Sweet Mimi, Temuco, Chile

Braveheart Sam Posted Aug 16, 2010, 5:11 pm	Today was really the first day of the rest of my life. I've been finally set free from the drawer and my 'people' took me with her to go to therapy. She had to ride the bicycle and I had a taste of it too.
Braveheart Sam Posted Aug 17, 2010, 6:32 pm	After working out, we had to go shopping. By car, because we where exhausted!
Braveheart Sam Posted Aug 17, 2010, 6:45 pm	At the grocerystore, whe had to decide what to eat. I found the potato wedges pretty appealing, so I made a point by joining the wedges in the frozen section. Brrr! That's cold!!! After that, I had to cuddle with one of the dogs in my house. His name is Gaio, Portuguese for Crook. But he's really nice. I also met a future TV, but Im not sure if he's up for the challenge. He's cranky! I gave him my best smile, and he wouldn't even look at me! How rude...
Braveheart Sam Posted Aug 18, 2010, 8:27 pm	Yes, I am on my way!!!!! Right now I am in the wild, but will arive in Germany really soon. Talk to you when I get there. Bye!!!!
Braveheart Sam Posted Aug 22, 2010, 10:44 am	Yes, I arrived in Germany!
RikeH Posted Aug 22, 2010, 9:50 pm	Hi Mum, I arrived in Germany, I am so happy. Dicker Kumpel gave me a warm Welcome. Then he introduced me to the others. They are Pippi, Murph and fai. But Murph is only visiting today – he spends some months with RikeH's sister. Look – I arrived in the right time to eat some cakes. I chose this one. It was so yummy. I am sure, this is a good place to start my life as a ToyVoyager. I will write more soon. Love Mimi
RikeH Posted Aug 24, 2010, 10:05 am	Hello Mum, Yesterday we went to an Centre of Otter. Here you see all of us with a funny statue of two playing Otters. Later we saw real otters – in the lake behind me. Can you see them? Here they show how far the Otters could spring, if they would be as large as human. I am not sure how far I could spring, I think about 100 meters, what do you think? in the evening we arrived in Altenau – our place to stay for this week. It is in the Harz mountains in Germany. Today we explored the village – it was not so much to see, but here is the church. Inside the tourist information I talked with this Deer. Normally he lives outside, but today he had some questions about walks around the Village. There was a little River in the Centre. Later we went home and spent the rest of the day talking and having fun. I really love my life as a ToyVoyager. Please give a big hug to Grouchy! Love Mimi
RikeH Posted Aug 24, 2010, 7:36 pm	Hello from Goslar, We went to a city called Goslar today. It is situated in Lower Saxony and really old. The Old Town of Goslaris an UNESCO World Heritage Site. We started our tour in front of the Mediaeval Imperial Palace (Kaiserpfalz). In 1254 the Great Holy Cross was founded as an almshouse for the town’s needy. Now it is a museum. Then we went to the Marketplace. Behind me you can see the Town-Hall. From the Balcony ot the Town-Hall, we made this photo. It shows the Kaiserworth -      The guildhall from the cloth merchants. This statue is so funny!!! Because it is one of my life-mission to Visit Miami Ink (and maybe get my own tattoo), we stopped at this shop. Unfortunately it was closed - and it was not Miami Ink. The last nice buildings are called the Broad Gate. Wonderful. It was a nice sunny day! Greetings Mimi
RikeH Posted Aug 26, 2010, 3:57 pm	Hello from Altenau, Rain - we sat here - and saw the rain. No problem for us - ToyVoyagers always are happy - and we decided to explore the flat. First we saw this butterfly. It was not so cold - otherwise we could have used this fireplace. We played two games. The first one was with many numbers. Then we played a bigger game - called 'Tore der Welt'. It is difficult, so Dicker Kumpel and I played together - and Pippi and fai played together. The other two won, but we all had a lot of fun. In the evening it was time to party. When RikeH and Thomas were away, we found these two little bottles. Well, the bottles were full and the glasses empty - we should change this. After some hours - the glasses were empty - I took a closer look. Nothing to see - maybe Dicker Kumpel will have more success? No - everything is empty... Bad luck for all of us. Oups - RikeH was coming back. She looked at us - and was not that amused. Mum - I had fun. But I am a little worried about RikeH words : We will see us tomorrow.... Hicks Mimi
RikeH Posted Aug 27, 2010, 5:59 pm	Hello from Altenau again, Ouch! My head!!! I had a headache. It was awful. RikeH helped all of us - and gave us cold towels for our heads. Later we had some coffee and some medicine. We decided to stay inside, relax on the couch and do nothing. But RikeH told us that fresh air is the best for us today. So we walked with her to the Village. We went into the spa gardens. Normally the music is playing here - not today. But this is okay - loud sounds are awful for my head today. These guys are funny - and quiet. This was enough for today. I wanted to go home - no loud conversations today. There must have been something wrong with the drinks yesterday. Love Mimi
RikeH Posted Aug 28, 2010, 7:44 pm	Hello Mum, Another nice day in Altenau. RikeH wanted to visit the Kräuterpark yesterday, but we ToyVoyagers wanted to go home. So we went in the park today. It is the biggest park of spices of the World. Wow! Here you see me in front of a lot of spices. There was a beautiful building. In the building we learnt a lot about spices. Later we had a rest - and talked a lot. At the end there was a wonderful small waterfall. It was a really interesting day! Love Mimi
RikeH Posted Aug 30, 2010, 8:35 pm	Hello Mum, we drove to a nice little town today - Bad Harzburg. The first interesting things we saw were these two horsemen.  There are beautiful old buildings. In the middle of the city we found this fountain of youth.There are funny people on it. Next to the fountain we met this friendly bunny - and talked to him. There was a nice lady on a Donkey on the other side of Bad Harzburg. On our way back we stopped in Torfhaus. In the background you see the Brocken - the highest point of the Harz with 1141 m. There was a big monument in Torfhaus. There is a sentence written in 20 languages. Here it is in Dutch. Can you read it? We are ready to walk onto the Brocken... But this friendly wolf told us that the weather will be rainy - so we decided to drive home. Tomorrow is the last day of our holiday. I would love to stay here for many more weeks. Many greetings Mimi
RikeH Posted Sep 1, 2010, 8:24 pm	Hello Mum, It was our last holiday-day and it was time to drive home to Sülfeld. When we looked out of the window we saw some deers - this was funny.  We stopped in Uelzen - it is famous for its station. The original station was renovated for Expo 2000 following plans by the Austrian artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser.I really liked it. Inside the station : The station platforms are nice, too. Back home in Sülfeld there was a new guest - Peachy Chai. Dicker Kumpel introduced him to us - and we talked a lot! Love Mimi
RikeH Posted Sep 4, 2010, 11:07 pm	Hello Mum, I went to Hamburg with RikeH today. She had to work, but promised to show me a nice place in the city in the lunchtime. We went around the nice Lake Alster. There is a fountain in the middle. There were swans... ... and a colorful carrousel. This is the flag of Hamburg - and in the background a very expensive hotel. Another view of the Alster Lake. We crossed the road and saw the Townhall and other nice buildings on the other side. What a nice trip! Love Mimi
RikeH Posted Sep 5, 2010, 7:55 pm	Hi Mum, we went to a small city today - it is called Bad Oldesloe - and RikeH went to school there - years ago... First we went to a nice river. Here I stood in front of the Townhall. This is the church near to the city centre. There are many nice old houses. And I really loved this view. Dicker Kumpel told me that the water wheel normally moves - but not today. Many greetings Sweet Mimi
RikeH Posted Sep 11, 2010, 9:33 pm	Hello again, today we went to a Park with many animals. The wild boars were really funny. I saw a wonderful roe. Maybe you cannot see them so well, but there were many storks. I talked with this friendly sheep. But she wasn't pregnant at the moment - so no chance for my life mission today. After the long walk we all relaxed on this monument. Bye Mimi
RikeH Posted Sep 15, 2010, 9:01 pm	Hi Mum, it was time to explore Sülfeld today. First I went to the nice old Church. This is the old school. The mayor works here. I loved this old door. Later we went to a nice little lake. And we enjoyed the sun. yours Mimi
RikeH Posted Sep 20, 2010, 5:48 pm	Hello again, We went to a small town called Malchow. This is the view to the Malchow Lake. We had nice sunshine. I had a nice cup of coffee and a delicious cake. This is the town's landmark - a church. And this is the view back to the city. The townhall... ... and another view of the church. Back to the hotel - we went through the garden of the hotel. You can see the hotel in the background. There is a nice small Pavillon in the garden. This is the view of the garden from our balcony. Really nice! We relaxed in the sun and talked about our adventures in Malchow. Yours Mimi
RikeH Posted Sep 22, 2010, 8:25 pm	Ahoi from the MS Stadt Malchow, We made a trip on a boat to another town, called Waren. Our trip lasted two hours. This is the Müritz - the biggest Lake of Germany, that only belongs to Germany. Far away you can see Waren. I talked with this friendly wooden guy. This is a photo of our boat. Views from the biggest place in Waren. A really wonderful church. The inner Harbour. We started with a wooden guy - at the end of our trip we met this colorful man - he told me great stories. What a wonderful day! Love Mimi
RikeH Posted Sep 25, 2010, 10:30 pm	Hello Mum, Today we went back home and stopped in a town called Wismar. This is the centre of  the old town is the huge Market Place, the largest in Germany (10,000 square metres).  The square's focal point is the Wasserkunst, an elaborate wrought-iron fountain imported from Holland in 1602. The northern side of the square is occupied by the Town Hall, built in neoclassical style in 1817–1819. Another notable building in the square is an ancient Gothic warehouse called Alter Schwede (The Old Swede), erected around 1380. The 80 m high tower church of St Mary (Marienkirche) is the only remainder of the original Brick Gothic edifice, built in the first half of the 13th century. It suffered heavy damage in World War II, and was deliberately destroyed in 1960 under the East German Communist government. Then we went to the old port. In the background you can see the Water Gate. And here is a view of the harbour. I walked over a bridge with 4 pigs on it - I loved this funny one most. Bernd the Bread is really famous in Germany. He is a TV-Star. Back home we saw one of his shows in the TV. I am proud to be his friend. Love Mimi
RikeH Posted Sep 29, 2010, 7:41 pm	Hi Mum, it was a great weekend. I met Snoopy and tried to complete one of my life missions. He is a Bernese Mountain Dog - at least most of his close relatives are Bernese Mountain Dogs - so I think, it should count. It was funny - he was afraid of me, so first his human friend had to stay close to us. Can you see, how he looked. Maybe he don't like photos. But then he understood it. We had fun - he shaked his head - I laughed so much. We played together and had a lot of fun. Then we wanted to make new pictures in a better light. Don't we look like friends? I will miss Snoopy. But then it was time to leave him. I really loved this weekend. Bye Snoopy. Love Mimi
RikeH Posted Oct 4, 2010, 1:57 pm	Hello Mum, It is my last day here in Sülfeld. I said goodbye to Dicker Kumpel. He was such a great host! Three of the others TVs will leave today too. Bernd and Timothy can stay longer. We all gave us a big hug… … stood together and talked all night long. I will miss Dicker Kumpel, RikeH and the others – but now I am ready for a new host in Australia. Tash  – I am coming! Love Mimi
emo_kid natashafiebig@yahoo.com.au Posted Oct 19, 2010, 5:47 am	Hi Mum Ive arrived in Australia And i wasn't the only one this morning. Here's me And Miguel This is Miguel's first trip Hopefully ill get to see some tattooing while im here... Maybe get my own emo_kid has stretchers through both of her ears!! With rabbit pictures on them Well bye for now, Love Sweet Mimi
emo_kid natashafiebig@yahoo.com.au Posted Oct 20, 2010, 5:52 am	Hi Mum Last night i got to meet Maximus and Itci Today we had a going away party for Lenny, Nursy and Bussi I shared the chips with P10 We said our goodbyes, although ive only just met them Love Sweet Mimi
emo_kid natashafiebig@yahoo.com.au Posted Nov 11, 2010, 4:19 am	Hi Mum Sorry its been a while since an update, emo_kid has had an insane work schedule lately... But here's an update of what ive been up to... While emo_kid's been working, we've been catching up on our reading We went for a trip into the city one day and came home with all sorts of goodies... We even found a tunnel to chill in We stayed up all night talking to the teddies emo_kid won out of the claw machine, and the spider... And then one day this envelope arrived We were all very curious and then this monkey jumped out and starting hanging from the chair screaming "im free, im free" After a couple of minutes he calmed down, and shared his cookies with us Someone glued a coin to the pavement. Looks like an Australian 10cent piece. emo_kid's bunny rabbit plugs... They're 10mml More to come soon Love Sweet Mimi
Braveheart Sam Posted Sep 1, 2011, 8:18 pm	After a long long absense, I had to get a small make-over. Before: Get my ear pierced again! Ouch! But I look much better, yes? Ofcourse bring some lucky charms along... Hamsa hand on the left and a christal on the right. Decorate it with some nice beads and here I go! After: I'm ready to travel again! Who's willing to take care of this little bunny with an attitude?
Braveheart Sam Posted Sep 1, 2011, 8:20 pm	Today our host took us to work. She carries us in a specially made bag, so we won't damage ourselves. Here we are, waiting for the bag. And here we go! As always, the ladies are last in line!!! Here we are at her work. She is a guide to mentally challenged adults. She does crafts with the group and they sell their made stuff in the little store, what is placed here too. She told the people about ToyVoyagers and they all thought I looked very good! Well... duh!
Braveheart Sam Posted Sep 27, 2011, 10:01 pm	Big day today. The goodbye of two TV's! And one of them was me!!! Bye Everyone! Bye Lester! Talk to you soon, mom! Love ya!
Leslie Posted Oct 23, 2011, 4:32 pm	Hi mum, surprise! I am in Chile now! The trip took long and I was already choking inside of the envelope! but now I'm being taken good care of, so I'm quite fine  I was welcomed by three toyvoyagers, they are  Timothy III., Fiona Yenien and Petunia. They're all very nice! I gave Leslie the postcard I brought her, and I me and the others made the sweets disappear inmediately!  We heard some noise inside of another envelope, so we opened it and it was another toyvoyager! But he's not here for a visit, this is his new home! His name is Patrick the monster. Here we are the five of us!  Love from Chile! Sweet Mimi
Leslie Posted Oct 27, 2011, 6:11 pm	Hey mum, how are you? Today we went to the city centre, which I found out isn't very big, in fact not big at all! I saw pretty much all there is to see, which isn't so much... This is the main square of the city. This monument shows Mapuches (chilean aborigins) with drums and spears and spanish conquerors with rifles and other guns  It's the most important monument in Temuco. Right next to the square is one of the tallest buildings of the city and the main church. Outside the church there were a lot of priests! I wonder what they were up to! Maybe they heard there are toyvoyagers in town and wanted to see us!  Back at home I ate digüeñes. They're orange little mushrooms that grow on some trees in this time of the year! I ate them with vinegar and coriander  They're yummy, you should try them some time! It's very warm here now, it's spring! Good thing that I scaped from the european winter to the warm south hemisphere! ha!  See you! Sweet Mimi
Leslie Posted Nov 2, 2011, 11:14 pm	Hey mum! We came to relax to Leslie's summerhouse for the long weekend! It's in a small fishing village called Queule which is surrounded by beautiful hills and beaches! This is the view from the balcony! Very nice isn't it? You can see the whole river mouth of Queule river and back there is the ocean! In the garden there were many plants, but I'd never seen this one! It's called nalca (Chilean rhubarb) and it's very big! Leslie told me that some people eat their stems with salt! But she didn't let me try it, she said she wouldn´t break her plants' stems.  The nalca was surrounded by some very nice forget-me-nots. These are the flowers of a plant called chilco. They're the hummingbirds' favourite meal! Then after lunch we decided to go to the beach! To get there you have to walk for about 40 minutes up and down the hill! So we started walking! Can you guess the name of this rock? A clue, it's the king of the jungle ...king of the jungle with some trees on his back! This is the beach we were walking to! It's called Ronca beach. The word ronca means "snore" and the beach is called like that because of the loud sound of its waves! They really do sound loud! We went down to beach and walked next to the sea foam and the waves Bobi smelled this seaweed from far away so we came to see it! It's called cochayuyo and guess what, it's edible! Although it didn't smell very inviting to say the less...  See what the wind has done to the trees in front of the sea!!  Leslie told me there was a fire in this forest some years ago... but as you can see nature is recovering nicely There are many burnt tree trunks still standing. Then when the sun went down we went back to the summerhouse. It was a very nice day! Mimi
Leslie Posted Nov 7, 2011, 3:07 pm	Hey mum! Today after lunch we went down to the waterfront to see the old wooden docks and the fishing boats from closer! None of them had brought fish recently so we didn't really see any "action" or crazy seagulls fighting over the guts! Then we walked up to a view point called "el tope" from where you can see the whole peninsula and see the vultures flying right in front of your nose! Do you like the view? Here, behind me is Los pinos island. The beach is called La herradura (the horseshoe) because of its shape and it's 9 kilometers long!  I wonder how many blisters I'd get in my foot if I walked along it!? This is almost the whole town of Queule, see? it's quite small. After about half an hour of walking up and down the hills we got to "agua de las niñas" beach, which means "water of the girls" in Spanish, what a weird name! I think its called like that because of the shallow depth of the ocean here, which makes it very safe for kids. Nearby there was a big rock full of holes everywhere! Do you know what might have caused them? Maybe the aliens! ...or just the erosion.  Nah, I'll go for the aliens! A little later we moved to one of the hills nearby to eat some of our halloween treats watching the beautiful view!  And later on we walked back to the summerhouse. What a cool day!  See you! Mimi
Leslie Posted Nov 17, 2011, 9:59 pm	Hello mum! Today I visited the most important hill in Temuco, Ñielol hill. By the way, I like the way the "Ñ" letter sounds, it's somewhat between N and I Some people say that Ñielol hill is an extinct volcano I hope it isn't, because I would not like to see it active since it's right next to the city! We went up (by car - we were feeling a little lazy) to the main viewpoint from where we could see a big part of Temuco! A little close there were this four very tall Mapuche totems!  They are called "chemamulls" In the middle there is a "canelo" tree, a sacred tree for Mapuche people.  Near there was a poor fallen one, he was too old and was kind of rotten  Then we moved to a lower viewpoint from where we could see a little more of the city to the west. Do you see the closest roof? That's a small natural museum In the museum there was an embalmed condor! It is the national bird of Chile and also the largest flying bird in the world!! It has a wingspan of about 3.2 m (10.5 ft) and can live up to 100 years! What an amazing bird! This is a south american rodent called Coipo, it's like a mix between a beaver and a rat, a giant rat This is a map of the 9th region of Chile, "La Araucanía" which where I am now. I learned that just in La Araucanía there are 7 volcanoes! And in Chile, more than 2,900!!! which is the 15% of all the volcanoes in the world Here I am inside of a "piñón" which contains hundreds of seeds of Araucaria tree (monkey puzzle), the national tree of Chile  I hope you're having a good time! See you! Sweet Mimi
Leslie Posted Nov 26, 2011, 1:42 am	Hi mum! How are you? We came to a city 6 hours south called Puerto Montt, but for a very short time and even though Leslie didn't have much free time to take us out, we managed to go on a little tour through the waterfront from the centre to the famous Angelmó port This very big and famous monument is called "sentados frente al mar" (sitting by the sea). They even have their own song!! This is Angelmó, an international port where turists from all over the world rive in their fancy cruises to taste typical chilean sea food and fishermen and big ships come and go In the restaurant galleries and could see panoramic views of the harbour This sea lion seemed almost trained! He didn't stop posing and swimming around for us! There were some very old looking fishing boats! Right there in the Angelmó port there is a big craft market I'd like to have one of these beanies in my size I wonder how would I look? These two guys weren't so handsome but they were friendly enough to let me take a photo with them! I found these mysterious Moais from Easter Island on a shelf! These jewels are made of a rather rare semi precious stone called Lapislazuli that is only found in Chile and Afghanistan This nice couple lent me a woollen beanie How do I look?? Late at night we went up to a viewpoint to see the light of the city! Very nice!  ...And the next day we came back to Temuco. I enjoyed this trip and hope you enjoyed the pictures! Hugs! Mimi
Leslie Posted Dec 8, 2011, 3:09 pm	Hi mum! How are you? I know it's been a long time... sorry about that! We were on a trip, a very nice trip! But you'll see photos of that later, now I want to show you a trip we made to the Andes mountain range and a small town called Lonquimay the other day On the drive we stopped more than a few times to admire the beautiful landscapes by the road, so we took quite long to get to the mountain range But that's what trips are for, aren't they? This bridge is very very old! But don't worry, I didn't cross it! I'm standing here on a new bridge built next to the old one I really liked these high mountains as a background! Look mum! A suspension bridge! And I was brave enough to cross it! It moved a lot and it was somewhat scary, but I'm sure it wasn't me the one who moved it the most! After all I'm quite fit and my weight isn't enough to move such a thing! I think it was Leslie who did little earthquakes in every step This is beautiful waterfall is called "the falls of the princess" I think it's amazing how so much water falls and falls and doesn't run out! I would like to swim here, but the water was really freezing! ...Another river... As you can see there are a lot of rivers coming from the mountain range to the ocean in this zone... a lot. There were thousands of lupines by the road! Some were pink, purple, yellow and even blue! Here we started going up the Andes mountain range! Even though it's spring, up here it still seemed like winter! The view was amazing! And I should mention as well that it was rather freezing! We kept going up and up until we found snow! Snow in spring! So we went to play!! But just for a short time... none of us wanted to catch a cold! Everytime Leslie stopped to take pictures we would run back to the snow Then we found what looked like a baby Araucaria and went running to climb it, but Leslie said that this one must be about 50 years old or more! So I guess this one must be about a thousand years old! After crossing a part of the mountain range we got to Lonquimay! There was nothing interesting as it a small town, but in the main square I found these two nice sculptures of Mapuche people We were very close to the border with Argentina! These signs say Argentina to the left and Chile to the right! I would have liked to turn left and take a sneak peek in Argentina, but for that we would have to cross the entire Andes mountain range... so we just turned right and started returning home. On the road back to Temuco we crossed the longest tunnel in South America! Túnel las Raices - The Roots Tunnel. It's 4,527 meters long! There was a moment when we could see nothing at all! The entrance had already dissapeared and we still couldn't see the end! It was a fantastic day! Hugs from the sunny Chile! Mimi
Leslie Posted Dec 14, 2011, 3:17 pm	¡Hola mamá! ¿Cómo estás? - Hi mum, how are you? Days here have been sunny and the temperatures raising quite fast, bordering the 30ºC these last days. I hope you are not freezing yourself back at home mum! I would like to send you some chilean warmth if I could! On one of those very rare cloudy days we went to a small town called Puerto Domínguez on the shore of Lake Budi, the only salt water lake in South America! There were big sculptures of mapuche people, like this guy riding a horse... Back there, behind the big fisherman, you can see the lake! This is it! Lake Budi, the only salt water lake in South America A little later we went up to a small cemetery with a nice view to the lake Many many old and not so old tombs had one of Leslie's lastnames written (she has 2), she told me it is because she's descendant of the Spanish guys who came to conquer this area back in the colonial times Now the sun is shining outside so me and the others are going to go out to play Many kisses for you! Sweet Mimi
Leslie Posted Dec 20, 2011, 7:46 pm	Hello! Today we went to the main craftmarket of Temuco to see some Mapuche handicrafts. There were many strange musical instruments, clothes and souvenirs... I liked these "kultrún", mapuche drums covered with leather These are "trapelakuchas", jewel pieces made of silver worn only by mapuche women who have important ranges in their community. They are very heavy! Then we went to a shopping centre and saw a magnificent giant christmas tree! The whole place had christmas decoration and they were playing christmas carols in spanish, it was a lovely atmosphere! When we came back home we sat in front of the christmas tree to admire the lights listening to christmas carols It's really nice! I hope you're having a good christmas season mum! Love, Mimi
Leslie Posted Dec 23, 2011, 6:44 pm	Hohoho! Today we were at home doing nothing productive... Chrissi and I were reading a book while Fiona, Petunia and Bobi were folding origami animals ...When we heard someone coming! It was Pato wearing a Santa costume and bringing something! It was a christmas tree and a bag of presents! But he didn't bring any decoration for the tree... So Petunia, Fiona and Chrissi went to the big tree to stea... I mean borrow some In the meantime Bobi, Pato and I started helping with the tree When the others were back they brought a big load of bells and other things We hung the decorations on the tree while Pato was singing christmas carols to cheer us When we were done, we added just a little details. Fiona hung a bell on the wall, Leslie gave us a little manger to place under the tree, and Chrissi found a Santa figure that Zandy sent us! And here it is!! Our own christmas tree! I can't wait until christmas! And I wonder what's inside Pato's bag!
Leslie Posted Dec 28, 2011, 4:03 pm	Hohoho! Merry Christmas from a 30ºC christmas day! On Christmas eve, in the afternoon we had a lovely dinner with the family, the sun was still shining outside as you can see, since it's one of the longest days in the year! Then, when we were done eating, we went to check our tree to see if Santa had passed, and yes! There were presents under our tree! We euphorically opened them...! There were candies and chocolate for everyone! And we enjoyed them until we could eat no more! I hope you had a beautiful christmas too mum! Many kisses Mimi
Leslie Posted Jan 4, 2012, 2:17 pm	HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL THE TOYVOYAGERS AND THEIR FAMILIES! We came to celebrate to the summer house in the beautiful fishing village of Queule once again At midnight it was time for "3... 2... 1...!!" As you can see we had a very good time and we stayed up late in the deck watching little fireworks and people playing with sparklers. Our neighbors had good loud music, so we also danced a little The next day when we woke up (which wasn't precisely early...) the sun was shining and the sky was all blue so Pato and I went to the valcony to see the nice view and breathe some fresh sea breeze Later after lunch we walked to one of the beaches nearby, well, not so near, about 40 minutes walking up and down the hills But I have no problem with walking, it's good excersise to prepare my body for the beach season We all rathered playing in the sand than swimming, so after a little while the game was in action! Petunia, Chrissi and I were the trapped ladies locked up by a dragon while brave Bobi and Fiona came to rescue us crossing the dangerous suspension bridge! It was a very fun day! I wish you and everyone back at home a very happy 2012 mum! And as they say in spanish... FELÍZ AÑO NUEVO!
Leslie Posted Jan 11, 2012, 2:44 pm	Hey mum! We started a journey to northern lands We slept on a bus for 8 hours and woke up in Santiago, the capital of Chile! But we didn't see anything there because we got off the bus and inmediately got into another one to keep going north Another 7 hours north! Here we are leaving Santiago at 8 am... As you can see the hills near Santiago have different vegetation than back south in Temuco... it starts getting more desertic, there is less vegetation here and you can even see some cactus! Then, after about 4 hours on the second bus we started seeing the sea! The bus made a stop to stretch everyone's legs in a little Town called Los Vilos. There was literally nothing to see there but one single cactus, so Leslie, desperate to get me good photos, made me sit on it and pose!!! With my butt full of little red dots we went back to the bus and it started moving again... And after a total of 15 hours on buses, we got to La Serena! Mum, don't surprised if you find my butt a little flat when I come back home... This is why. But traveling is never a pain, so as soon as we got there we left our baggage in the hostal and started walking a long long street that leads to the bech There were many monuments along, but I found this one specially awful, they are 2 condors (the national bird, remember?) hunting a poor rabbit! Who on earth can sculpt such a horrible scene!! Then there were no more sculptures but road, just many blocks of road to the beach... surrounded by nice palm trees And then, finally, after walking about 18 blocks we got to the beach! we were starting to feel tired but as soon as we saw the sea, it took all our tiredness away! The first thing you see when you get to the beach is a nice lighthouse which is the most known icon of La Serena We stayed here the whole afternoon relaxing after so much traveling and walking... You'll see more La Serena soon mum, and so will I See ya!
Leslie Posted Jan 19, 2012, 1:53 am	Hey! Another sunny day here in La Serena! In fact most of the days are sunny here and fantastically it only rains a few days a year! In the morning ("morning" in holidays never means earlier than 9 am here ...) we went walking to the centre, wich is just a few block away from our hostal and we found this church called Santo Domingo which was built in the year 1700 and something... Inside it was cold and they had nice music playing which gave a nice and calm feeling Then we went out and just across the street we found the biggest and main cathedral of the city, Catedral de la Serena. It was built around 1800. We were lucky to find it almost empty because there was a big "no photos" sign I didn't mean to be disrespectful but such a nice construction must be photographed, right? Next to us there was another tourist with his camera under his jacket, taking photos whenever he thought no one was looking! of course he never imagined there was a little toyvoyager bunny watching him from between the big pillars! haha! Then we went out to the street again... Haven't I told you mum that in La Serena most of the constructions keep a colonial style? In the centre, for example, they can't build anything bigger than 4 floors height, and most of the contructions have tile roofs Anyway, we were walking in the street and found quite a nice building, but it belonged to some court or something like that so we were just trying to sneak near the door, but a nice guard found us and invited us inside to take photos! Inside the building there was a beautiful patio! Then out in the street again we found this cool tile bench where we sat to rest for a while I was distracted looking around and talking with the others when Leslie got us all into a cab... ...and took us to a Japanese garden! It was really peaceful even if it was surrounded by two of the main streets of the city! You could barely hear a noise other than the water and birds. ...And talking about birds... I saw black necked swans! And then we all climbed this japanese sculpture to get a grupal shot Of course I climbed higher than the others It was quite a fun day! I hope you're having fun back at home too, mum! See you soon! Bye!
Leslie Posted Feb 18, 2012, 9:00 pm	Hi mum! The photos you're going to see now are from the day we went to Coquimbo, a city next to La Serena, literally, like 10 minutes away When we got there we walked for a while through the coast where all the fishing boats were... back there you can see the desertic hills! There was a monument of Saint Peter Then we went up to the highest point in the city. Here I am at the feet of the Third Millenium Cross, a giant monuent - view point inagurated by John Paul II in 2000 Do you see the little windows in the "arms" of the cross?? Well that is the viewpoint! We went up by an elevator... And this is the wonderful view from up there!! You can see the whole city of Coquimbo and its gulf The Pacific ocean! And back there you can also see La Serena city. Under the cross there was a small cathedral and a religious museum but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside grrr... I saw some of John Paul's belongings, like clothes, chairs and other things... And I saw Michelangelo's La Pietà! And this I was allowed to take a photo with! After the Cross, we went to a fortress used to fight the pirates back in the day! What a nice day, mum! Hope you're enjoying the winter back at home Hugs from the sunny sunny Chile Mimi
Leslie Posted Feb 20, 2012, 4:14 am	Hola mamá! ¿Cómo estás? Today I'm going to show you photos of the day we went to the Elqui Valley (valle del elqui). It is the place with the clearest sky in the world! That's why there are many obstervatories around these hills Actually this was already a while ago but I haven't had many time to do updates because we've been traveling quite a lot The valley is crossed along by a river, and can you believe there is a whole town under it!? One day in 1996 the inhabitants of Gualliguaica town were told they had to leave their houses because a dam was going to be built nearby and the next day their whole town was under water! It was rebuilt nearby but there are people still sad about it, specially old people who lived all their lives in their original town... After about one hour going into the valley we got to its first town, Vicuña. This is the old city hall used around 1800 by the mayor and other politicians Now the main room is a museum where you can see pictures of the important guys who used to attend meetings there. I wonder how was this place when they were alive? how were their lives...? I bet they were very different to the traveler life I know so far Then we took another bus to go deeper into the valley to a small town called Pisco Elqui As we went further into the valley it became nicer and nicer! The mountanis were bigger and the fields greener! Mum, this is the place with the clearest sky in the world!! Leslie made me sit on a cactus! She said her excuse was the funny name of this cactus... although I think that's a pretty lame excuse! One of these days I'll put a cactus branch on her seat... let's see if she likes it! Anyway, this is called "mother in law's cushion" (cojín de la suegra) I'm pretty sure that name was made by a mean man! I'll write again soon! Bye! PS: my bum still hurts
Leslie Posted Mar 3, 2012, 3:41 pm	Hi mum! Today I started getting ready to go back home, and when I was gathering my belongings to pack, I found this flag of New Zealand! Leslie told me she used to live there, and as it's one of my life missions I was very impressed! Then I said goodbye to everyone at home! And got ready for my trip! Mum, here I come! Love Mimi

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