Travelog for: Tochi

Hi Mummy,
our things are packed, tomorrow  we will travel to Portugal.



I'll take this skimboard with me.



Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
we were waiting for our flight to Faro.



This is our plane. We'll take off soon!

We landed safe and sound in Faro.



Soon we arrived in Sagres. This is the view from our hotel balcony.



Lovely, isn't it?



Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
this is the view from our balcony, opposite of the pousada and its water treatment plant.

We went to Lagos today. I saw pretty hibiscus here.





This agave is prickly!





Lagos marina ...



This is the lighthouse of Ponta da Piedade.



We walked along the cliff pathway, nearby the lighthouse.











Ponta de Piedade: The stairs leading to the small harbour. From here you can start tours through the grottos. You have to walk 180 stairs down and later upward.





View to the rock formation of Ponta de Piedade - allegedly the most beautiful rock formation of Algarve. The highest rocks are about 20 m high.





Bye for today
Tochi

Hi Mummy,

at Fortaleza de Sagres Henry the Navigator supposedly had his famous school of navigators and map-makers. Henry the Navigator was important figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire, being responsible for the beginning of the worldwide European explorations and maritime trade.



Later I enjoyed delicous cookies called „Bolacha Hungara“. They are filled with strawberry cream with a chocolate topping. I also love chocolate muffins, of course I also had a coke, served in a beer glass.



Bye
Tochi

Hi Mummy,

today I visited the marina of Vilamoura, the largest marina in whole Europe.





A small fountain in Vilamoura ...



This is a Portugese cooking pot - a cataplana. Usually fish dishes and meat dishes are cooked in such pots.



We also visited "Setecafé", the café of Portugals most famous former kicker, Figo,



We took a walk through Vilamoura harbour.





This is Cristiano Ronaldo, also a famous Portugese kicker, with his golden shoe.



I did not meet him personally, but you can buy his designer collection here.

Here are some more photos of my vacation trip  to Algarve.

A sand sculptures festival ...





Enjoying the sun on the beach ...



Visiting a lighthouse ...





Visiting caves at the seaside ...







A dolphin show ...







I even got a souvenir







Good-bye Portugal!



Love
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
we are having lots of snow here.









Bye
Tochi

Hi,
today we visited Duesseldorf, the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia.























Love
Tochi

Hi Mummy,
my current host decided that it would be best for me to go to the FosterCareHome in Finland. She told me that there are already some ToyVoyagers, so I would have lots of fun there. Besides I am not going alone, snakey will accompany me.

So we packed our things and left Germany today.



In Finland it may be colder than here, for that case I'm taking a warm hat with me.



Snakey told me that this was not a hat, but a sock. A sock? It is far too large for me ....

I hope to arrive in Finland soon!
Love
Tochi

Warm greetings from wet & windy but beautifully colorful Finland! I arrived with snakey last Friday and have met the other FosterToys, they said it's going to be really cozy here 


EDIT: the photo was taken in 27th Oct when it snowed the first time 

My mom got back online! She wants me home! Yay! To celebrate my FosterMom took me sightseeing 

I got to walk in the Old Town of Porvoo It's probably the most popular sight in Porvoo, my host says it's full of tourists in the summer.

There are many many small shops that sell all kinds of quality stuff, mostly handmade. My host's favorite shop is a toy shop called Riimikko. It sells good toys made of wood or tin or such - basically anything but plastic. This store has a Moomin house on its window all year round - they just change the decoration by the season.

I did some window shopping and then walked on the other side of River Porvoo to see the famous (all the local brochures have these red houses on the cover) red shorehouses. The brochure tells this about them: The shore houses are now red, but they got their colour only in the late 18th century. Red ochre paint was used to paint the shore houses in honour of King Gustav III's arrival from Sweden. All of the houses along his route were painted, in order to make them more beautiful. The red ochre also helped protect the logs from wind and sun damage. Exotic fruits, wines and spices were brought to Porvoo, and the shore houses also served as intermediate storehouses for coffee an tobacco. Today the shore houses are used as private living quarters and storage space.

We also walked to the cathedral. This poor building (originating in the 13th century) has been burnt several times. It was first built of wood, later of stone but that hasn't stopped the burning - the last incident was in May 2006 when a young man set the roof on fire. The roof burnt down totally and it took them 3 years to build it again. Luckily no-one got hurt and none of the several wooden buildings around the church caught fire. One of the earlier fires, one from 1760, involves fish soup 

I'm on my way back home in wrapped in bubble!