Travelog for: _Mishuta_

Hi Mum,

today's trip started in Aguamansa, in the mountains above Orotava Valley.



We walked through lovely pine forests.









Here we also found trees which were covered by lichen.







This seems to be a kind of elderberry. Can you see that there are fruits and blooms at the same time?




And here ....

a wonderful look at Pico del Teide, covered with snow.



The higher we climbed, the more fantastic the landscape became. Look at these lava formation.





We were at a level of about 1.500 m than, the vegetation changing.



Eukalyptus trees were growing there.



Isn't this a great view, those snowy mountains? Above the clouds the weather was much better, of course.





After returning home to Puerto de la Cruz we were really tired.

Bye
Mishuta

Hi Mum,

today we made a hiking tour along the coastline, towards the Western parts of Puerto de la Cruz, about 8 km towards Los Realejos and back.

Once more we walked through the lovely old town.



We found a beautiful mosaic at a house wall, the large red island on the left side is Tenerife.





Close to the coast we found this lovely outlook pavilion.





We walked along the shore, with this fantastic view towards Playa Jardin and Punta Brava, another historical district of Puerto de la Cruz.



Over the years a large field with cairns (human-made piles of stones) was created by people.These cairns are nowadays mostly used as trail markers.





In the meantime we left Puerto de la Cruz behind, following the trail.





These are palm fruits.



The coastline became more and more cliffy.





This ruin was a water pumping station once.



Duck your head 







From here we walked back.



This time we made a side trip to the narrow lanes of Punta Brava.



The breakers are nearly crashing into the houses.



Bye for today
Mishuta

28.373
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Hi Mum,

today we went to Garachico, also located at the North-Western coast of Tenerife. Garachico is an old town which was almost completely destroyed by an eruption in May 1706. Most of the town and the whole harbor were destroyed. There is no beach but natural rock bassins, remnants of the lava which came down the valley in 1706.















These are the rock bassins.





Tomorrow we will have to return home 

Bye
Mishuta

Good-bye Tenerife!

Hi Mum,

today we met Strunki and went to Cologne to meet another TV-host from Germany, fam-united.

We had planned to visit the Botanical Garden ("Flora") here. It was created in late 19th century.

Incredible! Real palm trees in winter in a German city!





These are monkey puzzles from South America, i.e. Chile.



This looks like spring is on its way to Germany 



They are having a special camelia exhibition here in a greenhouse, camelia are blooming in winter.



Camelia in all colors and variations.

















This is the beautiful glass palace.







The weather became more and more ugly, so we decided to "escape" to Düsseldorf, hopefully the weather would be better there!

After a 30 km trip to the North we parked the car in the old town of Düsseldorf.

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state North Rhine-Westphalia and, like Cologne, located at river Rhine. The old town is well-known for its many bars, restaurants and pubs, by tourists as well as the locals.

We walked towards river Rhine through the old town.



This is the so-called "Burgplatz" close to the river. A lot of events are taking place here and it is a favourite place to meet other people.





River Rhine!



In the background you can see Media Harbor and the Television Tower.



Back to the city centre, we found this old inner harbor.



Duesseldorf is well known for its unique beer, "Altbier". In summer this place is crowded with people. Because it is not summer, we went inside the pub.



Cheers!



A whole crowd of ToyVoyagers 



Back in the city we had a look at the historical city hall.



In the old town you can find hundreds of bars and restaurants, that's why Duesseldorf is called "The longest bar in the world".



Unfortunately we had to leave then.

Bye
Mishuta

Hi! I arrived in Finland with a cool postcard of the suspension train of Wuppertal - and a bag of matching sweets. My new host is busy with moving apartments but she said I will get to visit her workplace this weekend. We will send more photos then.
Everything is well and fine here in Seaside town of Kotka!

Love, Mishuta

Hello Mum!
Today I had quite an outing. Host mom took me and my new friend Walla to her workplace - at an adventure park!
We went into a room full of strange equipment. What are these things??



It seemed you are supposed to wear them. Those helmets I understand well enough but what about the other stuff? Host mom demonstrated:



So it is a harness! And you wear them and then climb up on a track built on trees! Does that not sound a little bit crazy? I wondered if it is safe and was assured that it is indeed very safe. Once you are properly attached on a safety wire, you can not fall.
But these are human size stuff. Look at me! This helmet was way too big for me. It made a nice swing, though... 




But we bears are so skilled at climbing trees I had no need to have a helmet. So, into the forest and up on the track we went and this is what we saw:





All kinds of wobbly swings, spiderweb replicas and wires to balance on. Looks fun but also like a good exercise...
We even took a slide on a zipline among the spruces! Such speed and excitement! A fun ride that was, especially as host mom was holding tightly onto us.




After the last zipline we landed safely and took a stroll in the woods on ground level. It felt great having solid ground under my paws again.





I climbed up a big rock covered in moss and it felt so tiny after looking down from five meters up!



This was a nice, fresh day. I hope you have had a lovely Sunday as well!
Love from Mishuta

Hi Mom! It has been a looong time since we updated my log but I have some things to show you. Here is the first one.

Anyway!

We moved up north to Kiiminki which is a town that belong to the city of Oulu by the Bothnian Bay. My host's parents live here.

On this lovely day we made lingonberry juice from berries we picked all by ourselves. We also took a stroll in the garden which was full of flowers and different berry bushes and other growing things: Gooseberry, Sea Buckthorn, carrots...



Love, Mishuta

I visited a town called Nivala which is two hours south from Kiiminki. My host Tuija and two other toys, Prajna and Walla joined me.

In Nivala we got to collect red currants! We used a big garden rake as a ladder and got plenty of berries. They were sweet and tangy, very delicious. Wonderful for making juice and pies.
I also spotted a pretty butterfly up in the bushes.

It was a fun day...

Memories...
(uploaded in May, 2017)

On an early winter's day...
A walk in the woods in sunshine was a refreshing experience. I was expecting to see reindeer or something else equally magical, but host mom told that reindeer don't come quite here. But in the next town one hour to northeast one can already see them...

Hugs from your dear Mishuta!

Well, Mommy, you will get some last minute updates from me before I return home!

I am excited to tell that I got to sail on a ship a few weeks ago. We started out on a trip overseas and I insisted to be photographed in front of the open sea. My wish was granted.
The southwestern Finnish archipelago offered a gorgeous view.

~ Mishuta

Hiya Mom!

Look where we ended up to after traveling far and wide! In the city of Palm Springs in hot and spicy south where lots of actors from Hollywood would locate in the olden days... You know how this came to be?

Back then, when the celebs made contracts for the film studios instead of single movies, they could be called to work anytime. Therefore, they weren't allowed to live any further than one hundred miles away form L.A. - and Palm Springs is just about 98 miles out!
We visited the local art museum where a fantastic, talkative gift shop clerk told us all about this, and much more that I wish I had written down somewhere.

Unfortunately we did not run into any famous people. That didn't make a great difference anyway, for we were getting ready to hike on the hills surrounding the area, which made my heart race much faster than spotting celebrities
The hiking trail began right at the back of the museum parking lot and was very rocky - plus, the weather was hot, at least 30 degrees celsius. So we had to take it pretty slow; but it was good exercise, great fun and a cool way to get a look over the city.

Here are some photos for you to enjoy...

With a smile,
Mishuta

Hi Mommy!

Would you believe if I told you that we found a few photos all the way from last August? Memories of summer in the southeast...
We thought we had lost these photos and were happily surprised when browsing through a laptop computer here back north.

Without further ado, here we go: (These photos were taken on August 16th)
Photos from a pretty little natural reserve area just a few miles from the city. There was a fast-rolling rapid, and gorgeous seaside style (full figured) pine trees. I climbed very carefully on a thin but durable fence to take a look at the river flowing towards the Baltic Sea.
Langinkoski was a place full of history, too; the area featured an imperial fishing lodge built in 1889 for the Russian emperor Alexander the Third.

I still remember that day like it was yesterday...

Love, Mishuta

Hello! Summer is finally on its way to north. I got to marvel at crocuses before packing up and hopping in the envelope.
Look at these beauties...

See you back home in Ukraine!

Love, Mishuta