Travelog for: Claire Tamias

Hello mum and everyone!

Today we went to see some historical things from Barcelona ( or Barcino during the ancient Roman!)

I didn't know that ancient Roman was also here in this city!

My host told me that the ancient Roman colony was founded between the years 15-10 BC, in the time of Emperor Augustus.

The city was built on top of a small hill and covered an area no greater than ten hectares. It was, therefore, a small city which had, at the most, 1,000 inhabitants.



Barcelona then,was enclosed by walls with four gateways. These gateways led on to the main streets, the decumanus maximus and cardo maximus which came together right in the centre, at the forum or public square.



There were also other public buildings, such as the temple, the basilica, the curia, where the Municipal Senate assembled, and the tabernae or shops, which sold all kinds of produce brought in from various Mediterranean ports. Near the Forum stood the spa or public baths. My host told me that they don't know if Barcelona contained other public buildings which were representative of Roman cities, such as the theatre, amphitheatre or circus.

It was a very cultural day!! I learned a lot!

See you soon!

Take care mum,

Claire Tamias

Hello mum and everyone!

Today was an institutional day! hihihi! I went to see the City Hall, also known as the Casa de la Ciutat and the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya!!

In the ancient Roman city of Barcelona, the Plaça Sant Jaume was the site of the Forum, the meeting place and stage for political debate. It could be said that the square continues to fulfil the same role today, as it is flanked by Barcelona’s two political powerhouses: Barcelona City Hall and the seat of the Catalan government, the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya.

The City hall stands on one side of the Plaça Sant Jaume, right in the middle of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter and in front of the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya.

The statues of King Jaume I (the founder of the Council of the One Hundred) and Joan Fiveller (a 15th-century Barcelona freeman and member of the Council) in the vaulted niches on Barcelona City Hall’s main façade were sculpted by Josep Bover (1847).

They are very cool!! Look at both buildings!







I hope you like them!

See you soon!

Claire Tamias

Hello mum and everyone!

This is a very historical street near the city centre! I loved the bridge...My host said that she would like to have one in her house hahahahaha! me too!



Today we were shopping!!!!! This street is full of shops and we love it!



With all the bags (well actually my host only bought 2 t-shirts lol) we went to take the subway and I want to have a picture in Plaça Catalunya!!! The main square of the city

Look at this nice fountain!!!




See you soon,

Take care mum!

Claire Tamias

I am on my way to my next host now



Claire Tamias

Hello mommy!

I arrived in Mechterstädt, Thuringia, today.

When I crawled out of my envelope there were Voi Nam and SunnyHH welcoming me.






My new host says thank you for the card and chocolate, yummy!
And the souvenier from Nook, of course!




Hugs, Claire Tamias

Hello mommy!

I went on my first sightseeing trip here in Thuringia.

Mechterstädt is not far away from Eisenach and so we decided to visit Wartburg castle.
We - that is Voi Nam and SunnyHH and me.



It is very famous because it is a UNESCO world heritag site.





But before we could see the castle we had to climb the steep hill.
Which was not a problem for me! Voi Nam also had no
problems with the way but poor little SunnyHH was really
slow and it was hard for her to jump all the way. So I offered her to
climb on my back and I carried her to the top.





When we arrived we had a beautiful view on the castle. The
evening sun came out and all these purple lilac blossoms were so
nice in the background!









After we entered the main gate I read some information about the castle.

Wartburg Castle was founded in the 11th century. The buildings
that you can see today were mainly built in the 19th century with
some older remaining parts.









Then I took a walk through the castle grounds, the inner gate and saw the palace.







On our way back down we took a rest in the sunshine and enjoyed the view over Eisenach.

Hello mommy!

Today I want to show you where I am right now.

Mechterstädt is a small village with about 1000 inhabitants.



I took a little stroll through the village but there is really not much to see.

This is there main street where my host lives.





First I walked passed the village hall.



Then there is the church.



And the central square with a little shop and you can see the May tree in the background, too.



And that's about it. Nothing really going on here. But I am sure I will
also visit some other places in Thuringia soon.

We had a lovely sunny day today and
so Voi Nam and I decided to spend some time in the sun on the
balcony.  But first we had to get onto it.

Thank God there is the cat flap we could use. Still it was difficult for
Voi Nam to get up there and through the cat door.  So I helped him.











Then I followed him. For me as a chipmunk it was easier to climb up through the door.





From the balcony I had a wonderful view over the green area and
towards the Inselsberg mountain in the background. With about
900 metres it is the second highest mountain in Thuringia.





Later on  I had a look at the newspaper.







The weatherforecast isn't too good. There might be rain later on
and the next days will be cooler again. Let's see what I will do to
spend my time.

CU!

My next excursion brought me to Gotha, a town about 15 kilomters from Mechterstädt.

Gotha is very old and its history dates back to the 8th century.

I saw the castle Friedenstein which was built by Ernst I of
Saxe-Gotha (later Altenburg), "The Pious",  in the 17th century.



Down castle  hill towards the city center I saw these beautiful wells ('Wasserkunst').







And the red town hall looks very nice too. It used to be a department store.



And then I came across this Pyramide. I thought that it is strange to
find a pyramide here in Thuringia. The secret is that it is a tomb for
Marshall Studnitz who had it built in his garden.

Today a big package arrived. Voi Nam and I were curious about what is inside.



Voi Nam opend it and there were many things inside.







And then we saw him in the corner, the little bear!



He crawled out of his box and introduced himself as Bärndt. 
Bärndt travels on the Big German RR and will stay with us this month!

I miss you mom!

Today we took a short trip to my host mom's parents.
We had tea time with cakes.



The garden is very green and inthe background you can see the town church.

Hello from Eisenach!

We went there today. It is about 15km from the village and my host
goes there quite often. Today she showed me a little of the town
famous for Luther and Bach.

We started at the Bach House, a museum today. You can see the
old part where Johann Sebastian Bach was supposedly born. A new
house was added some time ago.











Then we went to the Luther House, where Martin Luther lived when
he was a school child. It is a museum today, too.







We carried on and went to the market square with the Georgen
Church and the town hall and the town castle.
Eisenach is a nice town!







Last but not least I saw the smallest house in Eisenach. It has a
width of only 2,05m and is about 250 years old. It is the smallest
half timbered house in Germany that people still live in!

Today we went to Erfurt (which is the state capital of Thuringia) for a marching band contest.
It took place at Erfurt Fair.





I look at the map to see where all the bands come from.





And then we listened to and watched the bands in the contest.
Great music!

A new addtion to my host family:

This kitten moved in today. He is soooooo cute, don't you thin?!