Posted Jan 6, 2012, 10:02 pm
My name is Wayne, i'm a little gingerbreadman and a present from my good friend Sookie.
I hope i can see the whole world!
On Thuesday, 10. January 2012, I will start my journey of freedom to my mothers homecountry Russia.
I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it *sing*
Posted Jan 10, 2012, 6:36 pm
Hopefully i'll arrive as soon as possible at Dangerousebeans!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Feb 4, 2012, 11:27 am
But I'm happy to visit my new friend, Masha aka dangerousebeans from Moscow and I'm ready for my adventure! See you soon! 
Posted Feb 18, 2012, 7:17 pm
Today we decided to be engaged in good business and to help birdies to live happily. You know, in Russia it’s really cold in winter, therefore wild animals in the city have problems – where to live and where to eat. My host lives near to park, so we solved to create a feeding for titmouse and sparrows - almost free, but effective!
At first we take a juice package, certainly empty. I like an apple one - beautiful green box, reminds of summer among white snow.
Then we measure distances accurately and line everything by the pen. Hm, it is not so convenient to me to hold the handle by my paws.
Now we take a knife and start to cut out apertures. Not so simply, when a knife is bigger than you!
We paste a paper over edges to help birdies not to wound when they would fly inside. Well we also can do more beautiful! What do you think?
We insert a branch so birdies could eat sitting. I have found chopsticks - excellent idea!
Last but not least - a tasty feed! For this case we bought the real delicacy - apples, peaches, grapes, cherry, seashell crumb, seeds and cereals. Sounds good! Now in park there will be the thickest and healthy titmouse and sparrows.
Finally, we adhere a feeding to a tree and wait for visitors. Bon appetit!
Posted Mar 3, 2012, 6:55 pm
Terrible snowfalls still storm in Moscow; therefore we continue to visit museums! I’m waiting for spring, streams and birdies so much! =) Today we have decided to visit the Polytechnical museum – one of the oldest scientific and technical museums of the world that emphasizes the progress of Russian and Soviet technology. The museum was opened in 1872 and it is completely devoted science development - chemistry, physics, electronics, there are over 190 thousand museum subjects. Our excursion was very interesting and informative. Everywhere I saw tablets in English that has allowed receiving tons of new knowledge for non-russian tourists. And also there are interactive models which will make a science more fun!
The very first exhibit that we met is the Soviet nuclear bomb – RDS-1. Its non-official name is The First Lightning (Pervaya molniya) and it was used in the Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon test, code-named Joe-1, in reference to Joseph Stalin. It was exploded on 29 August 1949, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, after a top-secret R&D project. At Lavrenty Beria's insistence, the RDS-1 bomb was designed as an implosion weapon similar to the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan; it was an implosion type weapon with a solid plutonium core.
My host says that we live in very strange world when for peaceful life it is necessary to make bombs. If the USA after the attack of Japan stayed monopolist in nuclear arms, nobody could know, what would be a destiny of mankind. Thank God that Cold War hasn't outgrown in Third World one.
Then we have passed in the huge hall telling about the oil industry in Russia. Can you believe, that earlier oil extracted from wells like water till middle of 19 century? And was transported by camels. So weird!
I have been very impressed by a huge platinum nugget more than 9,5 kg in weight. It was found in the Ural mines. Host told me that platinum has been found for the first time in 1819 in Russia. But it was very cheap and was called as "rotten gold", nobody needed it. You know, a word "platinum" literally means «small silver». Such scornful name can be explained by bad fusibility of platinum so it was estimated twice lower than silver. Well now this nugget costs more than 530 thousand dollars! Certainly, it is a model, because it would be too dangerous to keep it here.
In a museum it is possible to see development of art processing of stone, one of the first natural materials used by the men. Russian masters, unlike European ones, aspired to follow more unique natural drawing and beauty of marble, than templates. This marble mosaic table-top has been created in the Peterhof Lapidary Factory in 19th century. This well-known factory produced beautiful things for the Hermitage!
Look, there is a steelmaker's spoon It is made more than 40 years ago. So interesting that it is used not for the basic work of metal fusion, but for removal of tests. By this spoon a steelmaker scoops liquid metal and sends it to experts to find out, which components don't suffice the quality.
Here it is a first Russian TV with new, for the first time in the world applied standard of clearness in 625 lines - "Moskvich-T1" (Muscovite – T1). I can't understand, what could be pleasant to watch it! Seriously, it is easier to listen to radio, than to crowd round the TV!
It is very amusing record player, isn't it? I saw many record players - they have these huge pipes which strengthen a sound. But this one has zither - the string resonator. Zither strings vibrate from a sound. Each string of a zither responds on a sound of "its" note, strengthening it. So unusual!
Also we saw different models of cars created many centuries ago. This one on a photo has been thought up in 1600 in Holland! Amusing, it is look like overland ship. Imagine, if such cars drive on streets today!
And in the end we have come into a hall of high technologies - computers! A group photo for memory! (There was very strict keeper who didn't like toys on technical devices)
There is the main stage in working out of modern computers is presented – the machine tool which reads out punched cards. We have been told that at the beginning – in 1820 - there was a weaving loom working this way. The pattern which was necessary for weaving was set by them. Inventor Herman Hollerit has decided to use a similar method for processing of results of population census in America. Processing of results of last census has been counted almost seven years! And the population continued to increase … But the machine automatically processed results. Finally results have been processed for six weeks!
And at the very end of excursion we have seen this remarkable gadget for electricity development. Looks like a bicycle connected with wires. You should twist pedals, and in a case a device that is sufficed of electricity – the hair dryer, a mixer or even the TV - starts to work! What a pity, that my legs don't get to pedals
Posted Mar 20, 2012, 11:06 pm
We stand and stand…
The next photo is called "the Guard of natural precious stones". Photographing was very difficult; the spider jumped over different blades of grass, threw off water drops and climb up the camera. But the final picture is excellent!
The photographer told us, that they have stopped to have a rest on a trip and then they were surrounded by monkeys who began to demand meal. The leader looks very defiantly, doesn’t he?
The Russian island The Seal is entirely occupied by groups of sea birds and seals in summertime. They prefer for habitation even the constructions erected by the people!
I consider that a halcyon - one of the most beautiful birds on light. A legend says that Noah sent a halcyon for fire. It flied up highly in heavens, and its wings were painted in color of the sky. When he saw a fire he went down and took a firebrand which burned its wings and paws which become fiery color.
Also look, I dive together with jellyfishes! I am very brave ginger-bread
And the sweetest thing in the world - sleeping fat dormouses. To sleep nine months in a year - I envy a little bit.
You will never guess what it is - the big dandelion! It looks like a pentagram.
This photo is called “The Frontal attack”. This bird liked shelter of the photographer and started to expel him therefrom. Looks very threateningly, as the bomber.
There is just a beautiful and romantic dawn and a heron that admires it. Fantastic!
Interesting, about what these bear cubs argue? They couldn’t agree about something?
And last but not least - tomorrow I will not be in Moscow anymore! Guess, where? The host took me to Thailand! First we wanted to go to Maldives, but a boyfriend of my host has forbidden because of political problems. OK, we will visit Thailand! There are more sights and we will have more fun!
Posted Apr 8, 2012, 9:22 pm
At last I can publish amazing photos of my holidays in Thailand! I can warn you, there are more photo than one hundred therefore at me it’s a lot of work
Hey, my very first day of holiday begins! You know, how long it takes to fly to Thailand from Moscow? 9 hours! And one and a half more to the small island Samui where we will enjoy everything. Add time at three airports between planes, and day passes. But of course, holidays are worth it!
Everything begins in Domodedovo – one of four airports in Moscow, the biggest and overloaded airport in Russia. It was opened in 1963 and sends more than 400 flights a day!
We approach to our table. We’ve chosen flight of Transaero Company. It is the leader among the Russian companies by quality of transportations. Well, and by the price of the ticket too.
Plus, we have a business class. It isn't necessary, but we are going to fly all night long. I couldn’t imagine, how it is possible to sit 9 hours long on inconvenient armchair, some people can't even extend a foot, what to say about sleeping. Comfort is money!
So, it is necessary to be checked on the x-ray device. It seems, there are no metal explosive parts and water in me but who knows?
Well, we passed customs, before our flight it is 2 hours, than how we will waste our time? Let's eat. The last European food for a half-month – it is still unclear what we will find in Thailand …
The business class gives another remarkable priority – a special waiting room. It is awesome to relax in a soft chair with a plate of snacks. These luminous bubbles behind my back –it is so cool!
At last, we in the plane. I never saw such amusing chairs-capsules, did you? Now we can sit and read a book comfortably …
And by pressing one button they automatically turn into the real bed! Yes, in such armchair it is possible to sleep perfectly 9 hours long! And the back doesn't move, so nobody hangs over. Super!
Short stop at the airport of Bangkok. There is no time for photography – it is necessary to take away luggage and send to the following flight! But this mosaic on a wall I simply couldn't pass – so beautiful.
And certainly, always there is enough time for the most tasty coconut. Oh, it is necessary to drink directly from a nut? And the barman instead of using a shaker takes a sharp hatchet, does 3 strokes, a straw and everything is ready. Exotic!
At last, cute small airport of island Samui (or coh Samui as local people say). Very small. Compare it with my first photo! But it is so lovely. There are many airports in picturesque exotic places worldwide, but the island Samui airport is known as the most harmonious with the nature of Thailand. Only two companies work there: Bangkok Airways and Thai Airways. An airport building has only one floor, in colors and flowers.
So, after our arrival we look in a map to reconnoiter the area. Such a tiny island! We are in the top right corner. And our hotel is on the right coast, between two "horns". Look, there is the only McDonald's on the island nearby. Mmmm, civilization!
My God, it is so pleasant to lay down on the real bed and to extend feet! Moreover on such beautiful one.
The first day of my holiday came, I shouldn’t hurry up now, I take a breath for a few minutes in our room, as there is a conditioner, and on the street it is really hot!
Posted Apr 12, 2012, 10:16 pm
In my story about Thailand we move from one step to the next. At first I told about flight, now I pass to our settling. So, we live in Fair House Resort hotel in Chawengnoi beach. My host chose it, as a quiet place where it is possible to sleep sweet under palm trees. At the same time there is Chaweng beach some kilometers to the north – the most party place of the island.
The hotel is protected by two small gods – my host called them "kamnegryzy" - stone-nibblers. I don't know, the sculptor thought up them or they are from local folklore, but look scary. It seems to me, or he has hearts on his stone?
You know, what really amazed me after arrival? Reception! I never saw such fantastically beautiful building. It is all surrounded with greens (well, it is Thailand; there is A LOT of greens). And the Indian god – Ganesh meets us, for some reason. Hm, OK, maybe the majority of tourists are induist. I always thought that official religion of Thailand – the Buddhism.
There is a zoo around the reception-building – terribly dissatisfied elephant
and cheerful pig.
In general, as I understood, Thais adore sculptures and figures. Look – on a small corner of their table - four figures and all different!
Geese are interested in a beautiful bouquet of flowers. And on a distant wall – a portrait of the emperor. It hangs in each building. Nearby – a portrait of the queen, and on another wall – one of princesses. What a respect to royal family!
And more animals – small happy elephant. Elephants are on each corner there – a symbol of Thailand, by the way!
Group photo while waiting for registration. We were given a glass of fruit juice – there is a bar on reception, but it produces only this single glass – if you want to drink – go on a beach!
Finally a small automobile came and we are going to our house. It is interesting that we live further than everybody else from reception – practically on the beach, on the very end of the territory belonging to hotel. Plus, reception (and near - the exit from the territory) is much higher than a beach – it is on a hill. So 1-2 times a day when we wanted to eat, we were necessary to lose couple of kgs at first, clambering upward on the street. But let's talk about it later.
So, it's our room. On the right another one, belonging to German tourists, and the beach begins. Disappointingly that there is no dryer – it is necessary to hang out swimsuits on a balcony. And so convenient – a basin for washing feet near every building. You are walking barefoot all the time and when you come home – simply dip feet in a basin.
Our number is rather small, for three people. Such beautiful pictures hang on walls.
Lamps are very unusual and very badly shine. In general, number isn't shined at all, it is hard to read books! We need to remove lamp shades from lamps or you can't see anything. By the way, on a photo – my host with the parents
As I show you a bedroom – I will show a bathroom too. Everything is excellent, but I'm surprised that there is no bath curtain. Of course, I do not splash strongly, when I wash, but if someone pours over all floor and slip?
And here there is our beach chairs on a beach. Look at this huge tree – many people are going to lie under it! Also what is that white foam plastic piece with a hieroglyph for? Perhaps "lifebuoy" or protective spell?
Posted Apr 16, 2012, 6:30 pm
Let me break my Thai photos with some common one – it’s Orthodox Easter today! In Russian it is named Paskha.
My host isn't too religious, but we visited her grandma and had a lot of fun.
It's religious feast at first, so the main action happens on a Saturday night - people put on their best clothes and come together in dark churches that symbolize a gloomy world without the light of faith. In the past, satanic creatures were believed to turn especially evil in the night before Easter. People didn’t dare to go outside after sunset as they feared every cat could be a witch and every dog a devil!
So, it’s interesting, that there is not Easter rabbit in Russia! They don't go search eggs; they just change them with their friends and family and kissed 3 times. My host’s grandma don’t paint eggs – she bought special plastic paintings and stick them with boil water. Looks so beautiful!
And there is special food on Sunday: Paskha and Culich
(Easter - is made from spesial cottage cheese, nuts and raisins
Little easter cake - is a bread with a lot of sugar and candied fruit.) Mmmmm, yummy!
Should pay more attention - what great embroideries are created by the grandmother! It’s her hobby and all walls of the apartment are covered with such “pictures”! And pillowcases on pillows too were embroidered by her. Super needlework!
Posted Apr 18, 2012, 8:54 pm
Today I want to show you my hotel – in general. You can see that the main colour here is green. There are trees and plants absolutely everywhere and my host told me that they are “real” – grow by themselves. In Turkish and Maldivian resorts every tree was planted by human. But not here! So, welcome to Samui!
We started our walk at sunrise from the seashore. Even mountains are covered be trees!
Let’s lie down for a moment on a chaise lounge and enjoy sunbathe together, the beach is so beautiful!
Also we have a small pond, I think, it is intended for watering. Small fishes and beautiful lotuses swim here.
Our pool is very small and absolutely empty day and night. Who want to swim in the pool, when there is an ocean?
The most interesting trees here are "sheaves". Lianas braid a tree very strong and even if it perishes from a lack of air, they don't fall, and continue to stand!
As I said, this island is absolutely fantastic. It looks like the most peaceful place on the Earth. And the hotel does a lot of things to help you enjoy good weather, like this cute pavilion.
Posted Apr 22, 2012, 7:38 pm
In this post I want to describe you our ingestion. We chose hotel with only a breakfast, it helped us not to overpay. Thus, we have breakfast in hotel, during the lunchtime we have a bite fruit, and for a dinner we go to "city" and we enjoy local exotica.
So, we wake up and go to the dining room.
It is very lovely, light and comfortable. There is a salad bar, some muesli-flakes, ham, bread, juice. Separately hot dishes and fruits stay. Besides, you can get a fresh omelette or fried eggs.
It is possible to gather such a huge plate in the morning to get myself fill for all day long
We pass to a dinner. The first few days we ate kgs of fruit. I ate the whole pineapple plantation! Very conveniently - you sit down on a verandah at a little table, cut pineapple, you can sugar it or water with a lime juice... Yum-yum! And every day you can try something new - Dragon fruit, Lychee, Lamai, Mango, Mangosteen - you will not list them all!
In shop we bought some nuts so our meal was more substantial
But what should we do, if you used to eat densely and aren't satisfied with fruit? It is a terrible heat that goes from asphalt on the street and it is better not to leave. We should go to small restaurant on the beach. It is rather expensive there (if it is possible to consider 80 euros for three person with wine expensively), but the place is literally two steps away from your house and the cuisine is really tasty.
And the remarkable way to finish a good lunch - to sit, drinking coconut juice and enjoying a fine view of the sea. And if you want to swim - it is not necessary to go far!
At last, dinner!
We leave the territory of hotel and move up or down on the street. There are hundred tiny small restaurants here, in only 15 minutes of walking! You choose any of them; they are almost identical according to the menu and at its prices. Certainly, we preferred Thai cuisine, but for the variety, it was possible to choose German, Japanese or American small restaurant. And only 40 euros for three persons!
Often it’s family business - a husband cooks food, a wife is waitress, and a daughter stands up for the cash desk. Also I saw some Thais who eat there too, so quality of food is high. Once we came in absolutely local “ramen restaurant”, without the menu, without cloths on tables, and there ate for only 7 euros for three person! Soup was the most delicious in my life!
Posted Apr 27, 2012, 10:45 pm
Today we decided to stop lie on a beach like vegetables. Thailand is such a beautiful country, it is necessary to see more!
As excursion we chose is a trip to local small islands, snorkeling and swimming.
Everything begins near this small mooring. There are about 10 people with us; we float on one of these lovely boats.
It looks wonderful already. Other islands are seen on the horizon, but we will float much further, on the island Coh Tao "Turtle Island". Ko Tao was named by its first settlers for the island's turtle-like geographic shape. Coincidentally, the island is an important breeding ground for Hawksbill turtles and Green turtles. Development of tourism has negatively impacted the health of these grounds but a breeding program organised in 2004 by the Royal Thai Navy and KT-DOC, a coalition of local scuba diving centres has reintroduced hundreds of juvenile turtles to the island's ecosystem.
Oh, it’s a mad speed! It is necessary to keep and not to fall overboard!
So we are on a place. Beautiful! There are small tourist bungalows and local court boats. Such amusing - ordinary boats with the fan on a pole.
There are hundreds of fishes here! What a pity that I have no mask for a snorkeling, but from a water surface everything is perfectly visible. They are multi-colored, big and small.
You come into water from a sand beach, then by swimming reach a place surround by anchor buoys. There begins the real reef, dangerous and sharp. My host cut a foot while reached there. Thank God, sharks don’t live nearby.
We leave this hospitable island and come to another one where we will have lunch. Islands are far apart, you need to float an hour on our small board.
Mmmmm, bon appetit!
Excellent lunch - a plate of rice and four different curries - with meat, bird, fish and vegetables. My host was so happy; she hates to leave on a plate what she can't eat (she’s a vegetarian)
While we ate, the storm began. It began... then changed its mind and ended. Even a rain didn’t start. We are luckies!
Away, to the last island!
So, the last point of our travel - "The threefold island". Imagine two mountains growing from the ocean, like this one. And they are connected by a beach strip - white-white sand. Our guide suggested us to get on top of the mountain and to look at this beautiful island entirely. Well how is it possible to refuse?
And we climb upward on the wooden bridges which don’t inspire trust. Scary boulders are piled up one on another around us. Somewhere the bridge is broken, it is necessary to look for other ways!
Then up and up and up…
But the finish worth the spent efforts, if you see this view once, you’ll never forget it.
Oh, after such mad ascension it is necessary to have a rest.
Let's go to swim? These stones are visible again on this photo - why they don't fall?
Here, as I understand, it is possible to order a lodge. Islands are so small- I don't know, if there is even one cafe! And the unique entertainment - to rise up by the mountain every day!
Posted May 1, 2012, 11:25 am
Today we decided slowly walking around our hotel – we have already seen beautiful and green places – maybe, it’s time to look closer and deeper? Unfortunately, it’s rainy, the sky is grey. But is we can’t swim and take sunbathes, what are we going to do? Making photos, of course! So let’s take the biggest umbrella we have and don’t afraid of bad weather! By the way, do you see a funny frog behind us? It’s a special gadget for getting water - a hose can be connected with a mouth and it spits out water. Creatively!
Oh, look, whom did I find! Because of rain local snails decided to walk around - I counted three only near our verandah. And they are so huge!
And today there are awful waves! My host worries, but her mother adores swimming during in storm like that, even now it is possible to notice her head on water... Oops, where is she?
It seems, the rain comes to end, and we go deeper to the territory. I like these flowers in bags - very conveniently – you can take it simply and at once plant on a flowerbed.
Or this variant- for hang plants. Never saw it before!
There grow... vegetable marrows-mutants? I don't know what plant is it, do you? They are so heavy that it’s necessary to support them, or they will fall down.
Flowers here are grown up directly on palm trees. Imagine, the shell of a coco is taken, attached to a palm tree; the sprout is inserted inside and voila! It's big business here - the heap of a coconut shell is visible from afar. Also imagine, how many nuts tourists drink daily, probably it will suffice to tie each palm tree.
So beautiful. Feelings like you are in the national park, instead of in small hotel in Thailand - neither asphalt, nor flowerbeds - only the nature.
As another model of communication with the nature - a lodge for home spirits. One of the biggest that I saw. Here they are placed near each significant building - restaurant, receptions - for protection - they were constructed earlier, than the main buildings, thus alluring spirits. And this, huge, is probably for all hotel complex! Inside there is food, water, beautiful flower wreaths and tapes. I am especially impressed that inside everything is really made for little men - a ladder that helps them to rise, the tubule into a bottle with water that helps them not get a shower. Thus the majority of the population shrives the Buddhism; such "paganism" is very amusing.
It is possible to rent cars and motorcycles in hotel, and then put them in this convenient and beautiful parking. By the way, motorcycles are extremely popular among local population and they drive with awful speed. Very dangerous.
There are many cute little birds here, this one is called Myna. Oh, how noisy they are! Their calls includes croaks, squawks, chirps, clicks and whistles, and birds often fluff their feathers and bobs its head in singing. Mynas screeches warnings to their mates or other birds in cases of predators in proximity or when its about to take off flying. They are popular as cage birds here for their singing and "speaking" abilities. Before sleeping in communal roosts, mynas vocalise in unison, which is known as "communal noise".
It is. As I can understand, local esteemed God - I don't know his name. We often put coins on a plateau near it, probably, therefore our rest passed so perfectly.
In this small multi-colored house some Thais do Thai massage. My host never used this offer (she is not delighted with massages), but, maybe, if I arrive to Thailand next time, I should visit this place?
Well, it's enough to wander on the hotel territory, it is necessary to get outside! Here such beautiful view opens directly near our gate. Cars rush like meteors. There is our traffic controler. If someone decides to cross the road, he whistles in a whistle for a long time to passing cars, creates a corridor and then transfers you to another side. He can even call for a taxi if it's necessary.
On sidewalks through every 20 meters such "little shops" stay, where you can buy... Guess, what is it on sale in bottles? It is gasoline! I thought that it is home-distilled alcohol at first.
Another small lodge for spirits. I said that they are everywhere here!
Wow, look, whom we met in a yard! We were afraid at first, but it appeared that the bull is attached to a column therefore we could approach closer and make a photo.
And palm trees, palm trees, palm trees... If to depart from the main road, everything around is surrounded by palm trees!
When we came back home, we found a lovely cat on our verandah! Though the rain ended long time ago, it, probably, dozed off and filled warm and safe.
Posted May 8, 2012, 12:46 pm
Today we decided to take excursion on Samui entirely! It is very small island therefore it takes only half-day on all its survey. But as we here, it is necessary to learn more about this island. Besides, we’ve already been tired to lie on a beach. We ordered this service directly in our hotel so it is extremely cheap. Only 12 euros for one person for 6 hour journey by the comfortable bus. Fantastic!
Then we can take a view over the longest beach on Koh Samui 7 km. of white sand, clear water and nature. Our hotel is nearby from here.
I don't know, what is this - a sundial? lunar calendar? planetarium? and a pond with golden fishes in addition
Telling about lodges for spirits, this one brightest we met. It is visible from the road therefore each passing car signal, expressing the respect.
Then we saw the Monkey Show. The monkeys here used to be seen all over the island when selling coconuts was the main income for the local people. Now you can visit them and see the working relationship between man and monkey in harvesting the coconut trees.
Here you can see Wat Khunaram temple – the most known and esteemed on Samui. I do not know what does this image mean – maybe a demon? And why then he is over the entrance of the temple?
You know, why it is well-known? The mummified monk! A native of Koh Samui he enjoyed a long prosperous family life until he was 50 years old when he decides to devote the last part of his life to the monkhood. After being ordain in 1944, he became reknown for his meditation practice for about 20 years. He was also able to foresee his own death in 1973 when he was 79 years old. After his death his body remained undecomposed so his family and deciples decided to place his body in an upright position with in the casket as requested by him in written instructions. To keep as a symbol to aspire the future generations to follow Buddhist teachings and be saved from suffering.
Despite that we don’t have enough time, I took a second to make a pair of beautiful photos.
Namuang Fall is famous on Koh Samui. It originates from the Mountain in the heart of the Island and falls from the Cliff 30-40 metres high. You can enjoy swimming and Jungle around the Area. It’s an important site because kings in Chakri dynasty have visited the place several times.
Also what I see? Oh, my God! People riding on elephants! Tell me, would you refuse it? Would you?
We choose an elephant and stand near this "elephant stop".
Now we sit down on the elephant and let’s go! Certainly, photos aren’t too impressing as I was afraid to fall down very much - the elephant awfully shakes! But believe me, I received tons of pleasure!
It not the end of our travel - we saw many temples then! But I will tell about them next time – too many photos
Posted May 8, 2012, 4:32 pm
I arrived at Sookie's!
The journey was good. Mr Carrot and i talked alot about our Thailand trip.
It was really fun!
Someone waited for us.. her name is Niiskuneiti and she helped us out of the envelope.
I think Mr C is in love with her. Hihihihi
Sookie said that i'll travel to Finland in a few days! I'm so excited, and i just can't hide it *sing*
I'll travel to Niiskuneitis Mom
I hope you're happy to see me healthy and happy!
Love you,
Wayne
Posted May 16, 2012, 10:33 am
Finally I can continue my tale about Samui Island!
Here I am near a huge temple complex. Wat Phra Yai (Big Buddha Temple) is one of Koh Samui’s most famous landmarks. Located near the airport, the site boasts an immense 12 meter tall golden Buddha image that can actually be seen from the plane as visitors fly into the island.
Construction of the temple was commenced in 1972 and since then, it has gained in popularity, now experiencing a healthy number of locals and tourists who come to pay their respects and take some amazing photographs.
Other attractions at the temple are a set of dragon-like naga that flank the stairs leading up to the Big Buddha itself and hmmm… green demon on an elephant?
With the amount of tourists coming in, the temple is constantly getting upgraded too, thanks to the large number of donations. If you wish to give money, there are plenty of ways to do it from buying floral garlands to getting your fortune read. We choose this one – you pay 2$ and “buy” a piece of tile. You can write something on it and give to a monk. Then with those tile the temple will be reconstructed. I hope, it will bring good luck to us!
The base of the statue is surrounded by several restaurants and shops selling snacks, jewelry, clothing and other souvenirs.
This place is so peaceful! There are hundreds of animals here, and no one tell them a bad word!
Near a river there are some statues that Thai adores so much. Probably it’s a folkloric scene from local history?
Here's a sample of how unusual the statues of the deities at those temples are. This 14 armed deity looks more like it belongs in India than in Thailand. She keeps a certain tool which helps to put things in order to a man in each of 14 hands. Best thing is, it's free entrance but dress conservatively if you want to show respect to the local people.
This is a look on the main building of temple, the Bot. It's beautifully decorated inside, with stories about Buddha's life painted on the walls and the ceiling.
Demons-guardians again. But they are blue this time
Also there is a pond with huge carps who are fed by tourists. You should pay $1/3 for a forage pailful13
Here is another part of complex – with Happy Buddha statue. So beautiful!
Posted May 18, 2012, 2:32 pm
I played Amor today
I had a message for Niiskuneiti.
I'm the Lovegingerbread
!
Posted May 20, 2012, 11:48 am
Today is our last day on Samui, so we decided to visit a local restaurant – to taste some extra-food, not just noodles and rice.
So, I went to the reception and bring a free special guide – the best restaurants of this island. Yes, Samui is really small, but there are at least 45 gourmet-restaurants!
So, let’s choose…
We had a little dispute here – where should we go? My host advised us to visit Amala – vegetarian restaurant. Guide said that it’s in an exceptional location at the western end of Big Buddha Beach and serves vegetarian cuisine “fine-dining” style.
So, we’ve never gone “meat-less” before, may be this place is good to start a new culinary adventure?
The restaurant looks fantastic! It has natural rocks and solid wooden features with modern stressed-concrete walls. On the back side you can see small kitchen garden where cooks can take some grass and vegetables for their delicious dishes!
And I can’t tell you much about cuisine… You should taste it by yourself, because it is absolutely fantastic! I took “Amala Antipasto” – soft rice paper rolls packed with fresh herbs vegetables and grilled tofu satay served with various sauses and “Zuppa di Pomodoro” – classic Italian-style tomato cream soup served with homemade garlic. I’ve never believe that vegetarian food can be so various and nourishing!
As this restaurant concerns the Indian culture, it is possible to see some beautiful bas-reliefs on a wall
And, of course, location. You can enjoy swimming in 15-metre infinity pool which runs along the small resort’s beach frontage and use their day-beds for a spot of sun-bathing and relaxing.
The restaurant was excellent. And now we have a rest on a bench, near a pond with goldfishes, waiting a taxi to return to hotel and to start to pack things to the airport.
Posted May 24, 2012, 1:12 pm
I'm here! I'm in Finland! I arrived here today, and I'm so happy about it.
Here I am keeping a flag of Finland in my hands.
Mommy, the blue colour symbolizes the blue sky, and the white colour symbolizes the white snow. And the cross symbolizes Nordic Country.
I met already many other ToyVoyagers here. They all seems to be so nice. I feel comfortable with them.
And here are we all: Mi Nam, Telie, PinkLady, Erol the Pirat, Ronja, Finfin, Mo, me, and B.o.B.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted May 25, 2012, 10:29 am
Today I went to see tori ( = a plaza) of Jyväskylä.
I saw some people selling their things like little snacks or flowers or so. I saw also a small fountain!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted May 26, 2012, 1:40 pm
Let me finish my story about Thailand today. It was an unforgettable adventure and so a pity that it ended, but experience is amazing!
Here we go to the airport by the car. I want to take a rest and lie down on kindly provided sofa - so convenient and soft.
The tiny and lovely airport on Samui. Compare with my first photos from the Moscow airport. And what are those mad lamps on a ceiling?
Now in the airport there is an exhibition of the children's drawings devoted to the king. He is extremely popular among the people; it takes root since the childhood.
Just look, how many things people should leave at customs! Unfortunate tourists forget to put them in their suitcases. I am impressed especially by a huge heap of scissors
Airport is so unique! It is similar to the Moscow one, only imagine that 2 floors are stretched like one and a roof is demolished
Here it is possible to take rest on such remarkable small benches and admire a flowerbed with tulips.
Even indexes here are special - lovely monkeys. And flowers are everywhere.
And also ponds loved by Thais. How many of them I’ve met since the travel beginning?
A little bit more flowers
It is a waiting room. Certainly, not so grandiose, as at the Moscow airport, but very light and bright
Eh, last view of greens and broad lands. I hope, I will return here again!
We get on a bus, which will bring us to the plane.
We are loaded into luggage...
And the last whom we see in Thailand - the security guard of the airport – Virulhok. It’s a giant with a dark blue body. He was the ruler of Maha anthakarn – the subterranean world. Bye-bye!!
Posted May 28, 2012, 11:50 am
I found a flower sea!
There's so much of flowers there!
It's like a flower sea, or a flower jungle! Cool!
Everything is fine here. Hostmom said she has a special plans for the day after tomorrow, and I'm so exited about it...
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted May 29, 2012, 9:58 am
Today we visited one of my host’s the most favorite places in Moscow - the Novodevichy Convent! Its name, sometimes translated as the New Maidens' Monastery, was devised to differ from an ancient maidens' convent within the Moscow Kremlin. Unlike other Moscow cloisters, it has remained virtually intact since the 17th century. In 2004, it was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Novodevichy Convent was founded in 1524 by Grand Prince Vasili III in commemoration of the conquest of Smolensk in 1514. It was built as a fortress at a curve of the Moskva River and became an important part of the southern defensive belt of the capital, which had already included a number of other monasteries. The Novodevichy Convent was known to have sheltered many ladies from the Russian royal families and boyar clans, who had been forced to become nuns.
The Preobrazhenskiy church is constructed over a northern entrance of the monastery. It is well visible from the neighboring area.
We can get a bird's eye view of a monastery at the beginning of excursion.
The oldest structure in the convent is the six-pillared five-domed cathedral, dedicated to the icon Our Lady of Smolensk. Extant documents date its construction to 1524–1525; yet its lofty ground floor, magisterial proportions, and projecting central gable are typical of monastery cathedrals built at the behest of Ivan the Terrible. Most scholars agree that the cathedral was rebuilt in the 1550s or 1560s; it was formerly ringed by four smaller chapels, in an arrangement reminiscent of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Kremlin. Its frescos are among the finest in Moscow.
The cathedral may be a focal point of the convent, but there are many other churches. Most date from the 1680s, when the convent was thoroughly renovated at the behest of the regent Sophia Alexeyevna (who, ironically, would be incarcerated there later). The blood-red walls and crown-towers, two lofty over-the-gates churches, a refectory, and residential quarters were all designed in the Muscovite Baroque style, supposedly by a certain Peter Potapov. In the old cathedral, a new bowl for holy water and gilded carved iconostasis were installed in 1685.
An arresting slender belltower, also commissioned by Sophia, was built in six tiers to a height of 72 metres (236 ft), making it the tallest structure in 18th-century Moscow (after the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in the Kremlin). This light octagonal column seems to unite all major elements of the ensemble into one harmonious whole.
Especially interesting story is connected with this tower. After Peter I dethroned his elder sister, tsarevna Sofia, and forced her to the nun in 1689, she lived in this Naprudna tower. The kind brother decided to entertain his sister, and hanged out dead soldiers and her guards on trees under windows of her cell.
But you cannot hang everybody. Even having become nun, Sofia found possibility to leave a wall of the dungeon for the purpose of love adventures. Today it is considered that the tower (or spirit of tsarevna Sofia) can grant the desires connected with love! It is enough to write it on a wall, to enclose a note between bricks or simply ask very strongly. Do you believe in it?
Like other Moscow monasteries (notably the Danilov and the Donskoy) the New Maidens' Monastery was coveted by the Russian nobility as a place of burial. The Napoleonic hero Denis Davydov is also buried in the grounds. In 1898, the so-called Novodevichy Cemetery was opened without monastery walls. Anton Chekhov was one of the first notables to be interred at the new necropolis, and Nikolai Gogol was later reburied there too. During the Soviet epoch, it was turned into the most high-profile cemetery in the Soviet Union, with the likes of Peter Kropotkin, Nikita Khrushchev, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Konstantin Stanislavski, Boris Yeltsin, and Mstislav Rostropovich being interred there.
Especially I like figures of angels - often it is female graves, the inconsolable spouse gave them a statue
Now we left the monastery constructed 500 years ago. At once behind a local pond the modern city begins - skyscrapers are seen on the horizon. Two different worlds incorporate here. Hey! Can you see a duck?
Let's take a farewell look at monastery walls - how beautiful it is!
Monument "Let pass to ducklings" was established in Moscow, on the square avenue opposite to the Novodevichy Convent in 1991. It is an exact copy of a monument in Boston, in the USA. The sculptural composition was created by the architect, the sculptor and the restorer Nancey Shen. The plot is taken from the old fairy tale written for the American kids by writer Robert Makkloski many years ago. In it it is told about mother duck looking for a convenient and safe place for the family. On the way they meet many people. Someone treats them with a peanut, and policemen block off traffic to help ducklings quietly cross the road. In Moscow the monument appeared as a sign of friendship between the USA and the USSR. It was Barbara Bush a's gift to Raisa Maksimovna Gorbacheva.
Now the monument is adored by children - I hardly found second for a good photo!
Posted May 30, 2012, 9:49 am
A new ToyVoyager Kit-Kat arrived here today!
She is so cute and friendly kitty.
We all said her welcome.
I'm sure we will be friends!
She showed us the postcard, candies and a teabag, what she got from Lithuania with her.
Hostmom's cat came to say "Hello!" too.
I'm so exited about today's plan, because hostmom told me that today evening we all are going to do something really nice thing... Hih, but I don't tell you that yet, because it's more funny to keep it in secret. Don't worry mom, I will tell you that later!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted May 31, 2012, 2:25 pm
I had a w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l day!
Guess what I did... I was in a TOYVOYAGER MEETING!!!
Just great!!! I met sooooooo many new ToyVoyagers, and we had so much fun!
Here are we all toys together in Kirkkopuisto (a church park).
Our hosts and moms mmm105 and Reissari from Finland, and RikeH from Germany has organized this meeting, thanks for them!
Then mmm105 and Reissari said they have a secret, and we all must trust them. They talked each other something about benji jumping...
No no no, I won't do that!!! It's too crazy thing to do!!!
But it wasn't a benji jumping place where we went. I was so relief about that. mmm105 and Reissari were just kidding!
We went to see more Finnish people in a great postcard shop, where was a postcrossing meeting there. That was nice!
Look! Isn't the postcard shop amazing?
Have you got a feeling, that you have to buy something?
After that we went to the restaurant and I ate pizza, yummy.
Then was time to go "home", to mmm105's place.
There we said welcome to a new TV TobiHH, who came to visit mmm105.
After a long and exiting day, I was quite tired, so I went to sleep...
ZZZzzzzZZZ zzzzz ZZZZZZ zzzzz ZzZzZzZ zzZZZZz ZZZ zzzz
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 1, 2012, 9:32 pm
Today hostmom took me with her to visit a great place.
We went to näkötorni (the viewing tower) to see good views about Jyväskylä city.
And the views were definitely so great! I saw the hole city from there!
The viewing tower is located in the place called Harju (it's like a hill just next to city center).
There's the city center, and the harbour of Jyväskylä:
There's the sport stadium of Harju:
And if you look very carefully on the horizon of the following picture, you can see the ski jumping place there:
There's the house where hostmom is living! Yes, the building inside the red circle.
There's Natural History Museum in the same building as the viewing tower is.
So, I visited there, too.
The Natural History Museum's website (click) tells that "The Natural History Section serves as a preservation unit for natural scientific research, and displays environmental subjects and research material. It takes care of the living plants of the botanical garden on the campus. It also receives wild animals found dead and prepares scientific samples of them. The section has a collection of over 250 000 samples, the most numerous being invertebrates, plants and moss."
I saw many Finnish animals there.
I saw hirvi (a moose). It is the biggest animal living in Finland.
And I saw karhu (a bear). This one was a baby bear.
And there's two swans. A swan ( joutsen ) is the national animal of Finland.
Just next to Harju, we all stopped to watch a fountain.
And by walking in the city center I saw this little detail on the wall of one building.
Looks cool!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 1, 2012, 11:44 pm
Today we are visiting one of the most famous place in Russia – the Red Square. It separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod. As major streets of Moscow radiate from here in all directions, being promoted to major highways outside the city, Red Square is often considered the central square of Moscow and all of Russia.
At first we will pass an entrance. Resurrection Gate is the only existing gate of the Kitai-gorod in Moscow. It connects the north-western end of Red Square with Manege Square and gives its name to nearby Voskresenskaya Square (Resurrection Square). The gate adjoins the ornate building of the Moscow City Hall to the east and the State Historical Museum to the west.
The State Historical Museum of Russia is a museum of Russian history, opened in 1872. Its exhibitions range from relics of the prehistoric tribes inhabiting present-day Russia, through priceless artworks acquired by members of the Romanov dynasty. The total number of objects in the museum's collection numbers in the millions. But my host tells me that she doesn’t like its color – pink or red… It cannot be compared with Kremlin.
Kazan Cathedral Russian: Казанский собор, also known as the "Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan", is a Russian Orthodox church located on the northeast corner of Red Square. The current building is a reconstruction of the original church, which was destroyed at the direction of then General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, in 1936.
It is well known and extremely disputable place - Lenin's Mausoleum also known as Lenin's Tomb. It is the mausoleum that serves as the current resting place of Vladimir Lenin. His embalmed body has been on public display there since shortly after his death in 1924 (with rare exceptions in wartime). Aleksey Shchusev's diminutive but monumental granite structure incorporates some elements from ancient mausoleums, such as the Step Pyramid and the Tomb of Cyrus the Great.
The Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat also known as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is a Russian Orthodox church erected on Red Square in Moscow in 1555–61 on orders from Ivan the Terrible. It commemorates the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan.
St. Basil's marks the geometric center of Moscow. It has been the hub of the city's growth since the 14th century and was the city's tallest building until the completion of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in 1600.
There is a well-known statue, it commemorates Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin, who gathered an all-Russian volunteer army and expelled the forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from Moscow, thus putting an end to the Time of Troubles in 1612.
The Spasskaya Tower is the main tower with a through-passage on the eastern wall of the Moscow Kremlin, which overlooks the Red Square.
The Spasskaya Tower was built in 1491. The tower's modern name comes from the icon of Spas Nerukotvorny (The Saviour Not Made by Hands), which was placed above the gates on the inside wall in 1658 (it was removed in 1917) and the wall-painted icon of Spas Smolensky (Smolensky Saviour), which was created in the 16th century on the outside wall of tower (plastered over in 1937, reopened and restored in 2010). The Spasskaya Tower was the first one to be crowned with the hipped roof in 1624–1625. According to a number of historical accounts, the clock on the Spasskaya Tower appeared between 1491 and 1585. It is usually referred to as the Kremlin clock
Near Kremlin there is "Zoo" of fairy-tale creatures. You can see "Princess-swan". Its' fairy-tales that every child in Russia knows - their famous poet Pushkin recreated it in poetry and made so excellent and funny!
2rd sculpture’s name is "Ivan-prince and frog-princess". It's a funny story about one king, who wanted 3 his sons to marry. They took a bow and arrows and each made 1 shot. 2 first arrows went into houses of princesses. But the 3rd son's arrow flow far far away and fall into a bog and a frog found it. So, he has to marry her (it was a rule of his father). But of course, it was a bewitched princess, and after some adventures they were happy
This beautiful fountain is main in sculpture complex on Manezhnaya Square. The group of a fountain includes sculptural composition "Four seasons" Z.Tseretelli where each horse symbolizes spring, summer, autumn and winter. Now, unfortunately, the fountain is closed, but, I hope, I will see, how it works!
Posted Jun 2, 2012, 3:14 pm
I aaaaaaammm ssooooooo haaaaaapppyyyyy noooww!
I learned to cook today. So, one of my life mission is now completed!
I made some lasagne bows. Have you ever heart of them before? They are really easy and quick to make. Let me show you...
At first, put some water to the pot, and wait untill water is boiling.
Brown some chicken slides in the frying pan.
(if you don't like chicken, you can make this sauce using whatever you like more... meat... vegetables... etc.)
Put some lasange to boiling water, and boil them until they are soft enough. Be careful, that they won't get stuck to each other!
Make some grated cheese. (You will need them later)
Put some spices to chicken... (with your own taste... for example salt, pepper, onion, chili, curry...)
...and little bit of food-cream.
Separate lasagne and boiling water.
Put some oil into the bowl.
Put some chicken sauce on the lasagne.
...and some grated cheese, too.
Roll the lasagne so that chicken and cheese stay inside the lasagne.
Then it's time to make lasagne bow.
Twist both ends of the lasagne roll.
Put those lasagne bows into the bowl you've already put some oil.
Then put some grated cheese on them. And then put the bowl into the owen.
In the mean time, it's perfect time to make a salad, or something else...
Lasagne bows are ready, when they have got some colour on them.
Hyvää ruokahalua! Bon appétit! Enjoy your meal!
It was fun! ...Ooooh, and so good!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
ONNEKSI OLKOON!
CONGRATULATIONS!
FOR COMPLETING ONE LIFE MISSION!
(Learn to cook)
Posted Jun 3, 2012, 7:53 pm
Look how nice rainbow (sateenkaari in Finnish) I saw today!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 4, 2012, 11:44 am
Today is a sad and a happy day.
It's sad, because Mi Nam and Finfin has left from here to travel to their new hosts.
But it's happy, because a new toy BarryO arrived here.
First we all said goodbye to Mi Nam and Finfin.
They went to their envelopes.
Bye bye, travel safe!!!
Then we met a new toy, a teddy bear named BarryO. He is originally from USA.
Then we had a little party!!!
We ate some German sweets, what Sabbel&Jenton has sent to hostmom.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 4, 2012, 6:12 pm
Something really nice happened to me today. I got another life mission completed!!!
I'm so happy mom!
Oh, and mom, you should look extra carefully your mailbox now, because I sent you some postcards!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
ONNEKSI OLKOON!
CONGRATULATIONS!
FOR COMPLETING ONE LIFE MISSION!
(Send postcards to Mum)
Posted Jun 7, 2012, 4:07 pm
In the late afternoon hostmom said we will go to somewhere special place.
I was so exited about it.
Here I am, walking outside.
I saw some beautiful tiny flowers.
And I found also the plowing-flower. I plowed it... It was really fun!
And then we arrived. There's the best postcard shop in this town: Harjun Paperi.
We went there.
There was a postcrossing meeting there! And look, there were some other toys, too.
I wrote a postcard to you, mom!!!
And I helped mailing them. I dropped postcards to the mailing box.
On the way back 'home' I saw a tiny ladybug.
It was a nice day!
Mommy, keep on eye to your mailbox!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 7, 2012, 5:26 pm
I helped hostmom to go to the shop buy some food and other things what need in every-day-life. We went to the shop named Prisma.
Inside I met some other cute toys.
I also tried to put on a SUOMI shirt, but it was "only little bit" big for me. Shame!
By the way, the lion in the shirt is the coat of arms of Finland.
But this house is not too big for me. I asked hostmom if I could have it, but she said it would be too difficult to mail forward from host to other host... So, I only visited inside the house, and then we continued shopping.
Then I saw such a funny thing: some hens up there! (well, they aren't living ones... so, don't worry about them, mommy)
And then was time to go back. B.o.B., Kit-Kat, BarryO and Mo were there, too.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 8, 2012, 7:46 pm
Last night I was outside walking. I went to see the lake, and I wished to see a beautiful sunset. And I really did see it!!!
There's so typical Finnish things: trees and a lake.
I saw there some very pretty flowers.
It was a beautiful night. I saw a beautiful sunset, and all those clouds in the sky made it even more pretty and special, I think.
It was absolutely very relaxing to watch this beautiful view!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 8, 2012, 9:23 pm
It was such a lovely day today, we all decided to go to a picnic.
But first have to make some food to take away.
Some carrots...
...and some grapes, too.
Then we all packed the food.
Then it's time to go.
This place seems to be a good place to have a little picnic.
No no no, we changes the place.
This second place is much more better, because we are now just next to lake.
It was so nice just to relax there with good company!
We spent many hours there. We all just had so much fun!
But then, we decided to go back inside.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 9, 2012, 4:36 pm
I cooked today!
I did some "stuffed tomatoes", and it was yummy.
First thing to do is wait untill a frying pan is hot enough...
Then it's time to put the meat to the frying pan, and make them brown.
Then I made some grated cheese.
I prepared tomatoes. I covered them with a spoon, and I made tomatoes empty. And those covered tomatoes I put into the bowl.
Then it's time to make tomatoes full again.
I put meat and grated cheese into tomatoes.
Offcourse I used also some spicyes, like oregano...
Tomatoes are almost ready. They just need to put into owen, and when the cheese has got some nice colour, they are ready.
Yummy, it's ready!!!
(in the picture you can see the stuffed tomato, but also some other vegetables next to it)
It was good!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 10, 2012, 4:36 pm
Today I watched television. There was very popular program, Moomins.
Moomin charachters and stories are popular in Finland, but also almost all over the World. The writer of Moomin stories is Tove Jansson (1914-2001).
Hostmom told me, that there's many many Moomin things here in Finland. First of all, there's the Moominworld in Naantali, the Moomin museum in Tampere, and there's also lots of Moomin products selling in Finland.
Lots of Moomin info you can find through this link.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 10, 2012, 8:31 pm
Now it contains 7 towers with such names as Mercury Tower or Federation Tower and many smaller buildings with Expocenter and Terminal.
The height of towers is simply unimaginable, it exceeds 300 meters for some of them. You can see the Bagration pedestrian bridge that connect two part of this quarter. What a fantastic view!
Posted Jun 12, 2012, 8:58 pm
I met today a new ToyVoyager, hostmom's own new TV Kurnau. We all introduced ourselves to him.
Mommy, I did something marvellous today. I plowed, and there were... there were MANY magical bubbles flying in the air!!! Just like that!!! Wow!!! Can you believe it?
Oh, and then happened something unbelievable: those bubbles suddenly didn't exist anymore...
I was so confused... What it was?
Hostmom explained to me that they are soap bubbles.
And when they hit something, they exploded.
Ooooh, now I underestand.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 13, 2012, 8:18 am
Today ToyVoyagers B.o.B. and Erol the Pirat left us. They both are travelling to Germany now.
We others said goodbye to B.o.B. and Erol the Pirat. I hope their journey will be safe and nice.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 17, 2012, 2:20 pm
Today we decided to visit the well-known and beautiful churches of Moscow to familiarize with its architecture better. They are absolutely different - big, small, grandiose, modest, multi-colored, bright. It was unforgettable walk! My host is the big fan of the Moscow churches; she considers that they give pleasure and piece to those who admires them. Unfortunately, in orthodox churches it is impossible to photograph inside therefore we will be limited to appearance.
The first church which we met on our way - the temple of an icon of the Theotokos «Joy of all who Sorrow». This icon is widely known as wonder-creating since 1688. This year it cured for the first time a sister of the Moscow patriarch - Efimiya Papina. This girl had had a serious illness for more than a year and already prepared for death. She constantly prayed to the Theotokos for healing. And once Mary came to the girl in a dream and ordered to bring in the house the icon which has recently appeared in the temple nearby. After the icon was established in the house, Efimiya was wonderfully recovered.
The Resurrection Church in Kadashi Sloboda is a major Naryshkin Baroque church in Moscow, formerly the tallest building in Zamoskvorechye, which may still be seen from Red Square.
A wooden church on this site was documented as early as 1493. The elongated five-domed church with an elegantly "laced" belfry was constructed between 1687 and 1695. Napoleon's soldiers desecrated the church, turning it into stables. In the 19th century, the icon screen was restored, the galleries and apses were expanded, and several outsize domed porches were added. The church was closed by the Soviets in 1934 and was adapted for accommodation of a KGB archive. It was not returned to the Russian Orthodox Church until December 2006.
There was much media focus on the Kadashi Church in 2010 when Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov ordered the demolition of several old buildings near the church, including a deacon's house from 1813, in order to replace them with an elite apartment complex. The decision was viewed as Luzhkov's latest attack on Moscow's architectural heritage in the interests of building companies and sparked a resistance campaign labelled the "battle of Kadashi" by the Russian media.
Especially I like this photo - the set of posters around cries - "Go away from church in Kadashi!", and here it is simply shown, that Moscow was so beautiful town before, without skyscrapers. And what a considerable influence churches had – if you lifted your head you always saw a spike with a cross!
The following church which we visited has Saint Clement’s name. Clement (d. c.100) was pope and martyr. Bishop of Rome after Peter, Linus, and Cletus, Clement is known today mainly for his Epistle to the Corinthians. Clement was exiled to the Crimea for the skill and extent of his apostolic activities in Rome. While in exile he was compelled to work in the mines, he opened a miraculous supply of water, he preached with such effect that again he made innumerable converts so that there was need for seventy-five churches. He was killed by being thrown into the sea with an anchor round his neck: angels were said to have made him a tomb on the sea-bed, which was uncovered once a year by an exceptionally low tide.
Seven centuries later, the missionary brothers Cyril and Methodius, who were apostles of the Slav countries, ‘miraculously recovered’, they claimed, the body of Clement, piece by piece, together with the anchor. These relics were translated to Rome and buried in the fine church of San Clemente.
And the last church I will discribe to you today - Saint Nikolay's Church. It is one of the most esteemed in Russia sacred man and he has many interesting and instructive stories about his life.
One legend tells how a terrible famine struck the island and a malicious butcher lured three little children into his house, where he slaughtered and butchered them, placing their remains in a barrel to cure, planning to sell them off as ham. Saint Nicholas, visiting the region to care for the hungry, not only saw through the butcher's horrific crime but also resurrected the three boys from the barrel by his prayers.
In his most famous exploit, a poor man had three daughters but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, would have to become prostitutes. Hearing of the poor man's plight, Nicholas decided to help him, but being too modest to help the man in public (or to save the man the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to his house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the man's house. The third time the father lies in wait, trying to discover the identity of their benefactor. The father confronts the saint, only to have Saint Nicholas say it is not him he should thank, but God alone.
About other beautiful churches I'll tell you next time!
Posted Jun 17, 2012, 6:32 pm
I went to visit in place called Viherlandia today. It's a place, where are selling lots of different flowers and other plants, and other things needed in gardening. There's also a cafe.
Hostmom went to this place, because there was a postcrossing meeting there. But first, she showed me something really great: two living parrots, Kalle and Torsti!
Here is me and the other parrot.
After meeting parrots, we went to cafe. And because I was very hungry, I ate a panini (a toasted/grilled warm sandwich). It was so good, that others came to eat it, too...
And for dessert, I ate a piece of cheese cake. Yummy!
Then I took part in a postcrossing meeting. And guess what?!? There I met two new ToyVoyagers: A teddybear and a horse (they were with another Finnish host Delenna there).
Here are we all:
Postcrossers are so crazy, they allways write so MANY postcards!!!
After the postcrossing meeting, I went to look around. I wanted to see, what kind of place it is.
I found many nice things there.
We were riding a bike there!!! Yippee!!!
And we saw the flowers were riding a bikes, too!!!
hih
I met some gnomes, too. They were very funny!
The next picture is the last (but not least) photo today.
Some hearts for you, mommy! <3
I had a nice day!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 18, 2012, 5:50 pm
Today ToyVoyagers Mo sheep and Telie frog left us. They both are travelling to Germany now.
We others said goodbye to them. I hope their journey will be safe and nice.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 21, 2012, 8:42 pm
There were today some strawberries on the kitchen table.
I tasted them, and because they were so good, I invited others to come and eat them, too.
And we ate them... we ate a lot...
Oh my... uuups... we ate them ALL... Hopefully hostmom will not be mad, because we ate them ALL...
Love,
Wayne
xxx
(P.S: Hostmom wasn't mad, so don't be worry about me, mommy!)
Posted Jun 22, 2012, 10:55 pm
It’s juhannusaatto (Midsummer’s Eve) today. I saw something really exited thing: juhannuskokko (a Midsummer bonfire)! It was so cool.
Here are some info about Midsummer celebrations in Finland:
"In the Finnish midsummer celebration rituals include bonfires, cookouts, a sauna and spending time together. Bonfires are very common and are burnt at lakesides and by the sea. In folk magic, midsummer is a very potent night and the time for many small rituals, mostly for young maidens seeking suitors and fertility. An important feature of the midsummer in Finland is the white night and the midnight sun. Because of Finland's location spanning around the Arctic Circle the nights near the midsumme day are short or non-existent (in Lappland there’s several days when sun doesn’t set at all). This gives a great contrast to the darkness of the winter time."
It was really nice to experience this Finnish celebration.
And mommy, can you believe that these photos have been taken just 1-2 hours before midnight, and there is still not dark at all!!!
Love,
Ronja
xxx
Posted Jun 24, 2012, 12:26 pm
I visited in the local trainstation, and I saw a very old train there.
They don't use it anymore to travel, but it's a nice statue/decoration in the trainstation.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 25, 2012, 10:42 am
Today PinkLady left us. She is going to her next host to USA.
We all said goodbye to her, and hope her travel will be safe.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jun 28, 2012, 6:44 pm
Guess what??? I can go to visit Spain with my current hostmom. She is going there for a holiday and she will take me with her! Wow!
I put the sunglasses on. Look, it's little bit big! Hih...
I helped hostmom to pack her things. And I said 'bye bye' to Kurnau, because he will stay at home. Hostmom thought that someone has to stay at home, just in case, if any toy will come here between those days when we are abroad.
Oh, tomorrow we will leave. I'm so exited!
Mommy, I will tell you later, what happened in Spain...
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 1, 2012, 11:15 pm
At first this unusual Marfo-Mariinsky Convent. It was founded in 1908 by Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (sister of Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Empress of Russia—both of whom are counted among the Russian New Martyrs) to assist sick, wounded, and maimed soldiers in their recovery, and to provide for the needs of the poor and orphans.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth (you can see her statue) was the widow of Grand Duke Sergeii Alexandrovich, who had been assassinated by terrorists in 1905. After her husband's death, she gave away her magnificent collection of jewels, including her wedding ring, and sold her other possessions. With the proceeds, she opened the Convent of Ss Martha and Mary and became its abbess. Her vision was to begin a religious community, made up of women from all social strata, that would merge the ideals of saints Martha and Mary, dedicated both to prayer and to serving the needs of the poor. She purchased a tract of land in Moscow and constructed a hospital, an orphanage for girls, and quarters for the nuns. Working in conjunction with church authorities she developed the monastic rule and habit—which differed somewhat from the traditional habit of Orthodox nuns—that would be used at the convent. At its peak, the convent housed 97 sisters and served 300 meals daily to the poor.
Next church is known by its famous icon - the Panagia Portaitissa or the Iveron Theotokos. The original of this image is found in the Georgian Iviron monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, where it is believed to have been since the year 999.
A unique characteristic of this icon is what appears to be a scar on the Virgin Mary's right cheek or her chin. A number of different traditions exist to explain this, but the one most commonly held by Orthodox Christians is that the icon was stabbed by a soldier in Nicaea during the period of Byzantine iconoclasm under the Emperor Theophilus (829–842). According to tradition, when the icon was stabbed, blood miraculously flowed out of the wound.
According to the Orthodox Church's Sacred Tradition, the icon was at one time in the possession of a widow in Nicea. Not wanting the icon to be seized and destroyed by the iconoclasts, she spent all night in prayer and then cast the icon into the Mediterranean Sea. The widow's son later went to Mount Athos, where he became a monk and recounted the miracle of the bleeding wound, and how the icon had been placed in the sea. Much later, (ca. 1004) the icon was recovered from the sea by a Georgian monk named Gabriel (later canonized a saint in the Orthodox Church), who was laboring at the Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos. This occurred on Tuesday of Bright Week (Easter Week), and is commemorated annually on that day (as well as the fixed date of March 31). The icon was taken to the katholikon (main church) of the monastery from which the icon gets its name.
The tradition goes on to say that the following day, when the monks entered the church they could not find the icon. After searching they discovered the icon hanging on the gates of the monastery. This occurrence was repeated several times, until St. Gabriel reported that he had seen a vision of the Theotokos, wherein she revealed that she did not want her icon to be guarded by the monks, but rather she intended to be their Protectress. After this, the icon was permanently installed above the monastery gates, where it remains to this day. Because of this, the icon came to be called Portaitissa or "Gate-Keeper". This title was not new for the Virgin Mary, but comes from a verse of the Akathist to the Mother of God: "Rejoice, O Blessed Gate-Keeper who opens the gates of Paradise to the righteous." Orthodox monks and nuns throughout the world will often place an icon of the Theotokos Iverskaya on the monastery gates.
And the last church has name is a Holy Trinity Church.
It was built, probably, in the 1630th in connection with settling of the southern suburbs of the city by the Streltsy covering the defensive line of the shaft. The first documentary certificate on new church is dated 1642; Last name "Veshnyaka" or "Vishnyaka" is also connected with streletsky commander Matvei Vishnyakov. The first stone temple was built in memory of Fight under Chigirin. The belltower was taken out to the red line of Pyatnitskaya Street which was considerably more narrow, than today.
In 1804 consecutive replacement of constructions of the old temple began. During a fire of 1812 the temple burned and was restored roughly in 1815, completely — to 1824. In 1826 Pyatnitskaya Street was expanded, and the old belltower disturbing to journey, took down. The church at the time when Zamoskvorechye was wooden, was the largest town-planning vertical of the Pyatnitsky part.
The church was closed not earlier than 1929, and again opened in 1994 at Sacred Tikhonovskiy orthodox institute.
Posted Jul 5, 2012, 10:23 pm
Today we decided to visit one of the most well-known church of Russia - Cathedral of Christ the Saviour! With an overall height of 105 metres (344 ft), it is the tallest Orthodox church in the world.
When Napoleon Bonaparte retreated from Moscow, Emperor Alexander I signed a manifest, 25 December 1812, declaring his intention to build a cathedral in honor of Christ the Saviour "to signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her" and as a memorial to the sacrifices of the Russian people.
The cathedral took many years to build and did not emerge from its scaffolding until 1860. The painting were overseen by Evgraf Sorokin and thereafter some of the best Russian painters continued to embellish the interior for another twenty years. The cathedral was consecrated on the very day Alexander III was crowned, 26 May 1883.
After the Revolution and, more specifically, the death of Lenin, the prominent site of the cathedral was chosen by the Soviets as the site for a monument to socialism known as the Palace of the Soviets. This monument was to rise in modernistic, buttressed tiers to support a gigantic statue of Lenin perched on top of a dome with his arm raised in the air.
On December 5th 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was dynamited and reduced to rubble. It took more than a year to clear the debris from the site. Some of the marble from the walls and marble benches from the cathedral were used in nearby Moscow Metro stations. For a long time, these were the only reminders of the largest Orthodox church ever built.
The construction of the Palace of Soviets was interrupted owing to a lack of funds, problems with flooding from the nearby Moskva River, and the outbreak of war. The flooded foundation hole remained on the site until, under Wayne Khrushchev, it was transformed into the world's largest open air swimming pool, named Moskva Pool.
Finally, in February 1990, the Russian Orthodox Church received permission from the Soviet Government to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The restorer Aleksey Denisov was called upon to design a replica of extraordinary accuracy.
A construction fund was initiated in 1992 and funds began to pour in from ordinary citizens in the autumn of 1994. In this year the pool was demolished and the cathedral reconstruction commenced. About one million Muscovites donated money for the project.
The monument is located in the city center therefore you can enjoy such beautiful views of the old, not reconstructed quarters of Moscow around!
Especially I like this bridge - very popular place for wedding ceremonies and simply walks.
On the right you can see one of the chocolate factories oldest in Moscow, and also Peter the Great notorious statue on a ship. So many people consider that it is ugly, but it can't be demolished. The designer Zurab Tsereteli is known as a friend and favorite of Moscow's former Mayor, Yury Luzhkov, and the artist has received many municipal art commissions in recent years, such as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The Peter the Great Statue in Moscow was designed by the Georgian designer Zurab Tsereteli to commemorate 300 years of the Russian Navy, which was started by Peter I of Russia. At 94 metres, it is the eighth tallest statue in the world.
And at the left - a view which is often printed on postcards - the Kremlin ashore. Do I need to say anything else? Fantastic!
And the monument to emperor Alexander II the Liberator of Russia from a serfdom, in fact, from slavery, is located near the temple. Alexander is represented in a military uniform and with an imperial cloak.
The five-meter bronze figure is placed on a stone pedestal with a graceful colonnade. Behind the back of the emperor two bronze lions sit. They, as a plan of author Alexander Rukavishnikov, symbolize old traditional Russia.
Posted Jul 9, 2012, 4:18 pm
I'm here, in the airport of Jyväskylä.
I'm so exited to start flying and arrive to Spain soon!
Look, mom, the plane in the picture is the plane where we are going. It's quite small plane, because we are going to Helsinki-Vantaa airport first.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 9, 2012, 4:38 pm
Now I am in the air! I'm in the plane travelling from Jyväskylä to Helsinki-Vantaa airport.
Look mommy, do you think these landscapes are marvellous? I think so!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 9, 2012, 5:09 pm
I have arrived in Spain now. I'm in the airport of Madrid.
I have travelled so many hours already today, that it's time to eat something. So, I ate a sandwich and drink water.
Look, mommy, there's so funny text in the serviette.
We got a new friend from the airport shop: a blue dinosaur (4th from the left). He is hosmom's the newest ToyVoyager.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 9, 2012, 5:25 pm
My journey continues...
I'm again in the plane, now going from Madrid airport to Màlaga airport.
Landscapes are awesome here, too.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 9, 2012, 5:50 pm
It was quite late last evening when I arrived here (it was already dark, so I didn't take any photos of this place then). But now I did!
This place is Riviera del Sol, and it's Mijas-Costa, just next to Mediterranean Sea. I'm here about one week with my hostmom and toy friends. This is nice place to spend a holiday.
These pictures are from our hotel. Is it look nice, mom?
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 9, 2012, 8:53 pm
Hello!
I was walking on the beach of Mijas-Costa, it's a part of the hole beach of Costa del Sol. There were so soft sand. I really liked walking there without any shoes or sandals or something.
It really feel like summer now!
Sun is shining and it's so warm (about 29 degrees Celsius).
While walking on the beach I found some tiny clams from the ocean.
Are they pretty, mommy?
When I continue walking on the beach, I found this small cave! How cool is that?
We all went inside to the cave, just because we all toys are too curious, hih.
Because I wanted to see the big ocean even more better, I decided to climb on the rock. It's the same rock as the cave has.
Other toys climbed there, too.
Mommy, can you see me? I'm on the rock's wall.
From this picture you should see me better, because it's closer-look photo.
It was very exiting!
After walking on the beach I wanted to enjoy sunshine.
So, I took a sun bath, it was soooooo relaxing!
Mommy, close your eyes, imagine the sound of ocean, and warmth of sun, and just relax...
While walking back to hotel, I saw a flag of Andalucia (one part of the country Spain), and a flag of Spain.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 10, 2012, 9:06 am
In the evening I visited in a zoo named Biopark.
More information about Biopark you can find here: http://www.bioparcfuengirola.es/en
It located in the town named Fuengirola, one of the town in Costa del Sol.
There was amazing in the Biopark!!!
There were so many animals there, and the hole zoo was like a tropical paradise!
I met different monkeys, tigers, alligators, parrots, flamingos, hippos, frogs, snakes, birds... etc.
The most exiting thing was that we all were able to go inside the place where they kept monkeys from Madacascar (the first photo). And when we were there with those monkeys, one of them was interested about hostmom's backbag, and tried to take a look inside of it. Hih!
Maybe the monkey was hungry and searched food from hostmom's bag... Or maybe he was only too curious. But it was funny thing anyway.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 10, 2012, 9:55 am
Here you can see a view of town Fuengirola.
I visited many times in Fuengirola, because it was a place where we had to change a bus, if we wanted to visit another cities.
This photo has been taken very near of the bus station of Fuengirola.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 10, 2012, 11:20 am
Today I visited town named Mijas. It's beautiful small town located more away from the ocean, and more near to the mountains.
Look mommy, how breath-takingly beautiful views there was!
We all toys found a small nice park. So, we walked there.
I climbed on the tree to see surroundings even better. It was fun!
From the tree I saw a very old church. I wanted to see it better, so I went there, and others came, too.
We are sitting on the wall of the church. Can you see me, mom?
Well, now you can see me for sure!
Then I walked on small streets of Mijas.
This is one of the street I walked on. Look the background mom, there's a nice mountain there. And if you look very carefully, you can see the white building in the mountain, it's a cathedral.
How nice, they have donkey-taxis in Mijas! I said 'Hello!' to donkeys.
And here is the Plaza de Toros, an arena where have bullfighting shows every week. And guess what mommy?!? We are going to see a bullfighting there!
At first, there was a flamenco show. It's a typical dance in Spanish culture. It looked nice!
Then I watched the bullfighting. I have to say, the bullfighters were very brave!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 10, 2012, 2:20 pm
I had a great time in the hotel room, too, because I met many new toys there. Hostmom's godchild was travelling in Spain, too, and she has many toys with her. We all wanted to have a group-friend-photo, so we took it. And now I want to show it for you, mom.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 10, 2012, 6:46 pm
Hi, mom! This weekend we are going to see Kremlin!
Wow, I think, I should come to Moscow again, because it is such a wonderful place and has such an interesting history! My host thought that I should know everything about it, but of course, now I can remember only a small part.
You can see, first we were standing in a small queue near the white Kutafja Tower (from the word “fat clumsy woman”) and had a chance to take photos on the swallows’ tail – they are situated on each access road of Kremlin.
And the Troitskaya Tower - the tallest tower of the Moscow Kremlin. Its current height on the side of the Alexander Garden together with the star is 80 m. Today, the gate of the tower is the main visitors' entrance into the Kremlin. And the view is so beautiful!
Here you can see the Kremlin Senate, a building within the grounds of the Kremlin. Initially constructed from 1776–1787, it originally housed the Moscow branch of the Governing Senate, the highest judiciary and legislative office of Imperial Russia. Currently, it houses the Russian presidential administration and is a highly secured and restricted area closed to the public. At present, only the southern corner façade, opposite the Tsar Cannon can be viewed.
Then we saw the most interesting exhibits of this museum – the Tsar-Bell and the Tsar-Cannon.
The Tsar-Bell was made of bronze and it is currently the largest bell in the world, weighing 201,924 kilograms, with a height of 6.14 metres and diameter of 6.6 metres, and thickness of up to 61 centimetres. The bell is decorated with relief images of baroque angels, plants, oval medallions with saints, and nearly life-size images of Empress Anna and Tsar Alexey. Unfortunately, before the last ornamentation was completed, a major fire broke out at the Kremlin in May 1737. The fire spread to the temporary wooden support structure for the bell, and fearing damage, guards threw cold water on it, causing eleven cracks, and a huge (11.5 tons) slab to crack off. The broken piece weighs 11,500 kilograms, you can compare it with the crowd around – it’s as tall as a man! Some people believe that on Judgement Day, it will be miraculously repaired and lifted up to heaven, where it will ring the blagovest (call to prayer).
The Tsar-Cannon was cast in 1586 in Moscow, by the Russian master bronze caster Andrey Chokhov. Mostly of symbolic impact, it was never fired in war. Per the Guinness Book of Records it is the largest bombard by caliber in the world. The very low ratio between its calibre and the length of its barrel makes it technically not a cannon, but a stylized mortar. The Tsar Cannon weighs 39.312 tones and has a length of 5.34 m. Its bronze-cast barrel has a diameter of 890 mm, and an external diameter of 1,200 mm. The spherical cast-iron projectiles located in front of the cannon - each of which weighs 1.97 tons, were produced in 1834 as a decoration.
Then you can see The Ivan the Great Bell Tower - the tallest of the towers in the Moscow Kremlin complex, with a total height of 81 metres. It was built in 1508 for the Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Cathedral Square, which do not have their own belfries, and is said to mark Moscow's precise geographic centre. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower today contains 22. Of these, 18 small bells hang in the base and in the middle of the bell tower. Of the four large bells, one is named the Upsenskij Bell, and weighs 65.5 tons. It rings traditionally among the largest religious festivals such as Easter, and was made in the early 16th century.
Next building with great triangle golden roof and domes is The Cathedral of the Annunciation (Blagoveschensky sobor). It was originally the personal chapel for the Muscovite tsars, and its abbot remained a personal confessor of the Russian royal family until the early 20th century. Compared with the other major Kremlin cathedrals, the Annunciation Cathedral has slightly smaller dimensions. It is also built in a more traditional style, as it was created by local architects from Pskov, rather than Italian expatriate architects. The most characteristic feature of the building is its nine golden domes, and roof with rich kokoshnik ornamentation in an ogive form.
This beautiful cathedral with frescos is The Cathedral of the Dormition (Uspensky sobor). The Cathedral is regarded as the mother church of Muscovite Russia. In its present form it was 1475-79 at the behest of the Moscow Grand Duke Ivan III by the Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti. From 1547 to 1896 it is where the Coronation of the Russian monarch was held. In addition, it is the burial place for most of the Moscow Metropolitans and Patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, one of the most important cult images of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Theotokos of Vladimir kept at the Cathedral from 1395-1919 is now at the Tretyakov Gallery. Near the south entrance to the Cathedral is the Monomach Throne of Ivan IV (1551).
Verkhospassky Cathedral with eleven small golden domes was constructed by tsar Michael Fedorovichem in 1635-1636. From this temple the ladder conducted to a seigniorial platform where decrees, orders of the tsar were read to boyars, and the tsar presented boyars and near people birthday pies. Divine services in it aren't made.
The Cathedral of the Archangel is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It was the main necropolis for members of the Tsars of Russia until the relocation of the capital to St. Petersburg. It was constructed between 1505 and 1508 under the supervision of an Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin Noviy on the spot of an older cathedral, built in 1333.
The Grand Kremlin Palace was built from 1837 to 1849 on the site of the estate of the Grand Princes, which had been established in the 14th century on Borovitsky Hill. Designed by a team of architects under the management of Konstantin Thon, it was intended to emphasize the greatness of Russian autocracy. The Grand Kremlin Palace was formerly the tsar's Moscow residence. Thon's palace is 125 meters long, 47 meters high, and has a total area of about 25,000 square meters. It includes the earlier Terem Palace, nine churches from the 14th, 16th, and 17th centuries, the Holy Vestibule, and over 700 rooms. Now it carries out a role of smart president residence of Russia. Important nation-wide ceremonials pass in its halls, such as delivery of the state awards or credentials. You can see that big national flag is lowered on the spike. It means that Russian president is out now, but he could come back every minute!
Posted Jul 10, 2012, 7:31 pm
I visited today in a great place: Gibraltar.
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean.
I saw these flags: A flag of United Kingdom, a flag of European Union, a flag of Gibraltar, and some other flag (I think it's an advertising flag or something).
On the window of one shop I saw a picture of the Queen Elizabeth II. She is the head of Gibraltar state, and represented by the Governor of Gibraltar.
Because Gibraltar is British overseas territory, there's some double-deckers, offcourse. I think those red busses look nice and unique.
In the backround of the photo there's a part of the Rock of Gibraltar.
This is the lighthouse, it's called "The Europa Point".
"The Europa Point Lighthouse was built by Governor Sir Alexander Woodford between 1838 and 1841. It was fully automated in February 1994 and its loom can be seen over a distance of 27 km (17 mi). It is the southernmost lighthouse for which Trinity House is responsible, and the only one outside the UK." (Wikipedia website)
Here I am, in the southern part of Gibraltar.
Look mommy, there's so many ships travelling trought the Strait of Gibraltar.
And there's so much more outside the photo!!!
My journey in Gibraltar continues...
Now I am inside of the Rock of Gibraltar. There's a cave, a big one, and inside the cave there's many dripstones!!! Cool!!!
Mommy, I'm in the stalactite cave! Wow!!!
Outside the cave I met a monkey of Gibraltar.
These monkeys have a bad reputations, because they often try to steal from humans. Luckily they were in kind mood today, and didn't try to steal anything from hostmom.
This is one view from the Rock of Gibraltar to the city and the sea. Is it awesome?
And this is one view from the city to the Rock of Gibraltar.
Mommy, I did something really exiting thing!
I drove in a cable car to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar!!!
I'm in the cable car.
And now I'm on the top of the Rock of Gibraltar.
It was a windy place, so hostmom had to take photos quickly.
And there, on the horizon, there's a mountain from Africa!!! Wow!!!
Mommy, I can see the part of Africa!!!
...and the closer-look photo of Africa.
It was a nice day!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 10, 2012, 9:55 pm
Mommy, can you believe that sometimes can be exactly right place in right time? Well, today it happened. I was in the right place in the right time!
I saw The Olympic Torch!!! And it was only good luck, because it happened suddenly, and hostmom hadn't any clue of that beforehand.
It was so nice surprise, that hostmom couldn't believe her eyes, she couldn't believe it's really true, The Olympic Torch, wow!!!
When hostmom started to believe it's really true, she had hurry to have a camera...
I'm so happy, that I was there with hostmom, and I could see the Olympic Torch!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 11, 2012, 8:43 am
Today I visited in a city named Benálmadena. It's also one city in Costa del Sol.
We stopped to watch a nice fountain on the street. It was funny fountain, because it changes the sizes of water (first it was small, but then it suddenly turns out to be a big fontain, and then small again etc...).
There's a mountain named Mount Calamarro in Benálmadena. And there's an opportunity to go to the top of the mountain using cable cards. So I drive cable car today, too. But this time it was much longer way (about 2600 metres), and it took about 12 minutes to go in one direction.
It starts here.
And now I'm in the cable car.
Look out the views, mom!
On the top of the mountain there was a bird show. I managed to be in the same photo with this owl.
Mommy, do you think these views are beautiful? I think so, and I enjoyed watching these landscapes. I was walking on the top of the mountain (about 800 metres over sea).
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 11, 2012, 9:45 am
Today I visited in the Princess Diana Park, in Mijas-Costa.
I think the park is beautiful, especially the entrance to it.
What do you think, mommy?
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 11, 2012, 3:35 pm
Hello mommy!
It's our last day in Spain today. In the evening we are going to the airport of Malaga and start travelling back to Finland.
But before that, we had a nice day to spend, and we were in the city named Torremolinos.
I saw these beautiful flowers there!
Look mom, how nice "stone family" we found!
Can you see me? I'm just in front of the "stone mom".
Here are we: girls (Ronja and Kit-Kat) in the middle, and boys (me and TobiHH) in the left side and (Druri and BarryO) in the right side, and a small fountain behind us.
Mommy, look! I climbed on the BIG sized pineapple!!!
Ha haa, I was kidding!!!
It's not a pineapple, it's a palm tree. Hi hii...
But it looks like a pineapple, don't you think so?
It was so fun, that we searched bigger palm tree, and we all climbed on it.
And this is how this city (Torremolinos) looks like.
Look mom, there's flags of so many countries there!
In the middle there's the flag of European Union, so I think there's all countries' flags who take part in the EU.
There's very nice beach in Torremolinos.
Isn't this bench wonderful? It's so cheer-up!
Before leaving Spain, I wrote a postcard to you, mom.
So, keep an eye on your mailbox!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 11, 2012, 5:28 pm
I'm back in Finland now. The hole journey in Spain was amazing!
Now I'm in the train travelling back to Central Finland, to Jyväskylä, where hostmom is living.
I feel very sleepy, because the flight was in night-time, and I couldn't sleep in the airplane.
ZZZzzzzz Zzzzzz zzzz zZZzzzZZZ zzzzz
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 11, 2012, 5:43 pm
We got 3 new ToyVoyagers to visit mmm105's place today.
And guess what?!? They all are sheeps! So funny coinsidence!
New toys are Lina, and Mr. and Mrs. Honeymooners.
We all said welcome to them, and then we had a welcome party.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 13, 2012, 12:17 pm
An envelope arrived today. We all were so curious, what would be inside of it. Kurnau opened it, and we others were looking.
We were sooooo curious! A secret envelope from China...
Oooooh, it's another ToyVoyager! It's Totoro
from China!
It's great to have more friends!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 13, 2012, 12:26 pm
I was walking outside today. I saw a nice small park. And there I saw this statue of Uno Cygnaeus (1810-1888). He is considered the father of the Finnish public school system.
And because the boy in the statue is reading, I feel like I want to read something. Kurnau show me the local library building.
Kurnau helped me to find a book about cincerbreadmen. There's so many books!!!
Even more books are outside the photo.
And yes, we found it!!!
There's an art statue in the library building. This one is called "Tiedonpuu" ("A tree of knowledge"). It has made in 1980.
And there's also a nice exhibition about the history of Jyväskylä-city, the dolls are showing things about this town's developement.
In 1850's Jyväskylä was a small town with many craftsmen.
In 1860's Jyväskylä was important city in the civilization and education in Finnish language.
In 1870's there's an increase of forest productions (logs), and it made Finnish economy better.
In 1890's Jyväskylä managed to avoid big destroys of fire.
In 1900's came first railways, and it helped making connections to the World.
In 1910's industrialization grows and became more and more important.
In 1940's Jyväskylä was important supporting hometown during wars.
In 1980-1990's the activities of free-time got more popularity.
(And by the way, ice hockey is very popular activity in Finland, and Jyväskylä is the current Champion in Finnish ice hockey.)
In 2000's Jyväskylä became a bigger town, because some federations of municipalities has made (smaller cities joined together to became one bigger city).
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 15, 2012, 9:10 pm
Today I saw some public art works outside. They are all so unique.
This one is called as "Elämän koulu - vastuu, luottamus, luovuus"
In English it might be something like "A school of life - responsibility, trust, creativity"
This one is "Karhu" ("A Bear"). The artist's name is Oskari Raja-aho, and the statue has made in the year 1930.
Look, we all are riding on the bear!
And there's a statue "Kauppias ja apulainen" ("A Merchant and his assistant). The artist is Pauli Koskinen, and it has made in 1959.
And this one has made the same artist, Pauli Koskinen, in the year 1957. It is art in the outside wall of the building. And it's name is "Reliefi"
After walking a little there started to be dark clouds in the sky, so we turned walking back, and we hoped to arrive 'home' before it's raining...
...But mommy, we didn't managed. It started raining so quickly.
It's already raining when I saw this statue (look at my face, it already got wet a little...)
This statue is "Keinumieli-Tyhjämieli-Häkkimieli" and the artist is Juhani Petäjäniemi, and it has made in 1989.
The name is difficult to translate into English, but it might be something like "a mind of swing - a mind of emptyness - a mind of cage".
And the rain, it was HARD, we got totally wet within one minute.
We run back 'home', and inside it was time to get dry again, aww...
What an adventure!!!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 16, 2012, 9:26 pm
A new toy arrived here today: Hunny bunny originally from USA.
It's so nice to have more friends!
We had a welcome party for her. We ate all candies what she got with her in the envelope. They were soooo yummi!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 17, 2012, 3:52 pm
One more toy arrived here today. This is so great, to have more friends!
We looked the envelope, and the stamps on it. Who is coming from South Africa? Wow, so far.
"Hello! My name is Phog. I'm from Germany, but I was visiting in South Africa." said this cute dog to us.
We introduced ourselves, too.
Then Phog showed us the great postcard what he had took with him from South Africa.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 17, 2012, 3:53 pm
One more toy arrived here today. This is so great, to have more friends!
We looked the envelope, and the stamps on it. Who is coming from South Africa? Wow, so far.
"Hello! My name is Phog. I'm from Germany, but I was visiting in South Africa." said this cute dog to us.
We introduced ourselves, too.
Then Phog showed us the great postcard what he had took with him from South Africa.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 17, 2012, 3:53 pm
One more toy arrived here today. This is so great, to have more friends!
We looked the envelope, and the stamps on it. Who is coming from South Africa? Wow, so far.
"Hello! My name is Phog. I'm from Germany, but I was visiting in South Africa." said this cute dog to us.
We introduced ourselves, too.
Then Phog showed us the great postcard what he had took with him from South Africa.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 17, 2012, 3:54 pm
One more toy arrived here today. This is so great, to have more friends!
We looked the envelope, and the stamps on it. Who is coming from South Africa? Wow, so far.
"Hello! My name is Phog. I'm from Germany, but I was visiting in South Africa." said this cute dog to us.
We introduced ourselves, too.
Then Phog showed us the great postcard what he had took with him from South Africa.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 20, 2012, 5:31 pm
Today I went outside to walk and look around this surroundings.
And almost immediately I saw the beautiful nature of Finland,
so many green coloured trees, the fresh air, and so on.
And this is an orthodox church of Jyväskylä.
And this is an evankelic lutherian church of Jyväskylä.
The church has buildt in 1929, and the architect was Elsi Borg.
This church has called also "the church of angels".
Then I continued my walking, and I found a river named Tourujoki.
This river goes through the city of Jyväskylä. It's about 2 kilometres long river,
and it goes from the lake Palokkajärvi to the lake Jyväsjärvi.
Here are we all toys: Lina, Kurnau, me, Totoro, Honeymooners, Hunny, Phog, Kit-Kat, Ronja, BarryO, TobiHH and Druri.
And there's a bridge of Tourujoki.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 20, 2012, 5:34 pm
I visited in the natural park of Jyväskylä.
It's so cool forest area just next to the river Tourujoki.
It's a nature conservation area in the middle of Jyväskylä.
At first, we need to go down to the long wooden old stairs. It was exiting!
Look, how beautiful nature there is!
Can you see those weird things in the tree?
They are "kääpä" in Finnish, they are some kind of mushrooms growing in old trees.
How cool!
It's time to have a little brake, and just relax.
Then it's time to walk forward.
We walk on the "pitkospuut", the wooden path on the ground.
There must be this wooden path, because the ground is so wet.
It was a nice place, this small natural park!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 21, 2012, 2:07 pm
Today I visited in the Craft Museum of Finland.
Due to water damage, there were only small exhibitions of different things.
They all were very colourful and nice exhibitions!
Just look by yourself, mommy... I hope you can feel the atmosphere through these photos.
There's some Karelian national costumes.
And there's very old ski supplies.
Look mommy! I met many Christmas elf.
This is very colourful art, isn't it?
This one is so colourful, too.
Do you think there's all the colours of the rainbow?
Well, they are different coloured coat hangers. It looks nice!
And what do you say about this, mom? Even more colourful!!!
On the floor there's many tiny marbles there.
And in the wall there's a lot chrocheting hotpads.
All together it looks nice, right?
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 21, 2012, 2:49 pm
I had very exiting adventure last night!
Kurnau had an idea. He told us that hostmom is a nurse in profession, and we might have a chance to visit her workplace. So, all we tiny sized toys climbed into hostmom's bag, and we waited... We were hiding in the bag. We would surprise hostmom in her workplace, hihii...
Hostmom had a night shift, so our toys very important task to do was keep a company to her and helped her to stay awake hole night long.
In the hospital we met some new friends: mascots of the hostmom's workplace. We toys had so much fun together!
This place was really exiting! There were lots of medicines in that room!!!
We found a stethoscope, and we listened our sounds of hearts. It was fun!
Then we drove the hallways with a wheelchaire.
Now I'm tired... ZZZzzz zzZZZ zz ZZZZZ ZZZzzzz
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 23, 2012, 10:44 am
We got more company today.
A new ToyVoyager Ranja Dragon arrived from Germany.
I'm sure we will have lots of fun together!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 27, 2012, 5:17 pm
I was walking outside today.
I visited in a place called "kirkkopuisto" (a church park).
There I saw this beautiful church just in the middle of the park
surrounded by green grass, trees and beautiful flowers.
The church has buildt in 1880, and the architecht was L. I. Linqvist.
In the church park, there's a statue of Minna Canth (1844-1897).
She was a famous Finnish writer and social activist.
Her works concentrated on the issues of women's rights.
There's another nice statue.
Mommy look! All those flowers are so beautiful!
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 27, 2012, 5:21 pm
I visited today also in "satama" (a harbour of Jyväskylä).
There I saw many great boats!
Just take a look at photos to see how fun I had.
Love,
Wayne
xxx
Posted Jul 29, 2012, 8:30 pm
A new toy arrived today here. He is Rico the Tiger from Germany.
We had a welcome party, we ate all chocolate candies what Rico brought from Germany. They were so yummy!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Jul 29, 2012, 8:32 pm
Today I was walking outside withKurnau and offcourse all other toys, too.
We went to see Harju's long stairs, because hostmom has said it looks quite nice now, because there's already some beautiful flowers there.
I have already visited this place (Harju) earlier, but I just wanted to see it again now with flowers.
We all climbed up these long stairs. It was a good training for health.
After visiting Harju, I saw this funny sign.
There's showing how far away this place is from different cities abroad.
It's looking cool, isn't it?
Love,
Wayne
Posted Jul 29, 2012, 8:35 pm
I watched the Opening Seremony of the Olympic Games from TV.
It was a cool show!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Jul 30, 2012, 7:20 pm
I said goodbye today to Niiskuneiti, Druri and TobiHH, who all will travel to Germany. And also to Honeymooners, who will travel to Japan.
I'm so happy for their journey and adventures can continue now, and they all will see new places. I wish their travel will be safe.
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 3, 2012, 5:42 pm
I visited in a new place today: Korpilahti.
It's located very near of Jyväskylä.
I was there, because there was a postcrossing meeting, and it's one of hostmom's hobby.
I had such a great time in the meeting, and I met new ToyVoyagers there!
Another host (Fendi) was there, too, and offcourse with all her toys
and toy-guests (PieksiHH, Nils and Kitsune).
We all toys have really fun time together!
When hostmom and other humans there wrote postcards,
we toys were eating their snacks, hih.
After eating we got thirsty, so we made coffee.
And then we played hide and seek! But it didn't go so well,
because the most of us was hiding under the glass.
Here are only some of the postcards what postcrossers wrote.
And here we toys are helping to mail those postcards.
It was really fun to join in the meeting!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 3, 2012, 5:47 pm
After postcrossing meeting I wanted to take a look this place, Korpilahti.
We all toys visited in the harbour of Korpilahti.
There happened really fun thing! hih!
We others had sooooo fun time, when Kurnau gave an interview to the ice cream!!!
Then some wild ducks came to swim in the harbour!
Look, we found this little (and weird) fountain there. And the car behind it looks cool, isn't it?
This building is quite unique looking, I think.
And there are we toys, with hostmom.
Then we found a playground, and we had some great time there!!!
Look, we are sailing!
And offcourse we climbed!
It was really fun day!!!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 3, 2012, 5:52 pm
Today morning one of us left, but in the afternoon we got more company again because a new toy arrived.
Totoro. left here today. He goes to USA to his new host.
We said goodbye to him, and wished a safe and confortable journey.
And then the new toy Cody Otter beaver arrived here. He told very interesting stories about his travels. He has a travel memories notebook with him, and he showed it to us. It was nice!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 7, 2012, 2:50 pm
Guess what? I ate together with Kurnau something really Finnish thing: karjalanpiirakka (a Karelian pie).
Kurnau told, that nowadays in the most familiar and common recipe is to make Karelian pies from a thin rye crust with a filling of rice. Butter, often mixed with boiled egg (egg butter or munavoi), is spread over the hot pies before eating.
And mommy, I have to say: These are good!!!
You really should try these some day!
After eating the hole Karelian pie, Kurnau asked if I would like to have a tea party.
So, Kurnau invited all others to come to drink some tea.
And we had a great tea party! We talked, and laughed to each other. It was really nice way to spend the afternoon.
Mommy, just take a look at the pictures, and you will see how much fun time we all had.
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 7, 2012, 2:52 pm
Today three ToyVoyagers left. BarryO went back to his home in USA, Suomi-boy started his very first journey and he is travelling to USA together with BarryO, and the third toy who left here was Suomi-girl who is travelling to Germany.
I hope they have a safe journey, and they arrive soon to their destinations.
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 8, 2012, 10:36 am
It's raining outside, so we need to do something inside... Kurnau had an idea what we could do.
Can you believe what I did today? I played a violin!!! And it was really fun!
After this music moment, I had to say goodbye to Rico the Tiger, because his journey continue. He goes to Spain. Wow, there must be fun!
We gave him a group hug, too.
I hope his journey will be safe.
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 10, 2012, 9:07 am
Finally it has stopped raining outside, and I could go to little walk there.
Mom, can you see the white house in the backround?
It's the house where Kurnau and hostmom mmm105 are living.
And there's me, too, living while my visit here.
Look what I found!
So many raindrops!!!
A group photo of us
This is one of the many buildings in Jyväskylä, which has designed a World-famous architect Alvar Aalto. More info about him you can find for example here. A small interesting detail I want to share with you: Jyväskylä is the city where are more buildings designed by Alvar Aalto than in any other country!!!
Very near was a playground. And offcourse we went there!
Mommy, look! I think I'm the very first cincerbreadman who has sitting on the bird's head!
Then little bit swinging...
...and then sliding!
wiihiiiii!
And then (offcourse) all together!
WIIHIIIII!!!!
It was fun! So FUN!
Look how happy I am!!!
On the way back inside, I climbed in the tree.
Can you see me?
And if you are wondering what the light in the backround is, I can tell you it's the sun. Yes, it has started to set down already.
Others who were there wanted to come to sit in the tree, too.
It was such a nice day!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 10, 2012, 1:36 pm
I saw today evening a nice sunset over here.
What do you think about it? Is it beautiful?
It was so relaxing to watch it!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 10, 2012, 1:39 pm
I went outside for a little walk.
And mommy, guess what I saw there? Yes, a mushroom!!!
Oh, summer will be over soon, and autumn is coming...
I think this musroom is big. Are you agree, mom?
It's bigger than me!!!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 10, 2012, 9:10 pm
I had such an exiting day today. Hostmom took me and other toys with her and went to drive a car. And guess where we went? We went to visit hostmom's friend. Yes, we all were there.
There was a Tupperware home party there. Do you know Tupperware? I think it's popular in many countries. They have good quality things to use in every-day-life.
I met many nice other people there, and we made some smoothies (and drank them) and some croissants, too (and offcourse we ate them, too).
It was nice!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 11, 2012, 11:42 am
It's the birthday of hostmom's cat Jeppe today. He is now 2 years old.
We celebrated the hole morning, and we all had so much fun!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEPPE-CAT!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 16, 2012, 9:16 pm
Yesterday we had to say goodbye to Bzzzzz, because she joined in Long time RR and started to travelling to Germany.
"Bye bye Bzzzzz! Travel safe!"
But, today we got more company. Cute pony girl from Germany arrived here. Her name is Flowipowi
I gave her a welcome hug.
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 20, 2012, 4:17 pm
Today Kurnau showed me really great thing. We went to see the monitoimitalo (it's like a sport center), and especially the pictures in the wall of that building.
They are so cool!!! Look, there's human pictures doing different sports!
Kurnau teached me some Finnish words about sport.
paini = wrestling
tanssi = dancing
lentopallo = volleyball
painonnosto = weight-lifting
voimistelu = gymnastics
jalkapallo = football
juoksu = running
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 21, 2012, 8:03 pm
I wanted to do something exiting and little silly things today.
So, I played to be a paparazzi, a photographer who takes photos in secret. I went outside to walk a little, and I saw kids playing football there. And offcourse I took a photo of them, and offcourse in secret. It was really FUN!!!
Then I continued walking.
And I saw these nice fields.
Offcourse I wanted to see it closer!
There we took a group photo.
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 23, 2012, 10:21 am
Today I had a great day. Guess what I was doing? I visited in the city named Äänekoski. It's located quite near of Jyväskylä, just little bit North.
We found a magical little shop named Pompom. The owner of the shop was really nice, and she aloud us to sit on the hammock! It was so fun!
And mommy, can you believe that the owner of the shop was fall in love with ME!!! So funny!!! She kept me in her hands and stroked and hugged me! She said I'm cute! Ooooooh, what a kind human she is!!!
We toys found other interesting things from there.
Look, this is an antique bed full of different coloured strings!
What do you think about this chair? Is it very colourful? Do you think there's all colours of the rainbow in the chair?
Oh, and the best part visiting in the shop was meeting other toys there. They were very nice, and together we had so fun time. They were interested about travelling... who knows, if they will be a ToyVoyagers someday...
After shopping we ordered some pizzas and then we went to another building, and there we took part in the postcrossing meeting!!! It was so fun!
It was really nice day!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 23, 2012, 10:13 pm
Today I heard an interesting thing. Kurnau told, that this city, Jyväskylä, is an official City of Light.
More info you can find here: http://valonkaupunki.jyvaskyla.fi/english
So, the hole day we only waited the night. We wanted to see some beautiful lights of this city. But because there's so many of them, we only visited some. Can you believe there's more than 70 illuminated sites to admire in Jyväskylä?
At first, we went to see the bridge of Kuokkala.
And then we visited in the harbour.
And before going back, we visited the Church Park.
And now I'm ready to go to sleep a little...
ZZZzzz zZZZzzzZZz ZZZZzzzzz zzzZZZZzzZzz...
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 25, 2012, 5:28 pm
We got more company today. A little pelican Sausi Karl arrived from Germany.
We all gave him a group hug as a welcome.
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 29, 2012, 10:33 am
Today arrived two toys here: Alberto monkey from Spain, and Nyankororin cat from Japan.
This is Alberto. He has a T-shirt with him, and I wanted to try it on.
We all laughed so much, because the shirt was little too big, and I looked hilarious!
And this is Nyankororin.
Then we had a party!
Kurnau put a music on. He was our DJ.
And then we dance...
...and dance...
...and dance even more...
...untill we got tired.
It was really fun!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Aug 29, 2012, 10:02 pm
A new toy arrived here today. She is Batty from Germany.
We all said welcome to her, and then we talked and talked and talked even more... It's always so nice to have new friends!
And guess what?!? A rainbow came to the sky, and I watched it through the window.
Love,
Wayne
Posted Sep 3, 2012, 7:45 pm
Hostmommy mmm105 is sick. She has a flu. So, we toys decided to take care of her, because we all want she will get well soon.
We gave to her all what she needs to feel better: our company, hot chocolate, fever termometer, handkerchiefs, medicines, throat pastilles, remote control for television... etc.
Love,
Wayne
Posted Sep 11, 2012, 3:25 pm
Today I went to walk little outside. Look mommy, there's already an autumn in Finland. It was a rainy day, so I didn't go very far from the hostmom's house (I didn't want to get wet).
I saw many things, what is typical in Finland at this time of the year. Look all those different colours! I think the autumn is quite beautiful time of the year, at least here. Well, hostmom said these colours are just started to come... and after few days it will be even more colourful, all colours will turn out more deeper!
Enjoy watching these pictures, mom!
Love,
Wayne
Posted Sep 13, 2012, 9:05 pm
Can you believe this mom? Are Finnish people grazy? Or what is this?
Look the sign, it's saying: "Polkupyörien pysäköinti kielletty" which means "Parking bicycles is not aloud".
And mommy, look how many bicycles there is!!!
I'm so confused now...
Love,
Wayne
Posted Sep 16, 2012, 7:06 pm
Guess what? Today I went into my envelope again,
and tomorrow morning I'm going to start travelling back home.
Mommy, I'm coming home!!!
I miss you so!
Everyone here gave me a hug as a goodbye
I had a great time in Finland (and in Spain, too)!
Love,
Wayne