MA_17 Posted Feb 22, 2012, 11:33 pm |
Today I said goodbye to the first of us new tvs.
Josie is taking part at the GTVT. I hope she enjoys her journeys through Germany. We all cuddled her. Bye bye little beautiful lady! |
MA_17 Posted Mar 12, 2012, 7:42 pm |
Today I finally found a host to visit in April.
I had to tell my brother Alex that I'm going to South Africa soon. Oh I'm so excited! |
MA_17 Posted Mar 24, 2012, 6:27 pm |
Today I finally started my big adventure!
Alex cuddled me and then I crawled into my envelope. Phog |
Katara Posted Apr 6, 2012, 5:59 pm |
Hi Mommy,
Today I arrived in South Africa! I was warmly welcomed by my host parents and by Bubblegum and Froggy. They are two ToyVoyagers visiting from Germany too! They helped me out of the dark envelope. I am very much looking forward to my visit in South Africa!! Lots of love, Phog |
Katara Posted Apr 6, 2012, 6:03 pm |
Hi Mommy!
Today we had a nice relaxing day at home. For lunch we made a 'braai' (bbq) First I got to taste a South African beer and an alcoholic cooler We got everything ready. Katara made us some garlic buns and placed them in foil. Katara also bought some "Boerewors". It is very popular in South Africa, and no one makes a "braai" without some "Boerewors" I helped braai the meat And then the feast was ready!! And for dessert we braaied some marshmallows! Yummy!! |
Katara Posted Apr 11, 2012, 5:36 pm |
HAPPY EASTER!!
Today the Easter Bunny brought us some Easter Eggs! |
Katara Posted Apr 14, 2012, 8:00 pm |
Hi Mommy,
I made a new friend! His name is "Bloomer" and he is a toy that wants to become a ToyVoyager. Today we went to the Irene Dairy. The Irene Dairy Farm is a picturesque gem that nestles between the sprawling cities of Pretoria and Johannesburg. A visit to this old-style, storybook dairy farm is a must. Started in 1895, the Irene Farm has been run the whole time by the van der Byl family who are now on to five generations and has become an iconic landmark in the Gauteng countryside. To read more you can click on THIS LINK I met some very friendly cows There are also many small ponds on the farm. I saw some white swans and then I saw a beautiful black swan!! We even saw some catfish in the pond Then we visited the farm shop. There were many jams and preserves and many different kinds of pate And some home-decorating items I had a great day!! Hope you enjoy the photos Mommy! |
Katara Posted Apr 17, 2012, 5:52 pm |
Hi Mom,
Today I greeted Bubblegum. He is off to America today to continue on his travels! I gave him a big hug!! Froggy and I helped him into the envelope and wished him a safe journey! Bon Voyage Bubblegum!! |
Katara Posted Apr 17, 2012, 6:07 pm |
Hi Mommy and Alex!
Tonight I helped Katara set the table for a nice candlelit dinner Katara prepared some polenta and saucy meatballs. It was very tasty! And for dessert we had some delicious chocolate cake which Katara had prepared earlier the day. It was very yummy!! |
Katara Posted Apr 19, 2012, 1:33 pm |
Hi mommy and Alex!
I'm so excited!! Katara said that I could have a party for my birthday!! We got some envelopes and Katara helped me to make some invitations. I also handed them out! I hope everyone will come! |
Katara Posted Apr 21, 2012, 8:11 am |
Hi Mommy and Alex!
Today we made some preparations for my birthday party. I'm so excited!! In the evening Froggy and I helped Katara prepare dinner. We made a chickpea curry and ate it with a wrap. It was very tasty! First we diced and fried the onions Then we added some curry paste We chopped up a tomato and added it to the pan Next followed the chickpeas and a little coconut cream Dinner is ready! I'm missing you guys but I'm having a great time! Phog |
Katara Posted Apr 23, 2012, 5:07 pm |
Hi Mommy and Alex
I'm so excited!! I can't wait for my birthday party this afternoon! We got everything ready in the morning - Froggy and Bloomer helped me. The time flew past and before I knew it, it was 14:00! Froggy and Bloomer kick-started the party by wishing me "Happy Birthday" and handing me their gifts. As Froggy is a fellow German he wished me in German: "Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!" Soon after the other guests arrived. I was happy to see that everyone whom I invited attended my Birthday Party. The more, the merrier! They all wished me "n Gelukkige Verjaarsdag" and sang "Happy Birthday!" in Afrikaans. This is the words to the song: "Veels geluk liewe Phog omdat jy verjaar! Mag die Here jou seen en nog baie jare spaar!" Then we played some games. First up was "Pin-the-clown-nose". The guests started off by spinning me around until I was dizzy, and then I tried to pin the nose onto the clown. The guests laughed a lot!! I didn't even get the nose onto the clown's face. Tee hee!! Next we played "Twister". It was a lot of fun!! Then we were all feeling hungry, so I presented the 'snacks' and Birthday cake. Afterwards we all played some 'Badmington'. Then it was time for opening presents I got a special coin and a teddy bear. I also got a beautiful collar with a bell and a giraffe made of beads! I truly had a wonderful Birthday!!!! |
Katara Posted Apr 30, 2012, 5:58 pm |
Hi Mommy and Alex!
Today we drove past the Voortrekker Monument The Voortrekker Monument 'is situated in the northern part of South Africa in the Pretoria (Tshwane) region in a nature reserve. It is a unique Monument which commemorates the Pioneer history of Southern Africa and the history of the Afrikaner and is situated in a beautiful setting. Today it is the most visited heritage site of its kind in Gauteng and one of the top ten cultural historical visitor attractions in the country'. |
Katara Posted May 2, 2012, 7:46 pm |
Hi Mommy and Alex
PART ONE: Today we took a drive to Hartbeespoort. "Hartbeespoort, informally also known as "Harties", is a small resort town in the North West Province of South Africa, situated on slopes of the Magaliesberg mountain and the banks of the Hartbeespoort Dam. The name of the town means "gateway of the hartbees" (a species of antelope) in Afrikaans. It was previously known as Schoemansville, named after General Hendrik Schoeman, a Boer General in the Anglo-Boer War, who owned the farm that the Hartbeespoort Dam was built on.[2] The town consists mainly of holiday homes around the dam as it is popular with visitors from nearby Gauteng Province. It is home to the Om Die Dam (English: Around the dam) ultra marathon of 50 km, which takes place annually in the first half of the year" (Information from wikipedia) One the way to Hartbeespoort we drove past "The Fountain Circle" in Pretoria, which was decorated for the Fifa Soccer World Cup in 2010. We stopped at the Welwitchia Country Market. |
Katara Posted May 7, 2012, 4:54 pm |
PART TWO:
This table had many African themed necklaces! Very nicely made buck lampshades - from wire and paper. On they way back we passed some fruit vendors that have stalls next to the road. They were selling citrus and avocados. We drove over the Hartbeespoort dam wall... Then we entered a short tunnel that cuts through the mountain right next to the wall. And coming out the other side! We stopped next to the road to admire the Dam, and we saw a few houses that have their own garages for speed boats! I had a great day! Hugs, Phog xxx |
Katara Posted May 10, 2012, 10:06 am |
Hi Mommy!
Today me, together with Froggy and Bloomer helped Katara prepare a "Koelkasvla-en-kondensmelktert" (Custard and condensed milk tart). First we read through the recipe Then we got all the ingredients together We prepared the custard Next we chopped up some cherries and added it to the condensed milk and lemon juice We lined a dish with some biscuits and then spooned the condensed milk mixture over it We then packed another layer of biscuits on top of the mixture Next we added a layer of cooled down custard We decorated the tart with a layer of cream and some cherries We placed the tart in the fridge to set. Later on we each had a slice. Delicious! Lots of love, Phog |
Katara Posted May 26, 2012, 2:46 pm |
Hi Mommy
Last night Froggy and I helped Katara in the kitchen. We made some Lasagne First we gathered all the ingredients Then we fried the chopped onion and grated carrot together with a little butter and some mixed herbs We added the mince and browned it. Next we added a little bit of red wine, some brown onion soup, tomato and onion mix and some tomato paste and we let the mixture simmer. In the meantime, Katara prepared the Bechamel sauce. We then layered the mince, Bechamel Sauce and Lasagne sheets and topped it with some grated Cheddar and Mozzarella cheese We prepared two extra trays of Lasagne to go into the freezer We baked the Lasagne in the oven and ate it with some soft bread. It was delicious! |
Katara Posted Jun 1, 2012, 2:52 pm |
Hi Mommy,
Today I spent some time outside in the sunshine Later-on I helped Katara weave a scarf |
Katara Posted Jun 1, 2012, 3:03 pm |
Hi Mommy,
To celebrate Froggy's last day in South Africa, Katara took us out to dinner to "Spur". We ordered some hamburgers Froggy and I shared a Peppamelt Burger (Cheese burger with pepper sauce) And for dessert we had some "Melktert" (Milk tart) at home. It was very nice! We had a great evening!! |
Katara Posted Jun 6, 2012, 12:10 pm |
Hi Mommy and Alex
This morning I had some porridge for breakfast We ate it with a little bit of butter and sugar. In the afternoon Katara surprised me with a snack made in Germany |
Katara Posted Jun 18, 2012, 8:13 am |
Hi Mommy,
Today Katara took me to Menlyn Park Shopping Centre. The shopping centre has over 300 stores, 37 restaurants to choose from and offers a wide variety of entertainment. There is a nice water feature inside the shopping centre I also spotted a "Biltong Bar". Biltong is very popular in South Africa. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Biltong is a kind of cured meat that originated in South Africa. Many different types of meat are used to produce it, ranging from beef through game meats to fillets of ostrich from commercial farms. It is typically made from raw fillets of meat cut into strips following the grain of the muscle, or flat pieces sliced across the grain. It is similar to beef jerky in that they are both spiced, dried meats, but differ in their typical ingredients, taste and production process; in particular the main difference from jerky is that biltong is usually thicker (from cuts up to 1" thick), while jerky is rarely more than 1/8" thick and biltong does not have a sweet taste. The word biltong is from the Dutch bil ("rump") and tong ("strip" or "tongue")." |
Katara Posted Jun 18, 2012, 12:07 pm |
"Goeie dag Ma en Alex!"
Today we visited the Irene Village Mall. Unique sculptures and artwork can be found throughout Irene Village Mall. The sculpture of the buried cow is called “The Udder Side”. We went to "Wimpy" for breakfast We ordered some coffee I shared a Toasted Egg, Bacon and Cheese with Katara. It was delicious! The egg was cooked perfectly! |
Katara Posted Jun 18, 2012, 12:12 pm |
Hi Mommy and Alex
Tonight Katara didn't feel like cooking so we ordered some KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). We ordered 'Avo and Feta Chicken Wraps' and loaded fries (Fries with cheese sauce) |
Katara Posted Jul 4, 2012, 2:21 pm |
Hi Mommy and Alex!
Today Bloomer and I helped Katara make some cupcakes. We used a vanilla muffin mix that Katara had bought We put spoonfuls of dough into colourful cone cups After the cupcakes had baked and cooled we iced them They tasted delicious! |
Katara Posted Jul 9, 2012, 10:52 am |
Hi Mommy and Alex,
Today I greeted my host and I said good-bye to my friend Bloomer. It is time to continue with my travels. Before I went into the dark envelope Katara let me taste some 'Peppadew'. Peppadew is the brand name of sweet piquanté peppers (a breed of Capsicum baccatum) grown in the Limpopo province of South Africa. I also had some Rose wine and shared a slice of pecan nut tart with Bloomer. Bloomer and Katara made a toast and wished me well on my journey I am looking forward to my trip to Finland! |
mmm105 Posted Jul 17, 2012, 3:35 pm |
Hello!
This is wonderful! I arrived in Finland today, so much earlier that I thought. While travelling from South Africa to Finland my envelope got little damaged, but luckily only little. I'm fine myself. When I was still inside my envelope I heard several voices, they were wondering who is coming from South Africa, they looked the stamps on the envelope. They all helped me out off my envelope. "Hello! My name is Phog. I'm from Germany, but I was visiting in South Africa." They all introduced themselves, and I felt right away warmly welcome here. I showed them the great postcard what I took with me from South Africa. Let me introduced Kurnau. He is my host as well as the hostmom, too. Greetings from Finland! Love, Phog xxx |
mmm105 Posted Jul 20, 2012, 9:59 am |
Hei! Hello!
Today I went outside to walk and look around this surroundings. I really wanted to know, what is this place look like. And almost immediately I saw the beautiful nature of Finland, so many green coloured trees, the fresh air, and so on. Oh, it's so nice to be here! 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, Wayne, Totoro., Honeymooners, Hunny, me, Kit-Kat, Ronja, BarryO, TobiHH and Druri. And there's a bridge of Tourujoki. Love, Phog xxx |
mmm105 Posted Jul 28, 2012, 9:33 pm |
Hello!
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, Phog xxx |
mmm105 Posted Jul 28, 2012, 9:34 pm |
Hei äiti! Hello mommy!
Today I went to the grocery store to buy some food. ToyVoyager Lina was there, too. Together we walked through the big shop, and it was like an adventure! A nice adventure! Mommy, smile! There's two flags of Finland. The blue colour symbolised the blue sky, the white colour symbolised the white snow, and the shape of cross symbolised Scandinavia. Hostmom bought some yarns to her hobby: making amigurumis We met a green bird, but he was boring, because he didn't say anything. He was quiet. Then it's time to bought some food. First, some bananas (a banana = banaani) ...and oranges (an orange = appelsiini) strawberries (a strawberry = mansikka), and raspberries (a raspberry = vadelma) eggs (an egg = kananmuna) By the way, mommy, don't be worry about the hens up there, they are not real hens. fish (a fish = kala) milk (maito) Look, mommy, there's so nice pictures on the milk packet! A cow riding a bike, and a flying cow!!! These are carelian pies (karjalanpiirakka). They are typical Finnish food. Maybe someday I can taste it, and tell you more about it... And there's the most popular rye bread in Finland. (a rye bread = ruisleipä) Then it's time to go back 'home'. We sat in the car, while hostmom was driving. Love, Phog xxx |
mmm105 Posted Jul 28, 2012, 9:35 pm |
Hi mommy!
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. This one is so colourful art, isn't it?. 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!!! Love, Phog xxx |
mmm105 Posted Jul 28, 2012, 9:36 pm |
Hello!
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, Phog xxx |
mmm105 Posted Jul 28, 2012, 9:37 pm |
Hei! Hello!
We got more company today. A new ToyVoyager Ranja Dragon arrived from Germany. I'm sure we will have lots of fun together! Love, Phog xxx |
mmm105 Posted Jul 28, 2012, 9:38 pm |
Hello mommy!
I have a cat friend! Can you believe it, mom? Yes, I begame friends with a real living cat. And I think he is very brave, because he didn't scared me at all, I'm a dog anyway. Let me introduced him. His name is Jeppe, and he is almost 2 years old. He is hostmom's cat, and he seems to be really kind. First he looked at me... ...then he tickeled me with his furr... ...then he hugged me Love, Phog xxx |
mmm105 Posted Jul 28, 2012, 9:39 pm |
Hi! Hello mommy!
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 addresses issues of women's rights. There's another nice statue. Love, Phog xxx |
mmm105 Posted Jul 28, 2012, 9:41 pm |
Hi again mom!
I visited also in "satama" (a harbour of Jyväskylä) today. There I saw many great boats! Look the pictures to see how fun I had. Love, Phog xxx |
mmm105 Posted Jul 29, 2012, 2:31 pm |
Hello mommy!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Jul 29, 2012, 2:47 pm |
Hello mommy!
Today Kurnau wanted to show me something. He said the place where we will go is great. He was so mysterious... So, we went outside and started to walk. Kurnau said this place is called Harju. It's like a small hill just next to city center. And there's such a great and long stairs there. We all climbed up these long stairs. Up there is the building called Vesilinna. I'm so exited, because Kurnau said we are going to up in this high tower to see great views! There's the city center. And the lake in the picture is named Jyväsjärvi. Look, the lake is so close to city center!!! And by the way, did you know that there's about 188 000 lakes in total in Finland? Lots of lakes, isn't it? So cool! There's the sport stadium of Harju. And there's the view to the direction where hostmom is living. She is living just next to the lake. On the downstairs of the building Vesilinna, there's the Natural History Museum (Keski-Suomen luontomuseo). We visited there. There's hirvi (a moose). It's the biggest animal living in Finland. And there's joutsen (a swan). It's the national bird of Finland. There were showing also some interesting informations about Finnish nature. It was such a great place to visit! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Jul 29, 2012, 2:53 pm |
Hi mommy!
I watched the Opening Seremony of the Olympic Games from TV. It was a cool show! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Jul 29, 2012, 2:58 pm |
Hello mom!
I enjoyed the sunshine today. I went to see the lake just next to hostmom's home. I think she is so lucky to live in this beautiful surroundings: lots of trees and a lake just next to her home. It's so Finnish thing: there's so much forests and lakes in nature of Finland. Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Jul 30, 2012, 7:37 pm |
Hello mom!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Jul 30, 2012, 7:38 pm |
Hei! Hello mommy!
I was walking outside, and I saw this funny sign there. There's showing how far away this place is from different cities abroad. It's looking cool, isn't it? Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 3, 2012, 6:38 pm |
Hello!
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. After eating and playing I wrote a postcard. 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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 3, 2012, 6:41 pm |
Hi mommy!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 3, 2012, 6:43 pm |
Hello mom!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 7, 2012, 3:20 pm |
Hey mommy!
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. I wanted it, 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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 7, 2012, 3:21 pm |
Hello mommy!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 8, 2012, 10:40 am |
Hi mommy!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 10, 2012, 3:04 pm |
Hello mommy!
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!!! This is one of the public art sculpture in this town. This one's name 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". I think this is Keinumieli (a mind of swing): And this is Tyhjämieli (a mind of emptyness): And this is Häkkimieli (a mind of cage): And there's another art. This one I like a lot, because it looks like there's two people flying! This one's name is "Elinehto-ajatus-liiketoiminta" and the artist is Heikki Häiväoja, and it has made in 1979. The translation of the statue's name is "Lifeline-idea-business". 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'm 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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 10, 2012, 3:06 pm |
Hi mommy!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 10, 2012, 3:07 pm |
Hei! Hello!
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? Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 10, 2012, 9:05 pm |
Hello all!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 11, 2012, 11:37 am |
Hei! Hello!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 16, 2012, 9:11 pm |
Hei!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 20, 2012, 4:24 pm |
Hi mommy!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 21, 2012, 8:07 pm |
Hei! Hello!
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 a nice field. Offcourse I wanted to see it closer! There we took a group photo. Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 23, 2012, 10:37 am |
Hey mommy!
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 Wayne-cincerbreadman!!! So funny!!! It was love in the first sight. We 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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 23, 2012, 10:31 pm |
Hei mom!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 25, 2012, 5:31 pm |
Hei! Hello!
We got more company today. A little pelican Sausi Karl arrived from Germany. We all gave him a group hug as a welcome. Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 25, 2012, 6:58 pm |
Hi mommy!
Yesterday I read a local newspaper Keskisuomalainen. It was little difficult to read it, because everything was written in Finnish. But hostmom was nice, and she helped me to translate it. Almost immediatelly I noticed the interesting thing in the first page. There's a picture of parrot, and the headline "Torsti and Kalle osaavat puhua" which means "Torsti and Kalle can speak". I read to hole article of these talking parrots. It says they have started parrots' school! They are learning tricks! And mommy, guess what happened today!!! It was something really great!!! We went to meet these famous parrots!!! They are living in Jyväskylä region. So, today me, Sausi Karl, Kurnau, Flowipowi, Cody Otter, Lina, Hunny and Ranja Dragon went to the place called Viherlandia, the place where Torsti and Kalle are living. This place is like a garden centre, the perfect place to find for example flowers, plants, stone product, garden supplies, interior decorating products etc. Are you agree that this place looks like a jungle? Let me introduce... Kalle.... No, it's Torsti... No, I mean Kalle... Well, I don't know, which one this is... But anyway, this parrot said: "Terve! Mitä kuuluu?" (it means: "Hello! How are you?") So funny talking parrot!!! There I saw also many beautiful flowers in Viherlandia. Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 29, 2012, 10:21 am |
Hello!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Aug 29, 2012, 9:57 pm |
Hello!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Sep 3, 2012, 7:50 pm |
Hei!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Sep 11, 2012, 3:01 pm |
Hello mommy!
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, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Sep 16, 2012, 7:30 pm |
Hi mommy!
Today I said goodbye to 3 ToyVoyagers. They all are going to the next places to visit: Ronja will go to Denmark, Sausi Karl to Switzerland, and Wayne goes back home to Germany. I gave them all goodbye-hugs, and wish them good luck. Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Oct 10, 2012, 3:05 pm |
Hi mommy!
I have got nice time here. I have made new friends with other toys here, and we have got fun! Today I was outside, and I saw some great things of the autumn. Look the photos, mom, and you can see the colours of nature, too. Yes, it's the most colourful time of this season, very soon all trees will be "naked", and then it's time wait some snow coming. I'm so exited, I want to see some snow... but I have to wait little more first... I'm fine here, mom. Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Oct 22, 2012, 1:30 pm |
Hi mommy!
Today I visited to see the oldest building of Jyväskylä. The building called as Taavettilan riihi, which is in English the drying barn of Taavettila. The building has buildt somewhere in 1700's, the exact year is unknown. First, building used as a drying barn, but somewhere in 1800's it became usual barn/cabin and it got windows then. In 1900's the building started to be a cabin museum. Jyväskylän vanhin rakennus = the oldest building of Jyväskylä Riihi muutettu tuvaksi 1800-luvun alussa = a drying barn has turn to be a cabin in the beginning of 1800's Jyväskylän yliopisto = University of Jyväskylä Rakennus 3 = Building 3 Because we didn't have a chance to go in (the door was closed), we decided to look through the window... Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Oct 26, 2012, 7:40 pm |
Hello mommy!
Guess what? Something white thing has came here. It's all over outside. It's cold, white, and it's covering everything!!! YES!!! It's the first snow!!! Winter is just around the corner... Temperature has been about -3 degrees Celcius the hole day. Brrrrr... snow is so cold! All others came to sit on the snow, too. Brrrrrrr... Ooooops! What just happened?!? Some snow fall on us! Hih... it was only fun! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Nov 3, 2012, 6:06 pm |
Hei! Hello mom!
Kurnau told me, that we all toys can travel with hostmom, when she will visit her parents in other side of Finland in this weekend. I was totally exited about it. It's so cool to see other placed in Finland, too. Kurnau showed me the map. Mommy, can you see the spots A and B in the map? Yes, that's our travel plan, it's about 320 kilometres. We are going to little village called Ilomantsi. It's in the Northern Karelia in Finland. After sitting 4 hours in the car, I was tired and I wanted to relax. So, I experienced one Finnish thing, how to relax and take a bath at the same time: I went to sauna!!! And guess what? I met saunatonttu (=the elf of sauna) there!!! This room, sauna, is a hot place. Saunas are very common in Finland (maybe because the cold and long winter seasons?!?). Finns go to sauna to wash themselves, but also to relax. They throw some water to the kiuas (it's like the "oven", and there are some stones on it), and this hot kiuas makes the hole room so warm place to be. AAAaaaaahh, I'm sooooo relaxed now!!! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Nov 3, 2012, 6:59 pm |
Hi mommy!
Unfortunately, the weather is awful here... it's raining a lot... So, there's no sightseeing here today... But, the bad weather is not the problem for us! We can do many fun things inside, too. At first, I want to show you the coat of arms of Ilomantsi. It looks like this: And because there's three kanteles (kantele = it's one kind of instrument) in the picture of the coat of arms, I wanted to play this instrument. And happily I can say, that I did it. I played kantele. Kantele is the national instrument of Finland, and especially in Karelia. Others played it, too. And then, we found this marvellous little building! Wow! Hi hiiiiii!!!!! Here I am! And then, I saw something, what I first couldn't believe... Look yourself! Is it cool? So many medals and pokals etc!!! ...Hih, and I'm there somewhere, too. Can you find me? Well, can you see me now? Great! You found me!!! Well done! Oh, one more photo for today... I'm dreaming: "...and the winner is....... PHOG!!!" Hurray!!! It was fun day! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Nov 3, 2012, 7:20 pm |
Hello mommy!
It's last day of our visit in Ilomantsi, and the weather is still bad... Well, because outside is terrible, we decided to make nice inside this house. Yes, we are going to bake some cookies! First need to use kaulin (= a rolling pin). Then it's time to make cookies. I made bunny shaped cookies. Kurnau helped. He put the cookies to the cookie sheet. Mmmmmm... they smell so good already! Cookies are ready! Yummy!!! Now it's time to enjoy! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Nov 16, 2012, 3:10 pm |
Hello mommy!
I'm back in Jyväskylä, Central-Finland. Today was nice weather outside, so I went there for having little walk outside and in fresh air. As you can see, mom, there's not snow anymore. All the first snow has melted away... I hope that it will snow again soon. Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Nov 25, 2012, 7:07 pm |
Hello mommy!
Today I helped hostmommy to write some Christmas cards. It was really fun! I'm sooooo exited, because Christmas is coming closer and closer every day!!! Very soon I can experience Christmas in Finland, the homecountry of Santa Claus!!! Oh, mommy, do you thing I could meet Santa himself here?!? Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Nov 28, 2012, 7:32 pm |
Hi mommy!
I was walking outside today, because it was really nice weather (-4 degrees Celcius, snowing very light). BUT mommy, there was quite dark already outside, even thought it was only afternoon! Hostmommy told me about kaamos (the Polar night). It's the time of the year when the sun doesn't rise at all within few months!!! Can you believe it, the sun is completely below the horizon so long time in Lapland in winter? Luckily, this happens only Lapland, inside the polar circles. But the effects can be seen here in Central Finland, too. In winter light-time during days are only some hours per day, and the most of time is dark... Look mommy!!! There's some kids playing ice hockey! Ice hockey (jääkiekko in Finnish) is very popular hobby in Finland. Very very popular! Then I continued walking, and I arrived in Harju. I have been in Harju earlier, too, but not in dark time. Look, there's so beautiful lights there! And here is the long stone steps of Harju Ridge. There's city center down there. I think this tree looks little spooky and scary!!! BOOOO!!! hihi And here are we all toys (little Sunny, Kurnau, Nyankororin, Bussi and me). We are very near of the city center. Then I saw something really nice! A Christmas tree!!! Oooooh, it's so big! But really beautiful with all those lights and a star Now I'm in the city center. I'm going to see some Christmas lights... Beautiful! This big star is the most beautiful Christmas light I have seen here! Look, there's also a star on the ground... or it looks like a star. Hostmommy told me, that there's a big compass on the ground!!! Yeah, when I looked it more carefully, I saw there's a biggest arrow to show the North. Cool! I saw many interesting things today. Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 2, 2012, 3:01 pm |
Hello!
Today is the first day of December. It was time to start opening the Christmas/advent calender. It's so fun! Today's picture looks like this: Every day in this month untill Christmas we toys can see a new picture in this calender. How exiting!!! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 2, 2012, 3:30 pm |
Hello mommy!
I want to show you the view through the hostmommy's window. Just take a look at photos... It has been snowing here the hole day! And as you can see, there's already lots of snow outside. Hostmommy promised, that tomorrow I can go out and play with snow! Great!!! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 3, 2012, 2:24 pm |
Hello mommy!
Brrrrrrr... Today was really cold day: -21 degrees Celcius!!! I went outside with other toys (Kurnau, little Sunny, Nyankororin, Bussi, Misslucy). My plan was go there to play with the snow, but I couldn't be there long time, only some minutes. It was freezing! But mommy, the cold weather makes the nature looks so beautiful! Well, you will underestand what I mean when you look the pictures. Enjoy! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 6, 2012, 9:27 pm |
Hello mommy!
Today is the independence day of Finland. It's a national public holiday held on 6th December to celebrate Finland's declaration of independence from Soviet Russia. Finland's independence started in 1917. Mommy, now I'm going to show you how we celebrate this day. Look the pictures! I went outside and hold the flag of Finland. Others were there, too. And then we decided to bake cookies. Yummy! We made cookies with the shape of Finland. MMmmmmmmm.... they smell already so good!!! After cookies came out of the owen, it's time to put jam between two cookie... ...and then we decorated cookies with the colours of Finland: blue and white. Yummy! Now the cookies are ready to eat!!! In the evening, we watched the TV show about the Presidential Independence Day Reception from the Presidential Palace. This event is Linnanjuhlat in Finnish. Famous or well-known Finns are there, dance, small talk, little snacks...etc. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, FINLAND! HYVÄÄ ITSENÄISYYSPÄIVÄÄ, SUOMI! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 22, 2012, 7:59 pm |
Hello mommy!
It's 12th December today. Hih, it's so funny date: 12.12.12 I started my day with advent calendar. Hmmm... where is number 12? Oooo, there it is! I found it! Today's picture looks like this: Look, mommy! There's the funny date again in the local newspaper! Look, there's the headline about 12.12.12 date! It says that someone has 12th birthday in 12.12.12. That must be so fun! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 22, 2012, 8:02 pm |
Hi mommy!
I was walking outside today. And I found such a beautiful place!!! Soooooo beautiful place! It's the river of Tourujoki, and the river goes through the Jyväskylä city. Mommy, do you like this view, too? Isn't it magical? Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 27, 2012, 7:47 am |
Hey mommy!
Look, I saw Santa Claus and his elfs preparing the Christmas!!! Now I'm really looking forward to Christmas... Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 27, 2012, 7:54 am |
Hello mommy!
We are going to visit hosmommy's parents to the Eastern Finland, and we are going to spend Christmas there. How fun!!! Look the views outside! So snowy! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 27, 2012, 8:48 am |
Hi mommy!
Today is very exiting day: Jouluaatto (Christmas Eve). We did some piparkakku (Christmas cookies). And then we decorated the joulukuusi (Christmas tree). Hihii, this Christmas tree is outside We went to joulusauna (Christmas sauna). And then we eat jouluruoka (Christmas food). There's for example ham, chicken, fish, different kinds of casserole, Karelian pies, cheece etc. Yummy! And in the evening we went to joulukirkko (Christmas Church). Then we eat joulupuuro (Christmas porridge). It's rice porridge, and we eat it with socker, cinnamon and milk. And very exiting thing is that there's one almond hidden in the porridge, and the person who got the almond to his plate, this person will have good luck the hole next year. (it's one kind of myth or magic thing... ) ...and we eat also some Finnish Christmas desserts: joulutorttu (sweet tart made by puff paste and plum jam on it) and piparkakku (Christmas cookies). And MOMMY!!!! Then I really met the joulupukki (Santa Claus)!!!! It was really awesome day! I hope you have had a great Christmas, too! Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 27, 2012, 7:31 pm |
Hi mommy!
I think this lantern is nice, and it has Christmas feelings in it. I had little walking this evening. It's already quite dark. I went to see the Orthodox Church of Ilomantsi. It has buildt in 1892. Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 27, 2012, 7:45 pm |
Hello mommy!
Today I was walking outside again. Now I want to show you some places of Ilomantsi. Ilomantsi is nice small village with about 5000 inhabitants. This building is the city hall of Ilomantsi. This is the main street, and there's almost all shops and groceries. I like those red street lambs. It was -17 degrees Celcius today. This is "the water tower" of Ilomantsi. I don't know, what is the current English word for it. Mommy, look this view! Do you think it's beautiful? Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Dec 27, 2012, 7:55 pm |
Hello mommy!
Today I want to show you the City Hall of Jyväskylä. It has buildt in 1899. On the wall of the building, there's the coat of arms of Jyväskylä. Love, Phog |
mmm105 Posted Jan 9, 2013, 9:40 pm |
Hello mommy!
Today was my time to say goodbye to all my toy friends here. I'm going to travel to my next host. I'm going to miss my friends here, but maybe we see each other somewhere in the World someday... Before crowling into my envelope, I ate a cupcake. Now I won't be hungry while travelling. Hmmm... it's good! I had nice time in Finland. Love, Phog P.S: Watch out, England, I'm coming!!! |
MySongIsLaughter Posted Jan 23, 2013, 10:22 pm |
Hello!
Today I finished my journey, arriving in Portsmouth! I was so pleased when I could finally leave my envelope, and start making new friends. I'm staying with Cheney, Spikey Dragon, Porridge and Mimi and George. This evening, I introduced myself to them, and heard their stories about their adventures. They have all been with my new host for quite a while now, so they were telling me about places she has taken them where I might be able to go as well! We celebrated my arrival (as well as a few other things my host's family were celebrating) by ordering pizza, barbeque chicken wings, nachos, and cookie dough pudding with ice cream. It was all very yummy! We also had this bright orange drink called Irn Bru. I wasn't really sure what it is meant to taste like, and no one seemed to be able to tell me, but it is good! I'm looking forward to finding my new adventures! |
MySongIsLaughter Posted Jan 23, 2013, 10:26 pm |
Hi!
I have only just got here, and already something exciting has happened! It has snowed! I wasn't very impressed at first, but then I learnt that in England it doesn't snow very much. Turns out, Portsmouth hasn't had this much snow in 2 years! Although the schools and colleges were closed, my host had to go in for an exam, but fortunately there was time beforehand to go into the garden and play in the snow. We got pretty cold though, so we had to come back in and sit by the radiator to warm up! I was hoping the snow would last for a long time, and we could have more fun, but my host explained that the weather was hovering around 0 degrees Centigrade, not getting much colder than -2, so it would be likely to melt and then freeze again as ice which is not so fun. |
MySongIsLaughter Posted Jan 23, 2013, 10:28 pm |
Hello!
My host was right, the snow did not really last very long Today it is already very icy, so we had to stay at home for most of the day. As my host had to do some music homework, we thought we'd help out by playing on her keyboard! It has lots of different buttons, so you can make some cool sounds! We had a lot of fun, although I don't think we made her work any faster... |
MySongIsLaughter Posted Jan 23, 2013, 10:31 pm |
Hello!
Today, I played Dungeons and Dragons! It was a very exciting game! You can't really see how exciting it is in the picture, because a lot of it was only in our imaginations. My host's boyfriend had planned out a map for the game, and different things that were happening, and everyone made their own character and then we went on a quest to save a village from a dragon that was burning the houses! It turned out that the dragon was friendly, though, so we ended up finding an agreement with it where it wouldn't kill anyone! The reason we have lots of dice is that every time someone does something in the game, we had to roll a dice to see whether or not it would be successful. Sometimes it was, but sometimes it wasn't and there was a disaster! Our host made little spicy biscuits to eat during the game. As you can see, Spikey Dragon is more interested in the biscuits than the game! |
MySongIsLaughter Posted Jan 28, 2013, 9:11 pm |
Hi!
Guess where I am today! Durham! It's very exciting, although we had such a long journey to get here that I'm now very tired. We have come here so Frances can look at the university, but she thought my friends and I might enjoy the journey, and having the chance to look around the city. In the morning, we went to college with Frances, as straight after her class we had to get the bus to the train station. We then got 2 trains (with a stop off in London in the middle, including a trip on the Underground). By the time we arrived in Durham, it was quite late so we went straight to the hotel. Look at the size of out bed! We lay down on the bed and watched televsion until we fell asleep, because we have a big day tomorrow! |
MySongIsLaughter Posted Jan 28, 2013, 9:22 pm |
Hey!
I've just had such a great day looking around Durham! The cathedral was so beautiful - we could not take photos inside but we enjoyed looking around it, listening to some lovely organ music, and learning the story of how the city at Durham came to be there. We also had breakfast in a lovely cafe, and wandered around the indoor and outdoor markets. It is such an interesting city! After looking around the city for a while, Frances wanted to see the college of St Hild and St Bede, and then we went to an event at the music department so she could learn more about the course. It was such a fun day, but after another very long journey home we were ready to go to bed. |
MySongIsLaughter Posted Feb 7, 2013, 8:54 pm |
Hi!
Today Frances took me and my friends to see her favourite place. It's the closest part of the sea to where she lives, although it wasn't so close when we were there because the tide was out! But that was good, in a way, because where we were standing would be underwater when the tide was in! We couldn't walk out too far, because we might have sunk in and that wouldn't have been good! So instead we stayed by the wall and watched the birds and looked at the boat. It was really quite a nice area! |
MySongIsLaughter Posted Apr 9, 2013, 11:02 am |
Hey!
We're in Birmingham! It's such a lovely city, and we're lucky to have a great view of it from our hotel room. Despite that, we didn't stay up there. As soon as we had unpacked, we went for a walk along the canals. There are lots of canals in Birmingham because people used to use boats to transport things before they used trains and lorries. Now, the canals are mainly used by people who live on them. We saw many beautiful houseboats, painted in bright colours! |
MySongIsLaughter Posted Apr 9, 2013, 11:08 am |
Gruss Gott!
I am just home from visiting Vienna with my host's music class. It was very fun, but the coach journey was quite long so it is a relief to be home. When we arrived, after putting suitcases in the hostel, we went to a Heuriger. They make their own wine, so we tried it (it was delicious!) and we also tried schnitzel which was really yummy! It snowed a lot while we were there, so rather than getting cold feet we rode around in Frances' bag. That way, we could see everything and keep warm! There was a lot to see - we went to graveyards to see famous composers like Beethoven and Mozart, and we went into lots of churches. We climbed up the tower of the cathedral so that we could see the whole city spread out beneath us! |
MySongIsLaughter Posted Jun 7, 2013, 9:16 pm |
Hi!
Today, we went for a day out in Portsmouth. It was a really nice day, so we could spend some time outside! First, we went to the park to see the animals! There are lots of cool animals, and they have pictures up on the fence to show where they come from! We then went to Gunwharf. It used to belong to the Navy, but now it's a tourist attraction with lots of shops and restaurants and things. They have many artefacts reminding people of the naval history, like this torpedo and this figurehead, and also the Spinnaker Tower which you can see for miles! We went for a meal in a Japanese restaurant. Look at this tea - it has a flower in it! It smells really nice too, but the camera couldn't capture that! We then went to the Historic Dockyards, where they filmed a lot of the Les Miserables film. They had a costume display - look at me with the costume that Gavroche wore! |
MA_17 Posted Oct 1, 2013, 4:14 pm |
Today me and Gustav arrived safe home!
The others welcomed us. Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Oct 10, 2013, 12:10 pm |
Hello mum,
after my short stopover at home.... today my alarm clock bells at cock-crows. This should be the great day where we start our “special trip”. After I snuffled together my luggage hostdad brought us to the station. By train we traveled via Hannover to Hamburg…. Hamburg Habour, Cruise Terminal. Mum, you will not believe what vessel was laying there on the pier! The Queen personally; Queen Mary 2!!!!. We cecked in, left our luggage in the custodial care of the crew and started a short sightseeing tour through Hamburg. Since 1897, the seat of the government has been the Hamburg city hall The town hall is a richly decorated Neo-Renaissance building finished in 1897. The tower is 112 metres (367 ft) high. Its façade, 111 m (364 ft) long, depicts the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, since Hamburg was, as a Free Imperial City, only under the sovereignty of the emperor. The Speicherstadt (lit. city of warehouses, meaning warehouse district) in Hamburg, Germany is the largest timber-pile founded warehouse district in the world. It is located in the port of Hamburg—within the HafenCity quarter—and was built from 1883 to 1927. The district was built as a free zone to transfer goods without paying customs. As of 2009 the district and the surrounding area is under redevelopment time for a coffee under a palmtree a little chat with guys from Hamburg after entering this majestic ship we left the harbour very slowly, so the mass of people could say good bye to us TV´s, it seems like a folk festival. in the background Europe's largest inner-city development (as of 2008), the HafenCity, will house about 10,000 inhabitants and 15,000 workers. The plan includes designs by Rem Koolhaas and Renzo Piano. The Elbe Philharmonic Hall (Elbphilharmonie), expected to be completed by 2015, will house concerts in a building on top of an old warehouse, designed by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron. St. Michael's Church, the 132-metre high Baroque spire totally covered with copper is a prominent feature of Hamburg’s skyline and has always been a landfall mark for ships sailing up the river Elbe. another cruise terminal Blankenese is a former independent town, now a suburban quarter in the borough Altona in the western part of Hamburg (Germany). It is located on right bank of the Elbe river. In 2006 the population was 13,011. While the sun went down we left the river Elbe and reached the North Sea. see you soon mum Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Oct 23, 2013, 3:31 pm |
Hello my mum ,
now its the second day with noble deck planks under my feets. Today is a passageday with kindly weather at the northsea, quite good to linger at the railing and watching the sea rolling by, to made an excursion on the ship.... here the initial of our ship, our bedroom.....with Dr.Kröbner and his family Wavy Gravys deckchair....on my private balcony another deckchair... another deckchair.....it was a little deckchairtest my diningroom, yummy.... teatime for TVs....very british , and champain for me …. Next stop is Copenhagen, Denmark.. What bad luck! The QM2 had to moored roadstead of shortage of space in the habour, but the captain said it´s to dangerouse in cause of strong current trough the Sound. So the land excursion is canceled! after looking into the daily program and a short discussion ( with yummy chocolate) later we decided to ride the glass elevator ... up and down and up and down and up and down ...... ....in the meantime the Queen moved slowly toward Oslo . kisses from Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Nov 5, 2013, 12:15 pm |
Land Ahoi, Mum!
After 2 days on the mightful North Sea we arrived in Norway. First we have to follow the Oslofjord....... and mooraged at 7:00 am in front of the castle Akerhus. Akershus Fortress (Norwegian: Akershus Festning) or Akershus Castle (Norwegian: Akershus slott) is a medieval castle that was built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway. It has also been used as a prison. Today we´ll made a Sightseeingtour throug the capitaltown of Norway. First stop is Vigelandpark, an area with lots of human sculptures showing the whole circle of life. Fantastic. Next stop is the opympic ski-jump Holmenkollen. It´s not the original olypmic one from 1952, its the new 3 years old skijump. I met a very friendly Troll and we visited Akershus Fortress then we posed in front of our majestic ship after another day on the rough sea, we arrived back in Hamburg what a wonderful trip a big hug from Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Nov 28, 2013, 3:45 pm |
Hello my mummy,
first a big sorry ...no updates for a long time but hostmum was very busy today we went for a short trip to Bavaria, we were at the Kloster Banz, Banz Abbey (German: Kloster Banz), now known as Banz Castle (German: Schloss Banz), is a former Benedictine monastery, since 1978 a part of the town of Bad Staffelstein north of Bamberg, Bavaria, southern Germany unfortunately it was soooo windy and cold, it was very difficult to take photos. here you can see the spiers and from here you can look down into the valley. a very short trip kisses from Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Nov 28, 2013, 4:42 pm |
Hello mum, Phog again
I fullfiled a part of a life mission to visit a zoo in 5 countries, The Tierpark Hagenbeck is a zoo in Stellingen, now a quarter in Hamburg, Germany. The collection began in 1863 with animals that belonged to Carl Hagenbeck Sr. (1810–87), a fishmonger who became an amateur animal collector. The park itself was founded by Carl Hagenbeck Jr. in 1907. It is known for being the first zoo to use open enclosures surrounded by moats, rather than barred cages, to better approximate animals' natural environments,very interesting. I have a little chat with the elephants and they were so friendly and showed me their living room and swimming pool. I have seen orangutans. Turtles. Strange fish. Lions and polar bears. the brown bears were very talkative and have complained about the sign. "Do not feed" Here you see the old entrance gate. Before my train drove back, a last look at the harbour bye bye your Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Dec 10, 2013, 5:55 am |
Hello mummy,
we made a short trip to the north hessian capitalcity Kassel., especially the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe: The area of the park is 2.4 square kilometres (590 acres), making it the largest European hillside park, and second largest park on a mountain slope in the world. Construction of the Bergpark, or "mountain park", began in 1696 at the behest of the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel and took about 150 years. .Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe is administrated by the State of Hesse and affiliated with the European Garden Heritage Network since 2009. On 23 June 2013 it was proclaimed as a World Heritage Site during the UNESCO meeting in Phnom Penh The park house more than 400 different plant species (most trees) from all continents. We found a lot of baroques gimmicks like Pavilons or the Löwenburg , The Lion's Castle is a pleasure palace built after 1793 in Kassel mountain park William height. The park is so huge, that we can´t commit it as TV at one day…. Next later.. …. a big hug Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Dec 29, 2013, 3:16 pm |
Hello mum,
Christmastime is coming and all around the people are busy with decoration and illumination. We too!Dr. Kröbner want to arrange a cristmastree and need our assistance. But where we can get a Christmastree and how did he looks like? Mr. Lemony sayed that he has seen some trees in hostmums orangerie, so we risk a view inside. Indeed, there were some plants, but which we could use for a christmastree? So we decided to vote by selecting every ones favorit. The result was without anny doubt, we would take the tree in the middle. Now the next problem: how to carry it from the orangerie in the livingroom? After several recommendations we try to permute Günthers idea: to manage it like the Viking, with logs. First we need a wooden beam and a strong rope to build a lifting arm. With united power we managed it to lift the bucket of the tree at the backside, while *coco* and I … could place a log behind the baseplate. At next the biggest of us had to luffing on a lever to lift the baseplate at the frontside for placing a secound log behind the plate. After we managed this diffucult parts Scruffy and Dr.Kröbner pulling the rope and Günther make nonsense. *coco* ,Mr.Lemony and Gwen Jolies job was, to lay new logs in the front of the baseplate. It works surprisingly good! Wavy-Gravy was supervising the experiment. After a while we passed the corridor…. the kittchen… . livingroom. We all are rather groggy and decided to continue tomorrow with the christmasdecoration..... a big hug for you mum Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Dec 29, 2013, 5:07 pm |
.....Next day, early morning: Christmastreedecoration.
At Hostmums attic we found some knitted balls and other oddities and place it into the Christmastree in expectation of big presents At christmaseve: We hearded a big noise like stamping and rumbling. Dr. Kröbner means, it could be St. Claus. 5 minutes after the noises stopped we enter the livingroom and indeed, the cristmastree was surrounded by presentsand Dr. Kröbner started to distribute them and we unwrap our packets a sleigh...wow...thank you.. Merry Christmas mummy yours Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jan 1, 2014, 2:58 pm |
Hello mum,
WE ARE ON VACATION!!!! Vacation on an island, with lot of sun, sand and shallow water. No not what you mean, we are at Spiekeroog, on of the East Trisian Islands. It´s realy nice here, with lookout points, dunes with beachgrass and sea buckthorn with orange fruits. (nice as jam or grog)…. love you…. yours Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Feb 3, 2014, 3:22 pm |
Hello mum,
it is a come and go here in Delligsen. First Gwen Jolie has checked out bye bye little doglady.... and then it was time to say good bye to Bubele a last grouphug and bye,bye then came a package and I saw immediately that it is from you mum, in the packet was hostmums Big foot and Troot a new guest from Finland and yummy cookies for all of us. Next, *coco* left us, she has an appointment with her twin sister when I woke up this morning, Wavy Gravy was gone, I think he took the night train to Stuttgart love you mum Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Feb 8, 2014, 2:06 pm |
Hi mummy,
last sunday Troot and I made a walk in a deep Hessian forest It was muted, cold and mystic Look, what funny tall trees, crazy forest After a while we came to a crossway and suddenly …. Recognized a colorful dressed conifer What has happened? Did we step into a time warp? A cold shiver run down my neck….. We started to run and it seems, we lost the right way…. ^ Here betwee the deep fir trees it was extraordinary quiet. It was not so easy to look about in this long gras. We climbed on a tree for a better orientation….hmmm not so easy…… AHH… a sunbeam…. And look there, the vegitation changes from coniferious woodland to broad-leaved forest. After a short walk we discovered a way. Puhhh, it was the right one, that brought us back home… bye,bye Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Feb 24, 2014, 1:44 pm |
Hello my mummy,
Last wintersunday was a boring day without winter …. So Troot and I decided to make a geographical reconnaissance. We start to discover Delligsen At First we pass the community hall with lot of special stones with badges, ivy, stupid holes….. Oh look, a map from Delligsen and the surrounding area….. We hike uphill for a better view…. Ahhh what lovely look-out…Voila- Delligsen… Suddenly we hear a sound like muhhhh….realy cows in the middle of the city…. and chicken, … lucky, curios chicken, not forced to live in cages. Later we passed primaryschool…… and the secondary school… . We continued our walk to the lovely river "Wispe" with ducks and a view to the protestant Church…. Oh mum, can I stay til middle of May?…. a ABBA party take place here in the Delligser Festival Room…..funny creatures at the poster In the neighborhood we find the Roman Catholic church…. And a few minutes later we are back home at hostmums house… thats all for today love you mum Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Mar 10, 2014, 9:50 am |
Hello mum,
the postman rings and brought an envelope. And it was fidgeting. Hm...... Günther meens: There could be something inside alive! So we decided to open the couvert carefully and quick. What could be in there? … . HAAASEE!!!! Hase arrives back home! Such a little bunny need such a large traveling suite?…. Oh Look, all the nice souvenirs: sweeties, liquor postcards, sticker….. We had a long hugging celebration and all TV´s survey all the smal presents a big hug for you mummy yours Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Mar 10, 2014, 9:51 am |
Hello mum,
the postman rings and brought an envelope. And it was fidgeting. Hm...... Günther meens: There could be something inside alive! So we decided to open the couvert carefully and quick. What could be in there? … . HAAASEE!!!! Hase arrives back home! Such a little bunny need such a large traveling suite?…. Oh Look, all the nice souvenirs: sweeties, liquor postcards, sticker….. We had a long hugging celebration and all TV´s survey all the smal presents a big hug for you mummy yours Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Mar 10, 2014, 10:49 am |
Hello mum,
yesterday we welcomed the spring in the garden...... hmmm yummy lemoncake Daisy with the name Strawberry-Cream large snodrops in german called Märzenbecher crocuses a nice angel after a short carrace with Günther ( I won )... I relaxed in the sun bye, bye Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 21, 2014, 4:46 pm |
Hello mum,
we went up in the early morning with the first sunbeam, because..... We were so snoopy to come to know who the mysterious Easterbunny looks like! And fortunately we met him. REALY!! And he were accompanied by his apprentice while they sharing out colorful Easter eggs. We hide and spied them out, so we had an easy game for searching. When the easterbunny pushed along his way, we plunder the sweeties and suddenly we found an other TV. She introduced herself as Miao-Miao and had followed the good smell and taste of the eastereggs. We all hurried up to Dr. Kröbner shared all the eggs we had found and welcomed Miao-Miao here in Delligsen…. Happy Easter my dear mummy |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 27, 2014, 3:56 pm |
Hi mum,
I accompanied host mum and dad to a special anniversary at Lake Steinhude in lower Saxony, The Steinhuder Meer or Lake Steinhude is a lake in Lower Saxony, Germany located 30 kilometres northwest of Hanover. It is named after the nearby village of Steinhude. It has an area of about 30 square kilometres , making it the largest lake of northwestern Germany, but it is very shallow, with an average depth of only 1.35 metres and a maximum depth of less than 3 metres . It lies within a region known as the Hanoverian Moor Geest. Morningmood on the motorway 50 year sailing in the boat class Flying Dutchman. Many friends of the persons celebrating the jubilee, come to party and made short races round the island and fortress Wilhelmsstein with the Flying Dutchmans . While there were more guests than space on the sailing boats it was necessary to charter one of the typical touristboats of Lake Steinhude, the" Emigrants”. the name "Emigrants" goes back to the early days of tourism on Steinhude: The sailboats drove from Schaumburg-Lippe Steinhude into the Prussian-Hanoverian "abroad" and "emigrated" the Flaggmast at the Clubhabour View at Lake Steinhude our "Emigrants" The weather with good wind and sunshine was very nice and the 10 teams, mixed from amateurs, champions up to olympicmedalists, fought exciting races with lots of fun. Fortress Wilhelmstein, here we come! Wildlife at the clubground kisses for you mummy Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jun 6, 2014, 7:11 pm |
Hello mum,
finally the time has come, that we start our holiday trip northward in our motorhome After 3 hours driving we pass Schleswig-Holstein with a golden Sundown. Additional 3 hours later we pass Denmarks highes Point ( the Store Bealt Bridge Pylones with 254m above sealevel) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Belt_Fixed_Link …and one hour later we pass Kopenhavn , the tunnel and Öresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%98resund_Bridge bad weather From here we drove directly northward, following the E20 (European Highway no. 20) First overnight stop on a motorway service area near Helsingborg (in the far we can see the Baltic Sea and the coast from Denmark) After a catlik and a promise and 3 hours we reached Göteborg and changed from the E20….. …. to the E45 until Karesuando at the border between Sweden and Finland. We ride and ride and ride, landscapes are passing by and what a pity, it started to rain….. not realy, but isolated raindrops on the windscreen beclouded our excellent view …. At last we pass Mora and found a place for the night in Orsa. Next morning starts with rain, more rain, and much more rain…… so we escape northward … and we pass Stornuman with a giant moose. … ..the rain slow down and when he stopped finally, we stopped too, on an campsite north of Wilhelmina (the owner must be a fan for Salmonfishing, as you can see in the background) more soon yours Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jan 7, 2015, 2:26 pm |
Hello mum
believe it or not my travelog from last year continues.. . …..we continued our expedition northwards. During a short stop in Arvidsjaur it started snowing a little bit …. …we drove across the taiga landscape and a few kilometers south of Jokkmokk we crossed the arctic cirkel…. …and when we reached Gällivare the dense blanket of clouds breaks and we saw the Nordic sun at first time…… and reindeer, mum Suddenly Trööt gets very flutteringly…. and then we saw the sign: FINNLAND, his nativ land. We reached the third Scandinavian Country. First he was sooo happy , thinking he would be close his hometown. At the next bus stop he went out to look for a connection homeward….. but than he realiezed, that he was in Lapland ca. 800km away from Home….. so he decided to join us northward….. ….we cross the high plains of Lapland and snow began to seeming the roadside and at evening we reached Karasjok, one of the municipal cities of the Samish Peoples. Next morning we enjoy the sunny weather and went hiking along a river. On the way we found some funny little brown pellets …… so we put one back to our car and asked Dr. Kröbner ….. he explained that this are animal excrements , most likely from an elk!!!...Crazy, such a big animal and so little pellets….:-).. thats all for now kisses from your little dog Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Jan 22, 2015, 4:47 pm |
After a kingsize breakfirst we continue our route northward, following the river Tana at the border from Finland to Norway. For a short refueling stop we cross the river and enter Finland....and Troot get nostalgia feelings again...
Later we passing Tana bru, Rustefjelbma and Ifjord we turn right on the Nordkinnhalvøja, and there she was: the Arctic Sea. We following the coastline for a while and suddenly the road run steep uphill and the landscape turn to white. When we reach the plateau we following the road wiggling through a snow dessert without any indication of vegetation. Then we reach Mehamn, one of the northermost cities of the world . We left Mehamn northward (yes it's no typing error) to Gamvik and reaching our destination of the journey, Slettnes Fyr, worldern northernmost lighthouse. We take a walk through the tundra, see reindeers and the Norwegain Postboats, the Hurtigruten, and we have a look to the Nordkinn, the northernmost point of the European Mainland .at midnight we made a fotoshooting with Dr. Kröbner and at morning we saw the Lighthousekeeper, Harald and Heinz, relaxing in the Sun. Kisses for you mum |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Feb 18, 2015, 2:56 pm |
Hello mum
now we ´re at the reversal point of our journey. Further northward we had to swim till Svalbard or the North Pole, but hostmum forbid it in case of the water temperature . So we turn southward……. Passing snowfields, fjellareas, fjords, bridges, blue skies, splendid views, midnight sun, fjords, porpoises, fresh green buds at the trees, more splendid views, fjellareas,………… . and 2 days later we reached the archipelago of the Lofoten. We stop in the regional metropolis town Svolvær. We enjoy the fantastic colours for the light, water and landscape, watching natural spectacles of flowing clouds an Caribbean beach, crazy rocks and an unique distant view at the south end of the Lofoten, where the rocks sinking in the Atlantic ocean…… wow….. ......... |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Mar 10, 2015, 1:24 pm |
Hello my mummy,
we´re leaving the Lofoten southward and passing Saltstraumen, a small strait with the strongest tidal current in the world, located near Bodø, riding the touristic value “Kystriksveien No. 17 till Steinkjer and reaching Trondheim . We visiting the huge cathedral Nidarosdom (only from outside) and the old Hanse-trade-city Bryggen at Nidelva. We continue our trip to Trollstiegen, where we get a special tour guide; Frida (the cohabitee of Sören), who told us lots of mystic and crazy stories and explain the landscape (Günther means: all cock-and-bull-stories) . we journey on via Geiranger , where we try to enter a cruise ship with Gummischnulli ( it doesn´t matched we were too slowly) Songefjell, Ovre Ardalfjell (with a big snow-canvas), Songefjord and Lærdalstunnelen. From Aurland we following the Route 50 til Geilo with a tunnel labyrinth and a few days later we reach the south coast of Norway, Kragerø. yummy zzzzzzzzz We riding along the archipelago of the Norwegian Coast toward the ferry port Kristiansand. On a privat island close to the harbour we are relaxing in the warm Norwegian early summer sun and taking reminding pictures of this terrific holiday. Arrived in Kristiansand, hostmum show us the boat for the passage till Denmark. (fortunately Günther rumble this again as a cock-and-bull-story, at least we take the speedboat…..) Next morning we awake in the fairytail kingdom Denmark with plain land, lots of sanddune, nice wooden cottages with flagpoles and old cities and this ist the end of the Norway story a big hug from your little dog Phog |
Dr.Kröbner Posted Mar 26, 2015, 2:41 pm |
Hello my mum,
with the first beams of the autumnsun we made a short Weekendtrip. First stop was near Gersfeld in the low mountain rage Rhön, on a realy nice flowery meadow. On our tour we cross the Thuringian Forest with little sleepy villages and for the night we reach our destination for the night: the Boxberg ... we enjoyed a fine Sundown view over the mountains of the Thuringian Forest. Next morning we drove til Gotha, an old Residencetown of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha with old historical Buildings and parks… ... and Bears..:-)… Next stop was Mühlhausen, a town with 33.000 inhabitants and a Cultural heyday In the Middle Ages. There are eleven Gothic churchest, several patricians’ houses and a nearly completely preserved fortification s . The biggest church is the Gothic church St.Mary`s. The church, the second largest in Thuringia after the Erfurt Cathedral, is considered a masterpiece of the Gothic style and was principally constructed in the 14th century. The church's central tower, at 86.7m high, is the highest in the state and is a significant feature of the city's skyline. Very impressive for such a small town…. That’s all for now… kisses for you mum Phog |