Travelog for: Cpl.Flapjack Jr

Today we hung out with my host's sister's toys. We told them about Toyvoyagers and talked about traveling in general. One of them, (I think his name was Vines), expressed interest in becoming one. He said he will talk with his Mom and see if he will allow him to.

Today is mine and Munchy Moose's last day here so we all decided to go to the movies downtown.


We decided to go see Alice in Wonderland in IMAX 3D. It was a really good movie.


After the movie we went to a Mexican restaurant called Carlos and Pepes for the "Bon Voyage" party.


We had "super" cheese nachos with guacamole and a Banana Daiquiri.


Later we hung out at Starbucks and had a Vanilla Latte. We just relaxed and talked about tomorrow and about traveling.


When we got back we continued the party with some Sangria. Don't worry, I didn't drink to much.

Today is the day, I'm so excited! I get to start my journey after waiting so long. Munchy Moose is also leaving today but he's going to Australia.


So now it's time to say our goodbyes and got into a group hug.


Me and Munchy Moose climbed into our envelopes while Marty the Moose and PollyWally waved goodbye


Well, this is it. Next time you'll see me I'll be in Austria.

Hi Mom!

I'm here! I arrived at my destination today- and I was so happy to get out of my parcel...

There were already some toyvoyagers waiting for me: Fiorillo, HappyLeopard and SandiRose.

We introduced ourselves and talked about our adventures! But I was so tired after the long journey that I retired early for the night!

Enough for today!

HAPPY EASTER, mom!

We are celebrating easter here with our host mom! First we decorated the house with bunnies and eggs!
Then we had a Osterjause, which is kind of an easter lunch, but you just eat cold meat and sausages and of course eggs. Yummi!

We will visit all of my host mom's family, so more eating comes our way  And my host mom told me that we might also be visited by the Easter Bunny if we are lucky! That would be sooo great!

Hi Mom!

Our host mom told us that the Easter Bunny has visited and that he left some surprises for us. So we went on the easter egg hunt. We searched everywhere. Behind the sofa, under it, in the flowers...and I found an egg behind the pillows- it had two bunnies inside! Mhh...chocolate 

Today we were invited to another Easter meal with my host mom's family! As we didn't want to visit without any presents, we helped make some cute Easter Bunnies! They are made from bee's wax. We cut them with a cookie cutter and then decorated them with colorful wax. What do you think? Aren't they cute?

That was a nice Easter! But now I have to relax after all that eating 

Hi Mom!

Today is our host dad's birthday! So we got up early to wrap his presents! We helped cutting the paper, wrapping, using sticky tape... We also wrote a card for him!

When he woke up, we surprised him with a cake and happy birthday candles!

And then we all sang: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Now we are off to a family gathering! More pics to follow!

Hi Mom!

I promised you more pictures of my host dad's birthday! And here they come:

After he had opened his presents, we went to a cozy restaurant! They also sell pickled vegetables there and home-made jams and chutneys. There were their significant glass jars everywhere in the restaurant and in the shop! We really enjoyed our three courses. We also had a look at the shop and brought some specialities home with us!

In the afternoon, the rest of the family arrived for the birthday cake!
What a great day!

Hi Mom!

There were presidential elections yesterday! We went with Mom when she went to the polling place! But we weren't allowed to take photos inside - because of the election secrecy!

So we took one with the old and again new president.
Today we looked at the results in the newspaper!

Hi Mom!

A new toyvoyager arrived today: It's Dottie the mouse 
She told us about her adventures and we talked about our itineries.

Then Mom said we had to prepare for the Football World Championship (as in soccer  ) because it's just about 40 days until the Championship will start in South Africa. And there are special stickers that you can collect and put in an album. Our host-mom had bought such an album and some stickers and so we helped to put them in!

It was fun learning about the teams and the players!

Bye!

Hi Mom!

Here are the pictures from my short Vienna holiday!

We walked through Vienna's city center and visited the Stephansdom, the big cathedral! Mom told us that it is forever being renovated - when the first part is ready, they start the next, and so on...and when they are ready with the last part, they can re-start with the first! 

Next to the chirch we saw the famous Fiaker, the horse coaches! You can rent a coach and take a tour through the city with it!

Near the Cathedral is a very modern building, the Haas-Haus. We walked on through the small streets of the Inner City, which is a UNESO WHS by the way.
Vienna is very famous for its coffee-culture and the many traditional Kaffeehäuser (=coffee shops). We walked by the Café Hawelka, which is a very old and traditional café with many famous guests (actors, artists, authors...).

Then we walked through the Kärntnerstraße and stopped in front of the Hotel Sacher - that's where the original Sacher cake comes from!

We then had of course a coffee and relaxed a bit in a café!

Hi Mom!

We did some more sightseeing and started with the MQ today. That's short for MuseumsQuartier (museums quarter). That's a complex of museums, for example the Leopold Museum and the MUMOK. During the summer months you can sit on design couches in the MQ courtyard and relax, there are also concerts! We then left the MQ and went on to some older museums, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Naturhistorisches Museum. The Kunsthistorisches is home of artistic treasures collected by the Habsburgs, whereas the Naturhistorisches collects for example stones, minerals, dinosaurs, fossils... Both museums are opposite of each other in a park.

From there it's just a short walk to the Hofburg, where the former Emperors had their quarters. You can take a tour through the bedrooms of Sissi and Emperor Franz if you like and the Vienna Spanish Riding School is also in the Hofburg. Today, the President of Austria has his office here.

Wow, what a walk! Our feet are hurting now, so we decide to go to a café and relax!

Hi Mom!

Today we went to Schönbrunn. That's not just the name of the famous castle where the Habsburgs have lived, but also the name of this huge park. It is the park where Sisi used to ride and today it is a real treat for Vienna's inhabitants to go there and relax, other like to take a run. You have alleys with huge old trees and rows of boxtrees and other hedges, in the spring you see flower beds with tulips and now you have many blooming lilac trees there in many different colors! You can see a plan of the park here.

In the park you can also find the Palm House. And that was our first destination! The Palm House was built around 1880 and in those days it was a great experience to see tropic blooms or palm trees! The House has three different climatic zones: a cold one, a temperate zone and a tropic one! You can walk between them and in some parts it's like being in the jungle.

That was great! Some of the blooms were really fragrant!

Hi Mom!

So here I am with my report of my day in Schönbrunn. After visiting the Palm House, we went on to the Vienna Zoo. It is the world's oldest zoo, founded in 1752.
Some of the old houses and parts of the old walls have been conservated, but today the shelters and areas for the animals are modernized. There are always some animal babies here, at the moment they have very small penguins, freshly hatched. The giant pandas have mated again, too, but we still don't know if there will be another baby panda! The Vienna zoo was in the news with the birth of the baby panda Fu Long, who returned to China at the age of three.

We saw Koala, Giant pandas, hippos, elephants, penguins, bears, zebras...it's a beautiful zoo!

Later we went through the park and to it's other end, where the beautiful castle and the Gloriette are located! What a walk!

So Mom, here's the last Vienna entry!

Of course we could not leave without having seen the Vienna Riesenrad, the Giant Wheel! Because the weather was not really great, as you can see on the picture, we did not drive with the wheel!

Then we left Austria for UNO-territory - yes you did read it right! We went to the UN city in Vienna and when you are inside of this city, you have left Austria and are on United Nations soil! We had to pass several security checks, have been x-rayed and were finally allowed to enter the Memorial Plaza, that's where all the flagposts are! Unfortunately we did not have much time to take pictures, so I just put the picture of the flags online! We were guided through the different building there: huge auditoriums, the IAEA and in the buildings you could also find lots of art and artifacts that were given to the UN from either the artists themselves or from the UN member countries. I'm so srry that we could not make any more pictures, but you can tale a virtual tour here.

After re-entering Austrian soil, we went back to the city center of Vienna and took a tram to the Vienna Central Cemetary. This is where you can visit the graves of famous Austrian musicians, artists, actors but also politicians. You can see us in front of the "Präsidentengruft" (the Presidential Vault), that's where all the former Austrian Presidents are buried.
That was an interesting tour as our host mom told us stories about the people lying there. So it was a history lesson, too!

We then went to meet our host dad and drove back home to Graz! We had a fantastic trip to Vienna!