Posted Mar 12, 2011, 5:51 am
The cute guy in the second photo is DuDu, we're going steady.
He doesn't know it yet.
Nice to meet you,
DuDette
Posted Mar 19, 2011, 11:56 pm
Oh!, oh!,
I’m going on my first ToyVoyager’s short trip. Mom said not to worry, the host there is very nice with lots of experience hosting; in fact there is none better, some are as good but none better. I might get to meet a TV or two on their way traveling far away. I am so excited.
Here are some photos of the park outing we did the other day when it wasn’t raining so hard as today. Mom has been spending way too much time on the internet doing genealogy; the cat started throwing things on the floor for attention, there goes the TV remote, boom. That’s my dear DuDu on the laptop with me. I will really miss him but mom says it will be good for me to get out on my own for awhile. If I get lonely, I’ll ask my host for advice.
Your ever lovin',
DuDette
Posted Mar 21, 2011, 1:56 am
The day is finally here; I’m going to Sacramento! All my ToyVoyagers buddies and the cat came to say goodbye, DuDu jumped into my box to stowaway. Miss Kate will let you know if he got away with it.
See ya soon,
DuDette
Posted Mar 25, 2011, 11:18 pm
Hello Mom!
I am here and am fine! I have some pictures so you know I'm okay. The travelbox was so comfortable and cushiony, though, and I had phone money, so you knew I would be okay.
First I saw a bit of light, and there was the handsomest -- and smallest -- donkey ever. He's my size, and his name is HolgiHH. I could tell he was a little disappointed that I was alone, though. Was he expecting DuDu?
I met Peach the Pooch and Sierra and Hypno-dog, too. I showed them my pretty dollar coins and post cards and told them about San Francisco and cable cars and fog and hills. I also told them about Cheerio and Julie and you. They heard about Aslan's travels in San Francisco and about his novel, and they had already heard a lot about DuDu from Miss Kate and his travelogues.
It was good to meet Miss Kate and her kitty Niblet.
Niblet asked Miss Kate if she and I could wrestle.
I am happy to report Miss Kate gave a resounding NO!
And took me out of reach.
Now I can spend some time getting to know Holgi well away from the monster cats.
I am happy and resting ...
I miss you and DuDu already!
Love,
DuDette
Posted Mar 29, 2011, 6:02 pm
We are on the coast! Surprise! It all happened so fast! Here are my photographs of the trip out here. We piled into the car and arranged ourselves on the dash. We left Sacramento heading toward San Francisco, but we didn't go home. Instead, we turned north toward Marin County. Sorry, DuDu!
Here you can see what a stormy day it was.
This is our exit on Highway 101. We’ll be heading west again.
We saw grapevines in Sonoma County. Miss Kate said yummy nummy.
We also saw wet hills with lots of rock slides.
Here we saw some pretty redwood trees.
We arrived at the Russian River! Here we are crossing the Hacienda Bridge and now we’ll make a left and follow the river to the ocean.
Can you see me on the dash? We stopped for gasoline in Guerneville. Miss Kate found some nice postcards there of the Russian River and of the bridge. HolgiHH called dibs on the bridge postcard.
This is the Russian River. It’s named that for the Russians who lived here a long time ago. It’s very full.
We’re done heading West and will go North on Highway 1. In just a few minutes we got our first glimpse of the ocean!
Here’s me where the Russian River flows into the Pacific Ocean. Can you see how brown the ocean is? Miss Kate says it’s usually the green-blue color, but it’s been raining a LOT and lots of dirt has been flowing down the river.
Highway 1 has a lot of curves; this is one called a “hairpin turn”. They made us a little queezy in the tummy.
There were dozens of trees that had recently fallen across the road. I couldn’t count how many!
We drove by Fort Ross. Here you can see the tops of the redwood buildings there. Miss Kate told us that back in 1812 about 40 Russians with 150 Alaskans came ashore and created Fort Ross in a month. Russians had been eye-ing Northern California for a long time, but Spain had claimed it. However, Spain hadn’t moved above the middle of California, where San Francisco is today. The Russians built Fort Ross so fast and had guns and supplies so that when the Spanish found out, it was too late. The Russians were moved in! Oh, and the Russians weren’t the first in this area – they bought the land from the local Native Americans for 3 blankets, 3 pairs of pants, 2 axes, 3 hoes and some beads. (After seeing all of those fallen trees, they should’ve asked for more axes!) Hypno-dog was very proud, and he knew that Ross wasn’t some British name, but was short for Rossiya. The Russians left around 1840 – no war or anything, they just thought there were better deals up north – and they left these buildings, but more than that they left a little bit of Russian with the Native Americans in their language. For example, the Gualala Indians called milk, moloko, long after the Russians were gone. Those tribes have blended into the population, so their languages are gone. We can learn about them only from reading what one or two white men wrote down a hundred years ago. Now hundreds of acres of land are preserved to keep Fort Ross like it was 200 years ago.
Well, that was one tiring day, but it was fun to see everything. I’m just glad a tree didn’t fall on us!
Love,
DuDette
Posted Mar 29, 2011, 7:13 pm
Hi Mom!
We got here last night safe and sound with smiles on our faces. Now we're just beat, putting our little feet up and taking it easy. We have the ocean waves out this window and a creek out the other window. The water noises are really nice and make me sleepy. We're making room for Koko on the window sill, but Hypno-dog is making sure I stay safe.
Later! Time to relax .......
But soon ... maybe ... I'll be going to the beach!
Love to you and DuDu,
DD
Posted Apr 2, 2011, 1:36 pm
These pictures are from my first walk along the bluff trail in The Sea Ranch. Can you see the waterfall behind me? That is the creek that went by our bedroom window ... all of that splish and splash all night and where did it go? Just into the Pacific Ocean whooooosh all gone! I hope DuDu isn't jealous, but HolgiHH is good company.
Love,
DD
Posted Apr 2, 2011, 2:00 pm
We had so much fun playing inside and out.
We drove to a place to walk along the bluff trail farther from where we were staying. But first we saw some deer. I wanted pictures with them, but I almost fell as you can see. Thank goodness Miss Kate caught me. The deer seemed curious. In the end, they always ran away.
We walked through a tunnel of hedgerows and HolgiHH and I rested on a log.
Later in the day, we went with Miss Kate and her cousin and her cousin's dog Luna to the beach. The beach! One of my life missions! I hope you like the pictures ... no swimming, though, because the surf was a bit dangerous. And I'm a mouse.
Love you all!
DuDette
Posted Apr 3, 2011, 1:35 am
We had fun indoors, too, whale-watching and posing together for pictures. I hope you think I'm photogenic.
~DD
Posted Apr 3, 2011, 8:05 pm
We found the California poppies were just beginning to bloom on our way home from the coast. So here is a pretty one with a black sand beach many feet below us. Miss Kate said it wasn't a windy day or she wouldn't have let us try this!
Love,
DD
Posted Apr 6, 2011, 1:39 am
Hello Mom, DuDu and Aslan!
Today I had to say goodbye to some of my TV buddies in Sacramento who are continuing their travels, HolgiHH, Zoe, Hypno-dog and Sierra. I will especially miss hanging with little HolgiHH on bookshelves and in houseplants. He is so cute. We hugged and kissed, but DuDu shouldn't be jealous.
I only go for rodents! I had a nice chat with Sierra about how to karate chop a monster kitty on the nose if one gets out of line. 
But don't worry about me, Mom! If the martial arts move doesn't work, I am very fast! 
Feeling a bit lonely,
DuDette
Posted Apr 6, 2011, 5:50 pm
Posted Apr 7, 2011, 5:04 pm
Posted Apr 8, 2011, 8:50 pm
Hi DuDu and Mom and Aslan and Bowtie Bear!
We have a new visitor, a giraffe with beautiful shimmery colors. Zarafeh is happy to meet her, too. Her name is Sapphire. She arrived just as we were going out the door to the Sacramento River. Not the American River, where Hypno-dog and HolgiHH went for a walk.
Before going to the river, we visited with Miss Kate's friend and her monstrously big dogs (Miss Kate calls them the Brindle Babes.
). She had beautiful flowers and a reminder that I WAS THERE.
Miss Kate says that Sacramento is called River City because it has a lot of rivers. Is San Francisco called Ocean-Bay City?
When we got home, Miss Kate told us our day wasn't over. We were going to see the Alvin Ailey dancers in Davis. Wow, nice pictures online. The men especially look so handsome in their yellow vests. I wonder how DuDu would look in a yellow vest. Miss Kate told us that the dance we're going to see, Revelations, is 50 years old. She said that's a long time. We read online that "more people have seen Revelations than any other modern dance work, and it has been enjoyed by over 23 million people in 71 countries across six continents." Wow! I would like to visit 71 countries, too! Would you care to join me, DuDu?
In the evening, we got dressed up and went to the Mondavi Center. It's at University of California at Davis and is very fancy. Have you heard of it, Mom? Miss Kate heard of it but had never been there. We got there a little late, had with us Miss Kate's friend who is disabled and were in such a hurry that we parked in the Vice Chancellor's spot. We hoped that if the Vice Chancellor came later, he would park in the Chancellor's parking spot, which was still empty.
We had a special seat in the orchestra box, which gave us a little privacy to take a quick picture, very verboten, but you can see the blue curtains behind me and the man introducing the wonderful, fabulous dancers. All 4 of us had a great time!
Love,
DuDette
Posted Apr 10, 2011, 12:47 pm
I'm feeling a little confused about UrselHH and DuDu.
Miss Kate took me to a movie and dinner to cheer me up. She invited some friends, too, but Sapphire stayed home to deal with her jet lag.
We saw Paul, which was funny. It had lots of naughty words, but it was still funny. Miss Kate's friend is a science fiction writer, and so was Nick Frost's character. We discussed with her if it was "realistic".
I had my own junior size bag of popcorn. Can you see the popcorn in the photo? It's right below Simon Pegg. And the yellow is butter. Scrummy!
After the movie, we had Thai food. Delicious vegetarian snackers! What do you think of that, Aslan?
A trip to the restroom told me I still "got" it. Ursel's nice, but she's got nothing on me!
DuDette
Posted Apr 20, 2011, 3:16 am
Hello Mom and DuDu and everyone,
Miss Kate took Sapphire and me on a long walk through the Capitol Park. Aslan and Crawfish stayed home cause they said "been there, done that." The park has trees and shrubs from all over the world. It's 40 acres, which I guess means it was a longish walk, but I was mostly carried.
We saw some Coastal Redwood trees. Miss Kate read the labels to us so that we could walk and learn.
We also found a few Giant Sequoias. Would you be surprised if I told you they're giant!?
There are a lot of these mouse-like creatures ... squirrels.
There are also eucalyptus trees, too! This is a lovely up-close picture of me on one of them.
This one is called an Iron Bark Eucalyptus. Its bark seems very tough.
This is a Silver Dollar Eucalyptus. It has nice round silvery leaves and soft bark.
This is a Scarlet Eucalyptus. Miss Kate says it has pretty red flowers at another time of year.
Aha! Look at that beautiful building!
Here's me balancing on top of the Capitol!
What a pretty building and a pretty day. But I wonder how much better it would be to take this walk with DuDu!
Love and hugs,
DuDette
Posted Apr 25, 2011, 10:31 pm
I want to show you a picture of me and the gang seeing off Crawfish. She's going on her first toyvoyage to Canada. She has been personally invited to a picnic. She didn't want to arrived empty-handed, so she brought some Peeps with her. Doesn't she look excited?
Love,
DD
P.S. I love you, DuDu!
Posted Apr 25, 2011, 11:58 pm
Posted Apr 28, 2011, 3:12 am
and, fourth, we met a wonderful tiger Shir Khan! He's come to visit from Germany. When we were on the coast last month, Miss Kate's uncle picked up two hitchhikers from Germany and they had dinner and spent the night. They called themselves "wandervogel", so I asked Shir Khan if he was a wandervogel, but he said he was no bird. Maybe it lost something in translation. Anyway, he did seem just as nice as the hitchhikers! Maybe someday DuDu and I can walk around Germany like wandering birds. It is a life mission to take walks with him. And Germany sounds wonderful.
Posted May 1, 2011, 7:01 am
Posted May 4, 2011, 10:25 pm
DuDette
Posted May 9, 2011, 7:01 am
We decided to deliver some salad to Miss Kate's friend about 45 minutes south of Sacramento. Only Shir Khan and Sapphire went with us. Well, and Zarafeh, too, but he likes to stay in the car. Zarafeh, who so enjoys looking out the window, said it was too too dirty and asked if we could stop to wash the car.
Shir Khan got out to read the car wash choices but he was expecting German.
Sapphire had no trouble choosing our wash.
Here came the big wipers!
Here they were! Shir Khan and I kept a look out, but I think the giraffes were too afraid to look.
All done and ready to dry!
Here are the delicious salads ... Greek salad and Chinese chicken with enough for all of us.
The salad was not for the monster dog. Stop staring! But was she staring at the salad or at ME?
I am not a dog toy!!
After lunch, Shir Khan and Sapphire walked in the garden, and I stayed inside and played on "Ray-Ray". I felt like Aquagirl!
Then I watched a recording of the big wedding with Miss Kate and Miss Mina.
I couldn't take my eyes away.
It's so beautiful. So romantic.
Mom, please don't show this to DuDu ... but do you think this could ever be me and him? Do you think Snowball would approve of me?
I don't know how DuDu feels about me, about tying the knot, but I think it's time for me to go home and find out.
Love,
DuDette
Posted May 12, 2011, 5:30 am
Posted May 12, 2011, 5:48 am
I was all ready to pack up to go home, but then Miss Kate decided to go to the coast again, and I couldn't say no!
The first photo is of us going on a small highway across the marshy bay. Can you believe I saw San Francisco from where we were? You know who I was thinking about.
We stopped in Marin County to have a picnic lunch. We found a shady spot with cows and eucalyptus trees.
Then we had a pit stop at the teeny town of Valley Ford. Have you seen it, Mom? Might've missed it if you sneezed!
We also stopped at Bodega Bay, where Miss Kate said The Birds, a very scary movie, was filmed. She thought you'd know all about it. I said it would be nice to stop at the store and buy flowers for our host and hostess. Our hosts have had me there TWICE after all. There's also a cool store in Bodega Bay with both candy and kites. Can you see me sitting with the orange saltwater taffy?
On Highway 1, we were a stoplight that shouldn't be there except some of the highway fell into the ocean, so we had to share one lane with the other direction.
DD
Posted May 12, 2011, 6:02 am
I felt so lucky we did a little shopping at the Fort Ross General Store on our way because I found a very nice post card for DuDu. I planned to write it as soon as we got into our room.
Okay, okay, before I could get to post card writing, I had to watch the season finale of The Amazing Race. Sorry, Mom and DuDu, it will have to wait till tomorrow.
The team in last place at that moment was the Harlem Globetrotters, and the other teams hoped they'd miss the bus they were on. So the young lady in pink and everyone else were yelling at the bus driver, the man in yellow, to go, go go! Very exciting!
Love,
DuDette
Posted May 12, 2011, 6:13 am
Posted May 12, 2011, 8:55 pm
It was time to stretch my little legs! Well, that was what Miss Kate said, but I just wanted to stay home and write more cards to DuDu. I hear that he already received the card I sent.
We drove around The Sea Ranch, which is a pretty sleepy place. Miss Kate did the driving and we looked out for the waves on the cement. Those mean a trail starts there.
Shir Khan and Sapphire posed for a pic as we came out from the street to the bluff, but it was way too windy for me to be hanging out at the top of a bush. As we moseyed along the cliff, we found some lovely California poppies. Down low it was a little less blustery.
Oh! Look at the pelicans! Wow!
Finally, we found the path down to the ocean. I saw a caution sign. I decided I’d stay out of the water for sure! I was getting a bit nervous, especially with Shir Khan going on about sharks.
Got kelp?
After tidepooling for a while, the wind was getting to us, especially to me, going through one big ear through to the other. My brain was chilled! So we walked back up the path. But wait! Always time for a beautiful photograph for DuDu!
We decided to walk along the trail and get to the road at a different point. Group photo, group photo!
That is it for now! We just drove around and visited with Miss Kate’s friends and families. But more photos tomorrow ……….
Love,
DuDette
Posted May 13, 2011, 3:37 pm
We had to leave today, but first this seemed like a perfect cool breezy morning to enjoy the sun and the view. The lounge chair was plenty big for all of us.
And from the chair, I could see a little bit of the ocean.
Nice!
After some snoozing and reading, we left Miss Kate to her book and decided to fool around in the yard. We each found some ocean things that matched us. I thought I looked great in this shell (or piece of coral ... I don't know).
We found some more interesting white things. What do you think they are?
Any guess?
Yes, of course! They’re ribs! To a whale!
On our way down Highway 1, we stopped to take a photo of a huge patch of California poppies on the hillside. Miss Kate and I were surprised to realize we had stopped at this exact spot a month ago. The place with the black sand beach way below.
We left at 1:30 and got home to Sacramento at 7. It was nice to take a lot of stops and look around, but we were pooped!
I’ll be packing my bags in the next couple of days.
Love you!
DD
Posted May 18, 2011, 7:19 pm
The loveliness of Paris
Seems somehow sadly gay
The glory that was Rome
Is of another day
I've been terribly alone
And forgotten in Manhattan
I'm going home to my city by the bay.
I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me.
To be where little cable cars
Climb halfway to the stars!
The morning fog may chill the air
I don't care!
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco,
Your golden sun will shine for me!
Love and hugs to everyone! I'll be home soon!
DD
Posted May 20, 2011, 1:08 am
I arrived back home today. My mom picked me up in my travelop from the mailbox. She was on the way to the post office to send UrselHH off to England so she took me with her. She released me from the package at the bus stop; it was funny, she said I looked a little travel weary so she took me to the park for some fresh air. We heard some guitar music there and got some sunlight. It was a special time, just me and mom.
Then we went home to see DuDu, Bowtie Bear and the new ToyVoyager, Robby. I showed them the nice things Miss Kate sent home with me, the concert ticket and postcards to remember our amazing outings. She even thought to send gifts for DuDu and BarryO. It’s only been two months but I’m a little disoriented and very excited to be back and to see DuDu again. DuDu, Robby and I will be going on a special outing tomorrow--no rest for us traveling toys.
Thank you so much, Miss Kate, you are wonderful,
Bye for now,
DuDette
Posted Jun 2, 2011, 8:56 pm
Love,
DuDette
Posted Jun 24, 2011, 6:52 pm
Look what I found in the attic, a cradle!
This is DuDu, what DuDette found is a cat's cradle. Look, that is a cat leaning over the edge eyeing the gold fish. DuDette is making friends with that little cat to have one more that doesn't treat her as a cat toy, it's one of her life missions. Seriously, we have discussed this and want to travel for a few years before setting up a nursery. Psst, DuDette is more and more beautiful every day.
We will be flying to Germany soon, it will be the second ToyVoyager trip for each of us, the first one together. Bye for now,
Blissfully,
DuDu and DuDette
Posted Jul 5, 2011, 6:58 pm
Yikes, DuDette got hit in the face with a giant tail, it’s a cat! C.T. Mouse has entrusted us with a special message for UrselHH if we happen to meet her in our travels. Will do. Packing soon.
DuDette and DuDu
Posted Jul 17, 2011, 11:00 pm
We are looking forward to meeting Dicker Kumpel and RikeH. DK is so wise, maybe he can advise us like Aslan did. We could slip away with him and drive really fast, like he did in Canada. Yes!!
Flying on Cloud Nine,
DuDette and DuDu
Posted Jul 30, 2011, 6:01 pm
DuDu and I arrived in Germany. We were welcomed by Dicker Kumpel – yes we are the guests of Dicker Kumpel. We read a lot about his adventures and now we are here. It is exciting!
Then he introduced us to the other TVs here.
Because we travelled such a long time, we wanted to take a walk around here. In the garden we found this flower – in red – the color of LOVE!
It was fun – I drove a tractor! Believe it or not.
There are wonderful big trees here – and everything is so green.
But we found a field of grain, too. Maybe we will go there in the night…
Then we climbed a big rock – it was so steep!
After the climbing we were tired and relaxed in the sun with Dicker Kumpel.
On our way back home we found this nice flower…
… and a big bug.
Look what a funny tree.
This is the house of the shooting club.
Back home Dicker Kumpel found a card sent by his best friend Murph.
There was a ladybird between a lot of mushrooms and we had to find it.
We found it – Dicker Kumpel shows it to you. That was fun!
Yours
DuDette
Posted Aug 9, 2011, 9:08 pm
We made a nice trip this weekend. We went to Potsdam – famous for the wonderful castle Sanssouci. You can see it behind us.
There were nice statues in the garden.
And a strange Chinese Tea-House.
Later I saw this wonderful fountain – in the background is the Orangery.
Yes – here you can see it better.
In the evening we relaxed on the big bed. Enough space for us 4.
Moony talked with Dicker Kumpel – so DuDu and I had time for ourselves.
Yours
DuDette
Posted Aug 9, 2011, 9:57 pm
We spent a second day in Potsdam. Behind me you see the Brandenburger Tor. Yes – there is a Brandenburger Tor in Potsdam, too – not only in Berlin. And the one in Potsdam is older than the one in Berlin.
This is the oldest church in Potsdam.
This part of the town is called Dutch Quarter.
There are really nice houses here.
There is another old Gate.
Then we saw another really beautiful church.
Next to it is the old Townhall.
This evening we spent on the colorful armchair.
Bye
DuDette
Posted Aug 14, 2011, 10:20 am
After spending two days in Potsdam it was time to drive home today. But we visited another city on our way. Can you imagine where we were?
Maybe you don’t know it – the drink is called Berliner Weisse mit Schuß – and it is typical for Berlin. It was yummy!
Then it was time for sightseeing. We saw some buildings in the new government district.
Then we saw the Reichstag.
And the famous Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
Before driving home we had a rest at the Potsdamer Platz. The roof of the building is so interesting.
It was a nice week-end. DuDu and I are happy to stay here in Germany!
Love
DuDette
Posted Aug 19, 2011, 4:34 pm
Posted Aug 24, 2011, 9:38 pm
Not many news – we had a delicious barbecue this week-end.
And we had to say good-bye to Moony. We were very sad…
…but then two new guests arrived – and we had so much fun together!
Love
DuDette
Posted Aug 30, 2011, 10:01 pm
Today we went to the Landesgartenschau in Norderstedt. It is a kind of exhibition for plants.
Of course there were many plants – and I will show a lot to you.
We found this lovely heart. A nice man made it out of wood, just for DuDu and me!
Can you see me???
More nice flowers – and behind us you can see the church of the Landesgartenschau.
I loved this flower.
There were a lot of different chicken – they were so funny!
Then we made a rest and heart a choir – to tell the truth it was a very small choir, but I liked the music.
Later it was time to play on this funny sheep.
Mum, I would like to send you some flowers!
Yours
DuDette
Posted Sep 8, 2011, 8:42 pm
We are in Spain! Because the way from Germany to Spain is really long, we took the plane.
We arrived in sunny Malaga and made a walk into the old town. We found a sunny place.
There were some nice buildings.
The cathedral was very big.
I thought about playing in this fountain, but decided not to do it.
This was the main shopping street. With enough shadow.
What a nice first day.
Bye
DuDette
Posted Sep 9, 2011, 4:36 pm
we made our holidays in Spain, but visited Great Britain today. Behind us you can see Gibraltar.
And when you look now behind us, you can see the coast of Africa. This was amazing!
This was the lighthouse of Gibraltar.
Here I am in front of the Street of Gibraltar.
There was a mosque near to the most southern Point of Gibraltar.
Bye
DuDette
Posted Sep 13, 2011, 8:08 pm
after leaving Gibraltar we arrived in Ronda. Here you see me in the oldest bullfighting arena in Spain.
I had a look, but fortunately there was no fight today. So we were able to take this nice photo.
Then we went to the old town of Ronda. Between the old part of Ronda and the new part there is a big bridge.
There is a monument in Ronda for the poor bulls, that had to fight here.
And a monument for the torero.
It was interesting, although I don't like the idea to kill bulls in that way.
Bye
DuDette
Posted Sep 13, 2011, 8:24 pm
we were travelling by bus - and we had our own seat!
The next place we visited was the royal riding school. I saw the people training with the horses.
After the time with the horses, we visited a Sherry Bodega.
Here we sat in on a barrel.
There were many more barrels.
These things are staying here for mice - if you don't believe it - try mouse and tio pepe at you tube.
Cheers!
DuDette
Posted Sep 13, 2011, 8:54 pm
today we started to explore Sevilla. The first monument was the real Alcazar.
There were many interesting places inside the palace.
This room was really great with the wonderful ceiling.
At the end there were some ceramics on the wall. I liked this funny man...
Then we left the palace - behind me you can see the cathedral.
Then we went inside. This is the huge golden altar.
Another view of the cathedral.
We went onto the tower and had nice views of the city.
Before we drove back to the hotel we went into the old city.
This tower is called golden tower.
yours
DuDette
Posted Sep 13, 2011, 9:06 pm
we visited a great flowstone cave called Gruta de las Maravillas, but we were not allowed to take photos there.
After the visit we climbed up a hill and saw this ruin.
There was a church next to the ruin.
Time for a group photo...
Later we drove back to Sevilla. We visited the gardens and monuments of the Ibero-American Exhibition from 1929.
This place is called American place. It was so hot in this place - around 38 degrees Celsius.
I found a palm tree.
The last and most wonderful place of the exhibition is the Spanish place.
There are nice corners from every region of Spain.
I loved this place!
yours
DuDette
Posted Sep 17, 2011, 3:27 pm
we left Sevilla and drove to Cordoba. Behind us you can see the Roman Bridge.
This was a big place in the middle of Cordoba.
Then we visited the Mezquita, it was a mosque, later they build a church inside the mosque.
This was inside the Mezquita, there were many columns.
We passed one side of the church.
Back to the old times - this was the most important part of the mosque.
This was the church, of course.
Another view of Cordoba.
And a nice patio.
Bye
DuDette
Posted Sep 17, 2011, 8:23 pm
We went to Priego de Cordoba. In the city there were nice small streets.
We spent some time in this lovely park.
Then we saw the biggest fountain in the city.
I think this was the town hall.
Love
DuDette
Posted Sep 17, 2011, 8:25 pm
it was time for some more towns today. We started in a small one - called Baeza.
Our guide told us so much about history - it was a too much for me, but I liked the buildings.
Look, how nice the sunshine and the shadow were on this Gate.
Then we had a rest in front of the church - and the church bells were ringing.
This is the university.
We loved this funny man.
We drove a short way with the bus then we arrived in Ubeda. There was a nice big place.
and the town hall.
Not so much to take photos... so we went to Granada.
This was our first view of the Alhambra.
We will go there tomorrow.
Yours
DuDette
Posted Sep 17, 2011, 8:27 pm
this was the day of the Alhambra. I was really excited. From the garden we had a great view!
This was one of the most famous places in the Alhambra.
There are words written on the wall.
I had a view over Granada.
Well - the Alhambra was nice, but it was not the best place of the trip up to now.
Bye
DuDette
Posted Sep 17, 2011, 8:31 pm
we visited Guadix this day. It is famous for it cave-houses. This was the bus we were travelling with.
We visited two cave-houses. It was interesting to see, how people live here. The rooms were nice, but most were without windows.
Then we visited this house.
The man who owns this cave had a lovely kind of garden.
We went onto a hill and had this view.
We went into the church of Guadix.
I liked this image.
Back home in Granada we made a walk in the city and saw this momument.
This was the cathedral.
We went inside, but we were not allowed to take photos there.
yours
DuDette
Posted Sep 17, 2011, 8:33 pm
We stopped in a nice small village called Pampaneira.
I liked the little village.
On our way to Trevelez we stopped at this wonderful lookout.
We visited a small company where they produce air dried ham. You can see the ham behind me.
We ate some ham later - it was delicious.
This was the last day of our holidays. It was very interesting.
yours
DuDette
Posted Sep 23, 2011, 9:51 am
It was a nice sunny day – so I went outside and spent my afternoon in some nice flowers.
The flowers belongs to this friendly guy, we talked a lot.
There were big flowers inside.
Love
DuDette
Posted Sep 27, 2011, 8:13 pm
We visited the village of Sülfeld today. This is the nice church.
We went inside. I love this church.
On the other side of the street is the pharmacy.
This is the old school of Sülfeld. Maybe Dicker Kumpel will learn things there, when he will be old enough.
The mayor is working here. Maybe I will be mayor when I am old. And you can see the emblem of the village.
RikeH started a cruise contest - but there are not many entries at the moment. So we decided to make our own photos. Hopefully RikeH will love them.
We built our boats and started on the table.
Then we jumped into the big lake with Nessie.
Flossie was brave, too.
Bye
DuDette
Posted Oct 9, 2011, 3:09 pm
We spent a wonderful time here in Germany – and in Spain – with RikeH and Dicker Kumpel.
But now it is time to travel to the next host.
Before we jumped into our envelope we made a last trip through the garden – and had our last photos here.
We searched for something to eat and found grapes.
And Apples.
Bye funny guys…
Then we were sad – we had to say goodbye to Dicker Kumpel. He is such a great host and we learnt so much from him.
We will miss him!
Then we got a hug by the others TVs here.
Now we are on our way to the next host.
Love
DuDette
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Oct 11, 2011, 10:23 pm
We had a quick trip to Heidelberg and were warmly greeted by a bunch of ToyVoyagers. There's also a cat living here who likes mice as friends so we're going to pose for some pictures very soon.
Bye for now,
DuDette
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Oct 13, 2011, 7:41 pm
Today we went hiking in the nature reserve Neckartal-Odenwald. First we took a bus to the mountain of Königsstuhl. There's also a cable car going to its top but currently it runs only part of the track, due to maintenance works. However, we had a short look at the funicular railway station.
The trail we followed is called Via Naturae and covers about 8 km of the nature reserve.
The first few hundred meters are part of the nature education trail for children and we saw some interesting things there.
Some of the trees still had some berries but most of them were already rotten.
After about one hour of walking we came to a forest lodge where we rested and ate some bread and an apple.
We saw some mushrooms.
As we walked on, we saw this stand for rangers.
Shortly before we reached the end of the trail we rested again on a log because the sun was shining so warmly on it.
It was a great day and we hope to see more of Heidelberg soon.
Bye,
DuDette
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Oct 18, 2011, 9:59 pm
How are you doing? We're fine. Last weekend we went to France with nuriayasmin, her daughter and some other TV's. We spent two very nice days in Strasbourg which is situated directly at the German-French border. It took us just two hours by train to get there but we had to change trains twice. The central railway station of Strasbourg is very modern, you can see it behind us.
At the hotel all TV's gathered around the guide book to decide where to go and learn something about Strasbourg's history.
The city centre of Strasbourg is practically an island as two canals and the river Ill flow around it. Here you can see us in front of the canal Fossé du Faux and the St. Jean church.
Some of the beautiful old houses were built very close to the water.
This restaurant had an Alsatian name. The Alsatian language is similar to German and was spoken widely in the region but it's becoming extinct now. However, many of the streets in the city centre still have a sign which shows their name both in Alsatian and in French.
This is something we found very funny, we discovered it in Petite France, the most beautiful part of the city centre with many old houses and small alleys - and lots of tourists.
The Maison Kammerzell was built in the 16th century and is a restaurant nowadays.
One of the towers of the cathedral is 142 m high and made it impossible to take a picture of the whole building. They started to built the cathedral in 1176 and only finished it in 1439.
We started the second day with a walk along the canal Rempart.
We would have liked to make friends with that swan but he wasn't interested.
Here you can see us at the Place de la République. It seems that all French towns have a Place de la République to remember the French revolution from 1789.
There was also a memorial for the soldiers who died in Southeast Asia and North Africa during World War II.
When we walked back to the city centre we passed this beautiful old church but don't know the name of it.
Unfortunately we also forgot what this building was but it looks interesting, doesn't it?
There were so many souvenir shops that it was impossible to avoid them so we took a look around.
Last not least we climbed the 329 steps to the viewing terrace of the cathedral and were rewarded with a spectacular view over the city and its surroundings.
There were a lot of inscriptions and we tried to read some of them.
Before we left Strasbourg we took a last group photo at the hotel to show off our souvenirs. Nuriayasmin had bought quite a few postcards and an oven mitt and her daughter had bought this cute stork who will move to Heidelberg now.
We really had a great time and hope you enjoyed looking at our pictures. Bye for now.
DuDette and Dudu
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Oct 22, 2011, 10:13 pm
It has become quite cold here so we prefer to stay at home at the moment. We've made friends with our host's cat Sammy. He sleeps a lot and doesn't mind us to cuddle up next to him to get warm. He doesn't look at us like mice or toys at all, he's a wonderful cat. Here are some photos.
Bye,
DuDette and Dudu
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Oct 25, 2011, 10:29 pm
Today we said good-bye to Priscilla, the cute dolphin who had accompanied us and the other visiting TV's to Strasbourg. She's going to visit fam-united and we hope she has a lot of fun there.
We went outside to play a little and this is the entrance of the house where we currently live.
When we returned we were very hungry and ate a piece of yummy pizza.
Afterwards we saw the huge pile of clothes waiting to be ironed.
As nuriayasmin had received a call from work asking her to come although she was supposed to have a day off today, we helped her with the ironing.
Lots of hugs and kisses,
DuDette and Dudu
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Nov 1, 2011, 10:16 pm
We went to the zoo. Heidelberg has only got a small zoo but we nevertheless saw some interesting animals.
This is no real turtle but it looks nice, doesn't it?
This shows you how big a cangaroo's foot is. We both fit in.
There was a small waterfall in front of the apes' house.
We made friends with some goats.
We watched the seals swimming in their pool.
The big cats are fed at 4.30 am except for Saturdays. Unfortunately we saw just a lion from a distance, all the other big cats were hiding somewhere.
The merkats were really funny to watch.
We strolled to the elephants'.
That elephant in the background turned its back on us.
So we just read some information about the elephants. There are four young male Asian elephants living at the zoo.
This otter looks very cute but we don't like it, we saw it eating a mouse!!!
This bird tried to bite (or eat *scream') us but we were faster.
Last not least, the North Sea scenery.
We really had a nice day.
DuDette and DuDu.
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Nov 8, 2011, 10:04 pm
nuriayasmin is going to get another cat. Hopefully it's as nice as Sammy, it's likely to arrive here next week from the animal shelter. So today we went to the pet shop to buy some stuff for the new cat.
However, first we played in the leaves which had fallen off the trees.
Here's another picture of the house where DuDu and I currently live. We're on the 4th floor, just under the roof.
Finally the two of us and Willy Olson sat down in nuriayasmin's bike basket and off we went. We passed a horse stable and cycled along some fields as the pet shop is situated a bit outside of town. Here are some pictures for you to see:
While nuriayasmin chose the things for the new cat, we had a look around and found the pet shop quite interesting.
Then we all went back home.
DuDette.
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Nov 9, 2011, 5:36 pm
Greetings,
DuDette
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Nov 14, 2011, 9:58 pm
I'm doing fine. It has become very cold here. DuDu and I started the day with a tasty (but not very healthy) breakfast consisting of a piece of cake and a cup of hot chocolate.
Then all TV's thought it would be good to learn an additional language which would help us while travelling around the world. Fortunately our host is quite a language nerd and gave us all her textbooks and grammars for Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Norwegian, Czech, Slovak, Russian and Japanese.
I decided to give it a try with Czech but believe me that's a pretty difficult language with a complicated grammar and words that are sometimes impossible to pronounce. Just try it with čtvrtrek which means Thursday. And I don't think I'll ever be able to buy icecream in Czech Republic because the word for it is zmrzlina. Czech language has 7 cases and as English doesn't use cases anymore (unless you count the 's of the Genitive case = my sister's daughter), the case system is very difficult to learn for us. German has 4 cases but nuriayasmin says even for her it's difficult to handle the cases in the Slavic languages. However, I learnt some sentences, I'd like to present you:
My name is DuDette: Jmenuju se DuDette.
I'm fine: Mám se dobře.
I'm from America: Jsem z Ameriky.
I like travelling: Mám ráda cestováni.
Have I told you that now there's another cat living here? Her name is Shelley and she's from the animal shelter. She's 14 years old like Sammy but looks older than him and also moves slower. And she's very small and thin, the poor one was abandoned. Today I finally introduced myself to her.
I helped nuriayasmin with some household tasks, for example getting the clean clothes out of the washing-machine.
When I had a look from the balcony I saw that it still looked very grey outside and was happy to be in a warm apartment.
I had Chinese noodles and orange juice for lunch which tasted very well. DuDu tried to teach me how to use sticks but it's really difficult.
Later on all TV's gathered and ate some of the Swedish cookies nuriayasmin had bought for us. We chatted and told each other about our languages studies. We also had a big cup of hot tea.
Afterwards we helped nuriayasmin to write some postcrossing cards. Each of us TV's was allowed to write one card. Mine went to the USA which made me a little homesick. I miss you :-).
Last not least it was time to sit down at the laptop and write my travelog update. I also enjoyed having a look at all the photos from home and my trips before.
Take care. I love you very much.
Yours DuDette
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Nov 18, 2011, 7:28 am
Today a bunch of ToyVoyagers invaded Heidelberg Castle. There are stairs which lead to the castle which is situated in the mountains over the city and we climbed them - about 400 I guess. Afterwards we needed to take a rest and took the chance for a group photo.
I had a look down to the city. It's a bit foggy up here as always during the last two or three weeks.
The castle of Heidelberg was built in the 13th century. For a while there were two castles, one situated a bit higher than the remains of the current one. During the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648) the castle was attacked and partly destroyed for the first time. In 1692 the castle was destroyed by the French and although basic repairs were made, the castle has basically remained a ruin since then. In the early 19th century a French count became interested in the castle and served as a voluntary castle warden. Between 1897 and 1900 the castle was partly reconstructed and became one of Germany's main tourist attractions.
Another look to the city centre, the Old Bridge and the river Neckar.
Bye, DuDette
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Nov 20, 2011, 8:25 am
DuDu was lazy today so I did something on my own. Well, not completely alone, there were three other TV's coming with me and my host. We went to Speyer, an old and formerly very important town. It took us 45 minutes by train to get there.
Speyer Cathedral was built between 1030 and 1080 by the Salic Emperors and designed as their last resting place. 8 German emperors and kings, 4 queens and several bishops were buried in the cathedral's Crypt between 1039 and 1309. Since 1981 the cathedral has been a UNESCO world heritage site.
This is the front of the Cathedral:
This is the back part of it where the Crypt is situated.
After visiting the Cathedral we walked through its park to the Sea Life Aquarium.
It wasn't allowed to use flash inside the aquarium so taking photos resulted to be extremely difficult and they didn't turn out well.
Speyer is situated at Germany's biggest river Rhine. Here's a port for small boats.
We took a walk along the Rhine, watched some big freight ships and then returned back to town from where we took a bus to the train station.
It was a great day and not even very cold.
Keep fine, DuDette
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Nov 24, 2011, 4:17 pm
Today we all said good-bye Sooky who spent two months here and is now travelling to his next host.
Have a good journey, Sooky.
DuDette.
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Nov 29, 2011, 1:28 pm
nuriayasmin had to work this weekend but she gave us TV's a plate full of chocolate, cookies and mandarins. DuDu and I admired the Advent wreath but we weren't allowed to lit a candle while nuriayasmin wasn't at home.
Bye, DuDette
nuriayasmin70@gmail.com
Posted Nov 29, 2011, 1:32 pm
nuriayasmin has just told me that you'd like me to come home for Christmas and that DuDu will travel with me. I'm so happy and very much looking forward to seeing you again. There are so many things I have to tell you and we can have a look at my photos together, can't we?
Hope the journey won't take too long.
DuDette
Posted Dec 12, 2011, 10:01 pm
We heard commotion outside, it was Orkku Orava cutting us free of the envelop. DuDu jumped right out as soon as he saw some light.
Then he helped me out and we could see Cheerio, Jeremy, Orkku Orava and BarryO all gathered around to greet us.
We showed them the beautiful postcards Nuriayasmin sent from Heidelberg, Mom loves them, thank you so much for hosting us.
We ran over to BarryO and gave him a big hug.
Then it was time for a group hug.
They showed us a room they are decorating for our old friend,the Christmas Elf Bear, who will be home Christmas Eve. We discussed our travel adventures for hours and then when Mom wasn’t looking, we jumped up and down on the soft bed until we couldn’t stop laughing. Such good friends.
Bye for now,
DuDette
Posted Dec 14, 2011, 7:42 pm
The tall building with one flag is the Mark Hopkins Hotel where we saw a gingerbread mansion that smelled so good.
The building with many flags is the Fairmont Hotel; it had an immense two story gingerbread house with human size carolers and a santa on the roof.
My kid brother is a real sweetie; it is nice to be home for Christmas.
Posted Dec 16, 2011, 3:13 am
Yikes, snowy owls eat rodents. (O)(O)
Posted Dec 16, 2011, 7:50 pm
"Hugo", which we all enjoyed a lot. Noodles is a wild bird of prey but Mom is watching him like a hawk so he doesn't eat one of us.
There was no time for popcorn but we get another movie soon! Yay!! We had a nice dinner afterward with Mom’s friend who was having a birthday.
He he he! BarryO couldn't look at the screen during the scary parts. We think he is afraid of heights.
Posted Dec 24, 2011, 5:50 pm
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!!”
Posted Jan 23, 2012, 10:22 am
.
Cheerful Cheerio had the honor of helping Pitzelpatz out of his travel coach.
Then mom introduced him to the other ToyVoyagers here: Orkku Orava from Finland, DuDu from Shanghai, my sweet baby tiger brother, Jeremy, and Noodles, my wise snowy owl baby brother.
We had a welcoming blackboard waiting for Pitzelpatz where Jeremy showed him a few things to know about this stop on his travels. Eureka (I have found it!) is the State of California motto, oro en paz is part of the City of San Francisco motto (gold in peace, iron in war), The 49ers is our local football team, wait till next year
, and K2 is the nickname for Jeanne's top floor apartment; you are welcome to plant your flag when you complete the assent.
Mom was pleased to learn that Pitzelpatz is a famous comic character; he will do his best to amuse us.
He printed out a Pitzelpatz coloring book for our bedtime reading. He he, he is Pitzelpatz, the pirate!
Here he is after we tucked him in, isn’t he cute:
Hoping to visit you soon,
DuDette
Posted Jan 24, 2012, 7:07 pm
This is the Alameda County Courthouse. Oakland is the Alameda County seat.
We spent the day at The Oakland Museum of California which limits its collection to California topics, split into three levels: art, history and nature. The nature section is closed for an upgrade so we thought we could do the two sections but it really was too much for one day as there were also two special exhibits we wanted to see before they closed.
You can see John Muir’s influence all over the museum and one of the special exhibits was about him. We couldn’t take photos but we really enjoyed seeing a replica of part of his cabin at Yosemite. He cut out three windows in the roof so he could see the views of Yosemite Falls. They lit up posters behind the windows to show what the views looked like. It was really small; Orkku Orava said it looks like a rustic Finnish sauna.
The pond in the foreground is actually the flooded roof of the museum. We are getting a lot of rain after an unseasonally long dry spell.
That is Lake Merritt behind me.
This bronze is called Foray III (1997) by Bruce Beasley (born 1939). The Oakland Museum helped his career by doing a retrospective some years ago just when Mom needed to do a paper on a living artist. She interviewed him in the galleries and did her paper on his “Pillars of Cypress,” which is a memorial pillar to victims of a freeway collapse during an earthquake in 1989. He got permission to re-cast rebar rubble from the freeway. The Oakland Museum acquired that artwork but we didn’t find it today.
This is his Foray III:
Here is an Architectural Panel (1931) by Jacob Berg. It was removed from the facade of a downtown Oakland shop. Many buildings in downtown Oakland are in the Art Deco style, the most famous of which is the well preserved Paramount Theater.
I think this is rather cool as it connects to the Alameda County Courthouse shown in my first photo.
This painting is called Yosemite Valley (1868) by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902). Art historians give these kinds of artworks some of the credit for encouraging westward migration.
Peace.
DuDette
Posted Jan 25, 2012, 10:06 pm
Posted Jan 30, 2012, 5:36 pm
When they get overseas they will split up and go to separate hosts.
We found photos of them checking out magnolia buds; we will miss them so much.
Bye Bye My Dear Friend and Sweet Brother,
DuDette
Posted Feb 3, 2012, 10:30 pm
Noodles was so excited; he got the honor of helping a new guest out of his travel box. Our new friend is a lion named Okuma who just flew in from Texas.
Then after a big meal, because you know lions get very hungry traveling, we went for a walk and came upon a huge hat displayed on a human-sized mannequin in the Hyatt Regency Hotel lobby. It is called “San Francisco Skyline” from the “Beach Blanket Babylon” musical which has been playing since 1974! It weighs 350 pounds and is all silver colored; it was created in 1999 in honor of the silver anniversary of the show; also, we think, because the producer of the show was named Steve Silver (1944-1995).
We are planning a big trip out of the city soon.
Posted Feb 4, 2012, 8:22 pm
We started out at the Emeryville, California train station. Emeryville is across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco near Berkeley. Where did we go? All six of us TVs went along and met up with two more! A ToyVoyager meetup!
There was some nice scenery along the railroad route as well as some yucky stuff like automobile graveyards, graffiti on concrete walls, and junkyards but also a cool ship mothball fleet, parts of San Francisco and San Pablo Bays, several bridges, some nice farms and animals, vineyards, walnut groves, a university, etc. This area is known for its natural marshland with lots of birds. Here we are sitting backwards watching the scenery we just passed. We liked the shots of the marshland.
San Pablo Bay
Oh, man, I’ve been here before. He he! This is so exciting, mom kept our destination a secret. I am thrilled to show DuDu these places and to see my previous host again! Will show you more of our trip in the next update.
Love,
DuDette & DuDu
Posted Feb 5, 2012, 1:50 am
Then we toured the Capitol building and met kcrawfish and her ToyVoyager guests, Tuli and Little R2. It was a nice relaxing lunch and ToyVoyager Meetup.
We all walked around Old Sacramento which has a lot of museums and preserved buildings from the wild west days. We liked the raised wooden sidewalks.
Then we went galloping on a horse statue. Sacramento was one end of the famous Pony Express mail delivery service. The other end was Saint Joseph, Missouri almost 2,000 miles away. Telegraph communication was available at St. Joseph for communication toward the east. Mail addressed beyond Sacramento was sent by steamboat on the Sacramento River. That's how we would have received mail in San Francisco in 1860!
We will go visit again as there is so much more to see and visiting Miss Kate is such a treat!
Love,
DuDette & DuDu
Posted Feb 7, 2012, 9:34 pm
It is raining here and mom has been a bit crabby but she cheered up a lot after doing her taxes.
She sat at her desk for two whole days. We spent those days playing with the cat. That cat likes to eat paper, ha ha, "my cat ate the tax receipts".
Here are photos of the games, which were especially dangerous for DuDu and me because we resemble cat toys. Our guest, Okuma got to set the ball rolling; it makes lots of noise and brings kitty running.
Then we went climbing on the cat scratch pole; of course Okuma, king of the jungle, got up there first and perched on top. Amazingly, Miss Kitty swiped at only the real blue cat toy, and ran away with it. We all survived unscathed to play another day. Phew.
Happy Valentine’s Day, early,
DuDette & DuDu
Posted Feb 14, 2012, 8:47 pm
I am thrilled, it is my turn to travel again! DuDu has taken a job at the C.T. Mouse Detective Agency. His plan is to work 24/7 for awhile and then settle down with me and retire early to travel the world. My new host has a very special guest, someone to spend time with making girl talk. You see, the tv’s mentor is someone I know very well! Can’t wait to tell her about my recent visit with her mom.
My baby brother, Noodles suggested I travel by stork but that doesn’t appeal to me as maybe storks like to eat mice? This isn’t exactly a family secret, but you know, my baby brother is a bird of prey. And Mom and DuDu would worry too much if I go by rowboat or driftwood. I already know the clerks at the post office so will travel the conventional tv way.
Of course, we had a little going away party with hugs all around. DuDu borrowed Miss Kitty’s plate and intended to share a fortune cookie with all of us. But all the Gung Hay Fat Choy goes to Miss Kitty.
HaHa, then we discussed our little brother, Jeremy’s travelog. He's roaming around ice age Finland pretending to be the state fossil of California, the saber toothed cat, on the hunt for a mastodon!
. We miss his wild ways. Maybe I'll meet up with him on the road, and catch up to dear Aslan, too.
See ya soon, your ever lovin’
DuDette
Posted Mar 13, 2012, 8:21 pm
I finally arrived in Germany! Crawfish opened my envelope, helped me out and cuddled me a lot.
I gave her my souvenir from San Francisco. I thought it is for our host, but Crawfish wants to keep it for a while.
We wanted to take out the card, but it didn't work. So I broke the whole envelope.
Crawfish told the others to wait in the park. When we arrived she introduced me to them.
We just did some group pictures today.
First a "girls"-pic with Crawfish and Kirin.
Later we all climbed on a tree. Behind us you can see the new "Total"-tower.
When we were back "home" we started to talk about everything. I told Crawfish that I already met her Mom few weeks ago and that I've been in her house longer time ago! This world is so small!
While we were talking the boys prefered to take a nap. Poor guys.
See you soon,
DuDette
PS: Please tell DuDu that I love him.
Posted Mar 14, 2012, 7:52 pm
I'm in the middle of the city and there's so much nature around!
Also near the central station! It is the main railway station in Berlin. 1,800 trains call at the station per day and the daily number of passengers is estimated to be at 350,000! From here you can do non-stop travels to Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Novosibirsk (Russia) or Astana (Kazakhstan).
There's Potsdam Square (somewhere behind me you can see Sony-Center).
This is the river Spree with a nice bridge. It is the main river of Berlin. It is approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) in length.
Here you can see the Haus der Kulturen der Welt ("House of the Cultures of the World" ). It is Germany's national centre for contemporary non-European art. It presents art exhibitions, theater and dance performances, concerts, author readings, films and academic conferences on non-European Visual Art and culture. This building is a gift from the United States, designed in 1957. John F. Kennedy spoke here during his June 1963 visit to West Berlin. To Berliners it is also known as the Schwangere Auster ("pregnant oyster" ). I found a funny sign. It is written in German and Turkish! In some areas in Berlin you have stores where everything is written in Turkish, can you believe this??? Btw the sign means: "Don't climb on the roof! Danger to life!"
Across from this building you can see the "Federal Chancellery". The inhabitants of Berlin call it "Waschmaschine" (washing machine).
I've been to the German Bundestag which is located in the Reichstag Building. The centrepiece of the building is the generously glazed chamber that is crowned by the dome. A funnel with panes of mirror glass reflects the daylight from above into the chamber.
PS: My dear hubby, we've been here before, do you remember?
My last stop was the Mauerpark. The name translates to "Wall Park", referring to its status as a former part of the Berlin Wall and its Death Strip. Today the park is one of the most popular places for young residents of Berlin, especially from the fashionable district of Prenzlauer Berg, and attracts basketball players, jugglers, musicians, and many other types of people. It is a crowded leisure ground and a site of sustainable improvised nightlife, especially in the summer, and has also become notorious for Walpurgis Night riots in recent years. There are two stadiums next to the park.
Love you both
DuDette
Posted Mar 15, 2012, 7:10 pm
today we walked a little bit through the districts Wilmersdorf and Schöneberg.
First we saw a playground. We all wanted to play, but we were too young. Hmm...
This is a park which crosses both districts. There are many people, kids, dogs etc. esp when the sun is shining and it is warm outside.
Can you see the golden deer in the upper part of the picture? It is part of the deer fountain.
I think this is a nice place to live. You're directly in the inner city, but it feels like nature, because you have a park near your house.
When we were back "home" Alex showed me something special. His calendar for 2012 is one of my hometown! Beautiful!
That's all for today.
Love you both
DuDette
Posted Mar 18, 2012, 8:15 pm
today we went to one of the flea markets in Berlin. It was really strange to see what people are selling and buying!
Then I went to the Gendarmenmarkt. It is a square in Berlin with 2 cathedrals and the Konzerthaus between them. During World War II, most of the buildings were badly damaged or destroyed. Today all the buildings are restored to their former state.
On my picture you can see the French Cathedral. It is the older of the two cathedrals and was built by the Huguenot community between 1701 and 1705. The cathedral was modeled after the destroyed Huguenot church in Charenton-Saint-Maurice, France.
This is the famous tv tower "Fernsehturm". It was constructed between 1965 and 1969 and with its height of 368 meters, it is the tallest structure in Germany. There is a visitor platform and a revolving restaurant in the middle of the sphere. The tower is part of the World Federation of Great Towers (WFGT).
Love you,
DuDette
Posted Mar 20, 2012, 10:21 pm
Later Alex decided to take some professional pictures of us. He didn't show us the results yet. Crazy cat! I hope I'm going to have a good picture!
DuDette
Posted Mar 22, 2012, 9:31 pm
But first Alex finally showed us the pictures he has taken!
That's me!
We also took some group pictures.
We built a pyramid, but as you can see we are no artists!
Then we started with the party. First Crawfish got our birthday card which we all signed.
We gave her our present.
It was a passport with all her informations inside.
Then we organized some drinks. Crawfish also gave me a birthday cuddle as I celebrated my own birthday alone in a dark envelope few days before I arrived in Berlin.
The drink was delicious... aIiii Wuaaaandt soooam moooooure! Hiiiks.
Du-hiiiks-Deee-hiiiks-ttttte-hiiiks
Posted Mar 24, 2012, 5:39 pm
the weather was so beautiful! We all had a hangover from last evening, but some fresh air should help.
First we crossed a nice bridge.
We stopped at a lake which is called "Gremminer See", a lake created as a result of the redevelopment of the former brown coal strip mine of Golpa-Nord. At the end of the lake you can see Ferropolis. "The city of iron" is an open museum of old huge industrial machines. It's an open air museum which contains machines from the mid-twentieth century. They can measure to 30 meters high, 120 meters long and weigh up to 1980 tons. Moreover, the area is used for several events like opera or music festival like the Melt! festival or the "Ferropolis in Flammen".
Yours
DuDette
Posted Mar 24, 2012, 6:13 pm
Then we used the freeway. Did you ever drove about 115 mph? It felt like flying. Whooaaaa. So we decided to use the seat belt.
Back to Berlin we had to say goodbye to Mr. Furrington. He's going to Canada! I'll miss him a lot.
DuDette
Posted Mar 25, 2012, 7:19 pm
today I did a walk through the city with Pieksi.
First we saw the Friedrichstadt-Palast. It is a revue in the Berlin district of Mitte. The term Friedrichstadt-Palast designates both the building itself, and the revue theater as a body with his ensemble.
We also stopped at Checkpoint Charlie. It was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.
Pieksi and I saw Berlin from the top! Ok, it's just a map, but isn't it a big city?!
Now I can say that I saw the world, because this balloon is called "Die Welt" (The World). This balloon is filled with helium and got a platform where you can see the city from.
Can you see me sitting on the shoulder of the Buddy Bear? There are so many all over Berlin and there exist also more than 140 country bears with most of the countries of the world. And these bears are travelling around the world. They are tall toyvoyagers!!!
We found some parts of the Berlin Wall without any paintings on it! It's an original part of it!
Look, Potsdam Square with sun on it! It is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of city. After developing within the space of little over a century from an intersection of rural thoroughfares into the most bustling traffic intersection in Europe, it was totally laid waste during World War II and then left desolate during the Cold War era when the Berlin Wall bisected its former location. Since German reunification, Potsdamer Platz has been the site of major redevelopment projects.
This is Brandenburg Gate. It is one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. There are many people around.
Yours,
Du Dette
Posted Mar 27, 2012, 6:02 pm
Later we shared some sweets and hugged Pieksi.
Then he crawled into his envelope. We wish him a save journey.
Posted Mar 29, 2012, 8:01 pm
today I climbed up a hill. It wasn't easy!
But it was worth it! I had a wonderful view over the north-east of the city. Can you see the houses on the horizon?
The way back down was not better.
Yours, DuDette
PS @ DuDu: I love you
Posted Mar 30, 2012, 12:13 pm
today we went to school!!!
In our first lesson we had to paint ourselves. It was not easy, but have a look:
I think all of us did a good job!
Love
DuDette
Posted Mar 30, 2012, 2:30 pm
today I visited the area around the castle. At the moment the castle is closed because of winter time and we couldn't go inside. But we saw the castle from outside and went to its gardens. The Gardens had its origin in the 17th century, when the marriage of Leopold's great-grandfather Prince John George II of Anhalt-Dessau to the Dutch princess Henriette Catharina, in 1659 brought a team of engineers and architects from the Low Countries to lay out the town, the palace and a Baroque garden in the former settlement of Nischwitz, which was renamed Oranienbaum in 1673. The Dutch influence remained prevalent in the Principality of Anhalt-Dessau for many decades. Oranienbaum Palace was finished in 1683 as the summer residence of Henriette Catharina, where she retired after the death of her husband in 1693. From 1780 on Duke Leopold III had the palace and the park rebuilt in a Chinese style with several arch bridges, a tea house and a pagoda. In 1811, the orangery was built, with 175 m (574 ft) in length one of the largest in Europe, which still serves to protect a wide collection of citrus plants. It was too cold to go to the orangery! Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, inspected the restoration works on March 3, 2004.
This is the castle from the front:
Look, some of the windows are not real, just painted on the wall!
The garden view of the castle:
There's a fountain in the garden, but there's no water inside. It's still too cold in the night. When it is warmer there'll be also lots of palm trees in the garden.
Then we climbed up an old bridge.
And finally we saw the Chinese pagoda. It is so beautiful!
Under the pagoda we found a tunnel. Spooky! Do you see me?
There's also lots of water in the park, but I really don't want to swim in it. Looks dirty!
Yours
DuDette
Posted Mar 31, 2012, 10:09 pm
today we visited an old power station. In 1916, eight turbines capable of 16 MW each were generating a total of 128 MW, making the Zschornewitz power plant the world's biggest brown-coal-fired power station.
On 30 June 1992 came the power plant's final shutdown. The Kolonie and parts of the plant were granted protection as a memorial. In 1995, the preserved part of the old power plant became an industrial memorial.
The old boiler house.
The old cooling tower.
The last 2 chimneys. They will be blasted away the upcoming week. I hopefully will take part and maybe show you a picture!
Then we drove through the old garden-city-like workers' community "Kolonie".
And this is the view of the village in the evening. Can you see the chimneys?
See you soon,
DuDette
Posted Apr 1, 2012, 10:40 pm
first of all: tell my hubby that I love him!
This evening I went to Gräfenhainichen, again. Last time I showed you the lake and Ferropolis.
This is the church Sankt Marien. In the night you can see spooky shadows of it in the sky.
And this is the Paul-Gerhardt-House. He's a famous man of the city.
Yours
DuDette
Posted Apr 3, 2012, 11:10 pm
today I saw a famous car, a Trabant. The name, meaning 'satellite' or 'companion' in German, was inspired by Soviet Sputnik. The cars are often referred to as the Trabbi or Trabi. Since it could take years for a Trabant to be delivered from the time it was ordered, people who finally got one were very careful with it and usually became skillful in maintaining and repairing it. The lifespan of an average Trabant was 28 years. Used Trabants would often fetch a higher price than new ones, as the former were available immediately, while the latter required the infamous long wait.
The Trabant was a steel monocoque design with roof, bootlid/trunklid, bonnet/hood, bumpers/fenders and doors in Duroplast, a form of plastic containing resin strengthened by cotton. This helped the GDR to avoid expensive steel imports but, in theory, did not provide much crash protection, although in crash tests it allegedly performed better than some contemporary Western hatchbacks.
Btw many people say the car is made of paperboard.
In the evening Woozy left us. His next stop is Heidelberg. Goodbye dude!
Yours
DuDette
Posted Apr 5, 2012, 6:40 pm
today was the big explosion of the 2 chimneys. It was really loud and when they crashed to the ground it felt like an earthquake! There were so many people watching it!
We took a picture when the chimneys were still standing.
And now, everything is gone! Just a big cloud full of dust was coming to our place. Brrrrr.... We were all grey!
Look, few days ago we were on the tiny street on the left side to take a picture of the chimneys. Do you remember? Now everything was closed! People had to leave their houses...
As we couldn't take a picture during the explosion with us, here you can see a picture of it and a video!
Video
After this exciting day the bed is calling!
See you soon!
DuDette
Posted Apr 5, 2012, 7:51 pm
Posted Apr 6, 2012, 8:20 pm
today we walked up some stairs. We didn't know why...
On the top of the hill we had a wonderful view over the east city! But it was really cold. I think winter is coming back!
Love,
DuDette
Posted Apr 8, 2012, 7:05 pm
today I found a wonderful yellow flower. It's a daffodil, but in German it is called something like "Easterbell" (Osterglocke).
Later I decided to seed my own little flower. I hope it will grow fast!
Yours
DuDette
Posted Apr 8, 2012, 7:49 pm
Today we went to the garden to search for some easter eggs!
I couldn't imagine to find some, because it was green all around me. But I found one next to a flower.
When we were back in the house we ate our easter eggs. It was so much to eat! But it was really delicious. I thought I'm bursting.
Later we found another big egg. What would it be?
We opened it and what a surprise! Alex was inside. He gave a tiny easter egg to all of us as a little surprise. Lovely cat!
I hope your weekend was nice, too.
DuDette
Posted Apr 14, 2012, 9:37 pm
today we did a trip to the former brown-coal open cast mine of Goitzsche. The lake is also called "Bernsteinsee" (Lake of amber). It's about 840 hectars and it's located in the east of Saxony-Anhalt, near the city of Bitterfeld-Wolfen.
I met a really big and friendly fish.
The lake was a coal mine before so we could see lots of old stuff from that time, like the big train.
This is the onliest villa next to the lake.
Love you,
DuDette
PS: Please give a kiss to my hubby DuDu!
Posted Apr 14, 2012, 11:06 pm
today we went to the water again. We stopped at the river Mulde. It is 124 km in length. Its name could be derived from Old German "Mulda", meaning "dust" and a cognate of English "mould". But more possibly it is related to the German "mahlen" which means "to mill". Therefore, Mulde probably means "the milling river" and corresponds to the great number of water mills driven by the river in former times.
Can you see the water behind the river? This is the lake I've been yesterday!
Next to us was a really big bridge! Later we passed it by car.
Under the bridge the river runs into the a lake called "Mulde-reservoir" (Muldestausee).
This is the lake. It's huge!
As you can see here are lots of lakes! Wow!!!
I'm on the white triangle on the map.
Yours
DuDette
Posted Apr 15, 2012, 7:19 pm
today the weather was really good. So we decided to help our host a little bit in the garden.
When we were back in the house, I noticed that I was really dirty from the garden. So i took a bath. It felt so good! Of course I got a warm towel to dry myself.
Later Alex gave a lovely flower to all of us girls. He's a smart guy!
DuDette
Posted Apr 16, 2012, 7:48 pm
Today I went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust Memorial. It is a memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. It consists of a 19,000 square metres site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs or "stelae", arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The stelae are 2.38 m long, 0.95 m wide and vary in height from 0.2 to 4.8 m.
Then I stopped at Potsdam Square. It is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin.It is named after the city of Potsdam, some 25 km to the south west, and marks the point where the old road from Potsdam passed through the city wall of Berlin at the Potsdam Gate. After developing within the space of little over a century from an intersection of rural thoroughfares into the most bustling traffic intersection in Europe, it was totally laid waste during World War II and then left desolate during the Cold War era when the Berlin Wall bisected its former location. Since German reunification, Potsdamer Platz has been the site of major redevelopment projects.
Lots of kisses
DuDette
Posted Apr 17, 2012, 9:57 pm
have a look, this is the famous KaDeWe! It is the most famous department store of Berlin and the largest department store on the European continent, famous above all for its gourmet food department on the sixth floor. Sad, it's not allowed to take pictures inside.
This funny building is called Tempodrom. It's a place for events like concerts. It looks like a circus, just a little bit taller!
The German Museum of Technology was founded in 1982 in Berlin, Germany, and exhibits a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The museum's main emphasis is on rail transport, but it also features exhibits of various sorts of industrial technology. Recently, it has opened both maritime and aviation exhibition halls. The museum also contains a science center called Spectrum.
The plane on the front of the museum is the building's famous C-47 'Raisinbomber' Skytrain which can be seen with ease from the top of the Fernsehturm.
We had a view over the fence inside the museum. They have different wind wheels...
In the evening I got a new friend. Her name is Nuts and she's about 9 months old. Nuts got the same color of fur like me!!! But her eyes are red where mine are black. She seems to be a nice girl. I didn't notice her before, she's really shy.
DuDette
Posted Apr 20, 2012, 10:11 pm
I listened to some songs and had to think of my beloved DuDu...
"And like your lips were only made for me to kiss
Oh oh oh oh
We were made for this
[...]
You're the only thing I'm ever gonna miss
Oh oh oh oh
We were made for this" *sing*
The second one was from a German band called die ärzte. There was a game inside the cd-box!
So we decided to play the game. We had only 3 pegs so Crawfish & Kirin were one team, also Häppie_Sheep & me. Alex was his own team.
It was fun to turn the cd like a cube. We had to move onward, backward, had to change our places etc. It was really fun!
DuDette
Posted Apr 21, 2012, 8:29 pm
today we went to place called "Untermühle". It's just a small area with about 3-4 houses. My host didn't know where the name comes from so we asked some neighbors. After a while we found one who told us that there was a water mill loooong time ago. Sad we couldn't find anything left from the mill, just the name.
There was a big lake where it isn't allowed to do fishing. I'm not sure if there are fishes inside.
The water from the lake runs into a tiny river.
We crossed that tiny river by a really old bridge. They just cut a tree in half!
Altogether it is a really nice place to relax!
Love
DuDette
Posted Apr 21, 2012, 9:23 pm
Alex organized a car today!
It was a cabriolet and there was enough space for all of us. Crawfish had to drive the car, because she is the tallest!
We drove along some streets for a while...
...until we stopped on a really nice greenfield with lots of flowers.
We decided to do a picnic. Alex had everything we needed in his trunk: a blanket and something to eat.
We enjoyed the sun for a few hours and then we went back home. It was amazing to travel by car without any host!
DuDette
Posted Apr 25, 2012, 8:37 pm
I did something, I think no toyvoyager did before! I saw some royals!
Maybe you remember when I visited the castle in Oranienbaum... Today I was back to that place! Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands visited the castle!!!
First we had to wait a while. Maybe our picture looks strange! But all of us had a several job, that's why we were fixed together. Kirin checked the right side, Häppie_Sheep the left (where the cars with the Queen came from), Alex and I checked the front and Crawfish played the security for all of us! Behind us you can see the castle.
Somewhere in the crown you (maybe) can see the queen...
Look, all these cars and securities and police...
After a while we finally met some royalties! The man behind us is Eduard, Prince of Anhalt and his wife princess Corinna. His full name is Julius Eduard Erdmann Ernst-August Prinz von Anhalt and he is the head of the House of Ascania.
Princess Corinna looks really beautiful. And she smiled at us.
And then we finally saw Beatrix!
I met a princess! She's royal, so I think I fulfilled my life mission! OMG! I'm so proud of myself!
DuDette
Posted Apr 28, 2012, 9:56 pm
today Alex wanted to know if I know that street. I told him to ask DuDu, 'cause he's Mr. Undercover and maybe knows the street at home.
Crazy cat is still having a SF calender.
Posted Apr 30, 2012, 7:29 pm
today we went to the Modellpark Berlin-Brandenburg. It's a park which shows all important buildings of Berlin and the area around (Brandenburg).
Can you see me on the roof of the castle of Königs-Wusterhausen?
We all did a stopover at the Grunewald Tower and the Reichstag.
At the moment it is not possible to visit the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Memorial-Church because it is totally wrapped. They restore it. So I was really happy to get a picture of this church in the park!
Yours,
DuDette
Posted Apr 30, 2012, 8:17 pm
today we went to the Gardens of the World in district of Marzahn.
First we had a look to the Korean garden.
Then we saw the Chinese garden. So beautiful. It was surrounded by water. As it was really hot that day we decided to stay in the Chinese garden and relax near the water.
I think I got a sunburn.
DuDette
Posted Apr 30, 2012, 9:56 pm
today we went to Pichelswerder, a stream island in the west of Berlin. Ok, it is not an island, just a peninsula.
I enjoyed the fresh breeze near the water.
The big trees didn't let the sun burn me again!
Can you image there is a lighthouse in Berlin? It's not a big one just a light beacon, but there's no ocean around! Can you see all the tiny ships behind it?
DuDette
Posted Apr 30, 2012, 10:06 pm
I showed Alex a map from home and with your informations he found the streets he asked before! He is sure that it is Bush st. and Dashiell Hammett st. he saw on the picture. It was not easy for him to find it. He had a look to google street view and after hours he noticed that the red house on the picture is yellow on google.
I didn't help him!
I love you, always!
DuDette
Posted May 1, 2012, 9:16 pm
today we did a tour by bike!
We went to one of the neighborhoods of my host's mom's hometown.
The park in the village was really beautiful and we saw a castle! It is a manor house which was built in the style of the renaissance.
Then we saw a direction sign to a mineral spring.
We followed the sign and arrived at a small hut, but we couldn't see any spring.
We went on between fields and forests and more fields... Can you see the other neighborhood in the background? Really tiny houses.
On our way back we stopped at the lake near "Untermühle". Do you remember? I've been here last week.
Lots of love,
DuDette
Posted May 2, 2012, 8:47 pm
today we did another trip with Alex' car!
We already knew the way. At the place where you can see the light we had to turn right.
Turn right here!
Then we could see the fast street!
We entered the street and Crawfish hit the gas. She drove and drove and drove and whoooaaaa...
...we reached the highway! You can't imagine how fast we were!
Later Alex showed me how to blow a blowball.
DuDette
Posted May 3, 2012, 10:39 pm
Posted May 6, 2012, 10:05 pm
today we visited the Funkturm Berlin (Radio Tower). It is a transmitting tower, built between 1924 and 1926 and it is nicknamed "der lange Lulatsch" ("the lanky lad"). The tower stands in the Berlin trade fair ground in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough and it is now a protected monument.
The tower is built as one large steel framework construction, similar to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The 150 m high radio tower was originally planned strictly as a transmitting tower, but later additions included a restaurant at a height of approximately 52 m.
DuDette
Posted May 7, 2012, 4:35 pm
I've been kidnapped! Somebody blindfolded my eyes and took me away. I don't know where I am, but I think it was that stupid kitty Alex!
Posted May 10, 2012, 10:40 pm
Alex saved my life today! He told me about the scroll he found and that he did what was written in it.
When he found me he took of the blindfold. I was so happy to see him! Maybe it wasn't Alex who kidnapped me. We had a look around, but couldn't see anybody. The fence was really high!
happy DuDette
Btw: DuDu that's so sweet how you worried about me and that you wanted to take Santa's sleigh just to come over and save me!
Your sweet moonbeam
The smell of you in every single dream I dream
I knew when we collided you're the one I have decided
Who's one of my kind
Posted May 11, 2012, 11:49 pm
I need a new life mission: meeting somebody from San Francisco far away in a foreign country!
Today I didn't get the best pictures, but... I went to a concert of a band from home! Yeah it's true! These guys just came over from San Francisco to play some music! I think I told you before of the band Train. There was another guy from home playing some music. He's called Matt Nathanson. It was a really awesome show! I just had the possibility to take a picture of the stage and the club after the concert.
When I wanted to go home I met the singer of Train. He was a little bit confused when I was posing for my picture! Look at his face.
DuDette
Posted May 13, 2012, 11:10 pm
Today I've been to Potsdam. It is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and is situated on the River Havel, 24 km (15 mi) southwest of Berlin city centre. DuDu, we've been here last year, do you remember?
We started our tour in the city center of this beautiful city. Behind Crawfish and me you an see the Nauen Gate. It was built in 1755 and is one of the first examples of the influence of English Gothic Revival architecture in Continental Europe. It is located in close proximity to the Dutch Quarter, which you can see on the second picture. The Quarter is consisting of 134 red brick buildings in the Dutch style, almost all of which have been renovated. It was built from 1733 to 1740. It is considered as Europe's largest collection of Dutch-style houses outside the Netherlands.
This is Brandenburg Gate. Yes, Potsdam is also having one, but it is smaller than the one in Berlin. It was built in 1770/71.
This is the Protestant Church of Peace (Friedenskirche). It is situated in the Marly Gardens on the Green Fence in the palace grounds of Sanssouci Park.
Look, behind me you can see the famous palace of Sanssouci! This is the south view. You can also see the vineyards. Sanssouci is the name of the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. The castle with its parks and other castles is one of the biggest UNESCO World Heritages. The palace was built in the Rococo style between 1745 and 1747.
Here you can see the Sanssouci Picture Gallery. It is the oldest extant museum built for a ruler in Germany.
From the north side of Sanssouci Palace, between the columns, you can see the colonnade of the court of the Ruinenberg on the other side. A round temple, three high ionic columns, a small pyramid, and a ruined wall, designed as if from a Roman theatre, were grouped around the pool.
This is the Historic Mill and it became a famous well beyond the boundary of Potsdam. The design reflects construction methods around the year 1800, its technical equipment in part that of the turn of the 19th century. It is an octagonal post and has a height of 25.78 metres and, up to the upper edge of the sail, 35.45 metres. The stone pedestal is 13.41 metres, the wooden smock is 12.37 metres and the length of the rods is 12 metres each.
The Orangery Palace is also known as the New Orangery on the Klausberg. It was built by the Romantic on the Throne, Friedrich Wilhelm IV from 1851 to 1864. It has a 300 meter long front and lots of palm trees inside.
This is the New Palace and it is situated on the western side of the park. The building was begun in 1763, after the end of the Seven Years' War and was completed in 1769. It is considered to be the last great Prussian baroque palace.
We also saw the Roman Baths of the the prince. This is the garden house and the house for its keepers. Both were built in Italian country house style.
The last we visited in the park was the Chinese House. It is a garden pavilion and it was built in the then-popular style of Chinoiserie, a mixture of ornamental rococo elements and parts of Chinese architecture.
Little funny house, I saw you last year. You have a style nobody could ever forget.
So many palaces, I'm feeling like a princess, a little bit.
DuDette
Posted May 16, 2012, 8:41 pm
First we hugged each other a lot, then we helped them into their envelopes.
First we said bye to Alex' brother Mr. Stanley. He got an invitation for some holidays abroad.
Then we helped Häppie_Sheep. She's going home.
Kirin is also going back home! She had a few problems to crawl into her envelope, but after a while she managed it and waved her hand to us.
I hope all of them will have a save journey!
DuDette
Posted May 17, 2012, 8:46 pm
we made cupcakes!
First we took some of the ingredients which were already mixed.
Then all of us organized some missing ingredients. Crawfish brought eggs, Alex some milk (what else?!) and I organized some cooking oil.
We mixed everything and put the dough into the cake tins.
After 20 minutes our little cakes were nearly ready.
Then we mixed the topping with whipped cream and added some decorations.
It was sooooo tasty!
I would send you a cake home, but we ate all of them!
DuDette
Posted May 19, 2012, 7:20 pm
have a look, this is the urban freeway in Berlin! Maybe we can go there with our car!
And if you don't want to use the car, you can use a train!
When we arrived home we found an envelope!
We turned it around and a white mouse was jumping out of it! Her name is Gypsy and she will stay for about one month. Now we are 2 mice here!
Big kiss to DuDu!
DuDette
Posted May 20, 2012, 8:19 pm
Posted May 22, 2012, 9:31 pm
We did a road trip!
Crawfish, Gypsy and I jumped into the car and whoohoooo...
We started at one of the Berlin highways.
After a while we passed the state line of Saxony-Anhalt. Sad, it's not allowed to stop next to the sign.
Then we crossed the big river Elbe. Can you see the small brown sign?
Munich seems to be so far away, about 290 miles.
Have a look to the sky! Isn't it beautiful??? All the shafts of sunlight and the clouds!
We left the highway and used a street through the forest. I'm not sure if there are any animals living. I didn't see any.
DuDette
PS @ DuDu: yeah...we will always have our bench!
Posted May 24, 2012, 7:36 pm
we did a bike tour today to the neighbor village called Möhlau. There are lots of lakes around, like in the whole area. We stopped at the biggest one where it is also allowed to go swimming.
This is a really flat area, but look, there are also small hills. We got so much speed downhill.
It was a sporty day!
DuDette
Posted May 24, 2012, 8:28 pm
today when we girls relaxed in the park Alex invited us to his garden.
He showed us that there are many healthy things to eat. First we found a pieplant.
We cut one stack and brought it to our picnic place.
Alex cut the bottom. He told us that it is not eatable.
He also cut the big leaf, because we couldn't eat it, too.
Alex peeled the stack and put it around us. Crazy kitty! He cut the rest of the stack into pieces that all of us had enough to eat.
It was delicious and not as sour as we thought it could be.
Then we walked through the garden and the noses of Gypsy and me found something interesting.
Crawfish and Alex opened the roof and we jumped in! Lots of fresh and tasty salad!
We took some leaves to the picnic and Gypsy and I cut the salad into pieces.
We made rolls that it was easier to eat it. Delicious!
After so much food we were too tired to walk back home. So we used the car.
First we used a fast street where some chickens were watching us! Can you see them?
Then we used the freeway. Crawfish drove so fast!
Love you!
DuDette
Posted Jun 2, 2012, 9:29 pm
finally the weather is better than the last days, so I did a short stop-over next to the street. Finally a blue sky!
Yours
DuDette
PS: As I can see Noodles learnt how to fly?!
Posted Jun 7, 2012, 10:51 am
today I visited the park of Wörlitz, which is a part of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm. The central Wörlitzer Park lies adjacent to the small town of Wörlitz at an anabranch of the Elbe river. It was laid out between 1769 and 1773 as one of the first English gardens on the continent. According to the ideals of Duke Leopold III the park would also serve as an educational institution in architecture, gardening and agriculture, therefore large parts were open to the public from the beginning. Most buildings were designed by Erdmannsdorff, while the gardens were laid out by Johann Friedrich Eyserbeck. The gardens are protected from floods of the Elbe river in the north by a dam which is also a belt-walk offering numerous views along the park's sight lines.
Wörlitz Palace finished in 1773, residence of Duke Leopold and his wife Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt, was the first Neoclassical building in present-day Germany. The palace and its interior with valuable cabinets from the studio of Abraham and David Roentgen as well as a large collection of Wedgwood porcelain were publicly accessible. Louise had her private home in the adjacent Graues Haus (Grey House). At the eastern rim of the palace's garden stands the Wörlitz Synagogue built in 1790 as a rotunda modelled after the ancient "Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy. The Neo-Gothic St Peter's Church in the west with its 66 m (217 ft) tall steeple was finished in 1809.
The philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the aesthetic of Johann Joachim Winckelmann underlie the design of the park. Wörlitz Lake featured an island atop which was a model of Mount Vesuvius. The duke would stage fireworks that seemed to issue from an erupting volcano to entertain his guests. At the foot of the mountain on the island was a building intended to suggest William Hamilton's home at Pompeii.
Few years ago my host worked as a tour guide in the castle and the park.
This is the Wörlitz Palace.
This is St Peter's Church. We could see the tower 10 minutes before we arrived to that village!
This is the rock island with the volcano Vesuvius and Villa Hamilton on it.
Look how high the church is!
My host's mice told me how to build a real home for a mouse. Look, I tried and it looks perfect! DuDu, please don't eat too much, you have to climb through the hole!
Love you,
DuDette
Posted Jun 10, 2012, 7:48 pm
I've been to the castle of Oranienbaum again.
We had wonderful weather this day!
And finally there are lots of palm trees in the park.
Alex and I tried to climb up the tree.
We found a nice wagon where we could relax a little bit.
Then also found a lovely nostalgic bridge. It looks really special!
Look, the Chinese pagoda is so beautiful when the sun is shining.
This time we also visited the Chinese tea house. Can you see us?
Yours
DuDette
Posted Jun 10, 2012, 8:26 pm
back to the capital!
I went to the Museum Island, the northern half of an island in the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin. It has about 5 big famous museums and is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
I took a picture in front of the Old National Gallery. It is a gallery showing a collection of Neoclassical, Romantic, Biedermeier, Impressionist and early Modernist artwork.
Then I've been to the Reichstag again.
Love,
DuDette
Posted Jun 10, 2012, 8:51 pm
today we did a walk through the forest.
After a while we saw this beautiful bridge...
We went to the middle of the bridge and enjoyed the wonderful view over the lake.
DuDette
Posted Jun 10, 2012, 9:32 pm
today we "felt" some speed!
First Alex showed us the city highway of Berlin. Maybe we're allowed to travel with his car on it one day...
Then we heard some noise. A plane crossed our view. It was so close and SO BIG!
Alex showed us another place where we could get a really cool picture with a big plane. I didn't have to wait long. I heard the noise and whooohooo... Have a look!
DuDette
Posted Jun 16, 2012, 11:24 pm
today I jumped in the car just for you guys!
You guys asked Alex about these silver aliens. So I searched for them! They were everywhere! And so many! As I heard they were made by humans and they call it wind energy plants. They are like big wind mills, catching all the wind and change it to energy for the houses of the humans.
I also heard they can turn their head to the direction the wind is coming from. Alex told me that there's a factory where they build them and I passed this factory quite often!
DuDette
Posted Jun 16, 2012, 11:52 pm
once again some updates by car. I went along the highway where you can drive as fast as you want! We were really fast, but I still had time to take some pictures of some typical signs.
As Germany consists of 16 states they also have state signs. But you can find them only next to the highways where you can't stop the car. You have to be really fast to take a picture.
Look, I got one of the federal state Saxony-Anhalt. It says "Willkommen im Land der Frühaufsteher" which means sth like "Welcome to the state of the early birds". As I noticed my host stems from here, but she isn't an early bird!
All the famous tourist attractions have their own sign. All of them are brown! Look what I found:
1. UNESCO Welterbe Gartenreich Dessau-Wörlitz (UNESCO World Heritage Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm), the castles and parks in Wörlitz and Oranienbaum belongs to it. And I visited them!
2: UNESCO Welterbe Bauhaus Dessau (UNESCO World Heritage Bauhaus Dessau), I didn't see it yet, but I'll hopefully go there soon.
3: Reppichau (Artproject Sachsenspiegel). As it is called... sth about art.
4: UNESCO Biosphärenreservat Flusslandschaft Elbe (UNESCO biosphere reserve fluvial topography of the river Elbe). I crossed that river so often!
In case of the last sign I took a picture of the river Elbe today. There's not too much water in it, but I heard there's a flood every year at the part of the river where I took this picture. As there's the biosphere reserve around here the river has enough space for its flood without being a problem for houses and people.
The last sign I found was a temporary one. It's about Dutch Design - Huis van Oranje. This is the exhibition in the castle in Oranienbaum which was opened by Queen Beatrix. Do you remember? I was there, too!
Your little mouse
DuDette
Posted Jun 21, 2012, 8:19 pm
Once again a journey by car. I really don't like the rain outside.
Today we went through Dessau, a town on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe.
On the left you can see the museum and the red building on the right is a new small shopping center.
This is the church Marienkirche.
The red building is the theatre. There was a meeting of people from the theatre. They all had a Manga-style.
This bridge crosses the river Mulde.
Love you both a lot!
DuDette
Posted Jun 23, 2012, 7:10 pm
DuDette
Posted Jun 24, 2012, 6:52 pm
we did a road trip by car again.
We stopped to have a look at these beautiful purple flowers. I really like them.
Then we drove to the vegetable field to check out when it is time to harvest. Hmm, I think we have to wait a few more days.
We stopped again near some flowers and took one into our car. Isn't it beautiful?
Then we drove and drove and drove... until we arrived on a sunny place.
We decided to do a picnic. Alex put lots of stuff to eat and drink into the trunk. Brilliant kitty!
We enjoyed our picnic! We all got some lemonade and fruits. The mice got some cheese. We also had chicken, sausages and cake. Alex decided to drink milk instead of lemonade.
It was so delicious!
When we all were full we put the leftovers back into the trunk and drove home. We used a fast street, of course!
Kisses
DuDette
Posted Jun 24, 2012, 8:48 pm
today I walked along the river Spree. One of the many bridges in Berlin is the Moltke Bridge, one of the most beautiful ones I think. The bridge was completed in 1891 and is named after Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (1800–1891), chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years.
Behind the bridge you can see the "Federal Chancellery". The inhabitants of Berlin call it "Waschmaschine" (washing machine).
Here you can see the House of the Cultures of the World, as you know, it is called "pregnant oyster".
This is the Bismarck Memorial. It is a prominent memorial statue dedicated to Prince Otto von Bismarck, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia and the first Chancellor of the German Empire.
Yours
DuDette
Posted Jun 26, 2012, 10:48 pm
Then they crawled into the envelope.
DuDette
Posted Jul 1, 2012, 9:26 pm
we did a trip through the Düben Heath today. The Natural Park "Dübener Heide" (Düben Heath) comprises the south east of the state Saxony-Anhalt and a north western region of the state Saxony, having an overall size of about 75,000 hectares. It's situated between the rivers Elbe and Mulde. The largest mixed forest of Middle Germany, characterized by a glacial stamped landscape of hills, can be seen here.
And we saw lots of trees...
...and small villages...
...and more trees and villages...
...and less trees.
Look, we used the yellow street in the map. Everything around us is green.
Then we found Luther's Stone (Lutherstein). The legend says that Martin Luther always did a stop-over here to have a little lunch when he passed the trade route from the city Wittenberg to the city Leipzig.
It also says that he talked here to his students from Wittenberg, who walked with him to the stone. He traveled on to Worms.
The stone itself is a errant block composed of true granite.
Can you see me?
Yours
DuDette
Posted Jul 1, 2012, 11:00 pm
we did another journey back to the Düben Heath again. Today we went to the southern end of the Heath to a small city called Bad Düben. It's situated in the north of the Free State of Saxony and the rivers Mulde and Elbe pass the city. It's a city of treatment at a health resort, like many other small cities in this area ("Bad" stands for a city with these offers). The name "Düben" comes from the Sorbian name "Dźěwin", but nobody really knows what it means. It could be a form of a family name which would mean sth like "place of Děva". It could also come from the words "děva" (Virgin) or "dźowka" (Daughter). Or it comes from the Sorbian name "Dzewin", which means "Home of the Dzew". Who knows...
The most famous sight of the city is the Slavic castle of Dibni (Düben). It was built in 981 as a legend says.
First we did a walk around the castle. It's not very big so we needed only a few minutes.
While we were walking around the castle we found an old ship-mill, a special watermill. The milling and grinding technology and the waterwheel are built on a floating platform on this type of mill.
Look, Napoleon I. did a stopover here in 1813!
Then we went to the courtyard of the castle. It was such an peaceful area! And we had a wonderful view to the river Mulde. Can you see it?
There are a lot of lovely fountains in this city, but we couldn't take pictures of all.
Then we discovered the tiny inner city.
This is the town hall. Each full hour between 9am and 6pm there are 2 billy goats meeting in front of the town hall tower (under the clock-face) as a symbol for dunno what... I didn't meet the goats.
The highest building of the city is the city church. It's just 203,41ft (62m) high!
This is the river Mulde I told you before. And this is the only bridge crossing the river in the city.
Mom, I'm not so far away from home! Just aprx. 5900 miles! (Miles sounds closer than kilometers
)
This city owns another mill! It's a windmill! This mill was located on another place before, but had to move in case of a big airport. So it went to the Netherlands to be redecorated and then it moved to Bad Düben.
Next to the mill I met two nice sheep. They told me that there's a family of animals who look like me living next to the mill.
It was a really exciting day!
Alex told us he's having a really big surprise for his two ladies. We just have to wait a few days. Awww... what could it be??? Can't wait!!!
DuDette
Posted Jul 3, 2012, 9:56 pm
today in the evening we said goodbye to Alex' little sister Peaches. She leaves tomorrow morning for her first journey!
DuDette
Posted Jul 3, 2012, 10:19 pm
(Sorry DuDu, you are not nr. 1 today, but I still love you!)
You can't imagine what happened today!!!
As I told you Alex had a BIG surprise for us! He organized a meeting with some other toyvoyagers. And LOOK who I met:
my beloved sister Cheerio!
She showed me her new lovely bag and told me about her adventures.
After talking a lot we all decided to take a group picture.
(f.l.t.r.: Günther, Peaches, Alex, Cheerio, me, Bernie, Wavy Gravy, Crawfish & Jethro)
Alex wanted to have a picture with the whole Californian gang. Crazy kitty!
Look, Wavy Gravy is as small as I am. I really like him.
"California girls
We're unforgettable
Daisy Dukes
Bikinis on top
Sun-kissed skin
So hot
Will melt your popsicle
Oooooh Oh Oooooh"
When we had to say goodbye to each other I gave my sister a good-luck-kiss. I hope we will meet again soon!
DuDette
Posted Jul 4, 2012, 10:53 pm
We invited Liberty-Buddy-Bear and got some original American sweets.
Posted Jul 5, 2012, 12:07 pm
back to the main railway station once again where I met my sister on Tuesday!
Did you know that there's an underground (U-Bahn), too? Currently, it has only three stations, does not connect to any other U-Bahn line, and is operated as a shuttle line using a single train. It is the newest U-Bahn line and was opened in 2009. Not all stations are as nice as this one, but all trains of the U-Bahn are yellow.
DuDette
Posted Jul 8, 2012, 6:49 pm
We weaseled onto the balcony and saw someone relaxing in Alex canvas chair! Who is this?
It turned out that the one in the canvas chair is a new guest. His name is Fiete and he'll stay for about one month. I think we'll have a lot of fun. He told us that nobody was at home when he arrived so he decided to wait for us while enjoying some sun.
DuDette
Posted Jul 9, 2012, 10:33 pm
today we didn't really have time for sightseeing, but when our host went to her work we stopped for one picture. It's the backside of the Zions Church in the district Mitte. It's an evangelic church and it was dedicated in 1873. It was built on a hill of 52 meters (170.60 ft), one of the highest points of the former Berlin. The tower itself got a high of 67 meters (219.82 ft) and serve as a reference point and viewpoint. The specific characteristic of the church is that the nave isn't align to the east, like it is normal. That one is align to the north!
DuDette
Posted Jul 13, 2012, 10:09 pm
today we did a ride by car through our host's Mom's hometown. It was the first car-ride for Fiete, he had some problems when the car started.
This is a small village in Saxony-Anhalt. There's not so much to tell, just that they had the biggest power station of the world about 100 yrs ago. But as you know I already showed you pix of here before.
Yours DuDette
Posted Jul 15, 2012, 9:58 pm
once again we discovered this small village!
We started with the town sign. What a difficult name! The inhabitants just write Z'witz and call it Zschorns (don't speak the Z!). Confusing!
It's really green around here.
This is the new control-room for the old power station, but it's closed for years.
There's also a sports ground in this village.
The street where we live...sometimes!
On this street Crawfish learnt driving a car.
Then we walked to the park.
In this park you can see the catholic church. It's really small and... pink!
While the others stayed in the park Fiete and I walked through the rest of the village.
This is the kindergarten where my host went when she was a child.
We found a ruin. This big old house was the clubhouse about 25 yrs. ago.
There's also a place for small festivals. Unfortunately there was none today.
Hm, they have really small streets.
Look at this electrical tower, it's huge!
This ugly yellow building is called "Platanenhof". It's one of the newer buildings, but the walls have lots of scratches.
There's another church in this village. This one is an evangelical lutheran church and it looks really old.
Near the church we found the memorial for the victims of the World War II.
Then we finally found some parts of the old power station. Since 1995 it's a museum. The last 2 chimneys fell this spring. This big "chimney" is a cooling tower. There's only one left for the museum.
Can you see the red scaffold? It was a part of the engine house.
And these buildings behind us were the houses for the workers called "Kolonie". It was included in the list of EXPO projects, undergoing widespread restorations in 1997-99.
They have a really beautiful school and schoolyard in this village, have a look!
On our way back home the sun came out of the clouds. It was so wonderful to enjoy it!
I think this walk was enough for me! My feet hurt!
DuDette
Posted Jul 15, 2012, 11:05 pm
we did a road trip again!
First we went through villages and forests. It was not the best weather. Have a look to the sky - it's blue and grey and really dark!
After a while we arrived in Dessau. It is situated on a floodplain where the Mulde flows into the Elbe. Maybe you never heard of this city before, but you may have heard of some of its sons, like Hugo Junkers (first airplane totally made from metal, the Junkers J 1 in 1915 - founded the Junkers & Co-airplane-factory which was Europe's biggest airplane factory during World War II), Thomas Kretschmann (Hollywood actor), Dieter Hallervorden (famous comedian and singer, honorary citizen) or Moses Mendelssohn (philosopher, father of Haskalah).
This is the old brewery. It doesn't work anymore, there's such a small adventure park inside.
The building on the left is the biggest shopping mall of the city, called "Rathaus Center".
The tower is part of the City History Museum.
The most famous bridge crosses the river Mulde.
When we arrived at the place we wanted to go we had to wait a while in the car, it was raining cats and dogs.
I visited the famous Bauhaus, another UNESCO World Heritage! The Staatliches Bauhaus (full name) was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts and was founded by Walter Gropius. The Bauhaus style became one of the most influential currents in Modernist architecture and modern design.
We also visited the Masters' Houses which belong to the Bauhaus. Here they built the director's house and 3 semi-detached houses with large ateliers. Their glass fronts are the most noticeable design element of the houses. Alongside the unity of form and function there is a remarkably intensive rendition of colour - Kandinsky and Klee used their rooms for fascinating experiments with the design element of colour.
A new style of living was also to be demonstrated in the Masters' Houses. Gropius' house especially had a number of details worth noting, from the walk-in wardrobe to the hot water pressure spray in the scullery and the double sofa which could be opened out.
This is the house Muche/Schlemmer...
...and this is the house Kandinsky/Klee.
I heard that there are still some UNESCO World Heritages left in this area. Interesting...
Your little mouse
DuDette
Posted Jul 20, 2012, 7:47 pm
finally a day without rain!
We went to the city and have a look: the tv tower is still standing!
Between both photos were only 15 minutes. Check out the clouds!
I also stopped in front of the Red City Hall, the town hall of Berlin. It is located near Alexanderplatz and is the home to the governing mayor and the government (the Senate of Berlin) of the Federal state of Berlin. The name of the landmark building dates from the facade design with red clinker bricks. The City Hall was built between 1861 and 1869 in the style of the north Italian High Renaissance.
Love you both.
DuDette
Posted Jul 23, 2012, 10:35 pm
today we had another big ToyVoyager meeting!
We were so many and we had so much fun!
As you already know one of my legs is broken. I tested to sit in a wheel chair. Please don't tell DuDu that I'm going to have a surgery soon!
DuDette
Posted Jul 24, 2012, 10:34 pm
In the afternoon Alex showed us a postcard he got from his brother Phog who is in Finland. He told us about the finnisch language on the card: "Kesäterveiset Jyväskylästä!" Alex told us that "kesä" means "summer", "terveiset" means "greetings", Jyväskylä is the city where Phog is and the ending -stä means where it comes from. So the whole sentence (just 2 words!) means "Summergreetings from Jyväskylä". Mommy, I learnt some Finnish!
Mommy, 2 DuDu's? I'm confused!
DuDette
Posted Jul 27, 2012, 2:20 pm
that little freaky hamster called Chalon left today for his first big journey! He is traveling to Bruchsal.
First he wrote a card for his new host. I was surprised that he's able to write!
When he packed some chocolate into his bag Alex get angry. He told him to take candies instead of chocolate because of the heat.
Fiete gave him a little cow as a talisman for his first journey and Günther gave him a book about his basic rights in the EU.
Then he left. Good luck little Chalon!
DuDette
Posted Jul 27, 2012, 8:06 pm
we did a short stop-over in Halle/Saale, the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Its early history is connected with harvesting of salt.
The town was first mentioned in 806. According to historic documents, the city of Halle has been a member of the Hanseatic League at least since 1281.
This is one of the shopping areas. In case of the heat there weren't so many people.
The city is called "City of the 5 towers" and here you can see "the towers above the city" (as a building is named).
Four towers (on the left) belong to the Market Church St. Mary (Marktkirche), built in 1529–1554. It is using elements of two medieval churches, St. Gertrud Church dating back to the 11th Century and the older St. Mary Church from the 12th Century. The church has four steeples, the two western octagonal ones are called Blue Towers because of their dark blue slate roofing. The other two Hausmannstürme are connected by a bridge and on this bridge was the fire watch. The church owns as well the original death-mask of Martin Luther.
The big tower (on the right) is the Red Tower (Roter Turm), originally built as campanile of the older St. Mary Church between 1418 and 1503.
Roland (on the foot of the Red Tower, maybe you can see it), originally (13th century) a wooden sculpture representing the urban liberty. Today’s sculpture is a sandstone replica made in 1719.
And on the left, just a few steps away you can see a monument to George Frideric Handel, built in 1859.
The sun was not really helpfull in this pic.
On our way back home we took lots of pictures in the car!
This is one of the water towers. You can find a few of them all over the city.
Look, they write the name of the street ON the street! And we didn't use the freeway.
This lake is the famous \"Goitzsche\". (Sorry, the link is in German)
And we saw a beautiful sunset!
Yours DuDette
Posted Jul 28, 2012, 6:09 pm
another road trip with Alex' car.
First we traveled on a street next to a lake.
Then we reached the freeway and Crawfish hit the gas!
When we passed the lake Sachsenburg we did a short stop-over for a picture. You have to know that Fiete's life mission is to take pictures in front of lots of water.
This beautiful small lake is an abandoned coal mine which was flooded by domestic water.
Then we went on by car and left the lake.
We stopped near some flowers for a picnic.
It was a special day for Crawfish, because she got her driver's license for Germany!
Then Alex gave me a heart, that I always know which DuDu is my hubby. I was a little bit confused when I heard there's another DuDu. Me and the real DuDu both have a heart on our stomach.
We enjoyed our picnic. Some of us got lemonade, some milk, a cake and fruits for all of us and a piece of cheese for me.
When we went back home after the picnic Alex and Günther decided to try out the new skateboards. They lashed the boards behind the car.
DuDette
Posted Jul 29, 2012, 9:27 pm
we went to a border line!
Ok, it's just the border line of the rural district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld and the urban district of Dessau-Roßlau. Each sign of the districts show the emblem of the area.
Did you know that there are 295 rural districts in Germany, but only 107 urban districts?
"Welcome to the rural district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld"
"See you in Dessau-Roßlau" (They forgot the "urban district" on the sign!)
Kiss kiss
DuDette
Posted Jul 30, 2012, 8:30 pm
as you know Crawfish got her driver's licence these days. Now all of us want to be allowed to drive cars. So Alex opened his own driving school!
Ladies first - I started and did it perfect.
Then it was Fiete's turn and he failed.
Last but not least Günther's turn. He was so fast that he couldn't stop.
Then it was time to have some fun! The guys did a race on the skateboards. I gave them a starting signal and Crawfish waited at the finish line. First Günther was the leader, but then he got a problem with his balance and fell off the board. Don't worry, he's ok. So Alex won! The whole time Fiete didn't know how to start the board.
It was a funny day!
DuDette
Posted Aug 2, 2012, 10:31 am
here are some more pictures of Berlin!
This is the Berliner Philharmonie, a concert hall and home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Next to the Philharmonie you can find the St. Matthew's Church. The church is part of the Kulturforum which is a collection of cultural buildings in Berlin. It was dedicated in 1846.
DuDette
PS: DuDu with the heart, I love you.
Posted Aug 3, 2012, 11:35 pm
today I did a tour with a lovely man. Don't worry DuDu, that guy is just a friend!
Fiete and I did a tour which ended bigger as we wanted.
First we stopped at the Museum Island, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here you can find five internationally significant museums.
Behind me you can see the Old Museum which houses an antique collection and the small park called Pleasure Garden (Lustgarten).
This is Berlin Cathedral which has never been a cathedral in the actual sense of that term since it has never been the seat of a bishop.
Palace Bridge which connects the famous street Unter den Linden and Karl-Liebknecht-Street.
We also stopped at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Behind us is an equestrian statue of King Frederick II of Prussia, located on the famous boulevard Unter den Linden.
We went on to Potsdamer Platz, an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin. Here are so many things to visit!
This is the 26-storey and 103-metre-high "Bahn Tower" which is so named because it houses the corporate headquarters of Deutsche Bahn AG, the German state railway system.
A view into a part of the station.
The new Sony Centre is an eye-catching monolith of glass and steel featuring an enormous tent-like conical roof. Its shape reportedly is inspired by Mount Fuji in Japan, covering an elliptical central public space up to 102 metres across!
The Boulevard of Stars is a growing sight which is modeled after the Walk of Fame in the twin-city of Berlin, Los Angeles.
I also met the famous actor Til Schweiger.
This is the place where you can watch the musical "Hinterm Horizont". My host loves it!
This is the Elephant Gate of the Zoological Garden, which is the most visited zoo in Europe.
Near the zoo we found the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The famous damaged spire is already scaffold in case of restoration, but we took a pic of the new belfry. Inside the new church it was really blue!
DuDette
Posted Aug 5, 2012, 3:18 pm
I visited the Hackeschen Höfe! This is a notable courtyard complex consisting of eight interconnected courtyards, accessed through a main arched entrance at number 40 Rosenthaler Straße. The complex was designed in the Jugendstil style.
Mommy, I have a question...
This lovely Buddy Bear did a handstand just to talk to me. He's really big!
Love you all
DuDette
Posted Aug 5, 2012, 9:24 pm
Alex got another lovely postcard from his brother Phog who's still in Finland.
Later we all took one of the skateboards and went cruisin'. Then we saw somebody relaxing in Alex' canvas chair. He also had a beautiful skateboard!
He told us his name is Casanova, Mister Casanova. He's Alex new brother.
DuDette
Posted Aug 5, 2012, 10:30 pm
today we went to one of the major rivers of Central Europe - river Elbe.
It rises in northern Czech Republic, then passing Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg. Its total length is 680 miles (1,094km).
The Elbe's major tributaries include the Vltava, Saale, Havel, Mulde, Schwarze Elster and Ohre rivers.
The Elbe River basin, comprising the Elbe and its tributaries, has a catchment area of 57,247 sq miles (148,268 square kilometres), the fourth largest in Europe. The basin spans four countries, with its largest parts in Germany and the Czech Republic. Much smaller parts lie in Austria and Poland. The basin is inhabited by 24.5 million people.
Our host told us about the big flood in 2002. The river flows really fast, but I can't imagine that this beautiful river can do something like this!
Yours
DuDette
Posted Aug 6, 2012, 10:16 pm
A lion welcomed us warmly. He and his brother belong to the lion gate.
Another gate. It's the knights gate. Isn't it romantic?
These are the vineyards.
This little cute building is the vineyard castle.
From the castle we had a viewshaft to Kühnau Lake, but there were too many mosquitos so we didn't go there. Can you see the water?
And Mommy, just FOR YOU
(Alex told me you wanted these pictures!)
DuDette
Posted Aug 7, 2012, 8:41 pm
look what I saw today!
As you remember Fiete failed last time at driving lesson. So he got another chance! And he did it really good.
Then Alex invited us to a tour in his car.
We found a nice place for a picnic.
And guess what... we ALL got our driver's license! Alex handed it out to us and Crawfish gave all of us a bottle of wine. Alex and Crawfish drank the rest of the bottles.
Yours
DuDette
Posted Aug 8, 2012, 7:56 pm
as you know it's time to leave.
Alex gave me some money and told me to travel back to Berlin and have lunch in a restaurant of my choice.
I found a really lovely one, went in and found a free place.
Now I had to choose between pasta, pizza and antipasti. Hard decision!
While I waited for my meal I had a look around. Really lovely place with trees inside!
As you can see I had pizza! Really delicious!
In the late afternoon I travelled back to the others and we enjoyed our last hours while talking about our adventures!
Love you all at home!
DuDette
Posted Aug 9, 2012, 9:25 pm
today I left these crazy guys.
They all cuddled me. Alex called me his sister and told me that I'm allowed to come back whenever I want. I don't have to call before. Lovely kitty!
I'm a little bit nervous, 'cause I'm travelling to the doctor!
Ok, I'm really afraid!
Love you all!
DuDette
Posted Aug 14, 2012, 1:12 pm
I safely arrived in Delligsen, Omg....I have no idea where this is mommy
..
but here lives Dr.Kröbner and he can help me with my leg
all have welcomed me very warmly and now I`m going to acclimate a little bevor the "DAY" comes
Love you all
DuDette
Posted Aug 16, 2012, 2:49 pm
I meat here a new person with very special eyes
and a very special name "Anästhesia"
she talked to me withe her very special voice and after a few seconds I was very tired and fell asleep
When I woke up again, I felt wonderful.
I think it was a kind of relaxation, in preparation for my big day
I spend the rest of the day on the balcony in the warm summersun
love you all
DuDette
Posted Aug 23, 2012, 9:12 am
The great day !!!!
After Anästhesia has finished her work and I felt into a deeply sleep, Dr. Kröbner put his brand new operationdress (he bought from the revenues of the last leg-transplation) out of his locker.
The old assistant-crew, Philly, B.o.B. and Mr. Lemony attended the spectacle as well as the first time, and Mr. Shaun allready supervised from out of his Deckchair.
Anästhesia controlled my heavenly dreams ,
Dr. Kröbner masterd his work with needle and pins and after a few minutes my leg looks as good as new. Even Philly undergo the End of the operation at full avareness.
During Dr. Kröbner and his team works wonders, Spikey fixed a comfortable warm bed for me
*coco*, Spikey, Phillip and Scruffy McGee waitet full of impatience for the End of the operation. ……
….The dream is fading, clouds get clearer and the fog is flying away…… I see me surrounded by all my friends with curiosity eyes….than I realiezed, I´m in the bed after my Leg-operation. Careful I dare a Look under my blankett and see a healthy leg. What a great feeling. Now, it hurts a little bit, but I´m shure that it will run better in a few days………
I`m sooo happy
DuDette
Posted Aug 27, 2012, 11:24 am
I am fit ....
With the help of *coco* I made physiotherapy
and a short time later, I was able to go.....
Spikey and Mr. Lemony supported me.
Now I could continue my journey
Thank you Dr. Kröbner and the whole surgical team
we had a small farewell party under the TV picture galerie, B.o.B., Philly and I where allowed to sit in the big chairs, we talked about our adventures and hostmum
had farewell gifts for us, toothbrushes for B.o.B. and Philly and a photo for me.
We all hugged again ..... then I crawled into the little p
What a luck , I do not travel alone...B.o.B. accompanied me as I travel to his parents...
bye, bye
DuDette
Posted Sep 2, 2012, 9:15 pm
We arrived safe at B.o.B.´s parents, my new hosts.
Hostmum first put our parcel on the couch and told us to wait a minute so that she can get scissors to open it. But B.o.B. was faster and opened it with his teeth. We took a look outside and saw 3 TV´s watching Television. They didn´t seemed to notice us because they were so absorbed in a TV series. First B.o.B. climbed out of the parcel and then he helped me. Very quiet we sneaked up on them and jumped on their backs. They were completly surprised and also happy. Their names are Vanilla, Tiger Lilly and Landroval. We huged each other and afterwards I took a look around. I said hello to the guinea pigs. It seems to be a nice place here and I think I will have a lot of fun.
Hugs & kisses
DuDette
Posted Sep 2, 2012, 10:33 pm
We had a fantastic party! Our hosts got us burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, sushi, waffles, cocktails and whiskey. We talked a lot and Tiger Lilly allowed me to ride on her back. That was a lot of fun! Vanilla and Landroval even danced together.
In the early morning we all fell asleep.
Love
DuDette
xxx
Posted Sep 4, 2012, 9:42 pm
I´m feeling bad! I think my head is 5 times bigger than usual. Never ever I will drink so much alcohol again! The others are not feeling better either. I think it´s better to spend the rest of the day with sleeping.
Love
DuDette
Posted Sep 4, 2012, 9:54 pm
Today a parcel arrived here. We were all very curious because our hosts said that there should be another TV inside. At first she seemed to be very shy and even a bit scared but as we told her that we are also TV´s she came out of her parcel and we became friends very fast.
I´m sure we will have a great time together!
Hugs & kisses
DuDette
Posted Oct 5, 2012, 8:28 pm
Today we said Goodbye to Tiger Lilly! She will now continue her journey. We gave her a big hug and who knows maybe we will meet again!
Love
DuDette
Posted Oct 5, 2012, 8:41 pm
Again it was time to say goodbye. Landroval left today. He also got a big hug from all of us!We had a great time together!
Bye
DuDette
Posted Oct 5, 2012, 8:56 pm
Today we made a trip to Cologne. We started at the train station in Euskirchen and from there wewent to Cologne central station.
The Cologne Cathedral was the first I saw when we came out of the train station and it is very impressing! It´s so big and looks fantastic.
I also met a very nice street artist.
After some shopping we took a rest at Pizza Hut and ate a delicious pizza with loads of cheese! *yummy*
Then we went back home. It was a lot of fun.
Love
DuDette
xxx
Posted Nov 15, 2012, 9:46 pm
We visited the Hardtburg. That´s an ancient castle that belongs to Stotzheim. It´s placed in the middle of the Hardtwald, that is the forest belonging to Stotzheim. Most of the castle are ruins now but they are very interesting and it is allowed to walk all around the castle and even to climb the tower. But that is only allowed in autumn and winter because birds breed there. We had luck and the tower was open. We had an impressing view and in the distance we could even see Euskirchen!
It was a wonderful evening.
Hugs&kisses
DuDette
xxx
Posted Nov 15, 2012, 10:38 pm
We made Rievkooche! That are potato pancakes. The usual name in german is Reibekuchen but in the dialect spoken in the Rhineland they are called Rievkooche.
We nedded potatoes, onion, oat flakes, eggs, salt and pepper.
First we raspeled the potatoes and the onion. Then we mixed them with the other ingredients.
We preheated the frying pan and filled it with oil.
Then we started baking. The smell was delicious!
When the Rievkooche were ready baked we put them on a plate with kitchen roll to soak up some of the fat.
We ate them with the traditional side dishes. Bread and apple puree.
That was so yummy!
Love
DuDette
xxx
Posted Dec 13, 2012, 10:24 pm
We went to Euskirchen for some shopping. There is already a small christmas market in the city and we had a delicious lunch at the boulangerie Bistro.
Love
DuDette
xxx
Posted Dec 13, 2012, 10:28 pm
It snowed here for the first time this year. My hosts told me that they don´t have snow every year so this is especially great!
Hugs
DuDette
Posted Dec 13, 2012, 10:49 pm
We got even more snow! It has been snowing the whole day and this evening our hosts decided to go for a walk with us. It was absolutely beautiful and we had a lot of fun.
Hugs & Kisses
DuDette
xxx
Posted Feb 9, 2013, 7:17 pm
We visited Bochum. That´s a city in the Ruhr Valley and is one of the biggest cities in germany. Once it was a very important city for mining but that was a long time ago.
We went there to visit the christmas market and we met two prominent policemen. Their names are Toto & Harry. For several years they were accompanied by a camera while on patrol and the TV show was very popular. Today they use their prominence to collect donations for a children hospice.
Love
DuDette
xxx
Posted Feb 9, 2013, 7:49 pm
We spent christmas eve at home. Sitting by the christmas tree and enjoying the delicious christmas meal. Hostmom made a stuffed chicken with parsley potatoes and red cabbage.
Under the tree was also a present for me! I got a cute snowman.
Hugs & Kisses
DuDette
xxx
Posted Feb 9, 2013, 8:26 pm
We spent new years eve at home because Hostmom had to work the next morning. We made raclette with loads of yummy ingredients.
Love
DuDette
xxx
Posted Mar 27, 2013, 4:58 pm
and my special wooden Easter egg.
One by one we hugged each other and then sat around laughing and hatching a plan to surprise DuDu. I will stay in the back room for a few days and then jump out at him. He he.
.
Love to all and
special hugs to Vanilla, Crawfish, Cherry Lola, Zoe, Jack the Cat, Fiona Yenien, Gwennie, Clyde, Wavy Gravy, Edelweiss and my dear Aslan from
Your DuDette
Posted Mar 31, 2013, 2:46 am
DuDu got a tip from C.T. Mouse, Detective, about where to look for colored Easter eggs. I jumped out and DuDu fainted!
His skateboarding friend, Rudy had to resuscitate him. It's soooo nice to be back on "our bench."
Then we all went into the kitchen and ate hundreds of chocolate eggs.
HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!
Posted Oct 10, 2013, 6:59 am
HAPPY PUMPKIN TIME!
Posted May 2, 2014, 1:59 am
Posted May 15, 2014, 12:21 pm
Posted May 16, 2014, 3:57 pm
Posted May 18, 2014, 10:56 am
Posted May 18, 2014, 6:45 pm
and BarryO.
Ye gods, C.T. Mouse, Detective, is gossiping again. He says Nicky used
to be a guy and BarryO was a lot taller.
Let's not let science get in the way of fun. Mmm, that punch was good.
Posted May 21, 2014, 6:07 am
Posted Jun 1, 2014, 12:40 pm