Travelog for: Crabs

Happy Mother's Day



Love you
Crabs

Hi mommy
Today we said goodbye Scoop.



With our best wishes and hugs in the luggage he set out on the long journey to Australia.



Enjoy the warmth and have a good time dear friend.





Bye for now
Crabs

Hello
special Event!
Two of Jasper's TV's - Stripes and Sally came home from the United States.



Said hello, exchanged the envelope, said goodbye and were gone again.



Stripes will give you a big kiss - it's from me.





But we are also in a hurry.
We have to pack our bags.





Tomorrow early in the morning transfer to the airport.




HOLIDAYS

Just a few short days. But better than nothing.
I report when I get back.

Until then
Crabs

Hello mommy
early in the morning we took the train to Zurich airport.
Croissant and cappuccino - to soothe the stomach and nerves.



We were terribly excited.
And then wait for boarding.





Then finally it happened - get in, sit down and take off.



The flight did not take very long.





Another time we took the train.
Our goal was King's Cross in London.







We quickly brought our luggage to the hotel (a 5 minute walk) and then it started.
First, we marveled at the station. Old walls and modern design are united here.



And then we visited the passage to platform 9 3/4.



Harry Potter sends his regards.




to be continued

Crabs

Hello from London
we took the subway - called London Tube - and drove into the city.
First stop: Piccadilly Circus.
Ironically, here it rained briefly, but that didn't bother us.
We marveled at the giant billboards, the traffic and the crowds.



Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space in London's West End.
In 1811 the Prince Regent, later King George IV wished a boulevard that should begin in St. James's and lead to the Regent's Park. He commissioned the best known architects of the time, John Nash, to fulfill this wish. After eight years of construction, the masterpiece in 1819 was completed.
London's citizens was a commemorative street to Earl not enough. They decided to collect donations to erect a monument. Finally, 1893 the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain was inaugurated, which is known as Eros Fountain today.



However, the winged figure on the tip should not represent Eros, but the Angel of Christian Charity.
The prudish citizens did not like the almost naked figure and jeered and mocked the builder.
Today Piccadilly Circus connects Shaftesbury Avenue, the Haymarket, Coventry Street. (Towards Leicester Square), Regent Street and Lower Regent Street, Piccadilly and a small side street, the Glasshouse Street.
After thoroughly looking around we ran on.





Around the next corner we looked at the fountain "The Horses of Helios"



In Greek mythology, Helios was the sun god.
The task of Helios was to steer the sun chariot across the sky, which was drawn by four stallions. Impressive.

We took Regent Street to Waterloo Place and passed the monument of King Edward VII.



At Waterloo Square, stands the Duke of York Monument.
The Duke of York Column was built between 1831-1834. It rises to a height of about forty meters.



Prince Frederick Augustus, better known as the Duke of York, was the second son of King George III. As commander of the British army, he soon realized that the army was outdated and the Duke introduced significant reforms to modernize and improve the army.
Shortly after his death in 1827, donated all British troops a day's pay for the construction of a monument in honor of the Duke of York.
Continuing on our way we saw The Mall with Admiralty Arch.





This road will visit later.

Our goal was to Horse Guards Parade.



Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground near Whitehall.
It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday.
The course is open to the west, there adjoins the St. James's Park. The other three sides are bordered by buildings. The Old Admiralty Building and the citadel of the Admiralty is located on the north side,



on the east side Horseguards, the former headquarters of the British army, now headquarters of the Household Division.



To the south borders the treasury office (HM Treasury) and the rear part of 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Part of the wall of HM Treasury.





We crossed the square and came to the courtyard of the Horse Guards.



Coincidentally, just held an inspection.







Poor guys. There were some red heads.





But - the Queen's personal life Guard must be in good shape.





That's Horse Guard seen from the street.



We used a narrow street close to reach St.James Park.





A royal squirrel.



Shaun the Sheep.



Spread all over the city are differently designed sheep figures.



They collect for seriously ill children.

That's it for today.

Big hug from London
Crabs

Hello mom
after a good night's sleep and breakfast, we started the next day.



Today an extensive city tour is on the program.



Hop off at Buckingham Palace.
The first thing we saw was the Queen Victoria Memorial.





The Victoria Memorial is a 26 m high, built in honor of Queen Victoria of Great Britain figures group.
At the top stands the gilded goddess of victory.



1911 revealed and built of 2,300 tonnes of marble.
The palace gate with the royal arms.



And that's Buckingham Palace - the official residence of the British monarch in London.





775 rooms, more than 1,000 windows, 450 employees and approximately 50,000 persons participating annually in events on the palace grounds.
Impressive numbers. (It's said that the Queen didn't like the palace - she calls it her London office)
The Mall (0.93 km) is the avenue of the capital and the first stage of the sovereign on his journey either to the Houses of Parliament or to the Horse Guards parade ground. It extends from Buckingham Palace in the west to Admiralty Arch and Trafalgar Square at its eastern end.



We walked along the Mall and discovered the monuments of "Queen Mum" and her husband, King Geoerge VI.



We reached Trafalgar Square, the largest public square London's.









In the middle of the square stands a monument to Admiral Nelson, built by the citizens of London - in gratitude for the victory of the English over the French and Spanish in the Battle of Trafalgar.
The Nelson's Column with the Admiral at the top is as high as Nelson's flagship HMS Victory from the keel to the mast top (51 meters) and was built in 1842. At the foot of the column there are four lions bronze sculptures.
Also on Trafalgar Square is the National Gallery.



The Displayed governmental paintings collection includes around 2300 paintings from the 13th to the 19th century.
That's St. Martin in the Fields.



Hop on to St Paul's Cathedral.





And then directly to the London Eye.





The London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel, is at a height of 135 meters currently the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe.



The London Eye has 32 air-conditioned almost entirely of glass shaped gondolas.



It takes nearly 40 minutes for a rotation.
A little pleading and begging and Jasper bought Tikets.



What a great view over the city.











This road is called Strand.



The name originates from the old English language and means similar to the German shore or riverbank.
Unbelievable but before the construction of the Thames Embankment the road ran right next to the River Thames.



We take a break.

See you later
Crabs

Hello everybody
after a few Crisscross rides (this will continue so) we ended up at the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.





The Palace of Westminster (often called Houses of Parliament) is a monumental, built in the Gothic Revival style building. The palace is located in the City of Westminster on Parliament Square, close to the government buildings at Whitehall. It was declared a World Heritage Site along with the Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church by UNESCO.





The most famous part of the palace is the clock tower with the bell Big Ben. (since 2012 officially named Elizabeth Tower)



That's Parliament Square,



and this the famous Westminster Abbey.
(shooting in the church was not allowed - unfortunately)



That's St.Margaret's Church.



We said hello to Mr. Churchill



and moved on to Hyde Park.

We entered the park by Queen Elizabeth Gate, also known as the Queen Mother's Gate.
It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 to celebrate the 90th birthday of her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
The centerpiece of the door shows a red lion and a white unicorn.



Hyde Park is 1.4 square kilometers, along with Kensington Gardens 2.5 and thus larger than the Principality of Monaco.

We strolled along the Serpentine Lake



and came to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.





Next stop was the Albert Memorial.



The Albert Memorial consists of a nearly 60 meters high, carried by four pillars, canopy. Under this sits the four-meter-high statue of Albert.



It is reminiscent of the husband of Queen Victoria.
Directly opposite is the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences - the usable part of the memorial.
In the Albert Hall several types of major events take place: from symphony concerts (for example, the Proms) about pop concerts to boxing matches.



Last place on today's tour was Kensington Palace.
Although this palace looks a bit like a factory, he has experienced a lot.



Queen Victoria was born here. Princessin Diana lived here until her death - just as Princess Margaret, the sister of the Queen.
And now it is the London home of William and Kate.



We went to our London home and then to bed.





It was a long, eventful day.
Crabs

Hello,
Thursday was our last day in London. Only a short day and still soo much to see.
We had to limit ourselves to the essentials.
Past modern buildings



and ancient pubs



we drove towards Tower.



We crossed the famous Tower Bridge.



The bascule bridge - built in neo-Gothic style - was opened in 1894.
1977 -. To celebrate the silver jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, the metal parts of the Tower Bridge was painted in the British national colors red, white and blue. This color scheme remained until today.

After a walk over the bridge
we headed to the Tower of London.



Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London (the official name) is a fortified complex of buildings along the Thames at the southeast end of the City of London.



The ring castle with two fortification rings served the English and British kings, among others, as a residence, armory, workshop, warehouse, Zoo, garrison museum, mint, prison, archive and execution site.



Originally, the tower was built in the 11th century as a fortress of William the Conqueror against potentially hostile citizens of the city of London.
UNESCO declared the Tower in 1988 a World Heritage Site.



We walked around the Tower, through the Tower. Upstairs and downstairs.













This is "The Shard"



completed, it will be Europe's tallest building.



Behind these walls are the crown jewels.



The crown jewels of the kings and queens blinded us. Gold and jewels - so big and so much, you can not imagine.
Photographing was unfortunately "strictly forbidden".



Jasper tried to explain everything to us, but we could barely keep anything.
Too many impressions.









Ooh - a story stayed with me:
In Tower live six ravens.
The legend says, if the ravens leave the Tower, the kingdom will perish.
Thus the Ravens can not fly away, the wings are clipped, and a "spare Raven" is held.
Haha, so cunning.
This is one of the six.



At the end of our London trip we took a boat trip on the Thames.











Last impressions of a beautiful journey.





That's it from London - next time again from Switzerland.
Crabs

Hello Mom,
barely right at home, we were able to greet the next guest.





NiliHH came with many sweets and a beautiful postcard.



Big group hug - and





Welcome to our gang!



Thousand kisses
Crabs

Hi mom,
Today we went out for a walk. After several violent thunderstorms it was not so easy to find appropriate ways. Everything was very wet.
We drove to a small village called Ricken.





The high moorland on the Rickenpass is a recreational area between Toggenburg and Lake Zurich.



It is also a sanctuary for rare species. Even the capercaillie breeds here.
And the black grouse.



So it was that we - which is rather rare for TV's - pretty quiet scurried through the forest.





Oh, a "victim" of the recent storm.



Up here, nature is left to itself.





We found many beautiful flowers in the meadows.





And tons of blueberry bushes.





Always the lookout for the capercaillie - we have of course seen none - we were running through the woods.





Sometimes it was steep



and sometimes we had to jump over a small stream.



I risked a glance into a black hole.



A view from the edge of the forest.



Sitting on branches





and at crystal clear water.



The sun was shining through the treetops and we enjoyed our walk to the fullest.



In a meadow we saw butterflies in love.



Short chat with a cow.



A last round view and then we went back home.





Hug
Crabs

Hello home
as our weekend trip turned out (heavy thunderstorm, the road has been spilled) Jasper comforted us with a pizza.







A pizza from sweets.




Bye for now
Crabs

Hi mom
I really do not want to whine, but right now it only seems to to rain in Switzerland.
We looked for employment.
Pickled garlic seemed the right thing.
The peeling of garlic cloves was not as funny as I thought.







But we did it.



While I cut the chili, Nili picked herbs and  Samsone cooked the liquid.





Then we threw everything into a pot and boiled it for a few minutes.







Later we filled everything, quite hot in glasses.









Jasper was very proud of us.

Crabs

Hello There,
we will take a trip, no matter what the weather report says.
We make our way to Flims in canton Grisons.
There lies on 997m above sea level, tucked away in the woods, one of the most beautiful mountain lakes of Switzerland - the Caumasee.
The first view of the turquoise lake let us cheerfully start.





Through wild meadows



and unspoilt woods brought us our path to the viewing platform Conn.





First impressions of the gorge.











This is the platform.







"Il Spir" (swifts) is called this platform for their birdlike appearance.
It extends diagonally across the 400m deeper Anterior Rhine Gorge.







Then it was time for a break.
Apple pie and coffee gave us the strength for the way forward.



Wild strawberries, mushrooms and escargots were our companions for a certain time.







Then we reached again the Caumasee. The short rain shower caused a particular mood.



This color - something truly special.



We enjoyed the rest of the way.









After five hours we arrived back to our starting point.
A last look at this beautiful lake.



Maybe I'll be back someday.

Hugs and kisses
Crabs

Hi mom
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.

















Do you see where Jasper grabs me? Ts, ts ts





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




Bye for now
Crabs

Hi Mom
while we enjoyed the sun on the balcony, Jasper 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.



Love
Crabs