Travelog for: Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
we played with the ferrets today. They are cute and curious little furry creatures

This is Shiva, the sable ferret. Katja is calling her raccoon because she also looks like a bandit with her fur markings.



These are all of them.



The early white ferret is Brighty and the siam ferret is Zaehnchen. They love their vitamin paste.



They can't get enough of it



Bye
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
today we met STrunki, OleOrangescarf`s mentor.

It took us a maybe 45 minutes walk to visit her in a district in the South of Remscheid. From here the silhouette of Remscheid is looking completely different, with all those industrial sites.



After showing us around the house we went to visit Eschbach dam (Eschbachtalsperre). Did you know that Eschbach dam was the first dam to be built in Germany for drinking water supply? It was opened in 1891. The lake is enclosed in a beautiful landscape.



Here you can see the rear side of the concrete dam.



First we followed the path which is leading around the lake.





Soon we left the main path to walk uphill into the forest where we found this momorial, a conciliation cross. These memorial crosses where placed in medieval times where an accident or murder happended, the information board is telling about this special incident.





We reached a rural area than with meadows and horses, close to the A1 motorway.





We found rosehip here and also hawthorn. Both Katja and you like to use fruits from local trees and bushes to cook jam.







We found several mushrooms, most impressing was this one.



Later we returned to the main walking path along the lake.





This was a teddy bear tour today



Later we took some home grown chili pepper with us.

Bye
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
we thought what to do with this load of chili peppers and decided to prepare a hot chili paste. Katja found some garlic, sea salt and olive oil, this should have been enough.



First we removed the cores from the chili husks.



Garlic and husks were minced ...



... and given into the mixer with sea salt and olive oil.



Perfect!



The red paste was filled into tiny jars. Let's see if it good!



Bye
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
today I took part in a very special event: A ToyVoyagers meeting! Hostmum Katja met Strunki and mcdaniels at Strunki's home. There were 17 ToyVoyagers!



There was a welcome sign for each "TV-Family".



I came here with Kirin, Lamikins,Tsukumo,nosyblue, OleOrangescarf and KoalaMimi .

We met Sargent Froggo,*Nick*,UrselHH,Laika,Gozer,Hase,Charlotte,HelmutBluepant,TheWotWots and Elmar.

Strunki prepared a present for every guest



Have a look - a neck kerchief, a scented candle, yummy chocolate and a lollipop.



The ladies were starving, so we helped Strunki to finish the prepared lunch - spaghetti with vegetables.



We explored the garden than.





There is even a pond.





Here is the whole flock of ToyVoyagers







Finally there was a fantastic party with candy, chocolate and other delicacies,also a yummy liquor, Killepitsch.







Maybe we had too much of this Killepitsch, a liquor delicacy based on herbs. Really weird things happened ... can you see it?



Time to say goodbye!



Bye
Rocky Racccccoooooooon



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Hi Mummy,
today we went to Winterberg in the Hochsauerland district, about 150 km apart from Remscheid. Winterberg is a famous winter sport resort. First we had to visit a family member in a hospital where we met more plushy visitors



We also visited the nearby city centre. Although it was a Sunday most of the shops were open.











Afterwards we to Kappe which is part of the Rothaar mountains. Here you can find the Winterberg bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track.





They have to work hard on this construction site to have everything finished when the first snow will fall.



You can use this funny thing to intensify the sounds of the forest.





They are already preparing the pistes, they were covered with straw to keep the grass from growing further.



There is also a nature trail on the mountain, sometimes we crossed it.





Does this mean I might meet a real raccoon? Probably not, Katja told me. What a pity!







This is the bobsleigh track.













We even found a bobsleigh!





Goodbye Winterberg!



Bye
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,

today we visited Germany's highest railway bridge, Muengsten Bridge.

Katja told me that Germany's highes railway bridge is connecting Remscheid with the neighbour city Solingen. We went there with Strunki and her guests.

First we had to cross river Wupper. In the background you can see an outlook pavilion, Katja told us that we would see it again later.



Soon we reached the bridge.



Muengsten Bridge was built of steel, completed in 1907. It is about 480 m long and 107 m tall. There are extensive repair works going on in the last few years and they are taking place at the moment. The bridge will be closed for several months.

An artist blacksmith has its shop here. You can find funny sculptures placed here.



Coming closer to the bridge ... there is a restaurant which was opened only two or three years ago.



This replication of wupper valley is perfect for us ToyVoyagers



Some years ago a leisure park was built under the bridge. You can find lawns for relaxing here, a crazy golf course and playgrounds for the kids. This is river Wupper.





Following the walking path we had to walk uphill for some time.





Due to all the rainfall this week there were mushrooms everywhere, also this beautiful fly agaric.



A whole flock of ToyVoyagers visited Muengsten Bridge today



We had to cross river Wupper here.





We found more mushrooms.





Once more the hiking path took us high above the valley.



We reached the outlook pavilion than, the one we have seen when we started our trip. Katja told us that there was a "twin" in Solingen, close to Schloss Burg. They were built around 1900 by a rich former citizen of Remscheid, August Diederichs. That's whey are called "Diederichstempel".





Enjoy this stunning view across the valley!



We all needed a short rest than.



Bye for now
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
we visited a fantastic place today - the Bergische Museumsbahnen, a heritage tram museum. It is situated in the neighbour city Wuppertal and is operating its own tram line which was a regular tram line within Wuppertal until 1969.

The museum line begins about 50 m east of the Kohlfurth bridge. Here one of 200 penguins taking part in the Pinguinale, which was taking place in 2006 to celebrate the 125th anniversy of Wuppertal Zoo. 200 penguins were painted by kids and artists. Nowadays you can find then all over the city area. At Kohlfurth bridge a penguin lady, dressed like a porter, is placed.





This is the museum area with the depot and its outdoor facilities.



One of the trams was parked on the track outside the depot.



You can find all kinds of historic rail vehicles here and also a model railway.









We had a look at the depot than. So many trams!







Actually there were no tram journeys for visitors today, but a very nice member of the staff liked the idea of Toyvoyagers so much that we were allowed to enter a tram and join a test run.

This tram is originally from the 1920s years.

This is the driver's cabin.



Inside the tram ...





The original line is winding its way through a woodland area to the district Cronenberg.





We really enjoyed the trip through the forest. The route has a height difference of about 150 metres. Poor Kirin fell from the window sill.







Each trip took about 15 minutes. Back in the museum area we had a look at the coat of arms of Wuppertal. A lion with a double tail is the heraldic animal.





This is the tram line's time schedule.



We went back to the car, but had a last look at river Wupper first.



From here we drove to Cronenberg to take a walk in the Arboretum 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, but only a small part of it.

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, of course we chose the longest of them, about 6 km long, displaying a variety of trees from Europe, America and Asia. At the parking lot we found a map of the arboretum area.



We decided to walk along a path showing trees of Northern America.









This is a coast redwood tree with its characteristic bark.





These are the tiny cones of these western hemlocks.





We reached a part of the forest which was rather dark, the trees were so dense. Giant sequoias!





Our trip ended here and we went back home, enjoyed coffee and waffles there.

Bye
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
we took a short walk in the city centre today. Because Katja's work place is close to the city hall we had a look at this impressing building first. It was originally built in early 20th century but was n early destroyed in WW II. It was rebuilt in a more modern style afterwards with a tower which is about 48 m tall.



The heraldic animal of Remscheid is a lion, it can be found on a pillar in front of the city hall.



This is still the city hall ...



Another characteristic building is the water tower at the rear side of the city hall. You can see these two towers from a lot of places around.







In WW II large parts of the city centre were destroyed, nearly every house between the city hall and the central statioin. But when you walk to the opposite direction, towards the municipal park, you can find lots of beautiful old houses.







Bye for now
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
we met a friend today to take a walk around the district Hasten. Hasten is one of the historic districts with lots of beautiful old houses.



We took a path through an allotment area.



Here we found more historic houses, mostly built close together.









A cat was relaxing here.



Deep in the valley we found this house.





We went into the forest than and walked along the Morsbach, the creek which is running through the valley.







Following the valley we walked along this flock of sheep ...





... and horses, cows and geese on this meadow.



This trunk was the perfect place for resting.



There was a tiny house hidden in the valley, an historic wall integrated into the building.



There are also some old industrial sites with distributing grounds.



Later, when were were back in the forest, we found a soft moss bed.



Katja showed us more lovely old houses ...



We also walked along the museum which I already showed you before.







Everyone was tired now and we hurried home.

Bye
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
had had a fantastic Halloween party in the evening. We invited Strunki and all her guests to visit us.

Our hosts prepared a lot of squirmy food for us. But first I have to show you my frightening costume.



I am sure that the other TVs will be frightened to death

We were all looking really scary , especially Frederik.





Soon our guests arrived.





We were nearly starving, so first we entered the buffet. There were ghosts, a fearsome head with an open brain, looking like fruit salad, dentures with horrible carnassials, sore eyeballs in sanies ...









green glib with dead vampires ...





... yummy but poisonous fly agaric ...









Here is a group photograph of all those ghosts and mummies







What a party!

Bye
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
today we visited a medieval castle in the neighbour City Solingen, Schloss Burg, It is situated high upon a hill above the River Wupper.

This is the view from the street. This beautiful house in the foreground was built in 17th century.



We went into the courtyard and found a lovely half-timbered part of the castle.



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.



About a hundred years later it was enlarged by Count Engelberg II von Berg. This is the guy 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.

In the castle courtyard 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.







The round tower was the powder tower, it was restored about four or five years ago.



You can overlook the valley of the river Wupper from this high point.

I am a fakir-raccoon



We walked into the forest than. Here we found the "twin" of the outlook pavilion close to Muengsten Bridge.





Katja showed us another interesting place - the former fortified tower of Schloss Burg. These towers were usually built from 16th century when firearms were used. Nowadays this tower contains a memorial place for those people which were banished from the former German Eastern counties.



From here you can see the castle almost completely.



Oh dear, it was already getting dark.

Bye
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
I'm sorry that I am such a lazy raccoon at the moment. Nothing thrilling is going on here, we are often having bad weather and it is already dark in the late afternoon. But today we took at least a short walk to visit Katja's Mum in hospital. It took us only about 40 minutes to get there.

Here at this large intersection the local court is situated.



From here we went  to the Route of Tools (Trasse des Werkzeugs), a former track for freight  trains which was rebuilt to a lane for pedestrians and cyclists. It is about 4,5 m long, connecting the central station with the district Hasten. You can find interesting  buidings and artwork along this lane.

Here you can see the former slaughterhouse, now under monument protection. Nowadays offices are situated here.



Here is a place for resting and relaxing.



Local companies, mostly tool producing companies, sponsored this lane. Here and at some other places you can find large signs with their company logos.



We also found one of those pieces of artwork. This one was made of coloured die cutting leftovers.



Can you see us in this coloured mass of metal?



Close to the station we crossed the regular track.



We had to cross a valley than.



We even watched a flock of cranes fly towards the South.



Hopefully we can explore something else this weekend!

Bye
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mummy,
today we decided to take a walk at Wupper dam ( Wupper-Talsperre ). This dam is extremely large, you can not circle it when you just want to take a walk. Our track led us through a forest first.





Finally we reached the lake.





We rested for a while, sitting on those colored leaves.









We went down to the lakefront to have a closer look.



Later we found an information board with a map.





We left the lake area than to walk back to the car, through a rural area this time.





If only the weather had been better!

Bye
Rocky Raccoon

Hi Mumy,
today I said good-bye to all my friends here. We wrote a postcard and packed delicious sweets into my envelope. I'm going to Finland now!



Love
Rocky Raccoon

Hello mum!

I arrived to Finland yesterday. After I got out of the envelope, I met Teddy and Gozer. It's great to meet Gozer again and I'm sure it'll be fun to get to know Teddy, too. By the way, they liked the postcards and sweets that I brought from Germany.





Finland gained independece from Russia on 06.12.1917, so today's a holiday to celebrate that. The Independece Day in Finland is usually a quiet day, spent with family and friends. Some people like to go to graveyards to honour those, who died defending the independece, when the Soviet Union tried to take over on Winter War in 1939 - 1940 and again on Continuation War in 1941 - 1944.

The official festivities start with raising of the Finnish flag on Tähtitorninmäki in Helsinki. Of course the flags are raised everywhere in Finland, too. Then there's a religious service in the Helsinki Cathedral, which is also shown on TV. We chose not to watch that.

Later on the day there will be a parade of the Finnish army, which will take place in different towns. This year the parade was held in Mikkeli. Too far away for us to go to watch it on the streets, but we watched a part of it on TV instead.



In the evening there's the president's party. This year was different, because the party was held in Tampere instead of the Presidential Palace in Helsinki. That's because there are renovations going on in the palace. The party is shown on TV, too, so people can watch how all those who are invited shake hands with the president and what they are wearing. The people who got invited are usually veterans of Winter and Continuation Wars, politicians, celebrities such as musicians, actors and artists, other people who have succeeded in their field of work, etc. We watched a part of the party, too.

It's traditional for Finnish people to light two candles on every window of their home. Due to the lack of suitable places near windows, we chose to burn candles on the living room table instead.



After that we watched the 1955 version of Tuntematon sotilas (The Unknown Soldier). It's a Finnish movie based on a novel by Väinö Linna and it tells a story about a company in the Continuation War. Watching that movie is one of the Independence Day traditions, too, it's been shown on TV every year since 2000. The book and movie both are classics that every Finn should read and watch - and why not people from other countries, too.



Best wishes,
Rocky Raccoon