Travelog for: Claire Tamias

I tried something special for dinner today - a recipe from a South African cook book: Peanut soup with coconut.






Here are all the ingredients I need to cook it.



First I need to chop the carrots and leek and  dice the onion.







Everything goes into the pot.



Next it's 75ml of dry white wine.



Now it already looks like a soup. I have to add the peanuts and the coconut though.









After some more time for simmering the soup is ready. Yummy!
Enjoy your meal!

This weekend we went to Frankfurt/Main for the German Choir Festival.

But first we got ready for our trip and packed our bag.
Or rather we were packed into the bag





It was a 3 hours coach ride but time went fast and we also had
enough to eat because we brought a 'SingerSurvivalPackedLunch'.





We did not see much of Frankfurt except the 'Jahrhunderthalle'
where my host and the choir had rehearsals and where the big
concert on Saturday evening took place.





The concert hall was built in 1963 and is pretty large with space for up to 4800 people.





We spent almost all our time there except for one concert. Then we went to the Heiliggeist Church.

Today it was time to say Goodbye to the 2 other TVs which stayed here.

Bärndt moves on in the Big German RR and goes to Munich.



Voi Nam travels to Wales in the ETVT.



Have  a safe journey you two!

Weather today was better than expected
and I took the chance to visit the nearby national park Hainich.





The national park is about 160000m² large and the area is a
national park because it is the largest area of mixed forest in middle
Europe. Since 2011 it has also been an UNESCO world natural
heritage site.






First I went to the wild cat compound in Hütscheroda.
It was opened in April 2012 so it's brand new. It was built to raise
awarness of the situation of wild cats in Europe.





It was feeding time at 3pm and so it was easy to get a glimpse of
the four wild male cats living here. Though  can YOU see them through the fence?









After the visit at the wild cats we continued our way along the
scultpure path... with intersting sculptures along the way of course.











Hey, what's that? I had to take a closer look when there was a big
violet stain on the ground. It was plenty of butterflies!





We took the wild cat path which is about 7 km.



And came to the look-out 'Hainichblick'.





I don't know how many steps I had to take up there but the
spectacular view over the countryside was worth it! See how green
this part of Thuringia is? And in the background you can see the
hills of the Thuringian Forest.







Our way back to the car took us about 1 hour in nice sunshine.

Mail from Italy?!  I was curious what is in inside. But then of course it must be a new TV. And yes:  YoYo, who travels on the ETVT, arrived here.

Today was a friend's 40th birthday and so we had a big party!

Since he is very found of GDR related items and stories we decided to decorate the party room with GDR gadgets.

Look, here is the wall newspaper with Eastern German posters, picures and mottos.










We also put red carnations and flags on the table.





Last but not least some Eastern German literature: old magazines and a joke book.





We also took a rip with the birthday boy in an old East German Car: a Wartburg. Yes, it is called like the castle in Eisenach. That's because the car was BUILT in Eisenach!



We had a great evening with lots of fun! It was like a journey back in time!

And yet another new TV. We said hello to HömpfMöpf, a TV which travels on the Big German RR. I will be happy to show him bits of Thuringia!

This evening we went to the theatre in Eisenach.



Pupils of the Abbe-School performed songs and plays. This is before the show because photos during the show were too dark...

Mommy, it is soooo hot here. The sun is shining all day long. To cool down a little we went to the Altenberger Lake near Eisenach.



I enjoyed my time!

Today I started a MZ motorbike tour to Saxony. Things are packed and we are ready to go! I will update about my trip as soon as I am back in Mechterstädt.





See you mommy!

So this motorbike tour was shorter then expected because of bad weather. But let's start at the beginning.

Our first stop on Saturday was artificial lake Oberwald. There we put up our tent in bright sunshine.







After the work was done we enjoyed a beer and I prepared the little dinner picnic.









The next day we went to Chemnitz, formerly known as Karl-Marx-Stadt. Therefore one can still find the giant head of Karl-Marx in the city center.



Our next stop was Zschopau - home of the MZ motorbike for many years. MZ is short for Motorenwerke Zschopau. So we brought the old lady home.







Today there's no longer any production of motorbikes. So the old factory isn't really used.



We went to the motorbike exhibition in the castle Wildeck.



Me and the MZ man:



As you see from the pics the weather was already bad and it was  raining cats and dogs. When we were back on the campingsite we had to dry everything first.





Then I prepared dinner on the little stove.









Mmmmh, a nice hot can of beans.







and a desert with nuts for me



During the night there were thunderstorms  and the rain did not stop. It was also a little cold. So we decided to return back home after 2 days.
Our last stop was my host's hometown Penig.





Now we are warm and dry back home and relax.

We visted the little zoopark in Gotha this Sunday.



Look, all the animals we saw:

It is only 3 more days at school before summer holidays so my host took us to her school today to show us the nice grounds.







Then we went to the school library and I helped my host to list the new books on the system.







Puh, what a huge pile to work on...

We are on our way to holidays in France. But because the way is so long we took a first stop in west Germany, in Aachen.

The town hall



and the market square



We also visited the cathedral which is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Then we made our way to France via Belgium. HömpfMömpf and YoYo came with us!