Travelog for: Vakinas

Hi Mummy,
I went to the city centre with Katja and iluaP ruhtrA  today. We only took a short walk along the shopping street because it lookes like rain again.





Nobody was sitting outside, enjoying a coffee. It was really cold in the morning, only 7°C! Now it is about 12°C, not what we're expecting for September.



This is one of the churches in the city centre, there is also a funny fountain. Let's have a closer look!





We went back to Katja's workplace than, just in time before it started to rain again.

Bye
Vakinas

Hi Mummy,
we took a walk to the municipal park today.

This church is surrounded by large trees, so you cannot take a photo from a distance to show the whole building (only in winter )





After a short walk we reached the municipal park. First we visited the pond, ducks and turtles are living here.







The observatory is situated here in the park.



We walked around a bit. On the next photo you can see the outskirts of the neighbour city Wuppertal in the background.



You can find three allotment areas in the park. Here is one of them, the district Hasten lying in the valley behind the gardens.



On our way back home we said "Hello" to Katja's sister-in-law. On our way there we walked along another allotment area.



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The weather is supposed to become better in the following days, I hope we will go out a little bit more often than!

Bye
Vakinas

Hi Mummy,
as the weather was fantastic we went outside to take a walk.
Remscheid is an old industrial town. Tools are produced here since middle ages. You can find a lot of old industrial sites among older dwellings.

The city centre is situated on top of a hill, which is surrounded by valleys with many forests, rivers and creeks and also rural landscape and farm land.



We reached one of the oldest districts in the municipal area than. It is called Hasten. You can find many of those houses here, which are typical for this region, half-timbered houses and houses which are covered with slate, both with usually green shutters and doors.



Those houses were usually built from late 1700s years until early 1900s years.





In this district you can also find a lot of industrial sites among dwellings.



They have a little quarter center here with shops, restaurants, banks and so on.



Those houses on the left side of the next photo are some of the oldest here in this district. They were built extremely close together.



This Patrician Villa was built in 1778/1779 and is one of Remscheid's landmarks. It was built by two brothers, rich merchants. Later the city's mayor was living in this house. Nowadays a museum is situated here.





Next we walked through a housing area, mostly you can find one-family houses here.





We came back to the centre of Hasten, here you have many companies and crafts enterprises.





When we already were tired from walking so long Katja told us that we would have to walk uphill now, we took a path in the municipal park, which is really large, extending along this hill with the city centre on top.



Bye
Vakinas

Hi Mummy,
we took a long hiking tour today. We followed a hiking path which is called “Around Wuppertal”. Wuppertal is the neighbour city of Remscheid, the borders of the municipal areas of both cities meet in Morsbach valley. This hiking path is about 110 km long, surrounding the municipal area of Wuppertal. Of course we only did part of it.

Most of the time the path was leading through forests, touching the outskirts of Wuppertal.





We walked through an old hamlet.



They are still working nowadays in this historic factory building.



Due to the bad weather during the last weeks the forests are full of mushrooms.



We rested in this cute mail box for a while. It belongs to an old house in the middle of the forest.



While we had to walk uphill we saw some fish ponds.



After walking through another hamlet I could see the city centre of Remscheid in the distance.



The encircled W is the mark of our trail. We were following it for about three hours until now.





Sometimes we had to cross creeks by jumping onto stones or climbing over trees.



We saw trees with painted-on funny faces 



We were leaving the  hiking trail here to walk to Muengsten Bridge, Germany's highest railway bridge.

We reached the municipal area of Remscheid than. Morsbach creek is marking the border between Remscheid and Wuppertal. It is opening into the river Wupper here.





From here it is not far to Muengsten Bridge which is Germany's highest railway bridge. A few years ago a leisure park was created underneath the bridge with resting chairs, playgrounds, crazy golf and restaurants. You can even play in the river here as long as there is no high water.



Here you can see at least part of the bridge. It is so large that is difficult to take a photo which shows the whole bridge   



Muengsten Bridge is overspanning the valley of river Wupper connecting the cities of  Remscheid and Solingen. It is 465 m long and 107 m high. It was finished in 1897. It is made of steel. At the moment restoration works are taking place.



Finally we made it!



We rested for a while and had a coffee.


We walked along river Wupper for a while.



When we walked uphill our path turned into another direction, we reached the bridge once more, this time walking along the slope of the valley.



We walked uphill until we reached the beginning of the bridge. Katja knows a path which is leading through the masonry construction of the bridge.





We reached a rural area than, a really wonderful place.





Another mushroom .... an extremey poisonous one, a fly agaric.



Oh dear, this was a really long walk for a small cow

Bye
Vakinas

Hi Mummy,
Katja told me that I will leave today to Barcelona in Spain. She also told me that she has been to Barcelona last year in July and that it is a fantastic city.

Before packing my  things I helped to feed the ferrets. This is ferret girl Shiva. She is looking hungrily at me .....



When we left the house we found it extremely foggy outside. It seems to be a good idea to leave today





Until noon the fog went away and the sun was shining again.

Katja's own TV Twix will also leave today, he is going to France. That also sounds great. Twix is an extremely hoggish rat, completely addicted to Twix bars. He is taking a Twix bar with him to survive two or three days in his envelope. I think it is a good idea to take some provisions with me. I will also take a Twix bar with me because they must be delicious like Twix told me.



Goodbye Mummy!



Vakinas

Hi!
I finally arrived to Spain! It has been a long trip, because it took me one week to get here, but I made it!
For what I've seen Spain is nice, and the weather is Mediterranean, that means a lot of sun and heat (even if we are in october)!
My host Laura will try and take me to visit stuff in Barcelona this week! Meanwhile, we will hang out in Sant Cugat, where she lives.
Vakinas

ps: The one in the picture is Lilac another TV Laura is hosting, he is the one who discovered me in today's mail!

Today my host showed Lilac and me some of her Halloween decorations! There aren't a lot yet, because there's still some time to hang them arround.
On daylight they aren'y very scary, but I assure you that during the night they have some scray shadows!
Vakinas

Today my host showed Lilac and me some of her Halloween decorations! There aren't a lot yet, because there's still some time to hang them arround.
On daylight they aren'y very scary, but I assure you that during the night they have some scary shadows!
Vakinas

Hi!
As today was a sunny day and it wasn't very cold, my host showed me the views from her house, her garden and the plants and trees that she has there.
On the first pictures you can see me on the roof of her house. As she lives on a hill, you can see how beautiful everything is.
And on the other pictures there's me with a cute flower, a lemon tree,  and some red fruits from a tree. I wanted to eat them but my host Laura didn't let me in case they are poisonous!
Vakinas

What an interesting subject! Oh, hey! I have been so concentrated in helping my host Laura in some of her university papers that I haven't really had a lot of free time! Wow, she works very hard!
I leave you a picture of me helping her on her laptop, we were looking for information on Austria-Hungary!
Vakinas

Hi!
Today we visited Barcelona's Cathedral, and it was so gorgeous! In the pictures you can see me outside the Cathedral, inside it and finally in the cloister with the geese.
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, also known as Barcelona's Cathedral, is the Gothic cathedral and seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona, Spain. The cathedral was constructed throughout the 13th to 15th centuries, with the principal work done in the 14th century. The cloister, which encloses the Well of the Geese was completed about 1450. There 13 white geese are kept, the number is explained by the assertion that Eulalia was 13 when she was martyred.
I really had a good time and I loved the history!
Vakinas

Hello!
As my host Laura had an hour of free time, she took me and Lilac to Barcelona and we visited two important things: Torre Agbar and the beach!
Torre Agbar is is a 38-floor tower located in Barcelona. It has 50,693 square metres and it was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. According to him, the shape of the Torre Agbar was inspired by Montserrat (a mountain near Barcelona) and by the shape of a geyser rising into the air.
After that we went to the beach for a while. It was great, I felt as if we were on summer again (and we are in middle november!). The beach that we went to is called Barceloneta, it is 1,100 m long, and it is one of the biggest beaches in Barcelona. It is also one of the oldest and most traditional beaches in the city.
Vakinas

Sorry for the lack of pictures! But my host has been very busy with examens, and she didn't have time to show me more places!
I had a great time in Barcelona, I love the people and the food! And I am now on my way to Russia, where my new host is waiting for me! I hope it's not as cold as they say!
Regards,
Vakinas

Hi Mom!

I've finally arrived to Moscow that is in Russia! My new host picked me at the post office in the morning. It's very cold and snowy here, but ok, it's winter.

Here I am driving to Kristl's office:



Btw Happy St. Valentine's Day! In the car I met a hair called Kuzya, Kristl's boyfriend gave him as a present to her. Look how funny we look together: little me and big Kuzya