Posted Feb 7, 2008, 12:53 pm
My friends - the toyvoyagers Yuri Gagarin, Ollie Marmot and Chocolate Moose - ran to me and told me to hurry and come and help them to get Hoppity away from the carrots. And whether you believe it or not, Hoppity only saw me standing there and jumped down next to me. Hoppity is so sweet. She told me, that we can meet again, if I will be a toyvoyager too and after some days of thinking over it, I decided, that it is a very good idea. So here you see my first seconds on a photo with our toyvoyager guests.
I decided to join my friends on that carnival celebration.
In the evening we danced a little and once I jumped into the photo, so you can see, that I had been with them. It was too dark to find me on the other photos. And yes, you see me with some "Berliner", that they like to eat on carnival.
Posted Feb 7, 2008, 12:57 pm
So we got ready with breakfast and jumped into the big rucksack, that Petra always carries around. Happily we were allowed to crawl out of it soon. Sabrina played with us during the drive.
While we were in the museum, we saw many toy trails and other things, that were created by Maerklin.
On our drive home Petra took some more photos with us. You see a photo of the big road works and some other impressions of our drive. The bridge, that you see over the autobahn, is a parkhouse, which is next to the airport of Stuttgart in Leinfelden.
Posted Feb 10, 2008, 6:32 pm
At first we thought, that we could visit the zoo, but then we decided to visit the airport. Everyone was really excited, but unhappily we had no chance to join the family while the had a bus sightseeing tour there.
Hasi, Sabrina's own toyvoyager, took some photos for me, so I hadn't been to sad, that I had to wait in the rucksack in a bus on the parking place.
Now I know, that Frankfurt a.M. has the third biggest airport in Europe after London and Paris. Nearly 70 000 people work at this airport. Due to more than 51 Mio passengers, nearly 480 000 flights and 1.75 mio tons of air cargo this airport belongs to the biggest international airports.
I feel so so excited after I saw so many airplanes. I will fly to the USA soon and I can't tell you, how nervous I am.
Posted Feb 10, 2008, 6:40 pm
Posted Feb 10, 2008, 7:57 pm
It is called "Waldspirale", what means something like wood spiral. It was created between 1998 and 2000 and seems to be like a fairy-tale castle. No window is like the other.
It has space for 105 appartments.
There are lime trees, beeches and maple trees on top of the roof. A playground and a similated river are part of the garden in the inner part of the spiral. In the tower on the southeast corner is a restaurant with cocktailbar and in the opposite tower a café.
Sadly Hundertwasser died in February 2000 short before the building was completed.
Posted Feb 11, 2008, 7:29 pm
We are sure, you will have a wonderful time with your first host missslady in Springfield, VA.
Posted Feb 16, 2008, 7:22 am
Missslady in Springfield, VA, USA
wmphimu
okieinalaska
Mondfalke
pegger
Posted Feb 22, 2008, 2:39 am
Photo: Mister Snow at the post office
Posted Mar 7, 2008, 5:11 pm
Mister Snow has been hanging out with Joey lately – since I’ve been too busy working on website projects.
Here is Mister Snow with Joey - they seem to be getting along very well.
But today – we’re heading to Washington, DC. My mother-in-law has brought us (her grandkids, my husband and I) tickets to see Peter and the Wolf at the Kennedy Center.
But first breakfast at Bob Evans
I think this is Mister Snow first time at Bob Evans. Hmmm breakfast --- yummy!
Off to the Kennedy Center.
Mister Snow checking out the view (background Georgetown)
I believe Mister Snow had a lovely time at the Kennedy Center.
Stay tune for our next outing. I think we're heading to Red Lobster
Posted Mar 25, 2008, 5:26 pm
Posted Mar 25, 2008, 10:02 pm
Posted Mar 29, 2008, 11:48 pm
Here I am in front of the Washington Monument on the way to the Cherry Blossoms:
And here you can see the trees and the crowds:
Here I am in front of one of the beautiful trees:
And here I am along the Tidal Basin with the Jefferson Memorial in the background!
Posted Apr 10, 2008, 3:21 am
Then, I went to see which files were ready to go
Next I tried to help assemble the returns...
...but playing hide-and-go-seek with the bindings was much more fun! Then we filed the folders that we were working on
After a hard day of work, Mara needed to do some grocery shopping. I thought I could help with that too. Her grocery store is much different than the stores at home. Look at the produce section!
Here I am helping to weigh the squash for dinner tonight:
Of course, I couldn't resist a little romp through one of the frozen food cases!
Posted Apr 21, 2008, 2:59 am
Then Bloem (who arrived yesterday, just in time for Passover!), Plaid Moose, and I helped to set up for the seder. Here I am putting horseradish on the seder plate:
Next the three of us read from the Haggadah, where we learned about the Passover story & symbols:
And I got to taste matzah too!
Posted Apr 26, 2008, 9:09 pm
I learned that the dogwood is the state tree and state flower of Virginia! They are really pretty - Mara has them in her front & back yard, and they are in bloom everywhere!
Today we decided to see a little of the history that is nearby. I learned that this was a really important area in the Civil War - there are historical markers everywhere we go. So today we went to Fairfax Station. This is where Clara Barton helped the wounded soldiers after the Second Battle of Manassas. Countless Union soldiers guarded the Orange and Alexandria Railroad stop against raids by JEB Stuart and JS Mosby. It's a museum now all about trains & Civil War history.
Then we went up the road to St. Mary's Church. This is where Clara Barton nursed the soldiers back to health. I also learned that Clara Barton went on to start the American Red Cross! Here I am in front of the plaque and the church!
Posted May 1, 2008, 7:24 pm
It's Summy! She was visiting Florida, and is now going to spend a few weeks with us! We were all excited to see her!
Posted May 2, 2008, 4:22 pm
Posted May 16, 2008, 9:15 pm
Alas, he missed both the ice sculptures here and the snow, it's all gone now. But while I can't get him to Iceland, next year I may be able to get him to Antartica if he comes back for a visit. My husband will be on an ice breaker for the US Coast Guard and that is one of their planned destinations right now. : ) I don't know if they will stop in New Zealand or Australia on the way but they might.
Posted May 16, 2008, 9:17 pm
Posted May 16, 2008, 10:01 pm
Posted Jul 18, 2008, 12:18 am
Also a photo of him with my dd in front of the outdoor amphitheater in Clinton, OK.
He also went to the OKC zoo with us but it was soooo hot he stayed in the backpack and we didn't get a pic of him as we were worried he would melt.
We are back in Alaska now and will get a few more shots of him around town and then send him on his way. : )
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 8:41 am
Here is Mr Snow enjoying all the fun.
Posted May 9, 2009, 5:24 pm
Finally I arrived in Hamburg about two weeks ago. I met a TV called Finja here and she is a little bear. Really short after my arrival we made our first trip to a forrest called "Sachsenwald". It was really beautiful because everywhere we could see the first signs of spring and everything was green again. We enjoyed some time next to a lake.
Then we walked through the forrest until we came to a place called "Garden of Butterflies" but they have a lot more to see there. First we went into a glasshouse were we saw a chameleon and a lot of beautiful fish.
After this we finally went into the house were the butterflies were living. It was really warm inside and a lot of butterflies were flying around. The most beautiful was a big blue one but he never sat still so we couldn't make a photo with him. It was generally hard to get a photo with a butterfly so we took some photos with the nice plants and you can see the butterflies more in the background.
But we were lucky and this beautiful butterfly sat still quite long.
Around the houses there was a great garden and we spent some time with relaxing there.
The last thing we watched before we went home were these rabbits. They enjoyed the sun like we did.
When we arrived home we were really tired and went to bed early.
Jenny told me that the harbour of Hamburg celebrates its birthday soon and perhaps we will go there. It would be very beautiful to see a lot of ships. I am a bit sad that Finja couldn't go with us because she has to leave for Hong Kong.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted May 9, 2009, 6:22 pm
Today we went to the "Hafengeburtstag". In Hamburg they celebrate the birtday of the harbour every year. This year it is the 820th birthday. We saw many beautiful ships and there were many people. When we arrived at the harbour I could only see ships, they were everywhere
We then went down to see the Russian ship "MIR". Jenny likes it very much. Right next to the MIR was a German ship.
On our way back over the bridge we saw a fire ship and a very old sailing boat.
Everywhere on the water were small boats cruising.
We also saw the "Rickmer Rickmers". It is an old sailing ship which is always in the harbour of Hamburg and used as a museum. But once a year it makes a short trip to prove that it is still able to sail around the world.
After this we went down to the water again and we saw the theater of the musical "The Lion King".
On our way through the harbour we saw a lot more ships. Some small boats which are used to carry tourists through the harbour, another Russian sailing ship, a warship and a cruiser.
On our way home we walked through Hamburg and visited some more sights. First we came along the St. Michaelis church. In Hamburg they just call it "Michel" and it is the main church there. Unfortunately they are working on it right now and we could just see the tower.
We then came to the St.Nikolai church. It was destroyed in the Second World War and just the tower remains today. In the past it was one of the main churches in the old Hamburg but its importance was fading also before the war.
The last thing we visisted was the town hall of Hamburg. The photos are not so good because the light from the sun disturbed the camera.
After all this walking around in Hamburg I am very tired but I think I stay up because there will be fireworks in the harbour and perhaps we will go there or see it from the window. But I don't think we will take pictures, just enjoy the lights.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jun 14, 2009, 9:43 pm
Last week Jenny took me on a trip to Würzburg and Czech Republic with her. She went there with university to visit some factories which produces food or drink.
We started in Würzburg, a city in South Germany. We went there by train and we had some fun in the train. I could look out of the window for the main part of the trip.
When we arrived in Würzburg we first brought our luggage to the youth hostel.
After that we went to the inner city. We went over a great bridge. The river is called "Main" and there were many statues on the bridge and really many people.
After we looked at the strange orange and red church wen went back to the Main and walked along the bank. We had a great view to the castle from there.
We also had a great view over Würzburg from there.
After a while we came back to the bridge and could have a look up from the river at it.
We had a short break then and after it we walked up to the castle. It was a really steep way. They grow wine along the way as it seems to be a good place for wine there.
We also saw some cute little flowers along the way.
After a while we arrived up at the castle and we had a great view over Würzburg.
Of course we had a look at the castle as well. It was great and I couldn't imagine that any attacker will be able to get in.
Posted Jun 14, 2009, 9:53 pm
The institute was a bit higher than the town and so we had a great look over it.
In a small pool we also discovered a frog.
After we have seen all in the institute we went back to Würzburg and fetched the luggage to go the Czech Republic by train.
Posted Jun 14, 2009, 10:06 pm
We visited the bruery from Budweis in Ceske Budejovice and it was really interesting.
From there we continued to Jindrichuv Hradec.
Posted Jun 14, 2009, 10:15 pm
We went to the hostel from the station and we had to walk about half an hour. After we left our luggage in the hostel we went to explore the little town. We came along this church and arrived at the market place.
They also have a little lake in Jindrichuv Hradec.
Our hostel was also really lovely in a little lane and we had this beautiful lantern in front of our room.
The next day we went to visit a producer of spirituoses but we weren't allowed to take photos there. We had a little time left afterwards and had a short look at the castle.
I would have liked to have a closer look but we had to fetch our train to Prague. We arrived in Prague in the evening and the next morning we took again a train to go to Kladno, not far from Prague.
Posted Jun 14, 2009, 10:24 pm
Kladno also has one of these small train stations with no platforms. On this photo it is much better seen than on the one from Jindrichuv Hradec.
From Kladno we went back to Prague to visit two more stations on that day.
Posted Jun 14, 2009, 11:03 pm
After the university we went to a very small bruery called "U Fleku" in the centre of Prague. They make a dark beer only for their own pub. The building is very beautiful and the inner part is really traditional.
Finally we had time to have a look at Prague. We went through some narrow lanes.
We went to some central place then with the Teynchurch and we saw the famous astronomical clock. It was really fascinationg but I couldn't make out what it is showing me.
We were really tired after that day and went to bed quite early. The next day we had some time left before we had to go to the train again and we visited Chlarles bridge. First we saw a statue of Charles IV. I think.
Then we had a look to the Prague Castle over the Vltava river. I was very sad that we couldn't visit it but it is very big and we would have needed much time.
We went on the bridge then and had a great look along the river.
We then had to go back to the main station of Prague to fetch our bags and take the underground to a smaller sation where our train was leaving.
So finally our way back has started.
Posted Jun 14, 2009, 11:11 pm
We saw the Reichstag building where the German government has its place and we saw the TV tower.
And of course we were able to see the main station of Berlin.
As they are renovating the track between Hamburg and Berlin we get some sweets as presents in the train.
Some time later we arrived in Hamburg after a really tough week but we had a lot of fun and saw many interesting things!
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jun 14, 2009, 11:25 pm
Today a new TV arrived here. He is called Sweetsy and he is really cute. Perhaps I hope we will get friends!
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jun 15, 2009, 1:01 am
We miss Mr Snow but it looks like he is quite the world traveler and having a great time. Happy Journeying, Mr. Snow!
Posted Jul 5, 2009, 10:33 pm
The last days were really hot and I am very glad that I didn't melt in the sun. Today it was a bit colder, about 25 °C and we went out in the garden. First we just enjoyed the sun and the fantastic blue sky.
Jenny brought some books in the garden that we could read and we decided to read some fairy tales. One was about a blanket out of stars. A grandma made a blanket for her grandson out of star-shaped parts. In a desert a bad man lived and he had 12 camels who have to stand around him and cast shadow for him. He had a magic carpet. But the camels grew very hungry and so they ate most of the magic carpet. The bad man needed a new one and so he flew with the rest of the carpet to the grandma with her sun and stole the blanket. When he was back the camels decided to take the blanket and fly from him. So the camels ended at the house of the grandma and the grandson got his blanket back.
Afterwards we were very curious what book Jenny reads at the moment.
Finally we ran through the garden and found this nice little yellow flower.
Jenny told me that she will go to the Black Forrest in South Germany at the beginning of August and she would be very happy to take me with her. But I am not sure about my future plans and so we will see...
Bye.
MisterSnow
Posted Aug 14, 2009, 1:49 am
Today I went to the lake Alster in Hamburg. It is right in the city centre and has a great fountain.
Here we look along the shore of the lake to the town hall and some shops.
We went a bit further and then we had a really great view to the town hall and the St. Nikolai church.
On August the 6th we will go to the summer skijumping in Hinterzarten in the Black Forrest. I hope we have a great time there.
Bye,
MisterSnow
Posted Aug 14, 2009, 2:21 am
Now I have finally been to Hinterzarten in the Black Forest. The Black Forest is an area in the south-east of Germany and it is called "black" because of the conifers, which appear dark on the mountains.
We went to Hinterzarten because there was a summer competition of skijumpers. It sounded strange to me but we had a lot of fun.
This is the skijumping hill in Hinterzarten, if you look close perhaps you can find the skijumper in the air (on the first photo).
They have some smaller skijumping hills in Hinterzarten, too.
We climbed on the smallest one. You can see it on the left. We weren't allowed to go to the bigger ones. First we just went to the run-out.
Then we went further up and had a look over the run-outs of all the skijumping hills.
Then we came to the place were the skijumpers starts their jump. It was really high and I didn't think that I am brave enough to go down there on skis!
But we had a great view over the surrounding area from this place.
We also had a walk through the town of Hinterzarten. It is really small but rather beautiful.
It has a lot of nature and we were able to see the skijumping hill from the meadow.
Before we started home we took a last photo at the train station.
Jenny just told me that we will go to Oberwiesenthal next weekend to see some more skijumping. I am really excited about it and hope to tell you soon!
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Sep 5, 2009, 2:31 pm
We had some rest in Hamburg and tomorrow we will go to Oberwiesenthal. I am really curious about it.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Sep 5, 2009, 2:54 pm
Finally we were on our way to Oberwiesenthal. We met another TV who was hosted by a friend of Jenny who was going with us. This time we travelled by car and we had a lot of fun doing it. Sometimes it was like a little adventure.
In our room we had a great pink bed, it was a bit too pink for me.
The next day we went to the skijumping hill. It was smaller than the one in Hinterzarten and there were just some fans. But the weather was great and we had a great day in the sun.
Oberwiesenthal is right next to the Czech Republic and we wanted to have a short trip there. On our way we passed this sign from Oberwiesenthal.
This is the view from Oberwiesenthal into the Czech Republic.
Then we went over and took some more photos. There were no people to be seen but I thing they were all at home as it was evening and getting dark.
Then we went back to Germany.
The area around the border was really nice and so we took some more photos there.
The next day we had to leave Oberwiesenthal but we didn't went home the fastest way. We visited two more skijumping hills which were roughly on our way.
Posted Sep 5, 2009, 3:02 pm
Posted Sep 5, 2009, 3:06 pm
After this we finally went back to Hamburg. I was really tired and we spent a really long time in the car by then.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Dec 21, 2009, 9:29 pm
Today we went to see some animals in a zoo called "Wildpark Schwarze Berge". They have a lot of animals there and it is in a beautiful forest.
First we saw some goats.
Then we came along some Highland Cattle. They were really impressiv.
Then we saw some deer for the first time and also some sheep.
They also have an area in the park, where you have no fences and the deer can run more freely.
In the middle of the park was a tower and we had a great view over the forest.
On the next photo you can find some racoons on the tree, they were sleeping when we came along.
The last animals we have seen were some nutria and the wolves.
After that it became dark and we had to leave the park. The last photos weren't good because of the darkness, too. But it was very great!
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Dec 21, 2009, 10:12 pm
I was really excited this morning. Jenny told me we would go on a ship and see more of the harbour. We were a little late and so we made the first photos already on the ferry. Here is the Mississippi boat from the harbour.
On the way we saw many ships, the docks and many cranes.
We were also able to see the Köhlbrandbrücke. It crosses a part of the river "Elbe" called Köhlbrand and so became its name.
The ferry stopped at the fish market and we saw the the market hall from the fish market in Hamburg. Every sunday there is a market in the early market but today there is not only sold fish but everything you would imagine on a market.
On the right side you can see also the market hall, on the right side some other building.
Then we went on through the harbour.
Then we arrived at the harbour museum Övelgönne. There we left the ferry and had a first look at the old ships. On one of them some men were working and making much smoke.
We went to the beach then. It was very wet because of rain the last days.
Övelgönne is not far from the Elbchaussee, the street were all the rich persons in Hamburg live, and so the houses were really nice.
We also saw an old anchor in the harbour.
Then we walked back to the ferry station and had a look at some cranes and the old ships again.
We went down to the pontoon, the floor swimming on the water, and had a look around there until the ferry ariived.
On the next pictures you can see our ferry arriving.
Then we started our trip back to the harbour.
It was really great to see the harbour arriving and to have a great view at all the church towers from Hamburg.
We arrived safely at the harbour then. On the way home Jenny told me that we will go to Austria the weekend before christmas.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Dec 21, 2009, 10:52 pm
We are back from Austria since this morning. We had a lot of fun there. But first we had to get there and we had to start really early in the night from Thursday to Friday. It was so early that nobody was at the main station from Hamburg.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at Schladming. Our train was late, originally we should have arrived at 2 o'clock. From Schladming we had to take the bus.
We had to wait 30 minutes for the bus and so we had time to take some photos.
Then the bus came and we went on to "Ramsau am Dachstein". We were really tired this evening and went to bed early. The next morning we went to the skijumping hill because Jenny came here to watch the Nordic Combined worldcup. It is called nordic combined because the athletes have to do both nordic disciplines, skijumping and cross-country skiing. First there was the skijumping competition.
After the jumping we had some time left after the skijumping and went back to our room. There we took some photos from the surroundings.
We also tried to build a snowman but we only had powder snow and this was the best we could do...
Then we went to the stadium where the cross-country skiing took place. You can see some of the athletes when you look at the stadium and at the hill in the background.
After the race we could take some photos from the start/finish area. You can see the skijumping hill in the background on the second photo.
On our way back to the room we walked a bit through the village and found these reindeers.
It has been snowing the whole day and it was really beautiful in the evening.
The next day we had sunshine and a beautiful blue sky but it was still cold with about -15 °C. After the skijumping we went again to the stadium.
Because of the sunshine we were able to see the great mountains this day.
After the cross-country skiing we had to go to the bus and on the way home. It was a really great time and we had so much snow. It felt very good to me to see some snow again!
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Dec 27, 2009, 12:45 am
When we came back from Austria we found a lot of snow in Hamburg. Jenny told me that snow is really unusual in Hamburg before christmas and in general. When we went out to do some final christmas shopping we took time to make some photos. First we had a stop at the inner Alster, the lake in the middle of Hamburg. There was even ice on the water. Jenny told me that in former days there have been a big party on the Alster in winter when the ice was strong enough. But nowadays there is seldom ice on it and it had not been strong enough for 12 years.
We went along the Alster to the Jungfernstieg. It is the harbour of the Alster-ships. We saw some birds there.
They had decorated the pier with some christmas trees and they were all covered with snow.
Every year at christmas time some of the boats were decorated with pictures from fairy tales. It was really beautiful.
"Mother Holle"
"Snow White"
We didn't recognise the title of this fairytale.
"Rapunzel"
"The Star Money"
In the middle of the inner Alster was this great chtistmas tree.
When we went back we had a great view to the snow covered town hall.
Although the water must have been really cold there were many birds inside and at the edge of the ice.
We went into the courtcard of the town hall, it was really nice with all the snow.
Jenny decided that we have some time left and so we went to the old St. Nikolai-church. On our way we came across a bridge with a statue of St. Ansgar.
Then we arrived at the St. Nikolai-church.
It is really old but it has been destroyed in World War II and they keep it as a memorial nowadays. I think it must have been really great.
All the free space you can see on the pictures have been the central part of the church.
This was a side entrance to the church, you can look through the open doors.
In front of the church was this sign with some of the history of the church. It says:
Saint Nikolai Memorial
For the Victims of War and Persecution 1933 - 1945
Built 1845-74 from plans by Sir Gilbert Scott, London
Destroyed 1943 during the firestorm "Operation Gomorrha"
16.12.1987 foundation of the Saint Nikolai Memorial Society
We took some last pictures in front of the church.
Then we went home and had some hot tea to get warm again.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Dec 27, 2009, 1:03 am
Today we have the 24th of December and still there is plenty of snow in Hamburg. I am really happy to have a white christmas!
In the afternoon we went out to build a snowman. It was really great to have all the snow around. The snowman we built was really large compared to me but I think in comparison to many other snowmans it could be considered as small.
We didn't find a typical hat for him and so we decided to give him a cap from Jenny. It looked really funny.
I was even allowed to sit on his head.
He was so strong, he could lift me up so easily.
We went in again then and decorated the christmas tree.
We put all the stuff on the tree that we could find but we dicided not to hang any lametta on the tree this year. It looked really beautiful when it was ready.
There were really few present under the tree because Jenny's family consists only of four persons and they don't make many presents anymore.
We had a really peaceful christmas evening and Jenny told me that we will be travelling again soon.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jan 6, 2010, 10:25 pm
As promised we started on another trip right after christmas. It wasn't very surprising that we went to another skijumping competition but this one was special as we went to Oberstdorf. Every year the first competition of the Four Hills Tournament takes place there. We went there by train over night and we tried to sleep until we were in Munich. There we changed trains into this one directly to Oberstdorf.
Oberstdorf is the most south German town and it looks really nice. We just brought our bags to the room and then we started to the skijumping hill.
In the sky was this sky diver. It must be great to fly between the mountains.
In the centre of Oberstdorf was this church.
Then we walked ahead towards the skijumping hill.
Finally we arrived there and we had some time until the competition starts. On the right were some smaller skijumping hills but the jumpers will use the one on the left.
In Oberstdorf you stand on some kind of fence and you have a river under your feet. It is really fascinating.
We took some more pictures of the hill, first when it was still light and later when it was dark.
During the competition we watched the jumpers and didn't find time to take more photos. On the day after the competition we went on to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jan 6, 2010, 10:43 pm
After we spent a night at a friends house we arrived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We had a great party in the night and I hope you all have a Happy New Year 2010. We took the first photos right at the train station.
Then we walked to the skijumping hill. It was still early and so there weren't many people there. We were eager to watch the second competition of the Four Hills Tournament.
Jenny supports the skijumpers from Kazakhstan and so we brought the flag with us.
We used the time to have a look round in the stadium.
During the competition we could see some skijumpers. This is Pascal Egloff from Switzerland. He is still quite young.
The next jumper who stopped in front of us was Andreas Küttel. He is from Switzerland, too. And he is the actual skijumping worldchampion.
Then we could see Janne Ahonen from Finland. He was world champion and he won the Four Hills Tournament five times!
After the competition we went back to the train station. We came along the town hall of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
We also saw some nice paintings on the walls of a house.
Before we took the train to travel on we had a stop in a cafe and had some ice. It looked really similar to me, don't you think?
This was my time in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and I am really curious what is coming next.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jan 6, 2010, 11:16 pm
After some more time in a train we arrived in Innsbruck in Austria. Here we watched the third competition of the Four Hills Tournament. We were really tired and so we had a night of good sleep and then we went to the Bergisel-stadium. We had to go there by tram.
Then we arrived at the Bergisel. The skijumping hill was a bit different than the other ones I have seen as it went up again at the end.
We had some time left until the qulification began and so we had a walk around. First we saw the hill from a place higher.
From the Bergisel we had a great view over Innsbruck.
Here you can see the Wiltener Basilika with the graveyard. A famous thing of the skijumping hill in Innsbruck is that the skijumpers can see the graveyard when they start their jumps.
We walked back to our place then, it was at the deepest point of the stadium.
On one of the pictures you can see the green part of the stadium. Jenny decided to climb up there to take some photos and had a great view.
We walked really near to the skijumping hill.
Back to our place we waited for the competition to begin.
You can't read it on the monitor in the back but they cancelled the qualification for this day after there was too much wind.
It also began to snow as you can see on this photo.
It was sag that there was no qualification but so we had some time to walk around in Innsbruck.
We walked along this cute sign for an animal doctor.
We walked along the river "Inn" for some time.
Then we saw this building called "Ottoburg".
Innsbruck has many really nice houses and churches in the old part of the city.
We had a little rest and some pizza in a restaurant. It was really great to watch the people through the windows.
Then we continued to walk through Innsbruck.
Then we went back home and hoped for a great competition on the next day.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jan 6, 2010, 11:28 pm
We had a great morning in Innsbruck.
Then we went to the skijumping hill again.
This day there were really many people around. Later they told us that they sold every ticket.
During the competition we had some cookies.
As we were in Austria most of the people had Austrian flags with them.
They were really glad because Gregor Schlierenzauer won the competition and he is not only from Austria but from really near Innsbruck. You can see him on the photo with the light blue hat.
Before we went home we took some last photos at the train station.
There is a fourth competition in Bischofshofen in the Four Hills Tournament but Jenny had to go back to university and so we had to go back to Hamburg.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jan 11, 2010, 9:44 pm
Today we watched the fourth competition of the Four Hills Tournament. After this competition we will know the winner of the tournament and the competition. Until today Andreas Kofler was first, the one who won in Oberstdorf.
The competition took place in Bischofshofen in Austria and so there were mostly Austrian flags.
Then the competition began and we saw many jumpers, this one is Jernej Damjan from Slovenia.
Between the two jumps they showed the skijumping hill of Bischofshofen.
And then it was the turn of Andreas Kofler.
He did a pretty good jump and so he won the Four Hills Tournament. He was very happy and so were most of the people with him.
This is Thomas Morgenstern, he won the competition of the day. He was also very happy because he didn't win for a long time.
We also watched the price giving ceremony.
At the weekend I will go on to another host. I had a great time in Hamburg but now I am curious about new adventures!
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jan 11, 2010, 11:31 pm
I just wanted to give a short notice that I have arrived safe and sound. I am looking forward already to tell you soon about my first adventure.
Until then, do it well.
Your Mister Snow.
Posted Jan 14, 2010, 7:48 pm
Hello Mummy!
Now I am with Pegger on the road and I wanna tell you what my experiences in Goslar were. First I have to tell you, that the original plan was to go to Braunlage to visiting there a women skijumping competition. But it was delayed because of bad weather conditions this weekend
and so we end up in Goslar.
First we saw the Town-hall of Goslar. It´s gothic town-hall. In front of the town-hall is the Market Square and the Evangelical Marketchurch of St. Cosmas and Damian.
Here I look around the market place.
We decided to walk a little bit to discover the city. Therefore we discover a lot timbered houses
Some other views...
Oh, I just found exiting those big icicles
And of course we saw a lot of snow...
In background you can see snowmen
inspired of that Pegger built me a little friend
And now I will make a stopp and tell you later more about my day in Goslar.
Bye Bye!!
Mister Snow
Posted Apr 28, 2010, 7:49 am
Hey!
And now I tell you what I have seen in Goslar. Besides the beautiful old town. After a long walk - because we had just missed the bus - we arrived at the Rammelsberg Mining Museum.
The ore mining in 1988 after more than 1000 years continuos ore mining set. Since 1992 the Exhibition Mine Rammelsberg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
There, we looked first at one and then made with a lead. We were told a lot that I do not know everything. After the tour we looked at the other exhibition spaces.
I hope the pictures give a good insight on everything I've seen on this great day!
The mine museum from the outside.
The end of the long way up to the museum.
In the first exhibition space.
In the mininghalls, where the mining men change their everyday clothes to their work clothes and where they took their well deserved showerafter work! Their clothing was pulled to the ceiling!
In the tunnel
The other exhibition spaces!
Waiting on the bus outside.
Inside the bus back to the city!
Posted Apr 28, 2010, 7:54 am
Our train home!
And at the end of the day - with lots of train delays and long waiting time - I reached my "new" home town Göttingen!
That's it now by me. But I'll report back, promise. Bye until then!
Posted Apr 28, 2010, 11:26 am
I am a Babysitter :-)
Today we - that´s Willy W., Eebee, Slimak and Matylda - have to take care of Peggers little niece. The little girl is so sweet. But also very smart and I have no picture with her :-(.
For that I got to know Jule and Standforth.
The fact that the two rabbits.
We have also taken Pitty splash. Pitty is a puppet character from the DDR - TV . Actually he has a girlfriend called Schnatterinchen, but it was unfortunately not there.
See you soon!
Take care!!!!
Posted May 20, 2010, 12:16 pm
Today a wall was stroked with combined forces in Peggers new room in a yellow tone.
She has exchanged only a few days ago her room with one of her occupants and that´s why now the colour change on the wall!
Posted May 20, 2010, 12:34 pm
If already something happens on a dull day, one has of course no camera, besides :-(
I sat with the other in the window and we observed the street. It did not happen a lot, because it rained once again. Indeed, however, there came action on the street.
We were woken up from our dozing by a bang!
A look from the window showed us that somebody with get out for a parking place had driven up!! A young girl ran hectically calling up through the street.
Then some minutes later the police also appeared! We observed everything with interest, but as said: Unfortunately, Pegger did not have here her camera or the accumulator was empty. But, at least, the day, so however, was saved anyhow!
Posted May 24, 2010, 6:38 pm
Hello!
Humph what I should tell. Today we have everybody with Pegger her suitcase for theirs travels to Slovenia packed.
When she noted finally that her suitcase was so full that hardly a little bit purely fitted she did not decide us to take everybody. so we selected by count out who was allowed with on the trip to Slovenia.
Oh yes, the fact that it gives no pictures from pack of the suitcase is although a problem of Slovenia trip, because the SD Card were broken :-(.
Bye
Posted May 24, 2010, 6:38 pm
Hello!
Humph what I should tell. Today we have everybody with Pegger her suitcase for theirs travels to Slovenia packed.
When she noted finally that her suitcase was so full that hardly a little bit purely fitted she did not decide us to take everybody. so we selected by count out who was allowed with on the trip to Slovenia.
Oh yes, the fact that it gives no pictures from pack of the suitcase is although a problem of Slovenia trip, because the SD Card were broken :-(.
Bye
Posted Jun 3, 2010, 8:10 pm
Hello!
Now I wanna tell you from my trip to Slovenia!!! Pegger have manage to show you some pictures from the stations of the trip by train!!!
We (Willy W. and me (and of course pegger)) start the journey in Osterode, where her boyfriend lives.
Some facts about Osterode:
Osterode am Harz often simply called Osterode, is a town in south-eastern Niedersachsen on the south-western edge of the Harz mountains. It is the seat of government of the district of Osterode. The town is twinned with Scarborough, in the United Kingdom. Osterode is located on the German Framework Road.
The Söse river flows through the town from the Sösetalsperre reservoir lake about 5 km upstream. The dam was built in 1931 and has a capacity of 25.5 millionen m³. The Harzwasserwerke water company pipes drinking water as far away as Bremen.
Posted Jun 3, 2010, 8:22 pm
On the evening brought us Pegger boyfriend to the train station to Northeim. There we waited for the train to Hanover, where we would meet the others.
On the train - a metronome - Pegger told us something about the next train journey.
Here you see a card:
And here the travelplan:
The plan and card starts in Hamburg, because the first friend of pegger (Mondfalke) starts the journey there.
Posted Jun 3, 2010, 8:36 pm
Hannover!!!!
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, in their dignities as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg (which title was later called the Elector of Hanover at the end of the historical period known as Early Modern Europe).
After the Napoleonic Wars ended, the Electorate was enlarged and made into the capital of the Kingdom of Hanover.
With a population of 522,944 the city is a major center of northern Germany, known for hosting annual commercial expositions such as the Hanover Fair and the CeBIT.
Every year Hanover hosts the Schützenfest Hannover, the world's largest Marksmen's Fun Fair, and the Oktoberfest Hannover, which is the second largest Oktoberfest in the world.
In 2000, Hanover hosted the world fair Expo 2000.
The Hanover fairground, due to numerous extensions, especially for the Expo 2000, is the largest in the world. Hanover also has regional importance because of its universities and medical school, its international airport, and its large zoo.
The city is also a major crossing point of railway lines and highways, connecting European main lines in east-west-direction (Berlin - Ruhr area) and north-south-direction (Hamburg - Munich et al.).
Here we waited to enter first the arrival of two other friends, and to the night train from Hamburg. This was even on time, others only on other track. Typical German railway.
And typically we had from then a delay, as we stood over an hour just inside the station of Hanover. Since we could not sleep, we walked through the train and met two or three men with whom we talked.
They thought we were crazy, of course, that we take this trip from Germany to Slovenia to watch skiflying there. Of course, they also found it crazy that we pressed our thumbs for Kazakh jumpers.
Posted Jun 3, 2010, 8:43 pm
During the night - with not much sleep- we go by train from Hanover to Munich. There we arrive in the morning and have breakfast at Mc Donalds.
Some facts about Munich:
Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg. There are approximately 1.35 million people living within city limits, while the Munich Metropolitan Area (including the urban areas of Augsburg, Ingolstadt, Rosenheim and Landshut) is home to over 5 million people.
The city's motto is "München mag Dich" (Munich Loves You). Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" (Cosmopolitan city with a heart). Its native name, München, is derived from the Old German word Mönche, meaning "Monks". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat of arms. Black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the city's official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian.
The city is an inspiring mix of historic buildings and impressive architecture, since Munich reconstructed the ruins of their historic buildings but also created new landmarks of architecture.
Posted Jun 3, 2010, 8:56 pm
Yeah we arrive the next country!!!
Austria!!!
Here you see the railstation from Bischofshofen.
From there you can see in the distance the skijumpinghills. The final competition of the traditional Four Hills Tournament in ski jumping is held annually at the Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze in Bischofshofen around 6 January.
Bischofshofen is located in the Salzach valley in the Alps, in the District of Pongau, in Salzburgerland, Austria.
The city is an important railway hub and lies at the Tauernautobahn, a highway route through the Alps.
Posted Jun 6, 2010, 7:01 pm
Our next and last train stop was Jesenice in Slovenia. From there we drive with a bus to Kransja Gora, where we will stay the next days to have a lot of party and watching Skiflying in Planica :-)
Here some facts about Jesenice:
Jesenice is a town and a municipality in Slovenia, on the Slovene side of the Karavanke mountain range, bordering Austria to the north. It is known as the home of Slovenia's largest steel company, Acroni, and the hockey club it sponsors, Acroni Jesenice. The town name derives from the ash tree (Slovene: jêsen), which once grew in abundance locally. The history of Jesenice is tightly knit with that of its ironworks and metallurgy industries, which have until recently been the driving force of the town's development in practically all areas.
Here the trainstation:
and an old train:
Posted Jun 6, 2010, 7:09 pm
Kranjska Gora is a town and a municipality on the Sava Dolinka river in the Upper Carniola region of north-west Slovenia, close to the Austrian and Italian borders.
Kranjska Gora is mostly famous as a winter sports town, being situated in the Julian Alps. It annually hosts an event in the Alpine skiing World Cup series, also known as the Vitranc Cup for the slalom and giant slalom events. The well-known ski jumping hill Planica is located in the nearby Tamar valley.
One of the hotels...
Posted Jun 6, 2010, 7:19 pm
Here some impression from the skiflying hills!!! It was a great atmosphere there and everybody cheers for every jumper. It was so fantastic...
Here you see the jumpinghill. It´s the biggest one in world.
The first ski jumping hill was constructed before 1930 at the slope of the Ponca mountain. In 1934, Stanko Bloudek constructed a larger hill, known as the Bloudek Giant. The first ski jump over 100 metres was achieved here in 1936 by the Austrian Sepp Bradl. This was, at the time, the biggest jumping hill in the world, sometimes called "the mother of all jumping hills".
In 1969, a new K-185 hill, Letalnica Bratov Gorišek, was constructed by Lado and Janez Gorišek. Since 1985, when Matti Nykänen flew 191 metres, new world records have always been set at Planica rather than any other ski jumping hill (e.g. Kulm in Austria, Harrachov in Czech Republic, Oberstdorf in Germany or Vikersundbakken in Norway).
In 1994, Toni Nieminen of Finland was the first ski jumper in history to jump over 200 metres. The current world record stands at 239 metres, set by Bjørn Einar Romøren of Norway in 2005.
The result of the individul competition from this day was, that Simon Ammann from Suisse won this day. Second was Gregor Schlierenzauer from Austria and Anders Jacobsen was thrid!!!
Posted Dec 26, 2010, 3:10 pm
My last host was going to a Postcrossing-Meeting in Hamburg (www.postcrossing.com) and we met my old host Jenny there. So I will spend some time in Hamburg again and I am really happy about it. I am also very curious what new things this city can show me!
But now first back to the Postcrossing-Meeting. Of course I took part and also some photos. These meetings consists usually of some sightsseeing und then some eating andf drinking with a lot of postcard-writing and even more postcard-signing!
As I had seen a lot of the sights in Hamburg already we didn't take photos everywhere but this time we climbed on the St. Michaelis-church and had a really great view around!
Here you can see the TV Tower in the distance.
Where you can see the three church-towers is the city center of Hamburg.
And here you can see the "Speicherstadt", a large district with lots of warehouses. It was founded on oak-piles and it is a heritage-site since 1991.
Oh, here you can see the football stadium of the FC St. Pauli and in front of it the "Heiligengeistfeld". Many things are held there, for example the public viewings for the football world championships 2006 and 2010 and the DOM. DOM is the fair which is three times a year. Jenny told me that we can perhaps go there!
A view over the harbour.
The old St. Nikolai-church.
The lake Alster in the city center in Hamburg.
After the St. Michaelis-church, also called Michel here, we went on to the harbour.
And from there further to the restaurant. I was very hungry by then and a bit cold as it was a very windy day!
And there were so many postcards, I couldn't believe it! I liked this one because it is different from the usual postcard! We had another TV with us called Panda_Lilo, you can see here on the photos.
These were the cards Jenny wrote for the meeting!
And here you can see all the beautiful pictures on the cards.
After the meeting we put all the cards together on a table and I can't say how all these cards could be signed in only one afternoon!
I hope I can tell you more soon!
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Dec 26, 2010, 3:26 pm
As I told you in my last entry we went to have a look at the DOM, a huge fair on the Heiligengeistfeld. But before we even got on the underground we saw this great evening sky.
Then we took the underground and left at the station Feldstrasse. From there we came directly at the DOM and we had to walk past the Millerntor stadium, the home of the FC St. Pauli.
On the DOM were lights everywhere and all was loud with music and people and scented in many different ways.
Here was the cart of a fortune teller but we didn't go inside.
Here was some autoscooter for small children. I think they had much fun!
And some really delicous looking sweets.
The small rollercoaster called "Rasende Maus".
Here is a chairoplane, I think it was the oldest looking thing there but just from the outside.
Right next to the Heiligengeistfeld is an old bunker from World War II.
Oh, this is the really big rollercoaster, I was much too afraid to use this!
Some attraction with an egypt style.
At last we took some photos with the ferris wheel.
Then we took the underground back home from the station St. Pauli.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jan 27, 2011, 7:16 pm
Today we are going to make cookies! I am really excited about that, there was a really special form as you will see later!
First we collected all the ingredients we needed.
We had this scales and I just jumped on it. Ups, I had 68 g, perhaps I should not eat so many of the cookies later!
We put all the ingredients together and made cookie-dough, it looked really tasty!
The dough had to be in the freezer for a while, really cold inside here.
Here you can see the first ready cookies. They are shaped like tigerducks.
And more cookies! Can you see it? They are just shaped like me! Like snowmen!
Here is the form which is shaped like a snowman and the ones for Muumintroll and Little Myy. And of course the dough with the almost realy stars.
More cookies *yummie*
Here I am in front of the oven! It is really hot here, can I go back to the freezer?
Of course we wanted to make the cookies even more cool and so we added some icing!
We had different colours and made funny cookies!
Of course we tried some of the cookies and they tasted great!
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Jan 27, 2011, 8:10 pm
Mister Snow is greeting from a Winterwonderland! Snow is everywhere and that although my host told me, that in Hamburg there is hardly any snow except the last year. So we made a trip outside and of course we made some photos. We went to a park called "Planten und Blomen", it is near the trainstation Dammtor in Hamburg.
In the distance we could see the Finland-house.
And here is the TV tower again. It is directly next to Planten und Blomen.
Ah, is it not beautiful snow?
We walked around and took some photos.
This day we had also a fantastic blue sky!
We also came to a playground and there was also snow everywhere. Perfect to take some photos!
There was also this wooden horse, we took a ride in the sun.
Then we went on to other places in the park, usually you can see a lot of water here but it was all ice covered with snow today.
After this last photo of the TV tower we went home to get a bit warm again.
Bye,
Mister Snow
Posted Mar 2, 2011, 8:40 pm
A nice postman rang my new host's doorbell this morning and gave her the envelope where I was. My host opened the envelope and let me out of there. She said that the other toys were still sleeping, but I would see them later. I had breakfast with my host Kirsi and her black cat Lauri.
I had a nice and interesting day here in Helsinki, Finland. I think I'll enjoy my visit here. Photos and more updates later, I just wanted you to know that I arrived here safely and everything is OK.
Bye for now, Mister Snow
Posted Mar 8, 2011, 8:24 pm
Here I am again
I thought you would like to see some photos of my visit here. At first I wanted to see some snow. (Picture 1-3) Spring is coming and snow is melting away soon, but here' still lots of it.
We went to the city by a tram. My host Kirsi told me that it is the fastest way to travel here. There's a tram stop right in front of my host's front door so it's really easy to use tram too. (Picture 4) We went to a small café for a latte and ice cream. I met all my new friends there too and it was a welcoming party for me and Gwennie at the same. I met Manu the Rubber Duck, Gwennie (a cute unicorn from USA), Blinchick from Russia, Bernd the Bread from Germany and Kerttu a little Finnish moose. (Picture 5) They are all very nice and we had fun there chatting and getting to know each others a little better. I tasted the latte and I think Finnish coffee is strong and tasty - I might get addicted to it soon. (Picture 6) The chocolate ice cream was cold and delicious - I like ice cream. (Picture 7)
One day we we went to a huge mall by a bus. There's also a bus stop right at my host's front door. My host's boyfriend has a car, but they don't use it often, because it so easy to travel by public transportation here. My host bought tickets to a concert and we had to wait at the ticket service for some time, because the lady, who sells tickets, was on her lounch break. Well, we found a great red couch and sat there. (Picture 8) We came back home by bus (Picture 9) and after our trip we all took a nap. Oh, btw, I got to push the button in the elevator when we were back at my host's building. We live on the 8th floor here. (Picture 10)
On Friday evening we went to a concert. It was great and I liked to hear Finnish music. Unfortunately it was not allowed to take any pictures there, but the evening was awesome and we all enjoyed the concert. On Saturday we went to the city by a tram again. (Pictures 11 and 12) Kirsi wanted to show us some Moomin characters, because we had all heard so much about them. Kirsi has a big book of Moomins and the others have already read it w lot - I can read it later too. We met a few nice Moomins in a department store. They were very friendly and we talked with them for a while. (Pictures 13 and 14) There was a wonderful view to the main street of Helsinki from the window and you can see the Parliament House, the tower of the National Museum and the Contemporary Museum called Kiasma behind us. The view looked almost like a postcard.
Kirsi showed me also the most important building of Helsinki and it was right next to the department store - the main post office. (Picture 15) Well, Kirsi is addicted to Postcrossing and postcards so perhaps that got something to do with the post office too... Kerttu loves trains so we went to see them at the railway station. (Picture 16 and 17) It's kind of funny that a little moose girl can love trains so much - she hasn't ever even travelled by a train yet...
Well, that's all by now, more later.
Hugs, yours Mister Snow <3
Posted Jun 2, 2011, 7:45 pm
Yes, I'm still here in Helsinki and everything is fine. As you know my host Kirsi had some problems with her health and even bigger problems with her computer so we haven't been able to update my travelog in a long time. Well, now all the problems are solved and we can tell you all about my adventures of Helsinki.
Hmmm, where should I start? So much has happened since I wrote here last time so maybe I let the pictures speak for themselves. A little explanation at first. I've seen the beautiful Lutheran Cathedral of Helsinki, been in many cafés, attended in many Postcrossing meetings, travelled by bus and got many new friends. And yes, of course I've seen lots of snow too... Here you can see some pictures
Posted Jun 2, 2011, 8:39 pm
We had a great Easter here. We were hunting eggs and we found lots of chocolate eggs. (Picture 1-4) Finnish chocolate is really delicious
A week from Easter it was the MayDay, the First of May or Vappu as they call it here in Finland. It's a big celebration for students and most of the people. It's almost like a Finnish carneval. We had a peaceful Vappu at home. We ate some doughnuts and had balloons. It was a nice day and it also means that now spring is here. (Picture 5)
In the sunny days we like to sit out in the balcony and have some latte or ice latte. It's just nice to sunbathe sitting in a chair with friends
(Pictures 6 and 7)
We have also watched some movies when it has been rainy or too cold to go out. We always had pop corn too
(Picture 8) Finnish ice cream is very tasty and we've eaten that together many times when we've celebrated something. (Pictures 9-11)
Posted Nov 28, 2011, 8:14 pm
OMG, I had no idea it has been almost six months since I last updated my travelog. I'm really sorry and my host is really sorry too. My host has had problems after problems, but I'm OK and I've had a great time here with my friends.
Summer was really hot and sunny. I don't like the hot weather so much as you know Mom. We spent a lot of time in the shadows and we didn't burned our skins. I spent some time in the fridge too so I didn't melt away, even though I could loose some weight - Finnish chocolate is too good
Well, pictures tell more than words so here you can see summer pictures of me and my friends.
Posted Nov 28, 2011, 8:27 pm
Well, after two weeks it was time for us to pack our things and travel back to Helsinki. Kirsi's mother made a big strawberry cake for us in the last day. It was delicious
After that trip we haven't taken any new photos, but we'll do it soon.
Bye Mom - I miss you a lot!
Yours, Mister Snow <3
Posted Mar 30, 2013, 11:11 am
Posted Jun 2, 2013, 2:33 pm
Posted Feb 20, 2015, 6:45 pm
Here's the first cake - I can't remember the ingredients anymore, I'm sorry.