Travelog for: BineHH

Hi Mummy,
we baked  a delicious cake today. Baking a cake is always a good idea    Soon we gathered all the ingredients which we needed for the cake, a cake with curd-filling and tangerines. That sound really good.

For the dough we need margarine, sugar, eggs and wheat flour with some baking powder. The filling is made of curd, eggs, sugar, a little bit oil and milk and vanilla sugar, and of course canned tangerines.



First we made the dough ...



... and put it into the baking pan.



For the filling we had to mix curd, egg yolk, sugar, vanilla sugar, oil, milk and finally beaten egg whites.





The tangerines were put on top of the filling.



The cake had to bake than for about 50 minutes. It was almost ready than.



Finally the cake was covered with "Tortenguss" .

Than we enjoyed the cake. It is really delicious and refreshing. If you would also like to try this cake you can find the full receipe here .

Bye
BineHH

Hi Mummy,
the weather was much better today so we took a walk in the forest. Katja was picked up by her friend Kerstin, who brought her dog Pepe with her. We parked the car on a parking site for hikers at one of the outer limits of Remscheid's municipal area.

From here we crossed the district "Unterburg" which belongs to the neighbour city Solingen. It is a very old district, situated at the river Wupper.

We walked down a really steep and narrow road to reach the valley.



A large tree was cut down recently.



Soon we reached the river Wupper. Due to snow melting it has high-water.



We followed a path along the river, uphill and downhill.



We crossed the river at t his bridge.





Close to a café we found snowdrops.



Now we followed a path on this side of the river. Again it went uphill and downhill. Here we saw high rocks.



Snow water is running down the hills everywhere.





A large bridge came in sight: Muengsten Bridge, Germany's highest railway bridge.



Finally we reached the bottom of the valley with the bridge.



Muengsten Bridge is made of steel. It is 107 m high and spans the valley of river Wupper, which is marking the border between Remscheid and the neighbour town Solingen.

The bridge is 465 m long and was completed in 1897 A.D.

A leisure park was built underneath the bridge a few years ago. You can relax on the lawns, play in the water and they have playgrounds for the kids.

Here you can also see the high-water.



Wolle found some snow remains in front of a building. She wanted to play with us in the snow, but we all are completely fed up with snow.

We walked until we reached another bridge, we crossed the river here once more. In the background you can see a cute little outlook pavilion. Katja told us that we would walk along this pavilion later.





Here you can see the hight of Muengsten Bridge compared to other famous buildings.



We reached the outlook pavilion than.



We rested in front of this waterfall (also snow water) for a while.



Once more we walked underneath Muengsten Bridge, this time on the slope of the valley.



When we were on our way back to the car, the sun came out.



The sunshine does so good to me 



Bye
BineHH

Hi Mummy,
the weather is great here at the moment - but it is cold! It was so nice at the weekend but now it is about freezing point.

Katja showed us around in her lunch break.

First I'll show you the city  hall. There is a large space in front of it, the farmer's market is here twice a week.



Here on this space you can find a pillar with a lion, the heraldic animal of Remscheid.



This is one of the entrances of the shopping mall.



Here they planted 16 trees, each for one of 16 German states. There is also a small pillar in front of each tree with the coat of arms attached to it. Katja showed me the tree which stands for Schleswig-Holstein, my home state.



Here you can see the central bus station.





This lorry is a present from Remscheid's twin city Wansbeck in England.



From this bridge I can see the bus station once more.







Here is a little park in the middle of the city.









We walked to another district than, to Hasten,which is one of the oldest districts of the municipal area. Here you can see many of the typical "Bergische Häuser" (hosues of this region). They are often covered with slate or they are also often half-timbered houses.










This park belongs to a museum site. The Patrician villa in the background contains a museum and you can also find the "German Tool Museum" here. Im Remscheid tools are produced since middle ages.

In the garden you can find some large machines.





Remscheid is surrounded by large forests with deep valleys.



Than we had to return to work, but this time we took the bus to get back to the city centre.

Bye
BineHH

Hi Mummy,
have a look what happened outside ...



BineHH

Hi Mummy,
we have snow again! Katja was so happy that the snow melted away ... I don't care about snow or not snow -  I like it here anyway.

We took a walk today in a district called "Hohenhagen". Here were many dwellings built about four years ago. Hohenhagen is situated on a hill.



This TV-tower is situated on the  highest point of the municipal area, 377 m above sea level.



In the background you can see the outskirts of the neighbour city Wuppertal.



We rested in the sun for a while.



Can you see the motorway A1 in the background? Katja told me that once here was a large forest which was nearly destroyed by a terrible storm three years ago. Before this storm the motorway was not visible. This motorway runs from Heiligenhafen to Saarbrücken. If I wanted to come home to you by car I would have to take it.



Here the forest is still intact.



On our way back to the car we walked along some farms.



Bye for today
BineHH

Hi Mummy,
we had bad weather since our last walk in the forest. But now the snow melted again within that rainy week.

I just want to let you know that I said goodbye to Wendy, Wolle and Katja. I am on my way to Japan now. I have a cold, that's why Katja packed some cough drops into my envelope. Those black ones are not really cough drops. but as a "Nordlicht" I love liquorice!



See you soon!

BineHH

Hello, Japan!

Mummy, I have new friends here.
Hypno-dog from Russia, and Vini from Germany.
hanachan taught us "Origami", and we made these cute boxes for candies and cookies.
Vini's chair is origami egg-stand. hahaha he said, it's comfortable.

Oh, there are many places I want to go. 

Dear Mom,
We're in Shikoku, now. It's the smallest one of Japan's 4 main islands.
Mom, I can tell you all of 4 islands' name. OK?
From the north to the south, Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu!
Of course you already know about Okinawa where JaymeC hosted me.
Okinawa is far south of Kyushu.
(thank you, JaymeC, my sweet memory)

Today, we're going across the Seto Ohashi Bridge and for Honshu.
hanachan forgot to take picture of the train. 
OK, OK...

Hey, Mom, we're running over the sea now!!

Sakura - Cherry blossom in Kurashiki, Okayama pref.
It has just started to bloom.

Mom, most Japanese are both Shintoists and Buddhists.
Shinto is the native religion of Japan, originating from primitive ancestor and nature worship. It has no Bible.
There are many deities around.
Here I found this, a deity lives in?
hanachan smiled and said,
"a small stone in it, or nothing there."
Mom, I think that Japanese don't care what they worship.
It's all in a state of mind.

Wow, they worship even "Hello, Kitty!"???

Hello, Mom!
Here we came to hanachan's favorite place in Takamatsu.
Ritsurin Garden is one of most beautiful and famous Gardens in Japan. The Matsudaira family, the Lord of Takamatsu (1642-1871) was very rich because they were the relatives of Shogun.
This garden had been used as the Matsudaira's villa.

Hi Mom!
This is a small shrine near hanachan's house.
Such a small shrine is everywhere.
2 Komainu guard the shrine. (Mom, they look like lions!!)
One opens his mouth and other closes.
Cherry blossoms are in full bloom and starting to fall.
Japanese really love this flower.

Hi mommy!
I like shopping! Of course you, too!
I'm here in the shopping area in Takamatsu.
People seem to enjoy watching and shopping.

Let's have a break at the Cafe!
I can't read Japanese. No problem! Look, this menu book has a lot of photos!!
I can order my favorites, just saying "please this one!"

In local city like Takamatsu, many people don't speak English. (German? hopeless!)
But many restaurants and Cafes have menu book with picture and wax-work samples on the show-case.
It's a great system!

Hi Mom!
I guess that this is a very interesting photo for non-Japanese people, especially for the Westerners.
This is the graveyard in Takamatsu.
Japan is such a mountainous country and has very few plains.
The city of Takamatsu is over there.
Also you can see the mountain "Yashima" in spring haze. Its peak is flat and resembles a roof.
Somewhere in the mountain I heard "Uguisu" (small bird, Japanese Bush-warbler) calling.

Mom, This is not a big laundry.
They are carp streamers called "Koinobori".
I found this interesting scene beside the mountain road in Tokushima.
May 5th is the day of Children in Japan. Especially it is for boys.
(The day of girls is March 3rd  )
When the day is coming, Families with boys display a helmet replica or Samurai dolls inside the house, and fly Koinobori outside.
The carp is thought to be a lucky fish symbolizing success in life.
These Koinobori are amazing! I wonder how it was set over the river.