Travelog for: Percy

Hello! My name is Percy and I'm currently with my mentor in Okinawa, Japan. She's been a good mentor and cared for me the past few years after rescuing me from a bin of delivery owls destined for Hogwarts. I've been able to follow her through her moves, but she's finally residing somewhere she'll be staying the next few years. This compounded with her closing in on her college degree finally means that I'm getting a little bored! She recently started trading postcards, and we both thought it would be excellent (and save her much money!) if I were able to deliver the cards for her! To that end, I would love to travel the world so I can learn all these locations that postcards may one day travel to!

In the mean time during my travels I would love to further my eduction. To this end, I would love to visit any universities or any schools in general! I'd also love to visit any historic spots or even scenic spots since science is also an interest of mine! And of course I love being up high and seeing the world below me! (I am a bird after all!)


I'd like to visit you for 2-3 weeks and then continue on my journey. I'd also like to come home to visit every 5-10 journeys. My mentor is a mommy to two young boys, and I don't want them to grow too much while I'm gone!



Also, I will try to bring with me from Okinawa one postcard for each person I'll be visiting. If possible, I would love to take one home with me as a souvenier of my journey. If you could write on the back some of the fun things we did, that would a wonderful addition to my scrapbook!

Hope to see you soon,
Percy

My Travel Schedule:
June - olgamaus - ARRIVED
July - sararingham - ARRIVED
August - Kira1997 - ARRIVED
September - luckaye
October -
November - Drakie
December - Vicki
January - missslady
February - HOME!

Hello Mummy,
I arrived in Remscheid today. I'm so happy. It was a long journey. I think I was hanging around for a few days in the custom's office. But now I'm here and everything is fine.

First I recognized that someone was jumping onto my envelope, then the envelope was opened carefully with a knife. I already could see something green with an orange pecker - that was Bertie the duck.



My new host Katja helped me out of my envelope and welcomed me. I showed Bertie and Katja my package of postcards. Every host is allowed to take one of them. They chose the one with the figure on the roof. They put it onto the fridge door where already a lot of postcards, drawn pictures and a lot of funny magnets are sticked to.







Katja had to work the whole day and she said she needed a little walk in the fresh air. I was also in need of fresh air, you can believe me. So Bertie, Katja and me took a walk.

I'm now living in the attic storey of this house.



As a mail owl I was anger to see a mail box. The first one is standing in front of the police station. Someone should take a cleaning rag and clean it.



In front of the police station a little park is located. Here we took some pictures. I loved the feeling to sit in a tree.



From there we walked to the muncipal park because I could not get enough from green leafes and fresh air. Here I found this beautiful flower.



The roses smelled really good.



On this pillar on every side the names of men are engraved  that died in several wars, from the early 1800's until World War I.



In this part of the town I already saw many old houses.





We also found another mail box. This was clean but the wall behind it is in need of some repair work.



I am really tired now. Tomorrow we have to get up early. We are going to a trade fair fot pet supplies, food and so on. Katja is a member of a association for pet rat keepers. They are exhibiting at this fair. By the way, I'm not only tired but also hungry. Who said something about rats? I think I would like one for dinner .... oh, Katja is coming. She heard what I said. No, I won't have a rat for dinner. Not even a small one ... funny people are living in Germany.

I tell you more tomorrow.

Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,
today we went to Rheinberg, we had to drive for an hour. We visited the trade fair “Tier & Wir” (animal & us). The German pet rat keeper’s association was exhibiting there. Katja is an active member of this association. They are informing interested people about pet rats keeping, about their needs, how the cages should look like, what they eat and so on. They also sell things from their own shop like coffee mugs, biros, t-shirts with their own logo printed on, books, stickers, stuffed rats, crafted things  and much more. The income from this sale will be used for animal protection.

We arrived in the morning. First we helped to put everything at it’s place.









Later we walked around and watched a lot of animals. There were guinea pigs, rabbits, reptiles, American minipigs, birds, chicken, fishes and horses.





They also had a petting zoo with lamas, sheep and goats. Bertie and me were brave enough to sit on a goat.



Among the birds I found my favourite – a beautiful eagle owl.



Later the owners walked around with the owl and visited our stand.



There were also fledglings of tawny owls.



You can buy all sorts of pet supplies like food and housings here, for dogs, for cats, for all sorts of rodents, for equitation, aquaristics and terraristics and also craftwork.







This photo is taken outside of the fair buildings.



We also found something really special: Katja’s new ToyVoyager. She fell in love with a cute mouse dressed perfectly and carrying a shopping bag. She simply could not resist though she already has two travelling mice.



We are looking foreward to dinner now. We are all very tired because we had to get up early. It was exciting to meet a real owl. Katja told me that I would meet more owls on Sunday. She did not say more so I’ll have to wait.

Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,
today we visited Katja's parents. Her father was celebrating his 78th birthday today. Katja's parents are living in Remscheid-Lennep, that's one of the oldest districts of Remscheid. The historic city centre is really old, some houses are built in 18th century. Origininally it was far older, but the city centre burnt down almost completely several times during the last centuries. On the photos you can see that the houses are built in small distances to the next houses. When one house caught fire usually the neighbour houses also caught fire, then the next houses and so on.

Katja's parents are living in a flat in the seventh storey. From the balcony you have a stunning view over the old town.





I met a lot of owl friends here. Katja's mum is collecting owls. She has owls made of plush, glass, ceramics, wood, stone, brass and copper, crystal glass and more materials. Can you spot me among my plushy friends?



This is Hedwig, my new best friend.



Now I will show you some of the other owls.





This guy is living on the balcony.



I was really delighted to see so many owls. Katja said that her mum has collected about 500 different owls.

Later we walked to a restaurant for dinner. On our way we walked through the old town. On the next photo you can see how narrow some of the lanes are.





This shop where you can buy tea and antiques is called "Die Eule" (the owl). Here all the shops are closed on Sundays, otherwise I would have had a look inside.



Many cars are looking like this at the moment. Yesterday the UEFA European (Football) Championship started. Many cars and houses are decorated with flags.



Here you can see an old water pump. I almost fell into the water underneath the pump. If Bertie would have fallen he would have been delighted. He can swim.





Now we are standing in front of the restaurant.



We were all very hungry. We were waiting for our dinner quite long.



We all had a beer. It was very refreshing.



Later we drove home by bus.

Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,
today Katja showed us a little bit more of the town centre. She had an hour off in her lunch break. Besides the weather forecast says we will have bad weather the next days, so we wanted to see more with sunshine and a blue sky.

Here Katja's daughter went to school. She had her last day there today. Tomorrow they have their graduation party.



This are two really nice old  houses. You can see that there are many trees in the town centre.



In the background you can see the town hall. The shopping mall will be enlarged in a few months.



Here you can see the central bus station.



We are now standing in front of the building of the local newspaper "Remscheider General-Anzeiger". The statue is made of copper. It is the figurehead of the newspaper which is existing since 1889 A.D. It´is called "Tüpitter". That comes from an early column called "Niet te bang - Tü Pitter". This language is German. but the dialect of Remscheid. It means "Don't be afraid - pull, Peter". This is relating to the bell. In German they have a byword "etwas an die große Glocke hängen" which means to shout something from the rooftops.



The first house on the left side contains a nice pub with a beer garden, the house with schist is the municpal gallery. Maybe we will visit it next week.



We are now standing in front of the public library. We rested a little bit on the sculpture in front it. We only had a very short rest because the metal was really hot. We almost burnt our backsides.





This is the shopping street with the pedestrian area.



Here you can see more of the town hall. The tower had to be restored and it had a scaffold for months. The scaffold will be removed soon.



In the middle of the photo you can see a water tower.



These are the mail boxes in the office building where Katja is working. They don't look very exciting but as a mail owl I can accept that.



Katja took us into the law firm where she's working. It was boring for us. Bertie wanted to answer the telephone but most of the time he was only croaking in Finnish or Spanish. That's not enough for a German law firm, so he had to be quiet.

Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,

two ToyVoyagers arrived today, owl Desmond and eagle Aquila. We are now four birds here.









Katja wanted to take a walk with a friend. So she took us with her. In front of the house we waited for her friend to arrive. We were sitting on a wall, you can see the front door in the background. The house I am now living in is an art-nouveau-house, built in 1904 A.D.



We walked along the "route of tools", a lane for pedestrians and biker, built on a closed railroad bed. It was sponsored by the local industry. Along the lane you can find many signs of  those companies.

The first sign that we saw is showing the crest of Remscheid.



Later we rested on a bench that was made of a huge screw clamp.



We went into a wooded area. Although Remscheid seems to be an industrial town you can see many trees, valleys and wooded areas.



We walked through the muncipal park on our way back home.
I saw many blooming flowers again, today I saw foxglove.



We  saw a playground there. We went on the swings.



We four birds want to play a little bit now.

Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,
the weather has gone really bad. It’s raining sometimes, but that’s not the worst thing. It became really cold! We had 7°C (44°F) in the morning yesterday and today. I did not want to leave my warm bed today. In the afternoon the weather became better and in the early evening we took a little walk along the route of tools. Katja wanted to convince us that Remscheid is not only consisting nice flowers in the muncipal park, forrests and calm side roads but it is also an idustrial town.

The route of tools is made on a closed railway track, I already told you. Along this route you can find many industrial companies and also abandoned factory buildings.

These pictures are made by an artist which is living here. Along the route you can find many pictures and signs made by him.



This rusty bridge does not look trustworthily.



This is one of the abandoned buildings.



This complex of buildungs formerly contained the local slaughterhouse. Now there are offices and other companies in the buildings wich are now under monumental protecion.



Here we are sitting on a bench that is made of really old parts. One of them is the axis of a historic water wheel.



Oh yes, we saw a completely different town today. No more trees and flowers but factories like that.



This building takes the whole daylight away.



We went back home then, into the district with trees, flowers and nice old houses. We had to hurry because it started raining again. But we reached our home save and dry. Later we will watch TV.

Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,

today we took a walk with Katja’s brother-in-law and his dog Bertie. Bertie the duck was delighted to meet another animal named Bertie.

First we had a look at the building site of the new central railway station they are building.



We walked for about an hour through the forrest.



The weather was not too good, so there was not enough sunlight for really nice photos. Here is the creek that’s running through the valley.





Here we are sitting on a fence in front of a house in the valley.



In the valley you can only find some houses, this part of the town is really in the middle of nowhere (in German you say “Am A***h der Welt).





Where we had parked the car we saw this graffiti, it’s funny that somebody painted an owl of all things onto this tank.



Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,

today the weather became better and we took a walk from Wuppertal-Ronsdorf back to Remscheid. We went with Katja’s fried. We walked through the forrest along the dam of Wuppertal-Ronsdorf back home. The dam is a really small one.

Here you can see us having a little rest on a pile of trunks.



Along the path you can find some charts with information about the forrest. This one is about different trees and their leafes.



We are standing on the concrete dam, you can see here that the dam is really a small one.



Here you can see a popular country inn. It’s existing here for about 100 years.



You can ride horses in this part of the valley. Two of them were tethered in front of the restaurant.



This is a fish pond in the middle of the forrest. Really large trouts are swimming in it.



We are now at “Steffenshammer”, a historical location with a museum. On the right side you can see a water wheel, that was driving hones in ancient times.



This is another building that belongs to this complex. It is typically “Bergisch”. We are here in the region that is called “Bergisches Land”, butn ot because of the many hills and valleys, but it is named after the earl vom Berg who reigned over this region in the early medieval times.



We are all sitting in a big wheel in the front garden of one the houses here.



I will show you some more photos of typical houses, either with schist or truss walls, in any case with green shutters.





Today I saw a beautiful and clean mail box.



But the weather became bad again. We reached the house of Katja’s friend and it started raining again. Inside the house the family’s cat Leona was lying on the window sill. She allowed a photo with me.



Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,
we are watching the UEFA European (Football) Championship on TV just now. Germany is playing against Austria. For Germany it's neck or nothing.



Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,
today Katja showed us the town hall. The scaffold at the tower is still not dismanteled completely.

This is the view from the market place in front of the town hall onto the tower and the pillar with a lion. The lion is the heraldic animal of Remscheid.



Of course I already have seen the town hall, but not from the market place, I must admit.

I also saw another mail box (I've seen better ones).



Back home we studied today's newspaper, especially the sports news. Yesterday Germany has won 1 : 0 and will be playing in the quarter-final.



Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,

today we made a wonderful trip. First we went to Wuppertal by bus. We did not stay in Wuppertal but we had to change from bus to train there to get further to Essen, our real destination.

Here you can see me in front of the concert hall.



The penguin is one of about 200 penguins that were designed in 2006 A.D. for a campain because of the125-year existance of the Wuppertal zoo.They could be bought by companies for benefit of the zoo. They were designed and painted. You can find many of them in the town now. This is one of them.



From here we went to Essen by train. Essen is a town in Ruhr District.

When we arrived in Essen we were welcomed by another ToyVoyager host – BlackCat. She also carried some ToyVoyagers with her.

First we went by streetcar to Zeche Zollverein, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Germany.

The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex is a large former industrial site in the city of Essen. It was inscribed into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in December 2001 and is one of the anchor points of the European Route of Industrial Heritage.



Outside there is a 3D-model of the whole complex. Here you can see the four of us and BlackCat’s TVs Burrimul Memu, Chocolate Moose and Hueso. She also had three of her own toys with her.



We went into the visitor centre. You could get there by escalator or by walking up relly long and steep stairs. The banister illuminated with orange light. We rested a little bit there.







These are the stairs in the main building. It looks a bit spooky.



Outside we saw many information charts. This is one of them.





Then we went to Gruga Park.

The Gruga Park is a large park which is existing here since the 1902s. In 1965 the German Federal Garden Show took place here. It was designed then the way it appears today.

This is the entrance area.



This is the Hundertwasser house. It was built for parents of critically ill childred who are getting medical care here.



I saw many exitic plants from all over the world.

This is a gingko tree…



a blooming cactus …



unfortunately I don’t know the name of these plants with giant leafes …



Not exotic, but beautiful roses …



Of course we also had lunch.



We had a lot of fun today but we are very tired now. We better go to bed early because tomorrow we have to get up at 5:30 am! We will fly to Stuttgart tomorrow. Katja has to join a meeting of the rat keeper’s association. I am really excited to fly in a plane without being stucked into an envelope.

Bye
Percy

Hi Mummy,
today we had to travel to Stuttgart in South Germany. We went to Düsseldorf airport by train. After the check in we had time to go to the observation deck for visitors.

Here you can see me in the terminal and on the observation deck.



I am now on the obersever deck.