nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Oct 13, 2011, 9:53 pm |
Hello everyone!
My name is Priscilla and I'm a dolphin. I love my freedom and want to explore the world. I prefer to visit hosts who live close to the sea and would take me there. Well, a lake or a river are also fine but I really need water once in while :-). Well, today we went hiking in the forest which is not exactly my favourite way to spend my days. However, my mentor was so kind to carry me around all the time and I really had fun with the TV's we're currently hosting. I posed at the funicular railway station, half of the track is served by a historical cable car but we didn't manage to take a photo of it. Then we chose the Via Naturae trail which is about 8 km long and runs through the Neckartal-Odenwald nature reserve. There were quite a number of tables along the way with information about the forest, the animals and plants. And we passed an art object which I actually found a bit strange. We didn't hike all the time but also sat down to have a rest and eat something. So although I would have preferred to swim a little, it was an enjoyable day. Now I'm wondering who my first host will be. I'd very much like to go on a long journey, preferrably to another continent. Bye. Priscilla |
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Oct 18, 2011, 9:22 pm |
I made my first bigger trip, how exciting. Mum, her daughter, some other TV's and I spent a weekend in Strasbourg. We went by train and arrived after two hours and changing trains twice. Strasbourg has a very modern central train station:
At the hotel we TV's studied the guide book to decide where to go. We walked along one of the canals which turn the city centre practically into an island. Some of the beautiful old houses were built directly at the water. Many of those houses are decorated with flowers and plants like this restaurant. We crossed the bridge which led to Petite France, the most beautiful part of the city centre. The cathedral is absolutely amazing. They started to built it in 1179 and only finished it in 1439. It's so big that we didn't manage to take a complete picture of it. The Maison Kammerzelll was built in the 16th century and is one of the most beautiful houses in Strasbourg. There's a restaurant inside it. On Sunday we took a walk along one of the canals again and I would have really like to swim but finally decided to stay with the others. We saw this building at Place de la République but I don't remember anymore what it was. We also saw a memorial for the soldiers who died in Southeast Asia and North Africa during World War II there. On the way back to the city centre the sun was shining and we admired the many bridges. We also walked along the river Ill and saw some boats there, it looked very idyllic. Last not least we climbed the cathedral from where we had a spectacular view over the city. Well, I didn't climb the 329 stair steps actually, nuriayasmin carried me :-) At the hotel we took a last group photo and also wanted to show off our souvenirs. Nuriayasmin had bought a couple of postcards and an oven mitt and her daughter had fallen in love with a beautiful stork who is looking forward to living in Germany but doesn't want to become a TV. I can't wait to find my first host pretty soon now. |
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Oct 24, 2011, 11:15 pm |
I'm leaving! This time I'm travelling alone but there'll be lots of other TV's waiting for me in Bruchsal. I'm so excited to get to know them and my host.
It was certainly a little hard to say good-bye to everyone here but who knows, we may meet again somewhere in this world. |
fam-united Posted Oct 26, 2011, 1:29 pm |
Today I arrived at my new place in Bruchsal. It seems to be rather busy here, so my host told me to tell you, that it might be, that you will have to wait for updates just a little bit. I asked her to go ahead and send you a note, that I arrived finally. She was kind enough to do it for me
I will come back online as soon as possible. Bye, Priscilla |
fam-united Posted Oct 28, 2011, 2:16 pm |
Today I started to another place. It is a secret - even I don't know, where I will go. I asked my host to tell you not to be worried. I will be offline for more than a week.
I'm so excited. Bye, Priscilla |
fam-united Posted Nov 12, 2011, 3:07 pm |
Hi guys! It's unbelievable. I'm in New York. I'm very happy. Yesterday we arrived after a long flight over the Atlantic Ocean. Arrived in our hostel we decided to go sleeping. And today we wanted to go to a flea market in Hell's Kitchen. But today it started to snow! Since 1869 it was the third time that there was snow in Central Park. It was a great experience. Because the flea market was outside, the organizer canceled it. So we had to go somewhere else. The decision was: American Museum of National History!!! So we went there. It is the museum, which is the setting of the film "Night at the Museum". So here is the first foto with DumDum.
Next foto is with the popular Tyrannosaurus. It also participates in Night at the Museum. As you can see the snow still fell as we left the museum. Here I'm in front of the well-known museum. There was enough time left to do something else this afternoon. Because the Central Park is near the museum we decided to visit the Strawberry Fields, known from the famous song of the Beatles. Towards the Central Park is the Darkota Building. E.g. John Lennon lived there. And until today Yoko Onom, his widow, still lives there. After taking fotos we actually wanted to go into the Central Park. But there was too much slush lying along the way and falling down from the trees. So we went to the metro. Our new destination was: Times Square. There we visited many shops, e.g. the "M & M's World" shop or the Disney store. I was really surprised that there is a shop only dedicated to M & M's! |
fam-united Posted Nov 13, 2011, 12:02 pm |
Today we had a taut program. First we visited a church service helped fashion by a Gospel choir in Brooklyn. It was a great experience! Afterwards we went to the famous Brooklyn Bridge. On the way we had a great view of the skyline, Miss Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge itself.
Arrived at the Bridge we hit the road over it. Here are some impressions. Then we went to Chinatown. There we had lunch. Next destination was the Empire State Building. We wanted to go there in the afternoon because we wanted to see the sunset. The Empire State Building is the highest building in Manhattan with 443 metres. You have a great overview over Manhattan and New York. This evening we decided to go to Times Square a second time. There we visited the Toys'R'us. In the foyer there is a big wheel. After a long day we went to the hostel and fell in our beds. |
fam-united Posted Nov 24, 2011, 6:06 pm |
Today we visited the Tenement Museum. It fiddles with the immigration of people in different points of time. Today we had a walk through the borough. The guide told us many things about the immigrates, e.g. how they live 100 years ago and how 120 years ago. We could also see the influence of different religions, like synagogs, churches and temples. In the near there is the famous Katz's Delicatessen. It was setting of the film "Harry and Sally". So we had to have lunch there inside. We had a great Hotdog!
It was a nice experience! Today we also visited Macy's,referred to as the world largest store. It was really huge! After visiting it we decided to have dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Afterwards we went home to have more sleep than in the previous nights. |
fam-united Posted Nov 24, 2011, 6:28 pm |
Today we went to an Outlet in New Jersey. Therefore we went by bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to the Outlet "Jersey Gardens" in Elizabeth. It was quite large and still there was snow at the parking lot. There many brands have shops where you can buy clothes most time cheaper than in New York City. So we made a shopping spree.
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fam-united Posted Nov 24, 2011, 6:30 pm |
In the evening we visited the musical "Phantom of the opera" at Majestic Theatre. It was grandiose. Such a nice show and nice music! Unbelievable!
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fam-united Posted Dec 18, 2011, 3:40 pm |
Today another package arrived at our place. We all were really curious. It was a new toyvoyager called Drescher, who just had arrived at our place.
We decided to listen to the White Christmas Album while we baked a Hannchen Jensen cake, which you can see on the left page. We baked it with peaches, because we don't like cherries in it. While we took care for the Hannchen Jensen cake, Petra baked some cookies. You see, it isn't that easy to hold Mi-Go back from eating everything. He just threw us around when he jumped up to catch some of the finished warm cookies. |
fam-united Posted Dec 18, 2011, 3:50 pm |
Today we baked a braided yeast bun, because Petra's one son had a belated birthday party. It tasted really fine - and once more we had to take care for Mi-Go to not eat it all before any other person had a chance to get a slice of it.
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fam-united Posted Dec 18, 2011, 4:22 pm |
Today we wanted to create some tea-light holder. We needed four pieces of hard transparency foil and napkins with small ornaments on them and some glue for napkins and white colour.
At first I had to rip out some ornaments of my napkin. Then I had to glue it on the foil. After it was dry again, I stamped some white colour around the ornament. Some even used golden colour. Petra helped us to staple them together. |
fam-united Posted Dec 19, 2011, 7:54 pm |
Today we helped Petra to bake two large apple cakes, because tomorrow is the last day of her son's alternative service.
We prepared the dough and cut apples into pieces, added cinnamon, raisins and sliced almonds to the apples and cooked them. Then we made a part of the dough in the plate and filled it with the warm apples and covered it with dough again. I would so love to make this internet able to give you a hint of the smell in the kitchen, yummy. Most of us worked a lot, but I just couldn't concentrate since I heard Elvis' voice on the cd-player, especially when it is Christmas time and it is an Elvis Christmas album. The first of us, who discovered the new cd was Henry the Adventure Hound. We needed a lot of flour for the cake. |
fam-united Posted Dec 19, 2011, 8:50 pm |
This weekend there is a special event in Bruchsal. There is a second Christmas market for three days around the palace. The weather wasn't that great - no snow, but it was cold enough and the place was full of people.
At first we listend to the trombone choir playing Christmas songs. We also took a look into all the tents, but it was too crowded to take photos there. We left the Christmas market and took a photo of the front of the palace by night before we drove home again. |
fam-united Posted Dec 20, 2011, 3:39 pm |
While our host was teaching at school, it started to snow. We asked her to go out with us, but she said, that the snow is rather wet and that it isn't nice outside. Nevertheless she took some photos with me to show the roofs covered with some snow.
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fam-united Posted Dec 28, 2011, 9:09 pm |
Petra has time to do some more baking. At first we all sat down at our place, where Petra wanted us to sit.
We took the book and searched for some nice recipes. You can see, which recipes we picked out for baking today. We also baked some other sorts of cookies. |
fam-united Posted Dec 28, 2011, 9:40 pm |
Today is a very special day. We all were allowed to help packing the presents for Christmas.
Later we helped to cook chicken fricassee in the clay pot and some corn salad and of course we helped to eat everything sorry, Petra forgot to take a photo with me Later we ate some of our selfmade cookies. |
fam-united Posted Dec 29, 2011, 8:22 am |
Merry Christmas to you!
In the morning we watched a movie, which Petra got as present yesterday evening: Elvis: That's the way it is. I must say, that he was a really cute guy and I also like some of his songs. Our sheep waited in the stable with the sheep. Then we all went to the crib with the newborn Jesus. |
fam-united Posted Dec 29, 2011, 1:52 pm |
Today we helped to cook again. We had lamb, dumplings, vegetables (carrots, onions, oranges and dates) with red pepper pearls. It tasted very very fine, although it was a diet recipe - without the dumplings.
Then everyone went away and we were alone at home. We prepared everything for dinner: raclette. Look at this amount of black olives. |
fam-united Posted Dec 31, 2011, 3:03 pm |
Today we went to Petra's parents in law to celebrate Christmas with them and her husbands' sisters families. We saw some nice angels and another beautiful Christmas tree.
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fam-united Posted Dec 31, 2011, 4:08 pm |
The weather was a bit better, so we decided to go on a short walk over the graveyard, which is close to where I live right now. There is a beautiful baroque church next to the graveyard. It's called St. Peter.
We also visited to Jewish graveyard. Next to the newapostolic church on the left we had a good view over a part of Bruchsal. The big house on the right is the backside of Sancta Maria. Next to Sancta Maria we had another good view over the city. I hope, that I will come closer to those towers to see exactly, what these buildings look like. Petra told me, that from left to right you can see the tower of the city church Our holy lady, church St. Damian and Hugo, which belongs to the palace and the old tower of the ancient castle. Here is the front of Sancta Maria. It is a school for soon to be kindergardeners and also home for some Franciscan nuns. |
fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2012, 3:19 pm |
It's the last day of 2011 and we start to bake a new year pretzel. At first we had to take flour, some warm milk and fresh barm. We prepared a yeast sponge. Later we added honey and melted butter and salt.
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fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2012, 3:46 pm |
Happy New Year
We celebrated with friends and had a lot of fun. At midnight we watched the fireworks. I'm sorry, it was really difficult to take a nice photo. This one isn't really a nice one. |
fam-united Posted Jan 2, 2012, 8:38 pm |
Mandy Sheep read a lot about Baden-Württemberg, because she joins in the Big German Round Robin. After hours of searching for information about the state we're living with our host right now, she got bored of reading so much, so she decided to listen to a nice song on youtube. Maybe you will watch it to. It is "Crawfish" from Elvis Presley's movie "King Creole".
She called us to join her. |
fam-united Posted Jan 3, 2012, 1:31 pm |
Today we went to Liberty Island. Before that we met at Battery Park in the south of Manhattan. It is a park which is named after dutch artillery which once defended the port of New-Amsterdam. In the park there are many different memorials. One of them is the Salvation Army Memorial which was dedicated in 1952.
There was enough time to walk around. At a barrier I could see the Statue of Liberty. A great first look! Because the Statue of Liberty is one of the most important sights in the USA, there were many safety arrangements. So my friend took the opportunity and took a photo of me in front of a police car. Near the Battery Park or in the Battery Park there is Castle Clinton. It is best remembered as America's first immigration station, where more than 8 million people arrived in the U.S. from 1855 to 1890. Another memorial was the memorial named "The Immigrants". It was dedicated in 1983 to Samuel Rudin, whose parents arrived there in 1883, in place of all immigrants who arrived at the USA. In the next photograph you can see me, a sweet eastern gray squirrel and Castle Clinton in the background. After this short walk we entered the ferry and went to Liberty Island. Arrived at Liberty Island we had to walk a little bit around the Statue. Although it is much smaller than the skyscrapers it was very big. The Statue of Liberty was donated by the french nation and is 93 metres tall. You also had a great look at the skyline of Manhattan. You can see the One World Trade Center which will be the tallest skyscraper in New York. After visiting Liberty Island the ferry went to Ellis Island. The island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and has hosted a museum of immigration since 1990. Now we wanted to visit this museum. First we entered the entrance hall. Upstairs we visited the great hall. There you can see 48-star US flags. Alaska and Hawaii were no US states when the flags were hoisted up. After a long time in the museum we took the ferry back to Manhattan. In the evening two of my human friends went with me to some important places in New York. First destination was the Flatiron Building. It was completed in 1902 and the first skyscraper in Manhattan with 87 metres. From there you could see the Empire State Building. New York at night was very fantastic! You could see the Metropolitan Life Tower, too. It was built along the lines of St Mark's Campanile in Venice, Italy. Next destination was the Chrysler Building. Near the Chrysler Building there is the Grand Central Terminal. It is the world largest station with 67 tracks. Here you see Grand Central Terminal and Chrysler Building together. Then we went to the New York Public Library. It is one of the biggest libraries in the USA. After a last look at the Chrysler Building and a visit at McDonald's we went back to our hostel and collapsed into bed. It was a very nice and long day! |
fam-united Posted Jan 27, 2012, 7:03 pm |
The weather isn't the best one, but today we've seen some blue sky
I decided to join my host and her daughter, when her daughter delivered a journal of the catholic church to some people. On our way we saw some nice old houses. |
fam-united Posted Jan 27, 2012, 9:37 pm |
In the evening we went to take the stars from a storeroom of the church, where our hosts belong to. Petra takes care for the stars, which will be carried around by the starsingers on 6th January. Some of the stars are old, some don't look nice anymore, so Petra creates new covers and we decided to help her today.
Here you see a star, that still looks nice. Nevertheless it isn't, if you take a closer look. Last year it rained a lot and the star got wet. Now you can see white glue running down, where it should be only clear yellow. Some said, that it doesn't matter, but our host didn't like it and she asked us to cut out new yellow transparent paper and a new black star silhouette. We didn't like the yellow side of this star, so we decided to spray it bronze and cut out a new yellow transparent paper and black star silhouette too. We had to work really hard. We also didn't like these two stars and we had to throw one into the bin, because it was broken on the back totally. Then we had to outline the first star on the transparent paper. I helped to cut it out. But it was rather difficult for me, so Lintilla offered to help me. While we worked, we found some marzipan potatoes. We tried to speak really low, because Mi-Go had been fallen asleep in our back and you know, that he always runs to get it, if he sees something to eat. But we should have knows it better. Of course he also feels, if something to eat is around. He jumped up and caught the marzipan potatoes in the same second. Only Lintilla seemed to take no notice of it. Proud Mi-Go! We tried to keep calm and go on with our work. We had to outline the black star now. Mi-Go was anything else, but no help for us. But to our surprise, he was the one, who asked us, if he could be the one, who was allowed to cut out the black star silhouette. That looks really difficult, but it seems, that he's the one, who knows, how to do it. And yeah, it just looks great. Now you can be really proud, Mi-Go. But, oh dear, we had done a mistake, when we outlined the yellow star. It was the wrong side of the paper and so the star didn't fit perfectly to the wooden star. We were very disappointed. We had to cut out another yellow star and black star silhouette, which fit perfectly then. Then we had a break and read the newspapers. We read, that Wulff is the Federal President and that there are some problems, but they aren't really interesting for toyvoyagers. But it was really interesting for us, that they wrote about a storm, which should hit Germany soon - no toyvoyager weather For me it was interesting to see a photo of the wife of Baden-Württembergs Minister-President Kretschmann. I read, that she doesn't want to be called a First Lady. I did want to read this whole news article, but the others didn't and so we went on to the next page. We saw a photo with a little bit of snow. Wow, there's snow somewhere in Germany. But then we turned to read the Bruchsal news and the first thing we saw, what a nice bird singing and a pussy willow blooming. It seems like springtime here. Did you know, that petrol in Germany is that expensive? I'm not sure, because we didn't know about this. Diesel costs between 1,37 Euro and 1,48 Euro, which means between 1,8092 US-Dollar and 1,9544 US-Dollar. It would be interesting to know, how expensive it is in other countries. On Karlsruhe page on the right we read about a big construction area, where they build a new way for the city tram. Here is an interesting page. It shows items, which you can buy in the newspaper shop. They sell items of Baden. Maybe we should go there and take a look, but surely they will cost some money. And of course it was interesting to read about the weather in our region. Although we took a closer view we only could read, that we will have storm during the night and rain and a temperature of 8°C - rather warm for winter weather. We asked Petra to zoom it, so maybe - if you can read German - you will be able to read about the weather too. |
fam-united Posted Jan 28, 2012, 10:21 am |
I like this Christmas decoration on the window. It's on the same place each year. If you like it too and want the originals to cut them out for yourself, please send a note to Petra.
It's a nice place for us toyvoyagers, too. It is warm and you can see everything that's going on on the street The first photo is without flash, just to show you, how dark it is outside although it is early midday. If Petra hasn't done a mistake, then there are 26 toyvoyagers sitting together. Some are her toyvoyagers, some her daughters and some are rescued toyvoyagers, which still are at her place and of course some are guests, who will move on again. |
fam-united Posted Jan 28, 2012, 10:54 am |
After the big group photo session we finished the stars.
The other toyvoyagers were really curious and came to take a look at the beautiful stars. Later a group of starsingers visited our house, but we just had been too slow, so we aren't on this photo. Nevertheless we thougth, that it is a good idea to show you, how starsingers can look like. They don't carry one of our stars, though. They belong to the church region, were our hosts live, but our hosts go to another church, where they lived before. It's a bit complicated In the afternoon we all helped our Petra to bake two cakes. She told us, that tomorrow isn't only Epiphany, but also her husbands 50th birthday and that we will go to the parish hall and carry cakes with us. At first we baked a Hermann cake. It is a cake like a round robin, that's how it seems for me. Petra told us, that she received a part of the cake a few days ago and that she had to stir it and to feed it and that now it is ready to get baken. Of course we added some more stuff like flour, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, chocolate pieces. We read the recipe. Then we had to get some more dishes for the "kids" of this cake. We had been really busy. We also added some apple pieces. We wondered, if this dish would be big enough and decided, that it wasn't. So we took a star for the dough of Hermann. |
fam-united Posted Jan 28, 2012, 4:13 pm |
Today I went to school to help Petra, when she fixed new papers to the wall. At first we had to remove the flower paintings.
Then we fixed the selfcreated posters of the book presentations. |
fam-united Posted Feb 6, 2012, 2:35 pm |
Today we drove to the Michaelsberg in Untergrombach. Untergrombach is one of Bruchsal's suburbs with about 6000 inhabitants.
3500 to 2600 BC there were frist human signs on the Michaelsberg, which gave this culture the name "Michaelsberger Kulturkreis" 1502 AD Joss Fritz from Untergrombach planned the "Bundschuhaufstand" during the time of Peasant's Wars. In the far (right side) you see some houses, which belong to Bruchsal. Bruchsal and also Untergrombach are located at the edge to the Kraichgau. Here you see the Rhine Valley. If the weather is sunny, you can see the Palatinate Forest in the far. The chapel is on top of the Michaelsberg. |
fam-united Posted Feb 19, 2012, 11:13 am |
Karlsruhe is the third largest city of Baden-Württemberg. It is the main city of the Baden part. It is located close to the German - French border, only about 25 km from Bruchsal. We arrived at Karlsruhe after a drive of about 25 minutes.
We first tried to find a parking place and then crawled out of the car. Wow, was it cold outside. We all didn't have the right clothes for a walk, so we had to hurry. Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states. The town surrounding the Palace became the seat of two of the highest courts in Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (Bundesverfassungsgericht) whose decisions have the force of a law in many cases, and the Federal Court of Justice of Germany (Bundesgerichtshof), the highest court of appeals in matters of civil law and criminal law. It therefore considers itself the home of justice in Germany, a role taken over from Leipzig after 1945. Due to similarities to the United States capital city, it has been speculated that Karlsruhe was a model city for the cityscape of Washington, D.C.[4] Both cities have a center — in Karlsruhe the palace and in D.C. the Capitol Building — from which the streets radiate outward. L'Enfant, Washington's city planner, had been given the plans of Karlsruhe (among numerous other European cities) as an inspiration. (you can read this and more on wikipedia) In 1715, Charles III William, Margrave of Baden-Durlach established Karlsruhe (Charles' repose), where he built his residence. The city was planned with the palace tower (Schloss) at the center and 32 streets radiating out from it like the spokes of a wheel, or the ribs of a folding fan, so that one nickname for Karlsruhe in German is the "fan city" (Fächerstadt). Here's a photo of the palace. We really wanted to see more, but it was so cold, that we hurried back to our car. When we looked out of the car window, we could see the State Art Gallery. |
fam-united Posted Feb 21, 2012, 8:45 pm |
Durlach is a borough of the German city of Karlsruhe with a population of roughly 30,000.
It was chosen by the margrave Charles II in 1565 as residence of the rulers of Baden-Durlach, and retained this distinction though it was almost totally destroyed by the French in 1689. Margrave Charles III William decided that he needed more space which led to the foundation of Karlsruhe, which in 1715 became the new capital until the state was merged into the grand-duchy of Baden. We only drove through some narrow streets, because it wasn't far from sunset. |
fam-united Posted Feb 21, 2012, 9:27 pm |
The Turmberg ('tower hill') is a vineyard-covered hill of the northern most part of the Black Forest. A castle ruin with watch-tower are located on top of the Turmberg. The watch-tower in particular offers fine views of Karlsruhe towards the west and the Rhine River valley. On very clear days even farther west the Vosges in France can be seen. The Rhine River is the border between Germany and Alsace area of France. The South and East offer nice views of the Black Forest, and since the Turmberg is the northern most tip of the Black Forest you have hills more than actual mountains.
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fam-united Posted Mar 18, 2012, 2:34 pm |
Today we drove to Cologne. Petra's husband had to be there for a Trade Fair and Petra met olgamaus.
Here is some information about Cologne (wikipedia): "Cologne (English pronunciation: /kəˈloʊn/, German: Köln [kœln], Kölsch: Kölle [ˈkœɫə]) is Germany's fourth-largest city (after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich), and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants. Cologne is located on both sides of the Rhine River. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. The University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln) is one of Europe's oldest and largest universities. Cologne is a major cultural centre of the Rhineland and has a vibrant arts scene. Cologne is home to more than 30 museums and hundreds of galleries. Exhibitions range from local ancient Roman archeological sites to contemporary graphics and sculpture. The Cologne Trade Fair hosts a number of trade shows such as Art Cologne, imm Cologne, Gamescom and the Photokina." Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom) is the city's most famous monument and the Cologne residents' most respected landmark. It is a Gothic church, started in 1248, and completed in 1880. In 1996, it was designated a World Heritage site; it houses the Shrine of the Three Kings that supposedly contains the relics of the Three Magi. Residents of Cologne sometimes refer to the cathedral as "the eternal construction site" (Dauerbaustelle). Cologne Central Station: On an average day, about 280,000 travellers frequent the station, making it fifth busiest station in Germany. Then we walked down to the Rhine. We turned around and took a look back to the cathedral. Here's the Hohenzollern Bridge. Great St. Martin Churchis a Romanesque Catholic church. Its foundations (circa 960 AD) rest on remnants of a Roman chapel, built on what was then an island in the Rhine. The church was badly damaged in World War II, with restoration work completed in 1985. We then walked around the Imhoff-Chocolate Museum. We took a look back to the Hohenzollern Bridge, cathedral and Great St. Martin. The museum is run by the Schokoladenmuseum Köln GmbH. Since March 2006, the Swiss chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Sprüngli has been its partner in producing exhibits. Prior to that the partner was the Cologne chocolate producer Stollwerck, and the museum was formerly known as the Imhoff-Stollwerck-Museum. On this photo you can see, how high the water was in 1995 and you can see, where we took the photo with the chocolate girl, where we stand for the view back to the churches and bridge. The yellow line shows the way we walked around the museum and the green line the way, where we came from. Inside the museum we saw all the machines which are necessary to make delicious chocolate. There is a real chocolate fountain! We all got wafers dipped into melted chocolate. Yummy! This equestrian statue shows Frederick William III of Prussia. You can see here, who else is on the base of the statue. The Heumarkt is beside the Alter Markt the biggest place in Cologne historic city. There are several small breweries in Cologne. This one is located at the Heumarkt. It started to rain and we walked back to the cathedral. We entered it and it was so so dark inside, that we had problems to take nice photos. So please excuse the quality. So this was the last photo of Cologne and we drove back to Bruchsal again. |
Jillyfish Posted Mar 19, 2012, 6:56 pm |
Hello!
I have arrived safe and sound in Minnesota, USA. It was quite a pleasant surprise for my host because I arrived on St. Patrick's Day! I guess I was her present. I met Alien Princes, and we decided that we needed to get into the St. Patrick's Day spirit. So, we searched for something green. We also went searching for some water! That's very important to me, and we did find this small creek. It's rather bleak outside today...... My new host tells me that Minnesota is known as the "land of 10,000 lakes". That's a lot of lakes! I hope we can visit a few during my stay here. Bye for now! |
fam-united Posted Mar 19, 2012, 8:35 pm |
So this is my last update of Bruchsal. My envelope is already on the table, but Petra said, that she would like to show me the city today. The weather is sunny and the sky is all blue, so what else do we need.
Bruchsal was first named in 976, but it surely is older than that. The baroque palace of Bruchsal is one of the most beautiful baroque palaces of Germany. In the park you can find statues of the four elements fire, water, air and earth and four statues of the four seasons. Here you see summer. It is the only episcopal Baroque residence on the Upper Rhine. The foundation stone was laid in 1722 by Cardinal Damian Hugo von Schönborn, Prince Bishop of Speyer, who made the palace the centre of his absolutist dominion. Read more here. After being almost completely destroyed in the final days of World War II, the main tract was painstakingly reconstructed according to the original design and work was completed in 1975, including the magnificent dome, Marble Hall and Prince's Hall. The staircase designed by Balthasar Neumann is considered to be an architectural tour-de-force and has been described as the "finest staircase in the world". Here you see the church tower and the backside of the church St. Damian and Hugo. From this place you have a good view to many different buildings as named on the photo. This is the front of the palace with the main entrance. On the right is the building with the chamber music hall and on the left is the church. On this photo you can't see them. We just turned around and took a photo of the county court and the fountain called Amalienbrunnen or Schnecklesbrunnen, how they say in Bruchsal, because there sit many snakes on the fountain edge. Then we drove to the Andreasstaffel. You have a perfect view over Bruchsal from this place. Sorry, that this photo is so bad, but the sun was already really low and we had no chance to get a better photo. The Belvedere on the edge of the "Stadtgarten" was built by Leonhard Stahl in 1756 as a hunting lodge for Prince Bishop Franz Christoph von Hutten. Today, the Belvedere is used as a venue for concerts and theatre productions. |
Jillyfish Posted Mar 30, 2012, 7:53 pm |
We visited the Minnesota State Capitol! It was pretty cool. We took the official tour with a class of Fourth Graders.
I read all the signs. The architecture was impressive! The man who built this building, also went on to build our Nation's Capitol in Washington D.C.! This is where they vote on Legislature. I liked the oil portrait of Abraham Lincoln! The walls have flecks of real gold painted into it, too! Whoa! It was a great trip! |
fam-united Posted Apr 4, 2012, 4:56 pm |
Today we visited the United Nations Headquarters. In front of it there are the flags of all member nations.
It is a great area, but the building by itself is very plain and a little bit boring. After passing some security barriers we entered the building. There a leader guided us through the building. We also saw the United Nations General Assembly. It was very interesting to hear some facts about such an important organisation. Outstairs I took a last view at the Secretariat building. We decided to have lunch in Chinatown. So we saw in the near of the Brooklyn Bridge the County Clerk of New York County. It is a neoclassical building. Beside that building there is the US Court of International Trade. It is also a very impressive building. We could also see the Woolworth Building from a distance. It was from 1913 until 1930 the highest skyscraper in the world. At the right side you can see the One World Trade Center. Because the weather was too sunny, the next pictures are not that brilliantly. But there you can see me and 8 Spruce Street, known as New York by Gehry. Gehry is the name of the architect. With 265 meters it is the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere. Afterwards we met my friend's teacher to make a tour to the Wall Street area. Our first station was the Charging Bull. It is a the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge. It is one of the most famous sights in the financial district. At the next picture you can see the Trinity Church. The Trinity Church is part of the film "National Treasure" with Nicolas Cage. Under the church they find the treasure. Next station was the Peking, a steel-hulled four-masted barque. The ship once was German, later British and now it is an US-American museum ship. It was built in 1911. Since 1975 it is in New York. From the pier of the South Street Seaport you could also see the Brooklyn Bridge. In the opposed direction we had a look at the financial district. Now we went to the New York Stock Exchange, one of the most important financial places in the world. It is a classical building, which was opened in 1903. Beside the Stock Exchange there is the Federal Hall National Memorial. The Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States of America under the Constitution, and was the site of George Washington's inauguration as the first President of the United States. It was also where the United States Bill of Rights was introduced in the First Congress. The building was demolished in 1812. Federal Hall National Memorial on Wall Street was built in 1842 as the New York Customs House, on the site of the old Federal Hall. It later served as a sub-Treasury building and is now operated by the National Park Service as a museum commemorating the historic events that happened there. We proceeded to the Trinity Church. The Trinity Church was built in 1846 in neo-Gothic style. Last station was Ground Zero and the new World Trade Center. It was a really sad feeling to see the place, where 15 years ago stood the World Trade Center and where the September 11 attacks took place. First we saw the new Four World Trade Center. It will be the fourth highest building in the WTC area with 297 meters. It has a great glass facade. A little later we had our fist look at the One World Trade Center, which will be the highest skycraper in New York with 541 meters. At that time the building was circa 300 meters tall. Here you can see me in front of the One World Trade Center on the left side and the Four World Trade Center on the right side. Now we entered the memorial area and had a better view of the One World Trade Center. In the background you see the 7 World Trade Center, which was finished in 2006. The memorial consists of two fountains and a museum which is under construction. On the next picture you see the fountain which is on that place where the old Two World Trade Center, the southern tower, stood. We had a really sad feeling there. Here you see the fountain, which is on the place where the northern tower, the old One World Trade Center, stood. After a long and very interesting day we went back to our hotel. It was a nice day which I'll never forget. |
Jillyfish Posted Apr 5, 2012, 4:56 pm |
Hello! What a beautiful day here in Minnesota, USA.
We took a trip to find the Mississippi River. I was so excited to see this great river for myself! We stopped at a small park on the way..... just so I didn't get too dried out. :P Then, we finally got to the great Mississippi! I got to read all about it. This was a nice spot to sit and view the water, but I like being in it much better! The sunset was just lovely! Such a beautiful sight, and a wondrous memory for me. Until next time! |
Jillyfish Posted Apr 16, 2012, 6:02 pm |
HAPPY EASTER!
We spent this holiday weekend over at Grandma's house with the whole family. I made lots of new friends! The kids loved me. We played on the trampoline in the backyard for most of the day. We got a little silly. I got put on her head like a hat! :O Then we decided to take a hike up the nearby hill. The view is beautiful~! Finally, we got to the top! Whew! |
Jillyfish Posted Apr 16, 2012, 6:14 pm |
We had a free Friday afternoon, so we took a little trip back to the Mississippi River. I love this place~! The river is so beautiful.
I read another sign about the Mississippi's history. Fascinating! We also stopped at the park to play for a bit! |
Jillyfish Posted Apr 16, 2012, 6:38 pm |
We took a surprise trip today! Can you guess where we are going?
This is a typical Minnesotan Main Street. Here we are! Daddy-O's Cafe is just the place to be: there's great food, and a wonderful surprise inside. Bullseye and I shared a basket of fries. Yum Yum! This place is a really cool old time diner. They serve ice cream, too! The best part was...... The life-size Elvis! Oh, My Heart~! He's so amazing! I wish I could take him home with me. Hee hee hee! What a nice surprise! |
fam-united Posted May 13, 2012, 6:01 pm |
On our last day we wanted to see the High Line Park. But first we had a look at the famous Chelsea Hotel. Many artists and musicians lived there.
After a short walk we arrived at the High Line. The High Line is a 1.6 km New York City linear park built on a 2.33 km section of the former elevated New York Central Railroad spur called the West Side Line, which runs along the lower west side of Manhattan. It was nice to see that in a big city as New York still is a small piece of nature. In the evening we went to the airport and flew back to Germany. It was a beautiful week in Big Apple. Thanks to my human friend! |
Jillyfish Posted May 17, 2012, 6:15 pm |
Hello!
It has been very rainy lately! However, I like water in any form it comes in. We went into Minneapolis today, to eat some Vietnamese food. It was especially yummy! Then we did a little shopping. We even found this adorable little tea shop! |
Jillyfish Posted May 17, 2012, 6:20 pm |
Hi again!
Happy Mother's Day! Today, we celebrated by taking my host's Mom out to breakfast. We had pancakes and omelettes. Delicious! Then, we took her out to the quilt shop. I loved seeing all the beautiful fabric! We even found some Minnesota fabric. How cool! Look at this big and beautiful quilt that someone is making: |
Jillyfish Posted May 17, 2012, 6:29 pm |
It is very sunny outside today: That means a long walk!
Can you guess where we are going yet? Check out this cool license plate we found: So true! We even found a small pond with a fountain! I enjoyed that a lot. Then, we crossed the bridge over the highway. We're way up high! Finally, we have arrived! This is the Rum River Dam. This is right before it merges with the Mississippi River. I loved the sounds of the rushing water! This place is truly spectacular. There were quite a few people fishing. Then, it was time for the long walk back home. It's been a great day. |
Jillyfish Posted May 25, 2012, 5:11 am |
Hello!
This morning, we got a package in the mail. It was Shaunee! I gave him a warm welcome to the USA. Today, after work, we got to go outside and play in the rain! It was really pouring buckets out there! I found a really big puddle! Be both played in the puddle. Splish Splash! We walked a little big, because our host had a nice new umbrella for us to walk under, and we found a playground. That's a lot of rules! Look! Even the playground is flooded! We went out for pizza later. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted; everything looked SUPER tasty! My host tells me we're taking a trip this weekend. How exciting~! |
Jillyfish Posted Jun 6, 2012, 5:43 pm |
Hello!
We took a trip up to Duluth, Minnesota this weekend. It was a loooong car ride: about 4 hours! :O I got a window seat! Bye Bye for now, Minneapolis! Shaunee and I liked watching the cars go by. I wonder where they are going. We stopped at a Dairy Queen for lunch. (and icecream!) I got one of these bars. Then it was back on the road again. Finally, we arrived at my host's cousin's house. We stayed there to hang out with friends and visit. Shaunee and I found a piano! There was a HUGE blackboard in the kitchen! We wrote our names on it. After it got dark, we went outside to play a game called "monkey ball". I just watched-- I'm not so good at land sports. :/ It was time for the long trip back much too soon. Ooh, look! A barn! Bye for now! |
Jillyfish Posted Jun 6, 2012, 6:00 pm |
It's a beautiful day outside today~!
Today, we're going to the store to buy food for dinner. Of course, my host takes us to Target-- the home of her TV Bullseye. Shaunee and I get to ride in the cart! I found a giant hotdog! How funny! Now that we have all the ingredients, let's make dinner! Looks good, doesn't it? Dinner's ready! |
Jillyfish Posted Jun 6, 2012, 6:09 pm |
We took a bike ride today in the Elm Creek Park Reserve. It is so sunny outside! Summer is truly here.
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Jillyfish Posted Jun 13, 2012, 1:48 am |
Hello!
We welcomed Okuma and Noodles today into my host's home. We are becoming fast friends! We went to the bookstore today. They should have a lot more marine animal books...... :/ There's a whole travel section for Minnesota books! We did research on where to visit next. hm?...... what's this?...... Could it be...? ..... ...... YES! It's ELVIS!!!!! (Mommy can I buy this book? Hee hee hee!) It's been a good day! |
Jillyfish Posted Jun 13, 2012, 2:07 am |
Good morning! It's a beautiful day today, and we are going on an adventure! YAY!
First we picked up Chloe09! She's another host in the area. We met Danko and Lilla! Hello, new friends! We all piled in the car and zoooooom away we went! Can you guess where we're going? ...... We're going into Downtown Minneapolis! Ooh, look! You can see the Target Field. It's a famous Baseball Park. You can find more info on it here: Target Field. There's a Twins game today, so there are MANY people outside on their way to see it. But that's not where we're going! Here we are! The Como Zoo! We walk all day to see the animals! It looks like there aren't any dolphins or whales here. That's good-- I couldn't have stopped myself from trying to set them free! Wow! Look at these silly creatures! We did find some pretty seahorses though. Aww~! This makes me feel right at home. The whole gang ate lunch at a local diner called "Snuffy's". They are infamous for their malts. So we all split a chocolate one. Yum Yum! We stopped on the way home to get a car wash. We all piled back in the car and rolled the windows up tight! Here it's starting! Whoa~! I liked the spraying water! Hee hee hee! It was a good time with all my new friends. |
Jillyfish Posted Jun 13, 2012, 2:15 am |
Hello! I'm hopping in the mailbox today!
It is time for me to discover a new place. Wish me luck, friends! |
Jillyfish Posted Sep 20, 2012, 7:38 pm |
uhh.....
............ ................. ...................... ................. ............ ........ Hello? Mom? Where am I? Wait! I'm back where I started in Minnesota??? ..... but! It's been about three months since I was sent out! Host Mom! I need water, please! I feel grimy from traveling for so long. |
Jillyfish Posted Oct 30, 2012, 12:19 am |
We visited parts of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota today. It is VERY rainy. Snow won't be far behind!
Since getting sent out to my next host, something went wrong and I got sent all the way back! Bullseye is being such a gracious host for letting me stay. I have a new mailing package ready to go once I hear back from my Mom. We hopped in the car and drove around for awhile. I like the rain! Any water is good water! We even passed by the Walker Arts Center. We saw this building and had to take a picture. Very cool. Bye for now! |
Jillyfish Posted Oct 30, 2012, 12:22 am |
Halloween is coming up!
OoooOOOoooOoohhHhh~! We are helping Host mom create her Halloween costume: She's going as a postcard! Ha! Whew! Done. What do you think? We all helped and had a great time making it! |
Jillyfish Posted Jan 15, 2015, 9:59 pm |
Hello!
My new-found friends and I are checking into the Toy Voyagers website now that it's up and running again. Hooray! My host and I will update again soon. We are happy to be back! Bye for now. ~Priscilla |