Travelog for: Monster ^_^

Hello I'm Monster ^_^






I'm really happy that I'm allowed to go on a big adventure <3 thanks mom and dad.

Hope someone wants to host me? O.O

My dad wants to bake some christmas cookies today, so we need to mix the dough:







I think I'm not a great help for my dad -.-

Flemmli ^_^, dad and I rolled some cookies:




We did a lot of different variants, this is one of them:




but Flemmli ^_^ wanted to eat all the coconut cookies alone (tzzzz girls...):




and at the end she shared some cookies with me:

Hey mum,

I arrived in Dortmund this eve!! So, my adventure officially starts now, this is my first stop of my travel around the world! I'm so excited and I wonder what I'm going to see and experience.
HolgiHH, a TV from Sülfeld (Germany), already waited for me at my arrival to welcome me in Dortmund.


This is us with a magnet that shows the shaft tower of the "Deutsches Bergbaumuseum Bochum" (german mining museum Bochum). The text means "The Eiffel Tower of the Ruhr Area"


Afterwards I learned something about the Ruhr Area. This area is in western Germany and includes many cities, you can see them on the picture below. The area is popular for its erstwhile mining and industry, besides the Ruhr Area is the biggest conurbation in Germany!!
I will spend most of my time in Bochum and Dortmund, these are the cities where my new host lives (yes, she lives in both cities). Dortmund is the 8th biggest city in Germany and Bochum is the 16th biggest city in Germany.


Well, after learning some basics about the place where I am right now, my new host showed the vicinity of the flat


Then I saw something that made me smile


Well, this was my first evening here in Germany.
I already miss you, mum!!
Monster ^_^

Heyhey mummy,

I spent most of the day at my hosts university and it was kinda boring.. But afterwards, my host showed me a building in the city, it's called "Dortmunder U". It's a high-rise which belonged to the Union Brauerei (Union brewery) in the past, but now it's a famous center for culture and creativity. The "U" on the top of it reminds of the brewery. The building doesn't look very nice, but it looks great inside! Unfortunately I don't have a picture for you from the inside.

Well, my host told me something about the Dortmunder U and I want to tell you what I learned today. There are many different things in this high-rise, there's a ECCE European Centre for Creative Econonomy, exhibit rooms, a restaurant, a museum, a center for cultural knowledge and some other things. A special thing about this building is the top of it. There are huge LED monitors around the upper floors which show video art of the artist Adolf Winkelmann. Mostly there are animals shown, people, nature, abstract art or other things. Unfortunately the video today was kinda boring.. It looked like the german flag that created a stir, but I'm not sure about it. 



I'm tired now and I'll go to bed early today.

Love you!!!
Monster ^_^

Heyho mum,

my host showed me some nice places in Bochum today. She told me that the weather hasn't been so nice like today for a long time. It was a very sunny day

Well, we started our trip at the stadium of the local football team, the VFL Bochum. Former, the stadium was called Ruhrstadion, now it's called Rewirpowerstadion. But every fan still calls it Ruhrstadion



Afterwards we walked to a huge center for events and it's near the stadium. It's called RuhrCongress Bochum. Many different shows and concerts are shown here.. Rock, Pop, Musical, Comedy, theatre and much more. Besides it's for congresses, trade fairs and exhibitions.



Well, right beside the RuhrCongress is the theatre of the Musical "Starlight Express" by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The musical is about the world championship of the trains, where many different engines want to win the races. Besides it's about finding self-confidence and true love.
My host told me that the theatre was built from 1986 til 1988 especially for this show, with skating rinks which show rails through the audium, different levels and a great technology. The show opened in 1988 and is still shown today without any interruptions. A special thing about this show is, that every actor wears roller skates because they play trains.
There's a world record for the most visitors to a musical in a single theatre. I think this is very impressive.


This is a train on the forecourt of the theatre:



After visiting the theatre we went to a brewery, called "Moritz Fiege Brauerei". It produces the local beer, "Fiege Bier"



A little later, we went to the Schauspielhaus Bochum. It's one of the largest and most notable theatres in Germany. Many famous german actors worked there in the past. I don't know if you know any of them, but maybe you could know Peter Lohmeyer, Helge Schneider, Harald Schmidt (a talkshow host) and Herbert Grönemeyer.



Well, our last stop was the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum (german mining museum). It's one of the most important museums about mining worldwide. Aside from the normal museum you can go on the shaft tower and there's a recreated adit in in a depth of 20 meters which you can explore. The length of the tunnel is about 2,5km.



HolgiHH and me



When we arrived at home, my host showed me a catholic church which is cattycorner our home here in Bochum and a restaurant which is right beside the house. It looks so nice and Kate told me that the food is delicious!!



Well, lots of new impressions as you can see!!!
I'm tired now after such a long day and I think I'll go to bed early today.

Love and miss you!!
Monster ^_^

Heeey mum!

First of all: Happy Birthday!!! I'm sending you many hugs and kisses and I hope you had a fabulous day!!

Today we went to Oberhausen, to be exact we visited the CentrO Oberhausen, a big shopping mall with many shops, distributed over 2 levels. The setting around the mall is quite nice. There's a theatre, a small amusement park for children and a canal with a boardwalk.

This is the Metronom Theater, the musical "Dirty Dancing" is currently performed there. In the past, there were many great musicals like Wicked, Tanz der Vampire (Dance of the Vampires) and Die Schöne und das Biest (Beauty and the Beast).


Canals with the Boardwalk. On the one side of the canal there are maaaany restaurants and bars, it's cool!!



This is the Gasometer. Former it was used to store gas until 1988. Since 1993 it's a place for exhibitions on many levels.



This is a house that I like very much, it's an Irish Pub. The appearance is so different to the other buildings, it's very special




This is a chinese restaurant. Great architecture!!



And this is the entrance of the mall itself:


It's late and I'm kinda tired.. So, once again: Happy birthday!!
Love you!!
Monster ^_^

Hey mum,

It's friday and we didn't go out this eve... My host Kate has so much to do for university because of some exams.
We went to Bochum this morning to spend the weekend there. It's very cold here and I hope for you that it's warmer in Austria than here!!


Anyways, HolgiHH and me decided to help Kate a little bit with the stuff for university. We were very hardworking




In between we had a little nap whilst Kate learned..


I got to know Kates dog today, it's a Jack Russell Terrier called "Lady"


Well.. nothing more to talk about. I spent most of the week at home because of Kates exams, I'm sorry for that

Love you!!!
Monster ^_^

Hey mummy,

my host told me today, that this will be my last evening here in Germany. I just spent 14 days here, but I had a good time and I think I'll miss Bochum and Dortmund, my host and of course HolgiHH.

Anyways, Kate needed a little time-out from learning, so we took a walk through the park behind her house in Bochum. It was really cold, brrr!!




We slid on the ice but then we fell down because it was too slippy!! 


Then, we crossed a bridge and we saw some ducks



Later this eve it was time to say goodbye.. 
Kate showed me my next destination. I'll go to Texas, USA!! I'm so excited, I can't wait 



I kissed a stone for getting luck and eloquence for my next trips. It's a stone from Blarney Castle in Ireland which Kate brought along last year from Ireland. If you're interested in the story of the stone you can read it here.



While I kissed the stone, HolgiHH surprised me with a little sign. It was a very touching moment!!


After saying goodbye, it was time to leave..
Goodbye Germany, hello Texas!!


I will mail you, when I arrive at my new host.
Love you!!

We've been sooo busy! Sorry I haven't written! We've had girl's night out, oral surgery, McDonald's shamrock shakes, Denny's everything (we go there ALOT!), Bar B Qs, and celebrated St. Patty's day!

Monster ^_^ leaves us soon! Look for his going away party!