Travelog for: Belka

Hi Mummy,
a new guest arrived today. Katja brought the parcel, inside we heard something moving. Than a tail came out of the parcel ...



Hmm, this tail looks familiar to me ...



My look-alike introduced himself as Tochi, a bush baby from Rüdersdorf, a small town close to Berlin. A bush baby?!



Tochi brought sweets, a postcard and a book with him.



I took Tochi to the window to have a look outside.



Later Katja decided to make a fruit salad with banana, melon and kiwi fruit.



We had a close look if she made everything right.



We tried to pinch some pieces of fruit, but Katja caught us although we tried to hide.



Of course we were allowed to eat fruit salad later



Bye
Belka

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.





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



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
Belka

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. A Schwebebahn was coming.



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. A train was coming in right than.





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



That's all for today
Belka

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”. Most of today's route was leading through a forest.





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
Belka

Hi guys!
I have a mini-anniversary : 500 views
Yahoo!
I`m very host-lucky squirrel 

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
Belka

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
Belka

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.





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.









You can see the German flag everywhere at the moment



Bye
Belka

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.



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. Here you can see the national team coach.



The German team won 1 : 0 ! Now they will take part in the round of 16.





It was time to go home than.
 


Bye
Belka

Hi Mummy,
today a visit in a ferret shelter is on our schedule. The shelter is in a region which is called "Oberbergisches Land", about 40 km from Remscheid. Katja does not have a car, we were invited to go with friends who are living in Wuppertal, the neighbour city.  Katja was afraid that we would sit only on our bums if we took the bus to Wuppertal and than drive with our friends in their car, so she decided we would take a nice long walk to Wuppertal. She told us that we would take a nice walk along a valley, not only on the streets.

We had great weather, but it was only 09:30 am, it would not be too hot.



We went through Hasten.





Soon we reached the outskirts of Remscheid, already close to Morsbachtal (Morsbach valley).



In the background you can already see the outskirts of Wuppertal.



Here, where you enter the valley, you can find centuries old remains of industrial sites. They are a museum nowadays. Mostly there were smithies and grinderies,



This is Steffenshammer, the histrical grindery.



The water wheel is still working.



While we walked along the valley we saw this funny stuff. Snow?



No, many poplars are growing here. Their seeds are "packed"into this hairy, fluffy stuff. The whole valley is full of it



We were on the right path, heading to Wuppertal-Elberfeld.



Now we followed another valley, the "Gelpetal" (Gelpe valley). We were in the municipal area of Wuppertal than.

We followed this valley for some time.



Here we left the valley to walk towards the city - uphill of course









Civilisation came into sight.



I met a wooden squirrel



It was almost done



Finally we reached the main street.



This pub is definitely owned by a German soccer enthusiastic



From here we went downhill to the city centre.





Katja's friens are living close to the church which you can see in the distance.

We enjoyed the trip in the air-conditioned car, outside it became really hot in the meantime.

We went through rural landscape and found the ferret shelter in the middle of nowhere. Katja has two ferrets from this shelter, they had their open day today.

This is the playground for those ferrets who came with visitors, probably all of them were former inhabitants of this shelter.



Here are more of those fur balls.





We also went inside. I saw an information poster about ferrets and their anatomy.



We also met several friends here and we enjoyed some drinks and some cake.



Katja bought a hammock for her ferrets here with a Simpsons-print on it.

We left at 04:00 pm, just in time to listen to the FIFA world cup match on the radio, the match Germany vs. England.

I'll see that we'll take a photo of the ferrets in their new hammock tomorrow.

Bye
Belka

Hi Mummy,
we helped to feed the ferrets today, Rafael and I. They eat raw meat from chicken, turkey and beef.

This is Brighty, I think she likes me







But where is Shiva? There she is! We tested the new hammock in the meanwhile.



Later I asked Nathalie what I should do to get some nice souvenirs. She showed me the tube map and told me, that she also brought some delicious chocolate with her. Chocolate ... that's not a good idea - it's almost 30°C outside, even now in the late evening. So we asked Katja if she had a match box for me. Yes, she has one! And I am also allowed to keep the flower chain. I think I'll send it home to you. Katja also gave me a sheet of stickers



Maybe I will travel to my next host tomorrow!

Bye
Belka

Hi Mummy,
we enjoyed coffee and a muffin at Katja's desk in the law firm.



Tomorrow I will have to say good-bye to my friends and travel to my next host, also in Germany.

Bye
Belka