Coco, Bruchsal, Germany

Michele_one_L Posted Feb 13, 2008, 8:58 pm	Hello Petra, Sabrina and Family, I wanted to send you a quick note to say thank you for adopting me! I can't wait to meet you and learn all about my new family and home. Michele says that she will update my travel log very soon. Smooches, Coco Here you can read my travel plans: - staying with Michele_one_L for the Teddy Bear Party - traveling to my new family - start my real travel around the world: panienka (The Netherlands)
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 14, 2008, 12:27 am	I've had a pretty eventful day today. First we went outside to get our pictures taken but it was too windy and very cold. Hopefully we can try again tomorrow. I finally got my picture taken with Nicki Bear. Michele said that we are sisters! I don't think we look anything a like but I was told that siblings don't have to look the same. Michele asked if I wanted to watch a movie or something, I told her that I would like to listen to some music. She thought that was interesting and let me use her Ipod. I have no idea what an Ipod was but it was pretty cool looking and just my size. I tried to find a song that I knew but nothing sounded fimilar. I asked Michele what she likes and she told me her favorite group is the Barenaked Ladies. She made me blush! (repeating in my head....the Barenaked Ladies....) They might have a funny name but their music is pretty good.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 14, 2008, 12:37 am	Once I was finished listening to the Ipod, Honey Bear asked if we wanted to hear his favorite song. Michele let us sit around the lap top so we could all hear it..... "If you go down to the woods today You're sure of a big surprise. If you go down to the woods today You'd better go in disguise. For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain, because Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic. Every teddy bear who's been good Is sure of a treat today. There's lots of marvelous things to eat And wonderful games to play. Beneath the trees where nobody sees They'll hide and seek as long as they please Cause that's the way the teddy bears have their picnic. If you go down to the woods today You'd better not go alone. It's lovely down in the woods today But safer to stay at home. For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain, because Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic. Picnic time for teddy bears The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today Watch them, catch them unawares And see them picnic on their holiday. See them gaily gad about They love to play and shout; They never have any care; At six o'clock their mummies and daddies, Will take them home to bed, Because they're tired little teddy bears." We loved it! It's called "Teddy bear Picnic." I asked if I could have a copy of the song. Michele said that she would burn it to a CD and send it to my mom. I can't stop singing it!
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 16, 2008, 8:42 pm	This evening Michele was making friendship bracelets and we (Nicki Bear, Honey Bear and me) asked if we could help her. She gave us some thread and showed us how to do it. We were excited to try something new.....As you can see things didn't go very well. Instead we got all tangled up. Michele was laughing and telling us how cute we look. She says that she will make us bracelets or necklaces before we leave. Thank goodness! After we were done making bracelets we decided to play games on  Michele's gameboy. Honey Bear is a game hog! He said that we could watch him play. Michele had to take the game away. She said that we can play again when Honey Bear isn't around.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 16, 2008, 9:28 pm	Today a new TV arrived! We were excited to see who it was. It was a little bear named Coop. He is very shy, but also very nice. At first he didn't want to get out of his travel bag but we told him that he was safe. After a little while he decided to come out. We chatted for a little while, he said that he was tired and wanted to take a nap. I'm sure we will catch up over the next couple of days.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 16, 2008, 10:07 pm	Since today was Saturday we were able to leave the house. Michele and Daryl had to run some errands and said that we could come along. We waited on the sidewalk in front of Michele's house because Daryl was getting the Jeep. As you can see everything is snowy. While we waited we asked if we could make a snowbear (like a snowman but instead a bear like us) in the snow. We got started but it was too cold on our paws, plus Daryl was ready with the Jeep. We started our drive to place #1 (the post office) but half way there Daryl realized that he forgot something so we had to go back to the house. So here we are in the Jeep waiting for Daryl to run in the house and get what he forgot.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 20, 2008, 4:04 pm	We had a very busy day today! First we went to the post office so Michele could pick up the mail. We stayed in the car and listened to some music with her husband. After that we headed to Utica, NY which is about 30 minutes from Rome. We went to the Pet Supply place to pick up some treats for Riley (Michele's dog). It smelled funny in that store. We didn't get out of Michele's bag for fear that something might happen to us. Next we went to Target, it was a nice store but very busy. After Target we were all hungry for lunch. We couldn't decide where we wanted to go until we saw a Panera Bread. Nicki Bear said that she has eaten there before and that it was very yummy. We all agreed thats where we should go. It was SO busy! The lady taking our order told us that we might not find a place to sit. Luckily Michele found a place to eat but the table was dirty. She said that it would be best if we stay in the bag until we left.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 20, 2008, 4:15 pm	After we had lunch we headed back to Rome. Michele said that she had some place special to take us. It's called the Fort Stanwix National Monument. Since there was so much snow we were unable to go up to or in the fort. Neither Michele or her husband knew much about the monument so we all went into the visitors center to learn more. You can visit this website to learn more about the monument. Fort Stanwix Monument
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 20, 2008, 4:31 pm	Once in the visitors center we learned that; Known as "the fort that never surrendered," Fort Stanwix, under the command of Col. Peter Gansevoort, successfully repelled a prolonged siege, in August 1777, by British, German, Loyalist, Canadian and American Indian troops and warriors commanded British Gen. Barry St. Leger. The failed siege combined with the battles at Oriskany, Bennington, and Saratoga thwarted a coordinated effort by the British in 1777, under the leadership of Gen. John Burgoyne, to take the northern colonies, and led to American alliances with France and the Netherlands. Troops from Fort Stanwix also participated in the 1779 Clinton-Sullivan Campaign and protected America's northwest frontier from British campaigns until finally abandoned in 1781. It was very interesting to see all of the artifacts that were found when they started digging to build the monument. We could have spent hours there. After looking at the artifacts and such we went to the gift shop. We picked up a couple things to remember our trip. Michele said that she will send them home in a few days.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 20, 2008, 4:42 pm	Our last stop for the day was the grocery store. We were all so tired after running all those errands today. Michele said that we had been out for almost 4 hours. She said that since we were so tired we could just relax in her bag until we got home. Thank goodness!
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 20, 2008, 4:55 pm	This morning my TV friend Piggy left with Michele's husband. They are going to Lima, Peru on a business trip. Piggy was nervous to be going so far from home, but we told that we are all far away from too and that you will get used to it. We posed for one last picture then he was off to the airport. Goodbye Piggy! Have a safe trip!
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 20, 2008, 5:23 pm	A new TV arrived today! We were all happy to find out who it was and where they had come from. Michele put the envelope on the table and all we could hear was scratching. Finally the envelope came open and there was a mouse in there! We said "Hello Mr. Mouse!" There was silence.........Suddenly we hear "Mouse?" "Who are you calling a mouse?" I'm a RAT and my name is Angus!!!" Gulp! We apologized for calling him a mouse and he accepted. We all sat together to learn more about Angus.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 20, 2008, 5:34 pm	Today my sister Nicki Bear left for BunTraveler's house. I was very sad to see her ago. We had only known each other for a short amount of time. We promised to see each other again soon. Michele asked if I wanted to have one last picture taken with Nicki but I was too sad. Good Luck Nicki! I will miss you!
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 26, 2008, 11:16 pm	Last night we got to see something rather amazing! I still can't believe what it was. During the day Michele told us that there was going to be a Lunar Eclipse. She said that we had to see it as there wasn't going to be another one until 2010. We didn't know what an eclipse was but Michele explained it to us. At around 10pm we went outside to see the eclipse. It was too cold for us to be out there so Michele said that she would try and take pictures for us. They are a little hard to see but it really cool.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 26, 2008, 11:43 pm	Last night we were bored, so Michele asked if we wanted to read some books. Angus told her that we are still learning to read and speak English and that I don't know if we could read the books. She said that it was okay if we couldn't read English as these books had great pictures in them. She brought back 3 books from her spare room. Humm....they had interesting covers. We each picked a book that we wanted to read.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 26, 2008, 11:56 pm	Coop decided that he wanted someone else to read to him, so he came to sit with me. As we were reading I could see Angus wondering around. I wondered what he could be up to but I continued reading with Coop. All of a sudden Coop and I saw this red monster head jump out from behind the book.  It yelled "Rrroarrrr" as if it were a tiger or something. I knew it was Angus! I told Angus that he didn't scare us and that he can come out from behind the book. He showed us the monster head and we all laughed.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 27, 2008, 12:04 am	After all of our joking around Honey Bear asked if we wanted to have a sleep over. We all said sure and settled in for the evening. Michele tucked us in and told us to go to bed.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 3, 2008, 5:34 am	We woke up this morning hoping to go outside and do some exploring, sadly that wasn't possible. We (Angus, Coop and I) all gathered at the window to see what type of day it was and we were sad to see that it was snowing. We didn't know what we were going to do. Michele said she had some cleaning to do and that we could help but we didn't want to. So we decided to take a nap and see how the weather was a little later.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 3, 2008, 5:43 am	We woke up from our nap and were hungry. Michele said that it was lunch time, so we went into the kitchen to help make some lunch. Michele said that we were having pasta, yumm....While the pasta was cooking she gave us some pretzels to eat. Angus decided that he wanted to find the right pretzel for each of us. Eating pretzels can make you thirsty so we shared some juice. Our lunch was ready and I could wait to eat.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 3, 2008, 5:50 am	It's been rather cold here lately and I'm not quite used to it. I was really cold the other day and Michele thought that I was coming down with a cold. After checking me over she realized that I was just cold. She said that she had just the thing to keep me more. She gave me this beautiful red sweater. I love it and it fits just right! I had Michele take a special picture of me in it so I could show my family. I hope you like my sweater!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 3, 2008, 9:46 pm	A new TV arrived today, his name is Fuzzy Wuzzy. He is very shy and doesn't like to talk much. Michele said that he will open up more once he gets to know everyone.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 5, 2008, 3:19 am	Yay! Today we were able to get out of the house. We were all happy as we haven't been able to go anywhere since Michele's husband left for Peru. Luckily he came home today and he and Michele had plans. She said that we could come as long as we were on our best behavior. Here we are in Michele's bag all ready to go.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 5, 2008, 3:31 am	Since Michele's husband was away on business on their anniversary they were making it up tonight. We all went to the 99 Restaurant for dinner. It seemed like a nice place from the outside. We were seated at our table and order something to drink. I shared Daryl's Root Beer with him, it was pretty good!  Fuzzy Wuzzy and I looked at the menu to try and help Michele's husband find something to eat. There were too many choices.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 5, 2008, 3:40 am	I guess people in the USA order something before their meal called an appetizer. We weren't sure what it was but we were happy to try it. We decided on something called Boneless Buffalo Wings and Potato Skins. They were interesting, I'm happy that I had the chance to try them. The buffalo wings were a little hot for our little mouths. Michele said that most people dip them in blue cheese dressing so they aren't so hot. For dinner we ordered a bacon cheese steak burger with a side of loaded mashed potatoes (instead of french fries). Yum......
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 5, 2008, 3:47 am	After the waitress cleared the table we posed for one last picture before we headed to Target. Michele told us that we had to stay in her bag in Target. We didn't argue as we were so full from dinner. I think most of will be sleeping before we even get to Target. We were told that we will be running a lot of errands tomorrow. We are excited to see where we will go!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 1:12 am	Today we helped Honey Bear look for a tea set for his Teddy Bear party. He has been begging his mom to let him have one and she finally said yes. Since we couldn't leave the house we decided to look on Ebay. Well Honey Bear did most of the looking, we (Coop, Angus and I) were just there for the entertainment. Every once in awhile Honey Bear asked us what we thought. He was quite the computer hog.  Michele told him that she wasn't going to buy the first set that he found. She said that we need to compare prices and find one in our budget.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 1:28 am	Tonight Michele told Honey Bear that he could order the tea set for his party. He was so excited! We asked if there was anything we could do to help. Honey Bear asked me to make a list of the things he will need for the party. And Coop and Angus were supposed to read the numbers off of Michele's debit card to him.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 1:43 am	Today Honey Bear's tea set arrived! He was sleeping when the mail man dropped it off so Michele opened it up for him. Later in the afternoon he woke up from his nap and showed him. He was SO happy and over a tea set. Once he stopped hugging the basket he opened it up so we could see. Honey Bear said that we can have a test party in a couple weeks.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 1:56 am	This morning we ran a lot of errands like Michele said we would. But she didn't tell us that it was going to be so cold outside! First we went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, then we headed to Wal-Mart to do some shopping. After Wal-Mart we went to P&C and the dollar store. We went home to put the groceries away and for Michele's husband to take a nap. Later in the afternoon we went to Price Chopper and a gift shop. We were so tired at the end of the day. Michele told us that we had a couple of days to rest before we went out again. Phew..... We are going to need it.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 2:23 am	A new TV arrived today! We were all anxious to see who it was. It was weird because there was a voice coming from the envelope, it was saying "Let me out of here!" Michele opened the envelope and Coop and Angus looked in to see who it was. It turns out that it was JamaBanaDukLuv. We posed for a picture than sat down to get to know each other better.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 2:35 am	We were watching American Idol today when Michele's husband came out and asked if we wanted a snack to share. Of course we said yes! He said that he had something special for us since it was JamaBanaDukLuv's first night here. He came out with a slice of Marble Brownie cheesecake from the world famous Junior's in Brooklyn, NY. He said that Michele ordered it as a surprise dessert for their anniversary. Wow! We couldn't believe our eyes...
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 2:44 am	Another new TV arrived today. We were surprised to see such a small envelope. We thought that maybe someone was playing a trick on us. Michele opened the envelope so we could see who it was. It turned out to be a little bear named Hazle. She was little but very cute! Right away she started to tell us about herself and where she came from.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 9, 2008, 10:07 pm	When Michele, Daryl, Riley, Fuzzy Wuzzy, JamaBana and Hazle returned home from running errands and we were all ready for dinner. Thank goodness Michele and Daryl had picked up subs! There were 2 different subs for us to choose from, Ham and Cheese or Tuna. Angus, Hazle and I chose to eat the Tuna. I helped cut up the pickle for everyone to share. Yumm.......
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 9, 2008, 10:20 pm	After dinner JamaBana and Hazle wanted to meet Honey Bear and Piggy (they are Michele's at home TV's). So we all went down the hallway to Michele's room where they were staying. We climbed up on the bed and saw that Honey Bear was hiding. JamaBana was brave and said "Hello Honey Bear! My name is JamaBanaDukLuv and I will be staying at your house for a few weeks." There was no answer...So Hazle decided to try, she said "Hello Honey Bear! My name is Hazle and I have come to stay at your house for a little while." There still was no answer....Someone yelled for Michele to see what was wrong with Honey Bear.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 9, 2008, 11:12 pm	It turns out that Honey Bear was a little nervous to meet the new TV's. After Michele talked to him, he stopped hiding and came to greet everyone. We posed for a picture and sat around talking for the rest of the night.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 9, 2008, 11:45 pm	With the help of Michele's friend Laura we rescued some animals from the Goodwill. Here we are with our new friends. Some of them Michele is going to keep and some she is going to find new homes for. We were inspired by Nicki Bear and BunTraveler's rescue last week.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 9, 2008, 11:56 pm	This afternoon Honey Bear asked if we could meet him in the bedroom at 4pm for a special meeting! We were anxious to find out what Honey Bear was going to tell us. 4pm came and we met in the bedroom, we were surprised to find that Honey Bears friends were there too. We thought, this must be some announcement!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 10, 2008, 12:15 am	Once we arrived to the bedroom we each found a place to sit. Now we just had to wait for Honey Bear to tell us why we have all gathered here. Honey Bear came out and said; "I want to thank everyone for coming to my meeting today. It's great to see everyone again. I'm sure you are all wondering why I've asked you to come here today. Well I'm having a teddy bear party in a few days and I would like to invite everyone to it." The crowd erupted in cheer! WOW, a teddy bear party! What an honor to be invited. Of course we told Honey Bear that we would be there. I wonder how many of his friends will be coming? He sure does have a lot of friends.  Michele asked everyone to squeeze in close so she could take a picture of us.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 13, 2008, 2:18 am	Today Fuzzy Wuzzy left on a special mission to Florida. He was asked if he wanted to join the USA TVT for a month. Of course he jumped at the chance! So we said our goodbyes and off he went....
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 13, 2008, 3:05 am	Yay! Today we attended Honey Bear's Teddy Bear party/picnic. We went to the picnic spot to find Honey Bear waiting us. He had the Teddy Bear Picnic song playing. We decided to play bobbing for gummi bears first. Angus went first and I think he got a little too carried away.  Next was Hazle's turn, she was a little too small so Angus helped give her a little boost. After everyone had taken a turn Honey Bear decided that he would dump the bowl of gummi bears on the table. Michele told him that it wasn't going to be a good idea but he did it anyhow. We all dove into the pile of gummi bears! It was fun....and no one was hurt!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 13, 2008, 3:22 am	After we cleaned up all the gummy bears, Honey Bear set up his tea set for us. Michele brought us some teddy bear shaped cookies and tea. Not everyone wanted tea so some had milk. We sat around talking and enjoying our snack. We told Honey Bear that maybe next time he can have his tea party in the park! He thought it was a good idea but said that it's too cold outside right now to do something like that.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 13, 2008, 3:40 am	Some of us were getting sleepy, this was more fun then we've had in awhile. Honey Bear said that before we go he has a surprise for everyone. We had no idea what it could be! He left and came back, when he came back he had these bags with him. We asked "what are these?" Honey Bear said these are goody bags and I made them special for everyone coming to my party. WOW! That was very thoughtful of Honey Bear. We couldn't wait to see what's inside of them. Michele says that she will send them home to our mom's when we are ready to leave her home.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 13, 2008, 3:49 am	Before we said our goodbyes and thank yous, we posed for one last picture.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 14, 2008, 3:31 am	Today was my last day in New York! I was finally going to meet my new family in Germany. I'm so excited! But before I could go I had to say good bye to all of my friends. It was a sad goodbye as we have spent so much time together. Maybe we will meet again in the future.
Fasamapera Posted Mar 27, 2008, 10:23 am	Hello friends, finally I've met my new family. We surely have a lot of fun and here it is very nice. And it's very good with my brother Schnuffi. Then you will look to the photos. Thanks. Yours Coco!
fam-united Posted Mar 29, 2008, 6:29 pm	Hurray!!! Hurray!!! We had a little party today!!! We had some snacks and water to drink and a lot to laugh about, of course. Dogs became friends with cats, a turtle with a kangaroo, a monkey with a moose and more. We played with a big and a small ball and we learned how to play the card game "Mau Mau". Didn't the table look nice? Mingus Moose prefered to sit on the ballon. (Playmo)Bill decided to not eat anything, because he was afraid to be too thick for his hobby. Bullet wanted all the peanuts for himself. Ifirst had been a bit sad, because there was no honey on the table, but I liked the gouda then. How did (Playmo)Bill come to that peanut? Maybe he asked Mingus Moose??? HolidayHarry had been really thirsty after eating a lot of sweets. Florence is very hungry and wants to try a chocolate banana muffin. Pebbels thought, that the Harry Potter muffin looked nice. It was a muffin with blueberries. Curly took the chocolate banana muffin too. Amara Anthea tried a muffin american style, just on with chocolate drops. AliG seemed to play the detective. What did he expect to find out today??? Do you see how happy Tortilla and Josh look with this dish filled with gummi bears? Chokito, Davy and Schnuffi shared another Harry Potter muffin. Only Hasi prefered something healthy - she wanted to eat a carrot. Tilda hadn't been sure, whether she should try a "nimm 2 " or whether it is better to eat a carrot too. Then we started playing with balls. At first we choose the Australian ball, but it was so big, that the little toyvoyager among us had big problems. Later we decided to use a table tennis ball, which of course is much easier to play with. At last we learned how to play "Mau Mau". Our first winner was: Chokito Second place: Bullet Third place: Hasi Fourth place: Pebbels
fam-united Posted Apr 27, 2008, 11:40 am	Today Kari arrived at home again and he told us a lot about Australia. Now I know, that Kira1997 send him to my host family as a present for their daughter some years ago. He wanted to see them again, so he decided to go to Australia as a toyvoyager.
fam-united Posted Apr 27, 2008, 1:05 pm	Maybe you heard about the Buran arriving in Speyer? The new home will be the technical museum in Speyer: http://www.museumspeyer.de/index.html The Buran ( the only space shuttle of the Soviet Buran program)was only on one unmanned spaceflight in 1988. The shuttle program was cancelled in 1993. It was destroyed by a hangar collapse in 2003. The Buran is the world's first genuine space shuttle to be exhibited to the general public. Petra wanted to go there to watch the arrival, but the weather was too bad, so we only got the chance to read the newspaper
fam-united Posted May 30, 2008, 10:41 pm	Phewwwww! Finally we are here. Man I'm so tired and dizzy now, but Petra thinks, that it is a good idea to take a few photos with us on a table in our home for two weeks and in front of the house. Do you see us??? and now??? We are sitting on the bench, a really lovely place.
fam-united Posted May 31, 2008, 3:15 pm	In the early evening we went to the beach.
fam-united Posted Jun 8, 2008, 9:45 pm	Oh no, please don't take a photo of us here. Don't you see, that we are still sleeping. Okay, okay, it maybe is your bed, but I think, this doesn't matter, does it? Just let us sleep here and you can do some work, unpacking everything and washing, okay, Petra????
Fasamapera Posted Sep 1, 2008, 4:21 pm	Petra, her family and we drove to Cologne today. We met olgamaus and several other toyvoyagers there and had a great day together. First I want to tell you a bit about Cologne: Cologne is the fourth-largest city of Germany with about 1 Million inhabitants. It had been founded by Romans in the year 38BC and became the status of a Roman city in 50AD. Cologne lies on the Rhine River. It is famous for the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom), which is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. The University of Cologne is one of  Europe’s oldest universities. Cologne is also famous for the Cologne Carnival. Within Germany it is important as a media center, because many radio and television stations are based here. It isn't easy to take a photo of the whole cathedral, because everywhere you go, you run against walls. Here you see a side of the Cologne Cathedral. We were surprised, that there was only a small scaffold, because they always have to repair parts of the Cathedral. We still had some time left, before we met Ralf, Petra's husband again, who had to go to the garden exhibition, so we decided to walk down to the River Rhine and take some photos there. Here you see the railway bridge and a cruise vessel. Just turning around on our heels we saw a part of Cologne's historic city. We tried to find a place for a group photo and found this dry fountain, which just seemed to be the right place. Katja, Petra and Sabrina helped us to sit at the right place. Then we walked back to the Cologne Cathedral to meet Ralf and go to have lunch together. We walked to a typical Cologne restaurant, which also has a small brewery (Brauerei). Of course it was a must to order "Köllsch" and a Malzbier, both typical beers of Cologne. After lunch we walked back to the cathedral, because we had no chance to go inside in the morning. There still had been church service in it. Now it was open and we went into this big church with its beautiful windows. I'm sorry, but the photos aren't that great. The cathedral is a World Heritage Site. It is one of the world's largest churches, the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. It has the scecond-tallest church spires and presents the largest facade of any church in the world. The construction began in 1248 and took until 1880 to complete. It is 144,5 metres long, 86,5 metres wide and its two towers are 157 metres tall. The Cologne railway station is next to the cathedral. We went there to say "goodbye" to Katja, who got home by trail. Then we walked back to the car and drove home too. We needed about 3 hours to arrive at Bruchsal again.
Fasamapera Posted Sep 22, 2008, 8:14 pm	Today my girlfriend and I took some of us toyvoyagers on a little walk into the inner city. Here I'm climbing on a tree in the palace garden I'm sitting between the balustrades with Gina Giraffe and Galaxy Bear Here I am with Hasi, Galaxy Bear and Gina Giraffe Then they walked to the City Church to take some photos of the archaeological works there. They found some parts of the middle age palace there.
fam-united Posted Aug 9, 2009, 8:59 pm	Once more we were in Eichtersheim. This time there is a big medieval market and a joust. Two zoomed photos without me:
fam-united Posted Aug 9, 2009, 9:02 pm	Then it was time for Tito, Tilla Mook, Galo, Nanu the cub, Friendship Bear, Kari, Tasmanian Devil, Scotty, Spooky and me to say good bye to Precious.
fam-united Posted Aug 9, 2009, 9:04 pm	It is raining cats and dogs and the thunder is very loud. Petra says, that the thunderstorm is just over Bruchsal. Later we read in the newspapers, that one house burnt. Thank Godness, nobody got hurt. Here you see two views out of Petra's bedroom.
fam-united Posted Aug 9, 2009, 9:13 pm	Later today we had a rest on the balustrade.
fam-united Posted Aug 9, 2009, 9:17 pm	Today we got up really early. Petra told us, that we would go somewhere really special. The weather was nice, so we would have everything we need for this trip. We got the lunch packed and then jumped in our bag again. We got used to this now, so it wasn't such a problem sitting there during the drive. There are also some bunkers from the second world war. Finally we arrived at our destination and we saw: sand and water. size=3]Kari showed everyone a really fascinating effect - a rainbow ring around the sun. Petra read about it: This ring is called 22°-halo and is a ring of light with a radius of 22° around the sun. [/size]
fam-united Posted Aug 9, 2009, 9:27 pm	Petra told me, that today we go on a trip somewhere and that we had to go by ship. So you see me here in one of the worlds fastest ships, which belongs to MasterFerries and is called Fjord Cat.
fam-united Posted Aug 9, 2009, 9:30 pm	I'm really happy to tell you, that I arrived safely in Kristiansand, Norway. Travelling on the ship wasn't too bad. Kristiansand is a city and municipality and the capital of the county of Vest-Agder, Norway. The municipality is the 5th largest in Norway with a population of 78 919 as of January 1, 2008. The urban area, entirely located in them municipality, had a population of 64 930 on January 1, 2006 and is the 8th largest urban area in Norway. Kristiansand was founded by King Christian IV in 1641, but the area has been settled at least since 400 AD. The Kristiansand Domkirke is a late gothic cathedral from 1884.
fam-united Posted Aug 9, 2009, 9:32 pm	Petra thought, that only walking around in a city isn't that interesting, when you are in Norway. She wanted to find a place, where we all can feel like being in Norway. Here is what we found somewhere about this place in the internet: Baneheia is a popular recreational area to the north of Kristiansand city centre. It was laid out by General Wergeland and his troops in the 1870s. There are paths for ramblers, some of which are lit at night. You will find special trails for the disabled here. Marked paths take you through attractive wooded areas. There are swimming and fishing spots by the lake. There are good views from certain points. The area supports a variety of animal and plant life.
fam-united Posted Aug 9, 2009, 9:34 pm	We all are a bit sad today, because it is the last day in Denmark. But then Selina, Fabian and Petra had a great idea. We all helped to create a fairwell picture in front of the house and then we took photos with all of us.
fam-united Posted Aug 9, 2009, 9:35 pm	It's our farewell day. It's just 9am and I just had a last look back to the house before I had to sit down in the car for a drive of about 11 hours. Happily the drive to Bruchsal wasn't that long, so we arrived there at 9.30 pm.
fam-united Posted Sep 19, 2009, 9:12 am	The elderberries are ripe and so it is time to pick them. My hosts know a good place to go, where many elder bushes grow. So they went there and came back with three big plastic bags. At home we had to wash them. Then we had to cook them and to fill the juice into the bottles.
fam-united Posted Sep 19, 2009, 3:09 pm	Today we drove to Enzklösterle. At first we played Adventure Golf and had a lot of fun. Then we had lunch at a restaurant, where the Krippena is located. We saw the world largest wood carved Christmas crib and a Christmas tree.
fam-united Posted Nov 6, 2010, 4:30 pm	Today we packed bags and sat in the car to drive to a place called St. Peter in the south part of the Black Forest. Partly we drove on the autobahn and partly on roads, which led us through towns.
fam-united Posted Nov 6, 2010, 4:31 pm	Two days ago was my hosts son's 20th birthday and today we had a big cake for afternoon coffee. This cake is called "Schaffeltorte", which means something like washtub cake, because it has so many different colours like the colours of mixed laundry and white foam on the top.
fam-united Posted Nov 7, 2010, 9:58 am	Finally we arrived at our holiday flat. It is really nice with kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. At first we all fell in the bed to have a rest. Do you know, who had no place for a rest? Yes, was our host, because we were in her bed Sankt Peter is a town in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. There is a beautiful cloister church, which we wanted to see at first. Then we walked through the town and found this funny fountain. Back at the flat again we enjoyed the wonderful view out of our bedroom.
fam-united Posted Nov 7, 2010, 10:54 am	On our way to the mountain called Feldberg we saw the Titisee. It is a lake in the southern Black Forest and it is said it got its name from Roman Emperor Titus. It covers an area of 1.3 km² and has an average depth of 20 m. It think, it is really nice and I would have liked to go there too to have a closer view and get my feet in the water. Later we took another photo out of the window.
fam-united Posted Nov 7, 2010, 12:00 pm	Today we drove to the highest mountain of Baden-Württemberg and also our Germany outside the Alps, the Feldberg. The Feldberg has an elevation of 1,493 metres. For the most part the Feldberg area contents a nature reserve due to its subalpine vegetation. This reserve is the oldest and biggest one in Baden-Württemberg and is in charge of a full-time ranger since 1989. Since 2001 it's the responsibility of the Conservation Centre Südschwarzwald to look after the reserve. Within the Haus der Natur ("House of Nature") there's a permanent exhibition of nature conservation. It offers an extensive program with events in the reserve. Since 2005 there's also a new nature trail. The Feldberg offers one of the most extensive panoramas of Germany - especially in winter at weather situations of inversion. In the west, on the other side of the Upper Rhine Graben you can see the entire Vosges Mountains from the Ballon d'Alsace up to Mont Donon and Mont Sainte-Odile. Beyond that you can also look up to the southern Palatinate Forest occasionally. In the north one can see the Hornisgrinde; in the north-east there's the entire range of the Swabian Alb including the Lemberg mountain, up to the left there's the Hegau volcano region. In the south one can see the Alps from Alpspitze and Zugspitze in the east up to the Allgäu Alps, Verwall Alps, Silvretta, Säntis, Glarus Alps, Urner Alps, Bernese Alps and Mont Blanc in the west. Besides there are the Jura Mountains on the right next to the Alps. There is a deep valley in north-eastern direction which contains the Feldsee, a lake of glacial origin at about 1,000 m altitude. This is the Bismarck-Denkmal, an old monument in honour of the famous 19th century chancellor of the German Empire. At the top of the mountain (where the weather has been measured since 1915) is a weather observatory that has been in operation since 1937 and carried on by the German meteorological service (WMO code number: 10908). Next to the observatory there is a weather radar.
fam-united Posted Nov 7, 2010, 1:33 pm	Then we drove to the Schluchsee, which is a reservoir lake in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, southeast of the Titisee. The Schluchsee, with its height of 930 metres above sea level, is the highest reservoir in Germany and also the largest lake in the Black Forest.
fam-united Posted Nov 7, 2010, 4:50 pm	Back at our flat again, we had some tea and cake. Then we went on a walk around the town. This time we walked up to the opposite site, which we could see from our bedroom. We really enjoyed to walk a bit after driving a lot. If we remember well, this field is called Lehrerfeld, what means teacher fields. If it has something to do with our host's work? We read the signs and saw, that St.Peter was about 1,2 km away in both directions. All together we walked a bit more than that, we think about 3 km - not really a lot.
fam-united Posted Nov 8, 2010, 1:53 pm	Today we heard, that the weather will be not so fine in St. Peter. So we thought about the activity for the day a lot, before we decided to drive about one and a half hour to Schaffhausen and go to the Rhine Falls. The Rhine Falls (Rheinfall in German) are the largest plain waterfalls in Europe. THey are located on the High Rhine between the municipalities of Neuhausen am Rheinfall and Laufen-Uhwiesen, near the town of Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland, between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich. They are 150 m (450 ft) wide and 23 m (75 ft) high. In the winter months, the average water flow is 250 m³/s, while in the summer, the average water flow is 700 m³/s. Now just enjoy the photos
fam-united Posted Nov 8, 2010, 5:38 pm	On our way to Donaueschingen we came through Zollhaus again. We had seen before, that there was a nice old steam locomotive and decided to have a short stop there to take photos. We read the text about the locomotive and started to laugh, because we all thought, that the name of the locomotive sounds really funny: Sauschwänzle - pig's little tail. Later we read on wikipedia, that because of the twisting route of its central section, it is popularly known as the Sauschwänzlebahn (pigtail line)
fam-united Posted Nov 8, 2010, 6:24 pm	It seems to be a "river" day today, first Rhine and now Donau - Danube. Donaueschingen is about 30 km far from Schaffhausen. The city lies in the Baar basin in the southern Black Forest at the confluence of the Brigach and Breg rivers— the two source tributaries of the Danube— from which the town gets its name. At school we all learnt, that the confluence of Brigach and Breg is the Donau (Danube), but there is also the source of the brook Donau, which is called Donauquelle, located next to the garden of the palace of the Princes of Fürstenberg. Donaueschingen was first mentioned as "Donaueschingen" in 889[citation needed]. In 1283, Rudolph von Habsburg granted the countship of Baar and Donaueschingen to Heinrich von Fürstenberg. The right to brew beer was also connected with this grant. This is the source of the Royal Fürstenberg Brewery. Though the Princes of Fürstenberg were nominally mediatised and dispossed as absolute ruler of the principality, they still own huge property in their former lands, including their palace with the surrounding parks and gardens. The Schlosspark (palace gardens) which used to be public and the only park accessible to the citizens of the town since 1806 recently became off-limits again. The Princes of Fürstenberg were also the owners of the only extant manuscript of the Nibelungenlied until they sold it in 2001. The ancestral brewery has been sold as well. Next to the brewery we found this beautiful half-timbered house. Here you see the catholic church St. Johann again. It is a baroque church, built between 1724 and 1747. The two towers are considered as landmark of the town. The altar was built in 1751. You maybe remember the photo that we took next to the Donauquelle looking up at the church? Now we look down at the Donauquelle, palace and palace garden.
fam-united Posted Nov 9, 2010, 6:34 pm	Back in St. Peter we had some tea and cake again, before we went on another walk. This time only my host and her son went with us. We walked to the pilgrimage church Maria Lindenberg, which is about 3km from St. Peter, if you walk. It was about 4pm when we went away and we came back at 6.15pm. It was really dark then and we were very hungry and thirsty then. Here's a photo back to St. Peter, this time from the other side of the town. This sign says, that here is the home of genetically unmodified Black Forest milk. We walked the way of the cross on our way to the pilgrimage church. You see, that it is already getting darker under the trees. We arrived at the church when there was a service called vespers. So we didn't want to go inside. I was a bit sad about it. The church is built on a ridge of hills (720 meters). Unique is the eucharistic adoration since 1955. From January to December men pray day and night without interruption in front of the holy of holies for piece and regeneration of church through Holy Spirit. Since 1497 it is a place for pilgrimage.
fam-united Posted Dec 4, 2010, 7:38 am	It's time to go home to Bruchsal again, but first we wanted to see the Rothaus brewery in Grafenhausen. Grafenhausen is a town in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg, located 1000m (3300 ft.) above sea level and was founded in 1791. After lunch we drove to the "huesli", the house where Dr. Brinkmann lived while working in the "Schwarzwaldklinik" a rather famous tv-serie. We only had been able to take photos from outside, because it was closed. The house is a small museum. Then we drove home again through the "Höllental". "Hölle" is the German word for "hell". In the narrow, dark valley, travellers almost felt like moving underground.
fam-united Posted Jan 15, 2011, 10:56 am	Then  we heard a little bell ringing - the sign, that the Christchild - Christuskind - was there and had brought the presents. Now we were allowed to enter the livingroom and see the Christmastree for the first time. While our hosts were singing and playing the flute, we sat on the presents and helped singing. I'm so sorry, that there is no record of it, you would have loved it After singing and reading the Christmas story - I never thought, that this really would take more than half an hour time to get finished with this - everyone was allowed to open the presents. I'm also sorry, that we don't have photos of us, but we all were too busy. Then we sat down, played a game and ate some of our selfmade cookies. Our host told us, that she tries to put some recipes on facebook.
fam-united Posted Feb 19, 2011, 4:51 pm	Today evening we have Raclette for dinner. We really liked it. My host got to bed after dinner, because her daughter was ill. So we enjoyed a game called "Mitternachtsparty" - midnightparty - without her.
fam-united Posted Nov 12, 2011, 4:52 pm	Here's I'm on the railway station in Mannheim. I'm just waiting for the ICE, which will bring me to Wuppertal. I'm a bit excited - it's the first time, that I will travel on my own.
fam-united Posted Nov 12, 2011, 5:03 pm	We had a short stop at Cologne. Petra said, that she had seen a part of the cathedral, but I only had been able to see this part of the railway station.
fam-united Posted Nov 13, 2011, 10:57 am	At Wuppertal we met olgamaus. We and our host will stay at her place until Wednesday. In the afternoon we took a walk in the vicinity of the medieval castle in the neighbour city Solingen. Before visiting the castle we took a walk in the surroundings. We started our trip in a rural area with lots of livery stables. In the far between the hills you can see the city center of Remscheid. We reached this beautiful outlook pavilion. I like this overview to the valley of the river Wupper, which we had from there. In the distance we saw Schloss Burg. There is another toyvoyager coming into my photo We saw the castle which is situated high above the river Wupper several times before we finally reached it. We saw a defence tower. It was built for protecting the outer line of defence, some  hundred meters apart from the castle. Here you can see me and all the other ToyVoyagers who went with us today. Soon we reached the castle. We went into the courtyard and found a lovely half-timbered part of the castle. Schloss Burg was built in 1133 by Count Adolf I von Berg on a hill above the river Wupper.That's why this region is called "Bergisches Land". Many people believe that it's name refers to the landscape with hills and valleys. (For those who do not speak German: The German word for mountain or hill is "Berg", so many people think that the name "Bergisches Land" means "land with many hills" ) About a hundred years later it was enlarged by Count Engelberg II von Berg. This is the guy on the horse in the courtyard. I saw these bird houses. I really would like a little house for myself too. In Thirty Years War (17th century) large parts of the castle were destroyed. It was rebuilt then, but it was used for industrial purposes for many years. In the end of the 19th century they began to rebuild it as it appears today. The round tower was the powder tower, it was restored about two years ago. In the castle courtyard you can find souvenir shops and shops whose owners are doing an "old" handcraft, for example handmade brushes, brooms, soap, lovely yarns and wooden knitting needles, toys like swords and helmets and much more. While olgamaus bought some wooden buttons for knitted cardigan, I tried to find some nice buttons for myself. But maybe I should buy a wool cap? or a wool pullover?
fam-united Posted Nov 13, 2011, 11:25 am	We were really tired, when we arrived at olgamaus' home again. So we first took care for our host's knee. She hurt it badly on the way back home. Then we had dinner and fell in our bed, actually Petra's bed, but she didn't want to go to bed as soon as we did - and you know: Who comes first
fam-united Posted Nov 19, 2011, 2:41 pm	Today we planned to visit a museum, the German Tool Museum (Deutsches Werkzeugmuseum). It is situated in the district Hasten, we went there through the municipal park. The observatory is situated in the entrance area of the park. We all had fun playing in the leaves. Hasten is one of the oldest districts here, you can still find narrow lanes with cute old houses here. Here you see a part of the museum, but we were in another house to take a look at the tools. Inside the museum we had to hurry a little bit, they were closing 30 minutes later. The ground floor is dominated by a steam-engine. Although it isn't really nice, it was somehow funny, to see Petra hurry. In each drawer you could find different tools. With my host I'm usually living three quarters of an hour away from Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg and now we are in Remscheid. It was kind of a sign made for us to show you, where we stay right now. We also found displayed tools from early ages, for example Stone Age and Bronze Age. Then we sat next to a fire place. From the second floor we saw the engine again. A historic company sign ... Outside the museum you can still find machines and tools. Afterwards we took a short walk along those old houses.
fam-united Posted Dec 3, 2011, 8:54 pm	Today we decided to take a look at Muengsten Bridge, one of the touristic highlights of this region. We walked to the Solingen part of the bridge. Poor Petra had a hurting knee, but she still carried us around. Can you see the little pavilion in the background? It is a sibling of the one we saw on Saturday, created by the same architect. We had to walk for only  a few minutes until we reached the bridge. A few years ago a leisure park was built under the bridge. You can find lawns for relaxing here and a crazy golf course. We even climbed to the train station on the Solingen part of the valley. When we reached the station we took the train to Solingen to have lunch in a restaurant. The Zwilling company is situated here, well known in the whole world for their knifes and cutlery. Here you can see part of the former railway track, now built to a lane called "Korkenziehertrasse". Those buildings were the freight depots once, nowadays you can find artist's stores and cafés here.
fam-united Posted Dec 3, 2011, 9:10 pm	Today we went along the city center of Remscheid to reach a bus to Wuppertal. On our way we've seen the city hall of Remscheid. In Wuppertal we saw this amount of flags - I'm sure, they had to do with the zoo, because we already were really close to it. Maybe we will go to Wuppertal zoo? Petra still had a lot of trouble with her leg. So there is only this one photo with elephants. This one we took outside the zoo again.
fam-united Posted Jan 28, 2012, 10:14 am	I like this Christmas decoration on the window. It's on the same place each year. If you like it too and want the originals to cut them out for yourself, please send a note to Petra. It's a nice place for us toyvoyagers, too. It is warm and you can see everything that's going on on the street The first photo is without flash, just to show you, how dark it is outside although it is early midday. If Petra hasn't done a mistake, then there are 26 toyvoyagers sitting together. Some are her toyvoyagers, some her daughters and some are rescued toyvoyagers, which still are at her place and of course some are guests, who will move on again.
fam-united Posted Jan 28, 2012, 11:00 am	After the big group photo session the guests finished the stars. Of course we other toyvoyagers were really curious and came to take a look at the beautiful stars. Later a group of starsingers visited our house, but we just had been too slow, so we aren't on this photo. Nevertheless we thougth, that it is a good idea to show you, how starsingers can look like. They don't carry one of our stars, though. They belong to the church region, were our hosts live, but our hosts go to another church, where they lived before. It's a bit complicated In the afternoon we all helped our Petra to bake two cakes. She told us, that tomorrow isn't only Epiphany, but also her husbands 50th birthday and that we will go to the parish hall and carry cakes with us. At first we baked a Hermann cake. It is a cake like a round robin, that's how it seems for me. Petra told us, that she received a part of the cake a few days ago and that she had to stir it and to feed it and that now it is ready to get baken. Of course we added some more stuff like flour, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, chocolate pieces. We read the recipe. Then we had to get some more dishes for the "kids" of this cake. We had been really busy. We also added some apple pieces. We wondered, if this dish would be big enough and decided, that it wasn't. So we took a star for the dough of Hermann.
fam-united Posted Apr 29, 2012, 3:41 pm	Finally I found time to read these two pages of two different newspapers of the week. The one is about Bruchsal asparagus. Bruchsal is famous for its asparagus fields and auctions. The other newspaper page is about the baroque palace of Bruchsal. I think, you have a good view to many different parts of the main building with the church tower, but still many houses are missing.
fam-united Posted Apr 30, 2012, 6:00 pm	We have typical April weather in Bruchsal. There is sunshine and the next moment there is hail and thunder and rain.
fam-united Posted Jun 2, 2013, 2:11 pm	Wow! We have another sunny day! I really had no chance to see the flowers in the garden behind the house until now, because the weather was that bad. I can't remember, that we had springweather like this before. All flowers are blooming at the same time and the trees got leaves within minutes it seems.

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