Travelog for: Garry

hi, i´m garry, the little yellow-black striped guy in the front.
the green frog is my friend, he wants to become a toyvoyager too, the little rat is twix, a guest from frankfurt. he cames with anja, his host 





this day, we go shopping in gütersloh. nice old timberhouses and other historyrcal buildings. the most is bombed away in the year 1945, but not all 




this is the main police station in the center of the city. this building is very beautyful, build in 1908, i love it 






nice old red house




nice white house, our chancellor don´t live here 




the market. vegetables, meat, cheese, flowers, fish... all you can have there 




this sells dry fruits, not my taste, but the spiced nuts are great 





white aspargus, in germany we eat most white, not so often the green *bleah*
good quality is expensive but tasty 





we went to a home improvement store too, we need flowers for balcony its spring now and i love the smell of the flowers 




but what flower should it be???

















at last, we found some nice flowers 
this is a banana palm, it survives the cold winter and loves the sun, i love it too, under this leaves its cool and lazy. can i have a cocktail?? 



so, this day i travel to frankfurt with anja and twix, she is my new host 
twix said, she´s a really nice person, but i shall keep a eye on her, she seems to like to kidding voyagers, but not with me 

Handkäs mit Musik

Hi Mommy,

best regards from Oberursel near Frankfurt in the state of Hessen!

Today, Anja introduced me and the two other toy voyagers staying here to a real specialty from the state of Hessen: Handkäs mit Musik! 

This literally translates into "hand cheese with music". Weird, but you'll see...

Anja was too lazy to make it herself, so she bought it packaged:



When you unpack it, you find three big slices of a cheese that smells like ... sorry ... old socks  and a small cup of vinegar and oil dressing with onions




You pour the dressing and the onions onto the cheese



and then you eat it all, usually with bread and butter


and you drink apple wine or beer with it.

Looks weird, but it is quite tasty! 

And "hand cheese with music" means:
the cheese is so small you can take it in your hand... and after you eat all the onions, you will "make some music" sooner or later.

Hessian regards
Garry

A new guest: Sweetsy!

Hi Mommy,

today, a small padded envelope arrived, and Anja got all excited. "Here comes a new Toy Voyager, a new guest in my house!" she said to us, "his name is Sweetsy and he is soo cute!"

Sweetsy? Hm... I always like sweets! Twix I sniffed the envelope, and Wusch and I  crowded around it, too.



Anja opened up the envelope, and out came Sweetsy!



He really is cute, so we gave him a warm welcome. He shared with us the goodies that he brought, and we treated him to some Twix bars.



He also brought a nice picture postcard of a railroad bridge close to Remscheid, where his former host Katja lives, and a "warning" from Katja that he will help us decimate the baking ingredients in the house 





What a nice guy! I think we'll have lots of fun! 

Happy regards
Garry

A Day in the Taunus

Dear Mommy,

today, Anja and her friends took us to the Taunus, a beautiful wooded area a little north of Frankfurt. It was a beautiful spring day, and I really enjoyed the lovely nature of the Taunus.

First, we went to Hattenbacher Weiher, a bathing lake near Wehrheim in the Taunus. Of course, it was too cold to bathe, but we enjoyed our stay nevertheless.




This is Sara, the daughter of Anja's friend Angelina. Sara fell in love with us TVs immediately, and she found the nicest places for us to enjoy the lovely nature and to have our picture taken.









It was so lovely there! The sun was shining, the grass was green, and flowers and blossoms were everywhere!








Ah, what joy to sit in these beautiful flowers and enjoy the sun!





How nice to enjoy the blossoming trees



and then cool down in the shade





After a nice rest in the midst of the lovely flowers,




it was time to go on, because we were going to have a barbeque and still had to do some shopping.

Tell you more soon!

Hugs
Garry

A Barbecue in the Taunus

Hi Mommy,

after our lovely time at the Hattenbacher Weiher lake, we drove on, because we were going to have a barbecue, also in the Taunus.

Wusch went shopping for all of us



and then we went on to a farm



where we rested (again  ) on a comfortable tree



and on a real haystack




Then we carefully watched the preparation of the food



and then it was time for dinner!!!



After we ate all the food - and left just a little for Anja and her friends - it was time to go home, and Anja drove us home on a real German Autobahn!




What a lovely, sunny, exciting day!

Hugs
Garry

A new guest: Harold Giraffe!

Hi Mommy,

we got all excited today: another toy voyager arrived!

Anja carried up a small envelope to the apartment when she came home from work. Of course, we all shouted: "Who's that, Anja? Another toy voyager to keep us company? Open it up, open it up!"



"Hold your horses!" Anja said, "I have to open the envelope gently, don't want to scare the little guy!"

Then the envelope was opened, and out came Harold Giraffe!

Here you can see Harold taking a first glance at us: Sweetsy the gingerbread man, Twix the rat, Wusch the frog and myself: 



We all got a snack of Twix bars (Twix the rat's favorite snacks)



and then we told each other stories of our travels until Anja sent us to bed. Aren't we a nice group?



Harold is cute, isn't he? And he has travelled so far already!!! I think we'll still do a little talking in bed 

Hugs
Garry

German white wine: Riesling

Hi Mommy,

this evening, Anja had a friend over, and they opened a bottle of wine. It was Riesling, a nice German white wine, not too dry and not too sweet, and just perfect with a meal or to drink chilled on a warm evening.



The two ladies seemed to enjoy it, so of course, we wanted a sip, too.



Ah, quite tasty!!!



Wow, Mommy, let me tell you, we toy voyagers are not used to alcohol, so when we had finished our small glass, it made us very very tipsy! 



So Anja fixed us up with some Alka Seltzer and told us to stay off the booze 



Well, let's see about that  After all, we've heard Anja talking about apple wine, a specialty of the German state of Hessen....

Tipsy regards
Garry

Medieval Fair and Market at the Ronneburg

Hi Mommy,

today, Anja went to visit friends for a long weekend (1st of May weekend). The friends live in Gelnhausen, approx. 40 km east of Frankfurt. Anja and her friends visited a medieval fair and market at the Ronneburg, and they took us TVs along.

The weather was  beautiful,  the rapeseed was blossoming everywhere, and soon we saw the castle Ronneburg





Anja and her friends scared us poor TVs, threatening to lock us in the stocks  , but then they took us along after all.




There were a lot of booths selling nice things





and of course there was a campfire and food and drink






A lot of people were dressed up in medieval clothes. Some of them looked scary at first, but they were all quite nice! 



We wandered around, enjoying the view and the fair and the shows, and of course the ladies did some shopping 
















I wanted a beautiful dress, too, like many ladies were wearing, but Anja said it would not fit me






After the last show, we went home, but Anja said we would return the next day.

Wow, we were all excited! Because with all the shopping and browsing and enjoying the shows, we had not even been INSIDE the castle yet! 

Hugs
Garry

Ronneburg, medieval fair and market - and the inside of the castle!

Hi Mommy,

like Anja promised, she and her friends took us back to the Ronneburg today, because we did so much shopping and browsing and partying yesterday that we did not even get to see the inside of the castle 

Of course, we were all eager to see the inside of the castle!

But first, there were other interesting things to see.

Close to the parking lot, there were some people hanggliding. Boah, this would scare the living daylights out of me!!!


Then, in front of the entrance, there was a guy with a "quad", one of these 4-wheel recreational vehicles. This would be more my case, and that is what my furry friends said, too  Anja and her friends were also really interested!




Of course, we got to ride it, too! 






Neat!!!!

But now on to the castle!!!

Excited regards
Garry

Ronneburg - the inside of the castle! (finally  )

Hi Mommy,

now we finally got to see the inside of the castle! And it was really exciting!

In the castle gate, they sold swords



and tiny toys, just about the size of me



There were some really nice people, all dressed up in medieval clothes



and then we finally got to see all the historical stuff!

An old piece of armor



a smithy





and the smith's tools



a spinning wheel, where you make wool



an old cannon



a perfect fit, isn't it? 



The castle yard





and another stocks 



the castle kitchen









where we got to taste some spiced wine (delicious!)





some nice furniture and wall hangings







and even a picture of the count!



In the castle, there was even an apothecary's store



and a chapel



We all loved the miniatures of daily life in the middle ages!








and the miniature of the great castle fire of the 17th century



After so much history, we just needed a break!!!

So we wandered in the castle gardens, admiring a peacock



doing some more shopping




and meeting beautiful ladies in self made costumes





who even did a dance for us! Well, not for us alone... but we enjoyed it very much!



On the way back to the car, we even saw an old wooden trailer



Wow, what a day!!!
We went straight to bed when we got back! But it sure was worth it!

Hugs and kisses
Garry

Medieval Market in Oppenheim

Hi Mommy,

today, Anja and her friends went to another medieval market - this time in Oppenheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The first thing we saw was a booth selling gingerbread! Our little friend Sweetsy was in heaven! And - would you believe it - he ate the whole piece of gingerbread all by himself!!! Look at the smile on his face!



This was a lovely market, and we saw many nice things:

placques made of stone (Anja bought the dragon that is hanging on the wall)



knights the size of us



and many dragons




Would you believe Anja actually fed me to a dragon???? 


But thank goodness the dragon was not hungry! 

So we could go on to enjoy the sights.

Musicians




a medieval tent city where many people actually stayed the weekend



a demonstration of the weapons of the time



a lady playing the harp



a shield with nordic writing



and a suit of chainmail. Would you believe such a suit of chainmail consists of about 36.000 rings??? And it takes one person two weeks to make, if he has lots of practice.


Then we had some nice food. Stuffed pork roast with garlic sauce, a salad and a roll - and a drink called "Radler", which is a mixture of beer and Sprite. Quite tasty!



Later on, it started to rain, so we all had to stay in Anja's rucksack. This was nice and dry, but of course we could not see anything...

What a lovely day!

Hugs
Garry

A Lazy Day

Hi Mommy,

today was beautiful sunshine, and we all spent the day on Anja's balcony, enjoying the lovely weather.

This is the view from the kitchen window



and this is the view from the balcony on a lovely spring day






You can see the Messeturm (exhibition tower) of the skyline of Frankfurt in the distance.



Now, can you find the Messeturm on the picture above the one taken with the zoom? Hint: you need very good eyes, and you have to remember the two tall buildings... 



Here we are enjoying a snack on the lawn chair



and poking our nose into Anja's book



Anja said she felt like a real "daughter of the sun" enjoying a rest on the lawnchair with her book. But she would not let us take any pictures of her.... 

Sunny regards

Garry

A Going Away Party for Twix - and Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Hi Mommy,

Anja said that Twix, her very first Toy Voyager guest, would soon travel to Maelle in Belgium, so we all threw a going away party for him.


Anja got us some real Hessian and Southern German specialties for the party:

Apple wine, the Hessian special drink and Laugenbrötchen (lye rolls).



OK, lye rolls sounds disgusting, and the dough is really dipped in food-grade lye, but these are really really tasty!

Lye Pretzel recipe

Source

However that may be, once the rolls or pretzels are baked, they are safe to eat, and they are delicious.




Of course, the apple wine was tasty, too 




After our dinner, we had a big surprise for Twix. We had bought him a piece of strawberry cake!



Being a nice guy, he insisted on sharing it with us



What a lovely party! 

And I ate a big piece of strawberry cake in your honor, too, Daddy! Happy Birthday! 

Hugs
Garry

A Trip Around the World

Hi Mommy,

tooday, Anja took us on a trip around the world! 

First, we took the S-Bahn (subway) from Oberursel-Stierstadt, where Anja lives.



This is a map of the public transportation system in Frankfurt. Sure looks confusing, don't you think?



We got out at the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station).




and Anja bought a nice sandwich. Look at all this tasty food!



Then we finally got to see the train, an ICE (Inter City Express). This thing goes over 300 km (160 miles) an hour!!!  Looks like a rocket, don't you think?



It is very nice and comfortable inside



and I shared a seat with the other TVs



When the train started moving, Anja unwrapped her sandwich, and we all had chicken sandwich and coffee



This sure is a nice way to pass the time! 

We got a glance of Cologne on the way



Finally, the train stopped, and we all got out. 

What the heck was this? We were in China! 

We had come to a place called Kota Radja! 



It had a very nice city wall



but it was guarded by a terrible dragon, who tried to eat me! 

(Will you please tell Anja to stop feeding me to dragons all the time!  )



Thank goodness a nice Buddha rescued me!



And he allowed me to see the city and the beautiful flowers







We even got to play with a lion!





It sure was exciting in China, but I was still a little scared of this hungry dragon, so I didn't mind it when we left.

But then we got out of the frying pan, and into the fire.

Because next we went to India, to the Temple of Rats! 

Ooooh, look at the nasty rats guarding the place!!!



They scared the living daylights out of me, but they told me they don't eat TVs. What a relief!

The other rats there were much nicer! We found a band of rats that played music for us



and finally we had fun and played games with some funny rats



What an exciting day!!! All around the world in just one day!!! 

.... Well Mommy, I must admit I told a fib: we did not go to China and India at all, but instead to Anja's friend Ratta in Hagen, where we played with Ratta's rat collection and visited a Chinese restaurant 

But it was a fun day nevertheless! 

Hugs
Garry

My Home is My Castle

Hi Mommy,

today, Anja received a large package. Inside was the most beautiful castle I have ever seen!

How considerate of Anja!
After taking us to all these nice medieval markets, she buys us a castle of our own! 



There was something else in the package too: a toy rat!
Ah well, we'll share our castle with him, it's big enough after all. 



But what is this? A REAL rat? 



He enters the castle like it's his property - and he starts sniffing us! 



And here come two more rats!



My goodness, an invasion of rats!!! Take up the drawbridge and fill the moat with crocodiles!!! 



Too late...









Help, the rats have taken over the castle!!!! 

They are attacking! They are attacking!
Survived the dragons to be eaten by giant rats! Help!!!





Oooooh, I hear the cavallery in the distance!
And the rats are leaving!!



We are saved!!! 



Hurray!!! 

...............

"Cavallery, my foot!" Anja laughs.
"I just called my boys to dinner! After all, it is their new castle that you are playing with, so of course they want to take a look!" 



What?
Anja keeps giant rats as pets, calls them "my boys" and buys them a castle? 

This sure is a weird place you sent me to! 
But exciting....

Hugs
Garry