Travelog for: camilla

Hi!
I'm ready to leave. Is there someone who wants to host me?

Hi!
I'm leaving for my first adventure, I just have to say goodbye to my friends and I'm ready to enter the envelope...

Camilla has arrived in Lansing, MI..... more pictures to come.

Took Camilla on a short flying trip to Grand Rapids, MI (30mins)... Camilla wanted to see everything... the airport, the plane, cockpit, landscape, etc... Enjoy the pics.

We spent some time at Savannah, GA and also had time to hit the beach!

Drinking ice latte at Biggby.

Off to the ball park!

Hi Mummy,
I arrived in Germany today. I was welcomed by my host Katja and the ToyVoyagers Tochi, Squirt, Rafael and Gunter Dagli. Brinda also arrived today.



It is incredibly hot here.

Bye
camilla

Hi Mummy,
we took a walk in the municipal park in the afternoon. It is close to my current home, about 10 minutes to walk.

A church is hidden behind those large trees.



Soon we reached we park.







This memorial is dedicated to the dead of several wars before World War I.







I saw roses in the flower garden ...





... and lilies.



In the distance you can see the outskirts of the neighbour city Wuppertal.







They  have a nursery here in the park.



We had a heavy storm in the morning. Lots of leafs were torn from the trees.





The observatory is situated in the entrance area of the park.



When we walked back home Katja showed us another, really small park. This pillar is showing the coat of arms of Remscheid.





In this quarter of the city you can find many nice old houses.









Bye
camilla

Hi Mummy,
Katja showed me a little bit of the city centre today.

You can find this statue, showing two giant forceps, at the beginning of the shopping street. Remscheid is famous for its tool producing industry.



Here you can see the city hall. Its tower is 48 m high.



We walked along the shopping street. Here you can see the entrance of the shopping mall with a large fountain in front of it. A lot of people are sitting here usually to enjoy the spraying of water when it it hot outside.







I am living in this street at the moment.



This is the local court, first the old building ...



... and the annex which was built a few years ago.



In this part of the city you can find many houses which were built in late 19th century or early 20th century.



Bye
camilla

Hi Mummy,
we took a walk today to see Germany's highest railway bridge - Muengsten Bridge.

Muengsten Bridge is connecting the cities of Remscheid and Solingen. It overspans the valley of the river Wupper. To walk to the valley took us about an hour. We walked along some pretty rural areas.





Here you can already see the railway track, leading to Muengsten Bridge. You can see it in the background of the photo.



We walked along this nice and shady path, meadows on the left side, the railway track in a hollow on the right side.



We had to walk really close to the railway track for a moment. The bridge is beginning after a few meters.



Our path led us underneath the tracks, to the upper foundation of the bridge. We had a fantastic view across the valley from here.



Have a look at the shadow of the bridge on the other side of the valley!



We walked and walked and saw this nice outlook pavilion.





What do you think what I saw from here? Muengsten Bridge! Katja told us that this would be our last chance to take a photo which is showing the whole bridge. From the bottom of the valley it is nearly impossible to take a good shot.



Muengsten Bridge is made of steel. It is 107 m high and spans the valley of river Wupper, which is marking the border between Remscheid and the neighbour town Solingen.

The bridge is 465 m long and was completed in 1897 A.D.

We had to walk downhill than until we reached the bottom of the valley. I rested on this stone in a small creek for a while, cooling down my feet.



Finally we reached the bottom of the valley. A leisure park was built in 2006. A lot of people enjoyed the sun.



This is river Wupper, a really shallow river after some weeks with nearly no rainfall.



We went home by bus than.

Bye
camilla

Hello Mummy,
today we took took a walk in the outskirts of the neighbour city Solingen. You can find a medieval castle there, Schloss Burg. It is situated in the district Burg, imbedded a large rural and woodland area. Katja's parents went with us and also Nathalie. She will soon visit you, Mummy. She told us that she would travel to you as soon as she had taken a bath. We parked the car and walked to the castle.







Soon the castle came into sight.





This tower once belonged to the castle, unfortunately we don't know more about it. You can find the tower here, two ancient cannon and a memorial dedicated to the dead of both World Wars.







Here you can see a zoomed photo of the castle.



We had to walk through the forest for another 15 minutes until we reached the castle.





When we reached the castle we went to the courtyard.



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. (For those who do not speak German: The German word for mountain or hill is "Berg", so many people think that the name "Bergisches Land" means "land with many hills" )

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) many 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 someone makes soap, another makes brushes, then you can buy things that were used by knights for the kids, like swords and helmets. 





This monument is showing Count Engelberg II von Berg.





In middle ages they stored gunpowder in this thick round tower.







You can see that the castle really is situated high above the valley.



We left the castle than to continue our walk in the forest. We came to this outlook pavilion. It looks exactly like the one I saw last week! Katja told us that those two outlook pavilions indeed were "twins". They were created by an architect who put them at two places with a gorgeous overwiev.



The ceiling of this pavilion is painted with the crests of the surrounding cities. The one with the lion and the sickle is the one of Remscheid.



Yes, the sight onto the valley of the river Wupper is great.





I tried to climb up this rock.



We reached a place from where you can see the city centre of Remscheid in the distance. We had to take a zoomed photo. I can see the tower of the city hall and the water tower.



We left the forest than and walked through the district Hoehrath, a rural area where you can find many horse breeding and riding stable.



We also saw a sawmill.





Katja told us that you usually can find a lot of horses on those meadows. Maybe the horses were already brought back to their stables.



This was a very nice walk.

Bye
camilla

Hi Mummy,
we helped Katja to prepare soused herring in red-wine-marinade today.

First Katja gave us all the ingredients for the receipe:

about 10 soused herrings
1/4 l red wine
1/4 l red wine vinegar
200 g white rock sugar
3 tsp black pepper
3 tsp mustard seed
4 bay leaves
2 carrots
2 onions



We helped to cut onions and carrots ...



... and to measure off wine and red wine vinegar.



All ingredients except of the herrings had to boil up.



While we waited for the wine to boil up we enjoyed coffee and cookies.





Herrings and stock were layered into a bowl than. The herrings will have to stay there for at least three days.



Bye
camilla

Hi Mummy,
Nathalie took a bath today. She hopes that she will be completey dry tomorrow.







Bye
camilla

Hi Mummy,

we took a walk today in the afternoon. We had really bad weather from Sunday until yesterday. First I will show you where I am living at the moment. I am living in the attic storey of this pretty house which was built in 1904.



Close to my current home you can find the local court.







I saw this funny fountain.







We went to a housing area called "Hohenhagen". It is situated on a hill opposite of the city centre.



You can find all kinds of houses here, nice old houses as well as new built family homes and social housing.







This TV mast is also situated on this hill.



We walked a bit further and left the housing area. Soon we reached open fields. In the backgound you can see the outskirts of the neighbour city Wuppertal.



You can see the city centre in the background of the  next photo, those two towers are the city hall and the water tower.



This barley already seemed to be ripe.



We decided to walk back than.





The nice weather seemed to disappear.



Bye
camilla