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Turku, Finland - 30th January 2015
By: jinxed
Hello again,
Teddy had found small Runeberg's tortes, so he shared them with us. Of course we had tea, too. These tortes are usually avaible only around the 5th of February, which is known as Runeberg's day.
Johan Ludwig Runeberg (5th February 1804 - 6th May 1877), was a writer and a poet, he's also the national poet of Finland. He wrote in Swedish and his best known writing is Fänrik Ståls sägner (Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat / Vänrikki Stålin tarinat in Finnish, The Tales of Ensign Stål in English), which is an epic poem that describes the events of the Finnish War (1808 - 1809). The first chaper of the poem became the national anthem of Finland (Maamme in Finnish, Vårt land in Swedsh, Our land in English).
Anyway, the tortes are named after J.L. Runeberg because it's said that he liked to eat them on breakfast. It's also said that the recipe is made by his wife Fredrika Runeberg, although it may be a variation of a recipe made by confectioner Lars Astenius on 1840's.
Today it's time to say goodbye to ZeeZee because he will countinue his journey towards new adventures. Perhaps we will meet again, someday, somewhere. Who knows.
Greetings,
Qah
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Posted Jan 31, 2015, 11:31 am Last edited Jan 31, 2015, 11:32 am by jinxed
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Turku, Finland - 9th March 2015
By: jinxed
Hello
It seems that spring has arrived here, although it's still quite early. The weather was so sunny and nice that I didn't want to stay inside. So, I went to Katariinanlaakso (laakso = valley, dale) for a walk in a forest. It's a protected area, just like Ruissalo, but it's located on mainland.
It's said that Katariinanlaakso may be named after Lady Katarina who was the wife of chief justice Simon Lilliegren, they lived in the nearby Ispoinen Mansion on 18th century.
Then again, it's possible that the name is older and comes from Katarina Hansdotter, who was the lover of Johan III, the duke of Finland and later the king of Sweden on the 16th century.
According to a third story, possibly most popular one, Katariinanlaakso is named after the Polish princess and wife of Johan III, Katarzyna Jagiellonka. It's said that she came here with her knights, companions and servants to have picnics on this huge, flat boulder, which is now known as Katariinankivi (Katariina's stone).
(Katarzyna = Katariina in Finnish)
Here's a nice view to the sea and Hirvensalo, which is one of those islands that belong to Turku. There's still some ice left on the water, it seems.
I wanted to go deeper into the forest and chose to follow the path up the hill. It turned out to be longish climb.
Katariinanlaakso is a protected area, so the fallen trees are mostly left as they are - unless they are somehow dangerous or block the paths.
I wonder if there's some animal living under that huge boulder.
I took a short break at the top of the hill. It was nice to sit there for a moment and watch the sea.
After coming out of the forest I decided to go for a short walk to the beach too. The ground there was very wet and muddy, but I didn't need to worry about that because of these duckboards.
I ended up to a place called Ruskeakallio (Brown Rock). It was a wonderful place to sit for a while before heading back to jinxed's.
Greetings,
Qah
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Posted Mar 11, 2015, 9:36 pm
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Essen, Germany - 26th April 2015
By: BlackCat
Hello,
today we arrived at BlackCat's house and were welcomed by Jonathan, Nayeli, Batty the bat and Pookee.
Let's have some fun,
Qah
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Posted Aug 13, 2015, 6:34 pm
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Essen, Germany - 7th May 2015
By: BlackCat
Hey,
today we had a short walk and guess what we found? A boat in a garden. We were so surprised. And we don't know if it is decoration, or if the people forgot that they had a boat in their garden.
We also got to smell some flowers, which was really nice as well.
Love
Qah
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Posted Aug 13, 2015, 6:42 pm
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Essen, Germany - 15th May 2015
By: BlackCat
Hey,
today we had a bbq all together. It was really nice. We had a grilled sausage and talked a lot.
Love
Qah
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Posted Aug 13, 2015, 6:52 pm
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Essen, Germany - 23rd May 2015
By: BlackCat
Hey,
so today we all watched the Eurovision Song Contest together. It's a song competition Europe has every single year. This year they had a guest country - Australia.
We had snacks and watched it for a while but then were tired.
The winner is this video here (CLICK). A really great song from Sweden.
Love
Qah
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Posted Aug 13, 2015, 8:51 pm
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St. Lorenzen, Italy - 7th August 2015
By: Pablo
Hi Mom. Finally I have arrived at my host in Italy. The travel lasted too long but finally i could crawl out of my envelope. There were other Tv´s and other stuffed animals who welcomed me. There was also Simao, another Monkey from China. We talked about our travels and became friends. Greetings from SouthTirol
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Posted Aug 9, 2015, 4:41 pm Last edited Aug 9, 2015, 4:42 pm by Pablo
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St. Lorenzen, Italy - 17th August 2015
By: Pablo
Hi Mom
Enjoying the View with my new friend Simao at the balkony and we saw a wonderful rainbow. It looked amazing an I am very happy to be here with Simao. He speaks my language I have a surprise for you Mom. Next week Simao and I will go to Prague with our host parents. I am looking forward to our travel. Bye and many kisses. Your´s Qah
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Posted Aug 19, 2015, 6:35 pm
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Prague, Czech Republic - 27th August 2015
By: Pablo
Hi Mom. Finally I am back at home and today I want to tell you about my journey to Prague.
We went there by train and it was a very long travel. We visited so many places and saw interesting things. Most I liked the Zoo There where so many animals. I can´t find words so I must show you the pictures. Also we visited the Torture Museum, a big Market, the Prague Castle, a big Musik Store and many other things. The food was excellent and also we visited a "Absinth Bar" and ate "Karlsbader Oblatsky"
I partly completed one of my life missions going to the Zoo
Miss you Mom, hugs Qah
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Posted Sep 4, 2015, 6:18 pm
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St. Lorenzen, Italy - 20th September 2015
By: Pablo
Hi Mom. Today we made traditional Tiramisu. It´s an italian dessert with many good ingredients Simao an I are the chefs and responsible for the dessert. Our host mom gave us instructions to make it perfect. Well, look at the pictures
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Posted Sep 22, 2015, 6:20 pm
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