Posted Jul 10, 2013, 6:58 pm
I'm Mr. Moose aka Herra Hirvi.
I used to hang out on a fridge door, but it wasn't much fun - very boring actually. It was getting quite crowded, too, but I still felt a little lonely being the only moose among all those cats and other things.
So, I decided to jump down and go exploring my surroundings.
After I had wandered around for a while, I met Teddy. At first he seemd to be big and scary (Polar bears can eat a little moose like me, can't they?) but when I got to know him better, it turned out that he's a nice guy.
We sat together and shared a drink while Teddy told me about the world outside. He's seen the city center and some of the local sights and that's a lot more compared to what I've seen - the view from the fridge door was nothing special.
Listening to Teddy's stories made me want to see the world myself. At first I'll go outside and find out what's there for me to see and then I can hopefully travel to some far away places.
Posted Jul 15, 2013, 1:21 pm
When I stepped out of the door, I was a bit surprised how big and scary everything was. At that point I almost went back home, but then I remembered how dull it was only to hang out on the fridge door and that helped me to find my courage.
I didn't want to go too far from home yet and luckily I noticed a forest nearby. It seemed to be an interesting place, so that's where I went.
My little trip to the forest was very fun. I enojyed every moment and forgot to be scared. Although I think that it'd've been even more fun with Teddy, I'm still happy that jinxed was with me, I could've got lost on my own.
Posted Jul 22, 2013, 5:03 pm
Teddy wanted to see my new tag too. I think he was a bit jealous because he doesn't have one and I'm going to travel futher away than he's ever been.
I have to admit that it's somewhat scary to travel overseas, but I'm sure I'll have fun. Hopefully I'll meet other travellers on my journey, too.
Goodbye Teddy and everyone else at home. My adventure begins.
Posted Jul 26, 2013, 2:17 pm
today I arrived Paderborn safely! Sitting in my envelope I heard some whispering outside that made me very curious. Crawling out of the envelope I looked into many very kind faces. Especially the ToyVoyagers Laika, Haribaer and Twixx gave me a very warm welcome.
I showed them my gifts I've brought with me and then we sat together talking about TV-life and eating the yummy liquorice
And I showed my new friends the postcards: a real moose and my friend Teddy.
In a few minutes we'll eat some cake in the garden and in the evening we'll go to a Restaurant cause today it's hostdad's birthday.
I think it'll be an interesting start in Germany...
love you
Yours Mr.Moose
Posted Jul 26, 2013, 9:35 pm
Happy birthday, hostdad!
Unfortunately in the afternoon it started raining so we had the birthday-cake in the kitchen and not in the garden. But nevertheless the gooseberry-cake was very yummy!
See you
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Jul 26, 2013, 9:41 pm
Posted Jul 27, 2013, 12:47 pm
Not only the dinner was very good but also the ambience
And look whom we met in the garden...
A very varied first day in Germany! Good night, mummy!
Yours Mr. Moose
Posted Jul 28, 2013, 12:47 pm
now it's 'Libori' in Paderborn and that means it is state of emergency
'Libori' is both a secular and a worldly festival in Paderborn with many masses in the cathedral and processions in honour of St. Liborius whose relicts were conveyed from Le Mans to Paderborn in the year 836 and are kept in a shrine in the cathedral's crypt. Every July the shrine is shown for a few days and the 'Libori' festival is celebrated for one week.
There is a big market round the cathedral and a big fairground.
Today 'Libori' has been opened and we were present! Mum, you can't imagine how many people and how many bishops I saw!
Next week we'll visit the fairground.
All the best
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Jul 28, 2013, 6:51 pm
Before watching the match we visited hostgrandma's lovely garden. We discovered a small fountain, a small pond, a hotel for insects, a birdhouse, many flowers and some strange occupiers of the garden.
When it got dark hostmum showed us a very nice flower: in German 'Nachtkerze' (Oenothora biennis) that blooms in the night! Every evening some blooms open in some seconds and bloom for only one night. They looked beautiful!
Love you
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Jul 28, 2013, 7:13 pm
Posted Aug 1, 2013, 10:36 am
Today evening we'll visit the big Libori-fair! I'm so excited...
Love you
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 1, 2013, 11:33 am
First we drove to Paderborn city by bus. The town was full of people...you can't imagine!
And then we saw the fair with lots of merry-go-rounds, ticket stalls with hundreds of plushies, strange figures, music all around...wow!
And we drove with a Ferris wheel
We could see the whole town, it was so great!
After all these impressions we were very hungry and so we got some chips and chocolate cherries at 'Petit Paris'...yummy!
Back home we heard somebody whispering...and saw two curious guys who has followed us from a plushie stand
Good night, mummy, it was a great day!
Yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 4, 2013, 4:58 pm
today morning hostmum said 'let's go for a walk through the forest round Neuenbeken (Neuenbeken is hostmum's homevillage and belongs to Paderborn) as an alternative programme to our fair visit in the evening'.
And so we did.
We saw nice flowers, many many trees, a big thistle and a raised hide and had a great view.
And we discovered a mousehole and waited and waited but no mouse appeared.
Of course we had to take some rests, one on a bench, one on a tree stump, one in a cabin and one in a tree cave.
The weather was very good so we had a nice walk and have now energy enough for visiting the fair again
Yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 5, 2013, 6:40 pm
in the evening we drove to the Libori-fair again. Cause the weather was much better than last Wednesday we went into the Ferris wheel again. The view was fantastic!
After that we had some cider, yummy!
The Libori-fair ended with a gigantic fireworks. Unfortunately you can see us only in a very shadowy way
but we were there and it was great!
See you
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 6, 2013, 11:50 am
today we said goodbye to Twixx and Haribaer. Twixx will travel to Switzerland and Haribaer will travel home. Have a good journey!
Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 8, 2013, 11:42 am
Today Laika will start to her next host Strunki.
Bye, cute dog-girl, we'll miss you...
Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 8, 2013, 9:07 pm
today afternoon a big envelope of Strunki arrived. Of course Sebastian and me wanted to know what was in it...another Toyvoyager? No, the envelope was too flat...but what else?
Hostmum said we shouldn't rack our brains over the contents but open the envelope! No sooner said than done!
And look what we found in it: some souvenirs of Mefito, hostmum's TV and (the best!) a pair of flipflops (bathing shoes)
Of course we tried them on immediately, aren't they nice?
Unfortunately it was a rainy day so we couldn't wear them outside for example while sitting in the wicker beach...
Love you
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 9, 2013, 5:22 pm
when hostmum came back from work today she brought a small parcel with her. Sebastian and me became very curious cause the parcel came from Australia...
We heard somebody whispering in it and suddenly we looked into four enormous eyes
First we got ourselves to safety but then two friendly voices said :"Don't be afraid, we are The WotWots and totally peaceable."
So we took heart and got closer...and they showed us their little gifts, a postcard, some chocolate and a little koala. We sat together eating Australian chocolate (very yummy!) and talking about this and that...and than Sebastian and me gave them the flipflops as a present.
Spotty (the blue one) was very happy cause they fit like a glove
Now we have to find a present for Dotty (the pink one), too.
I think the WotWots are very nice and we'll have a nice time together.
Tomorrow we'll drive to Dortmund by train
Love you
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 11, 2013, 5:40 pm
today we drove to Dortmund, hostmum's birthplace in the so called Ruhr area. This area along the river Ruhr with many cities was well-known for coal mining but nowadays there's almost no more mining at all.
First we drove from Neuenbeken (hostmum's home village that belongs to Paderborn) to Paderborn city by bus and then to Dortmund, that is 100 km away, by train.
In Dortmund we started with a rest in a café
and then we walked to the 'place of peace' where a vegan street day took place. There were many stands with yummy vegan food, clothes, buttons, posters and information about factory farming and what to do against it.
And of course we had to go into a BVB shop. BVB (Borussia Dortmund) is hostmum's favourite football club.
Just before driving home we got to know a nice red rhinoceros (no idea where it came from or why it was there) and saw an old tram.
Love you
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 12, 2013, 4:01 pm
yesterday we drove to Bad Lippspringe, a spa near Neuenbeken.
A spa normally has got spa gardens and so it is in Bad Lippspringe. Of course we visited one of them. Wow! So many flowers and fountains! And a boat and a lighthouse in the middle of a wood
And of course a café
All the best
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 14, 2013, 9:26 pm
today a mysterious envelope from Strunki has arrived. Of course we were very curious and opened it immediately.
And what's been in it? Two further pairs of flipflops!
Spotty was totallyout of his mind cause hostmum said he could exchange the green ones into the blue or purple ones if he wanted.
The decision took very long but at last Spotty chose the blue ones.
He sat there being happy when suddenly Dotty started to cry cause she can't wear any flipflops at all...For calming her down Spotty wrote a postcard to Strunki asking her to send something nice for Dotty...we'll see
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 17, 2013, 9:21 pm
today afternoon hostmum said we could go into the garden and look whether we could find something to pick. And we did: raspberries, plums and tomatos. We immediately started to pick them and the sheeps behind the garden were very interested in our activities. We picked almost 3 kg plums (it could have been 3 kg if we didn't taste so much
) and many different tomatos.
And in the garden I got to know Lina the cat. Part of a life mission!!!
Bye yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 17, 2013, 9:31 pm
It was a very thrilling thriller
and I hope I can sleep tomight...
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 20, 2013, 5:51 pm
today Sebastian, The WotWots and me made a sightseeing tour through Paderborn. (Part of a life mission
)
First we visited the cathedral. The first local missionary church was built up in the year 777. The new building of the cathedral took place in 799. As it stands today, the cathedral was erected between 1215-1280. Following the destructions it suffered during the Second World War it was rebuilt to ist original design with a few minor alterations.
Of course we visited the 'hare window' in the inner courtyard of the cathedral: three hares with only three ears but every hare has got two ears
Foundations of the Carolingian and Ottonian-Salic imperial palaces were exposed from 1964 until the late seventies. The Ottonian-Salic palace was reconstructed between 1976 and 1978 in accordance with a plan made by an architect. The original building construction with ist rising brick work is clearly identifiable.
Then we visited the market square with the Neptun-fountain and the townhall.
After that we visited the river Pader, German's shortest river (only 4 km) but 200 springs inside the city and a big frog
At the end of the Second World War Paderborn was almost totally destroyed, only a few houses 'survived'. The pictures show the oldest house (built up in 1560) and a few other half-timbered houses.
Finally we took a rest in an ice-cream parlour
See you
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 20, 2013, 5:55 pm
today we had to say goodbye to Sebastian
who started to his next host.
Goodbye my best friend, have a good journey, perhaps we'll meet again somewhere in the world or at home in Finland...
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 22, 2013, 7:17 pm
today we drove to hostmum's work by bike. She works as a social worker in an old people's home in Paderborn city.
On our way we saw many maize fields, an old DDR-car (a so-called Trabant), crossed the university grounds and reached the old people's home from the back.
And then we helped hostmum making music with the old people. We played the guitar and some drums and rattles.
And look what I wrote for you
Bye yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 27, 2013, 11:16 am
Goodbye Spotty and Dotty and goodbye hostmum, it's been a nice time here in Paderborn.
See you
yours Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 27, 2013, 11:20 am
Posted Sep 8, 2013, 3:17 pm
I finally arrived in Vienna, just in time to be part of one of the greatest dress up parties I've ever attended
First we were of course given time to create a costume. Being quite a fan of J.K. Rowling, I knew immediately what I wanted to dress up as
So I made myself some glasses, a nice scar, and a scarf- and tadaaa I became Harry Potter
The other toys looked really great as well. Cilly was dressed up as Mickey Mouse, Drescher as flower, Susy as a ladybug, störte as the madhatter and Mr. curious as batman.
Störte then found us some bottles of whiskey and rum and we celebrated until we fell asleep- which was when Cilly played a joke on us, and decorated each of us with a cheshire cat grin, and then took pictures (I for my part think I look great with that kind of grin
)
I really was a great party, and I'm looking forward to spending more time in Vienna
Posted Sep 29, 2013, 1:38 pm
Today we went to the Vienniese Tschauner Bühne, which is a small open air theatre, where mostly comedians, who do satirical comedy about political issues, and musicians perform.
Today's performance was very special, as the Tschauner Bühne normally only opens from june to august, but today it opened again to celebrate the Sturm Season (Storm) - this season is not about some meterological phenomena in Austria, but Sturm is a drink.
It is made from grapes, and is really yummy. Even though Austrians really love their wines too, Sturm is really something they appreciate a lot. Possibly because it is only in season for a month or two, and then you won't et hold of it anymore.
We tasted white and red Sturm and had a typical tasty bread with it- very yummy
The Blues Band that performed that night was great too!
See ya soon!
Posted Sep 29, 2013, 1:43 pm
We climbed trees, and ladders, and even stones!
The playground was very colorful, and I liked it a lot!
Posted Oct 15, 2013, 8:33 pm
Today we went to celebrate stormy days, in one of the most beautiful streets of Vienna - the Stammersdorfer Kellergasse
Kellergasse means cellar street - which is where the people keep their wine.
In Vienna it is all about wine - and music it seems.
We had a blast looking at the street which is crowded with little restaurants of the wine makers, which offer their food and drinks.
It was a really cool day
Posted Oct 17, 2013, 2:28 pm
On top of the highest roof there is the city hall man, a statue. It was put there, because on the one hand the roof was not supposed to be higher than the one of the nearest church, on the other one the city hall was supposed to watch all over the city- hence the highest point should be there. By putting the city hall man on there, the roof wasn't higher than the one of the church, and the city hall man could still watch over Vienna.
The insides of the city hall also are beautiful. I really enjoyed looking at this building
Posted Oct 21, 2013, 1:11 pm
Today we went for a walk on the Bisamberg. This is a little mountain in Vienna. It really looks beautiful at this time of year as fall changes the beautiful green of summer, in an even more colorful spectacle.
There is especially lots of wine growing on it, which does look beautiful, but there are also some oaks. There is a story about them:
A farmer who lived on top of the Bisamberg was really scrooge-like. He didn't even want his daughter to marry for love, but would only marry her to a very rich man. So he told a servant, who asked to marry his daughter, to go to the devil.
His daughter was shocked by this, and started to pray for their souls.
The servant in turn was desperate, he really loved this girl, and did'nt know what to do. Then the devil came by, and told him that he would make him rich, if in turn he could have his soul. The young man thought about this, and told him that he would agree to this pact, but only if the devil waited to collect his soul until the oak tree lost all its leaves. The devil agreed.
Thus the young man became rich, and was allowed to marry the daughter of the greedy farmer. She quickly learned about the way her husband had aquired his money, but wasn't shocked. She had prayed for so long, and trusted god to help her in this. And indeed the oak tree never lost its leaves. The devil was so angry at this, that he punched the tree, and since then all oak tree leaves are sinuate and lobate
Posted Nov 11, 2013, 5:59 pm
In Austria it is tradition not to celebrate Halloween- even though it is done more an more often- but instead to celebrate the death on November, 1st, by visiting them on the cemetery.
We also wanted to do that, and therefore vistited the most beautiful cemetery of Vienna- the Jewish cemetery, which is part of the central cemetery. It is so beautiful that there are written stories and songs about it.
I think this is the case because it is mostly left to itself, and this way nature takes over. SO you can see foxes and deer while visiting it.
It was a great visit, I wouldn't have wanted to miss...
Love, Mr. Moose
Posted Nov 19, 2013, 5:40 pm
First we saw a blacksmith, who did not only do armor for mankind, but also for toys- if you look close enough at the picture you can see it
We also came by some yummy food of the middle ages, and were even able to taste bread made like it was done so many years ago.
Then we vistited the castle, which did not only look great, but we also had a beautiful view over the danube river from up there.
Last but not least we visited the cellar of the castle, where they tell you the legend of the Nibelungen. You can see a picture of Siegfried killing a dragon, and then bathing in its blood, in order to become invincible. Unfortunately, a leave had fallen on his shoulder- thus there was one spot of his body, where he could be killed....You can also see him with the king of dwarfs, and at his castle.
See you soon!!!!
Posted Nov 28, 2013, 1:59 pm
Today we went to Schönbrunn Palace- or rather the Christmas market in front of it.
Schönbrunn Palace was build to look lke Versailles, because the Austrian monarchs wanted to live in Palaces just as beautiful. Yet, it was painted yellow, only by mistake- it was meant to be pink!
I like it much better the way it looks now
So we went there and enjoyed a Punsch. This is a hot cocktail, made out of tea, fruit, and maybe a hint of alcohol- it was really yummy!
We also had a look at all the gifts you can buy there. It is all made by hand and really looks beautiful =)
Love, Mr. Moose
Posted Mar 14, 2014, 12:07 pm
Hello
I'm at home. It's so nice to see Teddy again. It's also nice to meet all those other ToyVoyagers who have traveled here while I was away. Gozer, Emil, Hanne Hü, Teddy and I gatherd to eat the sweets that Hanne brought with her and to tell stories of our adventures.
It's nice to be at home, but I'm stiil looking forward to my next adventure.
Mr. Moose
Posted Mar 21, 2014, 6:44 pm
I'm sure we'll have fun here.
Greetings,
Mr. Moose
Posted Apr 4, 2014, 4:23 pm
Hello
Today we went to the beach for a walk. It was wonderful. The ocean is awesome and I liked the black sand and the lava rocks. Of course I enjoyed the warmth and sunshine, too.
Warm greetings,
Mr. Moose
Posted Apr 5, 2014, 2:08 pm
Hello
We rented a car and drove to Teide National Park which is also UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was fun and very interesting. Now we've seen El Teide, a volcano which still remains active and is the highest point of Spain. How awesome!
Here we're taking a short break on our way up.
Look, we're already above the clouds.
I really liked the canary pines and lava rocks here. Look at those pine cones, they're bigger than us.
We stopped to watch the view near the cable car that goes from the roadside to most of the way to the summit. The view was awesome enough here, so we decided not to go any further.
We stopped to take some photos on our way down, too. Here you can see El Teide behind me.
Here's another awesome view.
And some nice flowers, too.
Love,
Mr. Moose
Posted Apr 7, 2014, 2:53 pm
Hello
Today we drove to Las Americas. Part of the group wanted to go to Siam Park and another part wanted to go shopping. We wanted to do neither, so we decided to go to the beach instead. It was fun.
Greetings,
Mr. Moose
Posted Apr 13, 2014, 12:37 pm
Today we walked to Puerto de Santiago to watch the town and do some shopping.
On this photo you can see Acantilados de Los Gigantes, the high cliffs after which the area has been named.
Greetings,
Mr. Moose
Posted Apr 13, 2014, 12:51 pm
Hello
It's one of the lazy days, when we did nothing but enjoy the sunshine at the pools and balcony. Very relaxing.
Best wishes,
Mr. Moose
Posted Apr 13, 2014, 1:05 pm
Hello
It's our last day on Tenerife, so we wanted to go to the beach one more time. The waves were huge and we sat for a while watching them.
Here I'm enjoying the evening sun at the balcony. Tomorrow at this time we'll be on our way back to Finland. By the way, here you can also see the neighbour island, La Gomera. Maybe I'll travel there one day, who knows?
Warm greetings,
Mr. Moose
Posted Apr 18, 2014, 1:59 pm
Hello
We were walking peacefully in a forest, when suddenly we noticed a monkey peeking from a hollow stump of a tree. He seemed friendly, so we went to talk to him. It turned out that he's Qah and he's a toyvoyager too. We invited him to join us.
It's spring in Finland, too. Look at these flowers. They're growing here and there in small groups among all the old, fallen leaves. Beautiful.
Huge old tree had snapped in two and the upper part had fallen down. The damage seemed to be quite recent, although the tree is very old and hollow. Perhaps the tree had finally gotten tired of standing still.
Unfortunately it started to rain and we had to rush back to jinxed's before getting soaked.
Best wishes,
Mr. Moose
Posted Apr 18, 2014, 2:16 pm
Happy Easter for those who celebrate it and happy spring for everyone.
Mr. Moose
Posted Apr 23, 2014, 4:42 pm
Hello
Teddy and I met Gozer, Emil, Hanne Hü and Qah at Koroistenniemi, where they were watching the view and examining the remains of old buildings. We gathered on a big stone that's probably been one of the foundation stones of a church that was located there a long time ago.
We talked a lot, enjoyed the nice weather and had fun, but nothing lasts forever and soon it was time to say good bye. It's time for Gozer to continue his journey.
Best wishes,
Mr. Moose
Posted May 5, 2014, 4:05 pm
Hello
Tomorrow is the first of May, which in Finland is called vappu and we're going to celebrate it. The celebrations start tonight, even the shops are closed earlier than usually and tomorrow is a national holiday.
The roots of vappu can be found from pagan spring celebrations and later it became the worker's holiday. Whatever the reasons for celebrating are now, the Finns gather their friends and/or families and do something fun. Like going out for a picnic and probably getting drunk, too.
Silly costumes are a part of vappu, too. Unfortunately we didn't have any, so we took some silly photos instead.
The weather isn't that nice, so we decided that jinxed's balcony is a good enough place for our picnic. So, that's where we went with our balloons and serpentine. Teddy brought us some traditional vappu snacks: crisps, funnel cake, doughnuts and mead.
We ate and drank a lot, maybe a little too much.
But who cares, we had fun.
Greetings,
Mr. Moose
Posted May 7, 2014, 5:52 pm
Samppalinnanmäki (mäki = hill) is one of the seven hills of Turku and there's a nice park, too. That's where we went for a walk today.
This old cannon is a memorial for the cannoneers, who were in the Winter and Continuation Wars on 1939 - 1945.
Hey, look. It's another memorial. This one is for all the veterans of Winter and Continuation Wars.
This statue is a memorial for G.A. Petrelius, whoever he was.
Here are some nice views to the town center.
The building here is restaurant Samppalinna.
This one's for the independence of Finland.
Here you can see a small part of Aurajoki (joki = river). The red building is Pharmacy Museum and Qwensel House. It's the oldest surviving bourgeois home in Turku, dating back to the early 18th century. Turku is a bilingual town and Åbo is its name in Swedish.
Here's a view from Aurasilta (silta = bridge). The nearest building is the town hall.
There's a nice cafe in Qwensel House and we decided to go there.
Then it was time to say goodbye. Emil won't return to home with us, he'll start his journey towards new adventures instead.
Greetings,
Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 13, 2015, 6:34 pm
today we arrived at BlackCat's house and were welcomed by Jonathan, Nayeli, Batty the bat and Pookee.
Let's have some fun,
Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 13, 2015, 6:42 pm
today we had a short walk and guess what we found? A boat in a garden. We were so surprised. And we don't know if it is decoration, or if the people forgot that they had a boat in their garden.
We also got to smell some flowers, which was really nice as well.
Love
Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 13, 2015, 6:52 pm
today we had a bbq all together. It was really nice. We had a grilled sausage and talked a lot.
Love
Mr. Moose
Posted Aug 13, 2015, 8:51 pm
so today we all watched the Eurovision Song Contest together. It's a song competition Europe has every single year. This year they had a guest country - Australia.
We had snacks and watched it for a while but then were tired.
The winner is this video here (CLICK). A really great song from Sweden.
Love
Mr Moose