flying saucer landed next to me, and out came these naughty-looking, bulge-headed creatures who tried to pick me up and put me into their animals of earth -collection!"
Mom? What do you think of that?
We came onto a humid area growing reed and osmankäämi/Typha latifolia/Common bulrush - surely we were comin again onto a shore!
Oh yes!
There was soon a map showing an island called Linlo.
We crossed a little bridge onto the island.
And then we followed duckboards trough the little island, in search of a fireplace to make some coffee.
Soon we found an old fireplace and had a fire going on and a coffeepot over the fire in about ten seconds.
The coffee tasted better than ever!
It always does in the forest!
And then we went to sit on a rock on the shore and ate gingerbread cookies.
The rock was warm under the sun and the sea was singing around it.
We saw some other small islands in middle of the blue sea..
Then we went to investigate our surroundings.
We found an interesting small cave.
We went inside, but it was humid and cold inside, so we came out again.
We found many bushes of wild raspberries (vadelma)!
Njam njam!
We picked many of them to take with us too, so we could devour them later.
There were small swamps deeper inside the island.
We crossed some of them using fallen trees as our bridges.
Henna had told us to avoid them, because they can be dangerous places to walk upon.
Some of them can "suck you in", she said.
So we of course had to walk upon them a bit to see if anything would happen.
Nothing did.
But we saw there some maariankämmekkä/Dactylorhiza maculata/Moorland spotted orchids.
And then we found the first mushrooms of this summer!
Some beautiful chantarellis!
Because the island was such a nice place we decided to stay overnight there.
Of course we needed a tent to sleep in.
Here it is!
In the evening, before going to sleep, we sat in our sleepingbacks round the fire
and talked about our experiences round the world and about our homes.
Zoe and Tuli taught us a finnish song which is sang when sitting round a fire.
"Meil on metsässä nuotipiiri
missä kuusten kuiske soi.
Kipunat kohti tähtiä kiirii
lähipuutkin punervoi.
Ja me muistamme sankariaikaa
sadun tenhon tunnemme, taikaa.
Ja kun laulumme yön yli kiirii
ja kun hongat huminoi.
We have an open fire in the forest
which is ringing by the whispers of the spruces.
The sparkles are reaching the stars
and making the nearby trees glow red.
We are remembering the past times of heroes
and feeling the enchantment of fairy tales
when our song is ringing trough the nigh,
when the fir trees are humming."
Then we went to sleep.
We could hear owls and some other nightbirds singing their weird songs around us..
Hyvää yötä!
Good night to you too, dear mom!
And hug from your little bat!
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Aug 3, 2013, 9:56 pm
How are you?
We were spending some days (or nights, actually) in Hennas mothers place,
taking care of her two cats, while she went for a trip to Berlin.
Uh oh, it was both a nice and a tiring time, as you´ll see!
One of Hennas mothers two cats was saved from the street as a kitten,
and she is so shy there was no possibility to get any photos of her.
But the other one is a pampered little pussy, named Nalli,
and she came soon to check on us.
She made such shamefull comments about our outer habitus (mentioning flying rats and creatures living in mudbottoms of lakes)
that I didn´t care to socialize much with her!
Instead I went to watch around in the apartment
And there really was many things to watch at!
Hennas mother and her boyfriend are both collecting old toys,
and there was lots of those in the apartment!
There was a cabinet full of old dolls and their equipment.
We took a ride in an old doll pram along the floors, going faster and faster, and it was very fun.
But we shouldn´t!
Oh no!
Do you still remember the dolls we met last time while visiting Hennas mother, the very boring ones who wanted us to sit on their lap and to pet us?
Well, they had seen us driwing in the doll pram, and that had given them an idea.
"Oh how the toyvoyagers are cute sitting in those prams!" they shouted, "why don´t we dress them up and play they are our babies?!"
We tried to hide, but the awfull dolls found us!
And then they were dressing us in stupid little doll shoes and other things and playing with us!
Help!
It was our luck Henna came into the room just when the dolls had brought up some diapers and milk bottles!
She soon saved us from the disaster, took the horrible garments away and told the dolls to behave,
and later she told us she had never much cared about dolls herself, even as a little girl.
No wonder, I just say!
Hennas mother should keep them all inside that cabinet..
But now you´ve heard all the horrors of our visit! Did it make your hair stand up?
We went for a walk in Helsinki.
Here I´m on one of the main streets called
Mannerheimintie. (tie=street) (Mannerheim was some kinda war hero)
We saw the oldest existing church in Helsinki central area
It is called Vanha Kirkko (= old church) and it is built of wood.
Sadly it was already closed, like most things are at the time Henna gets from work.
The little park around it is a popular place to spend time, pickinicking and such,
but originally it was a graveyard in which the victims of the last plague in Finland were buried in the 18th century.
The park is called Ruttopuisto (pestilence park).
This is the opposite thing - the newest chapel in Helsinki!
It is called Hiljaisuuden kappeli (The chapel of Silence), and it is also built
totally of wood, although the architecture is pretty different!
Near the chapel we saw an interesting statue called Enkelidemoni (Angeldemon).
Then we walked towards the direction of the sea shore.
It was already rather late, about ten a clock in the evening, but as you can see there is still lots of light here at that time.
We came into a park named Kaivopuisto (Well/Fountain park).
They had there beautiful flowerbeds.
Originally here was one of those "spas" where wealthy people in 18th-19th century
came to take care of their health by bathing and drinking different waters.
There was also a nice bergola to sit under.
On the other end of the park we saw the old observatorium of Helsinki University.
And soon we could see the sea!
We bought icecreams. Mine was liquorice!
Zoe asked if they have herring icecream..
(They didn´t.)
We saw the memorial for people died on seas.
There is a neverending fire burning on top of it, although you can´t see it in the pic.
There was nice mirror-balls in different sizes on the shoreline.
Then we saw suddenly many sailingboats and -ships.
There was Helsinki Tall Ship Race going on.
There was boats from all countries around the Baltic sea, but we saw also ships as far away as
Saudi-Arabia, Mexico and Brazil!
This is the one from Saudi-Arabia.
The men on the deck looked a bit puzzled, seeing us toyvoyagers,
but I have to admit I was watching their turbans a bit slowly too..
Some of the ships were very old, and some of them were very funny.
We were walking around and watching the ships and the people in them and outside them..
But then it was time to go back home and sleep!
Good night for you too, mom!
I hope you´ve found many mushrooms!
Kisses from Stoker!
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Aug 10, 2013, 10:52 am
I wish you´re doing well and finding many many mushrooms!
I´m happy to tell you that the gang here is total forest dwellers.
I really love this life in a forest!
Last weekend we made a trip into a new forest area, called Luutasuo (Broom swamp).
I guess it is because there was growing lots of heather, which is exellent material to make brooms.
Luutasuo is part of Komio nature reserve area, and it is about 50 kilometers from Nuuksio.
There is some rare species living here, like these
Glaucopsyche arion (Large Blue) butterflies, which are protected everywhere in EU.
We followed a path, which led us trough forests and over swamps along duckboards.
These duckboards actually form a route which is about hundred kilometers long!
The forest was full of blueberries, and so were we in no time!
We also saw some mushrooms.
This one is Russula paludosa, (isohapero in finnish) and it is an excellent mushroom to eat,
but it was a bit old and so we left it where it was.
Let maggots enjoy it!
The summer has been extremely dry in Finland, and the leaves of trees and plants are already turning yellow and red because of that.
It makes the landscape to look more autumn-like than it usually is in August, said Henna.
The path was cirkling a very big lake named Luutalampi (Broom lake).
We sat on its shore to discus important issues, like
"do the maggots become dizzy when they eat hallusinogenic mushrooms?".
And if they do, what kind of hallusinations do they have?
What do you think, mom?
The duckboards took us past a small building,
and I thought it was someones summer cottage.
But actually it was a toilet made for walkers just like us.
And can you imagine!
Just next to the toilet I spotted clear evidence that there had been an elk who had not bothered to use the toilet!
What arrogance!
Or maybe the toilet had been occupied just when he/she would have needed it, hmm!
Maybe there was a hare inside, just reading cartoons and not caring at all about the banging on the door!
Tut tut!
We found more mushrooms.
These are Lactarius Camphoratus, (sikurirousku in finnish).
This is a Russula decolorans, kangashapero in finnish.
Our duckboards took us onto a resting place with a great view and a possibility to lit fire.
So we were admiring the views first!
There was some waterlily leaves floating on the surface, but they were too far away for us to try to sit on them.
But instead we sat on treeroots arching over the water and spied on different water insects.
Isn´t it beautiful here, mom?
I was just sitting at least 1½ whole minutes admiring it!
Can you imagine?
Henna started to look genuinely worried.
And then we made some coffee!
And then we realized our little paws (and wings) were tired and unwilling to walk (or fly) more!
Well, just think of the fact that while Henna takes one step we have to take about thirty! (Or to flap our wings about as many times!)
So we started to wait for some kind of lift to appear for us.
Here you can see us waiting.
Belief can move mountains, they say.
We had our lift!
It was the valiant toyvoyager S/S who came to our rescue!
"Cannot have toyvoyagers running their little legs shorter than they already are!"
So we came back to home with style.
Hyvää yötä, äiti! (Good night, mom!)
Nähdään pian! (See you soon!)
Your Stoker
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Aug 18, 2013, 7:52 am
How´re you doing?
We have had rain, rain and more rain!
It is of course great, thinking about the propability
of mushrooms, but still it is getting a bit on everyones nerves,
staying inside all days!
There is some limits to how many hours to play Kimble and Monopoly,
and then we started to play the cottage was a jungle,
but Henna started to complain after two days of lion and monkey
sounds.
Yesterday the rain stopped luckily for some hours and we went to Helsinki
to continue our "sightseeing".
We started our round from the maybe most
famous statue in Helsinki, named Kolme seppää
(Three blacksmiths).
As you can see it is picturing these three guys who have stripped
away all their clothing, and are hammering who knows what,
totally naked, sparkles just flying around them.
Donno if this is some oddish finnish tradition or what, but anyway
the statue is the most popular meeting place in Helsinki.
We walked towards north along Mannerheimintie,
and passed this nice little fountain.
The passageway down there was originally a railway route.
Couple of years ago they took off the tracks and turned it into
a light traffic route for bikes and walkers, named "Baana".
We crossed the Baana and reached the finnish
Parliament House (Eduskuntatalo).
It was built in 1931.
I think it looked rather pompous.
This is where finnish people mainly come to demonstrate - to shout for the parliament members going in or out.
We also saw a miniature model of the building.
We were counting the pillars, after Henna told us that when she was a brat,
they asked the number of the pillars of the parliament house in an exam at school, and she had no idea.
We counted fourteen. So now you know if someone asks you!
The aquarium -like building is a new music center, which was built couple of years ago.
The statue is called "Laulupuut" - The song trees, and it is picturing a pike (Esox lucius) in the top of a tree, singing.
Henna told the statue was inspired by a poem of the poet Aaro Hellaakoski called "Hauen laulu",
the song of a pike, in which a pike climbes a spruce to taste the reddish cones and to sing.
Next to the music center is Kiasma, museum
of modern art.
It has become famous of some rather nauseating pieces of art
exhibited there.
We came to Töölönlahti bay.
It is an ancient part of the Baltic sea, but nowadays it is more like a little lake in middle of Helsinki.
While we walked along the shore Henna
told us something about the history of Helsinki.
Helsinki is rather a young city.
It was established 1550 by the command of a swedish king who was also the king of Finland at that time.
The king was thinking of a good place for a harbour to enlarge the economy,
not about the conditions to build the city in.
Helsinki was built over a swamp area, and people were so reluctant to move into the new town
that the king had to order them to.
Nowadays there is, anyway, over 600 000 inhabitants and the town keeps growing.
Around the Töölönlahti bay there is the Töölönlahti park.
The inhabitants of Helsinki love the park and spend lots of time there.
While we walked trough it, there was a park gym going on.
This is a memorial monument of one of the finnish presidents, Urho Kekkonen.
What? It doesn´t look like a monument to you?
Well, nor did it look like that to me either, more like a beautiful swimming pool. But I like it.
There was beautiful paths crisscrossing
the park, between great trees.
We saw another, more conventional statue.
It is picturing "runonlaulaja" Larin Paraske.
I don´t quite know how to translate runonlaulaja, maybe a bard?
Runonlaulaja was a specialist who could sing a big selection of the so called "Kalevala" folk poetry,
which was learned by heart, listening to the older people.
Next we saw "Finlandia talo" - Finlandia Hall, which is a concert- and congress hall on the Töölönlahti bay.
It was completed 1971, and it seems that on its own time it was something very special,
and made the architect Alvar Aalto very famous round the world, but I must say to me it looked just a white box.
This building is "Hakasalmen huvila" - Hakasalmi villa.
It was the summer residence of Aurora Karamzin, who was a great philanthropist.
As a young maiden Aurora "was appointed a lady-in-waiting of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna the elder,
consort to Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and a lady of the bedchamber of their Imperial Majesties
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna the younger and Empress Maria Feodorovna.
She was made a dame of the Order of Saint Catherine, the highest honor for ladies in Imperial Russia".
(Phew!)
Later in life Aurora used her immense wealth to create benefactory institutions in Helsinki,
such as schools, public kitchens, and the Deaconess Institution of Helsinki.
Quite a remarkable woman!
We walked then to see the building of finnish
National museum next to the park.
It is a funny building which looks rather much like the finnish mediaeval churches.
It was inaugurated 1916.
There was a friendly looking bear
guarding the stairs of the museum.
We walked again towards south, and
passed this very cute museum tram.
We continued our walk along Esplanadi park.
There was some small apples already in the
appletrees in the park.
We tasted couple of them, but they were still too sour to eat.
We peeped into a shop along the
Esplanade, called Christmas shop.
We met there a group of Santas helpers,
lazying around (It is still long time to christmas).
On the southern end of the Esplanade
we saw this fountain called "Havis Amanda" by sculptor Ville Walgren.
The statue in middle of it is from the year 1906 and it is a mermaid who stands on seaweed, rising from the water, surrounded by four sea lions.
Every year on Vappu, 1.5, Havis Amanda serves as a centrepiece for the celebrations.
Students of the local universities put a cap on the statue in an elaborate ceremony.
For many it is a "must see" event.
I personally found the sealions more interesting.
They were spitting water showing great talent.
Next we walked to the seashore, to see the famous Kauppatori - Market Square.
Originally this was a muddy shore where the fishermen came to sell their catch straight from their boats.
The square was built in beginning of 19th century
and became the main market for people from surrounding countryside
to sell their products for the city dwellers.
Besides vegetables, berries, mushrooms and fish there is nowadays tables
selling handicrafts and souveniers.
It is also very popular place to sit in outside tables eating fish dishes or coffee and buns.
I noticed there was turtles preventing cars driwing everywhere. Good job!
We walked to see Uspenski Cathedral.
It is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos
(the Virgin Mary). (Umh..)
It was designed by the Russian architect Alexey Gornostaev and built in 1862–1868
The cathedral was closed, sadly.
I would liked to have peep inside it.
Maybe another day..
We came down from the hill where the cathedral stands and saw this old lightvessel.
It was serving ships in the areas
where there was no lighthouse,
showing the dangerous rocks and such
when the weather got rough.
We passed the old house of finnish bank.
Next we went to see Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral.
It was built 1832-1850, and since it was also built over a swamp people were sure it would sink.
We climbed the stairs to see the church better,
and also to see the view over the square.
We also managed to take a peep inside,
but the light there was so lousy, it was hard to take photos.
So we came out again, and it was time to come back home!
Hyvää viikonloppua! (Good weekend!)
And many kisses from your little bat!
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Aug 26, 2013, 7:28 pm
How are you?
We are doing here just fine!
We have made lots of small trips to see interesting things,
not very far away from Nuuksio.
One trip we made to see a very funny shop
called Kasvihuoneilmiö.
Nice word, isn´t it?
Actually, it means "Greenhouse effect".
The shop is situated into an old greenhouse, so the name is
rather suitable!
Inside the shop there is, well, whatever!
They call themselves a "home decoration shop".
There is also real trees and huge, succulent plants growing on the
ceiling and hanging down in big bunches.
And I must admit some of these items would turn the most boring home into a very interesting place.
Hello, gangaroo!
I think the funniest thing about this shop
is that everything is so mixed up.
There you can see rather valuable antique furniture next to a..
.. huge plastic pig!
It is like a modern jungle, this place.
I rather like it, in small portions, although it certainly isn´t very peacefull!
If I won a lottery one day, I´ll come here
and buy about everything to our home.
I hope you wouldn´t mind.
Or maybe not..
just an item or two.
These cute bunnies are the office workers of the shop,
taking care of the paper work and accounts and such
(mainly by eating them or by, well, I guess you can imagine!)
An hour amongst all that stuff, and we started to feel a bit dizzy!
Still half an hour more and I was really pining to get back to our asketic little cottage in middle of the forest!
A very polite cat told us it happens to many visitors,
and carried us outside!
"Go back to your forest, little ones!" he said, and made me
feel rich.
See you soon, dear mom!
Many kisses from your little bat!
Many mushrooms on your paths!
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Aug 28, 2013, 8:03 pm
This is just a very short update about a rather interesting place
we found by accident.
We were hiking in the big forest areas,
and saw these cliffs which looked like human faces to us.
We searched the surface of the rocks for possible rock art,
because they are often situated onto rocks with antropomorfic
shapes.
There wasn´t any, anyway, so we climbed over the rocks.
From up there we were watching the view over the
surroundings country,
and then we saw a sign.
It was made of wood, and it said
"Lintukiiman paimentenkirkko".
It means "The shepherds church of the birds heat".
Doesn´t it sound fantastic?
Lintukiima (Birds heat) is the name of the forest area, propably
because the capercaillies are having their lek going on there
in early spring.
Henna had no idea what place could it be, but we went to find out.
It really was a "church"!
Outside, in middle of the forest, there were put these very rustic
church benches made of planks,
and a wooden cross to stand in front of them,
and in front of a small cave.
Inside the cave there was flyers telling the story of the place:
About hundred years ago there had been two small girls herding
the cows in the forest (it was a finnish original breed of cows, who
were very small and agile and quite able to find their food in forests).
The weather changed suddenly and a heavy fog fell over the earth, the girls couldn´t find their way back home and the cows got scared
by the sounds of beasts deeper in the forest and run away.
The girls found the cave and decided to wait there until the fog had gone, but they were weeping for the lost cows,
when a forest spirit appeared to them as bright light,
and told that their folk had led the cows into a safe place in the otherworld, because there was a bear near by,
and promised the girls would find them in the morning under a big spruce.
After a cold night in the cave the sun rise, and the girls woke up
for the happy "moooooing" of their cows under a big spruce.
The cows were fatter than before, more intelligent and gave more milk
rest of their lives.
The people started to think of the place as "Holy", and the priests weren´t at all happy with it, until one day
they decided to give in and turned it into an official church.
Nice story, isn´t it?
I think this is the most impressive church I´ve seen in Finland.
Certainly I felt more "holynes" there than in the pompous, tourist-filled cathedrals in Helsinki.
And never had I seen such a beautiful ceiling!
Yours, Stoker
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Sep 1, 2013, 12:22 pm
I wish you´re having a great sunday!
Here it rains, but that is just giving us an opportunity
to write our updates.
Besides, the rain means more mushrooms!
I´m going to show you photos of a mushroom picking trip
we made to the Sipoonkorpi national park last week.
Sipoonkorpi is the newest national park
in Finland,
about 50 kilometers towards east from Nuuksio.
There are 37 national parks in Finland. They cover a total area of 8,873 square kilometres.
Besides the national parks there is about
8000 other different protected areas, strict nature reserves and
wildernes reserves, protecting forests, meadows, swamps, island nature, seal nesting areas etc.
Isn´t that great?
We started to search for mushrooms,
and found many - both edible and unedible species.
I was helping the others in identifying them.
But the red russulas are always difficult!
I never remember the signifying marks, so the only way to know
if they are edible or taste discusting, is to taste them!
(of course they´re not poisonous)
Unluckily this one was a Russula emetica,
and I had to wash my mouth by eating some berries!
These are Rubus saxatilis, stone bramble.
They are related to raspberry and quite good.
Luckily I found next a delicious birch bolete as a compensation!
But who is this black fellow?
I don´t have any idea, although I think it must belong
to the families Hygrophoraceae, Clitocybe or Tricholoma.
Do you know, mom?
We climbed over a rocky ridge.
There was thick carpet of reindeer lichen (Cladina stellaris) growing over rocks.
This is what reindeers eat (hard to guess!)
It was so soft, we were rolling and rolling on it.
On the other side of the ridge the ground turned more humid and we guessed
we would soon be coming onto a shore of a lake.
There was a wonderfull little pool, which´s bottom grew beautiful haircap moss (Polytrichum).
It looked too lovely, we couldn´t resist for trying how it would
feel under our paws.
It was fantastic!
The water was warm, and it was like standing in a soft
bathtub! I could have slept there!
We found a gang of chantarelles!
They tried to escape, but we run faster!
Then we saw the lake, and sat on its shore
to rest a bit and to discus the problem how would it be possible
to create a similar kind mossy pool inside an apartment
without making our hosts too pissed off.
Zoe suggested we could simply hide a washing bowl filled with the moss and water inside a closet.
I don´t think it would work.
We stopped to make some coffee on a fireplace.
How surprising, isn´t it?
We are all here coffee addicts!
But the reason to that is that coffee made over an open fire is so
much better than any other!
This is Stag Horn fungus, Colocera viscosa.
The mushroom books tell it is not a good mushroom to eat,
being too viscous,
but we here like to put into out mushroom dishes anyway,
because it makes them look so cheerful with its bright colours!
We walked forward, and saw this promising flock of sheathed woodtuft (Kuehneromyces mutabilis).
They grow on dead leaf trees, and they are really delicious.
Our baskets started to be full and heavy with mushrooms!
What could be more wonderful!
Then I found a young boletus edulis (porcino) !
We got all very exited!
Maybe there would be more of them around?
I was even hugging the porcino!
Then Tiger Lilly found another porcino!
Gee, we felt ourselves so rich!
We were dancing around the mushroom,
singing a wild mushroom song.
And guess what!
Then we found some more!
And more and more and more and more!
We were running like crazys from mushroom to mushroom,
panting and shrieking with joy, and dragging the
porcinos to Hennas big basket,
because our own were already bursting!
Here you can see the big basket when we started our way back home!
Marvellous, isn´t it!?
In the evening the moon was full.
I stand for a long time watching it, and then I tried to fly past it like Batman.
Kisses from your little bat, mom!
See you soon!
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Sep 3, 2013, 7:41 pm
I´m sure you´re in festive mood there, mom!
I´m now going to tell again about an interesting place we found
accidentally!
We were walking one day in the forests (what else!) and admiring the beautiful landscapes,
when we encountered a very well kept path,
and started to follow it.
The path led us to this interesting looking
building in middle of the forest.
It´s walls were decorated with bones.
And there was kinda bone mobiles hanging
from the trees on the yard.
What kind of place is this?
There was a plake (under a deer skull)
telling the hut had been built in the year 2007.
We encouraged each other to go in to find out more.
In the end we went all together, it was nicer..
Inside it was actually quite cosy.
There was less bones, and a fireplace in middle of the floor.
We also found a book telling us that the building was built and owned by some guy named Pekka, but instead of
enjoying the place just by himself, he had turned into an
"autiotupa".
There is not an equivalence in english language, but it means a hut everyone has a right to use for resting and for shelter from bad weather, making food and stay overnight couple of nights.
The original idea was to have such places in forests, because the distances in Finland are rather long, and people sometimes needed shelter to survive in the harsh conditions specially in the winter,
while travelling from place to place, or maybe if the weather changed suddenly or they got lost etc.
I think it is a fantastic tradition!
There still is some places like that, specially in Lappland, where it is easy to get lost on the fjells.
I would gladly overnight here some day, although the
taste of decoration of the people who have built it is a bit doubtfull..
There was a guest book and we all wrote our names into it.
We went back outside to investigate a bit more the things on the yard.
This bowl is made of a pine branch and a flat, concave piece of stone.
Nice, isn´t it?
There was bronze age grave on the backyard.
All in all, one of the most interesting places I have seen on our trips in Finland this far!
See you soon again, mom! Nähdään pian!
A BIG hug from Stoker!
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Sep 6, 2013, 6:30 pm
Today I´ll show you pics from a trip we made in Turku region.
Henna went there to listen some very boring lecture in a museum, and meanwhile we were investigating around.
On our way there in Hennas friends car,
it was raining and shining at the same time, and there was
a rainbow arching over the sky.
We escorted Henna to her lecture and stayed
inside a minute and half, but it sounded so horrible we came out to avoid a braindamage.
Then we walked trough the beautiful village landscape.
This is the old mainbuilding of a farm called Kurala.
It is now turned into a home museum.
There was a swing on the yard, and we
were swinging quie a lot!
There was also an old warehouse full of interesting stuff!
Like this old loom.
It would be wonderful to try making carpets and even fabric
with a loom some day.
Then we popped inside the main building.
This is the kitchen.
Do you see the bread hanging up on the ceiling?
That is the way the bread was kept in Western Finland.
They only baked bread maybe four times a year and then let it dry on the ceiling.
Of course it was stone hard when eaten!
This is where they ate.
Looks cosy, doesn´t it?
This is the hall.
Of course this house was a rather wealthy one..
Do you see the swinging chair?
Could I have one, mom?
I wonder if all these carpets are made
with that loom we saw.
I would like to live in a house like this, but I don´t know about the other things
they have to do in a farm.
This is the Aurajoki river, and we followed it to the city of Turku.
We met the Russian czar Alexander I and the Swedish king Carl XIV negotiating on the rivershore and joined them.
I don´t know how our suggestions might have effected the outcome.
We walked past the nice old library house.
There was huge birdies swimming in the river.
We walked to see the Turku cathedral, which originates from the medieval times.
It is the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and and the seat of the Archbishop of Finland.
And then we found the same church in toyvoyager size!
Do you think it has an toyvoyager sized archbishop?
This is Mikael Agricola, who translated the Bible into finnish language.
We helped him!
(Do not wonder if there´s some naughty words in the finnish bible nowadays!)
Then we climbed to see the Samppalinna windmill.
And then we run back to the Kurala museum, again following the river, before Henna would notice we were gone! Hah!
See you soon, mom!
Your Stoker
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Sep 22, 2013, 4:52 pm
This is my last update from Finland, because tomorrow I´m
leaving back home!
I´m so happy to be with you again after such a long period of travelling!
I hope you have not messed meanwhile with my insect collection under the bed! You know, there between the bedleg and the wall..
We took a bus to Helsinki, because Henna
had to visit the allergy hospital.
While she was enjoying the joys of different
tests,
we went for a walk along the shoreline.
It was a nice bay area with boat harbours
and canooing clubs and such.
We enjoyed the rare autumn sun
laying over a smooth rock.
We walked trough a small park,
discussing if it would be possible that someone
could be allergic to tovoyagers.
What awkward thought! I don´t believe it!
What do you think, mom?
There was a monument in the park,
honouring the finnish composer Jean Sibelius.
Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957) was a composer of the late Romantic period.
His music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity.
His best known work is his set of seven symphonies.
Sibelius loved nature, and the Finnish landscape served as material for his music.
So I guess these pipes can be interpreted as being either
pipes of a church organ or icicles hanging from a cliff in the forest,
or maybe both..
It is said that these pipes have an echo too.
So we were shouting and growling and singing into them,
and I guess half of the Helsinki must have heard it.
We returned to the shoreline and continued
our walk.
We saw some old industrial buildings on the other side of the bay.
Suddenly we came onto an area which was divided
into many small garden patches growing vegetables and
autumn flowers.
There is many such areas in the Helsinki region.
The land is owned by the ctiy, and people living in the region can rent
a little garden patch for a summer and grow there vegetables to eat.
I think it is a great system!
There was many wonderful flowers!
Do you see these wondrfull cornflowers?
There is lots of them in Finland, growing as weeds on the
rye fields.
It is now endangered in many parts of Europe by agricultural intensification, particularly over-use of herbicides, destroying its habitat.
It was interesting to see how some people
were growing for example many different cabbages on their
patch,
some others had only flowers or berrybushes, strawberries or
potatoes.
I guess everyone grow what they like most.
I´m sure you would love to see these small gardens, mom!
Maybe we can come here together some day.
These are Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower.
They are used as herbs to prevent flue.
We left the wonderful little paradise, and
walked forward along the shoreline.
We saw a cute little red cottage pretty near, and there seemed to be lots of people around it.
So went to find out what was happening there.
It was a cute little cottage café!
We decided realised immediately that we were immensely hungry
and in need of coffee!
I get to choose what cake we would have,
because it was also my last time in a café here in Finland.
I chose blueberry pie!
With whipped cream!
There was a blog of flats for birdies on the
yard of the café cottage.
Must be nice people keeping it!
We walked past an old graveyard called
Hietaniemen hautausmaa.
It was very green and park-like and full of trees and flowers.
Many people here come to spend time in the graveyards,
there is so silent and peacefull to sit on the benches under the trees,
reading and enjoying the summer´s beauty.
There was also a verdant, shady bergola.
We walked then past some nice old wooden houses.
This was the home of one of the finnish presidents, Urho Kekkonen.
Now it is a museum, showing his private life to people.
We came onto a small beach, where there was no other people than us.
Instead there was a fireplace, and since we were again feeling
a bit peckish, we lit up the fire and warmed some karjalanpiirakkas
(Carelian pastries) over it.
The fire felt very good.
Not that they had been a cold one, but after so much walking it is
relaxing to sit round a fire.
The Carelian pastries felt very good too!
After eating five pastries each,
we went to investigate the little beach.
There was interesting insects and such.
We were following them to see what they were so busy about,
but they looked clearly irritated by the spying.
Then we sat for awhile in a little nest between
the roots of a pine, well, just because we felt like sitting there!
And then I was irritating the waves too!
You know - walking very near the waterfront and letting the waves
almost touch my feet, but actually jumping aside every time
in the last moment.
We saw some mushrooms near the forests edge.
We started to search for edible mushrooms too!
This Russula was pretty hard NOT to find!
Then I found some Cantharellus tubaeformis!
We started a feverish search for more, because they´re the best ever mushrooms!
Here is our prey!
We returned home with the mushrooms, drooling
with expectation, and started to make food!
We added some onion, garlic, broccoli, carrot, cream and green beans with the mushrooms.
And then we ate!
It was a great day and a great meal
to finish the visit in Finland with!
I´m sure you would have loved the meal too!
See you very soon again, dear mom!
Your Stoker
pikkuaasi@gmail.com
Posted Oct 4, 2013, 9:34 am
Next day we walked trough an enchanted
mushroom forest to the post office.
There I was hugging my dear friends
a good bye, and then I roamed into my travel envelope.
Good bye, good bye!
I´m on my way back home!
I´m so happy to see you again, mom, that I´m shining!
See you soon!
Stoker
Posted Oct 16, 2013, 2:12 am
I am arrived to Japan.
My host Yoko said " Thank you for gift and postcard."
There are cool Toy Voyagers here, Aura from Finland, ThomasHH from Germany and friendly host toys.
They gave me hearty welcome.
See you soon.
Posted Oct 16, 2013, 6:55 am
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---)
Posted Oct 16, 2013, 7:16 am
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.
Posted Oct 20, 2013, 1:27 am
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.
Posted Oct 20, 2013, 2:06 am
I'm exited, But I will not be able to see the moon, The moon disappeared from view behind the clouds.
I fly up above the clouds is easy, but it is so typhoon is approaching now, dangerous for me.
I expect in the next full moon(18th November).
Wish to be seen a nice full moon.
Posted Oct 28, 2013, 7:05 am
How are you? I'm fine.
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.
Posted Oct 29, 2013, 7:55 am
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.
Posted Oct 30, 2013, 8:59 am
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.
Posted Oct 30, 2013, 11:29 am
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.”.
Posted Oct 30, 2013, 12:00 pm
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!
Stoker
Posted Oct 31, 2013, 6:28 am
"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, I am 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!
Posted Nov 10, 2013, 12:45 am
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.
Posted Nov 10, 2013, 2:03 am
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) .
It is free and open till 11PM.
There are a lot of public art at around.
Explore Tokyo!
Posted Nov 10, 2013, 8:28 am
Asakusa's main attraction is Sensoji, a very popular Buddhist temple, built in the 7th century.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Posted Nov 10, 2013, 9:33 am
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!
Posted Nov 10, 2013, 12:00 pm
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
Stoker
Posted Nov 13, 2013, 10:51 am
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.
Posted Nov 13, 2013, 11:24 am
They has congratulated me on birthday of the 582 years old.
This toy size cake was made by my friends.
We can not stick candles of my age 582 in the cake, but I am very happy.
Set fire to a candle, and sang the birthday song.
I blew out the candle on the birthday cake.
Posted Nov 20, 2013, 8:57 am
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!
Posted Nov 20, 2013, 9:26 am
I am looking forward to watch the full moon today.
There is no cloud in the sky, but the wind is very strong.
It was a full moon that I thought everyone said so beautiful.
10000000 hugs for you.
Posted Nov 20, 2013, 9:41 am
I could see fullmoon in early morning.
"The early bat gets the fullmoon(The early bird gets the worm).
Posted Nov 30, 2013, 12:36 pm
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.
Posted Dec 1, 2013, 1:25 am
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.
Posted Dec 1, 2013, 2:12 am
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!
Posted Dec 1, 2013, 10:09 am
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.
Posted Dec 1, 2013, 12:45 pm
I am very excited that going new journey.
But, It is a little sad because I have to say good bye.
I was able to spend 45days fun in Japan.
Good bye everyone, good bye Japan.
I am looking forward to going my country.
See you soon!
Warm wishes,
Stoker
Posted Dec 9, 2013, 7:01 pm
I arrived in Sülfeld. Dicker Kumpel gave me a warm welcome. It is great to see him again!
Then he introduced me to Laika, PinkyHH and of course Kleine Fee. I showed the wonderful things I brought with me.
Although I was not here at the St Nicholas' Day, I got something.
Dicker Kumpel got this great Christmas Crib.
We searched the three wise men – but they were far away on a hill. Maybe they will arrive at Christmas.
Love
Stoker
Posted Dec 15, 2013, 8:41 pm
The weather was awful outside so I decided to explore Dicker Kumpel's home. Christmas is coming soon and he decorated the rooms with nice things.
I started with some lighted wooden decorations. First I met Santa Claus.
This one is typical for a region called Erz Mountains.
And I loved this snowman.
I visited another Christmas Crib.
There were three funny guys hanging around on the lamp. The first one was a reindeer.
The second one was Santa Claus.
The third guy was a polar bear.
The rest of the evening I spent in front of this Christmas pyramid. It is so lovely!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 19, 2013, 7:17 pm
We went to a town called Bad Segeberg. During the summer time they show Winnetou in the open air theatre - and you see stakes in the town.
And they had some nice decorated small houses everywhere.
I loved the big Christmas tree…
… and of course the carousel next to it.
This stake was really beautiful, too.
There was another Christmas tree on this big place – unfortunately it was not lighted up to now.
Our last stop was in front of the nice church here.
Back home a new guest arrived – HelmutBluepant.
He brought Christmas Gifts for all of us – great!
We just thought about starting to unpack our gifts when RikeH arrived. She told us: It is not Christmas now – and took all our gifts with her.
It seems to us that we have to wait until Christmas.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 23, 2013, 8:28 pm
In Germany we celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December. Today it was time to decorate the Christmas tree. Look – we had sunny weather – RikeH loves sunshine – but told me that we will have problems with some photos because of the light.
Look – there is our tree.
Here you can see our decoration.
I loved these balls.
These are the wooden things.
Here are the small ones for the upper part of the tree.
These are some ornaments RikeH likes very much.
And some of these she brought from her journeys, most of it is from Denmark.
Witching hour! No – it is not a ghost – it is me. There is still the problem with the sunshine in the living-room.
But I wanted to show you a photo of our Christmas tree.
This is the decoration I love most! A mushroom!
And this is an important part of the Christmas tree – the bird was always in the Christmas tree of RikeH's grandma.
And now it has a place of honour in RikeH's tree.
Mum,Dad, I am so excited – tomorrow it is Christmas!
Love
Stoker
Posted Dec 26, 2013, 12:57 pm
It is Christmas! And look! A child is born!
First Dicker Kumpel read the Nativity Story for all of us.
We all sang Christmas Songs – the last one was Silent Night.
Eventually the two most important guests arrived. Santa Claus was busy, but he sent his two friends Rudi the reindeer and Snowy the snowman.
I started with a Christmas Poem and sang a song.
I am sure they loved it – because I got some chocolate.
We all wanted a group photo with Snowy and Rudi.
Then Helmutbluepant’s big moment came. He had a lot of gifts for us.
I loved the snowman.
We all had a great time!
Merry Christmas dear Mum and Dad!
Love
Stoker
Posted Dec 28, 2013, 4:12 pm
Today we took a walk through Sülfeld. First I learnt something about an old canal here.
There is a small park in Sülfeld…
… with a little lake. Maybe I will see it frozen in the wintertime.
Behind me you can see the old school with a beautiful big Christmas tree.
This is the emblem of Sülfeld.
Then I met Santa Claus and said thank you for the presents.
I went to the church.
On the other side of the street there is the old pharmacy.
In front of Dicker Kumpel’s house there were funny Christmas guys.
Love
Stoker
Posted Dec 29, 2013, 8:05 pm
In the afternoon we visited my grandma. I loved the candlelight.
Look – there are wonderful wooden things out of the Erzgebirge.
And a really small Christmas crib.
Beautiful!
My grandma had a very nice Christmas tree.
Love
Stoker
Posted Jan 2, 2014, 8:09 pm
It was a great day today! Murph, Soeren, TobiHH, Sean (and you) came and visited us.
Murph had gifts for us!
We had fun together.
Christmas is great!
We talked the whole day – but then it was time to say goodbye.
It was so great to meet the other TVs.
We had a big TV-hug. Hopefully I will see the others somewhere again.
Love
Stoker
Posted Jan 7, 2014, 3:55 pm
Look – the Christmas tree has colored lights today – time for a party!
Dicker Kumpel decorated our chair.
Then he brought the important things – drinks and food.
After our dinner we played Helmut’s new game. It was great!
After the game Dicker Kumpel came with the prices!
Look! I won the beautiful mushroom!
At midnight we went out to welcome the New Year.
Happy New Year to all of you!
Love
Stoker
Posted Jan 9, 2014, 12:31 pm
Today we went to a nice nature park near to Sülfeld.
First I saw this black alder. They have interesting roots, because they live in wetlands.
Look – I found a mushroom!
The park is great – here I had to solve a puzzle. What kind of tree will this be?
Then I saw this raised stand. What will I see from there?
I saw many different animals from there – can you see the biggest one – a boar?
And there – a badger!
I saw a deer, too – but maybe you couldn’t see it? So I went closer to it.
There were many storms here in the last weeks – this tree felt down.
More mushrooms!
Then we went to this lovely lake.
I learnt a lot about the animals living here.
What a wonderful place.
On our way back to the car I talked with this funny woodpecker.
Then we found a place for long jump!
I won – with a jump of 2 meters. Well – maybe I used my wings…
We stopped at a slide.
This was fun!
Back home we found the pizza Murph and you sent to us!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jan 15, 2014, 4:31 pm
The weather is awful most of the time at the moment – so we had to find something nice inside the house. We went to play billiards. Dicker Kumpel explained us the rules.
Then it was my time!
It was really funny!
And I won 5:2!
Then I explored the room. I think that a horse lived here in the past.
I tried to call you – you were at work, but I was able to talk to Murph the whole afternoon – well – maybe I shouldn’t tell you that. I am not sure… Murph - maybe you should find a safe place!
And this was a great place, too.
Hopefully the weather will be nicer soon.
Love
Stoker
Posted Feb 1, 2014, 10:47 pm
The winter came to Sülfeld, so we had to take photos with some snow.
Let’s start with this archaeological monument.
Some children wanted to use their sleighs behind me, but I think there was not enough snow.
Well – no sunshine on my stone, but I loved the light on the old school.
And the emblem of Sülfeld is beautiful, too.
My last stop was next to the church. A wonderful photo with a little snow and the sunshine.
I love the wintertime!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Feb 2, 2014, 11:15 am
I spent a nice time here in Sülfeld, but I think it is time to travel to a new place.
I was invited to visit Switzerland, so I said goodbye to Dicker Kumpel…
… and the others here.
Because I was a little sad to leave, Dicker Kumpel invited me to come back whenever I need a nice home. And – Mum and Dad – we have a surprise for you. Just wait and see…
Until soon
Stoker
Posted Feb 6, 2014, 1:37 pm
since yesterday i'm in Switzerland. I always thought a lot of snow's here in winter. But it looks very much like spring.
When I arrived nothing's going on - no one to be seen. So I hung around a bit.
Suddenly I heard voices and a whole bunch Plushies made it under me comfortable and nibbled chocolate biscuits.
Some of them felt watched and looked around, and because I also like cookies, I fluttered down.
After a little scary moment everyone was very curious and we introduced ourselves.
Now I have many new friends and chocolate biscuits - what more could you want?
See you soon mom
Stoker
Posted Feb 13, 2014, 7:18 pm
Today I accompanied Jasper to work. She works as a logistics manager at a company for home textiles, hotel and catering supplies.
First, I had to make telephone service.
Then I worked on the computer.
After a short coffee break,
I made a variety of products ready for shipment.
I checked the inventory
and the patterns for the textile exhibition.
I had earned a nap honestly.
Greetings from your hard-working little Batman
Stoker
Posted Feb 15, 2014, 8:25 pm
been a few days since I reported the last time. Jasper was very busy - a presentation for a textile fair had to be prepared.
But today was time. We wanted a walk in the snow - so we had to take the car first. Here is no snow - lousy winter. Jasper is frustrated. She loves winter.
So we went to Alt St. Johann and walked a while along the Thur.
The Thur is here still small
and in winter the cross country ski trail runs along the shore.
We watched a bit of cross-country skiers - they were not very fast.
Look mom , the pussy willow.
On an old stone wall we rested a bit. It was warm - 15 degrees.
I made a snowbat.
Can you see it?
Then we had to decide - we take what way? Not so easy.
We walked straight on and came to the valley station of the Iltiosbahn.
This funicular takes you to 1339 meters above sea level.
On our way we saw this sign.
Did I tell you that Simon Ammann grew up in Alt St. Johann ?
Oh, a campsite which is also used in winter.
This glass tent is an apres ski bar. Unfortunately, she was not yet open.
So we were on our way home. Tonight we look ski jumping on television. Let's see who wins.
That's it for today.
Bye, bye
Stoker
Posted Feb 20, 2014, 4:52 pm
once again bad weather. It's exasperating.
I tried to cheer me up with beautiful flowers.
It does not help much.
Jasper made us "good mood muffins"
and after a few bottles of Sour Apple, we had to laugh a lot.
On weekend, we make another trip - the weather prospects are good.
The destination is a secret. We only know the city name starts with "M".
We all are soooo curious.
Hugs
Stoker
Posted Feb 27, 2014, 1:36 pm
you wonder why I speak Italian? Jasper promised us for this weekend a trip to a city that starts with "M".
We started early and ended up in - Milano ( Milan )
From the station
we walked to the Castello di Sforzaresco.
The Castello is home to the largest museum complex in Milan with nine museums and art galleries. Michelangelo's last sculpture - the Pieta Rondanini, and Leonardo da Vinci's " Codex Trivulzianus " a collection of valuable manuscripts are exhibited here. Unfortunately photograph is strictly prohibited.
So we went on and came to the Arco della Pace - a triumphal arch in Piazza Sempione.
He should remember the European peace of 1815.
A few streets away, we saw the "new Milan". On the old Fairgrounds - Fiera Milano City - built diligently.
The new district will be called "CityLife Milano".
On our way we saw this posh house entrance.
It belongs to the "Casa di riposo by musici " a retirement home for musicians. It was founded by Giuseppe Verdi who lived here and is buried here.
Directly in front of the house is his monument.
The Piazza Piemonte and the Theatro Nazional.
By typical Milanese streets
we came to the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and on one of these walls - we do not know which - painted Leonardo da Vinci his famous painting "The Last Supper" .
And again, we were not lucky to photograph a famous work of art. We were not even near him. Because of the large number of visitors tickets are limited. And yes, you're right - they were sold out. No exception, not even for ToyVoyager.
A bit grumpy we looked at the building from the outside
and found in a small tranquil courtyard our good mood again.
We went on
and came to the Palazzo Litta, a magnificent palace which is now used by the railway administration.
We passed a small memorial service for the victims in Ukraine, and held in for a moment.
A magnificent monument - I do not remember for whom.
A work of art.
Then we reached the famous Opera House - the Scala. I had somehow imagined more glorious.
This is the statue of Leonardo da Vinci in Piazza Scala.
The entrance
to the magnificent shopping mall "Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II".
All well-known brands can be found in this cross-shaped passage.
When we left the Galleria, an imposing sight showed us.
The Cathedral of Milan.
Huge (in terms of area, the third largest church in the world) and beautiful he is on the Piazza del Duomo.
We were not the only ones who enjoyed this wonderful day here.
Amo Milano e ti amo mamma.
Ciao ea presto.
I love Milan and I love you mama.
Bye and see you soon.
Stoker
Posted Mar 2, 2014, 9:05 am
while I roamed a little around the apartment, I found signs which were familiar to me.
Love
Stoker
Posted Mar 2, 2014, 9:14 am
Today I helped Jasper baking bread.
The dough kneaded the food processor. I could not wait until he had risen.
Then I formed a loaf
and Jasper pushed the baking sheet in the oven.
After about an hour we had a golden brown, crusty bread.
It smelled fantastic.
After endless waiting - the bread was very hot - I was able to enjoy the first piece.
Never had anything better. Yummy!
greetings from your
Stoker
Posted Mar 2, 2014, 9:34 am
Have I ever shown you how I sleep?
Jasper made me a sleeping bag.
I can sleep on it,
sleep in it
or cover myself with it.
Perfect for Bat-dreams ;-))
Greetings from your well rested
Stoker
Posted Mar 4, 2014, 3:42 pm
yesterday we had a farewell party for Hanne and Laika.
With a big cake
and other goodies we celebrated our friendship.
We had a lot of fun.
After some time it was said goodbye.
With a big group hug and many good wishes we sent our friends on the trip.
Bye bye friends -
and bye bye mommy and daddy!
Stoker
Posted Mar 11, 2014, 4:00 pm
Sunday and wonderful weather, nothing keeps us indoors. We went to Rapperswil, a small town on Lake Zurich.
There we visited the first thing the castle.
From the Schlossplatz you have a beautiful view over the old town
and a part of the lake.
The castle is very impressive
and is home to the Polish Museum.
In the tower
we admired old family coat of arms
and I hung around a bit.
This is the parish church next to the castle.
On a walk through the city
and along the lake we enjoyed the sun,
just like many others.
We also found a clown statue.
The town of Rapperswil is closely linked with the Swiss National Circus "Knie". The circus has its winter quarters here and leads the zoo.
Time to go home.
I spent an enjoyable afternoon and now I'm going to bed.
Bye for now
Stoker
Posted Mar 16, 2014, 7:25 pm
Today I visited with Japer in Zurich, " Giardina ".
Giardina is Europe's leading indoor event for life in the garden and terraces.
This year was the trending topics : experience terrace and architecture in the garden.
I saw many interesting things.
The magnolias smelled intoxicating.
I danced a dragon on the nose.
Then I needed a little refreshment.
I admired a magnificently decorated dinner table
and gorgeous flowers.
Trees
and grass
more trees
In between, I always found a place to rest.
Hey mom, look at this neglected garden.
All flowers that you see are made from old plastic bottles.
Because the weather was so fantastic and we still had time, Jasper showed me the famous shopping mile " Bahnhofstrasse "
and the lake.
Coincidentally, we ran into filming.
They were shooting the " banana scene ".
The poor performer had to eat a banana after another. I was bad at watching.
This is the Swiss National Bank.
We did some window shopping.
After I saw the prices in the shop windows
I thought about a bank robbery.
Jasper said no.
Luckily I found this gold nugget. Should be enough for a few days in Zurich.
Hope you had a nice Sunday too.
Bye for now
Stoker
Posted Mar 20, 2014, 3:55 pm
it's 2:30 at night and I'm flying.
Jasper forgot to close a window. And because the moon is full, nothing can stop me.
Now I have to go. To 5 am I have to be back, then Jasper gets up.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Mar 20, 2014, 7:00 pm
Today, we welcomed a new TV.
His name is Nuru he is from Madrid and he is a camel. No, I do not scoff - he really is a camel, a very nice camel.
He got a little shock when I spread my wings, but he recovered quickly.
He brought a beautiful card, fridge magnet for Jasper and his stamp collection.
Imagine - he has a passport.
We were very impressed.
Then we played hide and seek between Jasper's herb pots.
It was fun - and how we smell;-))
Keep your fingers crossed that the weather is nice tomorrow. Then we take a walk to our little river.
Enjoy your end of work.
Stoker
Posted Mar 22, 2014, 7:18 am
the weather was wonderful and so we took a walk to a small river called Thur.
On our way we saw really old apple trees
and an apiary.
We approached very carefully - nobody wanted to be stung.
Some flowers were seen.
Here is our romantic river Thur.
( Thur is a 131 km (81 mi ) long river in north- eastern Switzerland . Its source is near the mountain Santis, in the south -east of the canton of St. Gallen. It flows into the river Rhine on the border with Germany south of Schaffhausen.)
We found a "TV waterfall "
and frog spawn. Looks like some frogs.
Oh, oh looks like many, many frogs.
A tree made for me.
Even more harbingers of spring.
A perfect place to think.
On our way we found many beautiful places.
Then I climbed a rock - or a root ?
I think both is correct. This tree holds on with its roots on the rock.
The flood of recent years has swept the earth.
A short rest on soft moss.
Jasper shared her apple us.
We found wild garlic in abundance.
It's so beautiful here.
Many , many greetings
Stoker
Posted Mar 27, 2014, 8:42 am
Today I had a special experience. A hot-air balloon flew very low over our house.
How I wish I would have flown with.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Mar 27, 2014, 8:56 am
what a surprise this morning. SNOW!
Yesterday afternoon we had 23 ° - and now?
Chattering teeth at 3 °. Brrr
Stoker
Posted Mar 30, 2014, 8:12 pm
Today we visited a special place - Quinten.
The 56 inhabitants large village of Quinten on the north shore of Lake Walen is only accessible on foot or by boat. As a car-free village Quinten is a popular intermediate and end points for hikes. Quinten has due to its unique location on the sunny side of Lake Walen and at the foot of the Churfirsten a Mediterranean climate with an annual average temperature of about 12.0 ° C, where grapes, figs, kiwi fruit and other exotic plants thrive. Also, various types of palm trees grow here. It is one of the warmest places in Switzerland. In addition, many protected reptiles such as lizards , fence lizards, smooth snakes, grass snakes and Aesculapian live in this ideal habitat for the animals .
We took the car to Murg and then by ship to Quinten.
The view was breathtaking.
We strolled through the small village
and walked along the lake.
We enjoyed the sun, nature and our lives.
By boat we were on our way home.
What a glorious day.
Sunny greetings
Stoker
Posted Apr 12, 2014, 7:34 pm
because Jasper had a lot to do at work, host brother made a few things with us.
1 Project: make Spring rolls.
Host Brother prepared the filling. He did not want any problems with Jasper when we cut ourselves in the paws, hooves or wings.
Then he showed us how to shape the spring rolls.
Not so easy but I think I have a certain talent for it.
We were all proud of our work and were looking forward to the meal.
And then the disaster - during frying the dough disappeared. Why? no idea. Only the filling remained.
But this was delicious.
We will try it again.
Stoker
Posted Apr 12, 2014, 8:36 pm
our next project with host brother: make Mozzarella !
Yes, you read it correctly. We made cheese - mozzarella.
Host Brother studied chemistry and loves to try everything possible.
And we love to help him. (Jasper then always pray, that the kitchen does not explode)
Back to our cheese. We gave milk in a pot
and added some citric acid to it.
The whole we heated to ??? I do not remember - but it had to be exact.
Then we added Rennet.
Let stand a bit - stir a bit.
It looks disgusting.
This nasty stuff is called cheese curd
and is skimmed off.
The liquid that remains is heated.
Then you take something from the cheese curd and keep it short time in the hot liquid.
You pull apart the warm cheese mixture and fold them back together.
Over and over again, until it is completely smooth.
Then shape round - and ready is the mozzarella.
Of course we also formed small - TV style - cheese.
And just as naturally, we tried our homemade cheese.
Yummy, yummy!
cheesy greetings
Stoker
Posted Apr 25, 2014, 2:10 pm
Today I had a special experience. I drove a quad.
Over hill and dale
I will definitely make again
Kisses
Stoker
Posted Apr 25, 2014, 3:04 pm
It's Easter and it's snowing.
No chance to look for Easter eggs outdoors.
So we had a small - but fine Easter Parade indoors.
Led by a funny sheep marched the tastiest things past us.
Okay, most time I saw the ears of a camel and a billy goat - but I could smell it
First, we looked
and then we grabbed.
Despite the weather we had our fun
and enjoyed the treats.
I hope you have also enjoyed Easter and kiss you
Stoker
Posted Apr 25, 2014, 7:13 pm
yesterday we took a hike along the Thur.
We wanted to see what happened to the frog spawn and what else has changed since our last trip.
So Jasper filled the backpack and we went into the sun.
The grass is grown and the old apple trees are in bloom.
Also, the forest is green slowly.
Dandelion
Small tadpoles were removed from the frog spawn.
A little break in the middle of flowering wild garlic
We walked on
and came to the rock wall
- the frost and the water they gnaw slowly.
The bridge of the bypass road.
Our path was narrow, steep and sometimes a bit dangerous.
The large leaves on the riverbank invited to sunbathe.
We crossed a small creek and sat down to picnic.
Bread, cheese and sausage were delicious.
As we walked Jasper suddenly saw something very special.
A Tree - gnawed of beavers.
The Beavers are here - great!
Because it's still snowing in the mountains, the Thur does not have much water at the moment.
This is Jasper's favorite place - the view from the bridge into the gorge.
Looks very romantic.
Another narrow, steep path led us - at a rock wall?
No - into a tight dark passage.
Mom, I loved it. A paradise for bats.
Jasper told me that in the rocks really live bats - Pipistrelle bats.
I hung around a bit
- and then we saw the waterfall.
Isn't this a beautiful sight?
There we had to climb through.
The waterfall.
On the riverfront.
These bundles in the trees - this is grass.
Remains of the last flood.
Isn't it beautiful here?
We had a wonderful day
Love you mommy
Stoker
Posted May 5, 2014, 6:05 pm
it's raining all day long.
Jasper told me: chocolate makes happy!
And now i'm a verry happy bat.
Yours
Stoker
Posted May 5, 2014, 7:03 pm
after endless rain we had no desire to sit at home. Therefore, we took the train and went to Jasper's daughter in Thun.
Thun is called the gateway to the Bernese Oberland.
It is located where the River Aare flows out of Lake Thun (Thunersee), 30 km south of Bern. Besides tourism, machine and precision instrument engineering, the largest garrison in the country, the food industry and publishing are of economic, importance to Thun.
This bridge is a weir. It regulates the water level of the river Aare, which flows through the city.
"750 years municipal law" on this occasion are all over the city works of art - also in the river.
Behind me you see the castle.
Here you see the machinery of the weir.
A View from the Bridge.
A nice old house and stormy weather.
Then we walked along the lake to the hotel.
Jasper's son in law had provided us a nightcap.
We slept very well.
Until tomorrow
Stoker
Posted May 5, 2014, 7:39 pm
after getting up our first look was the weather. Oh well.
Incidentally, this is the hotel of Jasper's daughter and son in law.
In good weather you have a fantastic view of Lake Thun and the Bernese Alps.
After breakfast we took a walk by the lake.
This ship is one of the many excursion steamer.
We walked on, and came to this small chapel.
It is very popular with wedding couples. You have to book in advance at least one year.
This castle houses the Museum of Gastronomy.
A view over the lake.
Ferns in the park.
Then it was time to go home.
Bye for today - love you.
Stoker
Posted May 6, 2014, 1:39 pm
when we came home in the evening, an envelope lying on the table.
Jasper opened it and we - not a bit curious - dipped immediately our noses.
A moose.
Hey - I know him - it's Soeren from Germany. Hello old friend!
We got a stormy welcome and greeted him warmly as well.
Then he took out his gifts.
Gummy bears for us and a postcard for Jasper;-))
What a lovely surprise after a nice weekend (the gummy bears and Soeren - of course)
best wishes
Stoker
Posted May 6, 2014, 3:45 pm
Monday, sunshine and Jasper has to work. But not today! Sometimes overtime is very useful ;-))
Opened the big pocket, wrapped all TV's and camera - and off we went.
Jasper wanted to show us the Thur Waterfalls ( Thurwasserfälle ). Small - but fine.
The Thur waterfalls are two cascades. The water cascades down from steep rock faces, and on highest point drops from 23 meters (75 ft)
A short drive by car and right into flowering meadows.
Here the Thur is still very small.
And it is getting smaller.
We hiked into a small ravine.
First, we wanted to see everything from above.
This is the big fall.
And closer to the water!
About stairways and corridors in the rock we climbed up and down again. ( Sorry - it was too dark to photograph )
Bridges, walkways and narrow paths took us deeper into the canyon.
This is the small fall.
Our way back.
We rested on a bench, and rejoiced in the sun.
The Santis is still deep in snow.
We enjoyed this afternoon to the fullest.
Stoker
Posted May 18, 2014, 9:41 am
Posted May 18, 2014, 10:15 am
once again time to say goodbye.
Our Spanish friend Nuru leaves us in the direction of Germany.
We taped farewell stamps in his album
and wrote into our name.
So he will never forget us.
A big hug and lots of good wishes are with him now on his way to new adventures.
Also a big hug for you
Stoker
Posted May 19, 2014, 6:39 pm
on Saturday we were a little surprised when Jasper took the boots out of the wardrobe. And the warm jacket.
Okay, the last few days the weather was lousy and cold it was (5 degrees in the morning)
But Jasper looked like winter.
We started.
Half an hour later, the clothing became clear.
Snow.
We found a few places where the Spring defied the winter.
The summit of Santis could not be seen - too many clouds.
But the cable car.
We took a circular route in the Nature Discovery Park.
Cold feet? We help you!
We discovered an anthill. Partially destroyed by falling snow.
But the ants are busy on the rebuild.
At the end, we were wet and chilled to the bone but we had a lot of fun.
Bye for now
Stoker
Posted May 21, 2014, 8:50 pm
on Sunday we made a trip to Wil, a small town nearby.
We strolled in beautiful weather through the narrow streets
and admired the beautiful old houses.
This is the portal of the St. Nicholas Church.
This is the "Hof zu Wil ", the landmark of the city.
For over 500 years, the St. Gallen prince abbots resided in Hof zu Wil.
By the old city gate we came to the "Weiherwiese".
There was the "Spectacle", a medieval festival.
First we smelled specialties - no time to eat, there was so much to see.
Archers.
Knights on horseback.
The noble Lord of Lichtenfels was the winner.
Then we watched how knights and "ordinary people" were living.
A nice view of the old town of Wil.
We could not decide: which sight is more beautiful.
The lady who sells ocarinas -
or?
On the way home we had a magnificent view of the Churfirsten - our local mountains.
(Always these fingers - she will never learn.)
Home surprised us Jasper with souvenirs she bought in secret.
Small leather bag for our treasures.
We had a wonderful weekend - I hope you also.
with love
Stoker
Posted May 23, 2014, 4:51 pm
Today I had an accident.
I trained for stuntman school - and fell off the table.
Don't worry, nothing happened to me - but my quad :-( (
Soeren thinks it is a total loss.
I had to relax a bit.
Jasper gave me chocolate - for consolation.
Did not help much - my beautiful quad is gone.
Maybe Jasper can fix it. She promised to try.
Keep your fingers crossed.
Stoker
Posted May 30, 2014, 11:47 am
yesterday was Soeren's birthday and we gave him a surprise party.
I decorated the chair.
Then Cherry Lola came and blindfolded him.
She grabbed him into shopping cart and drove him to us.
He was placed in a chair and I took off the blindfold.
All hugged him and wished "HAPPY BIRTHDAY".
He got the gift.
Then there was cake.
We had so much fun.
Later, Jasper donated something to drink.
The fun was still larger, we slightly louder.
I was dancing on the table
and Twixx tipped off the chair.
We had a great party.
We all sang songs - terribly noisy and terribly wrong.
What a day.
Love you mom
Stoker
Posted Jan 12, 2015, 12:42 am
I am in Canada
! Today I felt some strange movements around my travelling quarters .
And when I came out I found a gang of toyvoyagers welcoming me to Calgary
.
Of course, they wanted to hear all about my recent travels, so he there wasn't really much chance to rest for a while
.
Posted Jan 12, 2015, 2:46 pm
back after a long time - is there a better way to start a new year?
During the crash, I was on my way to Canada.
Here are my recent experiences from Switzerland.
Enjoy the sun
and repair my quad.
see you
Stoker
Posted Jan 12, 2015, 3:33 pm
my last trip here in Switzerland went to:
On the shores of Lake Geneva in Montreux.
The statue of Freddie Mercury, the great singer of Queen.
The bark of the cork oak.
short Break
I saw a war memorial
a monument of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sissi)
Fine hotels and chic parks.
Along the lake to Chillon Castle.
The Château de Chillon (Chillon Castle) is an island castle located on Lake Geneva.
The oldest parts of the castle have not been definitively dated, but the first written record of the castle is in 1160 or 1005. From the mid 12th century, the castle was home to the Counts of Savoy, and it was greatly expanded in the 13th century by Pietro II. The Castle was never taken in a siege, but did change hands through treaties.
It was made popular by Lord Byron, who wrote the poem The Prisoner Of Chillon (1816) about François de Bonivard, a Genevois monk and politician who was imprisoned there from 1530 to 1536; Byron also carved his name on a pillar of the dungeon.
Then we walked back to Montreux.
It was a great trip
Bye for now
Stoker
P. S.
If I counted correctly, Chateau Chillon was my tenth castle.
This means that I have met another life mission.
yeahh
Posted Jan 12, 2015, 3:47 pm
that was my departure.
Well supplied with enough food and the best wishes from my friends I made my way to Canada.
Meanwhile you know that I arrived safely.
love
Stoker
Posted Jan 19, 2015, 2:52 am
I arrived here just in time
: it seems it’s time to go on holiday ! Today, we closed our bags and got ready to drive to the airport .
Posted Jan 19, 2015, 3:23 am
Guess what, I was in Germany today
. We had a stopover in Frankfurt where one of smaug’s TV came over to say hello for a few hours. Of course there was lot of chatting involved .
Posted Jan 26, 2015, 3:17 am
I am in Italy
! Today we were a bit tired and jet lagged, so we got a lovely breakfast, where we met one of smaug's TV, Pepita , who is staying here for a bit...
...and then went back to sleep
.
Posted Jan 26, 2015, 3:54 am
today we went for a bike ride just out of town
. After a long climb we reached the top of the road to Monte Bondone, one of the hardest and more prestigious mountain of race when the Giro d'Italia comes around here, so we were very proud with our effort .
As we moved on the other side of the mountain we could see the Brenta dolomites...
...and the Adige Valley in the distance
.
Further on we could see another nice valley.
At that point we launched ourselves downhill
, so we decided that it was better for smaug to put away the camera and focus on the handlebar .
Posted Jan 29, 2015, 4:19 am
today we went for a nice hike in the Dolomites
. After a bit of walking in the trees we started having a nice view...
...although it looked like we had still quite a way to go to reach the top of this valley
.
Eventually we reached the highest point of the day, where the view was very "rocky"
, but unfortunately the weather seemed to be ready for turning wet.
As it happens we managed to cross all this plateau without getting drenched...
...and later we headed into this nicely U-shaped valley that took us back to the car
.
Posted Feb 2, 2015, 3:53 am
today the weather was not great, but it was warm
, so smaug took us for a little hike close to town. After a bit of walking we started having a nice view...
...and we had a glimpse of our destination: apparently we were aiming first for the peak on the right, and then we were going to follow the ridge heading left
.
From the summit the view was great in every direction
.
After following a bit of the ridge, we could even see a bit of Trento in the distance.
To give a bit of cultural tone to the trip
and in true commemoration spirit of the centenary of the start of WWI, sammino explained to us that those abandoned barracks next to my head were actually built when this corner of Italy was still part of the Austro-Hungarian empire .
Posted Feb 2, 2015, 4:11 am
We are soon heading back to Canada, so today it was time to say goodbye to Pepita and to all the other friends we met here in Italy
.
Posted Feb 3, 2015, 4:11 am
On the way back to Canada we had another long stopover in Frankfurt, so Orpheus and Sigfrido came to spend some time with us at the airport
. Luckily it was a lovely day, so we could stay outside chatting in the sun .
Posted Feb 8, 2015, 9:51 pm
today it was World Cup final day and with Germany in the final
, we got very excited in our little Deutsch expats colony . Luckily yesterday in Frankfurt we had managed to put our hands on smaug's wallet and acquire something appropriate for the occasion .
As the game was about to start the excitement grew even further...
...and it burst when Germany scored
...
...and lifted the cup
.
We decided to celebrate with whatever we could find
...and, of course, our hosts were more than happy to join in .
Posted Feb 8, 2015, 10:34 pm
today we went out for our first short hike since coming back to Canada
. After the usual walking under the cover of the trees, we come out at Baldy Pass where we had a nice view over the foothills .
Pressing on, we reached the summit of Midnight Peak, where the view was great in all directions
.
Interesting enough, sammino explained to us that it appears to be a tradition (a rather unpleasant one
) to get drenched, or nearly so, whenever smaug comes up here . Since those dark clouds seemed to herald the upcoming rain, we hastily moved down the mountain and luckily only got a bit wet .
Posted Feb 15, 2015, 6:45 pm
today we went over to the Rockies for a nice hike
. After the usual time spent in the trees, we started having a nice view over the Bow Valley...
...and some of the peaks surrounding us.
We also were able to look for the first time at our destination, which looked a bit more snowy than we expected for this time of the year
.
A bit later we reached a ridge just over this little lake...
...where the view opened up even more.
From here the peak did not seem that far away
.
So, with a final effort we reached the top, where the view was great in all directions
.
It was also bitter cold
, so we quickly moved down. On the way we noticed, with a bit of disappointment, that the sun had eventually decided to properly come out, warming the air and melting the snow on the top in the process .
At least we managed to take a final nice photo before heading back home
.
Posted Feb 23, 2015, 1:37 am
today we went again out to the mountains
. After a bit of walking we started having a nice view of Mt Glasgow, and the weather looked great too .
Later we headed up the narrow Nihahi Creek Valley...
...that soon became just a large gravel creek bed
.
Pushing on, we climbed halfway on the ridge heading to Mt Fullerton...
...where we noticed some very concerning clouds speeding toward us
.
So, instead of trying to reach the summit, we hastily performed an about turn and reached the safety of the valley bottom just before lightning started brightening up the afternoon
.
Posted Feb 23, 2015, 2:38 am
This weekend the weather was again gorgeous, so as usual we headed to the mountains
. sammino explained us that we were going to take a different route to reach a destination where he goes at least once a year . The first part of the day was the usual tedious slog through the forest, but soon we started having a nice view of the Bow Valley.
On the way we always had in sight the typical ridge used to reach Mt Allan, with the rock walls of Mt Lougheed behind it
...
...and of the summit of Mt Allan.
Still, before getting there we had to tackle the summit of Mt Collembola...
...and the false summit too
.
On the way we passed just over the Nakiska ski area, that hosted the alpine skiing competitions during the 1988 winter Olympics.
Eventually we reached the summit of Mt Allan
, from where we could look back at the last bit of the trail that we just followed...
...and where we took a final shot of the Bow Valley before starting to head back home.
Posted Mar 2, 2015, 12:05 am
Today the weather in town was quite nice
, although it turned out that in the mountains it was slightly different, and after walking a bit on the trail things did not look very promising.
By the time we reached our destination visibility was kind of limited
.
We decided to wait a bit hoping for the fog to clear up and helped us with some of the provisions in the backpack
.
As it happens things got even worse...
...so all we could do was pack up and go home
.
Posted Mar 2, 2015, 1:34 am
today we headed again to the mountains for a short walk. After a bit, we had nice views along the Elbow River valley
...
...and of Powderface Ridge, where we were engulfed by fog a week ago
.
Later we just spent the morning walking along this lovely ridge...
...all the time having a great view over the Rockies
.
Posted Mar 8, 2015, 2:50 am
guess what, today was another gorgeous day, and of course we went over to the mountains
. After a bit we emerged from the trees and started having a nice view.
It took a bit longer to eventually see our destination.
From the summit of Wind Ridge, which wasn't really that windy
, we could see Canmore in the distance...
...and rocky peaks all around us
.
We could also see the snow covered
peak of Mt Allan, where we were just a few weeks ago.
Before leaving the summit and heading back home we took a final look at the valley that we followed in the morning
.
Posted Mar 8, 2015, 3:08 am
look at that! You know what it is? Snow
! A full foot of heavy wet snow .
How cool is that
?! Well, smaug seemed very much unimpressed to say the least , so we have to keep our enthusiasm in check when he's around .
Posted Mar 16, 2015, 12:22 am
it has been only a few days since the snow storm, so today we decided to check the conditions of the trails around Calgary. Not surprisingly everything looked very white from the very start of the day
.
As we approached the summit of Cox Hill smaug decided that he had enough of plodding through waist deep snow
and just let us take a few photos of the mountains before turning back. It looked like full winter .
Even the prairies in the distance where completely white
.
Posted Mar 16, 2015, 1:28 am
today we went for another hike, and just one week and less that 100 km away from where we went last week, conditions where a bit different
. After a bit we passed by this gully, but sammino explained that we were not going up there.
Later we found this lovely sofa and decided to rest and enjoy the sun chitchatting for a while
.
As we kept going we started seeing the southern part of the Rockwall
.
Further on we reached the gorgeous Floe Lake with its crown of rocky walls
.
A final effort took us up to Numa Pass. From there we could see the trail we had just followed,...
..., Floe Lake and Floe Peak,...
...and on the opposite side Numa Creek Valley...
...and the Rockwall heading north
.
What a day
!
Posted Mar 22, 2015, 1:10 am
although the weather wasn't exactly great, today we headed again to the mountains and spent the day passing by lakes
. The first one we found was Vista Lake...where, despite the encouraging name, the view was just OK .
Things improved once we reached Arnica Lake...
...and Upper Twin Lake, tucked under Storm Mountain
.
Finally we reached Lower Twin Lake, possibly the nicest of all the lakes with reached, although the weather did not really help in appreciating that.
Later on, we reached our destination, Gibbon Pass. Obviously that plaque is quite old, since Canada has been a metric country for a few decades
.
We took a quick look around the pass before jumping back in smaug's backpack just in time before the snow started to fall
.
Posted Mar 22, 2015, 2:23 am
There's been some more snow falling on the mountains, so today we checked out how deep it is
. It was soon obvious that white was going to be the main colour of the day .
At some point we passed by this lovely creek which is not fully frozen yet
.
Once we reached Healy Pass we had confirmation that winter is indeed here
.
Time to get the snow shoes out
.
Posted Mar 28, 2015, 10:39 pm
the weather is quite strange here: most of the snow seems to be gone
, so today we went to check how things are in the mountains. It looked like that around both Elbow and Little Elbow Valleys there was snow left only at the higher elevations.
On the other side, there was no trace of white whatsoever.
Maybe winter is not ready to come after all
.
Posted Mar 28, 2015, 10:56 pm
the snow is back
! Lot of it. Today we decided to go downstairs and play a bit .
On second thought, looking at the temperature, we decided that it was probably a good day to stay nice and comfortable at home
.
Posted Apr 5, 2015, 9:38 pm
it' been snowing again this week, but this morning the weather seemed inclined to improve
, so we went for a short hike. The atmosphere was great .
But by the time we reached the nicest viewpoint the day had turned really dark
, so we decided not to linger, took some photos and headed back.
Posted Apr 5, 2015, 10:03 pm
guess what? We are back in Italy
. smaug was so busy and so late in packing up that he even forgot to report our departure from Calgary yesterday . But today the gang of locals was as always ready to welcome us .
Posted Apr 5, 2015, 10:43 pm
after a few days of rest, today we went up to a nice view point on the side of the valley. The sun was warm, the sky was blue and the view was great
.
There was even a nice bench where we could sit and chat while enjoying the sun
.
Posted Apr 6, 2015, 12:46 am
the weather is quite spectacular, it's almost like summer
. So today we took advantage of the sun and went for another short hike near town. The view over the valley was great .
And so was the ridge that we followed...
...and the valley on the other side of the mountain
.
There was even a big metal map showing the direction of all the peaks that you can see from up here
.
Posted Apr 11, 2015, 10:22 pm
today some new guests arrived home. Orpheus, Pepita and Sigfrido came home to celebrate Christmas
.
Of, course, with so many TVs in one room, lot of chatting followed
.
Posted Apr 11, 2015, 10:42 pm
!
Tonight, as usual we celebrated Christmas eve
. Of course, as soon as the big people moved away from the table to deal with presents, we took control of proceedings in the dessert area .
Posted Apr 11, 2015, 11:15 pm
today we spent the day travelling around the German motorways
. It's not exactly exciting to just look out of the windshield for over 10 hours, but it was nice to be on home soil for a bit .
And tomorrow it sounds like it's going to be the same on the way back
.
Posted Apr 11, 2015, 11:43 pm
it's time to go back to Canada
, so today, before heading to the airport, we said goodbye to our friends who will stay in Italy a bit longer .
Posted Apr 26, 2015, 12:04 am
today the weather was great
. It was so warm that it felt almost like summer...almost , so we decided to pay a visit to the mountains. After the usual long bit of walking under trees we started having a nice view .
Going further up, the view opened on the Prairies in the distance,...
...and became great over the Rockies
.
At that point the wind was picking up and it didn't really feel like summer anymore
, so we hastily moved back under the protection of the trees.
Posted Apr 26, 2015, 12:16 am
today we gathered to say goodbye and wish a safe journey to Lotta who is travelling back home to Germany
.
Posted Apr 26, 2015, 12:33 am
today we welcomed to Calgary two old friends, Orpheus and Sigfrido, who will stay a few days with us
.
And they brought some delicious gifts with them
.
Posted Apr 26, 2015, 1:30 am
the weather is not that good these days, so it's been a bit boring recently
. So today we decided that we were going spice up things by checking out Calgary's nightlife .
For whatever reason smaug was not inclined to let us go out by ourselves
, so we ended up organizing a little chess tournament. It was a real battle of minds...and, of course, I was the best .
After the tournament, instead of giving out prizes, sammino used a box to give us a lesson about Canadian wildlife
.
As it turned out, it was a box full of chocolate, so the day definitely finished on a high
.
Posted Apr 26, 2015, 1:51 am
today we took a short walk in Calgary
. Well, we just passed through a nice glass-covered mall ...
...and spent some time relaxing in these lovely indoor gardens
.
Later this evening it was time to say goodbye and wish a safe journey to Orpheus and Sigfrido who are moving on to another destination in North America
.
Posted May 7, 2015, 4:36 am
after a few quiet days today we headed out again to the mountains
. The temperature when we reached the parking lot was far from ideal ...
...but the weather looked great so we marched on anyway. It had snowed recently, so everything looked very white
.
Moving on we reached a nice view spot where we enjoyed the view of a fairly frozen landscape.
As it happens we were getting frozen too
, so we encouraged smaug to hastily go back to the car.
Posted May 11, 2015, 3:32 am
today it was another gorgeous day so we headed west to the mountains again
. As usual, early in the day we only had the occasional nice view.
But, as we gained elevation, things improved
.
When we reached the highest point of the day the wind started really picking up, so we enjoyed the view which was spectacular in pretty much every direction
and then quickly dived for cover .
Posted May 18, 2015, 3:32 am
today it was really foggy
, be we tried our luck and went over to the mountains anyway. When we reached Barrier Lake things did not look great .
But, later on, the fog started to clear and we had some lovely view of the lake...
...and Kananaskis Valley
.
On the other side, the prairies were still covered by a thick fog.
Moving further up we reached a fire lookout, which at this time of the year is closed.
From there the view opened up over the Rockies to the west
.
Posted May 18, 2015, 3:42 am
today we said goodbye and wished a safe journey to Krystal and GustavHH that are travelling to Europe
.
Posted May 18, 2015, 4:08 am
today smaug came home saying that there was a parcel for us
, so we quickly set to work to open it .
And, guess what, a TV came out: Batyr, a nice mouse from Russia
. And he brought some lovely gifts .
Of course, a long night of storytelling followed
.
Posted May 18, 2015, 4:22 am
Today we celebrated with some lovely TV-sized chocolate eggs
. Not the gigantic chocolate egg that sammino has been lobbying for over the whole week , but they were delicious .
Posted May 18, 2015, 4:40 am
today I said goodbye to all my friends here in Calgary and started flying to Europe
. I was a bit concerned about flying all the way alone, but Landroval is coming with me . It will be fun to fly over the Atlantic with a mighty eagle .
Before we took off, sammino gave me a big hug and wished me a safe journey
.
Then it was time to get out of the window and fly away
.
Posted Oct 3, 2015, 3:16 pm
Phew, the way from Canada to Bad Salzdetfurth was really long for a small bat like me. Now we did it!
Nobody was at home, so we searched a nice place and waited.
We heard voices! It was Murph and Ole.
We found a cosy place on the terrace and had to talk a lot.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Oct 14, 2015, 4:14 pm
Sorry for leaving home without telling it to you, but it was time to visit Dicker Kumpel and Kleine Fee again. Of course I had presents for them.
They loved the fridge magnet and the sweets.
Time for party!!!! It was Kleine Fee’s birthday!
I brought the gifts from Murph and me.
I am sure, she loved it!
This one was from Murph – he is such a sweet-talker.
Bine, Kleine Fee loved all!
Then it was time for the dinner.
We had Coke…
…and spaghetti – I chose the yellow ones.
It was a nice and colourful party!
Love
Stoker
Posted Oct 15, 2015, 8:32 pm
It was time for a nice garden – or park. We went to the Jersbeker Park.
This house belonged to the garden – but it was outside of it – strange.
This was the rondel in front of the park.
What a nice and beautiful entrance!
These trees are called the 12 Apostles.
It was nice to stand between the trees and look into the sky!
It seems to me that autumn is coming.
This alley was beautiful!
And I liked this view, too.
In the Past there was a big vase in the middle of the pond - but it was lost – and now there is this nice obelisk.
This place was not so funny – two people have their graves here.
This house is beautiful – they used it for cooling many years ago.
Love
Stoker
Posted Oct 25, 2015, 10:48 am
On our way home we found something interesting.
Look, what a wonderful painting!
And this is the emblem of Sülfeld!
Love
Stoker
Posted Oct 28, 2015, 7:26 pm
We took a trip and visited Wolfsburg. The famous car company Volkswagen is situated here. Behind me you can see a part of the factory.
We will visit the Autostadt tomorrow.
I was so brave – and played with the wolves.
This big giraffe was very friendly!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 9, 2015, 2:48 pm
I went into the Autostadt Wolfsburg – and first I watched 4 short movies!
This big ball was inside the entrance hall.
Under it in the floor there were nice lampions.
And funny white cars – with a good size for TVs.
Then I went outside and had a look at Oncle Thomas, he drove on an exciting course with a 4-wheel-drive-car.
Dou you remember, who it looked like yesterday – well the weather was less sunny today, to give a nice comment.
Then it was time for cars – maybe we should buy a Porsche?
This was funny – so many Porsche cars!
These two towers look great – what will be inside?
Cars – many cars!
It was a great view!
We took a kind of elevator – and went to the top of the tower.
From there we saw the big areal of the Autostadt and the factory!
This was the best place – in front of and over all the new cars!
We left the tower and went to the Audi pavilion.
Well – a big motor – really interesting!
Our last stop was a house with many different cars – old and new. These two were old.
This one was a typical VW.
What a wonderful color!
More funny and nice cars!
I am not sure, if this was a car.
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 9, 2015, 4:57 pm
Where am I, or when am I? It looked like a living-room in the Past.
We were in a museum and they had a special exhibition with a house in the 50s.
This was funny – Mum and Dad, do you remember this time?
Then we went into the city if Lüneburg – it has wonderful houses.
We went onto the water tower and had a beautiful view.
There were nice places next to the river.
And a beautiful old crane.
This is the town hall.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 21, 2015, 9:44 pm
We decided to take a walk – and met this friendly cow.
Next to it there lived a lot of chicken!
Autumn is coming – behind me you see Dicker Kumpel’s famous tree.
Look, nice red berries!
Time to relax on a sunny bench.
This was a beautiful river.
On our way home we found this big mushroom!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 22, 2015, 9:45 am
We sat together and talked.
Suddenly RikeH arrived and brought something for us. What should we do?
It was Halloween – and we had to wear scary dresses.
This was me.
Really scary!
We got some chocolate!
And money – I am rich.
It was a funny evening.
Stoker
Posted Nov 24, 2015, 4:55 pm
As you know, it is my 101st birthday today. RikeH had a surprise for me. Can you imagine where we sit?
Right – it is a music stand.
I LOVE shanty-music!!! So RikeH brought her songbook…
…and I was allowed to choose one of my favourite songs. I am sure that you know it.
Look – I was allowed to sit next to the accordion.
I was so proud.
Then I received my gift.
A wonderful mushroom.
We spend the rest of the evening sitting around the fire – talking of course.
What a wonderful birthday.
Love Stoker
Posted Nov 25, 2015, 8:07 pm
We had wonderful weather – time for a walk. Our first stop was in the park of Sülfeld.
There was a nice little lake behind me.
This was the old school – look, the Christmas Tree is already there.
The mayor works here – maybe I will become mayor in the Future.
This is the home of the pastor.
The pharmacy is inside of an old beautiful building.
But the church is the nicest building in the village, I think.
And it is old – more than 800 years.
A great church!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 29, 2015, 3:53 pm
Many greetings from Dubai. We arrived yesterday – and today we drove to the Marina – there were great skyscrapers.
We jumped into a big yellow rubber boat and started a trip.
All these houses were built in the last few years.
We drove with the speedboat around the palm of Dubai and stopped at the big hotel Atlantis. Great, wasn’t it?
Our next stop was the famous hotel Burj Al Arab.
It looked beautiful.
On the way back we saw the high houses of the Marina again.
After the boat trip we went home with the Metro. We saw the highest building of the world - the Burj Khalifa.
Then we were back in our hotel – we had a wonderful Suite! We loved the living room.
For the first time in my life I had a dining-area in my hotel-room.
Good luck for us – we had something delicious to eat – strawberries with chocolate.
There was nice decoration in the room – a vase…
… and a treasure chest.
Then it was time to go to sleep. This bed was too normal.
We preferred this one.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 2, 2015, 4:36 pm
I found a great place in the cabin!
Today I arrived in a new country –I saw the coast of Oman.
We all relaxed on the balcony and enjoyed the sunshine.
In the afternoon I went onto a small traditional boat and we went to a beautiful fjord.
Ok, it wasn’t so small – there were many other people onboard.
This was the entrance to the fjord. It is called Khor Sham and with 16 km it is the longest fjord here.
I really liked it.
Beautiful!
We sat on comfortable pillows and had delicious drinks.
Our boat looked like this one – there were some of them in the fjord.
We arrived at the end of the fjord, the mountain behind me was more than 750 meters high.
Then we went back – on our way we saw dolphins.
This rock was beautiful.
It was a nice trip!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 7, 2015, 11:39 am
I was in a new emirate – Abu Dhabi. This is the big Mosque.
Then we went to the Oasis-Town Al Ain. We visited an old fortress.
Inside it was beautiful, too.
I really liked this palm tree.
Then we drove to the place, where a sheik lived in the Past.
This was the family tree.
I liked the buildings – and we were surprised, that the grass was so green.
Later we visited a museum – you could see Bedouins in the desert there.
This was the museum from the outside - it looked like the fortress.
Next to the museum was an Oasis with date palms.
A man climbed up the palm.
I love palms.
This was the system for watering the plants.
I would have loved to see more of the Oasis, but we had to drive back to the ship.
On the way back we drove through the desert.
They grew plants next to the street, so the sand cannot go over the streets.
Love Stoker
Posted Dec 10, 2015, 12:12 pm
Another new country for me – it is Bahrain. Bahrain is a small country.
First I visited the museum of Bahrain. You saw big drawings here – they showed how it looked in the Past. So much water – I was surprised.
Today it is a dry country and has a desert.
In the museum they built a typical building for Bahrain.
Men dress like this today.
Pearl diving is important for the country.
Look – a beautiful old car – but you see not many of it in the streets today.
We walked around the museum and saw nice sculptures.
I liked this building.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 10, 2015, 12:13 pm
Another new country for me – it is Bahrain. Bahrain is a small country.
First I visited the museum of Bahrain. You saw big drawings here – they showed how it looked in the Past. So much water – I was surprised.
Today it is a dry country and has a desert.
In the museum they built a typical building for Bahrain.
Men dress like this today.
Pearl diving is important for the country.
Look – a beautiful old car – but you see not many of it in the streets today.
We walked around the museum and saw nice sculptures.
I liked this building.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 12, 2015, 3:36 pm
I will enter it soon.
This is a beautiful way.
We had a great view over the archaeological excavation and the modern city in the background.
I wanted to see more of the Fort.
You can see the difference between the old and the new time here.
On the way back I saw the Sea.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 12, 2015, 3:59 pm
I visited some camels, it was funny!
I went close to the Camels and we talked a lot.
Look, a Mum and a Child.
It was a nice place!
Then we went to the Formula-1-Track of Bahrain. Behind me you can see the plan of it.
This was the grandstand.
Here you can see it from the other side.
This is the way to the Pit-Stop. You can see the skid marks.
This is the Pit-Stop number 31.
Some days ago there was another race here – and today it was the finish of an Iron Man Race.
Behind me you see the place for the award ceremony. Instead of Champagne they get rose-water to celebrate.
Then we went onto the race track. It was really interesting.
Love
Stoker
Posted Dec 22, 2015, 8:15 pm
It was a day on the sea – I had a look from the balcony.
To the other side I saw the chimney…
I went inside and talked with my friends – what should we do?
We knew, where the good drinks were!
There! But they were high above us, what shall we do?
Good news – I can fly, so I flew to the drinks…
…threw it to the others and jumped back.
We brought it back to our place and everybody chose his or her famous drink.
Look, what I chose. And I took some delicious chocolate!
Well – it was fun – I shouldn’t say more.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jan 2, 2016, 7:39 pm
An exciting day – I will see the Hatta Dessert! We had a short stop next to these camels – and the drivers took air out of the wheels.
Behind me you can see the cars.
Unfortunately it was younger than this old car.
Then we started – it was amazing – and the car drove in a funny way.
Our first stop in the desert was next to this rock – called Camel Rock.
We had great views into the red desert.
This driver wanted to be the best – but he drove so bad, that his car couldn’t drive anymore.
It was so beautiful here!
Look, I sit on our car with Dicker Kumpel and HelgaHH.
The second stop was at the Fossil Rock.
The view was so nice!
It was such an exciting trip!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jan 11, 2016, 2:54 pm
You see me on a bus – exploring Muscat, a nice town in Oman. There were some fortresses on the hill.
We stopped at the beach and had a nice view.
The clouds looked darker than they were.
This was the famous and beautiful opera house.
We drove back into the city and saw the clock tower.
We drove through some hills and saw the sea again – this time with a small port.
Our last stop was next to the palace of Muscat. I loved the way to it.
Behind me you can see the Al Alam Palace.
When I turned I saw small towers in the hill.
Near to the Palace there were other nice buildings – can you see me in the flowers?
Look, I had my own tourist entry permit.
Back to our ship we saw this funny building on the top of a hill.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jan 12, 2016, 7:46 pm
Have a guess, where I was?
We drove along the promenade.
Then we arrived at a museum village.
People lived in huts like this in the Past.
It didn’t look better from outside.
This was an old mosque.
I had a nice view of the city from the beach.
This is the sheik.
Look, a mall, we should go into it.
We went into an restaurant with a great view and ate something delicious.
Then we met a mammoth. I had a photo with the funny girls.
The mall looked beautiful.
Then we went to the new big mosque, on our way we saw some skyscraper.
This was the beautiful mosque.
What a nice day.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jan 16, 2016, 6:38 pm
My last trip of the Cruise. We explored Dubai – and started with a boat trip on the Creek.
Another mosque, but a small one this time.
There were many skyscraper in Dubai.
And they were very high.
We went into the Dubai Mall – and visited the beautiful aquarium.
We walked through a tunnel – over and next to us we was fishes. It was amazing.
We were in a glass bottom-boat in the aquarium.
Then we saw many different fishes in their basins.
These one looked like convicts…
Can you see the frog next to me?
I really loved these fishes.
I was such a brave Toyvoyager!
A last view over the big water fall in the mall – and it was time to return to the ship.
Now I show you some photos of our Suite on the shop. We had to change our room, because we had some problems with our first cabin. In my opinion the ship is too old.
Well – this was our bedroom.
A big balcony, but very shady.
Here you see our living- room with enough place to sit and relax – and hear the noise from the pool-deck. You shouldn’t book a suite on this ship, if you want to have a quiet journey. This was the last update for the trip – now I am waiting for Christmas.
Love
Stoker
Posted Feb 2, 2016, 7:03 pm
It’s the 24th of December – time to celebrate Christmas here in Germany.
I helped decorating the tree. I loved the nice things from RikeH, especially the small wooden things.
And these were my favorite balls for the tree.
But the normal ones were nice, too.
Look, people can create wonderful things out of wood.
Then we went to Dicker Kumpel’s and my Grandma.
This looked yummy!
Nice candles next to a friendly camel.
The cake was so yummy.
Later I played in the tree, this was fun.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Feb 11, 2016, 8:40 pm
When we came back into Dicker Kumpel’s home, Snowy and Rudolph were waiting.
I recited a poem.
And got some gifts.
It was a wonderful Christmas!
Love
Stoker
Posted Feb 14, 2016, 10:55 pm
Today I visited a town called Ahrensburg. Behind me you can see the ugly town hall.
Let’s go to the nicer buildings here – this was the Castle.
This stone is a memorial for the end of the serfdom.
This church belongs to the Castle.
I went into it.
I loved this angel.
And the beautiful altar.
What a beautiful little church.
Next to it there were small houses – in the Past poor people lived in it.
This was a strange monument – the people here don’t like it. I think it is funny!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Feb 16, 2016, 8:03 pm
I went to the Baltic Sea. The weather was much better than it looked like on the photo.
What a beautiful beach.
This was the long pier.
I liked the small dunes.
It was a nice walk!
And this was funny – this transformer unit looked like a Beach Chair.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Feb 24, 2016, 8:06 pm
We visited a place called Bad Oldesloe. Normally the wheel moves with water, no idea, why it stopped today.
There are some nice houses next to the river.
The house behind me is an old-people-home.
This is the nice church.
This is a marketing thing – people should buy in the shops here – and not in the web.
Wow, the river has a lot of water at the moment. Normally you can stand there, where the foam is now.
Well, no problem, I found more beautiful houses.
This is the market-place with the town-hall and other nice buildings.
Bad Oldesloe is a nice small town.
Love
Stoker
Posted Mar 5, 2016, 10:22 pm
I went to Hamburg – this is the town hall.
What a beautiful door!
And a nice old letterbox.
Then I was inside the town hall.
I went into a kind of patio o fit – with a big fountain. Unfortunately without water, because it was too cold.
We found a great place inside of the town hall.
Then I went outside and had this great view. On the left side you see the Alsterarkaden.
A view back to the townhall.
This is a lake inside the town called Alster.
There was still ice on the water.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Mar 7, 2016, 6:13 pm
Great news – I am in Norway. Behind my you can see our holiday house.
These were the views from the deck – they look better in reality - not that dark.
The house from the other side.
We had a lot of fun in the snow.
This would be a paradise for you, Dad!
Here you can see how much snow we have – I was on the top of the snow – and Dicker Kumpel was on the bottom.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Mar 11, 2016, 6:56 pm
Today we explored the region and drove to Sommaroya. Our first stop was next to a frozen waterfall.
Next to it there was something amazing – a rock painting – I didn’t expect to see it here in Norway.
Look - a big icicle.
I crossed the street and had this great view.
Normally I don’t like photos of driving in the car. But the streets in Norway are different. The people here – and we of course – just drive on the ice.
I love snowy mountains…
…and the colorful houses.
The people there have great views out of their windows.
Then we arrived in Sommaroya. The village wasn’t very exciting, but they had a nice parking lot. You see the wonderful nature from it.
It was a nice trip.
In the night we had wonderful polar lights, but Rike had to learn to make nicer photos of me and the lights.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Mar 13, 2016, 1:18 pm
The weather changed – it is better now – and the view from our deck is much nicer now.
There were beautiful trees here.
4
We took a trip to Ersfjordbotn. It was beautiful.
They dry fish next to the house. This was funny.
Back at home Rike went to the lake with us – the snow was high and it was a hard walk. You can see the house behind me.
It was nice next to the lake – and we saw some ice there.
Another view of the house.
The sticker on the car was funny.
I like it here.
This was our living-room.
And this is the place where we play games and enjoy the view.
In the evening we sat next to the fireplace and told us stories.
Rike tried again to take a good photo of me and the polar lights…
Yours
Stoker
Posted Mar 31, 2016, 7:45 pm
In the morning I saw nice colors during the sunset.
Beautiful!
Later we drove to Tromsö. I went into the town-center with beautiful wooden houses.
I loved the view of the water and the mountains.
There were many expeditions to the North Pole that started here in Tromsö. This was a monument for it.
More nice houses in the town.
And the wonderful church.
Look a wonderful view to the colorful houses…
…and the big bridge.
Can you see this ship? It is a ship of the Hurtigruten – on Monday we will go onboard of one of it.
Love
Stoker
Posted Apr 4, 2016, 6:57 pm
We went to another Fjord today – the way to it was beautiful.
Look, the mountains look great with the lights and shadows.
Behind the curve was the Grotfjord.
Then we were there – and the view was amazing.
Back home in the evening we tried to get nice photos with the polar lights. Maybe I look like a ghost on one of it – but I love the lights!
Love
Stoker
Posted Apr 6, 2016, 7:45 pm
My short cruise started – and I had a nice view of Tromsö.
We will be under this bridge soon.
They had funny lights on the ship.
But then we had the Polar light over us – and no more time for photos.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 10, 2016, 7:54 pm
We were on the water – and it was stormy. But we saw the sun between the clouds.
It really looked like winter.
Somewhere there behind the hills should be Harvoysund.
But first I had another look forwards.
There was the village.
With many colorful houses…
Then we continued to the North Cape!
This was our famous place in the cabin.
Sadly the motion of the sea and the wind was too bad – we had wind force 11 and the shipping company decided to change the route. Our next stop was Hammerfest. I liked this monument.
And these arches with the Polar bears nice.
It was very windy. On the sign behind me I read, that it was the northernmost city of the world.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 13, 2016, 8:35 pm
Yesterday evening we reached Alta. It looks wintry like everywhere in northern Norway.
Today we took the bus into the city – and here you see the only interesting building in the city. It is called polar light cathedral. I can imagine that it looks wonderful during nights with polar lights reflecting in the walls.
And I liked it inside.
Then we walked through Alta – there was an Igloo here, but it was not many left of it.
This guy produced shingles.
Maybe you can get water here during the summer time – but not at this time of the year.
I loved these funny elks!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 20, 2016, 8:18 pm
Our ship went back to Tromsö.
Look, there were icicles on the ship.
On the sign we read what to do when there will be a man over board. Luckily everybody stayed on board.
This is the route of the post ships. We only tried to use a small part – and didn’t do it, because of the weather.
We were back in Hammerfest – I watched the charging of the ship.
There was a big tugboat in the harbor.
I built a snowman.
This was the flag of the ship.
Some hours later we arrived in Öksfjord. The surrounding looked beautiful.
But again it was stormy and we had dark clouds. The weather changed every few minutes here.
This was Öksfjord.
There was a hotel here – maybe we should spend a holiday here, Mum and Dad?
It was a nice holiday here in Norway – unfortunately the ship wasn’t as good as we hoped.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 25, 2016, 2:36 pm
It was Easter – the party for Bunnies and Chicken – so I visited some.
Look, a wonderful pyramid with Easter bunnies on it.
Then I met some birds in front of a nice plant.
It was amazing – I met the real Easter Bunny – and got a chocolate Bunny.
We all had a great day!
But that wasn’t all. We came back into our room and found a parcel on the table.
It came from Murph, my dear brother!
What will be in it?
Gifts for us – that’s great!
It looked yummy – an Egg and a bunny filled with sweets!
And we had to show this – it was gift for RikeH – she is like the hippo in the morning hours!
Love
Stoker
Posted Apr 30, 2016, 12:39 pm
Today we went to Bad Segeberg. There was a big lake.
We had lunch in this small house.
There were many fallen trees on our way – this one felt into the lake.
And this one was cut, because it felt over the way around the lake.
On our way back we saw this nice monument.
And a helicopter – there is a hospital close to this place.
This was the church…
… and a place with y nice fountain.
Look, this tree was wonderful!
Another big old building.
Love
Stoker
Posted May 6, 2016, 10:23 pm
LilMsBun*USA and SnakyLick*Pink arrived in Germany. We were sure that they needed fresh air and sunshine after the long trip – so we invited them on a nice sunny bench.
Then we took a walk and saw a big bird. Can you see it?
Yes – it was a stork.
Surely I had to take a photo with Dicker Kumpel’s famous tree.
We crossed a river – I love it here.
Back home I saw a beautiful tree in the garden.
And I liked this yellow blossoms.
Love
Stoker
Posted May 12, 2016, 8:51 pm
I am on the way to a nice small village, but first I stopped at this beautiful lighthouse.
Surely I climbed onto it and had nice views!
This way looked nice – I have to go there.
But first I relaxed on this big stone – can you see the sailing-ships behind me?
Then I went along the promenade.
We continued our trip and reached the village Sieseby. Well – first I saw the Schlei.
They have so beautiful houses here!
And this is the church.
I went into it.
What a nice path!
I saw a last beautiful house.
What a nice day!
Stoker
Posted May 18, 2016, 7:51 pm
Happy Mother's Day, dear Mum!
I was so excited – we will drive in an old train – this loco is called Julchen.
We were in a nice wagon.
I saw the smoke of Julchen.
It was a beautiful old train.
Look – an old sign.
I like the color of the rape.
We talked a lot and had fun together.
We arrived in Kappeln and went onto a ship.
I saw some houses of Kappeln.
This bridge looked great – and the cars and people had to stop, because we went through the bridge.
This is the famous Herring fence of Kappeln.
We were on the Schlei and had nice views.
I saw Sieseby from the water.
Back in Süderbrarup, where we started our trip – I saw this wonderful stone circle.
Our last stop was really funny. Can you imagine, what it was?
A huge giant – can you find me on his foot.
He was 5 meter high!
What a wonderful day!
Yours
Stoker
Posted May 28, 2016, 8:46 pm
We visited the town Eckernförde.
First we went to the harbor.
Look, a small lighthouse with funny colors.
This was the market-place…
…with the town hall.
This was a nice small church.
I went inside.
Back to the harbor again – I liked the red houses.
We continued our walk.
These guys were so funny.
We arrived in the spa garden. I loved this statues.
And this beautiful flower.
I found mushrooms!
Other nice flowers with an anchor.
I went onto a long pier.
Nice views in both directions.
The beach is next to the town – that was nice.
Love
Stoker
Posted Jun 13, 2016, 11:32 am
I went into a small zoo with funny animals. Here you see the first one.
These birds have a wonderful color!
Look, great paintings on the wall.
Beautiful flowers.
A friendly zebra…
…and some cows.
We both talked a lot.
Do you know these animals?
Then we arrived at this funny house. We must go into it.
Strange!
It looked funny this way!
On our way back to the entrance we met other animals.
RikeH and others were allowed to feed the Tapirs. This was exciting. We TVs were too shy to feed them.
But it was a great day!
Love
Stoker
Posted Jun 15, 2016, 7:17 pm
We started our holiday in Kolding and visited Miniby. It is a wonderful town in just the right size for me and my friends.
On this sign I read a lot about it. They rebuilt the town of Kolding in scale 1:10, how it looked like in 1860/70.
Dicker Kumpel and I loved it here.
I had a good view of the city.
The church was beautiful.
Maybe I will be the mayor here – and work in this beautiful town hall.
Look, the ruin of the fortress.
Dicker Kumpel and I strolled through the city – it was great!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 21, 2016, 5:02 pm
We had to explore the surrounding of our holiday house. There is our house.
The Dunes started just behind the house – we went through it to the Sea.
I found beautiful flowers – a good reason for a short break.
I climbed up a high Dune and saw the water!
But of course the Dunes were beautiful, too.
A last steep part of the way!
The beach was wide and wonderful!
I was happy to be back home after the long walk.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jul 2, 2016, 6:49 pm
We went to the 14th international Sand Sculpture Festival. On our way we stopped at a lighthouse – Dicker Kumpel loves lighthouses.
We arrived at the festival – and the sculptures were amazing.
We found a beautiful hippo.
There were more hippos – and funny meerkats.
This was the wall of monkeys.
I was fascinated by the wonderful sculptures.
This was a simple artwork – but the bear was so cute!
And I really loved this woman with the giraffes.
It was a nice experience!
Stoker
Posted Jul 23, 2016, 10:48 pm
Our next stop was at a water mill. This was the entrance – an old store.
First we stopped at an old smithy.
The work would be too hard for me!
This was the mill – it looked beautiful.
We were in the mill and learnt a lot about the technic.
Then we walked through the house.
Back in the holiday house I went on our own dune.
A beautiful view!
In the evening Dicker Kumpel and I admired the sunset.
Love Stoker
Posted Jul 30, 2016, 7:07 pm
In the afternoon we celebrated Dicker Kumpel’s birthday. We wished him a happy birthday and sang a song for him. He loved the couch that Murph gave him as a birthday present.
We played soccer, because it was EM!
It was fun.
Then we went on the swings…
…and into the sandbox.
I had a great place.
Then we sat in the sunshine and talked a lot.
Oups, nobody should see this – we took some drinks with us.
Cheers!
Love
Stoker
Posted Aug 7, 2016, 11:28 am
We went to Esbjerg. There were great tall men at the Sea.
Then we walked through Esbjerg with the beautiful old houses.
Behind me you can see a beautiful church.
I liked this interior, too.
This building was the court and the Prison in the Past. The ways were short. Today it is the tourist information.
I liked the big place in the middle of the town.
There was a beautiful water tower.
The museum had the same tiles as the Sydney Opera.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Aug 7, 2016, 11:30 am
Our next stop was the westernmost point of Denmark – maybe only of the mainland I guess.
There was a lighthouse.
There were still some bunker – I sat on one of it – and had a nice view of the Sea.
You can see more bunkers and military buildings on this photo.
We were not allowed to continue our walk here, because it is a training area for the military today.
But I hope that it will be peaceful here.
Love
Stoker
Posted Aug 9, 2016, 8:31 pm
We are in the North of Europe. And who lives here? Correct – the Vikings! So we visited a museum of Vikings.
The church looked beautiful.
I was so brave – and we took a photo of this Viking and me.
This was a scary sacrifice place.
I liked the wonderful houses.
We looked at the boats!
This is the place where they are during the winter time.
On our way back we stopped at a mountain. This looked steep. What will be there on the top?
There was a nice big stone.
The Danish flag is everywhere.
There were strange signs on the other side of the stone.
It was a great day!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Aug 10, 2016, 7:35 pm
It was our last day in Denmark and we went into a botanical garden with beautiful roses.
Look – roses in different colors.
And it smelt wonderful.
The holiday in Denmark was really great – now I am waiting for the next holiday – it will be a Cruise!
Love Stoker
Posted Aug 21, 2016, 2:23 pm
Today we will visit Murph and PieksiHH. We were so excited. Finally we arrived.
What a greeting!
We had gifts for each other.
We got a yummy breakfast.
Our big gift for Murph and PieksiHH!
What will it be?
They had a closer look!
They loved it.
Then we all went together to Friedrichstadt.
Until soon
Stoker
Posted Aug 27, 2016, 6:42 pm
Maybe you can remember that we all went together to Friedrichstadt. First we went through the city and saw beautiful houses.
And this funny bird.
Another strange person.
This was the most famous place in the city
Can you see what I see?
The weather looked worse than it was.
Photos of a brave TV and flowers.
We took a trip on this boat.
A scary photo.
We were in a small harbor.
Then we continued on the canals of the city.
It was fun!
Love
Stoker
Posted Aug 29, 2016, 4:51 pm
After our trip it was time for some cakes.
This looked good for us!
It was yummy!
Then we explored the mill.
We went into it through the window.
This horse was amazing! We were able to sit together on it.
And we had enough place on this chair, too.
This stair was very steep, but the sleeping room was upstairs.
I never saw a bed like this before.
Very comfortable!
There were so many great things to see in the mill.
A mill as a holiday flat – this was exciting!
Unfortunately we had to say goodbye. We would have loved to play together for a longer time here.
What a wonderful day!
Byebye
Stoker
Posted Sep 4, 2016, 6:52 pm
I went to the Landesgartenschau in Eutin. There were many funny bees.
Look, beautiful roses in front of a nice house.
Another long house – more flowers were in it.
Well – the Castle of Eutin was great and beautiful!
We wanted to hear many choirs here…
… but unfortunately the weather was bad and we had to leave.
Love Stoker
Love
Stoker
Posted Sep 11, 2016, 5:46 pm
I started a cruise again. This time I travel on the Mein Schiff 3 in this beautiful cabin. It looked darker on the photo than in was in reality. You can see the nice balcony through the window.
These flowers were for my Grandma.
I saw the cathedral of Palma from the balcony.
This was the part of the balcony with the hammock.
We found a nice place on this chair.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Sep 13, 2016, 7:36 pm
We arrived in Ajaccio - the view from the balcony was beautiful.
We started our excursion – and went by bus through narrow roads and serpentines. It was a nice mountain region.
It was so exciting at some places.
At noon we visited a small place called Porto – and had lunch there. It was a beautiful here.
Small tourist boats start here – unfortunately we didn’t had time for it.
I had a nice view from the bridge.
Then we went to the beach. It was so hot!
Then we drove to the Calanches – beautiful rocks. Unfortunately the stupid bus driver didn’t stop there – and I didn’t get nice photos.
At the next stop there were no more Calanches to see.
Then we arrived in Cargèse – this was the town hall.
There were two churches in this town – close to each other. This was the first one.
And this the second one.
We wanted to have a photo together. Rike was not able to take a good photo of us – but the background was nice.
But back to the churches – the interior was beautiful.
The harbor of Cargèse.
In the evenings we saw a beautiful sundown.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Sep 20, 2016, 7:39 pm
Look at these beautiful colors. I am in the Giardino dei Tarocchi, what a wonderful name – the garden of tarot.
Niki de Saint Phalle created nice sculptures here.
It was great – a dangerous dragon.
Can you see me? I was brave between all these skulls.
Everything was so colorful.
Oh – a couple in love.
I loved this woman in the fountain!
Then we were in the houses, where Niki lived at this time.
This bench was so funny.
It was very hot – but we continued our walk. We wanted to see the sculptures form different directions.
This face was interesting.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Sep 21, 2016, 7:24 pm
Later that day we visited a small Italian town called Tarquinia. This was the town wall.
There were many beautiful houses in the town.
This was the town hall, I think.
Look, how they dry their clothes. It is so funny!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Sep 27, 2016, 8:05 pm
I am so excited – because I am in Pisa. I always wanted to see this place. Many other people had the same idea – but there was enough place for all of us.
Behind me you see the wonderful buildings on the Place of Wonders. The left one is the baptistery – the biggest baptistery of the world.
This is the Cathedral and the famous leaning tower of Pisa.
First we went into the baptistery – for a demonstration of the acoustic.
I liked the big baptistic font.
Then we went into the big Cathedral, there were some renovations – but however it was beautiful.
RikeH had a new camera – and she is able to take photos of me like a ghost…
The leaning tower leans a lot!
Then we walked through the old city of Pisa.
We went to a big place with beautiful houses.
We had a last look at the wonderful Place of Wonders, when we walked back to the bus.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Oct 9, 2016, 4:00 pm
Today we were in France. We will take a boat trip, but first we went on a mountain near to Cassis and had a great view.
We want to go there – can you see the small boats? We will take on of it!
This looked great!
You cannot see the adventurous part of the photo? I stood next to the abyss.
And we were really high – you can see it here.
Then we were in Cassis. I liked the colorful houses.
The fortress is a very expensive hotel now.
Let’s start – we had the best place on the boat.
We went to the Calanques – beautiful bays. There were many of it – we went to the first 3 of it.
Many small boats were here.
The landscape was so beautiful!
There were many tourist boats here, but there was enough place for all of us.
This was our last bay – really nice.
Then we went back to the city.
In the evening I walked over the ship and looked what people can carve out of vegetables and fruits.
Two photos of the pool deck.
Here you see the carver.
I didn’t like this face.
But the bird was really funny.
We had a great day.
Love
Stoker
Posted Oct 12, 2016, 8:10 pm
When I went onto the balcony this morning – I saw a lot of buildings! This is Monaco. Many rich people are living here.
Fortunately there were nice mountains behind all these houses.
And I saw many yachts!
Mein Schiff is not really good in tendering – it took us a very long time to reach the promenade of the harbor.
I saw many skyscrapers from this point.
We jumped into a little train – and were on a sightseeing-tour.
We were on the street where Formula-1-drivers have their races.
You can see our nice train on this photo.
Then we drove along the Casino – a beautiful building. Next to it was a famous hotel.
It’s time to go on this mountain!
We continued our trip by foot – and visited the Cathedral.
Behind me you see the Prince palace.
A wonderful view – and I saw our ship!
WE finished our trip in the famous aquarium.
There were illuminated jellyfishes.
I liked the colorful fishes. But we didn’t understand why this is a famous aquarium. It’s just a normal one.
Then we went back to our Ship – there it was!
Back on the ship I saw the fog coming over the mountains. This looked strange.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Oct 16, 2016, 7:14 pm
We were in a big city – although it didn’t look like one here. You see the Olympic Port of Barcelona behind me.
Next to it there was this famous sculpture – it should be a golden fish.
Behind me you see one of the beaches of Barcelona.
A last view over the boats – then we continued our trip.
We sat in the bus and passed a typical Gaudi-house.
Then we arrived at the sagrada familia.
We walked around it – and looked at it from all sides – really beautiful.
We went onto a mountain of Barcelona – and enjoyed the view over the city – and some water fountains.
This was a beautiful museum.
It was really exciting to drive through Barcelona in the night.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Oct 19, 2016, 7:51 pm
Today it was our long day in Barcelona. It’s my Grandma’s birthday and she wanted to visit the Park Guell.
The houses looked funny!
Finally we were in the park – many other visitors were there, too.
This were the famous stairs…
…with the beautiful saurian.
There was a room with big columns at the upper end of the stairs.
And this was the famous view of the park.
Surely we sat on the famous bench.
You can see this big sandy place from the bench.
Then we continued our walk – it was very hot today.
Can you see us?
Here we were.
More colorful houses.
And beautiful flowers.
Then we went into the public part of the park.
Mainly we saw arches like these.
Love
Stoker
Posted Oct 25, 2016, 6:58 pm
We were in the last port of our trip. And a loud ferry was next to us.
But I saw a beautiful balcony from our balcony.
And the bay there looked nice, too.
We took a trip over the Island in the bus – look some salines.
Then we saw this beach with many people on it.
On our way back we passed the salines again – I saw flamingos, but the bus was too fast for nice photos.
We went to the village Sant Josep with this small church.
I really loved the beautiful white houses on Ibiza.
What is this for a tree in front of the house?
Lemons – exciting!
Sant Josep was a nice place.
Then we continued our trip – and went to Ibiza City - this part is called Oberstadt.
You can see our ship from this point.
We walked through the fortress to another viewpoint.
We had great views from this place.
A small path brought us to the cathedral.
A beautiful building!
There was the Unterstadt – let’s go there.
In the past flower people lived on Ibiza – this must have been a funny time.
No idea, who was this, but the place was beautiful.
Hey – a sailor – maybe I will find a choir of sailors here?
At least they had many palm trees.
And many yachts.
This was the famous view of Ibiza City.
I had a nicer view from the bus.
The next day we flew back home. I had a place at the window – and great views!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Oct 28, 2016, 10:43 pm
Time for a party- it was called a Halloween-Party. We celebrate it now, because we won’t be at home at Halloween. Wow – a basket full of sweets.
This was our place for this evening. Nice flowers, great confetti and sweets!
Yummy and scary sweets!
We all found something nice.
I chose a creepy eye and a funny mouth.
Look – confetti made for me. Bats in my color!
Then Kleine Fee showed us a game. Well it looked like chocolate.
Before Kleine Fee explained the rules, I played with the funny eyes.
We had to play a memory game. There were 5 different pairs.
This looked difficult – we cannot see the images on the front anymore.
I tried it – no pair – bad luck.
After 10 rounds I found one pair - and I didn’t won.
Well – Kleine Fee told us, that it was an easy game, because we could have looked at the different colors. I think that she is very intelligent, no one of us 4 players had that idea!
Let’s change the Topic…..What was this?
It was getting darker.
Wow – a big pumpkin!
There were other great shadow-creatures. I was brave! Look – MY shadow!
This friendly ghost was funny, too.
It was a wonderful party!
yours
Dicker Kumpel
Posted Jan 2, 2017, 10:04 am
It was my birthday – so I went on a cool day trip with Dicker Kumpel here in Australia. It was time for a test of courage. But first we saw this work of art.
They had very old and tall trees here.
A Tree Top Walk – what should this be? I learnt about it on this sign. Fortunately I am not afraid of height.
This was our way - let’s start.
This couldn’t shock a brave bat, of course!
Although it was very high!
It became still higher…
There was the highest point.
Look – I was 40 meters high, but some of the tree were more than 70 meters tall.
This was fun! We should do something like this together, Mum!
Then we continued on the Ancient Empire boardwalk. You came close to the trees here. And they explain, that you have to walk careful – and don’t step on the tree’s toes.
This tree is called Grandma’s Grumble – you can see her face in the tree.
The trees have holes in it.
Some were really huge.
I could stand in it.
They survive fires and still live.
Some relatives are living here.
Hey, something for you, Mum and Dad.
There were other plants here.
Sadly some fallen trees, too.
At the end we found some mushrooms…
…and giant foresters.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Feb 1, 2017, 3:50 pm
Our holiday house war wonderful. The house is called Hansel. And you can see the house Gretel behind it.
It really looked beautiful!
This was our living-room…
…and the bedroom with a large bath tub.
We met this friendly Ringsittich on the balcony.
And look – kangaroos walked next to our house.
Murph stayed at home this day – and prepared everything for Stoker’s birthday party. Al least he told, that he did it…
When we came back, there were two couches waiting for us – and we talked a lot.
Then we went to the nicest views with our flying couches.
When it was getting dark, we went to the fireplace.
The evening ended with a yummy bottle Bundaberg, the famous Tim Tam cakes and surely chips.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Mar 21, 2017, 9:39 pm
Back in Germany I took a trip to the wonderful town Quedlinburg. There were many timbered houses here - we lived in one of it.
There was a funny monument – Dicker Kumpel and I loved it.
I liked the old houses here.
This one was beautiful!
There was a wall around the old city.
Then we visited the Christmas Market.
Look – the town hall.
This church was funny – with two different towers.
I walked through small streets…
…and found more nice houses…
A beautiful town!
Back in our holiday home we found a nice Christmas tree.
Love Stoker
Posted Mar 23, 2017, 6:43 pm
We knew that there was a nice Castle here. We wanted to see it. On our way we crossed a big place with many nice houses.
Hey, we found the Castle.
First we went into the church.
The Castle looked really nice.
What a great Castle.
We went into the Castle Garden and had a wonderful view over the town.
I liked it here – and was nice to meet you!
Love
Stoker
Posted Mar 24, 2017, 7:45 pm
But first I have to show you our nice Nikolaus-Tag. We got a wonderful gift from Murph.
Wow – what a lot of chocolate!
Thanks Murph!
Now it was time for Christmas. We met our old friends Snowy and Rudi.
What will be in this great parcel?
Time to open it!
Wonderful!
This gift was for me!
I had to open it.
An angel!
Thanks a lot!
Love
Stoker
Posted Mar 24, 2017, 8:30 pm
Today we went to Bad Oldesloe - a small town near to Sülfeld. We walked through the spa gardens.
This small lake looked beautiful.
I felt like being at home – look – a salt spring.
It should have been here – but the view was nice.
We had a break in the forest.
This was the sign of the salt lake.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Mar 28, 2017, 7:41 pm
I am on the way to Amrum Island. There was the ferry that will bring us to Amrum.
Behind it you can see the other ferry that is on the way to Föhr now.
But first we watched some Kite-Surfers.
People are working here - fishermen.
But I was here for holidays – there was the Schleswig-Holstein.
We will start at 3:05.
I was on the ferry.
I saw Amrum – it was very windy.
Behind me you can see a holm.
But I want to visit Amrum!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Mar 30, 2017, 7:49 pm
The weather looked a little grey today – but no problem for a North Sea tourist. We went to the Seezeichenhafen.
We started our walk there – it was a long walk.
We had delicious lunch in the Seefohrerhus.
You can see the harbour behind me, where we arrived with the ferry yesterday.
This was the small church of Wittdün.
We walked around the Südspitze.
We had high tide.
You can see a small part of the roof of our holiday's house
Back on the promenade again.
I love the plants here.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 2, 2017, 8:07 pm
The weather looked better today – so we continued to walk the promenade.
I leant about the Eiderente – the emblem-bird of Amrum.
I like it to be on this island.
I wanted to show you the fog – but you see more of me…
We rested from the long way.
Then I continued the walk.
We arrived at Dicker Kumpel's famous lake - in the Dunes.
A great place to enjoy the sunshine.
The lake is so beautiful.
There were Dunes next to it.
Actually we wanted to the Aussichtsdüne – a dune with an outlook. But it was misty. We will come back, when the weather and the view will be better.
Bye
Stoker
Posted Apr 12, 2017, 8:55 pm
A new day – and a new plank roadway.
And surely the way went into the Dunes.
Yesterday I was here – but today I walked into another direction.
This was our goal.
The sky looked wonderful!
It looked great into all directions.
Hey – there is the lighthouse.
There were more small lakes between the Dunes.
I came from there…
It will look great when the plants are blooming.
At home we sat on the beach chair and looked at the Kniepsand.
It is beautiful!
And I liked the tree in the garden.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 23, 2017, 10:22 am
Today we visited a new beach – I have never been here. Well it looked like the rest of Amrum's beaches.
There were already beach chairs here.
The way to the water was very long.
The lighthouse was behind me – but too small to see it on the photo.
Oh – art on the beach. Or whatever this should be.
It was very windy and the waves looked great!
It was beautiful here.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 23, 2017, 10:36 am
Nebel is one of my favorite places on Amrum. Look – this sign is so beautiful.
This is the wonderful mill.
There was a busy farmer working on the field – and the sea gulls loved it.
There were many thatched houses.
The Öömrang-Hüs is the most famous one.
This was the mud flat side of Amrum – you can see Föhr in the distance.
But I liked the view in this direction, too.
Then we reached the church. They arranged the tomb stones in a new order. And you can read comments about it in the web.
The church.
The interior of it is with many wood – I like it.
On our way back we saw another nice house.
Let's see what we can do next.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 25, 2017, 8:35 pm
The last time we were here it was too foggy and we didn't climb on the Aussichtsdüne. But today we will do it. Look, there it is.
There were many small lakes in the dune valley.
It was exhausting to walk on the dune.
But it was worth it. This is the direction to Wittdün.
There is the North Sea – and I could see Dicker Kumpel's famous lake.
And this is the direction to the lighthouse.
It was my first time on this dune. It was great.
In the evening we had nice light outside. I wanted to have photos with it.
Yours Stoker
Posted Apr 26, 2017, 7:50 pm
Today was our last day on Amrum. We went to the beach. The weather was very changeable this year. You can see it on the next photos. I stand on the same point and looked into two directions.
Here you see blue sky…
…and it looked grey here.
One of our famous places.
The foredunes are smaller than the normal dunes – but they grow. And in some years they will be tall, too.
We had a lot of place for our walk!
We crossed the dunes to reach the plank roadway. It was nice on the beach.
A last look at this wonderful lake!
It was a nice time on Amrum again.
Stoker
Posted Apr 29, 2017, 8:05 pm
Many Easter bunnies are living here!
I love this Easter-Pyramid.
Then we met the Easter Bunny.
He gave us chocolate!
These bunnies were so beautiful.
What a nice day!
Yours
Stoker
Posted May 5, 2017, 8:20 pm
A funny parcel arrived. There were funny elephants on it.
I tried a stunt – cool, wasn't it?
Dicker Kumpel and Kleine Fee loved these elephants…
I preferred this one.
Of course we had to open the parcel.
This was my gift.
Tea – I love it.
Dicker Kumpel and Kleine Fee got a garden in a crate – this is funny.
Thanks Murph!
Love
Stoker
Posted May 7, 2017, 7:20 pm
Today we visited Murph and his friends. We were so happy! Dicker Kumpel had a present for Murph!
Murph called us! What an exciting object! We had to wait for the darkness.
We spent this time with talking and eating Easter eggs.
It was still too light.
It became better.
What a wonderful sphere!
The next day we had to say good-bye.
What a wonderful visit!
Love Stoker
Posted May 15, 2017, 7:07 pm
We were in the Wisentgehege in Springe. Wisents and other animals live here. We started with the birds.
Wow, they looked great!
Then I found the wisents.
What a nice house – I would love to live in it.
We were very close to these deer.
The other family was far away!
Look – little pigs.
Do you know these animals? Sure – raccoons.
The wild horses were in a strange mood.
It was a nice day here!
Yours
Stoker
Posted May 17, 2017, 6:57 pm
Today I visited Hildesheim – a beautiful small town. Here you see it in small.
This is a strange house here.
It is called Zuckerhut – just like the street, where I live at the moment.
Look, the St. Michaelis church.
We went inside.
What a beautiful ceiling.
Near to the church there was this strange statue.
Scary!!!
Then we went to the Hildesheim Cathedral.
Sure we went into it.
There was a beautiful garden next to it.
Behind me you see the famous rose of Hildesheim.
It was nice here.
What a funny person – sitting on another man.
We arrived at the marketplace – with so many beautiful buildings.
You have a beautiful city next to your home!
Love Stoker
Posted May 21, 2017, 8:28 pm
I went to a place called Jersbek. Behind me you see an Eiskeller. People stored things in it, to keep it cold – in the Past.
This was really interesting.
Then I went to a nice park – this was the place in front of it.
I learnt a lot about the park here.
There were beautiful trees behind me. They are called the 12 apostles.
Spring starts now here.
The park belongs to this small castle.
What a nice alley.
Look – an obelisk.
Yours
Stoker
Posted May 22, 2017, 8:41 pm
I went to Kirchdorf – of course there was a church.
It looked nice inside.
Can you see Dicker Kumpel and me?
It is a nice place.
With a small harbor.
We had a great time with nice music here.
Yours
Stoker
Posted May 23, 2017, 8:08 pm
Can you imagine, where I am? Right – it's the Port of Hamburg.
And I saw the Elbphilharmonie of Hamburg in the distance.
This is the River Elbe.
And the Landungsbrücken.
Last views in two directions.
Yours
Stoker
Posted May 24, 2017, 8:34 pm
I am on the Bornholm Island. Today I went onto the beach near to our holiday house. The crossing looks good.
And the beach was beautiful!
Surely I will come back and walk along the Baltic Sea.
But today we wanted to go to Dueodde and see the lighthouse there.
Next to it I climbed onto a dune and had a great view.
Then we walked to the beach – it looked similar to the first one.
Far behind me you can see the lighthouse.
I saw the sunlight on the water.
We liked it here.
Then we arrived at an exciting place.
Maybe you cannot see it on the sign. Then 55th Northern latitude and the 15th Eastern longitude meet here.
At the end we found a beautiful water mill – without water today.
Yours
Stoker
Posted May 27, 2017, 10:36 am
There are 4 Round Churches on Bornholm – this is the Sankt Ols Kirke.
It was exciting. We climbed up these stairs.
Later it became steeper, very – and dark.
This is the altar.
I liked the painting on the ceiling.
The church and the bell tower looked so beautiful!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 5, 2017, 7:14 pm
The fortress Hammerhus looked great – it is only a ruin now, but worth a visit.
We had a nice view from this point.
The fortress was really big, I think. You still can see it today.
It looks great over there. I will have a closer look.
Really beautiful.
This was my famous view of the fortress.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 5, 2017, 7:41 pm
This is the Port of Sandvig
You can see two big hotels next to it.
We drove to Madsebakke. There were nice scratichings in the rock. You can see a ship here.
A better view here – it is a ship out of the Bronze Age.
I have no idea, where these circles stand for.
On the way home we stopped at the cliffs Helligdomsklipperne.
It was very steep here.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 6, 2017, 8:28 pm
Today we travelled back in the medieval times. This was the house of the guilds.
The craftsmen met here in the Past.
But we found a nice cradle for us.
Next to it was the smithy.
We arrived at the best part of the village – I saw a big palisade.
This was the kitchen.
Then I went to the wonderful manor on the left side of the photo.
The paintings were interesting – and colorful.
I loved the bedroom.
Can you see the Tower behind me?
We climbed up and had a nice view.
On the meadow we found a rune stone.
They had water mills in that time.
I really loved it here.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 6, 2017, 8:40 pm
Yesterday I saw a round church – today we saw another one in Østerlars.
It is famous for its fresco paintings.
This was the font – it is as old as the church.
The altar.
A beautiful church.
You won't guess, what you see behind me.
It was the famous water tower of Snaneke. It was designed by the famous Danish architect Jörn Utzon – he built the opera of Sydney.
But of course there was a mill here – a wooden one this time.
This mill had a good size.
But the original next to it was beautiful, too. And the wings were in motion!
Love
Stoker
Posted Jun 9, 2017, 8:34 pm
I liked it inside, too.
The baptistery was very famous, but for me it looked like a normal one.
Then we visited the market place.
The geese were very tall.
Many houses here on Bornholm are very long.
This was the post.
Then we drove to Nylars – and visit another round church.
This one was smaller and more homely than the others. I loved the freskos and they were so colorful.
Look, a beautiful rune stone!
We decided that 3 of the 4 round churches were enough for us. But we really liked it.
Time to see red…This is the village Boderne, where the houses are painted in red.
Even at the port the houses were red.
Our last stop was at the Østre Sømark Havn. Look at the name of the ship.
There were nice long beaches.
We gazed at the fisher houses.
People still work here as fishermen.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 12, 2017, 10:19 pm
Today we went to Almindingen – it is the fifthbiggest woodland of Denmark. First we went to the Ekkodalen.
It was so beautiful here.
The path was very steep – so we decided not to walk on it.
Then we went to the point, where you here the echo.
Next to it was a spring.
Then we went to the Gambleborg.
The way was long and exhausting – and unfortunately there was not much to find of the old castle.
But back at the carpark we stopped for a delicious licorice ice-cream.
We continued to the highest point of Bornholm – Rytterknægten.
The view wasn't that great.
I really preferred the lake not far away – the Borgesoe.
It was next to the fortress Lilleborg.
It was nice here.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 12, 2017, 10:30 pm
We found a great place – called Slaus Stene. A farmer worked as an artist here – this is a self-portrait of him.
This was one of his first artworks – a card of Bornholm.
We were excited - we visited this fortress at the start of our holiday.
I loved this troll.
This one was scary.
Surely he created a round church. It was so nice here.
Later we went to Arnager. The Danish love their flag. You see it everywhere.
But we were here for another reason – the longest pier of Denmark.
Surely we walked all the 200 meters to the end.
The view was beautiful.
Love
Stoker
Posted Jun 15, 2017, 12:20 am
look behind me – you see Denmark's highest waterfall – Dondalen.
It wasn't that impressive – but it was a nice walk to reach it.
Here you see the small river, behind the waterfall.
I found a really big mushroom.
The bear's garlic bloomed.
We liked it here.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 15, 2017, 12:29 am
Svaneke shall be one of the most beautiful towns in Denmark. Well – this bay looked nice.
There were 4 chimneys of a smokehouse. This is typical for Bornholm.
The market place.
There were some old and colorful houses.
Then we walked to the port.
Svaneke is a nice small town – but hopefully not the most beautiful town of Denmark…
It was time to show our holiday home. It was big enough for all of us here.
A great living-room…
…and a nice kitchen.
Do you know what this is? It was the start of a wasps' nest
These were our favourite places – we could sit here and watch TV, or turn around and look into the beautiful garden.
Yours Stoker
Posted Jun 20, 2017, 12:47 am
Today we want to see a big balanced rock. There are some of it on Bornholm, but we wanted to go to the most famous one.
The way was nice, but long.
There is the Rokkestenen. This big boulder is under nature protection since 1894.
I took a photo with people on it, because you can see how big the boulder is. I wasn't strong enough to let it move.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 20, 2017, 12:51 am
Our next stop was Balka. It has a long beach.
I visited the small harbor.
Then I went to the beach. We had to balance over this water.
Some people lie in the sun or went into the water.
It was a nice place.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 20, 2017, 1:04 am
Snogebæk had a pier to the harbor, but it was only 100 meters long.
3
This view was beautiful.
But I liked these small houses.
This was funny.
Ugh, a factory for cod liver.
This house was so funny – its roof was a boat.
Love
Stoker
Posted Jun 23, 2017, 2:13 am
I am in Canada - we started in Toronto. Behind me you see the Fairmont Hotel. It is very large.
But I want to go there – the CN Tower.
We took a very fast elevator and went into a nice restaurant. You can sit and eat – and see different parts of Toronto, because it revolves.
Look – the Fairmont Hotel. Now it looks small.
I was so brave. You have a glass bottom high on the tower. I sat on it and saw in the deep.
Wow – I have been there. Only glass between me and the ground.
There was the Roundhouse near to the Tower.
This loco was beautiful.
Locos were stored here in the Past – and with this platform they could reach the rails.
We saw some old housees – this was the Osgoode Hall.
Behind me you see the new town hall. Well – new? It is from 1965.
I like this photo.
This is the old town hall – I like it more than the new one. Maybe I am a little old-fashioned.
Back in the hotel I wanted a photo in the lobby – the big chess pieces are great!
And I liked our room.
We felt like kings.
In the evening we got chocolate.
You see the 150 everywhere in Canada this year – it stands for the 150th birthday of Canada.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 29, 2017, 12:59 am
It was hot in Toronto – very high temperature. Nevertheless we wanted to see something. This is one of the most beautiful churches in Toronto – the St.-James-Kathedrale.
I liked the interior, too.
Look – the St. Lawrence Market.
Then we arrived at the Distillery District. Here you see many industrial buildings out of the Victorian time. Many bridal pairs come to this place to take photos. Maybe this is the reason for this heart.
A carriage with some barrels.
Well – it looked like it was in the Past – only the high buildings were not here in that time.
This house was so beautiful.
Can you see, what this is? Right – so many padlocks, put here by pairs in love. You can see things like this all over the world, I think.
The Distillery District is famous for movies or commercials. Today it was a commercial for Pizza.
It was exciting - I met a player of Toronto's baseball team.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 29, 2017, 1:21 am
We were in a nice small town – called Niagara on the Lake. We took a nice walk. Our first stop - St. Vincent Church.
Near to it there was the St.Mark's Church.
Other old houses.
This one wasn't old, but beautiful.
Behind me you see the bell tower and the old court house.
There were some colorful houses in the town.
The Angel Inn ist Canadas oldest Inn, that still has guests.
On the way to a nice viewpoint we crossed a golf course. I had to watch out for golfers.
Luckily no golf ball hit me. So I was able to visit the Fort Missisauga.
This way looked exciting.
A nice view over the Lake Ontario to Toronto.
Another Fort – it is the Fort George.
We saw it later from a nearer point – it looked beautiful.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 30, 2017, 2:06 am
What a beautiful place. I visit the Niagara-Falls. Behind me you see the US-Fall.
There is the Canadian fall – it seems to be wider.
It looked so beautiful!
We went behind the falls – well – this view wasn't that exciting. But it was very loud – and I felt the power of the water.
Then we went onto a great viewing-platform.
It was very wet – you see the people with the yellow ponchos. Thank you Rike that you took photos, although your camera got wet…
Well –the camera was dry again – the lense was cleaned. Now I am on a boat. This was the US-waterfall.
And the Canadian – we went nearer to it. Really near – but we were not able to take photos there, because it was too wet.
A photo of both falls. I had a lot of fun here.
Our last stop were the rapids. The walk was called White Water Walk – and the view was so beautiful.
I learnt about rapids – there are 6 grades for it. These have the number 6 – the most dangerous rapids.
You cannot see on the photo, how fast the water moved.
It was a great day here.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jun 30, 2017, 2:19 am
We were in Kingston and took a tour in this beautiful Trolley.
We went into it.
We had a great view over Kingston.
There was a lot of water everywhere.
A beautiful church.
Only houses out of stone are allowed here – after many fires in the Past.
I really liked this building.
Another big church.
You see locos in many places in Canada.
But this one was the best – and I was allowed to drive it.
The town hall.
There are many of these towers here – they belonged to the defense.
And surely I need lighthouses in my holidays.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jul 23, 2017, 6:27 pm
We live in this nice manor at the moment.
Maybe the frog was the landlord? He sat in front of the house.
We went inside – beautiful. And the balloons were great!
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jul 23, 2017, 6:42 pm
We went on a boot – and visited the 1000 Islands.
It was fun – we saw nice houses. And a wonderful castle.
Love
Stoker
Posted Jul 23, 2017, 6:58 pm
We went to Upper Canada Village. Many old houses are here – we saw many of it.
It was very interesting!
Bye
Stoker
Posted Jul 23, 2017, 7:20 pm
Today I visited Ottawa. I saw the Centre Block on Parliament Hill, the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa, the National Gallery of Canada and the Rideau Canal and Château Laurier.
Love Stoker
Posted Aug 7, 2017, 7:43 pm
We went into the Gatineau Park. First we stopped at the Pink Lake. Then we continued to the Mackenzie King Estate – the home of the 10th premier of Canada. We saw nice houses, a beautiful lake, a funny ruin and a beautiful water fall there.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Aug 7, 2017, 8:05 pm
Time for a beautiful church. It was really big with a beautiful garden and a nice chapel.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Aug 7, 2017, 8:26 pm
A short review of Dicker Kumpel's birthday last week. We sang a song for him – then he got some gifts. A funny guy who glow in the dark – and someone who can climb on walls. Great.
Later we sat in front of a fireplace.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Aug 7, 2017, 8:39 pm
Time to see the artists from Dicker Kumpel's birthday. The first guy walked down the wall.
We had a nice party with a drink and popcorn while we waited that it will get dark. And then we saw the funny green glowing boy. This was great!
Love Stoker
Posted Aug 13, 2017, 8:04 pm
We were in Quebec, a nice town with beautiful old houses. On the hill there was a big hotel that looked like a castle. I had a good view over the river. Later I saw the town hall.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Aug 13, 2017, 8:12 pm
Today it was time for another church – the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. In it I saw crutches from people who have been miraculously cured and saved here. Really strange.
But the church and the small chapel next to it were nice.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Aug 13, 2017, 8:27 pm
Wild animals live in Tadoussac. I had to fly away.
We decided to climb up the big dune. And took a nice walk on it. Trees grow on it.
On the last photo you see our house here – and our car.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Aug 13, 2017, 8:39 pm
It was the day of the Saguenay-Fjord. We saw whales in it, but were not able to take photos of us and the whales.
We explored the Tadoussac – then we drove along the fjord and saw Anse de Roche and Sainte-Rose-Du-Nord.
Love
Stoker
Posted Aug 14, 2017, 8:26 pm
I was in Val-Jalbert. It was a paper mill in the past. It was a ghost town for some years – and now it is a kind of museum. There are beautiful water falls here, nice gorges, and interesting old buildings – some are restored – some are ruins.
Love
Stoker
Posted Sep 6, 2017, 7:18 pm
We were in a nice resort at the Lac à l'eau Claire. The nature was great – and we had a beautiful room with a nice view.
Yours Stoker
Posted Sep 6, 2017, 7:47 pm
Montreal is nice city – we walked through the city and saw nice buildings and churches.
Love Stoker
Posted Oct 22, 2017, 7:56 pm
Another day in Montreal. This time we went into the cathedral, saw a nice big sailing ship and nice old buildings.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Oct 22, 2017, 8:04 pm
We visited the Biodrome in Montreal. Years ago it was a sport place – now it is a little zoo. I met some of my relatives and other animals there.
yours Stoker
Posted Oct 24, 2017, 3:54 pm
we are back in Germany - today we went to Bad Segeberg. There was a beautiful lake and a nice church.
Love Stoker
Posted Oct 24, 2017, 4:01 pm
we went to Lübeck – a very nice city in Germany. First, we saw the famous Holstentor and the storage buildings next to it.
Then we went onto a church tower and had great views over the city. Later we saw the city hall and other old buildings.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Oct 26, 2017, 10:29 am
Today I was in the Tierpark Lüneburger Heide. There were many interesting animals - it was great to meet them.
yours
Stoker
Posted Oct 29, 2017, 10:16 am
we walked through Marxen, a nice Villace with beautiful old buildings.
yours
Stoker
Posted Oct 31, 2017, 6:45 pm
It was a scary and yummy evening.
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 7, 2017, 6:42 pm
we are on holiday at the North Sea. Today we walked on a dyke to the Eidersperrwerk.
It is located at the mouth of the river Eider near Tönning on Germany’s North Sea coast. Its main purpose is protection from storm surges by the North Seas. It is Germany’s largest coastal protection structure.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 10, 2017, 9:24 am
today we walked the dyke in the other direction. It is always nice at the North Sea.
Greetings
Stoker
Posted Nov 12, 2017, 7:21 pm
this is our holiday home. We like it.
Today we drove to St. Peter Ording and walked on the beach. It was so beautiful - but very cold.
And at the end of our walk we saw dark clouds. Fortunately we didn't get any rain.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Nov 17, 2017, 7:31 pm
We had a nice day together and I won't tell anybody, how old you are now.
Love
Stoker
Posted Nov 17, 2017, 7:45 pm
we were in Friedrichstadt. It is a beautiful city, I have been here before, but it was nice to be here again.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 17, 2017, 3:46 pm
later we stopped in Heide. It wasn't too interesting, but we found some nice places for photos.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 26, 2017, 4:19 pm
We walked on the dyke again today. What a nice view!
Then we found a seesaw.
I liked this place.
It is always nice to be at the seaside.
Behind me you see the place where we live at the moment. So many wooden houses.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Dec 26, 2017, 5:07 pm
Behind me you see the town hall of Büsum.
Nice paintings on this transformer.
The port was nice with an old crane.
A lighthouse and old ships.
This clock was beautiful.
I love lighthouses.
This was Büsum’s first lighthouse.
We walked on the dyke and enjoyed the sunny weather.
It was a nice holiday at the North Sea.
Love Stoker
Posted Jan 14, 2018, 10:54 am
Today we met Snowy and Rudi. I recited a Christmas Poem and then I received gifts.
We all had a nice Christmas together.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Jan 22, 2018, 1:29 pm
we received your gifts. I loved my chocolates - and Dicker Kumpel got such a great magic ball.
Thanks Stoker.
Posted Feb 1, 2018, 6:12 pm
I visited Grandma and loved her Christmas Decoration.
Happy New Year.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Feb 19, 2018, 7:58 pm
We were in Hamburg and saw nice thinks. The famous Elbphilharmonie, some parts of the Port, the old warehouse district, the town hall and the Binnenalster. I had a great time there.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Feb 21, 2018, 3:01 pm
today we took a walk around Sülfeld. You can see a lot of water on the meadows.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Mar 3, 2018, 6:43 pm
I am in Wesselburenerkoog again. Today we visited the Eidersperrwerk, played on a playground and had a nice time near the fireplace in our holidayhome.
Love
Stoker
Posted Mar 4, 2018, 5:53 pm
we were in St.Peter Ording. We will be here later this week for the Biike-Brennen - today we saw the place where it will be.
Then we walked along the pier and saw the famous houses on the beach.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Mar 5, 2018, 6:23 pm
we walked on the dyke near to our house today. It was nice, but cold. So we sat in front of our fireplace in the evening and had a warm place there.
Love
Stoker
Posted Mar 7, 2018, 5:40 pm
we visited the nice small town of Tönning. There were many beautiful buildings and other interesting things. Our last stop was the church.
Love
Stoker
Posted Mar 11, 2018, 6:32 pm
in the evening we went to the Biike-Brennen. It was amazing - we saw it from different places.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 1, 2018, 6:44 pm
it was our last day here – and we went to St.Peter Ording again. This time to another part of the beach.
I liked it here.
Then we went to St Peter Dorf – a very beautiful village.
In the evening we relaxed in front of the fire. It was a great short holiday here.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 4, 2018, 10:30 am
we had snow and decided to walk through the forest. I really liked it.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 15, 2018, 12:42 pm
we went to Damp and lived in this beautiful house.
In the afternoon we tool a walk and saw a lot of snow and ice. I liked the lighthouse.
But the best were the rocks with ice on it.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 20, 2018, 10:46 pm
We went to Kappeln - a nice small city. I saw a lot of ice and snow again.
Yours
Stoker
Posted Apr 23, 2018, 11:06 am
we went to Schleswig and started in the nice part called Holm.
There were beautiful buildings and a small church.
Then we went to the more important church in Schleswig - the Schleswiger Dom.
It was a nice church.
The last stop was at the townhall - not so beautiful.
Yours
Stoker