Travelog for: Belka

As my visit in nearly ending, I got to join my host and her kids on a trip to the local indoor playgound HopLop. It's a really fun place where you have to move (climb, slide, jump, bounce, wade...) yourself, there are no rides to just sit on  It's a maze and I nearly got lost!

Everyone was really sweaty afterwards - except for my host who just sat and "guarded the bags" 

Because we were all so sweaty after the playground we went to the  Sauna. In Finland every household has a sauna - or in case of a block of flats, then there usually is one sauna for the whole highhouse. Anyway. This is my host's sauna.

Sauna is a room that you heat up (there are saunas that are heated with wood and saunas that are heated with electricity), preferably 60-80 degrees Celsius (that varies, some people like it even hotter). Then you take a shower (just to get wet, it's not pleasant to be dry in a sauna) before you enter the sauna (naked!). In sauna you just sit and relax and maybe throw some water on the hot stones (to get more heat and steam). Sauna relaxes your muscles and opens your skin pores, which makes you clean from the inside 

After a while (when you feel like it) you go to the shower again to get wet and re-enter the sauna. You can repeat it as many times as you want. In the end you shower to wash yourself.

In summerhouses people also have saunas. There it's tradition to make (or buy) a birch whisk with which you beat yourself gently in the sauna. The whisk has the leaves on so it won't hurt.

There are saunas in gyms and swimming halls but there men & women are divided in separate saunas. Otherwise, with friends and family, it's normal to go to sauna together.

Finns even have a Sauna Society!

My final look at the beautiful nature in Porvoo, Finland. This nature reserve is next to the city center. We found a birdwatching tower that gave us a good look over the area. The only birds we saw was a swan couple  They were eating something from the water - lunchtime!

You can see the rooftop of the cathedral from here too!


Now I have to start packing as I'm scheduled to leave on Monday...

Hello Mum,

I arrived in Germany. A friendly bunny called Dicker Kumpel gave me a warm welcome. He will be my host here.



He introduced me to Aslan – his other guest here.



Lucky me – I arrived in time to went to the Landesgartenschau – a place, where many nice flowers and other plants are shown.



Look- so many beautiful flowers.





This plant was so funny – we laughed about it.



Next to the flowers there were other things – like these crazy chicken.





There were storks, too…



… and little pigs.



We had fun on the playground.



Another funny guy.



And more wonderful flowers.



I talked with this strange man. He had a nice house.



There was a strange tree in his garden.



Then we met someone who played the piano.





It was a great day.

Love
Belka

Hello Mum,

Today I decided to explore Sülfeld.

This is the centre of Sülfeld .



Behind me you can see the pharmacy – but don’t worry Mum, I am fine and need nothing there.



Then I saw the old church.



Luckily the door was open and I went inside.







It was time to see more - this is the old school.



I want to show you the emblem of Sülfeld.



Love
Belka

Hi Mum,

RikeH went to the Gartenschau again today. I thought it is better than nothing and went with her.

We heart another choir this time – but you can see, there was a lot of rain.



We saw nice flowers again.



I love this color!





Then we went into the house with flowers. Dicker Kumpel’s grandma loves these flowers.



There were many other flowers – and the good thing was – no rain inside the house!







Bye
Belka

Congratulations Mum!

I wish you and Dad a great day - and hope that you will spend a wonderful and happy life together.

Here are some flowers for you.







Love
Belka

Hi Mum,

It was time for some sport - but we were lazy and only watched it.
We went to a tournament in Hamburg.

This is the stadium. They can close the roof, if it rains.



You can see the players behind me.



The game was interesting – maybe I should play tennis in some years, when I stop travelling.
Here you see me with my friends on the seat.



Then we changed our seat and were nearer to the player.



Unfortunately you can see me better on the photo than the player.



Then I helped the man who took care of the line, when the players served.



Love
Belka

Hi Mum,

Today we drove to Hamburg and saw the Alster – a lake in the city center.

You can see the lake behind me. There is a nice fountain on it.



There were some busy people in a small boat. They cleaned the lake, because there were some bottles etc. in it.



We walked around the lake.  These nice boats offer trips on the Alster.



I loved the next place. Behind me is the town hall of Hamburg. A nice building!



The other side of the river was beautiful, too.



Bye
Belka

Hi Mum,

RikeH had a seminar in another town – Kiel. And we asked her to take us with her.

Kiel is a nice town near to the Baltic Sea. Many ferries start in Kiel. We saw the ferry to Gothenburg.
It was really big!



I have no idea what this is for – but wanted a photo…



We saw any nice ships in the harbor.



There is a shipyard on the other side.



We walked a lot and came to a small harbor with small ships.



There were some seals living. They enjoyed the sunshine. I would have loved to see them swimming, but they were really lazy.



This is the garden of the Castle – we relaxed next to the beautiful flowers.



Then we visited a nice church.







It was a great trip to Kiel.

Love
Belka

Hello Mum,

Last week Dicker Kumpel found a card sent by his best friend Murph.



There was a ladybird between a lot of mushrooms and we had to find it.



We found it! That was fun!



Mum, I miss you so much, so I asked RikeH to send me home . And good luck – she told me that you just asked to send me home, too.
 
I said goodbye to Dicker Kumpel. He was such a nice host.



Then I got a hug by the others – I will miss them.



But now I am on my way home to you, Mum!

Kisses 
Belka

Hello Mommy! I am not lost!
I couldn't go home for a very, very long time.

I would be happy to see you again.
So, I am waiting for your message!

With Love Belka I