Travelog for: Nocino

hello i say again to tell you about my adventures in the last days.
on 28. of june i could watch the quarter final play of the european football championship between germany and italy. it was an extremly thrilling game which could be won by our azzurri, yeah





last weekend we went to the woods near Vienna to go mushrooming. we started very early in the morning at 5 o clock.
and look mummy what we found! fine Chanterelles





This mushroom is not eatable (boletus satanas), it is toxical. I only looked at it in save distance 



here a Fomitopsis on a tree, also not eatable



sitting on a tree root for a little break. It was strenuous to walk uphill and downhill through the woods



later i took a piece of a branch to use it as walking stick



hiding behind leaves of a beech tree. can you see me?



sitting in the early morning sun



hey whats that i found here on the ground? an empty bird’s nest



coral fungi



very fine and smoothly to lay on the green moss, superbly



remains of a tree which was hewed by wind and wheather



fine clear water near a little creek, it was very refreshing



look here i could  taste morning dew, very delicious



so this are the latest news.
following weekend i want to make a little jaunt to  the city centre, maybe in the Stadtpark (Viennese City Park). also i have promised the fluffy toys of my hosters to give a little gig playing with my guitar. lets see. will tell you in time. send you many greetings and kisses, miss you, your nocino

hello mummy, here i am again to send you my latest pictures. i spend a fine time here in Vienna. for it was rainy the last days we were amusing ourselves at indoor activities. we? oh mummy, i learned to know many many fluffy toys in my hosters home. to introduce myself to them all i decided to give a little guitar concert. i played all the songs i had rehearsed. it was a nice evening.

on this picture you can see my audience, next to me that is cessy. she told me about her wonderful visit in Torino, were she met tare the tarepanda, ray the ray, orso the bear, trifolo the rabbit and wellington the penguin, george and kazumi in february 2012. and she is really happy now, to meet me too, a toy voyager colleague:





cessy wanted me to give her advices how to learn playing guitar:



so i explained her the most important things about this musical instrument. it was wonderful, cessy is a really nice one, i think i like her



cessy also told me about her favourite musicians and songs. we listened to some of them together on her mp3-player



here we had a lot of fun riding hugy the mighty sheep:



on an other evening we played some games of cards together (not for money, mummy  )



i told you, we did not play for money, but i have to confess, we gambled for other high stakes – sweets!



and i could win one of the most demanded prices: the sweets necklace (no shell pearls, only grape sugar pearls) 

hello my dears at home,
again i had very nice days here in Austria. last weekend we made a trip to the centre of Vienna. here i am with the Viennese *Fiaker* (horse drawn carriages for sightseeing) at the Hofburg Palace







the legendary Plachutta Restaurant, famous for their *Tafelspitz* (boiled fillet of beef)



a final drink at the Cafe Bendl, also a Viennese original you must have visited



on the way with the streetcar



with the underground



and by rail



straight through Vienna



the following day (on sunday) we made a walk along the Danube to the *Donau Marina*



Donaustadtbrücke (Viennese guyed bridge acrross the Danube)




Marina Vienna









then we went again to the centre of the Viennese city to the *Stadtpark* (Vienna City Park, extends from the Parkring in the First District of Vienna up to the Heumarkt)
there you can see the Wienfluss (is a river that flows through the city of Vienna. it is 34 kilometres long -21 miles -, of which 15 km are within the city)







Johann Strauss Monument









can you find me here on this picture hidden in the foreground 



and see what i have found there!!! hazelnuts fresh from the hazelnut tree 



at home i had a fine nibble



now i say good bye, greetings and kisses, see you (some time)

hello mummy,

i am beside of myself with joy! guess what i have done yesterday. I learned how to cook a cake with hazelnuts!!!!!! have i fulfilled now my first life mission???? let me tell the story right from the start.

yesterday there was a public holiday and my hosters decided to bake with me. for soon i have to leave Vienna, it was a kind of a farewell gift.

first we prepared the ingredients (see the delicious and fine hazelnuts)



we separated the eggs:



mixed egg yolk, sugar, vanilla sugar, butter, flour, baking powder,a pinch of salt and fine grated hazelnuts



then we beat the egg white stiff and fold it in the dough



i tasted the dough hmmmmmmmmmmmmm fine



now the baking sheet has to be smeared with butter and flour, then we put the dough on it and smoothed it out







for the coating oft he cake we used rock sugar





and hazelnuts of course! we had to crush them in a crushing machine





and sprinkle it on the dough:



now the cake was ready for the baking oven



i had to wait long long 30 minutes, then the cake was finished at last. oh there was a delicious smell in the whole kitchen!
we cut him



and finally i tasted. delectable!!!



what a pitty mummy that i can‘t bring with me a pice of the cake for you. but now i know the recipe and how to cook it. i will make one  when i am back home, i pledge my word 

today it was time to say farewell to Vienna. in my hosters office i met nana, the office mascot. before i had to leave she showed me the rooms there.

i was allowed to use the big copy machine:



to calculate the mail charges for my yourney to lithuania



a last hug from nana



and then off i went in to the envelope



bye bye Vienna, was nice. now i look forward to my next target. Vilnius i am coming 

Hey, mum!
Today I reached my new home! It's in Vilnius, Lithuania. I met my new lovely host Karolina and another voyager Diddl-Maus. We became friends!
I was very happy to have a new friend and we both went to an Old Town with our host mum Karolina to see some cool places while riding a bike
First, we saw Lithuania's National Museum. You can also see Gediminas' castle up there:



Then I took a picture near The Cathedral. It was my first time seeing it and it was so so beautiful! It's situated in the centre of the Old Town. The Bell Tower, which is right next to the Cathedral, was really amazing, too:





We went to Trakai street and saw this amazing sculpture near VGTU University:



And then, when we decided to go home, we stopped to look at this amazing graffiti wall -can you see it?



That's how I spent my Friday! It was great to rest for a while after my big journey.


Hugs,
Nocino

Hi!
Guess what we did today - we went to the Old Town, where we saw St. Baltramiejaus fair! It's an event for renaissance era - people can learn how to dance renaissance style dances, play medieval games, visit theatres and see many performances.

We saw a lot of interesting stuff there! For egz., fox fur:



Dancing people...



And other old things like drum, sewing machine (staklės), flags from Middle Ages:











It was so interesting! When we went home, we stopped by the church to take a picture. It looks so beautiful!



Well, it's almost the end of the summer... Sad, isn't it?

Love,
Nocino

Labas!
I said "hello" in Lithuanian! Today a new toy voyager has arrived - it's a sweet sheep Kalea!



Kalea has just finished her journey in Japan, so she came with a lot of surprises - cookies with interesting flavors! Karolina, our host mum, said a big thank you to her previous host hanachan



I decided to play some songs with my guitar and we had a great evening with interesting conversations, snacks and, of course, good music!





Miss you,
Nocino

Hi there!
Today is the last day of summer and a great day in the Old Town - it's "Sostinės dienos 2012"! This weekend is dedicated to Lithuania's capital city Vilnius (in Lithuanian it's "sostinė"). You can see a big fair, many free concerts and other cool stuff going on!

We left our car near the mall and went to the Old Town. Here you can see me on the White Bridge, posing next to the "New Town" buildings:



There are many games that people can play on the street:



And funny pictures where you can insert your face, haha!



We even listened to one band, the music was really great!



Here I am near the Lithuania's National Drama Theatre. You can see three ladies (sculpture) near the entrance:



We also saw a great expo of pictures from all over the world:



A big big surprise was waiting for us when we went back to our car after we saw the fair - in Lukiškės square we saw a sculpture of John Lennon! It was made of sand. What a beautiful piece of art! I can already hear myself singing "Imagine"...



What a great day! Ahh, autumn is almost here... I hope September will be good!

Hugs,
Nocino

Hello!
Today our host mum Karolina came back from... school! Starting September she had to go back to studying. She says that it's quite hard to get up early again, but everything will be okay after some time!

Let's see what books and notebooks do we have:



Literature book! That looks like an interesting thing...



By the way, a small gift from United Kingdom (via postcrossing) arrived today - a "teapot" for tea bags! Cool, isn't it?



The evenings are getting darker... Oh, I miss summer sometimes...

Hugs,
Nocino

Hey, mummy!
Guess what we did on Sunday? We watched Vilnius Marathon 2012! A lot of people were running in the Old Town - some of them even made the whole distance of 42 km 195 metres! It was really cool to watch this beautiful traditional event (First Marathon in Vilnius was 8 years ago!)



Sadly, we didn't register in the running, so we decided to take a small tour in the Old Town centre. First stop - The Royal Palace of Lithuania (Valdovų rūmai). It was built in the 15th century for the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Here you can see a new palace on the site of the original building, it was opened a few years ago. It's so big and beautiful!



That's a funny wall with teapots!



Here you can see Signatarų namai, a place where the Act of Independence of Lithuania was signed:



And, for the end, a nice fountain near the Town Hall:



What a lovely Sunday!

Hugs,
Nocino

Hey, mum!
I'm really sorry for not uploading anything new. My host mum was feeling quite ill, so we didn't have a chance to go somewhere. But this Saturday we went to Pabrade forest to pick some mushrooms! Look what we brought back home:



And this is a huge ceps, the king of the mushrooms! It's called baravykas in Lithuania. Karolina said that it's really tasty when it's in a soup:



Later that day we decided to go for a walk in the Old Town. There was an exhibition of interesting sculptures, made of hay:



I feel not so good now - maybe it's because of the changing weather? Well, I guess I'll have to eat some peanuts...

Hugs,
Nocino

Hey, mummy!
Today we spent a lot of time at home. Host mum has received many letters from her penpals, so we helped her to write the answers to the letters:



We decided to look for some recipes in OBUOLIŲ PYRAGAI (Apple pies) book. Maybe we will bake something nice soon, what do you think?..



I tried some home made apple jam and it was really delicious! It tastes way better than it looks!



I hope you're well, mum. Maybe you're making something sweet with apples, too?

Kisses,
Nocino

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
(Snow Patrol "Chasing Cars")

Mummy,
sometimes I just want to lie somewhere and watch the clouds. Isn't that relaxing?...
This Saturday we went to a shopping mall "OZAS" and then we decided to go upstairs, to the roof. What an amazing view we saw there!



Me, Kalea and Diddl-Maus became great friends. Here is another picture of our short trip to the sky:



I hope you're doing well. I send you many hugs!


Have a relaxing and cosy day,
Nocino

Hello!
Today we visited Varėna, a nice town in Lithuania, where we had a lot of fun in GRYBŲ ŠVENTĖ 2012 (MUSHROOM FESTIVAL 2012)! Varėna's forests are full of goodies like berries and mushrooms, that's why each year people of this town are having a big celebration with fairs, contests, concerts and so on.

Here we are next to the statue - a boy with a basket full of mushrooms:



And this is the parade!



After that, we saw a lot of cars - some of them were very old and vintage, some of them were interesting because of the size. This one looks cool!



This seems to be a tiny park - place with farm animals like chickens, rabbits and other small creatures:



Let's take a closer look...



Whoa, what a big car! Wait... it's not a car... it's a tractor!



Look who is here - another cute squirrel!



What a lovely day it was. Varėna is a very warm town and I had so much fun there!

Love,
Nocino

Hey!

This Sunday was a bit sad because we had to say goodbye to our lovely friend Diddl-Maus. He's coming back home to GERMANY after his big journey, so we wished him all the best and gave him a big hug:



How are you doing, mum?
Lots of love,
Nocino