Reinhilde, Nieuw Weerdinge, The Netherlands

Pandamao


Posted May 29, 2007, 9:18 pm
Hello my dear friends,

I'm Reinhilde, a raven in search of wisdom. I like to discuss on interesting topics, like to broaden my mind and sometimes read philosophic books. By the way my name is very old (girl's name in old German) and comes from "ragina" = Rat (English advice/counsel), "hilta" = Kampf o. Kämpfer (English fighter). I hope I'll be able to study more on my travels.

See you soon,
Reinhilde
Pandamao


Posted Jun 4, 2007, 10:54 pm
Today three of us (Womat, Nick and I) checked out our future travel compartment. We're not sure if we all will fit in. One of these days, soon, we will travel to BunTraveler. It will be very interesting to experience a different country, discuss on the influence of different history and culture (there is much to talk about cultural differences - one of my interests is sociology/cultural studies), perhaps even go to university (BunTraveler mentioned that there might be a chance to do this) .... ah, I'm looking forward to meet BunTraveler's toyvoyagers soon for long talks.
Pandamao


Posted Jun 7, 2007, 8:26 pm
Today we found a parcel in front of the door, the whole gang couldn't wait to open it. Wonder who will be in it? We expect IZ A Dorable and IZ A QT .... and yes, here they are, happy to be out of the travel box. Now we have two pairs of twin bears.
Pandamao


Posted Jun 8, 2007, 4:34 pm
Oh dear, today we squeezed hard into our travel envelope, I hope the trip is quick and we'll soon reach BunTraveler.
snarkalicious


Posted Jul 11, 2007, 7:51 pm
Womy and I arrived in Alabama today!  It was a pretty quick trip.  We were greeted warmly by our host, Amanda, and her dog Poppy. :p  Poppy was VERY excited to meet us.  Our host assured us that Poppy was toy friendly.

Tomorrow we're going to work with Amanda.  She works at an Audiology practice.  It should be really interesting.

Pictures and updates to follow!

snarkalicious


Posted Jul 19, 2007, 4:12 pm
Well, I'm still here in Tuscaloosa, AL.  The weather has been VERY wet!  My host says they haven't had any rain in months and now it just won't stop. 
She hasn't been able to take us to all the cool places she wants to.  :( But that's okay 'cause Womy and I are going to the midnight showing of Harry Potter tonight!!!  Our host is very excited and assures me that it'll be lots of fun.  I can't wait!

starbursidereus


Posted Feb 20, 2008, 2:32 pm
I have arrived in Canada! My host mom will update this travelog for me again soon, she just wanted to let everyone know that I arrived safely! :-)

Here I am with Womat, Fenway, Baby, Oskar, and Hueso!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2026/2279833808_83288d6259.jpg
starbursidereus


Posted Mar 5, 2008, 2:50 pm
We have been very busy here at my host mom's house! :o
Here is a collection of photos displaying what I've been up to since I arrived!

Working at home with my host, staying inside when it's REALLY cold outside, and playing with the gerbil!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2297461951_15e436e168_m.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/2298256252_47abaf3265_m.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3292/2297460405_0fd145404b_m.jpg

Here I am at the hockey game, greeting Twinette Kani, and hanging out as a big group!
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starbursidereus


Posted Mar 29, 2008, 2:43 pm
Hello!!

Things are going well here with my host mom!! She told me that there has been a record amount of snow here in Canada, and she just had to take a photo of me on top of just some of it!!!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2375/2371312386_725d2dc697.jpg
starbursidereus


Posted Apr 8, 2008, 5:33 pm
My host mom took me to work today! She told us to be quiet since she has a busy day but she was able to get a picture of us at her desk. Yay!!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2246/2398733048_2e65d441b3.jpg
starbursidereus


Posted Apr 16, 2008, 2:23 pm
Hello!
Spring is finally here in Canada and my host mom has decided to get busy gardening! The other TVs and me helped plant seeds in potting buckets!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/2405198565_8324f9b143.jpg

And this was taken a few weeks ago, it's hard to believe that ALL this snow is GONE! Yay!
The kids I was watching were playing a labyrinth game... I didn't understand it much but it looked like fun!!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2340/2376980553_9b67c7bcbf.jpg
starbursidereus


Posted Apr 29, 2008, 2:06 pm
Wow! I've been on a few adventures in the last while!! :-)

Last weekend (April 18-19) my host mom took all of us down to Buffalo for a quick trip. We stayed in a very pretty room at the Indigo Hotel!

Here I am with the other TV's on the comfy bed:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2130/2426100979_4ee3c06593_m.jpg

And in the closet! My host mom wanted to take this home to her house!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/2426101369_61d79ff558_m.jpg

And just me sitting in a wall-window... it was between the bathroom sink and the main room in the hotel:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2403/2426102287_fc8ddb82ee_m.jpg

starbursidereus


Posted Apr 29, 2008, 2:09 pm
On Friday my host mom took me to her tanning salon! I even got to sit on the bed for a little bit, but my feathers didn't really like how hot it was so I didn't stay very long.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2188/2450148745_7cf95e1788_m.jpg

Later on, my host mom's brother had a floor hockey game so I went with her to watch! (And they won 2-1!!)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2263/2450980424_7329d583e3_m.jpg

After the game we stepped out for a bite to eat at Burger King:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2146/2450150377_eceb78c8de_m.jpg
starbursidereus


Posted Apr 29, 2008, 2:10 pm
Today, my host mom had a photoshoot out at an Equestrian centre out in the country! She took me and here I am visiting one of the horses. They were very behaved and I even got to pet them!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2079/2451000812_40a00813a9_m.jpg
AbbyB


Posted Dec 9, 2008, 6:46 am
Hi mom!  I've made it to Abby's house in beautiful British Columbia!  I just wanted to let you know that I am safe and in good hands.

I have had a long trip and now it's off to bed for me!
AbbyB


Posted Dec 14, 2008, 5:11 am
It snowed yesterday, so today Abby took me onto the roof of her school to look at the mountains. Abby goes to Simon Fraser University, which is on a mountain as well.  If I look a little blurry, that's because I was shivering.  It was cold up there!

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Reinhilde/December-13-2008-009.jpg

Look, the pond in the Academic Quadrangle is partially frozen!

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Reinhilde/December-13-2008-012.jpg

Brr!  Time to get inside.
AbbyB


Posted Dec 17, 2008, 10:22 pm
Today I went for a walk, despite it being -15 degrees celcius (5 degrees fahrenheit).

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Reinhilde/December-14-2008-001.jpg

Today's walk was to the mouth of Kanaka Creek.  The area around Kanaka Creek is a protected wetland habitat, home to many different organisms.  It is also a very historical place, which I learned about as I walked.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Reinhilde/December-14-2008-013.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Alizee/December-14-2008-021.jpg

Kanaka Creek meets up with the Fraser River, the largest River in Western Canada.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Alizee/December-14-2008-022.jpg

This is looking straight across the river:

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Reinhilde/December-14-2008-029.jpg

To the east:

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Reinhilde/December-14-2008-030.jpg

To the west:

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Reinhilde/December-14-2008-031.jpg

What a beautiful view!

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Alizee/December-14-2008-076.jpg

Walking along the path in the Dense Deciduous Forest, I saw a woodpecker.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Alizee/December-14-2008-056.jpg

Erin came along because she was geocaching.  This is her at the first one we found:

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Alizee/December-14-2008-057.jpg

We came to a lookout with lots of information.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Alizee/December-14-2008-061.jpg

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http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Alizee/December-14-2008-058.jpg

This is the view down the Fraser,

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Fenway/December-14-2008-068.jpg

And here is the mouth of Kanaka Creek.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Fenway/December-14-2008-069.jpg

Here you can see the log booms that were mentioned in the information plaques.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Alizee/December-14-2008-072.jpg

Then, it was time to walk back.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/abbystoyvoyagers/Alizee/December-14-2008-074.jpg
AbbyB


Posted Dec 17, 2008, 10:42 pm
Well, it's been a nice, albeit short, visit with Abby, but it's time to go home for now!
Pandamao


Posted Jan 7, 2009, 10:11 pm
I'm back home with Pandamao - Thanks a lot to AbbyB for her generous help!!
Pandamao


Posted Jan 20, 2009, 9:27 pm
Our host went to Nürnberg to show us some sights - Nürnberg is in the Northern part of Bavaria and hosts a famous Xmas market. But today we were only taking a stroll through the shopping area ... and saw a real horse postal carriage!
Pandamao


Posted Jan 20, 2009, 9:46 pm
Today we visited the famous Nürnberger Christkindlmarkt (Nuremberg Xmas market). It is located in the middle of the city in the market place. There were masses of people and Maggy (our host's dog) was really scared. But the market is very nice.
Pandamao


Posted Feb 1, 2009, 4:15 pm
Today we walked over the Christkindlmarket - look at all the glittering, bright things for Xmas! Beautiful!
Pandamao


Posted Feb 1, 2009, 4:27 pm
In the evening we traveled to Sulzbach-Rosenberg, in the North-Eastern part of Bavaria, to be exact: the Oberpfalz. It was already dark when we arrived so there was not much to see.
Pandamao


Posted Feb 1, 2009, 4:34 pm
With day-light the town looks much better than at night - this is the town center (much smaller than Nürnberg or München).
Pandamao


Posted Feb 8, 2009, 9:53 pm
We went for an early morning walk with the dog. The sun was not yet fully out and in the dim light we crossed the brigdge alongside the German Museum and went down to the Isar river. When we arrived we saw that all was covered with ice.
Pandamao


Posted Feb 8, 2009, 10:19 pm
We walked over the ice - very carefully because it is easy to slip and fall. On some areas the ice cracked when we crossed over.
Pandamao


Posted Feb 21, 2009, 9:07 pm
Then we took a rest on a tree and in the Rosengarten, sitting on a bench in the morning sun  :D
Pandamao


Posted Feb 21, 2009, 9:30 pm
Sometimes we take Maggy, our host's dog, for a walk close to the European Patent Office. We are wondering why all those straw bales are tied around the trees?  :thinking:
Pandamao


Posted Feb 21, 2009, 10:06 pm
We passed by the Königsplatz today. We saw the Lenbachhaus (museum for art - they are showing Kandinsky right now) and the Propylaeum.
Pandamao


Posted Feb 21, 2009, 10:30 pm
The weather has changed and it snowed a lot. Now all the ice along the Isar river is covered with snow.
Pandamao


Posted Feb 22, 2009, 9:57 pm
I passed the European Patent Office again and guess what the bales of straw are for - they're used as bumpers for the kids of the neighborhood going down the little slopes with their toboggans so they do not get hurt (if bumping into a tree)
Pandamao


Posted Mar 17, 2009, 8:55 pm
Today the weather was cold and rainy - so I refused to get out of the nice and comfy backpack and get a photo taken at the Stachus (Karlsplatz).
Pandamao


Posted Mar 17, 2009, 9:23 pm
As usual I went for a walk with Maggy, our host's dog. We were very surprised when the meadows along the Isar river was suddenly dug up. Later we heard that this part of the Isar close to the German Museum is "under renaturation". In the seventies many rivers were put straigth, now they are put back into the previous natural state.
Pandamao


Posted Mar 17, 2009, 10:03 pm
I accompanied Pandamao to her home town. Sulzbach-Rosenberg is a small town in the North-East of Bavaria. Pandamao showed me the town centre, a former cloister, the castle and town-hall.
Pandamao


Posted Apr 10, 2009, 9:33 pm
When we went to our host's home town we saw a well decorated with Easter eggs. Here it is the custom to decorate bushes and wells with lots of colourful eggs for Easter time. Pandamao told me that it is still early and that for the Easter week-end there will be many more eggs there.
Pandamao


Posted May 3, 2009, 10:44 pm
Today we all visisted the castle of Burghausen, it is the longest castle in Europe, 1043 meters long.
Pandamao


Posted May 4, 2009, 12:18 pm
Today we visited Gut Aiderbichl - it is a large farm where rescued animals can spend the rest of their life. A great idea - check out more on www.gut-aiderbichl.com
Pandamao


Posted May 4, 2009, 9:13 pm
Later during the week-end we visited the small town Marktl - it became well-known because it is the place where the current pope was born and spent his youth.
Then we moved on to Altötting. Altötting is a famous place for pilgrimage.
Pandamao


Posted May 4, 2009, 9:37 pm
Today I passed the German Museum. Some of my fellow TVs left here to go wild.
Pandamao


Posted May 9, 2009, 11:06 pm
Our host wanted to pick wild Bears Garlic. So we went to Feldafing at the lake of Starnberg and collected a bag full of Bears Garlic.
Pandamao


Posted May 9, 2009, 11:28 pm
Another trip to the Starnberg Lake - I saw the castle of Possenhofen, that's the castle where Sisi - the later Empress Elisabeth of Austria - has spent her youth.
Pandamao


Posted May 10, 2009, 7:53 pm
Today I went for a trip to Türkenfeld to collect more wild herbs. The photo shows us with wild anemone.
Pandamao


Posted May 10, 2009, 8:09 pm
The weather was great, sunshine, blue sky and so I took a walk along the Starnberg Lake.
Pandamao


Posted May 10, 2009, 8:26 pm
As we could not eat all the Bears Garlic we had picked, we cut it and put it into olive oil - it will be used for pesto later.
Pandamao


Posted May 27, 2009, 10:01 pm
Today I helped my host to put plants on her balcony. There are two small cherry trees, a rose bush, some other small plants. And now tomatoe plants will also grow there - some rare old sorts named: Egg of Phuket, Yellow Dattelwein, Green Zebra and Litschi Tomatoe. We also got one physalis plant. My task was to put basil, salad and other herb seeds in the pots.
Pandamao


Posted May 27, 2009, 10:04 pm
The sky went dark, wind started blowing and before I realized it a heavy storm was over this part of town - I heard some crashing noises outside on the balcony, I quickly hurried on the balcony and tried to protect the poor little tomatoe plants. Within 5 minutes I was drenched to the bone and went inside again. Poooh, the thunder was very loud and it rained so hard.
Pandamao


Posted Jun 15, 2009, 8:55 pm
This week-end I went to the small town Sulzbach-Rosenberg in the Oberpfalz for a family visit. We went by train and got a seat close to the window so we could watch the landscape passing by.
Pandamao


Posted Jun 15, 2009, 9:08 pm
Thursday we traveled to the Weissensee in beautiful Kärnten, Austria. We were lucky as the weather got better after a week of cold and rain - just look at the photos of the beautiful lake in the sunshine!
Pandamao


Posted Jun 15, 2009, 9:26 pm
After a good night's sleep we got up early to hike to the Alm hinterm Brunn (alm behind the fountain). It was a nice hike, the landscape is great.
Pandamao


Posted Jul 16, 2009, 8:24 pm
We  went for a nice long walk on the country-side. We passed the monastery of St. Ottilien.
Pandamao


Posted Jul 16, 2009, 8:46 pm
On Sunday we had to get up very early. First we got on the BOB train and after one hour got out at Geitau. From there we started our hike into the mountains. Luckily it was not very hot so we did not suffer from the heat whilst going up these steep mountain paths. The landscape was great and after 3 hours we reached the Rotwand. We were not alone - some grazing cows were our companions  :D
Pandamao


Posted Jul 16, 2009, 8:53 pm
We took a rest at the beautiful Soinsee (Soin lake). Then we picked some herbs - there were heaps of wild Frauenmantel (lady's mantle). It is famous as a medicinal herb.
After a long day we finally reached home late in the evening - very tired but also very happy and relaxed  :D
Pandamao


Posted Jul 20, 2009, 11:22 pm
Some time ago we planted little tomatoe seedlings - look how they have grown! The have invaded Pandamao's balcony and taken up all the space. But because of all the rain they are late and only one little green tomatoe is growing 
Pandamao


Posted Oct 6, 2009, 10:03 pm
I accompanied Pandamao to one of her acupuncture courses to Heidelberg. This time we stayed in the city center close to the river. We had many nice evening walks.
Pandamao


Posted Oct 6, 2009, 10:17 pm
Today I talk a walk along the Main river in Frankfurt. Unfortunately the weather was a bit cloudy.
Pandamao


Posted Oct 6, 2009, 10:23 pm
Luckily the weather changed and there was a lot of sunshine. So we went again for a walk along the river and watched the Frankfurt skyline.
Pandamao


Posted Oct 6, 2009, 10:38 pm
Today is our last day at Frankfurt. We visited the city center with the old houses.
Pandamao


Posted Oct 9, 2009, 10:48 pm
Here we are with the newcomer Cilly ond the balcony and Maggy, the dog.
There are a lot of plants on the balcony, even tomatoe plants. We picked some of them.
Pandamao


Posted Nov 2, 2009, 9:42 pm
There was a street festival in Schwabing. We also met a faun playing the flute - strange guy  :stare:
Pandamao


Posted Nov 3, 2009, 8:47 pm
For the week-end we went to the Allgäu. We walked around the Hopfensee (hopfen lake). It was nice autumn weather and the landscape was very beautiful. We saw meadows full with nice flowers.
Pandamao


Posted Nov 3, 2009, 8:57 pm
The evening we spent in Füssen. Füssen has a very nice old city center.
Pandamao


Posted Nov 3, 2009, 9:16 pm
Today we did a hiking tour along the Alpsee and the castles of King Ludwig of Bavaria. We were standing on a bridge and had a great sight of Schloss Neuschwanstein.
Pandamao


Posted Nov 4, 2009, 8:42 pm
At the end of our hiking tour we passed by another castle - Hohenschwangau.
Pandamao


Posted Nov 4, 2009, 9:07 pm
Today we went to see the famous Oktoberfest. When we got out of the sub-way everywhere it was full with people. Large crowds were walking on the Theresienwiese, enjoying the attractions. We did not go into a tent - it was just too crowded to even enter the door to a tent.
Pandamao


Posted Nov 4, 2009, 9:07 pm
Today we went to see the famous Oktoberfest. When we got out of the sub-way everywhere it was full with people. Large crowds were walking on the Theresienwiese, enjoying the attractions. We did not go into a tent - it was just too crowded to even enter the door to a tent.
Pandamao


Posted Nov 4, 2009, 9:07 pm
Today we went to see the famous Oktoberfest. When we got out of the sub-way everywhere it was full with people. Large crowds were walking on the Theresienwiese, enjoying the attractions. We did not go into a tent - it was just too crowded to even enter the door to a tent.
Pandamao


Posted Nov 6, 2009, 11:08 pm
Every morning we go for a  walk along the Isar river. It is nice and peaceful and also green - I would not have thought of having all of this green right in the city center. And the nice autumn colours!
Pandamao


Posted Nov 13, 2009, 9:45 pm
Hello, I am on the road again to the Netherlands!
Niekie


Posted Nov 20, 2009, 2:47 pm
Hi mum,

I never knew that a trip from Germany to the Netherlands would be so long! Isn't it right next to each other?
Up to now I have been travelling longer than it was from Canada to my home, and I still haven't arrived!
I'm not lost, am I?


Love,

Reinhilde
Niekie


Posted Dec 2, 2009, 10:24 am
Hey there,

About a week ago I finally arrived in Nieuw Weerdinge, a small town near Emmen, in the Netherlands.
I had to take a break to rest from the travel. And was hugging lots with the lovely 5 year old Tessa.

She took me to a party. It was the welcoming of a Saint!
He gives away presents on his birthday. What a lovely man. They call him Sinterklaas. He travels with a lot of colourd people who help him take the gifts to all the children's houses!
This way all dutch kids get presents on the 5th of December, the evening before Sinterklaas' birthday.

In advance, the children (and their parents) get presents in their shoe.

Niekie


Posted Dec 21, 2009, 5:51 pm
Hey!
It's almost Christmas! I wish you all very cosy and lovely christmas days and a very happy 2010!

A christmas tree has been set up at the house. Homer, Woofer and I just couldn't stop ourselves from climbing in. I think we were busted  :rolleyes:

Our host send us outside to play. But it was cold! And we have snow!
Yeah, sleigh riding in the snow! And we wanted to show the house we stay in. Isn't it great?

You'll hear from me soon again!

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