Pinkz, Rakvere, Estonia

Luv_Lioness Posted Oct 13, 2008, 5:53 pm	All set and ready to travel... who wants to host me?
Luv_Lioness Posted Oct 27, 2008, 6:02 pm	Been hearing about other travels... looking forward to traveling and seeing things myself.
Luv_Lioness Posted Dec 11, 2008, 7:38 pm	On my way to my first adventure!!
drakie Posted Dec 18, 2008, 3:51 pm	Well I arrived today, and boy is England cold, i was a met with quite a few toy voyagers so we should have a wonderful Christmas I think.  Well my hosts toys are here, some of them, Galaxy Bear, Shakesbeare and Eddy Bear he is a bit of an older timer been at it for a while but very nice.  Then I met Alpina she is just about to leave, and I arrived with another toy in the same post but my host has got to find her name, Percy the Owl is also here and Floppsy the bunny so my host is going to be very busy I think and I nearly forgot Norma Nickers...  lots of freinds for Christmas.....
drakie Posted Jan 28, 2009, 9:03 pm	better late than never, Its Christmas day and here I am helping my host to open presents...
drakie Posted May 2, 2009, 10:42 pm	At last after many months, got my computer mended and then had so much prioblems with my internet connect it has took many months.  Anyway my host went to Exmoor today to help with the Exmoor Challenge and she took some pictures on the way. Lots more pictures to follow, may take a few weeks but I will get there.
RikeH Posted Jul 5, 2009, 12:00 pm	Hi Mum, Meleca and I arrived at Rike’s home today – and there were dicker Kumpel, Slummy, Milala, Murph and Ninni just coming back from their cruise! They told us a lot of their adventures. Ninni ist the ToyVoyager of the week, we are all very excited and will have a party this week. She got beautiful flowers from Rike – we made a photo of both of us – and then I was allowed to have my own photo. Then I explored the garden – found funny birds – and nice flowers. I am sure, that I will have a nice time here. love Pinkz
RikeH Posted Jul 7, 2009, 2:49 pm	Hi Mum, Today we went to Bad Segeberg – a nice small town near to Rike’s home. First we made a photo with this funny monument. Can you see, what it shows? Then we visited the nice big sea and we saw ducks in it. Back in Sülfeld – we found these nice flowers in the neighbor’s garden yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Jul 12, 2009, 1:30 pm	Hi Mum, We explored Sülfeld, the nice little village, where Rike lives. It has around 3000 inhabitants – and is situated between Lübeck and Hamburg in the North of Germany. This is a nice little lake – we loved it, but it is not as big as the one we visited in Bad Segeberg. This is the old school – Rike never went to this school, but it is a beautiful building ! Then we saw this nice church – it is very old – from 1207 – more than 800 years. I really like it ! Yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Jul 13, 2009, 8:25 am	Hi Mum, Today we went to Hamburg, because we celebrated Ninni. She is the ToyVoyager of the week. The weather wasn’t that nice on the way to Hamburg, but there it went better. First we did some sightseeing, but not too much. We looked at the town hall – first from the front – with the little festival, where we wanted to celebrate. Then we went to the other side of the town hall, where a nice fountain is. Here you can see us all together – celebrating Ninni!! And me playing in the wine! We had wine and ate something delicious – called Flammkuchen. You see a photo before we started – and when we finished. Oups – maybe a little too much wine? We really had a great time!!! love Pinkz
RikeH Posted Jul 16, 2009, 10:24 am	Hi Mum, We were in Bad Segeberg again, because we wanted to find the people from the monument. You asked about it in your PM.  It is strange, that they are here – but we found out, that they play theatre in this town – written by Karl-May. We found this funny telephone box – and I wanted to call you. But it didn’t work… This funny man had a good time. It was so hot, but he stood inside a fountain. I wanted to stand next to him, but RikeH didn’t allow it. So we only played outside the fountain. At the end of our walk, we saw this lovely church. Summer-Greetings Pinkz
RikeH Posted Jul 17, 2009, 3:23 pm	Hello Mum, I am so excited. We searched all the time for a pink vehicle, and today we found one!!! It was a little dark, where it stood, but I think, that you can see the wonderful color on it. So we took two photos - and I hope, you like them !!! Maybe we will find another pink vehicle, but it is not easy! Greetings Pinkz
RikeH Posted Jul 18, 2009, 2:43 pm	Hi Mum! Last week we hadn’t had nice weather in Hamburg – so we tried it again today. And look, what we saw out of the window of our train – the sun! The town hall looks much nicer in the sunshine. And we saw the Alsterarkaden – they are very beautiful. Then we crossed the street and went to the Alster. There we saw the fountain and the nice boats. When we walked on the boarder of the lake, we saw swans and geese. This wonderful view is from the other side. Because we all loved this view, we wanted to have an own photo - and one from all of us! On the way back to the train station (on the second photo) we made a stop at the Kunsthalle – a museum of Art. Inside the station we waited for our train – and I wanted to show you the nice station! We entered the train and had a nice meal – what a great sunny trip!!! I love the life of a ToyVoyager !!! yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Jul 23, 2009, 9:54 am	Today Slummy told us, that he will leave to his next host. We all gave him a very big hug – and we will miss him!
RikeH Posted Jul 23, 2009, 9:55 am	Hi Mum, we went to Lübeck. It is a nice city – in 1987 the Unesco declared the existing cityscape to be a World Cultural Heritage Site.  And it is a great city. First we saw the Holsten Gate – it was on the 50-DM-bank-note of Germany. But now they have the Euro here. Next to the Gate are the Salt Warehouses. Then we climbed up the tower of the St. Peter’s Church. We had a lovely view of the city… We saw some other nice buildings – and a funny animal. When we arrived at home, a new ToyVoyager was waiting for us - she is called Rhinono and we talked a lot! She came from China – and had a very fast trip ! What a wonderful day ! yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Jul 26, 2009, 7:00 pm	Hi Mum, we went to the port of Hamburg today. Rike told us, that there are many beautiful ships. We started at the Landungsbrücken – it is the place where the ships arrived in the past. In the other direction we saw nice old ships – we made nice pictures nearer to them later this day. On our way to the old ships we saw these colorful bikes. They are for rent, but we didn’t rent them. My legs are too short for these bikes. Then we saw this big anchor – can you see me in front of it? This is the Rickmer Rickmers. In 1896 it was constructed as a three-master ship on Rickmer's shipyard in Bremerhaven. It was rebuilt to a three-master barque in Capetown in 1904 after having been damaged a heavy storm. The Rickmer Rickmers was sailing between Europe and Chile, loaded mainly with carbon and nitre. In 1916 it was confiscated by the Portugueses. From this time on it was used as training ship for the Portuguese navy under the name SAGRES. In 1983 it was sold to the organization "Windjammer for Hamburg" and towed to Hamburg - as a fully dilapidated hulk (without masts). After a restoration of several year the wrack became a neat symbol of the Hamburg harbour. Important facilities like the engine-room or the officers' cabins were restored with love. The ship can be visited daily. Under deck there is a restaurant as well as a show room where interesting, often changing exhibitions of maritime contents can be seen. We didn’t want to see the inside – so we only took nice photos from the outside. This is the other old ship. The Cap San Diego, built in 1961, is a unique testimony to seafaring and is berthed in her old home harbor of Hamburg as a »museum you can touch« since 1986. She is the last of the classic cargo ships, referred to as the "White Swan of the South Atlantic." This is the look over the port where a swimming crane came along. At the end we saw the fire-ship – and on the other side a huge building, where a big publisher has his rooms. The church you can see behind the building is called ‘The Michel’ and is a very famous church for the people from Hamburg. I really loved this day at the port. Hamburg is a wonderful city! Yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Jul 29, 2009, 7:46 pm	Hi Mum, this evening I explored the garden. What a funny man out of wood - or is it a woman? I am not sure. This kind of birds are normally at the seaside, but this one loves to be with us here ! This is the newest plant of RikeH - it is wonderful and so big !!! Then I heart the sound of water - and look what I found. A MONSTER !!! Luckily I found out that it is a nice monster - it is called Nessie - and loves to be in the water. I was allowed to sit on his back.  What a nice evening. Love Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 1, 2009, 4:20 pm	Hi Mum, we went to the cruise ship terminal in Hamburg today.  That was the big tower – we will have a nice view of the ship, when we are on the tower. But you can see, what happened. We saw the building, but there was no cruise ship. Then I looked in another direction and found a beautiful ship. We all decided that we wanted to play on it. We played hide and seek. I was the first who run away and I found a great place to hide. After it we wanted a photo on the ship. First we were on the deck… …then we climbed onto the mast. We had a nice view from there! We talked and enjoyed the sun! We decided to have a race to the swing. Rhinono had the best start – she jumped – and won. We others climbed down the mast. Rhinono is very brave! On the swing we had a great time. Playgrounds are great for ToyVoyagers. I found another nice pink vehicle on the playground ! At the end I relaxed in the hammock. What a wonderful day in Hamburg again! Yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 3, 2009, 7:08 pm	Hi Mum, It is Sunday – and we made a tour with the bike. We made a rest at a nice place. You can see me on the bike. This is a big field with corn, but it is not really ready to be eaten. Here you can see all of us – we had so much fun together on the bike! Look – how long our way was! Some miles later we saw these nice horses. Back home Rike showed us, how the corn looks like, when you buy it in a shop. Yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 3, 2009, 7:09 pm	Hello Mum ! Today Milala told us, that she will go to her next host. She will go to Belgium. We all gave her a big hug – and wish her a nice time there. Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 9, 2009, 12:21 pm	Hello Mum, ThomasHH and BineHH came back from nowhere with the help of Dicker Kumpel and a magic hippo. They were both lost – what a bad experience. We all hope, that we never will have this experience. We are so happy that they are back ! We talked about our trips and came to the topic of cruise ships. RikeH told us about a big ship that will be in Hamburg today. It is called Queen Mary 2. We couldn’t believe, how big it is . length : 1132 feet / 345 meters, Height 236 feet 2 inches / 72 meters.  Passengers : 2620 (3090 max). We think, that maybe all TVs could travel on it at the same time. That would be a party. We decided to go to Hamburg again – and see the QM2 in reality. But first we saw a model –it is not really big… We went to the Cruise Terminal – you remember – I have been there last week, when there wasn’t any ship. Wow – the QM2 is really big !!! In the afternoon we went to the port again, because we wanted to see the ship, when it was in action on the river Elbe. We waited… Then it came – it is amazing!!! I think, I should go on a cruise soon – maybe we can do it together, Mum? Love Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 9, 2009, 12:26 pm	Hello Mum, we went to Hamburg –there is a big fair – called Dom. First we looked around and saw many people and carrousels. One was for children; the next one was very interesting – so fast moves… Then I was very afraid – a white shark came from the side. Fortunately I found out that he was a friendly shark – and I was allowed to make this scary photo! That was amazing. I needed to eat something – and found delicious strawberries with chocolate. We then saw the big roller coaster with two loops. I didn’t want to try it out… Look at this funny corn-man. I loved him!!! Later we saw a boat trip – the people became wet in it – it was funny. We wanted a nice photo of the group and found this funny place. After it, we bought a nice heart from Hamburg. When we walked around we saw the big wheel. It is really big – the biggest big wheel, that can travel around the world. Maybe it is a Big Wheel Voyager? I wanted to make a trip with the big wheel – and we went into it. I had to hold the hand of Tobi, because he was a little afraid. (Or maybe I was a little scared, because it was so high.) We saw many interesting things from Hamburg from high above - the Dom, the Port and the church Michel. It was great! What a wonderful day!!!! We went back home and relaxed on the couch. yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 23, 2009, 1:30 pm	Hello Mum, A friend of RikeH needed a new lamp for his flat. He asked me to help him to find the right one. We went to a lamp store. Wow there are a lot of lamps!!! I loved a pink lamp, but RikeHs friend decided to buy this one. It is really funny – it looks like an unidentified flying object. Help, I think it is an UFO……
RikeH Posted Aug 23, 2009, 1:31 pm	Hi Mum, Today was a busy day. First Nippy arrived. We gave him a warm welcome and talked a lot. And in the evening, Meleca told us that she will leave tomorrow. We were very sad, because we had such a nice time together. We all gave her a big hug. Now she is on her way to Scotland – and I really hope that she will have a nice time there! Love Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 24, 2009, 9:02 pm	Hi Mum, It was a great day! When I went through Hamburg, I saw this great motor-scooter. Look, what a nice colour. I love it – and wanted one or two photos. When I went home, we saw a nice Can of Soda in the fridge.  It is one of my life missions to be photographed with Soda Cans. The green is nice next to my colour!!! Greetings Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 24, 2009, 10:35 pm	Hello Mum, We have a new ToyVoyager now. He is called Michel and his Mum is the Mum of RikeH. Isn’t that funny? He said hello to all of us – and gave us some sweets. What a nice surprise! He just arrived in the right time, because we went to a small city called Bad Oldesloe. We made a nice walk there. Can you see this nice mill-wheel behind me? There are many old houses like this in the city. There is a nice small river in the city. Mum, I just found out, that I will become a policewoman soon. They have so beautiful cars! There was a beautiful fountain in front of the town hall. I am so excited – RikeH told us, that we will go to the Zoo soon – and to a birthday party. Greetings Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 25, 2009, 11:17 am	Hello Mum, What a great day. We went to the Zoo of Hamburg today. It is called Hagenbeck and was founded on this place in May 1907 – what a long time! First we saw the elephants – there are small ones – they are so cute – and they played together. This was the first gate of the Zoo. Now the Zoo is bigger – so the gate is inside the park. We saw this funny bird and zebras. A Zoo is really nice, but I prefer to travel around! The giraffes are the biggest animals – hm, ThomasHH is smaller. But this is better for a TV... Look – I saw a tiger, too. Mum, are you really sure, that I am a Zebra? We all think, that I look more like a Tiger??? At the end we’ve been in the Aquarium – what a lot of nice and colourful fishes! It was a wonderful day in the Zoo  ! yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 29, 2009, 11:51 am	Hello Mum! I’ve been on a birthday party today. It was a lot of fun – and I ate so much! First I helped with the barbecue. Everything looked so delicious! In the afternoon we get coffee and cakes! After it, we sat together and had a lot of fun! Yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Aug 29, 2009, 11:52 am	Hi Mum, We made a trip to a nice little park near to Sülfeld. Here you can see us on a big stone. This is a really funny tree. We found a small lodge at the lake side. It is a place to watch birds! Can you see me in the tree? (Next to the BIG bird) At the end of the trip, we went to the playground. What a nice place! Hugs Pinkz
RikeH Posted Sep 5, 2009, 4:04 pm	Hi Mum, The other TVs went out to play games, but Murph and I decided to stay at home. We wanted to play billards. It was so funny. Mum - I was the winner of the game!!! After it we decided to watch a DVD – it was called Madagascar and is a really funny story. What a nice evening! Yours Pinkz
RikeH Posted Sep 12, 2009, 10:10 am	Hi Mum, Today is my last day here with RikeH. We played in the garden, before I had to leave. We made a race – only Dicker Kumpel enjoyed the sun. After it we relaxed in beautiful trees. I really loved them. It was time to say good-bye. Nippy will leave with me, so we can travel together. We get a big hug – and I get a special good-bye from Dicker Kumpel. He was such a good friend over the last weeks. I will miss him! It was hard for RikeH and me, because we really like each other! But Mum, she told me, that I can come back, if I want!!! I had a great time here, but now I am excited to go to my next host. See you soon. Love Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Sep 18, 2009, 6:07 pm	Hi Mummy, I arrived at my new host's home today. I travelled here with Nippy in a comfortable large box. I met my new host Katja during her lunch break. She took us with her when she returned to her work place and showed us a little bit of the vicinity or our current home. I saw a pretty pink coloured house. The weather is not good, so we did not take more photos. Bye Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Sep 19, 2009, 10:50 am	Hi Mummy, today the weather was better again. Because Katja is working close to the city hall she showed it to me. The heraldic animal of Remscheid is a lion. On the open space in front of the city hall they have a pillar with a lion on top. Bye Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Sep 19, 2009, 11:26 am	Hi Mummy, on my first day we made a trip to Wuppertal, which is the neighbour town of Remscheid, famous for the worldwide one and only Monorail Suspension Railway (Schwebebahn). Wuppertal is the largest city of the region "Bergisches Land" with about 355.000 inhabitants. We met Katja's friend BlackCat here. BlackCat had tickets for a concert in the evening, it will take place in a stone pit. The main act is Razorlight, the German band Kilians will be performing first. But it was only afternoon and so we took a walk around the city. Here is a first photo taken from the bus station with a first view across the city centre. When you enter the city centre the first thing to see is the Schwebebahn. The trains are coming in and out every five minutes. The suspension railway travels along a route about 13 kilometres long, about 12 metres above the surface of the river Wupper and approximately 8 m above the city streets. At one point the railway even crosses the A46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes. We walked into the city centre than. Here we are in front of one of the shopping malls. We took a group photograph here, next to a funny fountain. I am sitting here with my new friends Mister_Right, Nippy, Barney and the TVs which are travelling with BlackCat. In the shopping mall they have an exhibition showing desert animals. Katja soon found her favourite. It is not a reptile but a furry one. A sand rat. Katja loves rats, she is keeping pet rats herself. The next photo is showing the city hall with a market place and a large fountain in front of it. We walked along the pedestrian area than. I saw this funny statue here. It's name is "A new day at work". I have never see you doing a handstand before going to work, Mummy. Katja says she would also be going to work with doing it every morning. "Luisenviertel" is a pretty quarter with lots of bars and restaurants. We decided to walk along river Wupper for a while. So here is the Schwebebahn again ... This is one of the most modern stopping points. We went inside the train station to have a look at the incoming trains. The boy at the window was making jokes for us The Schwebebahn is crossing the streets at some points. We reached a quarter where the worldwide known chemical industry concern Bayer is situated. Pharmaceuticals are produced here. We decided to take a ride with the Schwebebahn to get to the concert. We were waiting for our train. The concertgoers cannot get to the stone pit themselves, they will be taken there by shuttle bus.
olgamaus Posted Sep 19, 2009, 11:39 am	We reached the stone pit than. It is almost dark now. We had to walk to the bottom of the stone pit than for about 15 minutes. Somewhere in the deep we could see the concert location. It is really looking great! Behind the fences we could see the large trucks which are usually working here. The concert is fantastic. I hope you can see my silhouette at least. The and Kilians was still playing. And than ... RAZORLIGHT!!! The concert was great, we took a small video, you can watch it here . At the end we were taken back to the train station in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel by bus and return home than. Bye Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Sep 22, 2009, 9:02 pm	Hi Mummy, we took a walk today in one of the surrounding valleys. Katja told me that she loves to take really long walks. I also do The valley is called "Morsbachtal" because the creek Morsbach is running through it. Here I saw a small hamlet with both old factory buildings and dwellings. We followed the creek and came to another hamlet. Do you know those plants? It is hogweed, already whitered. We were leaving the valley now, we had to walk uphill for a while. In the background you can see Muengsten Bridge, the highest railway bridge in Germany. It is 107 m high and is connecting Remscheid with the neighbour city Solingen and is overspanning the valley of the river Wupper. Later we could see the bridge much better. The bridge was finished in 1897. Katja knows a path which is leading to the fundament of the bridge. You have a fantastic view from here. And from the other side ... The tracks are just above our heads. Than we walked next to the tracks for some minutes. A train was coming. We rested on a nearby lawn for a moment. Our way back home was also leading though woodland. I really like it here. Bye Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Sep 27, 2009, 9:17 am	Hi Mummy, we took a walk to the municipal park today. We had to walk for only a few minutes to get there. In the vicinity of my current home I saw pretty old houses. Katja told me that in this part of the city most of the old houses survived World War II. I can see this church when I'm looking out of our living room windows. It is stucked between houses and large trees, so you cannot take a photo which is showing the whole church. In the entrance area of the municipal park there is the observatory. It is very obvious that summer ended now. Katja showed me this memorial for the dead of several wars before World War I. Two allotment gardening areas are here on the park's ground. Katja told us that on this area which is shown on the left side of the next picture there was woodland until last year. All the old trees were felled by some obscure reasons. We went back into town than to pick up a friend of Katja who also wanted to take a walk and do some shoppings. We than went along the Trasse des Werkzeugs (Route Of Tools) which is a closed railway track. On this track a route for pedestrians and cyclists was built. It is about 5 km long, starting at the central station and going to the district Hasten. It was sponsored by local tool producing companies. Along the route you can find signs, information and artwork relating to the tool producing industry. Here are some of those signs, there is also one which is displaying the coat of arms of Remscheid. We bought some things here. Of course Katja forgot to buy the most important thing  Bye Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Sep 27, 2009, 10:16 am	Hi Mummy, we took a long walk today in an area around the river Wupper which belongs partly to the municpal area of Wuppertal and those of Solingen. We started our trip on the Wuppertal part. First we took a path that goes underneath a railway bridge. We had to walk uphill for a while. Soon we reached an old building, called "Kaltenbacher Kotten". It propably was a grindery or a smithy once. A pond is next to the building. We reached an area than which belongs to the largest arboretum in Germany. Since the late 1950 years foreign trees are planted here. There are special areas with trees from Asia, North America, South America and also Africa. The arboretum was founded as a forestry sience project. We crossed the river Wupper here and reached the Solingen area. We had to take care while we walked through the forrests: Everywhere it was "raining" acorns, beechnuts and chestnuts. On our way back to the car we had to walk underneath a large bridge, underneath a highway. After more than three hours walking I was really tired, looking foreward to spend the evening on the sofa, only playing with Katja's pets (they are delicious, cute little things, like big fat mice). Bye Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Oct 2, 2009, 3:52 pm	Hi Mummy, we have bad weather here, it also became cold. It is less than 10°C outside. It is raining almost all the  time. When it stopped raining for a moment I sat in the kitchen window, looking outside. Bye Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Oct 4, 2009, 6:46 pm	Hi Mummy, today we visited Katja's sister Ina and her familiy. Ina and her husband were celebrating their birthday. Before we went to their house we made a walk through the old town. Lennep is the second largest district of the municipal area of Remscheid. As a  member of the Hanseatic League and Prussian county seat it was one of the most important cities of the region Bergisches Land for a long time. Most buildings are under monumental preservation, they were built after 1746, after the last great fire. The old town still has a medieval structure. Here I am on the market place with the evangelic church next to it. We walked around the church, trying to take a good photo, but it was impossible because the houses are built really close to the church, you have only narrow lanes to walk. I also saw a former minster, the oldest religious building of Lennep. It was built from 1677 until 1679 by Minorites. It was restored than in the 1980's years. Nowadays the minster is an arts centre, a restaurant is also situated here. Were were now close to Ina's house. A large playground is here. We had coffee and delicious cake, in the early evening we had sparkling wine. I also enjoyed a glass. FoxForce came back today. She was on holidays with Katja's parents. Later we had a lot of fun playing with the Carrerabahn (slot car racing track) of Katja's nephew. I even met another tiger here. We spent the rest of the evening together .... Bye Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Oct 9, 2009, 9:42 pm	Hi Mummy, we visited Muengsten Bridge today. I have seen it before, but not from underneath the bridge. This is river Wupper. We had to walk for only a few minutes to have a first look at the bridge. (A new building, a restaurant, is built under the bridge, that's why there is a toilet behind me). Under the bridge they have a leisure park with chairs on the lawns, games and for children playground equipment. A crazy golf course is also here. We decided to take a walk in the forrest than. Katja told us that there are rocks with engraved pictures or poems. Can you see the engraved hands? We had to climb higher than, like you always have to in this region. From here we had a good look at Muengsten Bridge lying behind us. This sign is showing the way back to the bridge. We walked back on the other side of the river, later we crossed the bridge with a special ferry. Bye Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Oct 15, 2009, 7:59 pm	Hi Mummy, today Katja took us into town when she went to the post office to pick up the mail for the law firm. It was really cold in the morning, although it was sunny. The first photo is showing the main entrance of the shopping mall. One of the best known phone providers has a company logo which fits perfectly to my colour. On Fridays a farmer's market is taking place at the end of the shopping street. This modern building belongs to the municipality. Here we are at the bus terminal ... ... and this is the company building of the local newspaper "Remscheider General-Anzeiger". On the next photo you can see the theatre, the shopping mall and the tower of the city hall in the background. We went into the shopping mall to buy some fruits for our coffee break. When Katja finished work the sun was still shining which you should better not take for granted because they have lots of rain here, due to the rangy landscape. So we took the chance to take a walk before we went home. From a bridge I had a look at Remscheid's highest-located district, in the background. Close to the central station I saw this round building. Katja decided to walk along the Werkzeugtrasse (Route of Tools) with us. This is a lane which was built on a closed railway track for pedestrians and cyclists. It starts at the central station and is leading to the district Hasten. Remscheid is famous for its tool producing industry. This lane was sponsored by local tool producing companies, that's why it is called Route of Tools. The lane is about 5 km long with some interesting points along the route. Here we are at the central station which was a building site for more than two years and just finished this sumemr  ... ... and walking along the Route of Tools. Here is a map showing the course of the route. Here you can sit down and rest for a while. Here are some signs showing the names and logos of some of the sponsors. Sometimes you can find distance data painted on the ground. Of couse you can find bridges along a former railway track ... ... and also old factory buildings. Some of them are still in usage. At this point the Route of Tools is crossing a street. We decided to walk home than. From here we had to walk for about 15 minutes to get home. Bye for today Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Oct 18, 2009, 6:02 pm	Hi Mummy, we took a long walk today along the so called "Obstweg Leichlingen" (translated it must be something like "Route of Fruit"  ). Leichlingen is a small town, halfway between Remscheid and Cologne.. This path is following a route through traditional orchard meadows, along homesteads and through rural hamlets. It is about 9 km long. What a nice overlook! We rested next to those pretty toadstools for a while. Katja warned us not to taste them - it's fly agaric, it's extremely poisonous. We walked along picturesque farms and houses. Do you know sea-buckthorn? I don't think so - it's originally from Asia, nowadays spread across Northern Europe and parts of Asia. I  tasted those berries - Ugh! They are acidic. Sea-buckthorn berries are multipurposed, edible and nutritious. Juice and liqueur is made of them and also skin creams. Here are apple trees. We saw horses on a meadow. Corn was harvested here. Bye for today Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Oct 25, 2009, 4:43 pm	Hi Mummy, we took a walk today to one of the oldest districts of Remscheid. It is called Hasten. In the background you can see the outskirts of Wuppertal. Here is an elementary school. You can find lots of pretty old houses in Hasten, here are some examples. Katja's friend Erika is living here. We went to her house to have a coffee with her. Erika loves cats, also pink tigers  I found a nice place for a rest on the balcony. Bye Pinkz
olgamaus Posted Oct 30, 2009, 3:05 pm	Hi Mummy, we went to Wermelskirchen, a small town in the neighbourhood, to take a walk. It's a rural area. We parked the car next to a restaurant. It is a speciel "potatoe restaurant". We walked through the forrest for a while ... ... had a talk with sheep. We enjoyed the beautifully coloured trees ... ... walked along some houses ... ... along this old barn ... ... and a creek. We posed for a group photograph. It was time to return to the car than. Bye Pinkz
fam-united Posted Nov 22, 2009, 9:25 pm	Hi Mum, I'm happy to tell you, that I arrived at Bruchsal now. There also arrived Mandy Sheep today, so now we are many many toyvoyagers at this place: Galo, Spooky, Tilla Mook, Homer, Jennifer, Little, Smooch, BineHH, Little, Scotty, Mandy Sheep and Robby. And of course those other tvs, which belong to my host's daughter: Schnuffi, Hasi, Coco. I think, we should have a party. I will try to get one organized. Hugs, Pinkz
fam-united Posted Dec 6, 2009, 9:04 pm	My host baked a cake called Hansen Jensen cake the day before today. Here you see, how it looks like, when you cut it. I can tell you, it tastes delicious.
fam-united Posted Dec 7, 2009, 9:05 pm	Today evening my hosts had a dinner called "Würstchen im Schlafrock" (kilted sausages). My host wanted some fresh vegetables in it, but there was only one small piece of a tomato. They also had a beer called Rauchbier, so it was a very special dinner.
fam-united Posted Dec 7, 2009, 9:06 pm	It is a time for baking cakes it seems. So here we are preparing a cake called Torta di Mandorle, a cake with many almonds.
drakie Posted Dec 17, 2009, 8:21 pm	Here I am in the snow, it snowed so much and my host was most annoyed as she had booked the day off work to do "The Sales shoipping".  But she was stranded and couldnt get out of the road as its a steep hill, a lot of people got the day off work as they couldnt get out of their roads.... this hardly ever happens in Devon, its the south west of England a bit warmer than the other coasts but this year it proved everyone wrong!!!
drakie Posted Dec 17, 2009, 8:31 pm	We visited Birmingham to see friends.  fI sat on a canal  boat which served tea and coffees and you can see me having a yummy coffee......
drakie Posted Dec 17, 2009, 8:42 pm	Planning our trip to Cornwall, its near the bottom end of the leg of England in the South West.  We went to Minnack Theatre, a theatre in the outdoors, and grass is grown on the stepped seats to give a little help to not give you a numb bottom.  Beautiful aqua sea. the rowena cade exhibition centre Here we tell you the remarkable story of Rowena Cade . The story of a girl who enjoyed the gentility of Victorian Cheltenham and grew up to build an internationally famous cliffside theatre with her own hands. The story of how a local village play in 1929 led to the seventeen week summer season now staged in the Minack’s 750 seat fully equipped auditorium. Come and enjoy the wealth of photographs, models and audio-visual displays. To read more about Rowena Cade and the development of her theatre under the stars:- Click Here(just type in Minnack theatre, Cornwall
fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2010, 5:01 pm	Later we helped getting finished with decorating the house. There are so many nice little things to put up and maybe you will see more photos of everything later. This is my hosts' favorite window decoration. Here you see the advent calendar for our hosts' daughter. This year there are ships sailing on the sea. There is a really frosty decoration in front of the entrance. I like it. Finally here is the cake. It tastes great. And here you see the decoration of the kitchen window.
fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2010, 5:02 pm	It is the first day, that my host has time to bake some Christmas cookies. We were allowed to help her. Everyone had a special job to do. She put the Christmas CD into the CD player and we sang the songs together with her. We start to prepare the dough for Husarenkrapferl and Vanillekipferl (crescent-shaped pastry or roll with vanilla) and Kokosmakronen (coconut macaroons) . I think, these are really funny names.
fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2010, 5:09 pm	Today we have beautiful, but cold weather and we asked our host, if she would have time to show us some places in Bruchsal. She packed us in her rucksack. We still had about -12°C, what is rather cold in this region. Bruchsal (orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle) is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km Northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Bruchsal is the largest city in the district of Karlsruhe and is known for being Europe's largest asparagus producer and one of the economic centers of the region of Karlsruhe Bruchsal is located at the edge of the Upper Rhine River Plains and the Kraichgau along the Saalbach, which is a small tributary of the Rhine that joins it between Philippsburg and Oberhausen.                                     Ancient era and early Middle Ages Excavations and artifacts that were discovered evidence a settlement existing on the Michelsberg (Untergrombach) as early as 4000 BC during the Neolithic. In the core of Bruchsal the oldest settlement discovered was dated back to 640 AD. It is located near the present Peterskirche, where I stay right now. The first mention of Bruchsal in official documents occurred in 976 when the King came to town. And during October of the year 980, Otto II and his Court stayed at the King's palace in Bruchsal for several days 1248 was the first time Bruchsal was referred to as a city and in 1278 St. Peters Church is mentioned for the first time. After extensive damage to both, the Palace and the Peterskirch were reconstructed in 1320. The Bergfried (an outlook and defensive tower bastion) was erected in 1358 and the city wall was completed in 1452. In 1460 the first coin was pressed in Bruchsal. By April 24, 1711 Bruchsal had recovered sufficiently to play host to Prince Eugene of Savoy of the Habsburg Court in Vienna. Then in 1716 the Bishop of Speyer, Heinrich von Rollingen, moved his residence into the Bruchsal Palace. This move elevated the city's status to that of an official residence of the Diocese of Speyer. At the same time, Bruchsal became the seat of the "Vizedomamt", the most important office held by the Diocese on the West bank of the Rhine. In 1719 Cardinal Damian Hugo von Schönborn became the new Bishop and after settling in he commissioned in (1722), among others, the new baroque château and the new Peters Church (from 1742). Both were built and, in part, designed by Balthasar Neumann. In the Bishop's honor, the Southern gate out of the château grounds is referred to as Damian's Gate to this day. In the afternoon of March 1, 1945, Bruchsal was bombed. In addition to the 1,000 lives that perished that day, the entire inner city and the baroque château were destroyed. The baroque palace was rebuilt in the 70th.     That's enough of history now. I'm not sure, whether you want to read everything, but I thought, Petra should write a bit about Bruchsal's history. She used wikipedia and you will find more history and information there. We went to see the palace. You see some small houses in front of the palace, which belong to the soon opened Christmas market. It is the back side of the palace.     The tower on the right side belongs to the catholic church St. Damian and Hugo. There's a nice pond in the park, which is frozen right now. There are statues, which show the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. And there are four statues showing the four elements water, fire, earth and wind. There are some of the most beautiful and oldest houses of Bruchsal in Franz-Bläsi-Straße.
fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2010, 5:10 pm	The Belvedere (Bruchsal) was originally designed as a Manor for fun and games, to which a shooting house was added for use in the shooting competitions often held by the Court. As time went by, the Manor was nicknamed Belvedere by the city's residents, as it enjoyed the best view of the city. The Belvedere is part of the City Gardens. view out of a window:
fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2010, 5:16 pm	Snow! How nice and beautiful, even when it is only a whiff of snow. Here is a view out of a window, where my hosts live. You see the top of the tower of the city church and next to it, you see cranes where they build a new shopping center. Looking to the other side you see this beautiful building, which is called Sancta Maria. I hope, to have a closer view soon. The large building is the music school. The part of the red tower belongs to the Bergfried, the tower of the old castle, and the small small part of the tower to its left is the tower of St. Damian and Hugo. Then we closed the window, because it still is really cold outside. My hosts love to decorate the windows with paper crafts. Then we went downstairs to warm up next to the oven in the livingroom. There's a Santa Claus next to the oven. I asked my host, whether she would like to take a photo with me and the Adventskranz (advent wreath) and she did.
fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2010, 5:18 pm	My host said, that now it would be more than urgent to bake some more cookies or we only would have four sorts. You see, that Sweetsy arrived at our home today and also Princess Sarah. Sweetsy brought some wonderful gingerbread cookies with him. But four sorts of cookies aren't enough for all of us, so we told her, that we all would help together and get some more done. Here we read the recipe for our host's favorite gingerbread recipe. Sweetsy was so happy, that at his first day he had the chance to try another gingerbread recipe: Zigeunerschnitten. The recipe is handwritten in our host's book, because it is a family recipe from her grandparents. She said, that she never found this recipe somewhere else, but maybe someone knows this recipe too? At first Pinkz helped to weigh the butter. Then BineHH helped to add the sugar for the dough. Galo said, that if it comes to eggs, it would be his turn. We all were a bit nervous, because we didn't know, if he could stand it. Hey, Galo! What's the matter! Wake up! We knew it! It was too hard for him! After a while Galo felt better and we all went back to our places. Now Jennifer added almonds. Sweetsy added raisins. We had to have a break in preparing the dough for Zigeunerschnitten, because we forgot to buy some necessary ingredients. So we went on with preparing other cookies. Jimmy_D helped to prick out the Spitzbuben cookies. Smooch and Scotty helped to roll the dough for Zimtsterne (star-shaped cinnamon cookies). Ceryni tried to help to form Nougatkipfert. Finally one other family member bought the missing ingredients for Zigeunerschnitten and we had been able to finish the dough. Scotty added candied lemon peel and candied orange peel to the dough. Spooky used the spoon to add cacao powder to the dough. Then it was time to add the cinnamon. At last it was time to add the flour. I stirred the dough. The result is a really heavy brown dough. Smooch and Galo rolled the dough on the baking plate. It is hard work. After baking the air smelled of gingerbread, yummy. Nevertheless we still had to decorate the Zigeunerschnitten. After the Zigeunerschnitten were cold enough we cut them into smaller pieces and put them in a box. We also decorated the Nougatkipferl and Husarenkrapferl
fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2010, 5:19 pm	Here you have another view out of a window in the attic. It shows the view to the church St. Peter, which is next to the graveyard.
fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2010, 5:20 pm	Merry Christmas to everyone at home. For Holy Eve we have chicken fricassee for dinner. This is a traditional food in my hosts' family. Later after singing Christmas songs and unwrapping presents we had time to eat some Christmas cookies.
fam-united Posted Jan 3, 2010, 2:50 pm	I wish you all a happy new year. There is no big party at my hosts' home, so you only see a photo with me and a part of the Christmas tree.
Pandamao Posted Mar 24, 2010, 9:47 pm	Hi there back home, I am just writing to tell that I have arrived safely. I have already seen a few sights of Munich but my host is busy. So my photos will be uploaded later.
Pandamao Posted Mar 24, 2010, 10:10 pm	I took a stroll through the city center and visited the Asam church. This church was built by a rich merchant who lived in the neigboring house.
Pandamao Posted Mar 24, 2010, 10:28 pm	Winter came back and it snowed during the past days. I accompanied my host and her dog on the early morning walk along the Isar river.
Pandamao Posted Mar 25, 2010, 9:31 pm	Today I am at Munich main station as I want to travel a bit. The train is nice and comfy, I got a seat all by myself.
Pandamao Posted Mar 25, 2010, 9:34 pm	We did travel for about 3 hours - we like to watch the landscape from our window.
Pandamao Posted Mar 25, 2010, 9:59 pm	I visited Sulzbach-Rosenberg, a small town in North-Eastern Bavaria. There is a castle (nowadays used for adminstration and museum) and some other old style houses.
Pandamao Posted Apr 4, 2010, 7:22 pm	Now I'm back at Munich again. My host showed me the German Museum (Natural Sciences and others).
Pandamao Posted Apr 4, 2010, 7:24 pm	We got up early and went for a long walk along the Isar river with Maggy, the dog. The sun was not yet out.
Pandamao Posted Apr 4, 2010, 7:33 pm	But one hour later on the way back home the sun was out, shining brightly. I could have used sun glasses  I played in the snow, Nippy who is another visiting TV also enjoyed it.
Pandamao Posted Apr 4, 2010, 7:50 pm	We are traveling back to the small town again.
Pandamao Posted Apr 4, 2010, 8:03 pm	Spring has finally come! Look at all the beautiful flowers in the garden of my host's parents. It felt like walking on a carpet of flowers.
Pandamao Posted Apr 4, 2010, 8:13 pm	Happy Easter! My host showed me a fountain decorated with Easter eggs. It is an old custom in this part of Germany to paint eggs and decorate fountains and wells at Easter time with them.
Pandamao Posted Apr 4, 2010, 8:21 pm	There must be thousands of hand-painted eggs. Look how nice and detailed the eggs are painted.
Pandamao Posted Apr 5, 2010, 3:45 pm	Today I was drinking Red Bull soda - an energy drink.
Pandamao Posted Apr 5, 2010, 3:47 pm	Today I found this cute pink vehicle - a pink car on three tires. Even if I have already fulfilled this life mission I still like to pose with pink cars.
Pandamao Posted Apr 16, 2010, 7:45 pm	My host took Nippy on a farewell tour of Munich. And Nippy also wanted to show me a few nice places. First we went to the Hofbräuhaus, a huge beerhall and went inside to have a look. Then we continued to the Orlando house. There is a really nice passage inside the house block.
Pandamao Posted Apr 16, 2010, 7:47 pm	As it was exceptionally cold these days my host just went out for shopping. we did not go far so I could only see the Isartor, a former gate to the city of Munich.
Pandamao Posted Apr 16, 2010, 7:52 pm	Inside the blocks of houses there a small alley ways and we ventured into them and were surprised how nice it was.
Pandamao Posted Apr 16, 2010, 8:02 pm	Then Nippy took me to see Maximilian street (where all the designer shops are) and the Opera.
Pandamao Posted Apr 16, 2010, 8:04 pm	Even if most of Munich was destroyed during World War II, there are still some nice old buildings left.
Pandamao Posted Apr 16, 2010, 8:28 pm	I also visited the Bavarian King's residence. We walked around, saw back-yards and more back-yards, took a close look at the walls - did you notice that the walls are painted to give a more luxurious marble look? - and of course, I rubbed the lions' noses to have more luck (rubbing the noses is supposed to bring luck).
Pandamao Posted Apr 16, 2010, 8:39 pm	Opposite of the residence there is a hall with statues of former generals and also a church.
Pandamao Posted Apr 16, 2010, 8:51 pm	The Marienplatz with the Mayors building is well-known as a point for sight-seeing.
Pandamao Posted Apr 16, 2010, 8:52 pm	After all this sight-seeing we strolled back over the victuals market back home.
Pandamao Posted Apr 27, 2010, 9:12 pm	The weather was bad and I did not like to venture out, just stayed around the corner - at least I saw the opera house at Gärtnerplatz.
Pandamao Posted Apr 27, 2010, 9:15 pm	I went shopping and started at Karlsplatz (however, the locals call it Stachus) - it is the start of one of Germany's most visitied shopping streets.
Pandamao Posted Apr 28, 2010, 10:28 pm	My host often goes to the Isar river to walk the dog. And then we always pass the German Museum. It is located on an island in the river.
fam-united Posted Apr 29, 2010, 8:41 am	It is snowing! I'm so looking forward to playing in the snow, but it is night and my host told me, that it is time to go to bed.
fam-united Posted Apr 29, 2010, 8:42 am	I love to see all the snow. I hope, that we will find time to go out, but my host's husband is really ill and I think, that I will have no luck. Please help praying, that he feels better soon.
fam-united Posted Apr 29, 2010, 8:52 am	Today it is time to do some homework. My host helps her children writing vocabulary cards, while they do their homeworks. Here you see Latin vocabularies. We went to the church St. Peter to have a short rest from writing and of course to enjoy the snow. Here you see the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul.
fam-united Posted Apr 29, 2010, 8:57 am	Today we went on a short walk around the Michaelsberg, which belongs to Untergrombach. It's a nice place, when there is snow. The houses on the right side in the far belong to Bruchsal. These houses belong to Untergrombach. Behind the dust in the far are the Palatinate Mountains. This chapel is on top of the Michaelsberg. Many people like to marry there. On our way home we drove past this half-timbered house. It is the museum of Untergrombach.
fam-united Posted Apr 29, 2010, 8:58 am	Last night we got snow again. It is sad, that the old snow just melted away, so there are still only a few centimeters of snow.
Pandamao Posted Apr 29, 2010, 7:48 pm	The weather was great today, nice and sunny, so I went with my host to the Auer Dult. I loved it, lots of nice food and stuff    This is what we found on the official internet site: The Auer Dult is characteristic of Munich, the Bavarian capital. The history of the popular fair with its folkloric flair can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Nowadays the event is organized by the Munich Tourist Office. Three times a year, the locals flock to the Mariahilfplatz, in the part of town called the "Au", which means "meadow" or "pasture": here they can walk around at leisure, shop for bargains, have a bite to eat and enjoy a good time. During the "Dult", the fairground, which spreads over 20,000 square meters, becomes an island in the heart of the city, alive with conversation and congeniality. Children young and old enjoy going on the bumper cars, the boat-like swings, the merry-go-round or the ferris wheel. And if you like Punch and Judy, you must go see their Bavarian cousin, the famous " Kasperl von der AU". The Auer Dult is Europe's largest market for tableware and all kinds of pots and pans. New-fangled household products are proudly praised as "kitchen marvels". The junk dealers' wares conceal many a treasure, sometimes art and sometimes kitsch. Whether glass or porcelain, wax or wicker, cloth or leather, whether it's candy or an old-fashioned herbal remedy you're looking for: your heart's desire awaits you at the Dult. This is open-air shopping with a smile. And if you have children, be sure to go on "Kindertag", when you are able to get more for less.
Pandamao Posted May 3, 2010, 12:22 pm	My time in Munich's up and I left today for Estonia.
minnihiiru Posted May 9, 2010, 11:13 am	Today I arrived Rakvere and again I could breath and I saw sunshine.I will add some pictures later.
minnihiiru Posted May 18, 2010, 8:58 am	First,we looked around the place where I live.Baubles,my new friend,came also with us. Some wood I tried riding with that cat. In garden with flowers Black cat&Baubles and me Digging can start!
minnihiiru Posted May 24, 2010, 10:55 am	Today we had great "trip " in Rakvere,some nice park,we also visited library,as my hostmum borrowed some books.She will have exam in biology on Monday.So we studied together in park and had some food and drink.Also there we took pic of Rakvere's Trinity church. so delicious ! studying studying once more studying
minnihiiru Posted May 17, 2011, 10:26 am	[Today we celebrated Laskaistiistai(Shrove Tuesday),as Mari had nobody else to take with her to sledging,me and PinkYBear decided to join her.We went to lake nearby,but it was covered with ice and snow and it doesn't look like,it is lake and we had fun there. and our "huge " hill  =) When you do not have somebody else to take,you can always trust true friends,us toyvoyagers!
minnihiiru Posted May 18, 2011, 8:54 am	I haven't heard from mommy months and she has not asked of me too and I was months sitting on the table at home in Rakvere,and nobody talked to me or took me somewhere.Then middle of March I was taking to Finland with Mari and PinkyBear that I could have some fun. But my time with Mari is going to end and I want go home or experience other side of the world.Here is spring =)Greetings from Pinkz!
minnihiiru Posted Jul 1, 2011, 8:03 pm	Mari's Finland's life ended 3 weeks ago and I travelled back to Estonia.Yeah,I could spend spring in Finland with them(Mari and PinkyBear).Now here is really hot (+30 degrees) and I think it is time to say goodbye and continue my journey.I loved here so much and hopefully one day I have chance to go back,because I couldn't see everything,because Mari lived half of the time in Finland and other time,you mum wasn't active here,but no problem. Miss you,mommy !
minnihiiru Posted Jul 1, 2011, 8:11 pm	One day we decided to go cycling and it was ~ 25 km long,when we were back home,we were so tired.But the weather was beautiful and we even saw sea and Mari could try,how warm is the weather,I did not,because I did not know how cold it is : D
minnihiiru Posted Jul 1, 2011, 9:04 pm	"Jaanipäev"(John's Night,Midsummer) is today here,we do some BBQ,we didn't celebrate it as big as some people do,but anyway something we did.It's 2nd biggest holidays after Christmas in Estonia. Usually Estonians celebrate "Jaaniõhtu" on the eve of the Summer Solstice (June 23) with bonfires. On the islands of Saaremaa  and Hiiumaa, old fishing boats may be burnt in the large pyres set ablaze. On Jaaniõhtu, Estonians all around the country will gather with their families, or at larger events to celebrate this important day with singing and dancing, as Estonians have done for centuries. The celebrations that accompany Jaaniõhtu carry on usually through the night We were not awake all night and we got even some rain,as it is "common " in that evening(night). looking rabbit with Jelle,Brinda,HolgiHH,Mumu and Albus
Luv_Lioness Posted Jul 26, 2011, 6:29 pm	I've returned home!  Even got to bring chocolate home with me, Mom was proud. Thanks to all who hosted me and let me see the world!
minnihiiru Posted Jan 20, 2012, 8:33 pm	Today weather wasn't the best,but we still decided to go for walking trip.First we visited graveyard and my hostmum put candle to her great-grandmum,who she misses much.There wasn't almost anyone and it was really quiet place. Next we went to Pikk Street,its the oldest and maybe also the longest street in  Rakvere.Rakvere's town get started from there,and then were founded other streets and houses.There are lots of old houses,some of them are renovated and others are not. we got to see monument of Juhan Kunder,who is Estonian writer and he used to live in Rakvere This building was school-building in 19th century There is museum,this time we didn't go there,maybe we visit that later. This is how looks like local mail-boxes and the last we sat on the bench with Pinky Bear

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