Sputnik, Vienna, WV, USA

MissMelissa Posted Feb 15, 2008, 4:15 pm	Great balls of fire! It's the last spacecousin! This is Sputnik, a rowdy alien from far, far away. He had a very long journey, but he's ready for another as he ventures out into the world before he goes to live with Jacob, age 11 around the human Christmas holiday. He's just hanging around my house, waiting until it's time to leave. He did meet up with Gene Simmons who gave him some tips about successfully picking up the ladies. Sputnik's travel plans: ChristinaB-Austria(ARRIVED, HAD A GREAT TIME, THANK YOU!!! ) Lizette-South Africa(ARRIVED) Vicki-South Africa Will visit later: Eryah-The Netherlands
ChristinaB Posted Mar 6, 2008, 1:42 pm	Hello! I safely arrived in Vienna/Austria today. I'm a bit tired so I have to relax before we'll go to a soccer training this afternoon.
ChristinaB Posted Mar 15, 2008, 6:35 am	I'm having a great time here in Austria! I'm in good company with 3 funny bears: Gulliver from Germany, Eldon from the UK and Glory the little Americain bear. Last weekend we went to Wachau with our hosts. Wachau is a beautiful valley at the longside of river Danube. It is an UNESCO world heritage site and it is very beautiful. It's famous for its long history, the wineyards placed in terrasses and for the apricots planted there. We visited a little village called "Dürnstein" which was very nice. There is a beautiful blue tower there just next to the river, we went for a walk through the wineyards (no wine at this time of the year ;() and then we climbed up all the way to the old castle. It was pretty exhausting but the view was wonderful from up there!
ChristinaB Posted Mar 15, 2008, 6:40 am	At the castle - have a look what a beautiful view!!
ChristinaB Posted Apr 10, 2008, 11:16 am	did alot of sightseeing here in Vienna! I never ever thought that there is sooo much to see in this city! One day our host took Eldon and me downtown. And guess what! We got to see all these buildings in real that we only knew from pictures so far. We started our guided tour at the city hall. Our host told us that there are always some events taking place at the big square in front of city hall: the Christmas market in December, the opera festival in summer, a circus somewhen in autumn and now we just missed a big ice-skating court. Just opposite of the city hall there is the old imperial theatre and close to it we saw the Austrian Parliament. We continued our walk to the wonderful "Volksgarten" where we found this temple. In summer there are millions of roses in this park and I guess it must be wonderful then, too!
ChristinaB Posted Apr 10, 2008, 11:18 am	Then we passed by "Hofburg", the former residence of the Habsburg family. Nowadays it hosts the Austrian National Library, the Spanish Riding School, the President's office and several museums. There were these beautiful gates around Hofburg, Heldentor and Michaelertor, and when we went through one of them we arrived at "Graben", a very famous and expensive shopping street. I would have liked to buy a souvenir there - but I didn't have enough money!!
ChristinaB Posted Apr 10, 2008, 11:20 am	We arrived at "St. Stephen's" cathedral then which is said to be in the very center of the city. How amazing to see the colourful roof!! Then we went on to the famous opera house. Oh, how much would I love to watch a play there!! Close to the opera house we found "Karlsplatz" with one of the most beautiful subway stations built in a special style called "Jugendstil" which is very similar to "Art nouveau". At the same square we also found this beautiful church
ChristinaB Posted Apr 10, 2008, 11:23 am	Did you know that cafés are very, very important in Vienna? There are tons of them and I have been told that there are also special receipts of coffees that only exist in Vienna. People here love sweets, too and I was really astonished when I saw all these beautiful rabbits, eggs, sculptures etc made of chocolate and marzipan. And of course I got to see the real "Sachertorte". Unfortunately we passed by in the early morning so the café was still closed...
ChristinaB Posted Apr 10, 2008, 11:25 am	Imagine, I also saw the famous "Giant Wheel"!! And then we went on to this very colourful house created by Friedensreich Hundertwasser. There is nothing special inside, just normal flats - but it is sooo beautiful. Our host told us that in this house there is a special "law" which says that every citizen can decorate the wall around his windows as he/she likes but only as far as they can reach with their arms.
ChristinaB Posted Apr 10, 2008, 11:26 am	Today we visited the big Easter market here in Vienna! It was really amazing to see all these wonderful eggs. We asked the sales woman there and she told us that there were more than 40.000 eggs waiting to be sold! Can you imagine how much work it is to paint them all?? Too much for a little bear...
ChristinaB Posted Apr 10, 2008, 11:29 am	When we came back home we put up the Easter decorations in the flat. We made a big kind of tree where we put alot of eggs - I was really a great help!! We also found some other decorations in the cellar, and then we baked a little sheep! It smelled sooo good and it was really hard not to try it now. Our host said that we would have to wait until Easter Sunday, then we may eat it.
ChristinaB Posted Apr 10, 2008, 11:31 am	We packed our stuff today and went to Upper Austria where the grandparents of our hosts live. It's in the very countryside and since it snowed alot during the past days our hosts suggested to go skiing. They did it very often this winter and were happy to go again - and so were Eldon and I because that way we got to see a real "Austrian" mountain called Krippenstein (it is more than 2.700 m high). It still snowed when we went there and it was a bit foggy so they pictures aren't so clear, but it was a wonderful day and we enjoyed playing in the snow alot!!
ChristinaB Posted Apr 10, 2008, 11:34 am	It was Easter Sunday today and we celebrated it in the countryside with the grandparents of our hosts. Easterbunny came early in the morning and hit tons of eggs in the garden. Some of them were really hard to find - one was even in the bird's house!! And guess what! Eldon and I went up so early that we really got to see him! Wow, hm?? We were sooo happy! How great that we could have our photo taken together with him!! The kids were very excited about all the eggs and sweets and the oldest one even got a school bag which was hidden on a tree!!! It is a tradition here in Austria that kids who will start with school in autumn get their schoolbag from Easter bunny. Sputnik and I ate many, many chocolate eggs and we felt a bit sick in the evening...
Lizette Posted May 5, 2008, 11:18 am	Sputnik has arrived!!
Lizette Posted May 12, 2008, 11:58 am	It has been raining non-stop here for the last week....... So been trying to stay busy indoors.  Since I love different languages I decide to try and learn a little Mandarin/Chinese.
Lizette Posted May 12, 2008, 12:01 pm	In you go.
Lizette Posted May 12, 2008, 12:06 pm	Hello - Nie hao How are you - Nie hao ma? Dumplings - Jiao zi Yay!! Now I can greet and eat.
Lizette Posted May 19, 2008, 11:55 am	We had a great time at the beach today....we walked around Strand and Gordon's Bay, playing in the sand and browsing the shops....
Lizette Posted May 19, 2008, 12:01 pm	those seaguls look hungry....
Lizette Posted May 19, 2008, 12:06 pm	Seaside shops
Lizette Posted May 19, 2008, 12:17 pm	browsing for gifts...shells anyone?
Lizette Posted May 19, 2008, 12:39 pm	a book or 2....I could catch up on my reading
Lizette Posted May 19, 2008, 12:46 pm	Admiring the sunset before we hit the road again....
Lizette Posted Jul 12, 2008, 7:53 am	Yay!! Finally a bit of sunshine again.  This calls for a semi-road trip.  Going to go see if we can catch a glimpse of some snow...very rare for South Africa
Lizette Posted Jul 12, 2008, 7:56 am	It rains alot this time of year, so everything is really pretty and green, although veeerrryyyy BBRRRrrrrr.
Lizette Posted Jul 12, 2008, 8:00 am	Where to next?
Lizette Posted Jul 12, 2008, 8:07 am	the little town of Riebeeck Kasteel.
Vicki Posted Aug 5, 2008, 8:17 pm	Hello, hello! Vicki fetched me from the post office, brought me home and introduced me to all the other visiting TV's. There are six of us altogther! Here we are with all the beautiful flowers Vicki received from the students before school closed. I think Holday Harry and I are going to have a great time together, he likes getting up to mischief too! He was bouncing about all over the place. Grape Ape has been here the longest and is having a great time. We all had a chat and then everyone was looking for me, heh! Heh! Lots to do tomorrow.....see you later!
Vicki Posted Sep 4, 2008, 5:38 pm	Well hello again after almost a month! Sorry we haven't updated for so long, we have been away on a wonderful holiday too. I am sure you had almost given us up for lost! Before we even went away, I got to see a bit of Johannesburg (but didn't get time to update....  so here goes!). Vicki took us all up Northcliff Hill to the water tower. We saw stunning views of the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. Vicki's house is out there somewhere... In the distance you can see the buildings of Sandton, the new business hub of Johannesburg. This is that same hill from Vicki's back garden. You can see downtown Johannesburg in the background. After all that sightseeing, we decided to relax in the sun and catch a tan next to the pool, pity the water is sooo cold. Holiday Harry got out his shades and towel! Then some fun jumping on the trampoline. What a great fun day! And the same view by night...
Vicki Posted Sep 4, 2008, 7:29 pm	Another action packed day planned! Today we all piled into the car so that we could start our next exciting adventure! Gold Reef City!!!!! Gold Reef City This is sooo exciting! There are lots of old trains around the place... Eeny meeny miny mo, which one should we try first? I like the sound of this one... Look here's the whole gang together with some new friends we met. This is one of the rides that I was WAAAAAAY to scared to go on! Um...that high?!?!? I don't think so..... Woah!!! Wet bums all round!!!! I'm assuming that this is from the tube ride??? Wow! That ride is huge! It's very pretty here. Aww, Juanita's favourite ride is closed! Look mom! Look how big this theme park is! It was built around an old mine. This is the next ride we went on, a BIG feriss wheel! Look at the view from up here! Here are a few more rides we went on... After those I felt quite sick...so we walked around and played a few carnival games, had lunch at Wimpy and then took a look at some of the old miner's houses. What a day! Straight home to hit the hay!
Vicki Posted Sep 5, 2008, 1:32 pm	Another outing, yay! The children are on holiday from school so we are out and about. Today we visited Origins Centre. It is a museum at the University of Witwatersrand. We visited with Mrs C, her children and all her TV's too! It was a wonderful place to visit, with lots of information about the origin of the human being ( the name of the place gives it away a bit!!) and then stories of the different people of Southern Africa, concentrating on the San People or the Bushmen as they are otherwise known. Here I am looking at a burial of a child. Sitting with the Eland, which was considered to have great symbolic significance in the San beliefs. We went into a hall that had wall hangings all around telling different stories. This is an example of Khoe art, which is different (more geometrical) to the San art which includes animals and humans. The stories, tales and poems about how the tribes suffered under colonization are written on bones and displayed in books and are very sad. Hopefully people will read them and never let history repeat itself. Ooooh, that was tiring, too much information! Very interesting though!
Vicki Posted Sep 5, 2008, 2:00 pm	Today we visited Mrs C to fetch Jubilee Bunny. We were going on holiday and she was coming with us. We all posed for a group photo! Who would have thought, so many TV's in South Africa!
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 10:14 am	We packed our bags, there was great excitement, everyone talking together.... we got on the plane and almost two hours later we were in a town called George, situated on the beautiful Garden Route in the Western Cape. Our first stop was the Wilderness Beach. It was beautiful but unfortunately the water was very cold! Nicholas and Juanita took us to feel the water which was freezing! We decided to sit on the car bonnet and admire the scenery rather. Holiday Harry and I were hiding from the rest!! Hopefully Vicki spotted us... This is the view from the top of the hill. Just hold on tight Juanita please! It is a looong way down! A really pretty place though. George has many Afrikaans speaking people living there. Juanita helped me and I learnt how to say 'Good Morning'... 'Goeie More'! And to ask 'How are you?'.... 'Hoe gaan dit?' and to say 'Good bye'... 'Totsiens'. Hope I can remember this, to teach Jacob. Vicki is Greek so she taught me to say 'Kalimera' (Good Morning) and 'Ti kanis?' (How are you?) and Nicholas had to have a go too, he learns Zulu at school so 'Sawubona' (Good day) and 'Unjani?' is what I must say to Jacob in Zulu. Gee, three languages! That helps towards my mission. Sitting by the toasty fire at Vicki's step sister, Melinda's, house. It's quite chilly outside. I could just doze off right here....
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 10:25 am	Woke up to this beautiful view of the mountains. Watched some of the Olympics on this huge television. We were off to Oudtshoorn for some sightseeing. First stop the swing bridge. Nicholas was shaking the bridge as we walked across and making it swing and Juanita was shouting at him, we were all laughing. Jump Nicholas,jump!! Went to buy ostrich biltong for Vicki's stepfather. Biltong is a dried meat that is eaten all over South Africa as a snack and here it is made from ostrich meat. This meat has become very popular as it is cholesterol free. It tastes very nice too. Oudtshoorn is full of beautiful old buildings built during the ostrich feather boom. The weather in Oudtshoorn was glorious and we drove through the Outeniqua mountains to get back to George, through the clouds. We stopped at a viewing point but it was so cold nobody wanted to venture out of the bag. We were all cuddled up and warm! Abeeku, the teeniest of us all, couldn't see a thing out the top of the bag, so he volunteered to come out and see the view. And what a stunning view! Whew! Pity is was so misty and cloudy, you couldn't really see George in the distance. The dirt road is the old Montague Pass road which was the first road made to cross over the mountains. I decided I should brave the cold and get out and see too.
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 10:31 am	We loaded up the car and together with Vicki's mom and Juanita and Nicholas (the men had to stay behind and work!), Vicki drove us along the Garden Route to the Sunshine Coast and Port Alfred. We drove over many rivers with beautifully designed bridges. The Storms River Bridge is one of the famous ones with it's deep gorge below. The story goes that the Italian architect who designed the bridge commited suicide by jumping off it because when the two sides were lowered they didn't meet exactly in the middle, there was a gap of a few centimetres!! We finally arrived (500km later...) at this most beautiful hotel. It was called the Fish River Sun Here we are getting some fresh air and admiring the fish pond at the entrance of the hotel. This is where we were staying for the next week, yay!! I could manage this luxury, I was sure!!
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 10:36 am	The Fish River Sun is actually 27km away from Port Alfred, so we took the little drive (after yesterday's 500km, it was little!!), and went to Port Alfred to do some sight seeing. The whole area is very picturesque! And Vicki took lots of photos... We drove down the East Bank and the West Bank of the Kowie River, which the town is built around. Hey! The beach!! Stop! We want to get out! I bet this water is freezing too...   Vicki did some fancy photo stitching. This is the beautiful marina. There are five islands with stunning homes on them and people get around by boat. Vicki said she could get used to this life, she wishes she could win the Lotto.
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 10:51 am	What many people don't know about Vicki, is that she is CRAZY about lighthouses! (And windmills but that's another story...). So here we are visiting the Great Fish Point lighthouse. South African Lighthouses. Lighthouse Adventures. Once again, we held on tight (what is it with these people and heights!?) and went up the 58 stairs to the top. This is the shortest lighthouse in South Africa. The guided tour was very interesting, the lighthouse keeper even showed us the original clockwork mechanism that was wound up every four hours. Now everything is automatic and generator driven.   The view from the top. Wow! On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a little town called Bathhurst, which was established by the 1820 settlers who came from Britain to settle in the Cape. Here is the church that was built by them. The whole area has been declared a national monument. Enough for one day.... 'Home James'!
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 10:54 am	Aaaah! A beautiful sunshine day and we get to sit on the beach and feel the sand between our toes / hooves / paws/alien limbs, etc. Holiday Harry pulled out the towel and sunglasses and caught quite a tan! We walked down to the water and looked in the rock pools. The beaches are pristine, white, clean and untouched. Lots of shells around too. Wonder if I could take one with me??   The hotel estate had its own nature reserve and a guide took us for a ride around on a tuc-tuc to see the animals, etc.     Vicki's Mom couldn't help but feed this poor Vervet monkey. It didn't have any hands, poor thing.   After the beach, we came to relax at the pool. The pool was heated, wooohoo!! We all had a lovely swim (and rinsed off the salt and sand!), even Vicki!! She said no splashing, aaaw!
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 11:03 am	Time to say farewell to Fish River Sun and Port Alfred and move on.... we will miss you, what a lovely stay. Vicki told us all to stop moaning about the driving in the car. 'South Africa is a big country guys, if you want to see the places, you have to travel the distances!' That's what she said, and it seems her children know the drill, they said nothing! Anyway today's travelling wasn't too bad, only about 250kms! We stopped along the way and bought pineapples, they were huge! Twelve pineapples for R15! Now that's a bargain!   Another stop in Port Elizabeth to visit the small oceanarium they have there. A bit disappointing but the dolphins were very friendly, they wanted to play with the ball all the time. Vicki says the Ushaka Marine World in Durban is much better to visit. Juanita said there is a wonderful water park there, maybe I will get to visit one day?? And pengiuns... Back on the road again, not far to Cape St Francis. Hooray! The end of the road for today....
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 11:12 am	Off to Jeffreys Bay, one of the famous surfing sights of the world!! Only the weather is a bit miserable and there don't seem to be too many waves to talk of. Not a surfer in sight! And I thought I might get a chance to try the waves!! We had coffee and walked around the shops and then came back to our house which was called Anchorage. St Francis Bay, Port St Francis and Cape St Francis all make up the greater St Francis area. We are staying at Port St Francis, it's real pretty!
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 11:26 am	Another day, another lighthouse! This one is the Cape St Francis Seal Point lighthouse! This time there were 157 stairs and Vicki made it almost half way and turned back. The stairs were too narrow and too steep. She gave the camera to Juanita who carried on up to the top but we came back with Vicki. Here's the view from the top though. The lighthouse is the highest concrete structure in the area. And the narrow stairs... We walked on the rocks beneath the lighthouse and collected some shells. There is a penguin rehabilitation centre next to the lighthouse but it was locked up and we couldn't go in, we saw the penguins through glass windows and a fence. This was the view from our room at our apartment in Port St Francis. Anchorage is made up of various apartments and has a mediterranean look. This was the view from the balcony with the sea and the beach behind us, we could watch the boats come into the harbour. Vicki's stepfather (he met us in Port St Francis) went and bought calamari (chokka) from the fishermen and cooked it for us. It was deeelicious! Here's the harbour which was a short walk away from our apartment. Vicki's stepfather collected mussels off the beach too (yes, you have to have a licence and for collecting shells too!) and they cooked and ate them too. They weren't bad tasting but I prefered the calamari. All this seafood is yummy!
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 11:30 am	Our last day at St Francis, aaaaahhh! We were having a fantastic time. Relaxing on the beach (they had a pool here too but it was not heated, brrr!), taking walks, taking afternoon naps (yeah!), playing cards, games, pranks,etc. Tee hee! With Vicki around, we had to get some sight seeing done too! She found out that we missed visiting a lighthouse in Port Elizabeth (when we went to the oceanarium), and was most upset! SO we decided to visit the Seal Point lighthouse one more time, at night time to see what it looked like in the dark!! Really beautiful! The beam of light can be seen 50km out to see. It won't spot alien ships in the sky!!
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 11:38 am	We packed our bags and back into the car (argh! Oops hope Vicki didn't hear that!), we drove back along the Garden Route to George. Luckily we stopped along the way to stretch our legs and see the sights! First stop was the famous Bloukrans Bridge, apparently the world's highest Bungy Jump!! Wow! Wouldn't that be an adrenalin rush!! Holiday Harry was keen too. Vicki said that there was an age restriction, you have to be over 18. What a disappointment, Juanita was also dying to go and Vicki's Mom said if she was 20 years younger she would have done it too!! Poor Vicki!! We watched a few people jump and my stomach jumped too!! Wooohoo! It was exciting to watch. We drove through the Tsitsikamma Forest and the next stop was Plettenberg Bay. Vicki drove us to Robberg Beach, (she knows the area well because her family used to come to the Beacon Isle Hotel for holidays when she was young), and there we saw a whale!! In the shallow waters rolling around and playing. Not easy to get a photo of though! In the car for the last stretch, remembered not to grumble!! We drove past George onto Mosselbay. I was confused, weren't we going to George?? Another very picturesque town. Vicki decided since it was only 40kms from George, we should get to see it too! And then we discovered why Vicki thought it was a good idea to see Mosselbay..... ANOTHER LIGHTHOUSE!!! That makes it three in one holiday!! And Vicki reminded us it could have been four if we hadn't missed Cape Recife in Port Elizabeth! Juanita said she wasn't getting out the car!! I agreed, before we were volunteered to climb to the top and take photos! Unfortunately (or fortunately!?) we arrived too late and the lighthouse keeper had already locked up. We did get out and walk around a bit, more beautiful vistas... There were Rock dassies everywhere. They lived in the rocks around the lighthouse. Back home in George, we had supper and prepared for the journey back to Johannesburg on Saturday. Vicki was not keen to go back to the 'rat race', she was happy to keep on driving, looking for more lighthouses.... nobody commented!
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 11:44 am	Spring is here! Everyone is happy! Mrs C was coming to fetch Gilbert so he could spend some time with her before leaving South Africa. We all hid in the Brunsfelsia (my idea!), can you see all eight of us? We posed for a farewell pic.... Hope to see you again sometime Gilbert!
Vicki Posted Sep 8, 2008, 11:54 am	Today we visited Museum Africa which is housed in the old fresh produce market. There was a whole section on the prisoners who were tried for treason during the apartheid era. Newspaper cuttings with headlines from days gone by... There was a scene of a shebeen (the old illegal drinking houses) in Sofiatown, an old 'black' suburb from which the blacks were evicted to make way for 'whites'. Luckily all the bottles were empty!! There were also replicas of shanties or 'jondolos' (as they are commonly known). This is how some of the squatters live in the squatter camps. A lot of the people living like this are illegal immigrants coming from neighbouring countries to try and make a living. Signing the register... Vicki went to the tourist information office and there we met Mr Mandela, standing next to the South African flag!
Vicki Posted Sep 11, 2008, 7:48 am	We were all very excited about the special invitation we had received! Threadbear and Eloise were getting married and we had all been invited to the wedding as honoured guests! What we didn't realise was how many guests there would be!! Eloise looked beautiful.... and Threadbear looked so smart too. All the bears waiting to go to the Teddy Bear clinic were there too! We all watched as Eloise came down the isle. You could hear some 'aaahs' coming from the gathered guests. We listened to them say their "I do's" and then Threadbear kissed his bride. They walked back up the isle as man and wife. The bride and groom cut the cake and it was time to PARTY!! We eventually waved them goodbye... MrsC's house was a mess but the party continued into the early hours...
Vicki Posted Sep 12, 2008, 2:09 pm	The time has come to say goodbye! It is always sad especially when you have made good friends. I am on my way to my next adventure in The Netherlands! Purple Bun and Grape Ape are on their way too. Farewell South Africa, hopefully I will be able to return someday... Take care Sputnik, we will miss you...
marinaonline Posted Sep 24, 2008, 11:39 pm	Whow! That was a long trip all the way from South Africa. As you all have seen I had a great time over there. Vicki really gave me the time of my life. I will miss all my friends so much! It's cold in Holland, but there was a warm welcome when I finally arrived at Marina's place. Nick was waiting for me to show me around and introduce me to my new roommates. I'll go and have a good night sleep right now. See you soon! Love, Sputnik
marinaonline Posted Oct 22, 2008, 3:03 pm	Hi there! Here's an update, finally... I go with Marina to the office almost every day. It's hard work, but also much fun. The guys and girls at the office go out for a walk every day during lunchtime to visit Spunky, their favorite donkey, and her friends. I think they like me.  After the walk I need to rest a little. It's a long walk for a tiny, shortlegged person like me!  Love, Sputnik
marinaonline Posted Oct 22, 2008, 3:41 pm	One morning I was singing one of my favourite songs while taking a shower. Marina overheard me and was surprised by my beautiful voice. Marina works at one of the largest radiostations of The Netherlands and because of my beautiful voice she figured I could have my own radioshow for a day. It's called Sputnik On Air! At first I was really confused because of the many buttons. But hey, I'm the big star, so I got my own producer. Don't you think I look like a real DJ?!
MissMelissa Posted Dec 17, 2008, 7:12 pm	Sputnik has made it home! Just in time for Christmas! Thank you everyone that has played a part in his adventure!

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