Travelog for: Chompers

Hi Mummy,
today it was really nice and warm outside. In the afternoon Katja, her daughter Alex, Angus, Galaxy Bear and me took a walk. First we went into a little park in front of the police station. We sat on a rocking horse.



Then we went into the muncipal park. This is the observatory.



Here you can see more of the park.



We went through an old district called „Hasten“. Here are many nice old houses.



Here you can see a famous company, Keiper. They are building bucket seats and racing-style seats for mainstream manufacturers.



We came to a district called “Morsbachtal”. Here the creek Morsbach is running. In this district the first industrial settlements took place long ago. Along the creek tools were made, in the early centuries of industrial settlement the fabrics were run by water wheels.

Here we are all sitting on the balustrade of a bridge running across the creek.



From here you can walk into forrest and follow the route along the historical “Gelpetal”. The river Gelpe is flowing through the valley, coming from Wuppertal. Here you can find an old sledgehammer which is now a museum. Around the hammer some beautiful old houses remained.

On this card the course of the river Gelpe is shown with its historical holdovers from industrial companies.









We were sitting on the edge of a little standpipe. On the picture you cannot see the water flowing, but we all got a little bit wet. But that doesn’t matter because it was so warm.



On this plate the history of the company that you can see in the background, is explained. This plate belongs to a serie of such plates along a special trail along the creek and its industrial culture.



We rested on a bench in the sun.



We found a rock that was worked into the shape of an easy chair. Alex enjoyed the sun again and we did also.



On our way back home we walked along the “Werkzeugtrasse”, the route of tools. This is a lane built on an abandoned railway track. Along this route you can find many signs of local industrial companys who sponsored this lane. This is a bench made of a huge screw clamp.



We went through the muncipal park again, along a pond with ducks. You can also find goldfish and several sorts of turtels who were released into the wild by their former owners.



I am very tired now. We had pasta for dinner. I will go to bed early after I took a last glance to the rat babies.

Bye
Chompers

Hi Mummy,
today Katja took us with her when she went to the post office.

She showed us the town centre with the shops. She also took Galaxy Bear with her because Alex has to learn for school.

Here you can see some pictures of the pedestrian area.





These large forcepses are marking the entrance to the pedestrian area.



Here you can see the town hall. Unfortunately the tower has a scaffold, but it will be taken away soon.



When we were back at home we relaxed in the midday sun in the kitchen window.



In the meantime Katja made coffee. She wanted to read today's newspaper and eat a doghnut. It's called "Berliner Ballen" here, it is the same dough but it does not have a hole but it is filled with jam.





I wanted to see more and I looked out of the living room window.

In this direction you can see about 100 km when the sky is very clear, without clouds or dust.



This is the view to the other side. I like it with all those trees.



Bye
Chompers

Hi Mummy.
today we visited a flea market in the town. It is held every year on Pentecost, on Sunday and Monday here. Katja wanted to look for a pot to make fruit in rum, it is called "Rumtopf" here, as well the pot as the result of putting rum and fruits together.

She really found one. She also bought a bowl made of ceramics with a large sunflower painted inside.

Her daughter Alex bought shoes. I watched her choosind shoes. She bought white shoes for her new dress.



But now let's have a look at the scenery:







Katja also bought two dvd's.

Here you can see what we bought today.





We will watch one of the movies today.

Bye,
Chompers

Hi Mummy,
yesterday in the evening it started raining like hell. We are living in the attic storey here and enormous raindrops fell onto the windows in the ramp. Today in the morning there was still a little bit rain but at noon the sun was shining again.

Katja met her friend Kerstin to take a long walk. Of course Angus and me went with them. We drove to Solingen-Höhrath to walk around the "Sengbach-Talsperre". This is a water reservoir dam and you are not allowed to walk close to the water. The walking path goes uphill and downhill around the lake and from some points you have a stunning view onto the dam.

We parked the car close to some stables. On many paddocks we saw horses.





On our way to the dam we came along  this funny fence. The owner had fastened small wooden boards to the fence. On these boards he put real shoes in which plants are growing. Katja told us that these shoes are standing there for years already.







This sign also is fastened to the fence.



We went into the forrest. In the background you can see "Schloss Burg", a medieval castle built in 12th century.



We reached the dam. The sign explains to you that the dam contains drinking water and what you are allowed to do here, better what you are forbidden to do.



This is the concrete dam.



The dam is one of the oldes dams in Germany. It was built from 1900 until 1903.



We made our way around the lake. The path went uphill and downhill. Sometimes we could not see the lake, but then the view was beautiful.





This is a motorway bridge.



On our way back to the car we saw this beautiful blooming bush. It is called "snowball" here, do you know this plant also?



We walked for almost three hours! Back home we tried to measure the walked distance with google earth. It must have been about 10 - 12 km.

We are all tired now,

good night
Chompers

Hi Mummy,
today we made Lamingtons, an Australian cake. Katja said that some mentors of TVs talked in the forum about Lamingtons. She was curious about Australian cake so she decided to try it out.

Tomorrow her nephew is celebrating his birthday. His birthday was last week. He was on vacation with his parents then so the party will be tomorrow. We will take some of the Lamingtons to the party.

Katja didn't make photos when we prepared the dough because she had to recharche the camera's batteries first. They were ready when the cake was also ready.

We made most of the cake with coconut like it's written in the receipe. Katja's brother-in-law does not like coconut so we made some pieces with chocolate granules. I'm sure they taste good also. Those with coconut are delicous and very moist.







On Saturday I will climb into my envelope for visiting the Netherlands. Katja said that they also have good cake there.

Bye
Chompers

Hi Mummy,

today we went  to Lennep, another district of Remscheid, to visit Katja’s nephew Lucas and his parents. Lucas was celebrating his ninth birthday. Lucas’ parents are Katja’s sister and her brother-in-law. They live in a nice flat in an old house. Because of the nice weather they decided to let the party take place in the garden.

Galaxy Bear went with us because his host, Katja’s daughter, had to join a soccer training in the afternoon. She arrived at the party at dinner time. So Galaxy Bear was able to enjoy the nice weather in the garden.

On our way to Lennep we had to pick up an envelope from the post office. Inside the envelope something was crawling and talking. The envelope was sent from Finland, so it only could be the adopted girlie bear. We told he to be patient for a few minutes. First we went to the flat of Katja’s aunt because the two of them wanted to drive to Lennep with her aunt’s car.

On the balcony many flowers were blooming.



When we arrived in Lennep we first wished Lucas a happy birthday, he got his presents and then we helped the little girlie bear to get out of her envelope. She was carrying a letter to Katja with her. She was very glad to be welcomed to nice.







We were very hungry, it was good the the table was ready for coffee and cake. Katja’s sister made a cheese cake and nut wedges, Katja brought the lamingtons we made the day before.



Katja’s sister had prepared a strawberry punch. Therefore you need strawberries cut in pieces with a little bit of sugar. This has to draw through for an hour or two. Then you have to put the fruits into a large bowl and then you add a bottle of white wine and a bottle of sparkling wine. It was delicious and very refreshing.







The strawberry punch had a funny effect on Galaxy Bear and me. We played at the football table with Lucas and his Daddy, but I’m afraid we did not choose the correct position. When Lucas and his Daddy moved the bars with the little players we flew into the air.





It was very funny. Katja murmured something about little bears and puppies and alcohol. Alcohol? Ahh… the strawberry punch ……

To calm down we rested on the water barrel in the sun. Galaxy bear took a walk through the garden to watch the flowers



Later we played basket ball.



After dinner we sat and talked. Katja’s sister had a book which explaines first names. We all looked for a name for the girlie bear. We found several nice names and we could not decide which one to take. Katja said she would check later if any of the names were already placed for other ToyVoyagers. The bear’s name is now Finja.

Katja’s brother-in-law drove us home. We were very tired and we almost fell asleep in the car.

Bye
Chompers

Hi Mummy,
I left Katja's home today. I'm on my way to the Netherlands now. I hope it won't take too long to get there.



Bye
Chompers

Hi mum!

I arrived in the Netherlands today!



Marjolein just came back from the citycentre with LiLA Bear but she said she is going to show me the city real soon!

Nick, LiLA Bear, Pingu and Roots Bear welcomed me in Den Bosch as the Dutch simply call 's-Hertogenbosch.



Marjolein was very happy with the cool card I brought here from  Remscheid!



Love you!! Kisses Chompers

Dear mum,

I went to see the Dutch national footballteam today!! In the footballstadium of PSV Eindhoven in Eindhoven. The match was between Holland and Denmark. It was so cool!





Before the match, there was a giant toy on the field! He had a drum with 'Dutchy' on it. Marjolein told me this is the mascotte of the Dutch team. I said he should also travel but Marjolein doubts he will fit into an envelop. She told me a little secret: there is actually in man inside that lionssuit!



But then the match began. First it was time for the national anthems. The Dutch anthem is called the 'Wilhelmus' named after Willem I, king of the Netherlands in the 16th century. The song has 15 verses but they only sing one at the footballmatches. Most of the Dutch only know this verse.



That's the goalkeeper of the Netherlands, Edwin van der Sar, on the big screen.



And they're off!





Do you see all the people nicely dressed in orange? Orange is the Dutch national colour. This is because their royalty's (queen Beatrix and family) are called Oranje (orange in Dutch).



Rafael van der Vaart (number 23, footballer of HSV, in Germany) took a cornerkick for Holland.



And Holland scored!!



I was so excited! Do you see me partying??





So when the second half of the match began, it was 1-0 for Holland.



But then Denmark got dangerous!



O no! Denmark scored!!



And that was the end of the match. The first half was very good, but the second half the Dutch team played sloppy and they let Denmark make a goal. I hope they will do better at the European Championship next month! This game was just for practice.



The stadion of PSV Eindhoven is a very beautiful stadium, also on the outside. It's called 'Philips Stadion' because Philips is their sponsor. Philips is a factory that makes lamps and other electric stuff. Eindhoven is therefore also called the 'Lichtstad' translated something like The city of Light. That sounds beautiful doesn't it?



Miss you! Love Chompers

Hi mummy!!

We went to the biggest Bingo of Holland today! There where lots of Dutch singers and Marjolein and Kasper also won something! They both won a replica of the t-shirt the Dutch national team whore during the World Championship of 1974! It was so cool!

This all happened in the footballstadium of the club Vitesse, the Gelredome, in Arnhem (or Arnheim in German). It didn't really look like a stadium, like the Philips Stadion. But that's because the Gelredome was also built for things like performances of big artists and of course superbingo's hihi.



It was really big and there where about 36000 people inside!





Gerard Joling, who is a famous Dutch singer, presented it. He looks a bit weird in is golden suit but Marjolein said that's because he is gay.





Jan Smit also performed. He is from Volendam and he has is own real life soap. He has been a famous singer since he was very small and he sang a song for his grandmother. Marjolein has got one cd of him and she thinks he's cute. O and she has some underpants that say: Mrs Smit, as if she is Jan's wife haha. Marjolein got them from Kasper, he is a bit weird too.



Politicus Agnes Kant was also on the party. That is because the goal of the Bingo was to raise money for playgrounds for Dutch children. Agnes Kant also wants more playgrounds.



And of course was Rene Froger singing on stage! He also sings in English so I could finally understand some of the songs!



This is Edsilia Rombley. She went to the Eurovision Songcontest for the Netherlands twice. She never won.





I filled in the Bingocards for Marjolein.



The biggest act was Frans Bauer! All Dutch people love him because they think he is so normal. The Dutch don't really like it when people are to drama. Frans did kidnap this child on stage but she seems to enjoy herself.







The Bingo was also the final for a program called 'Kinderen zingen met Sterren', which means Children sing with Stars. There where 4 teams on stage. The team that sang with the duo Nick and Simon from Volendam won.





We had a great time!

Love Chompers

When we got back a new toyvoyager had arrived! It was Davy!

Hello mum,

We helped Marjolein make dinner today! We made Russian Stroganoff with cucumbersalad. It was very nice!

Hugs Chompers

LiLA Bear went on with her journey today. Marjolein took her to the postoffice and send her off to England. I am going to miss her! She is very sweet! I gave her a big hug and wished her good luck.

Dear mum,

I ate some peanutbutter from the Netherlands today! Although I already ate some in Holland this one was from the Dutch brand Calvé! It was very, very nice!

Hugs Chompers

Hi mum,

Because the Dutch footballteam played their first match for the European Cup (against Italy) yesterday (Holland won with 3-0!!) we decided to play some ToyVoyagersfootball!

I was in the team with Davy.



Davy attacked!



He tried to score... But Pingu got the ball.



And then they started attacking! Nick played the ball to Roots, Roots played it back to Nick. Nick tried to score...



And he scored.



So my team lost. But now I can't write anymore because I have to get back to some more footballmatches! We are going to win this time!

Hugs Chompers