Travelog for: Bernd The Bread

Well, time to pack… For my first journey to Finland I choosed a light blue traveltowel, hehe! NEVER travel without a towel! In my box it will keep me warm and save.



It is not so easy to climb in it!



Oh NO! Get me out here! Immediately!!!



And I shall never travel without my ToyVoyager-ID-badge!
So, now we can try it again…



I will have a nap, as long as I have to stay in the box. Well, good night to Hamburg! Good morning Helsinki!!!

Hi Mom,

I arrived here in Helsinki yesterday. The mailman did his job well and brought my travelbox to my new host so I didn't have to wait in the post office. The trip to Finland was longer than I had thought and it was good that I had my traveltowel with me. My new host Kirsi opened my box and soon I noticed there were some strange animals staring at me. (Pictures 1 and 2) My host told me that they were all just curious and wanted to see what was inside of the box. I went to sit on the couch and stared them back, I still had my towel around me. (Picture 3) Those toys didn't look so bad so finally I put my towel back to my box and and gave the candies and the card of Hamburg to the others. (Picture 4) (Sorry that photo is really small, but the file was just too large so my had to make it smaller) They were all happy about the candies and Michel surprised me by speaking perfect German - he is also from Hamburg. (Picture 5) There were also Manu the Rubber Duck, Blinchick who is originally from Russia and a small moose called Kerttu, who wants to become to a TV soon. They wanted to hear all about me and chat a lot, but I wasn't ready for that - I was just too hungry. My host took me to kitchen and gave me some delicious soup. No pictures of that - it's not nice when someone takes pictures when you're eating.

My host told me that it was a special afternoon for her - she was going to work as an assistant for a few hours at shooting for a TV (Not ToyVoyager, this time this means television) serie and she had already promised to take the other toys there with her. There was -10 C and hard wind outside, but she said that her bag was nice and warm - we would have to be quiet there and we couldn't come out at the shooting. Well, I wasn't hungry anymore and that sounded interesting so I was ready to go with her and the others. She was right, her bag was really warm and we were all a bit excited about going to TV studious so we were quiet there for the trip too. We were at the studio for 3 hours and we heard everything what was happening, that was really interesting. After the shooting on our way back home we took a nap in the bag. Oh, it was not allowed to take any pictures at the studios so my host didn't have her camera there with her.

In the evening I wanted to be alone so my host gave a big muffin and a cup of hot chocolate for a snack. (Picture 6) The others had their snack later. After the muffin I felt myself quite tired and wanted to go to sleep. My host showed me some sleeping places and I chose a bread basket. I went to sleep there with a Finnish carrot bread (Picture 7) and so my first day in Finland was over.

Today my host went to meet her friends in the city. There was still really cold outside and I had seen there was a lot of snow too so I wanted to stay in her bag until we would have reached our destination. We went to a small tearoom and there were only four tables there. We had tea and croissants with jam. Hot tea felt nice after the cold weather and the croissants were really tasty. (Pictures 8-10) We stayed there a few hours and it was quite interesting to hear how my host and her friends spoke Finnish - I didn't understand a word of it.

I hope it will be a bit warmer tomorrow, I need some fresh air and I'd like to see some views here too. Now it's time for me to go to sleep.

Until later. Yours, Bernd

Hi Mom,

Happy Valentine's Day

Oh yes, it's Valentine's Day or Friend's Day as they call it here in Finland. We had a big photo shooting by my host today. She said this day is all about friends, love, hearts, pink, red, chocolate, kisses, etc. As you know those things are just the way I am - NOT! Well, don't worry Mom, I was polite and you don't have to be embarrassed for me. I know that my host and the others liked to take those photos and I played with them. I got chocolates and a doughnut later - heart shaped of course. Well, are you ready to see how I spent my Valentine's Day? Here we go, remember I warned you...

Love and kisses, Bernd <3 (Oh no, the spirit of The Valentine's Day found me!!!)

Hi Mom,

Wow, so much has happened since the last time I wrote here. I don't quite know where should I start now, hmmm, from the beginning I think. Well, at first I looked outside just from my host's balcony (pictures 1-4) or from the windows (pictures 5 and 6). There were so much snow everywhere and it looked really cold out there, but finally my host took me out with the other guys - and Kerttu, the moose girl. We played out for a while and my host took pictures of us. Snow was cold, bit it didn't feel so bad as it looked at first. (pictures 7-9)

One day I went to the city with my host and the others stayed at home. Kirsi told me that she takes all the TVs for a private tour sometimes and spends a day with just one toy. Well, at first she showed me the most important building of Helsinki - the main post office. (picture 10) My host is addicted to Postcrossing and sends many postcards so maybe that has something to do with the post office too... We went to the post office and it looked great. (picture 11) I got to sit on a mail box too, they are orange and blue here in Finland and the orange one looked so cheerful I almost smiled. (picture 12) I also saw the Contemporary art museum called Kiasma (picture 13) and the Parliamet house of Finland. (picture 14) Wind was really cold so we went back home and had big cups of hot chocolate.

It was really cold here for two weeks (-24C or even -27C) so we mostly stayed inside. We read a lot (picture 1) and I lerned to like Moomin stories very much.  Manu the Rubber Duck has his own photo book and here you can see him together with Finland's ex Prime Minister. Manu sure knows many important and famous people. (picture 2) We watched movies like Shrek 3 and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I really liked them both and the other movies too. You can't just watch Charlie and Chocolate Factory without any chocolate (picture 3) and we had some hot chocolate with chocolate biscuits

Sometimes we played hide and seek. There were many great hiding places at Kirsi's place and I always found the best ones. (pictures 4 and 5). We also had nice talks with some other toys. Here's Little Hunger and Helppi with us. (picture 6) Helppi was a bit too cheerful, but I soon became friends with Little Hunger - he is mostly in the same mood with me. (picture 7)

I got to taste some typical Finnish sweets called salmiakki, salty liquorice. Michel tasted them too, but Manu and Blinchick didn't. (picture 8) I tried to write my name with the salmiakki alphabet, but there were not all the letters. (picture 9) Sometimes I jus looked at all the wonderful postcards my host has - there are lots of empty cards ready to be sent and many boxes of received cards at her place. (picture 10)

I don't want you to think that I didn't eat anything else than chocolate, candies and cakes here Mom, but my host just didn't take any pictures of me eating. Well, here you can see I've had one of my favourite meals - meatloaf and mashed potatoes (picture 11)

Hi Mom,

Yes, I'm fine and still here in Helsinki. My host had had huge problems with her computer (and she still does) so we haven't been able to update my travelog.

Hmmmmm, so much has happenend since I last wrote here. Maybe I should let all the photos speak for themselves. Well, short explaining at first. Many TVs has left and many has arrived. I've got some great new friends and I'd like to believe I can meet them again someday somewhere... I've travelled a lot here by busses and trams with my host and with other TVs. Manu the Duck had a birthday party and he is 3 years old now I've met Moomins and and seen the Lutheran Cathedral of Helsinki. I've been in many postcrossing meetings and written lots of postcards. I've had fun and I've learned to like Finnish coffee, especially latte.

OK, now I'll show "some" photos to you dear Mom

Hello Mom,

Here I am again. My host's health and computer problems are now over, we sure hope so, and now we can update by travelog again

We had a great Easter here. We were hunting eggs and we found lots of chocolate eggs. (Picture 1-5) Finnish chocolate is really delicious

A week from Easter it was the MayDay, the First of May or Vappu as they call it here in Finland. It's a big celebration for students and most of the people. It's almost like a Finnish carneval. We had a peaceful Vappu at home. We ate some doughnuts and had balloons. It was a nice day and it also means that now spring is here. (Picture 6)

In the sunny days we like to sit out in the balcony and have some latte or ice latte. It's just nice to sunbathe sitting in a chair with friends (Pictures 7 and 8)

We have also watched some movies when it has been rainy or too cold to go out. We´ve always had pop corn too

Hello Mom,

OMG, I had no idea it has been almost six months since I last updated my travelog. I'm really sorry and my host is really sorry too. My host has had problems after problems, but I'm OK and I've had a great time here with my friends.

Summer was really hot and sunny. I don't like the hot weather so much as you know Mom. We spent a lot of time in the shadows and we didn't burned our skins. Well, pictures tell more than words so here you can see summer pictures of me and my friends.

We spent two weeks at my host's childhood home in the Central Finland. Her mother still lives there and it is a beautiful place. It felt like we were in the countryside after the the busy city of Helsinki, but actually the place called Lievestuore is quite near (24 km) from the nearest city Jyväskylä. It was green everywhere, lots of flowers and we spent lots of time by the lake. Manu the Duck and my host loved to swim there, but we others just sat at the boardwalk watching them. I'm not so interested in going to water... We visited a small amusement park and we went to a boat ride and I got to ride a horse there too Oh btw, I think I've became a bit softer and kinder here. Sometimes I might even smile a little. It makes me worry - what happens if I start to laugh? Should I be worried Mom? This is not normal for me... Well, after two weeks it was time for us to pack our things and travel back to Helsinki. Kirsi's mother made a big strawberry cake for us in the last day. It was delicious

After that trip we haven't taken any new photos, but we'll do it soon.

Bye Mom - I miss you a lot!

Yours, Bernd <3