Travelog for: Easy

Some time ago, I met in the garden of Peggers parent some real nice friends! Tina and Bibi! They are rats too!



But there are something different to me: I am a gardenrat and they are houserats! But we were friends from the first moment!



Bibi and Tina showed me some others nice peoples too.  Since I am adventurous, I decided immediately to become a Toyvoyager.


So, let´s se what going on here!

Hm, nothing happen here 




MAYBE SOMEONE WANNA HOST ME?!?!?!?!

SNOW!!!!!

I love snow!!! And today it was snowing here in Rostock!

Today it´s time to say goodbye to all my friends at home! I do not know where my journey will leds me! It´s a surprise!


Bibi is a little bit up sad



My new home for the next days!


Bye Easy!

Hi Mummy,
I arrived at my new destination just in time for breakfast



My new host is Panda_Lilo's Mummy. Panda-Lilo was happy to be back home. She was a bit confused because her Mummy moved to another apartment while Panda-Lilo was travelling with you.

Than all the other ToyVoyagers came to have breakfast and say hello to us.



Is Mr. Stanley a long lost sibling of me?

I hope I will find out, Mr. Stanley will leave soon as he told me.

Bye
Easy

Hi Mummy,
in the morning I met real pets, but they are not rats. My host Katja is keeping three ferrets - curious, playful and cheeky little furry things.

Ferrets, where are you?!



There is Shiva!



Shiva was pleased to meet me (maybe too pleased).



Thankfully her chick toy was even more interesting.



This is Brighty,. she was playing in a large paper bag.



This is the third one, Zaehnchen.



Katja told me to be careful with the ferrets because they are predators. Most predators like small rodents - as their food! I promised to take care of myself.

Bye
Easy

Later we visited a medieval castle in the neighbour city Solingen, Schloss Burg, It is situated high upon a hill above the River Wupper.



We went to the courtyard with many shops. You can find souvenir shops and shops whose owners are doing an "old" handcraft, for example handmade brushes, brooms, soap, lovely yarns and wooden knitting needles, toys like swords and helmets and much more.





Schloss Burg was built in 1133 by Count Adolf I von Berg on a hill above the river Wupper.That's why this region is called "Bergisches Land". Many people believe that it's name refers to the landscape with hills and valleys. (For those who do not speak German: The German word for mountain or hill is "Berg", so many people think that the name "Bergisches Land" means "land of many hills" )

About a hundred years later it was enlarged by Count Engelberg II von Berg. This is the man on the horse in the courtyard.



In Thirty Years War (17th century) large parts of the castle were destroyed. It was rebuilt then, but it was used for industrial purposes for many years. In the end of the 19th century they began to rebuild it as it appears today.







We took a walk in the surroundings of the castle than. Katja took a group photo with the castle in the background.



Soon we reached an outlook pavilion. You have a stunning overview across the valley here and also a good view to the castle.







A terrible storm destroyed large parts of the forest some years ago.





We took a side trip to the concrete wall of a nearby dam, Sengbachtalsperre. We thought the surface had been frozen, but it wasn't frozen at all.



Far in the distance (the middle of the photo) you can see the city of Remscheid lying in the sun.



You can see it better on this zoomed photo.



On our way back to the car we walked through a lovely rural district.





Walking through the cold is really exhausting

Love
Easy

Hi Mummy,
today the weather became much better unexpectedly. Of course we went out for a walk. We went to the neighbour city Wuppertal, to the district Cronenberg. It is an historic district with many old factory buildings.



Here you can also find those lovely old houses like in Remscheid.



Katja told us that we would walk to a  nearby woodland area.



Most of the  snow already melted away.





Soon we reached the forest, a very special one: An arboretum, Staatsforst Burgholz

An arboretum is a collection of trees, sort of a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study. We went to "Staatsforst Burgholz", a woodland area which is situated in both urban area of Wuppertal and also the urban area of Solingen. When World War II was over, there were nearly all trees felled for rebuilding of destroyed city areas and also as firewood.

Searching for fast-growing forest species trees from foreign counties were planted than in this area to study their growth in local weather conditions. Plants from North America, South America, Asia and Europe were planted.



There are several walking paths through the arboretum. We decided to walk along a path showing trees of Northern America.







The soil is partly covered with soft moss.





Finally we walked through the sequoia tree area.





Walking back we saw this historic train, situated on the "Sambatrasse", a former railway track,  now a walking trail.



After enjoying so much sunshine we were very lazy in the afternoon, visiting a friend and having coffee.

Bye
Easy

Hi Mummy,

we took a walk today in the forest with Katja and her broter-in-law.

Remscheid is surrounded by forests, valleys and rural areas. Here you can see the city centre of Remscheid in the background, while we were walking through a district in the south of the municipal area.



Soon we reached a forest. We walked downhill until we reached the sole of the valley.



Of course a creek is running through the valley.



You can also find some fish ponds along the creek, they are all frozen now.



We had a lot of fun in the snow





Our walk took nearly two and a half hour

Bye
Easy

Hi Mummy,
although the weather was bad we took a long walk today in the outskirts of Remscheid. Even Katja's son accompanied us. We went to one of  the nearby valleys.



The first signs of spring were visible.





We reachend an interesting place, hiden in the forest - an historic hammer mill. Iron and steel were produced here since 15th century.



A large millwheel was lying on the ground. We rested here for a while.





Later we explored the estate.





This is the rear side of the house.



Katja told us that there was also a little pond with a weir. Currently the pond was nearly empty.





We left the valley than and walked uphill towards the city centre of Remscheid. The snow nearly melted away last week.





We walked through lovely hamlets.



We also crossed on of the largest valleys, the one where industrialisation began in middle ages. Still nowadays a lot of companies are working here.



From here we had to walk uphill for about half an hour to get back to the city centre on top of its hill.

Bye
Easy

Hi Mummy,
there is still snow, but at least it is a wonderful day with sunshine.

We went to the district Luettringhausen to pick up Katja's daughter for a longer walk. Luettringhausen is one of the historic districts of Remscheid.



Soon we went into the forest. We are planning to walk to Lennep, also an historic district.



We reached a valley with a creek running through.



Here in the valley we found an estate with lots of animals, also sheep. They are cameroon sheep. The sheep were curious if we brought food, but we did not have any.



We found the remains of an old weir.



We followed the path through the valley.



There are even a few houses in the valley.



When we left the valley and walked towards Lennep we saw the inner city of Luettringhausen in the background.



To get to Lennep we followed a main road for some time until we reached the historical inner city. Here you can find lovely narrow lanes and those typical houses.



This is the market place.





Later we went home by bus.

Bye
Easy

Hi Mummy,
although we are still having winter instead of spring we took a walk in the city centre. You can see my current home situated beyond the little park.



Close to the station there is a large intersection.



This bridge is for pedestrians, leading towards the station.





The Route of Tools (Trasse des Werkzeugs) is starting close to the station. We decided to walk along this former, now closed railway track which was built to a lane for pedestrians and cyclists. It is about 5 km long, following the former freight train track from the station to the district Hasten.



Remscheid is famous for its tool producing industry. Companies sponsored conversion, that's why it was called "Route of Tools".

You can find recreation areas here ...



... and lots of industrial buildings, both historical buildings and those of still working companies. You can see the former slaughterhouse on the next photo, now several offices and crafts enterprises are situated here.



You can also find large signs along the lane, showing the logos of sponsoring companies.



One of those signs is showing the coat of arms of Remscheid.





No doubt that this is a working area!



There is also artwork along the route, here we found a wrench pattern stamped into the tarmac.





We went home than, hoping that we will have spring soon!

Bye
Easy

[font=tahoma]Hi Mummy,
we had fantastic weather today, so we we made a trip to the neighbour city Wuppertal.

One of the city’s greatest attractions is the suspended monorail (Schwebebahn), which was established in 1901. The tracks are 8 m above the streets and 12 m above the Wupper River.



Katja promised to show us a really weird bridge. We had to walk for about 15 minutes until we reached it. It is a former railway bridge, looking like a Lego-bridge.









What a great bridge!

From here it was only a short walk to Hardt, a large parkway on a partly forested hill in the inner city area of Wuppertal. You can find a fantastic landscape park here and also the Botanical garden of Wuppertal. To get there, we only had to cross the street to the opposite direction of the bridge and walk uphill.



First we walked along a vast allotment garden area.



Soon we reached the parkway. In the background you can see one of 47 Bismarck towers which were built across Germany in early 20th century as outlook towers.



We strolled through the park, enjoying the sunshine.





We reached the Botanical garden than. You can find the former country house of a textile manufacturers named Eller, which contained a villa (built 1820), orangery, residential and farm buildings, and the Elise Tower (built 1838) which provides the garden's focal point.



We found at least a few spring flowers









We went back to the city centre to visit friends and their ferrets (Ferrets everywhere - life is dangerous.) Most of the time we walked along river Wupper and the Schwebebahn.





This is one of 20 stations. It was rebuilt last year in its original historical style.



Katja showed us the centre of justice with local court and district court.



Back in the city ...





We found a cafe which was open and bought cake for our friends.

Bye
Easy
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Hi Mummy,
today it was time to say good-bye to Remscheid and my friends. I packed my things and hopped into my envelope. I am now in my way to my next host, also in Germany.



Love
Easy

Hello Mommy!

Since I only traveled in Germany it was a short trip for me before I
arrived at my new host.

Two other TVs Shesh and Aurelius were already
eagerly awaiting my arrival and when a big envelope was in the
mail  today they could not wait to open it.







They welcomed my warmly and I showed them the little presents
olgamaus sent with me! Thank you for the chocolates and the card, says my host!

Looking forward to some adventures around here!

Love, Easy.