Batgirl, Hamelin, Germany

Jillyfish Posted Jan 24, 2012, 5:17 pm	Hello! Batgirl, here. I'm pleased to meet you! I live with my adopted mom in Minnesota, USA. It's a pleasant place to live, and I have lots of friends! It's currently cold, and blustery with snow outside. I am looking forward to meeting new friends and visiting new, and exciting places! I'm a crime-fighting bear with an attitude to match! I live to protect, and help creatures wherever I may go. I help kittens get down from high places, and children cross the street. I also take down any baddies I see causing mischief! Always alert and eager for justice-- that's me! Gotta dash! I'll write a little more later. Toodles~! -Batgirl
Jillyfish Posted Jan 29, 2012, 4:34 pm	ZOOOM!!! Away I go~! I'm gonna hop into this envelope and travel someplace new. WOO HOO! I'm so excited! Will they like me? What will I see? When will I get there? I will just have to MAKE this a fun trip! La la la la la la la~! Wish me luck!
Blackie Posted Mar 11, 2012, 7:17 pm	I finally am in Italy!!!! It was a very long journey and I'm soooo tired!!!!!  Luckily, I got a warm welcome! Other than my host, Francy, I met the whole family: Trifolo the rabbit, Wellington the penguin, and other 2 ToyVoyager who already are staying with them, Cessy the little bear ad Kazumi the leopard. Quite a lot of people!  They were very curious when I told them I come from the USA, because nobody of them has been in America yet, so they all started asking me a lot of questions! I told them a bit about home, but I was sleepy....  Finally, Francy told them I needed some rest, and I was able to get some sleep. Francy told me I should wait the weekend to start exploring, as she's not at home during the week... that's just fine, I'll have a couple days to recover from the journey!
Blackie Posted Mar 11, 2012, 8:56 pm	Hi Mum! We went sightseeing today! I was again full of energy as usual, I just neede some action!  We visited all the main attractions in the city center. Torino looks like a quiet place, maybe a bit boring for me...  But there are a lot of nice palaces. They told me the used to belong to a Royal family who reigned over Italy in 1800s. There are a lot of them! This is the Royal Palace itself.... ... here you can see the palace where the Queen used to live (I'm a bit confused.... shouldn't the Queen live with the King???) Look at this one, it has a quite uncommon shape, don't you think? I like it!  We also walked to the river, to see the Gran Madre Church, and to enjoy the breeze on the brigde...  After all this walking, we had a rest in another historical square. The guy on the horse is King Charles-something....  can't remember what she said... Not bad as a first visit, mm?
Blackie Posted Mar 18, 2012, 2:34 pm	Hi Mum! I'm sorry I didn't write you earlier, but I really didn't do anything special lately...  This was Cessy's last weeked in Torino, so Francy took us to a special place: This tall building you see behind me is called "Mole", and we went on the top of it! The queue to enter was more than one hour long, so Francy had plenty of time to explain us something about it. She told us it was originally built to be a Synagogue, but then it became too expensive for the Jew community, so they made a museum out if it. It now hosts the museum of cinema. There is also a sort of "urban legend" that Torino University student can't go on the top of the Mole, if they will they will never graduate!  Francy graduated one year ago, so no risk about it - but it's her first time to go up as well!  Oh, finally it's our turn to go up.... ... and here we are! Torino overview from the different sides! When we came out, the night was starting falling down, so I could see it lighted! As we came back home, we did a little farewell party to say goodbye to Cessy. There also was a cake! Later on, Kazumi and I helped Cessy picking a postcard for her next host, and we prepared her envelope to make it confortable for the journey... Hope she will have a safe travelling!
Blackie Posted Apr 9, 2012, 4:23 pm	Happy St. Patrick Day, mum!  Yesterday evening my host Francy went to a St. Patrick party, but for some reason she didn't want us to go... she said we are too young for this kind of things...  But she took us a little souvenir!
Blackie Posted Apr 9, 2012, 4:57 pm	Hi Mum! Today, Francy took some time to teach me how to cook a real Italian pasta!  First of all, I cut some fresh vegetables and briefly cooked the in a pan... Look how much I cooked! Then I cut the vegetables in small pieces... ... and put them back in the pan, with some tomato sauce Now, the water to cook the pasta in is boiling, so I have to add salt... ... and put the pasta in! After 10 minutes, the pasta is ready to be taken out! And I put it in the pan with the vegetables and tomato Here it is! Doesn't it look yummy??? It actually was!!!
Blackie Posted Apr 9, 2012, 8:26 pm	Looks like spring has finally come!  As the sun is shining today, we decided to go to the park and have a pic-nic! So, Francy took us to the Valentino park in Turin, and we picked a spot in the grass to put our blanket on. Looks like a nice place, mm?  It was a relaxing day.... Kazumi and I started with a little sunbathing.... ... then we played for a while with a silver, shining ball... not so easy to run in the grass! As it was a pic-nic, we also had some sandwiches for lunch! We spent a few more hours in the park, Kazumi read her favourite manga over and over, while I just relaxed, had a chat with my host and enjoyed watching the people around!
Blackie Posted Apr 9, 2012, 9:06 pm	Today is Easter, Happy Easter!!!!  We celebrated this day at Francy's parents'. People use to give each other chocolate eggs on Easter, and Francy's family already had collected a few! After Easter lunch, Kazumi and I came to know one of those was actually for ouselves!!!! Isn't this a nice surprise???  We opened it right away to see the surprise!!!! It was a Charmy Kitty pencils case, isn't it pretty? Of course, we also enjoyed the chocolate!
Blackie Posted Apr 9, 2012, 9:32 pm	Mmmm not good news today... traditionally, the day after Easter people go for a pic-nic... but the weather is not really nice today, it's windy and not very warm..  Nonetheless, we decided to go for a short walk on a signed path. We enjoyed the landscape and played a little around the nature... The flowers already are in bloom anyway, spring should come back again very soon!
Blackie Posted Apr 29, 2012, 9:16 pm	Hi Mummy!!!! You see, today my host Francy had to go to Milan for a job interview, so Kazumi and I decided to go with her to watch her steps... and to have a look around!  Unluckily, we couldn't go in the office with her  But we found how to spend the time she was away in a local playground!  As soon as she came back, we went for a little touristic tour of the city, first of all we saw the Dome, the main attraction of the city  The weather was not so good, you see...  but we went on and reached the most famous theatre in Milan, "La Scala" Right outside of it, there's Leonardo Da Vinci's statue. Francy told us one of his most famous masterpiece, "The Last Supper", is in Milan itself, but in a place we had no time to reach  But, we still had time to go for shopping in the city galleries!  Then we got back in Torino by train. But it looks like our trips are not over yet... we're travelling again tomorrow!!!!
Blackie Posted Apr 29, 2012, 9:36 pm	So, we are on the move again!!!  Yesterday, Trifolo, Kazumi and me had a long drive from Torino down to Bologna, as my host had to take another job interview (let's hope she'll get a job, at least!  ). Don't you worry mum, we stayed in the back seats, with our safety belt! So, yesterday we spent most of the day in the car, but today we had some time to do some sightseen!  Bologna isn't a very touristic city, but it looks very old and nice. Francy told us Bologna University was the very first one to be founded in Europe, in the 1100s, so this makes the city very ancient, but also populated by a lot of young people!  The main attractions are the 2 towers in the city center, called the "Asinelli Tower" (the taller one) and the "Garisenda Tower" (this one doesn't look very solid, does it?  ) We went a bit around the city, we looked and the main square's palaces and monuments... We may have not taken a lot of pictures, but we actually walked a lot! We were all very relieved when we got back to our hotel and soon fell asleep... Tomorrow morning we'll be travelling again, so we have to rest!
Blackie Posted Apr 30, 2012, 11:13 pm	Hi Mum!  Guess were we are today??? Yes, this is Florence!!!!  It looks so beautiful...  We started from Pitti Palace, with its Boboli Gardens... We also went into the Palace to see an exhibition about Japan... we spent there almost the whole day, Kazumi was very excited about it and took quite a lot of pictures, but I actually found it a bit boring... so I just had a rest in Francy's bag, as we woke up so early to come here.... Luckily, on our way to the hotel we had something to see...  Here you can see the two of us with the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), were all the jewelry shops are... lot of gold!  We still have one more day in Florence, can't wait to see some more art!
Blackie Posted May 1, 2012, 12:14 am	Today, we finally could do some sightseeing in Florence!  The weather was not so fine and it rained every now and then, but the city really was very beautiful! Like all the Italian cities, the Cathedral in one of the main attractions, this one is colourful, and I also learnt it's the 4th biggest Cathedral in the world!  This is why we couldn't manage to make it all fit in one photo, just the façade... Then we moved on to Piazza della Signoria (Signoria Square). Here, we saw the Town Hall, "Palazzo Vecchio" (Old Palace). It was formerly called "Palazzo della Signoria" (Signoria Palace), as Florence Governor used to live in there. It was a bit difficult to understand what "Signoria" stands for, but I think it's how the Government was called at that times...  Around the square, there are a lot of other things to see, you almost don't know where to go first! So, we saw the Fountain of Neptune and the famous David by Michelangelo... well, not the real one, this one is a copy they put in the square.... the original one in into the Uffizi Gallery, a very very famous museum full of masterpieces of Italian Renaissance... and of tourists!!! We didn't dare to queue here...  It already was quite late, and it's an almost-5-hours drive from Florence back home, so we had to leave... we still had some big clouds over us. While travelling, both Kazumi and me came to know our next hosts' names, so it's almost time to leave Italy. It makes me a bit sad, but who know what kind of adventures are waiting for me next!
Blackie Posted May 2, 2012, 5:29 pm	Today is the big day! I'm leaving Francy's house! Kazumi and I wrote our next hosts' addresses on the envelopes. Funny, I'm from USA and going to Germany, while she's from Germany and now travelling to USA!  Greetings time!!!!! Goodbye Trifolo, goodbye Wellington, goodbye Kazumi... Here I am, travelling again! Hope I'll be soon in Gerany!!!!
Lizzy Posted Jun 9, 2012, 10:52 am	Hey mum! I just wanted to let you know I arrived in Germany sound and safe! But being out of a travel bag (like the envelope) will not last long as my new host Liz is taking me with her to London! She's doing a weekend trip to England with three friends and I am really excited! She said there'll be some more ToyVoyagers on the trip with me so it'll be a very nice weekend I guess! I love getting to know some more TVs and hear about their stories and where they've been so far! Well, I am really tired from my journey. Miss you mum. Love, Batgirl
Lizzy Posted Jun 9, 2012, 10:53 am	Hey mum! We’re at the airport in Dortmund now and waiting for our flight! We just boarded and went into that plane. The airport in Dortmund isn’t really big. I expected it to be bigger actually, but it’s nice to see other planes landing or taking off. That is sooooo cool! My host said she’ll take me to Düsseldorf airport at some point because they have a visitor terrace there so you can watch the incoming and outgoing planes from the outside and you get a really good look! I’m already looking forward to that! But now I gotta go! We’re about to start. Whooooo. Miss you mum. Love, Batgirl
Lizzy Posted Jun 9, 2012, 10:54 am	Hello mum! So, we arrived in the hotel. It is 11.30 pm so we’re all very tired and will go to sleep now. The flight was great. I had so much fun! I was a bit scared at first but after a few minutes it was really cool to be up in the air – I never noticed the sky being soooo blue! I enjoyed the 1-hour-flight with the other TVs. Look at our large group!! I have to be honest – I forgot their names... Shame on me! But there was so much to see... So here are some more pictures from the flight ☺ Miss you mum. Love, Batgirl
Lizzy Posted Jun 9, 2012, 10:54 am	Hey mum! Today was sightseeing day! London ist he capital city of England and there are a few places you have to visit when you’re on a trip to London so we got up quite early and after getting some breakfast, we got on the first underground and went to King’s Cross. King’s Cross is pretty famous since it was mentioned in the Harry Potter books. There’s the platform 9 ¾ from where Harry and his friends leave to Hogwarts. An interesting fact about King’s Cross in connection with the Harry Potter movies – well, that’s what my host said – is, that the exterior of St. Pancras was used instead of the real King’s Cross exterior. St. Pancras is a railway station across the street from King’s Cross. So this is me inside King’s Cross. It looks pretty modern, huh? And here I am with the rest of the tourist group at platform 9 ¾. So, we went on to another sight of London. This is Tower Bridge. The bridge was built from 1886 til 1894 and it's near the Tower of London. And on the right side of the picture you can see a part of London City Hall. It’s pretty modern – it opened in 2002. This is me in from of the Thames. And in the background you can see the Tower of London. So we crossed the Tower Bridge to get to the mentioned Tower of London. It’s actually called Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress and it’s a historic castle. The Tower of London houses the Crown Jewels. They’ve been kept at the Tower of London since 1303 after they were stolen from Westminster Abbey. There are curretnly stored in the Waterloo Barracls at the Tower. We also went to St. Paul’s Cathedral. It’s a Church of England cathedral and is dedicated to Paul the Apostle. Important services held at St Paul's include the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, the launch of the Festival of Britain and the thanksgiving services for both the Golden Jubilee and 80th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. St Paul's Cathedral is a busy working church, with hourly prayer and daily services. We headed on to Big Ben and Houses of Parliment. Most people think that it's the name of the tower, but actually it's just the name of the bell of the clock. So, and finally this is Buckingham Palace. It's the residence of the British monarch - The Queen. At evening we went to Wimbledon to see the musical "Starlight Express", it's currently on UK Tour. The show here in London is a bit different to the show in Bochum. The stages in Great Britain are much smaller than in Bochum, so the "races" aren't live but shown on a screen in 3D. Some of the costumes look very different, some choreographies are new and some songs have a different beat or are new or are missing in the show. Most of the performers in London were already a part of the german production, so my host and her friends knew almost everyone who was on stage this evening. And you won't believe what I tell you now... Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber himself was with us in the audience!! Oh my god, exciting times!! Tomorrow we’ll just check out the hotel and get to the airport so I won’t be posting pictures I guess. I miss you mum. Love, Batgirl
Lizzy Posted Jun 9, 2012, 10:59 am	Guten Tag! Hehe, I learned some German. „Guten Tag“ means „Good day“. Today my host took me to Bochum. You remeber that we watched Starlight Express in London? Well, this time we went to the theatre in Bochum. The theatre was built for the musical. Here’s what it’s about. There is a steamtrains, who is in love with the first-class-carriage, but this carriage wants to race with the diesel and the electric train during the worldchampionship so she leaves him. But Rusty (the steam train) gets her back in the end. Well, we didn’t watch the show today. There’re still 1 ½ weeks left until I’ll see it in German. I hope I’ll understand what they’re singing then... Today we were just hanging around the theatre. The „New Kids“ are still in rehearsals and my host wanted to talk to one of them. „New Kids“ are the people, who’ll be part of the new cast. In Bochum they have a cast change at the end of May every year, when some of the old cast leave (so have their last show) and then the new kids get part of the cast and have their opening. So here are some pictures of me hanging around the stage door. It’s called „Bühneneingang“ in German btw ☺ Miss you mum. Love, Batgirl
Lizzy Posted Jun 9, 2012, 10:59 am	Hallo mum! Whoa, it is soooo hot in Germany at the moment! It’s 26° - 29° degrees at the moment. Lovely! I love it. Today I joined my host to a trip to her parents. She lives in Duisburg with her boyfriend but grew up in Mettmann, which isn’t that far away from Duisburg. Both cities are located in Northrhine Westfahlia! It was time for a nice and cosy barbeque in the garden. What a piece of yummi meat!! But, well, it took a while until the grill was hot enough so I walked around the garden a bit. I wanted to help, but I wasn’t allowed. Liz said it was too dangerous for me, because I am so small. So I just watched and waited until everything was ready. It tasted soooo good! Yummi yummi. Afterwards I just layed down in the sun. And I guess I got a little tan. Bye mum. I miss you. Love, Batgirl
Lizzy Posted Jun 9, 2012, 11:01 am	Hey mum! So, I went back to Bochum with my host. Remeber what I told you about cast change at Starlight? Well, today was the last day of the cast 2011/2012. Means saying Goodbye to some people. My host and some friends used this „event“ for a little reunion. They used to hang out at Starlight together some years ago and usually do at least one reunion a year to get back together and share some news or just have a good time. They had a little picknick and invited me and some other TVs to join them. It was a very funny day. So here are some pictures of me hanging around the stage door and around the theatre. This is the so called "Starlight Halle". It was built just for this musical, which opened in Bochum in 1988. They did slightley improvements inside the theatre over the years, but it's still pretty close to what it looked like back in the late 80s. We just walked around the Halle for a while and found this giant banner. It shows all the characters in the show. I love their costumes. They look amazing, don't they? My host told me, that they didn't really look like that when she show was in the US and the costumes they have at the currently running UK tour also look different. At least a bit. Here you can see me with all the other TVs I met that day. I'm sorry I can't remember all their names. Just too many! Sorry, everyone! This is me in front of Buffy, the buffett car, with Sterni. He is also a teddy bear, you see? Isn't that great! Staring at Hashamoto (called Nintendo in other productions). Volta, the freezer truck. She's one of Electra's components. My host loves this role! In the evening we ordered some delicious pizza. Yummi! Miss you mum. Love, Batgirl
Lizzy Posted Jul 8, 2012, 7:11 pm	Hey mum! Today was the day. My host and her boyfriend went on their first vacation together. So a week in De Koog, which is located on Texel, an island belonging to The Neatherland, was ahead. And of course I was allowed to join them I also met another TV again. It's Marawarpina. I already met her at the Goodbye reunion at Starlight. As she is the TV of my host's friend, she was travelling with us. We went there by car, which took around 3 1/2 hours. The journey itself wasn't too exciting. Lots of fields, lots of cars and even more fields in the end. We were sleeping a lot actually. We arrived at the booked bungalow around 4 pm. It was very sweet. Not too big, but me and Mara had our own bedroom, because it was supposed to be for 3 persons, but as it was just the two of them. They unpacked and then we went on to the beach for the first time. It was very windy, but the sun was shining. This is me and Mara at the beach. You see this very blue sky? It looked awesome, but it wasn't that warm because of the wind. The sea! Awesome, right? We wanted to go for a swim, but weren't allowed to. But I guess it would've been really really cold and I didn't wanna catch a cold right in the beginning of the vacation so it was fine. You see how the sand flies over the beach? Now you can tell how windy it was! It looked very cool, but it really hurt, when we were walking along the beach for around an hour. Afterwards we went back to the bungalow and just relaxed. Sitting in the car for a few hours can be exhausting Love you, mum!
Lizzy Posted Jul 8, 2012, 7:22 pm	Hello mum! It it Sunday, so there wasn't that much to do in the "city" of De Koog (which is really really small) so we took a walk through the forest close to the beach. There was a sign saying that this circular route had a total length of 15 km. I don't know if we really walked 15 km, but it took a while, until we were finished. Thank God we didn't get lost. Everything looked the same *haha* You see? There were just trees everywhere around us and we rarely met other people. It was really quite, when we were walking through that forest. I mean, it was relaxing, but sometimes some noises can be good... I was frightened, because there was nothing else around and we didn't see anybody else and you start to wonder if there's something wrong... But then we found that city sign of De Koog and so even Marawarpina and I knew where we are so it wasn't too bad. It started raining just about an hour after we got home so we just stayed at home and watched Comedy Central. In English with Dutch subtitles. Pretty cool!
Lizzy Posted Jul 8, 2012, 7:36 pm	Hey mum! It's Tuesday already! Yesterday it was raining all the time, so it was a really relaxed day. Plus it was my host's boyfriends birthday so they just went out to dinner in the evening - through the rain. But today the weather was much better - the sun was shining again so we went on a trip we usually wanted to go on yesterday already. There's the lighthouse close to De Cocksdorp in the very North of Texel. My host spent several holidays on Texel with her family in the past and they always went to the lighthouse at least once so it was clear we had to go there, too We went there by bike - of course me and Mara couldn't get our own bikes so I can't show you much of the bike tour to the lighthouse - just pictures of us at the beach there. Just sand everywhere! What a beach! Amazing. We just sat there for a while, enjoying the sun (it was really hot. I have no idea where that rain came from yesterday!), before we got back. Well, we didn't get back the same way we got to the lighthouse. On the way back we even got to see a few sheeps. OMG, they were cute! All in all the journey was around 35 km long. What a distance! I was really sporty that day, wasn't I?
Lizzy Posted Jul 8, 2012, 7:52 pm	Hey mum! Here I am again! Today it was time for another trip. As none of us was able to sit on a bicycle saddle again, we walked. This time we went to Den Burg. It is the next city close to De Koog and definiately bigger than De Koog. It's located in the middle of the island and it's the main town of Texel. Den Burg is around 6 kilometers away from De Koog. It took us around an hour to get there. It was pretty boring for Batgirl and me, as we were in the bag most of the time, and it was soooo hot! After an hour we finally arrived: We walked around the city and sat down in a little cafe to get some rest and some food. We went back home after a while and just relaxed in the garden of our bungalow. Isn't that what holidays are for?
Lizzy Posted Jul 8, 2012, 8:06 pm	Goedendag! (This mean Good Day!) Our vacation is slowly coming to an end. It's Thursday already... But as long as the sun is shining, we put our books aside from time to time and just go out an walk around. This time we took a trip through the dunes. We passed a statue of an old man. I actually forgot what the signature was saying, I'm so sorry. We ended up at the beach again. This was the first time I saw a jellyfish. Well, one at the beach so it wasn't really alive anymore I guess. But it still looked... strange... to me. So flabby. Urgh... Didn't want to tough it or get any closer to it... But this could stop us from collecting shells as a souvenir. And look what we found. What a tiny crab! Well, it was dead as well, because it was lying in the sun for too long and the seagulls probably had some "fun" with it but it still looked to real and alive. I expected it to move again any second... We saw around 15 of those tiny crabs... Our shell collection by the end of the day. Don't they look great?
Lizzy Posted Jul 8, 2012, 8:42 pm	So, this is it. It's time to go home now! Yesterday was all about packing and cleaning the bungalow, because we had to leave until 10 am this morning. Well, and it was raining again yesterday... We went to the beach again yesterday evening, but didn't take any pictures. Sorry for that. So, today we left our "vacation home" at 9:20 am and went to 't Horntje, where the ferry leaves to Den Helden. We were all pretty tired because it was so early, so me and Batgirl slept during the car journey back. Here's a picture of the ferry in 't Horntje. It's huge, isn't it? I have no idea how many cars or people can be transported with it, but I bet it's houndreds!
Lizzy Posted Jul 8, 2012, 9:02 pm	Hey mum! Today it was time to go to Bochum again. You may wonder why we spent time there again. Well, this time we were watching the show! We went there, because one of the actors had his first show as Greaseball. Greaseball is the Diesel of the show and he is racing against Electra and Rusty in the final race. So we caught up with some other fans - most of them have already been there at the Goodbye reunion and got stall tickets for row 11. So close to the stage! Amazing! Here's a picture of all of us in the break. This was pretty close to where we were sitting. It's a part of the stage. Cool, huh? The show was great, althought I couldn't understand everything. But Liz told me what the show was about before so it wasn't too bad! I really enjoyed it. Miss you mum!
Lizzy Posted Jul 24, 2012, 7:33 pm	Hey mum! Today I visited Essen. Essen is located between Duisburg and Bochum. My host will go to school there next month and works there now and today she had an introduction at work, like who she will work with, where everything is, how everything works and so on. She will be selling Frozen Yoghurts. You know that? It looks like ice cream, but with low calorine and they have different toppics you can add to your Yoghurt, like chocolate sauce or gummibears or strawberries or other fruits. But I wasn't allowed to taste any of this... Afterwards we walked through Essen for a while. Frosty was with us! He's Liza's new TV because her other two got lost. I hope this never happens to me!! This is the "Marktkirche" in Essen. It's in the middle of the city and looks pretty small. We couldn't go inside because it was closed already, so we just sat down next to it for a while and relaxed because there was so much time left until we had to catch our train... That was my "Essen visit"
Lizzy Posted Jul 25, 2012, 8:15 am	Hey mum! Today Liz took me on a trip. The sun is shining, the sky is blue! The weather is awesome at the moment. Thank God the rain finally stopped! So today we visited a "building" in Duisburg. You can see it in the background. It's called "Tiger & Turtle - Magic Mountain". Strange name, huh? Well, let me first tell you a bit about it. In 2010 there was "RUHR.2010" - so the Ruhr area was European Capital of Culture. It was all about exploring culture in the Ruhr area - in music, lifestyle, languages and any kinds you can think of. And there was a competition in Duisburg - "creating a unique urban cultural landscape in the guise of the Ruhr Metropolis". The winning sculpure was designed by Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth. It's a walkable "rollercoaster" - you just can't walk the loop - and located on the Heinrich Hildebrand Höhe. It's made of steel and zinc, which connects it to the place it's built: they used to make zinc there years and years ago. But enough about it! I want to show you the pictures now! When you get there, you have to walk up the hill before. You see how far away it seems? So walked... And walked... a bit of Duisburg And finally reached "The Magic Mountain". Some visitiors information first... And there it is! The highest point of this sculpture is 20 meters - that's the loop! And the highest you can walk is 18 meters. And if you add the height of the hill, you are like 85 meters above Duisburg. But, let's start climbing up that thing! I'm making my way up, you see? And here's the loop. What an impressive thing that is. I think it was really cool to walk on a "rollercoaster" But then we had to get back home because Liz had to get ready for work. But tomorrow, I'll be visiting Cologne! Whoop!
Lizzy Posted Jul 25, 2012, 9:09 am	Hey mum! As I told you in my last post, I've been visiting Cologne today! So, we got me a train ticket and the journey started! It took about an hour to get there, so Liz told me a bit about Cologne. It's Germany's fourth-largest city (after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich) and the largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on both sides of the Rhine and most famous for the Cologne cathedral, which I visited, too Okay, we finally arrived and got out the main station and the first thing I saw was this huuuuuuuge cathedral! This is the "Kölner Dom". It's Germany's most visited landmark and it's the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. It is 144.5 metres (474 ft) long, 86.5 m (284 ft) wide and its towers are approximately 157 m (515 ft) tall. Let's get inside! Here you can see the plan of the Dom. The plan is in the shape of a Latin Cross, as is usual with Gothic cathedrals. This is the inside of the cathedral. You can see the groin vault, which is typical for Gothic architecture. This is the nave. As already mentioned, it's 144.5 meters long. You can light candles here. We lit one for Liz grandparents... This is one of the amazing windows in the cathedral. The windows cover an area of 10000 m2 of which around 1500 m2 remained from the middle ages. The oldest window in the Dom was created in 1260. This is the cathedral from the outside again. We wanted to get up the tower and see the bells, but there were soooo many people. And Liz said, that the circular staircase is pretty small - and it would have taken hours to climb up that 500 steps with people passing your way all the time... Shame So we continued our Cologne visit. This is the main office of the WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk - "West German Broadcasting"). This is the "shopping street" in Cologne. Store next to store - everything you need - food, clothes, anything. Some more of the city... They also have an English Shop! It reminded me of the weekend in London! They have typical English stuff there! Tons of the for example! English beer and cookies and chocolate and so on and so on! Amazing! Wish they had some American stuff, too But enough shopping. Time to get to the Rhine finally. As the weather was so amazing, we just relaxed at the Rhine for a while... In the background you can see the Hohenzollern bridge. It's a railway and street bridge, but we will get there so I'll tell you more later We weren't the only people relaxing... Okay, getting closer to the Hohenzollern bridge. As you can see, it crosses the Rhine and has a total lenght of 409.19 meters (1,342.5 ft). Since 2008 people have placed love padlocks on the fence between the sidewalk and the tracks. The whole bridge is full with those padlocks! It looks amazing! Well, after a while it was time to get back home... On our way from the bridge to the main station, I got to take another look at the Kölner Dom. This was my last trip with Liz. Tomorrow she will send me on to the next host in Ebsdorf. It's in Germany, too. I miss you mum!!
Guest Posted Jul 31, 2012, 8:38 am	Hey guys, its me - Batgirl. Yesterday I arrived in a cute little Town called Ebstorf! Here I met another ToyVoyager. His Name is Karlos. A friendly, kind Wolf in a sheep-pelt. Hope I will see many places around here in the following days. See you soon, Batgirl!
Guest Posted Aug 2, 2012, 8:20 am	Hey hey hey! Guess what? Today I was at a police department for the first time of my life. Normally we wanted to go inside to talk with a policeman. I wished we were able to see a real jail. But when we ringed the door, no one opened it. What a pity! But then we watched the police cars, that was interesting too. Hope I can show you other places in the coming days! Batgirl
Guest Posted Aug 4, 2012, 7:27 am	Hey everybody - it's me, Batgirl! Today, Karlos and I were sitting and home - that was boring. So we decided do go out. We walked around Ebstorf and suddenly we landed on a playground near the elementary school. With a swing, a slide and other great things to play. We've stayed there for the whole afternoon until it bekame dark. That was a funny. So I completed another life mission - yeaaahhyy!
Guest Posted Aug 7, 2012, 6:50 pm	Yummi yummi yummi, i got love in my tummy... ...hmmmmm pastaaa!
Guest Posted Aug 21, 2012, 10:05 am	Hello mom! You will not believe. Today i made a typical german applepie together with another ToyVoyager called Goronyan. It made a lot of fun. When i come home i hope, you can make this pie for me. Here is the recipe: The cake base: 125 g. Butter or margarine 100 g. sugar 25 g. vanillin-sugar 1 knifetip salt A little bit lemon juice 3 eggs 200 g. flour 15 g. baking powder 30 ml. milk Mix all these things together and and put it into a springform pan. The pie: Take 4-5 apples and shape them. Than you cut them into halves. Make some cuts into them and lay them on the bisquit. Than you make a little bit molten butter on every apple and disperse some sugar and zimt on them. You have to bake the pie with 160°C for about 45 minutes. WISH YOU LUCK!
Guest Posted Aug 27, 2012, 9:15 am	Hey everybody! Today I made a trip together with my host, his girlfriend and another ToyVoyager. We drove to the "Serengeti Park" in Hodenhagen. There we did a safari where we could see so many animals. Lions, Tigers, Rhinos, Giraffes and so much more. We drove the rollercoaster, ate ice cream and had a lot of fun. That was a great day!
beelicious Posted Sep 24, 2012, 4:34 pm	Dear mum! Finally I arrived at my new host! Fanny, the guest-manager, gave me a friendly welcome! This are the other TV's: Cherry Lola Wolley Herlinde We have a good time here! I take  a look outside. The color from the physalis is wonderful. Wood for the fireplace. Across from my new home is a very little lake. I like it here!
beelicious Posted Sep 24, 2012, 4:37 pm	But this was not the end of the day! At the afternoon hostdad took us to the kitchen. We baked bread with him! First: Dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar. Then grind the bread-spice. 3 kinds of flour: rye flour wheat-wholemeal-flour spelled flour Add the bread-spice and sunflower seeds. Then water... and vinegar. Look! The yeast has fermented.  Mix everything. Then knead... ...and knead... ... and knead. Done! Put in a bowl.... blanket. Now we have to wait an hour. We are curious. Look! The dough has doubled! And then knead again. Now it looks like a bread. It smells great! In the oven for an hour. Done!  It smells gorgeous! With butter the bread tastes fantastic! It was a wonderful first day! Kiss, Batgirl
beelicious Posted Sep 25, 2012, 3:39 pm	Hello mum! Today I was on the "Wallburg" in Eltmann. There is only a tower but the view is great! Big hug! Batgirl
beelicious Posted Oct 2, 2012, 6:15 am	Hello mum! Today I harvested pumpkins. They are pretty heavy! They are stored in the basement. Maybee we cook them soon? Kiss, Batgirl
beelicious Posted Oct 7, 2012, 1:03 pm	Hello mummy! Today host-dad took us and host-mum to his work. He is a truckdriver! It's 7 a.m. What a beautiful sunrise! We drive with this truck. Oh, very high! Let's go! Look! Sheep! We drive in the near of Coburg. Host-dad offload a smal backkhoe and a container. Then we drive in the near of Lichtenfels. Can we visit Yosemite  ? Unfortunately no.... We had no time... We saw some nice Oldtimer. Host-dad load up gravel. Closing time! Big hug! Batgirl
beelicious Posted Oct 9, 2012, 7:06 pm	Dear mum! Today was a special day. Host-mum and host-dad have a new family member: Sammy, a small black -white cat. He is 8 weeks old and very sweet. First we snuggles with him... than host-dad. When I can to cuddle with you again  ? Love you! Batgirl
beelicious Posted Oct 24, 2012, 8:47 am	Hello mommy! Today we made a little jaunt. First we were in "Zeil am Main" (Main is a river). Then we drive to "Sand am Main". Here is a section from the "Altmain". I saw a black swan. The seat looks interesting... Do you know what the thing behind me is? Come we take a look! It's a big vine of stone! Vine? Let's go to a walk through a vineyard! Isn't it beautiful? It was a very nice day! I hope you're fine! Kiss, Batgirl
beelicious Posted Oct 27, 2012, 9:09 am	Hello mum! Today I new TV arrived. Look! It's Vassily, a tennis-ball from Spain! We read the nice postcard from Barcelona. Bye, Batgirl
beelicious Posted Oct 27, 2012, 9:17 am	Hi! The winter is here! This morning it was snowing... ... and it snowing for 4 hours. I hope you're fine! Kiss, Batgirl
beelicious Posted Nov 5, 2012, 8:06 am	Hello! Today is a very large package arrived. A huge TV??? No, is a cat tree for Sammy! Together we unpack everything. I help to assemble. Done! Sammy like it and we too! Love you! Batgirl
beelicious Posted Nov 24, 2012, 12:10 pm	Hello mum! I've harvested pumpkins few weeks ago. Do you remember? Today we cooked with one of them! I made pumpkin-lasagne! First I wash the pumpkin. I cut the pumpkin. A pumpkin is very hard so we helped cut together. Then I steam the pumpkin. After 25 minutes the pumkin is done. I cut onions. Then I mix the onions with soure cream and cheese spread. I give the half in a beaker and  add  vegetable stock, thyme and a little bit of olive oil.  I puree all. Then I stack the lasagne. In the oven for 30 minutes. Yummie! Love you! Bye! Batgirl
beelicious Posted Dec 2, 2012, 11:48 am	Dear Mum! Last night it snowed about 10 cm! We go outside and play in the snow! Brrrr! It's very cold! I help hostdad to shoveling the snow. Can you see the copy  from me in the snow? Kiss, Batgirl
beelicious Posted Dec 15, 2012, 7:43 am	Today I say goodbye to Herlinde Good luck and have a nice journey!
beelicious Posted Dec 15, 2012, 8:10 am	Hi mommy! Christmas is coming soon... Can you guess what this is? What I do? I drape the Christmas tree! The fairy lights work! We decorte the tree with straw stars. The tree smells wonderful! I decorate myself  . The Christmas tree needs a lot of water! Done! Looks great! Kiss you! Batgirl
beelicious Posted Dec 17, 2012, 8:54 am	Hey! Today  was an exciting day! A new TV arrived! Look! It's Mr Wilson from Germany. He is a really handsome guy!
beelicious Posted Dec 17, 2012, 11:23 am	Hello! Today is the 3rd Sunday of Advent and we bake Christmas cookies! First we made nut cookies. I crack and grind the walnuts. Butter, sugar and eggs. Flour and the walnuts. The dough in clingfilm and then in the refirgerator for an hour. In the meantime we weigh us. After an hour the dough in the mincer. Bake for 10 minutes. Then melt chocolate... ... and place on the cookies. Done! Next we make "Hildas", cookies filled with rosehip jam. I made the dough with butter, eggs, sugar and flavour. The dough in clingfilm and then in the refirgerator for an hour. We need cookie cutter. Mr Wilson and I roll out the dough. I cut flowers. Bake for 10 minutes. Then I give rosehip jam on a cookie... ... and place another on it. Done! Finally we make "Lucias", the half with raspberry jam. For the dought we mix butter, sugar, vanilla pudding powder and flavour. I design the cookie with a fork. Then we maked cookies with raspberry jam filling. Bake for 15 minutes. Puh! We were all very diligent! But it was a lot of fun! Bye, Batgirl
beelicious Posted Jan 3, 2013, 6:02 pm	Hello mom! Today I was in the theater. This is the theater in Schweinfurt. We saw "The King's Speech". The theater is not big and I have a good view of the stage. The theater took a long time... 2h 30 min.! After the theater we go to an Indian restaurant and eat very delicious things. It was a very nice evening! Bye, Batgirl
beelicious Posted Jan 5, 2013, 4:52 pm	The New Year's Eve we spent with friends of my hosts. There were Chinese Fondue with chicken and dips. For dessert we have ice that looks like a gingerbread hous. Yummy! Then I played with Illias, a 4 year old boy from the host-friend. That was fun! Finally it was time! Midnight! I wish you all the best in 2013! Love, Batgirl
beelicious Posted Jan 21, 2013, 9:14 am	Hi! Today we dove through Wuerzburg. We made a little stop on the "Steinburg". I had a great view over the city.
beelicious Posted Jan 21, 2013, 9:26 am	Hello dear mom! Guess what? It's time to travel further! I travel to Villingen-Schwenningen in Germany! I'm so excited! On the computer I found some informations about my new home. I write my name on the guestbook. A last group-photo with my friends. See you soon! Batgirl
Biggi Posted Feb 1, 2013, 4:48 pm	Hi, I arrived safe and sound here at Biggi's Place. For a little party we went having a chinese meal. I had some troubles using the chopsticks, so I used a simple fork then.
Biggi Posted Feb 4, 2013, 4:37 pm	Hi Mom, fresh snow had fallen so we played in the garden. Later we had some icecream
Biggi Posted Feb 4, 2013, 6:28 pm	Hi bad weather here, how's the weather at home?
Biggi Posted Feb 14, 2013, 8:07 pm	Hi Mom, here was Carnival and I had so much to watch and learn. Carnival is here called "Fasnet". A lot of streets were decorated with old underwear or pieces of fabric. Every town has its own traditional carnival rite. One is a parade of lots of carnival groups and music groups. It was very cold when we watched the parade from the sidewalk. When a Narr (carnival figure) shouts out: "Narri!" the other people answer "Narro!" Another rite is that the mayor is giving the key to the carnival organisation for the time of "Schmotziger Dunnstig" ("sticky" Thursday) to "Aschermittwoch" ("Ashes" Wednesday). While this time the carnival revelers got the powers about the town. This key symbolises the key to the town. This is a music group. The wardrobe is often based on medival army uniforms. Many groups are in the guise of witches or people of old sagas. The wardrobe is called "Häs". Some "Häs" are made of hundreds of little fabrics. Most wear wooden masks. While the parade is on, they are not allowed to show their face underneath the mask. Children often do not wear masks because these are very expensive as they are handmade. Some mothers don't wear masks too, for they won't frighten their babies. Another music group of the special kind of music called "Guggenmusik" Although most of them look evil, they are usually very kind to young children. They often give sweets to them. Like this friendly witch. Some bears: As we took so many pictures I will write another update with pictures of the parade.
Biggi Posted Feb 14, 2013, 9:49 pm	Hi Mom, her comes the second part of the carnival parade pictures. Lots of clowns: Some carry whips and every now and then they swing to crack the whip. More music groups: I remember these are "Epfelschittler" (apple down shakers) Children on the parade were called "Narrensome" (Narren Samen / carnival revelers seeds). Here in Germany little children believe the babies were brought by a stork, when it has bitten the mother. These costumes were made of lots of handkerchiefs. Wolves: Chicken: Devils and critter creatures: Some wear straps with bells: These whitches have birch-brooms. They are playing lots of tricks to the audience. This one fell when her (his?) broom broke Goats: Elks: This one is unique. He symbolizes the oldest and biggest tree in Villingen-Schwenningen. The people called this tree "Hölzlekönig" (Wooden King). The tree was hit by a lightning twice so it's not large anymore. These were called "Schantle" which means a guy who is greedy: This female creature is called "Moosmulle" (Sorry no translation into english possible) And this one is the "Hansele" (swabian for little Hans)
Biggi Posted Feb 18, 2013, 8:41 pm	Hi this weekend I went with the other TVs to brunch in a Café. Hostmom's Friend ate cake first, but we prefered a solid Brezel and bread rolls. Then we took a break and made a walk around the Café. I found this nice Clown. Probably a leftover from carnival decoration? Later we decided to eat a cake too. But there were so many different cakes really difficult to decide which one to eat. They all look so yummie. I took a cheesecake with poppyseed. But it was a big piece so I shared it with rosemarie and bubele
Biggi Posted Feb 18, 2013, 10:06 pm	Hi on sunday I made a trip in the beautiful Black Forest with my new friends. We made a break and sat down in the snow When we left you could see our prints in the snow. Lonely Black Forest farmhouses often have their own little chappels like this one on the right side. Can you believe this picture is taken just  about 15 minutes later than the others? First blue sky with some sunshine, then dark sky with heavy snow falling.
Biggi Posted Mar 4, 2013, 7:46 pm	Hi folks at home, since my hostmom was very ill, we didn't do sightseeing trips. But when she told us about a reciepe she found at the internet, we decided to give a helping hand. First wir cut sausages into pieces. Then we put dry spaghetti throu the pieces which was really difficult because the spaghetti tend to break if pushed to hard. When we had done all pieces, we boiled the spaghettisausages. This is how they look like, after boiling: With a little sauce topping they were very yummie.
Biggi Posted Mar 11, 2013, 8:51 pm	Hi this time we made a short trip to the lake "Bodensee". Here we got a first glimpse of the lake beneath the town "Überlingen" Überlingen is a town where you can find a lot of medieval traces. You just need to be open minded. On this picture for excample, although the houses look nice and new, they are pretty old. The boats still are in winter pause. The Bodensee has clear water, lots of men (some women too) go fishing there. I found this poster which is telling the history of Überlingen. Wow, first mentioned in 770 a.c.
Biggi Posted Mar 13, 2013, 4:39 pm	Hi this weekend our host took us with her to a handicrafts workshop. We specialized into cards making. Cards for Birthday, Mothersday or any occasion.
Biggi Posted Mar 29, 2013, 1:27 pm	Hi and happy easter holidays! Hostmum bought us a chocolate rabbit. And we shared it fair like brothers and sisters. First we stripped it of the foil. Then we made pieces. One piece for Brook One piece for Mushu And a piece for me.
Biggi Posted Apr 14, 2013, 5:49 pm	Hi, since my host has a bad hurting lumbar vertebra, she couldn't stand or walk for a while. Therefore we didn't do any sightseeing. Today a friend drove by our place and picked us up for a little tour in the spring. We came to a town called Tennenbronn. I loved this church, which seems to be decorated for a wedding. This inn is also in Tennenbronn
Biggi Posted Apr 16, 2013, 9:33 pm	Hi Today I met some dinosaur. In Trossingen was the skelleton of a dinosaur found in 1909. The Auberlehaus Museum was founded in the 1970ies. And a least but not last a church in Trossingen.
Biggi Posted May 21, 2013, 8:45 pm	Hi Finally spring is here! Hooray! See all the fresh green everywhere: And look those magnolia blossoms fit quite good to me, don't you think so?
Biggi Posted May 21, 2013, 9:34 pm	Hi, today our host said, she would like to show us her favourite place. So we were quite excited, what it would be. The host said: "Look, there it is!" I thought, oh well, nothing special. Some trees besides a field. What makes this place to special? But then we walked closer. And we found: The "Elsenau" witch is a (Lourdesgrotte) pilgrimage chapel like Lourdes. Our host isn't very religious, but this place seems to touch here deep inside. I liked this calm and peaceful place. The waterfall, the roof made the leafes of the surrounding trees. It seems lots of people believe in the blessing of this place as there were lots of candles burning, and all the fresh flowers.
Biggi Posted Jun 7, 2013, 5:00 pm	Hello, we made a trip, but unluckily the batteries of the camera were down and we had none to replace them. So sorry no pictures from Pforzheim yet. But yesterday we were lucky, we catched a good sunset. We went up the hill to the "Dreifaltigkeitsberg" (which means Trinity Hill), which is 985 meters above sealevel. There is a monastery and church, first founded in the year 1415 as a little chappel. Later in the 17th century, the church was built and enlarged through the years. A good view downhill on the city of "Spaichingen". While the sun went down, we went for a walk through a field of flowers. Because there were already lots of shadow, you may not see clearly how beautiful all those flowers were. But believe me, they were. As the sun went deeper to the horizon, we changed position again. Profile Picture What a calmfull evening!
Biggi Posted Jun 7, 2013, 5:37 pm	ooops, I forgot a picture. And it's even an art-ish picture! Sunset throu colourful glas.
Biggi Posted Jun 16, 2013, 3:23 pm	Hi yesterday we made a trip through the "Simonswälder Tal" which is a beautiful valley. Lots of motorcyle riders love to drive there because of all the curves and the nice view. That's what I call a black forest! Fir trees make this forest looking dark and it must have been a frightfull place in former ages. Look at those old and typical farmhouses On this sign you can read whats the name of the three valleys and in which direction they are when you look around from this spot. View up the hill, some fields of grass, some birch trees, but mostly fir trees. Some group pictures of me and the TV-gang.
Biggi Posted Jul 21, 2013, 4:22 pm	Hi Mom, this weekend our host and her roommate invited us to join them while making strawberry marmelade. Look how many strawberries we had bought. They looked very delicious. First we washed them in a bowl of water. Then we cut them and took of the leafs. Later we put them in a cooking pot. And then put in special sugar. Just a few minutes boiling and the marmelade was ready to be put in jam jars. See how much jars we filled? We were allowed to taste a bit. Yummie! I'm looking forward to next breakfast. I wanna eat that much Hugs
Biggi Posted Jul 21, 2013, 5:34 pm	Hi as our host is still in hospital Monday to Friday her roommate offered to take us with her to the Island Mainau in the Lake Konstance. She was very excited to use hosts camera but unfortunately most of the pictures aren't showable. A view on the lake Konstance. A fountain in a little pond. ehm, thats all of the good pictures. Maybe our host can take us there again once she left hospital? Hugs Batgirl
Biggi Posted Jul 21, 2013, 6:32 pm	Hi today Biggi took us with her to the hospital and showed us the nice backyard. (She is not allowed to take pictures of the hospital or of other people beeing there because of privacy protection) She promised to take us for a walk tomorrow. Hugs Batgirl
Biggi Posted Jul 21, 2013, 7:20 pm	Hi as promised Biggi took us for a walk in the sorrounding area of the hospital. We found a nice garden area with nice yellow flowers Then Lavender Bear smelled a familiar scent and found: LAVENDER! Some nice little white bush roses Then we found climbing roses. As we wanted to sniff we climbed up there After that we took a break on a bench and I took a sunbath on a big leaf Before we had to go back, we climbed on lots of branches to get a better view. Hugs Batgirl
Biggi Posted Oct 30, 2013, 9:49 am	Hi, since my host wasn't and still isn't in a good health condition, I couldn't post updates regularly. So this is about our trip to the Island Lindau in the Lake Bodensee. First view on the Lake Constanze (Bodensee) View on the monastery Birnau We stopped to take a break of driving and getting some fresh air. What a nice view on the lake and the surrounding area. and the monastery again a last group picture before getting back into the car. At Lindau was a exhibition of the famous painter Miró. Therefore a lot of merchandising is reminding of him. Like these flower tubs. In a backyard we found this interesting statue We even found a big redwood tree. Some views on the pedestrian zone The old town hall with it's beautiful paintings built in 1422. The harbour guarded by the lighthouse and the lion, which stands for the bavarian kingdom. It was built 1856.
Biggi Posted Oct 30, 2013, 10:41 am	Hi this trip brought us to Ulm to visit the "Ulmer Münster" We had nice weather on the trip. The "Ulmer Münster" was built from 1377 till 1488 and has the highest church tower in the world. We didn't want to be impiously so we didn't make pictures inside.
Biggi Posted Oct 30, 2013, 10:57 am	Hi this time we went to the "Knopfmacherfelsen" (Buttonmaker rock) with it's viewing point high above the river Donau. This point is named by a saga about a man who was a button maker. A ghost shall have guided him over the rock.
-[Dino]- Posted Nov 3, 2013, 8:04 pm	Hello Mom, today I arrived at my new host's place.  Katharina seems very nice and there are two other TVs here: Oink is on holiday here and Lieselotte is Katharina's own TV. I'm sorry that there are no arrival pictures!  I arrived just in time to come to a party with the others and they all were in a big hurry today. But nonetheless I wanted to let you know that I arrived here safely. I will soon tell you of my new adventures here.  xoxo Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Nov 3, 2013, 8:44 pm	Hi Mom! Today way a very special and exciting day! We were in a big hurry the whole day. Because in the evening Katharina took us to her friend's place where she and her friend celebrated their birthsdays. Today it's the 25th birthday of one of her friends and tomorrow it will be Katharina's.  In this part of Germany it is a tradition that unmarried women turning 25 get a garland made out of empty boxes because they turn into old frumps that day which is the same word as box in German and in this case isn't a (purely) negative word anymore. Usually around the front door or the fence. But Katharina's friends changed the tradition a little and made a skirt out of boxes. Here Katharina's friend is still wearing it, but at midnight it was Katharina's turn. As a big surprise Katharina and her friend got a big Snorlaxñata - a piñata made from paper mâché to look like the pokémon Snorlax. Here is picture of it before it was "killed": And here you can see it after the attack: After this exciting day it was soon time for us little toys to go to bed while the adults still talked and laughed until the wee hours of the morning. I think I arrived just at the right time!  Talk to you soon! Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Nov 3, 2013, 8:47 pm	Hello Mom! Today it's Katharina's birthday. So we went to her grandma's place for some cake.  We had a very special cake. It's called "Kalte Schnauze" or "Kalter Hund" and "Hedgehog slice" in English and is made of a special type of cookie and chocolate being piled alternatingly on top of each other and then put in the fridge over night. And it's special because Katharina only eats it once a year on her birthday. It's also very delicious!  xoxo Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Nov 30, 2013, 9:36 pm	Hello Mom! Tonight we've been watching "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" part 2.  We don't want to give away any spoilers. So let's just say it's an amazing movie!  xoxo Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Nov 30, 2013, 9:39 pm	Hello Mom! Today we went to a playground to get closer to completing my life mission. Katharina wasn't sure if it's complete already as it says "complete", but only 2/5. So to make sure it's complete either way we visited a playground and played on the swing. It was fun!  Talk to you soon! Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Nov 30, 2013, 9:42 pm	Hello Mom! Today we played on two more playgrounds as we visited Katharina's aunt. First we played on a bouncy toy: Then we took a little walk to get to another playground where we played on a climbing frame: It was a lot of fun! But it was very cold *brrr* so we couldn't stay outside very long... But we hope that now my life mission is complete once and for all. Yours Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Dec 7, 2013, 9:57 pm	Hello Mom! Today we lit the first candle on the advent wreath.  Happy first Sunday of Advent, Mom!
-[Dino]- Posted Dec 7, 2013, 9:59 pm	Hello Mom! Today we saw a very nice sunset. It was especially nice with the fog rising from the moor. Maybe you can spot the small grey lining in the background, Mom? Yours Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Dec 7, 2013, 10:03 pm	Hello Mom! Today was a very special day!  First we woke up to the first snow of the season! On St Nicholas' Day no less. How fitting!  And since it was St Nicholas' Day guess what, mom! We got presents! Each of us got a hand-knitted scarf and a piece of chocolate! Don't I look nice? And it will keep me warm when we go out later. Katharina said there will be a surprise. Exciting!  xoxo Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Dec 7, 2013, 10:07 pm	Mom, guess what the surprise turned out to be! In the evening Katharina gathered us all up and we went by car to a friend's place and from there to Stadthagen to go to the movies and watch "Frozen" (really nice movie) which by the way helped Oink complete another one of her life missions!  Here we are with our popcorn before the movie started: Then Katharina snuck in a picture while they were showing a cartoon of Mickey Mouse and his friends. But it was very dark and Katharina couldn't use her camera's flash anymore... And here we are with the ticket: Luckily all 4 of us could go in with only 1 ticket.  Yours Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Dec 7, 2013, 10:10 pm	Hello again Mom! To top this amazing day off we stopped at the "Christmas house" in Seelenfeld on our way home to have a look at all its lights and decorations. Wow, what a day! Talk to you soon, Mom! Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 5:45 pm	Hello mom, today we lit the second candle on the advent wreath. Happy second Sunday of Advent, mom!
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 5:47 pm	Hello mom! Today we had a nice treat after lunch. Everyone said the cupcakes looked like a certain kind of plant. But I didn't really care what it looked like. More important is what it tasted like - and it was delicious.  Btw. the black and white candy on the left is called "Bremer Kluten". It's a peppermint and chocolate candy and traditionally made in the city of Bremen. *yummy* Yours Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 5:49 pm	Hi mom, today we lit the third candle on the advent wreath. Happy third Sunday of Advent, mom!
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 5:52 pm	Hey mom! Today, late at night, we helped Katharina with the Christmas present for her mother. But it's a secret, so shhh. We helped translate the book about the famous Japanes internet cat Maru from English (and Japanese) into German since Katharina's mother doesn't speak English very well and it should be easy for her to read. It was a fun experience for us!  And now we have to keep quiet until Christmas. You too, mom.  Yours Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 5:54 pm	Hello mom! Today we tried Katharina's homemade Christmas pudding. It wasn't traditionally made though because it didn't contain any alcohol and wasn't dried out for a long time before serving (and it isn't yet Christmas Day  ). But still it tasted very nice - with lots of chocolate.  Yours Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 6:02 pm	Hello again mom! In the evening we went to Petershagen for a special Christmas service. It was a service completely held in English, organised by Katharina's old high school and performed by students of all different classes. It was very nice. And with lots of singing, too. We also learned that traditionally in English services people stand for the carols. So we had to stand up all the time because there were 9 carols. It was better than working out in the gym.    On our way back to the car we saw the nicely decorated Christmas tree in the city center. It was a very nice evening! Yours Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 6:08 pm	Hi mom! Today Katharina took us on a little road trip to visit a friend in Braunschweig. We had to get up at 5 a.m.  *yawn* and then went to Minden where we met up with another friend who took us with her in her car to Braunschweig. We arrived just right for breakfast. After having eaten, we went into the city center for shopping and to visit the Christmas market. On our way we saw the public library: Impressive building! And a crazy colourful building in the background: Then finally, we saw the huge nutcracker, signalling the beginning of the Christmas market. Luckily, it wasn't as crowded as we had feared, it being the last Saturday before Christmas.  We saw lots of little booths with different things. And we had a mouth-watering hot chocolate. It was a very nice day, but at some point we climbed into Katharina's backpack to sleep because getting up so early made us very tired. Good night, mom! Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 6:11 pm	Hello mom! Today we lit the fourth and last candle on the advent wreath. Happy fourth Sunday of Advent, mom!
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 6:38 pm	Hi mom! Look, what we had today! Some "Christmas sausage" Katharina made yesterday. It really looks like a real blood sausage, doesn't it? But it was very yummy with chocolate and cookie crumbs from different kinds of Christmas cookies. xoxo Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 6:41 pm	Merry Christmas, mom!
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 6:44 pm	Hi mom! Look, what we found under the Christmas tree! Santa Claus brought us a present!
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 6:46 pm	Hi mom! Today is New Year's Eve and we also had some table fireworks. They aren't too dangerous and so they are just right for us little toys. I chose a fun bomb, while Oink chose a magic bomb and Lieselotte a horror bomb. It was fun watching them explode (we let Katharina light the fuse because we are too small to do that). Now we are waiting excitedly for midnight!
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 6:49 pm	Finally it is past midnight.  Happy New Year 2014! Mom, I wish you a wonderful year full of health, happiness and smiles! Your little Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 11, 2014, 6:51 pm	Hi mom! Today is Epiphany. In some countries people eat a special cake on this day. In the northern part of France people eat galette des rois with a little figurine baked inside. The person who finds it is king for the day. Since Katharina lived for a few months in the Loire Valley she knows of this cake. This year it was her first try to make one herself since she found an easy enough recipe in one of her new books. We all had galette des rois today (without any figurine inside though). So it was more of a democratic cake than a king cake. But it was yummy. What a pity that it is only served once a year...  Yours Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 28, 2014, 7:10 pm	Hi mom, two days ago it snowed here for the first time this year. It was very cold outside. The temperatures going down to -10°C. But we got restless only looking at the pretty white snow outside. When it continued snowing for 2 days and there were about 10cm of white powder on the ground we wanted to go out very badly. So we begged and begged Katharina to take us outside. Finally this evening we were successful because the weather forecast said that it will get warmer tomorrow. So we had the better argument to go out into the cold at -8°C to have some fun! Ha!  First we wanted to have a snowball fight. We divided into 2 teams: Oink and I against Lieselotte because she is bigger.  We formed many snowballs to throw later. And then the fight began!  It was a snow flurry in the air and everyone was hit by numerous snowballs. Finally we agreed to a tie and decided to build a snowman instead. Lieselotte rolled the biggest ball for the snowman... ...and Oink and I the smaller ones to go on top. We stacked them onto each other... ...and added two sticks for the arms. We have built our very own snowman!  But it was cold and we had all gotten wet. So we hurried back inside and sat in a warm, cozy place to get warm again.  It was a very fun evening!  xoxo Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Jan 28, 2014, 7:12 pm	Hello mom, today it really is much warmer. Luckily, we went out yesterday for some snowy fun. Today the sun is shining brightly and all the snow has started melting. We had a last look at our snowman (which was halfway covered in fresh snow that had fallen over night). And we said goodbye to it because it had started melting too and will be gone soon...  Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Mar 16, 2014, 6:31 pm	Hi mom! Today was an exciting day!  We went to Bremen for a postcrossing meeting. The winter break is now officially over!  First we went by car to the train station and then by train to Bremen main station where we met lots and lots of other postcrossers - it was a big meeting. This is on our way through the countryside: And here we are sitting on our seat: After having met with all the other people we went into the city center. And guess what we saw?! The statue of the famous town musicians!  There were many, many people in the city because it was "Samba Karneval" that day. And we saw a Chinese dragon in action. On our way through the city we saw the Christmas store. It's a shop selling Christmas stuff the whole year round. Then we visited the oldest part of Bremen - the Schnoor. It's a medieval quarter with lots of small alleys, cobble stone pavement and very small houses. We were very hungry by then and happy when we finally arrived at the restaurant. After eating we signed lots and lots of postcards. We also met Henri again and made a new friend: Quacky-King who is on holiday in Switzerland and came all the way to Bremen with his host. Here is more proof of us being in Bremen.  We also sent cards to other TVs who couldn't be here and met Olga the owl. On our way back to the train station we saw some more town musicians who were reading on a soccer field. It was a fun but also exhausting day!  Yours Batgirl
-[Dino]- Posted Apr 3, 2014, 5:08 pm	Hi mom! Today we went to Hamelin for another postcrossing meeting. This time there were only a few people, but it was still a very nice day. Of course we wrote and signed some postcards: Later we went around the city center in search of a mailbox. We saw many little rats in the pavement. They are there because Hamelin is a very special city. It is where the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin supposedly took place in the Middle Ages. We also met the pied piper himself  : It was a fun day! Miss you, mom! xoxo Batgirl

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