Travelog for: Tochi

Today we - that means my siblings, my mommy and I - went out on Mommy's garden and yard. I'm not much of a couch potatoe so that has been fun!

Mom had bought strawberry plants and showed them to us.

My siblings and I liked them so we all lined up and asked mommy to take a picture of us. Here it is:


Did I mention that I'm a little curious? I had to have a closer look at the plants.


I think I really like gardening. Uhm... no I should rather say I like the prospect of eating yummy strawberries some day.


I like spring time! The flowers start to bloom.


I also love hot weather and lots of sunshine. Sadly it started to rain a few minutes after we have walked out to check on the plants and flowers.

I made a new friend, who is lucky: the snail's carrying its house on its back. While my siblings and I were afraid of getting soaked by the rain, my little friend didn't even consider to hide.

Snails are cute, don't you agree?!

Look, how little my friend is! Even the tip of my tail's a lot bigger! 


Mommy took us home so we wouldn't get all soaked up.
It was a good decision, because her grandma had prepared some delicious lunch. We had noodles with spinach and Gorgonzola sauce. Along with it we had fried chicken. 

Today I'm starting my first journey. I'm going to visit olgamaus and I'm so happy she helped me to start my voyage! 
I packed some little things to surprise her with and mommy also instructed me to give her a postcard she has written for her.





Now I'm so curious! I have the feeling that I will really like the stay at my first host. Thanks for taking me in! You make my tiny plush heart jump in joy! 

Hi Mummy,
I arrived in Remscheid today. My first host is Katja. She found me sitting in my packet on the stairs, already  trying to get out of this dark box.



I was welcomed by more ToyVoyagers. They are Squirt, Bart,  Bilica, Rafael ... and Belka who looks exactly like me!

They helped me to empty my box, out came delicious liquorice, a postcard from my  hometown and a book, displaying the interior of Berlin  houses. Katja was really delighted.



Belka took me to the kitchen window to have a look outside. It's looking nice!



Than Katja told us that she would make fruit salad. We decided to help. We had banana, a melon and kiwi fruit.



Katja prepared everything ...



... and we tried to pinch some fruits, but Katja recognized it although we tried to hide.



Of course we were allowed to try the fruit salad later.



My parents invited us to come over and grill today. I am living in this house at the moment, in the attic storey, where it is quite hot at the moment.





I'm sorry that there are no more photo, but I can tell you that we had lots of fun and also lots of strawberry punch,

Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
we had planned a trip to Muengsten Bridge, Germany's highest railway bridge, today. Outside it was so hot, that we decided to take only a shorter walk to the municipal park.

We needed a first rest after a few minutes walking.



This is the police station.



We went to the little park in front of the police station.



Beautiful flowers are blooming here.





This column is dedicated to the twinning with Quimper in Brittany/France. You can see the coat of arms of Remscheid on top of it.



We went to the municipal park than, to the pond first. They have ducks and turtles here.







The observatory is situated in the municipal park. Can you see that the roof is opened?





Here is a stage in the park, in summer concerts are taking place here, also theatre and all sorts of amusement for kids.



We all needed a little bit refreshment.



This is a memorial dedicated to the dead of several wars before World War I.



We took a short walk through the city than. In this part of the city you can find a lot of pretty old houses.











Katja showed us the local court, also close to my current home. This is the annex, built a few years ago.



This is the main entrance with the stylized coat of arms of the German state North Rhine-Westphalia.







We went home than, it was too warm for walking any longer.

Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
I helped to feed Katja's ferrets in the morning. They are living in a large drawer.

The ferrets are having raw chicken for breakfast, intestines and necks. Yuck!

Here you can see Brighty, the siamese ferret and Shiva, the sable ferret.





The ferrets use to carry their food away and eat it in a comfortable place.



They are so cute!

Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
did I tell you that Katja is working as a secretary in a law firm? She had to pick up a Preliminary injunction from the district court in Wuppertal today. Wuppertal is a neighbour city of Remscheid with about 420.000 inhabitants, situated on the river Wupper. Of course we went with her

This is the district court, in this building they are working on private law matters. There is also a new building for criminal procedure.



Here you can see the "Schwebebahn", a suspended monorail. The suspension railway travels along a route about 13 kilometres long, about 12 metres above the surface of the river Wupper and approximately 8 m above the city streets. At one point the railway even crosses the A46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes. The Schwebabahn was completed in 1901.  Here you can see the station "Landgericht" (district court). We came here by Schwebebahn



When we finished our business here at the court we walked back to the city centre. I saw a Schwebebahn!



Here you can see the skywalk of one of the shopping malls, a church tower is reflected in the windows.



In front of the city hall a farmer's market is taking place every day.



Behind the city hall you can find another mall, the "Rathaus-Galerie". This lion statue is situated in front of it, the lion is the heraldic animal in this region, "Bergisches Land". You can also find a lion in the coat of arms in most of the cities in this region, also Wuppertal.





Here you can see the city hall.



We wanted to take another ride with the Schwebebahn, so we walked to a nearby station.







Here you can see the station, a modern one this time.



Here you can see me inside the station.





Close to the central station houses are built close to the riverbanks.



That's all for today
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
today we walked along the "Roentgenweg", a walking path which is 65 km long, following the city limits of Remscheid. Of course we only walked part of it. We had to follow the route marking showing an encircled “R”.





We walked along a creek for some time. Can you see those mill stones which were worked into the bank reinforcement?







This wall is centuries-old, it once belonged to early industrial sites, probably built in 16th or 17th century.



Here you can see Schloss Burg in the background, a medieval castle, situated in Solingen-Burg. This castle was built by early reigns of this region. It was built over centuries, start of work was in 13th century.



Here you can also see a zoomed photo.

When we crossed a street we left the municipal area of Remscheid. We reached Solingen-Unterburg than, which is a very old district, situated at the river Wupper and Eschbach, a creek which is running into river Wupper here.

You can find nice old houses here.











Bye

Hi Mummy,
Katja decided to try a wine-cooler with elderberry. Tomorrow she will meet a friend and than they want to enjoy it. It has to be prepared one day earlier.

First Katja went to the municipal park and plucked five elderberry umbels. The flowers will have to be put into water with sugar,  fresh mint, lemon juice and sliced lemon for about 24 hours.







Everything was prepared than ...



The bowl was closed than with a plate. The mixture has to rest at room temperature for 24 hours now.



Tomorrow the liquid will have to be filtered and cooled for a while. Than white wine and sparkling wine will be added.

I'm curious how it will taste

Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
today Katja visited her friend Karin. They often meet in the evening, than they are knitting socks. Katja filtered the elderberry base and filled it into an empty bottle. We took it with us to Karin, who already had cooled sparkling wine and white wine.



Elderberry base, wine and sparkling wine were fillled into the punch bowl.



Ready!



Cheers! Our elderberry drink is really delicious!

Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
we took a short walk today along the "Trasse des Werkzeugs" (Route of Tools), only a short walk because the weather was not good and we were afraid that it might have started to rain.

First we picked up Katja's friend Tatjana. I had a look at her birds - budgies and two small parakeets.



We had to walk a few minutes to reach the Route of Tools.



We reached the Route of Tools soon. It is a closed former freight train track which can now used by pedestrians and cylists. It is a abt. 5 km long route from the central station to the district Hasten, which  had its own station years ago. The route was sponsored by local companies, mostly tool producing companies. Tools are produced here since middle ages.

Along the Route of Tools you can find many factory buildings, some are already dilapidated, others are still in use nowadays, some are under monument protection. You can also find some artwork. Here we met the Route of Tools, some signs are here, the first one showing the coat of arms of Remscheid, some are showing the logos of sponsoring companies.





We followed the route.



Here you can see a wrench pattern pressed into the tarmac.







This bench was made from a giant screw clamp.





I saw a pretty graffiti!



We reached the district Hasten then, one of the oldest districts ofthe municipal area. You can find many old houses here.



We found more tool patterns on the ground.



The Route of Tools is ending in Hasten, we walked a bit longer here.









In this Patrician villa a museum is situated. The villa was built in the 1780s years.





You can see the German flag everywhere at the moment



Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
today we went out in the early evening to watch the soccer match Germany vs. Ghana in the city centre, on the space in front of the city hall. We took a short walk before, along the Route of Tools. This time we walked towards the central station.

I saw the "Ampelmaennchen" of the former German Democratic Republic. Please do not think that we crossed the street on red ... the green man suddenly disappeared





Sometimes you can find distance data on the ground.



I saw dilapidated factory buildings.



We had to leave the Route of Tools because even here they are working on the gas pipes.





Soon we reached the station.



The station was renewed, it was finished last summer.



From here we walked towards the city centre.



I found this  painting on the wall of a store for home decoration.



Close to the city hall many people were waiting for the soccer match to begin.





The space in front of the city hall was roped off for the public to watch the soccer matches of the German team on a large video screen.







Not much time left for the match to begin.



Do you know that the German team won 1 : 0 ? Now they will take part in the round of 16.





It was time to go home than.



Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy.
I'm sorry for not updating for a few days. It was so hot here that we better stayed inside, doing absolutely nothing.

Today we started to prepare for the FIFA World cup semi final Germany vs. Spain tomorrow. Of course we need beer to watch a soccer match. Rafael bought beer.



Rafael also would like to have a lei in Spanish national colours, but she told us  that you can only buy those with German colours. But Rafael already had an idea ....





Now Rafael has a lei in Spanish national colours



Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
I watched the FIFA World Cup semi final on TV today, Rafael was also watching it. It was Germany vs. Spain.





Katja supplied us with some goodies and beer. We had queso manchego, another cheese from Basque Country, olives, filled chillies, tortilla chip, savoury pretzel and tomatoes.







In the end Spain won 1:0.



I was so disappointed

Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
we took a walk in the city in Katja's lunch break. It was incredibly hot, but inside the buildings it is as hot as outside, so it did not matter wheter we were sweating in the sun or inside the office.

Did I already show you the water tower opposite of the city hall?





This is Katja's favourite pet shop. We looked for some goodies for the ferrets here.



Here you can see that the city centre is surrounded by woodland. Nearly all streets are very steep.





This is the steepest street in the municpal area.





Katja told us that here once a brewery was situated. Nowadays the buildings are dismantled.



At this intersection several streets are leading into the city centre.



We were close to the central station than.



A new station was built, it was opened last summer. A new shopping centre was also built here.



From here you have good view around. Across the railway tracks to the district Hohenhagen, a housing area ...



... towards the city centre ...



... and the new station.



We walked back to Katja's work place than.



Bye
Tochi