Travelog for: Jasper

Hello everybody,
This morning we took the train to Solothurn.





Solothurn is located on 430 m above sea level. M. on Jurasüdfuss. The city is divided by the river Aare into a northern and southern area.
The old town in its present state was built mostly 1520-1790 and accordingly shows a mixture of different architectural styles, but especially the Baroque, so Solothurn is regarded as "most beautiful baroque city of Switzerland".

The first look at the city center and cathedral.





On our way along the river Aare, we discovered an "open bookcase". You can bring books or take free.



We walked further and saw many beautiful buildings.







This is the "crooked tower", you can see why it's called so.





We crossed the Aare



and went to the old town.







Also Solothurn is not spared of graffiti on the walls.
This here I liked.



An office building.



The portal of the Protestant City Church.







The church seen from the side.



Through picturesque little roads















we came to the town hall.





Around every corner was something new to see.







The old arsenal museeum is being renovated.



One of the many beautiful fountains.



Up we went



to this round tower, a part of the fortress wall.





Hmm, was this formerly the castle moat ??



The round tower.



It's very old.



From the terrace we saw the mountains of the Jura -



and the Cathedral of St. Ursen.





We walked on, looking forward to a flower bed



and refreshed ourselves at a fountain.



Then we discovered a model of the city of Solothurn.



Here we sit in the middle of the river Aare hi, hi.



By Baseltor



we came to the bell tower of the Cathedral.



249 steps take you to a viewing platform.



We begged until mom dragged us up.

One of the eleven bells.



Ooh, the climb was worth it.



With shaky legs and wet hands mom photographed bravely.







She has a bit afraid of heights. Especially with TV's in her hands.









Magnificent views.





Then - 249 steps down.

Ha, I was up there.



View over the rooftops of the old town.







We sat for a moment in the cool church.





Then we admired the main portal.





The Clock Tower was also worth a look.



Slowly it was time to think of the way home.





Over a footbridge we came back to the other bank of the Aare -









and the train station.

See you
Jasper

Hi
we deserved an Oscar. An Oscar for whining.
First it was too cold, then it was too wet and now it's too hot.
But it's really too hot. For days, temperatures above 35 °.
We can barely drag ourselves out to the balcony.
Between all the vegetables - which like the weather - there are a few cool spots.





















Eating a cake and do nothing - that's the best.




Bye for now
Jasper

Hi
while we enjoyed the sun on the balcony, mom brought us a newcomer.



The little sheep comes from China, introduced herself as Rachel and brought beautiful postcards and sweets.



We warmly welcomed and gave her a big group hug.



Then we enjoyed a leisurely afternoon together.



Hugs
Jasper

Hi
Today we took a hike to the Schwendi lakes.
The Schwendi Lakes lie between Gamser- and Chäserrugg (two of the seven Churfirsten mountains) in a hollow in a sheltered flat moorland of national importance. When the Schwendi glacier about 14,000 years ago melted, he left the hollow in which the lakes were dammed. In the following millennia caused by siltation of the lake shore gradually the moors.
A funicular took us to 1340 meters above sea level. Here we started our hike.
We had a nice view of the opposite side of the valley. There we saw the Schafberg and the Säntis.







After about an hour we reached the first lake.





On an information board was everything worth knowing about the formation of mountains and moorland.



On a boardwalk we went deeper into the bog.



The lakeshore can only be reached through a single web. This of course was crowded.
So we contented ourselves with this sight.

We walked on and marveled at the many, various bog plants.



Up here theplants  bloom between May and September. Therefore, the meadows are now very colorful.









We have also discovered such romantic places.



Even lotus flowers grow here.



And a lot more.



This is the second Schwendisee. Because you reached its water surface only by a marshy reeds, it is much quieter here.
On a bench, we rested and gathered strength for the descent. After all, it was necessary to overcome 300 meters in altitude.





Last panorama before descending, Jasper knees tremble already.



Here we go.



Safe and happy back home greets you
Jasper

Hello there,
and once again it was time to say goodbye to two good friends.
Sansone travels to his new host to Germany and Twixx wants to fulfill his last life mission: return home safley.
As a farewell we celebrated a great Cake Party.







With cake in the belly and melancholy in the heart we said goodbye and wished a safe journey.













Jasper

Hello to all,
today we welcomed our new guests:

The WotWots from Austalia.




Let's have fun together !!

Jasper

Hello there,
Today I start a new adventure. My journey takes me to Wuppertal in Germany.

Bye my friends, I'll never forget you.





















See you
Jasper

Hi Mommy,

this week I arrived at my new host's home in Wuppertal. My new host is Katja, she and _Mishuta_ from Ukraine gave me warm welcome. I brought a postcard with me and a lovely souvenir dish towel which was already pre-washed and is in use now.



Katja is also living in a flat, this is the view from the balcony.



Today Katja took me to town, we had to do some shopping. We are living in a quarter just above the central station, so we have to cross the tracks everytime we walk to the city. It is just a few minutes walk to get to the city centre of Elberfeld.



Can you see the cranes in the background? A vast area is re-built at the moment. This large construction site will be finished around spring 2017, containing a completely new area in front of the central station with a lowered-down street. Here you can read more about the building site and you can see pictures how this area once looked.

This is the historic concert hall, built in 1900, also a fantastic event location.





Due to the building site the central bus station also had to move, it is located now here.



And here  is ..... the Schwebebahn!



The Schwebebahn is one of the most important attractions of Wuppertal. This is one of 20 stations, built in a modern style. The track is mostly following river Wupper, only in the West of Wuppertal it is leaving the river bed and follows streets, it is even crossing the motorway A46.





This is one of the trains. Next year these wagons will be replaced by new ones, just today a first new wagon was transported to Wuppertal. It will be tested for some time during nights.





Soon we reached the city centre with its shopping streets.



The building with the tower is the city hall, on the open space in front of it a daily farmer's market is taking place.





Here you can find the fountain "Jubiläumsbrunnen", it is a copy of the Neptun's fountain in Trient/Italy.



The booth for the Christmas market are already in place.



We went to Luisenviertel, an old quater which is well known for lots of bars, restaurants and nice shops.



This is St. Laurentius Church, also with a largen open space in front of it which is used for markets and other outdoor events.







This funny statue is called "A new successful day". Recently the statue's briefcase and tie were stolen, in the meantime the briefcase was replaced and also the tie - he is wearing a lot of ties right now





Back to the building site.







This is the Schwebebahn station Katja is often using.



On the information board we could read that the next Schwebebahn would be a special train. And yes, it was the historic "Kaiserwagen". This train is in use since 1900 and is nowdays used for private trips. You can hire it or sometimes there are special trips for the public.





When we came home from shopping we met our neighbour with her dog Jule in the entry, we decided to accompany her on a walk to the forest.

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Walking in Wuppertal means walking uphill, as the valley slopes are really steep. To make it easier for pedestrians, hundreds of public stairs were built. There are more than 400 of them, a lot of them with more than 100 steps.



As soon as you leave the immediate vicinity of the city centre, the more green you will see, parks or woodland areas.



It took us about 10 minutes to reach a nearby forest.







On our way back home Katja showed me the company building of a local insurance company. It is one of Wuppertal's landmarks.



From here you have a stunning overview across the city.





Bye for today
Jasper

Hi Mum,

we made a trip to Wuppertal-Barmen today, the second largest district of Wuppertal.

Of course we went there by Schwebebahn.



Here you can find the "Historic centre" with the house where Friedrich Engels grew up, a social scientist and journalist, one of "Marx and Engels", founder of Marxist Theory. He lived from 1820 till 1895. Nowadays the Museum for early industrialism is also located here, with an adjoining park along the main street.







This is old man Friedrich Engels.





We went to the city then and saw the opera house.









This is the central Schwebebahn station in Barmen.





Can you see the bridge in the background? Katja told me that this bridge belongs to "Nordbahntrasse", which was a railway track once, now re-built for pedestrians and cyclists. Katja promised that we will go there later because you had a stunning view across the city.



First we visited the city hall of Barmen and the farmer's market which is held every Saturday on a space behind it.



The christmas market is also here waiting to be opened.



This is the farmer's market.



Afterwards we went to the Nordbahntrasse. Because it is situated much higher at the slope it meant walking stairs.





Soon we reached the bridge, or rather the viaduct.



Katja was right - the view is stunning 









We left the Nordbahntrasse here. This former track is only part of a much larger track system. Within the municipality of Wuppertal is lane is about 23 km long and was completed last year. I hope I will see more of it.



We strolled around a district called Rott, with lots of lovely old houses.



We also found an architectural feature here, a residental area called "Waldhof", completed in 1928 with arcades and houses like "towers", nearly destroyed in World War II and re-built later.



This is one of several hospitals, having a lovely old building and lots of annex including a high-rise building.



Later we crossed the Nordbahntrasse once more, this time we took a photo of an information board.



Another highlight - the Lego Bridge!

The Lego Bridge is a concrete beam bridge of the Nordbahntrasse which crosses over the Schwesterstraße. In 2011, the bridge was repainted by a graffiti and street artist. The work was awarded the Deutscher Fassadenpreis Advancement Prize in 2012.



It looks incredibly real 





From here we took the chance to visit a special market in Schwesterstraße, a mixture between flea market and farmer's market, mostly run by immigrants. We bought lots of vegetables here.

Bye for today
Jasper

Hi Mum,
outside it is raining cats and dogs, so Katja just went shopping. She bought a few things for preparing christmas presents. She bought a large piece of ginger, untreated lemons and a bottle of vodka. We prepared lemon-ginger-liqueur.

We had to remove a really thin layer of lemon peel, the lemons were pressed, a large piece of ginger was also peeled and cut into slices. Lemon peel, lemon juice, ginger and sugar had to cook for 10 minutes. This mixture had to cool down then and was filled into a large jar and finally the vodka were also added.





Now the mixture has to rest for two weeks and will be re-filled in smaller bottles then.



Katja said that this stuff was just wonderful!

Bye
Jasper

Hi Mum,
in the afternoon we took a long walk with dog Jule. We went to a nearby hill, called "Kiesberg". On our way there we walked along a lovely house, it belonged to a facitry owner once.



We had a good view to the university area. The university was built in the 1970s years and is constantly enlarged. Almost everytime you can find a building site there.





The city was lying underneath the hill then.



Greetings from Jule and me 



Mishuta and I enjoyed the lovely weather.



Later we walked along a memorial grove, dedicated to the dead of World War I.











On our way back home we came across another intesting place, the former slaughterhouse. Nowadays "Villa Media" is located there, an arts venue.





Bye for today
Jasper

Hi Mum,
we went to Hattingen today. Hattingen is a town in the northern part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district with a picturesque historic district. They are having timber-framed houses there, like in Wuppertal and Remscheid.
Hatingen is also known for a really lovely Christmas market.

This house is created like an advent calendar. On each day of December (until 24th) one window is opened.



We saw lovely Christmas decoration.





Of course we wanted to taste local delicacies, so we had "Reibekuchen" (potatoe fritter) and a beer.



We strolled around the city.





We really enjoyed this trip.

Bye
Jasper

Hi Mum,
this Saturday we went to the city to buy a few things. Because the weather was so great we walked around for some time. We started our trip in the city centre, in front of the city hall.



Katja showed me the listed facade of a well known department store.





We walked towards Luisenviertel ...



... with its picturesque narrow streets.



From here we walked uphill towards a quarter called "Ölberg". This quarter was built as a housing area for workers, although there was already electrictity, most residents of this quarter still used oil lamps.
That is where its name is coming from.





Walking uphill often means a fantastic view across the city 



Have a look at thouse gorgeous houses!



Once again we had stairs to climb.



This is a  well-known place in this quarter, "Schusterplatz" with a large playground.







This church belongs to a large cemetary.





We walked back towards the city centre though another part of the Northern city.







We had to buy food for the ferrets then. Katja often buys it in a Turkish supermarket.

Bye
Jasper

Hi Mum,

we took a walk today in the surroundings of Remscheid and Solingen, both neighbour cities of Wuppertal. We walked along river Wupper, which is the natural border between the two cities.



We walked uphill towards the valley slope of Solingen. Soon we reached Germany's highest railway bridge, Muengsten Bridge. Katja told me that Muengsten Bridge is connecting Remscheid and Solingen.



Soon we were able to see the whole bridge, overspanning the valley of river Wupper. The bridge is 107 m tall and about 490 m wide, opened in the year 1907.



We walked along the valley, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill.





In the background the first houses of Solingen-Unterburg came into sight... and also Schloss Burg, a medieval castle, situated on a hill high above river Wupper.





Unterburg is an historic district with picturesque timber-framed houses.





These houses were mostly built in late 18th century.





There is also a small church with an historic cemetary.



We walked back, again following river Wupper.





This time we crossed below Muengsten Bridge. There is a leisure park created underneath it with resting zones, a crazy-golf-course and lawns for playing and a restaurant.



At the moment construction works are taking place (not only now, but already for several years and it will stay like this for at least one more year).





Soon we reached the car. Bye for today

Jasper

Hi Mum,
finally we are having winter - it is cold and it snowed
Katja decided to take a long walk with her daughter, so we went to Remscheid-Lennep where she is living.



We went to a nearby forest which belongs to the surroundings of a water reservoir.







Later we walked through a rural area and we had to cross several roads.





In the end we had wet feet and were frozen through and through 

Bye
Jasper