Travelog for: Bart

Hello Mum

It is Sunday and we made a nice trip to Bad Segeberg, a nice small town.

On the way we stopped next to this field of rape.



The yellow is beautiful.



We went to the Lake – can you see the Monument? It is an Apache.



Here is the Lake – and we have sunshine today!





Because I will leave tomorrow, we went to eat some icecream – it was delicious.



At home I had to say Good-Bye to Dicker Kumpel. I had such a great time here and felt safe and sound. I was worried about my next host, but Dicker Kumpel told me that I will move to a really great host!



The others gave me a big hug.



Now I am on my way to olgamaus. The trip should be a short one, because she lives in Germany, too.

Love
Bart

Hi Mummy,
I arrived in Remscheid today. I came here with Squirt so I did not have to travel all the way alone.

We were welcomed by our new host Katja and the ToyVoyagers Snuttig, Paddington Bear, Bernd the Bread, Ceryni and Roderich.



Bernd is looking sort of grimly, maybe because he will leave later.

There was another large envelope from Squirt's mentor. Squirt was happy to pull Japanese sweets out of the envelope. Katja told us that she adopted two panda bears from Squirt's mentor, they also brought a surprise with them. I don't know what this is, maye toys to use in a sandbox?





No! Squirt knew that these are egg shaper! We'll try them tomorrow.

Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
we met Katja's ferrets in the evening.

This is Shiva, she is very curious.





Help! She is bashing me down the sofa!



The other ferret, Brighty, was more interested in Squirt. Both are very playful and they seem to like rough games.

Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
we took a walk today to Muengsten Bridge, Germany's highest railway bridge. A feast is taking place there this weekend.

Muengsten Bridge is connecting the cities of Remscheid and Solingen. It overspans the valley of the river Wupper. To walk to the valley took us about an hour. We walked along some pretty rural areas.





In the forest we found this lookout point.



From here you can see part of the large bridge looking through the trees.



We reached the river Wupper than.



Muengsten Bridge is made of steel. It is 107 m high and  spans the valley of river Wupper, which is marking the border between Remscheid and the neighbour town Solingen.

The bridge is 465 m long and was completed in 1897 A.D.







Lots of people are enjoying the sun here, kids are playing in the shallow water and some dogs also.



I heard a train crossing the bridge, but I could not see it.





We took the bus home.

Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
we made a really long  hiking tour today. We followed the so-called "Roentgenweg", a circular route following the limits of the municipal area, 65 km long. It is running along the borders of the neighbour cities Hueckeswagen, Radevormwald, Wermelskirchen, Solingen and Wuppertal.

This circular route is named after Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, the founder of the x-rays. He was born in Remscheid-Lennep in 1845.

We started our tour at Roentgen-Museum.



Here is a map showing the hiking trail.



Soon we left the housing areas of the district Lennep.



We walked along Wupper dam for a while.



Rural areas followed, we saw some farms.







You can find wind turbines here as energy generators.











We had to follow the sign with an encircled "R". We were on the right path - even after hours



We walked along a commercial area.



This was a regular road once, the tunnel is only broad enough for one car.



We had to cross a state road here.



We were opposite the city centre on its hill than. In the distance you can see the city with the city hall tower.



Here is also a zoomed photo.



We reached "Eschbachtalsperre" than, the first drinking water dam which was ever built in Germany.





We crossed the retaining wall and walked down our to the valley. Here is the rear side of the retaining wall.



Here is the water works, the drinking water is pumped from here in the valley to the water tower on top of the hill where the city centre is situated.



We also walked along the open air bath which was re-opened after the winter break this weekend.



From here we walked for another few kilometres through the forest and left the circular route to take a bus home.



Here you can see that Remscheid is an industrial town, despite of the beautiful surroundings. They have a lot of metalworking industry here, tools are produced and all sorts of machines.



We did not make the whole tour today, but about one third. Katja showed it to us on the slate map.



We walked 25 km today!

Now my feet are aching, I need a rest on the sofa

Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
we took a  walk to the municipal park today. It is not far from here, only a few minutes to walk.

First I'll show you where I am living at the moment.



We had a look at  a small park in front of the police headquarter.







Soon we reached the municipal park. You can find a pond here with ducks and turtles living here.



This is blooming hawthorn.



We walked through the park and had a look everywhere.









Here you can see the pond once more.



We went home than.

Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
we said goodbye to Roderich today. He is traveling to Canada now. We accompanied him to the post office in the district Hasten. Hasten is one of the oldest districts of Remscheid. You can find a lot of those houses here, which are typical for this region. They are often covered with slate, you can also find many half-timbered houses here. They usually have green shutters.





Katja showed us this Patrician villa. A museum is situated here, the so-called "historical centre". This building was built in 1778,







In Hasten you can also find old industrial buildings close to dwellings.



We walked through this very narrow lane.





Of course there is a small centre point with shops, the post office and so on.



Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
Katja took a walk with Belka, Tochi, who arrived yesterday, Bilica and Rafael to the municipal park. Outside it was so hot that Squirt and I decided to stay at home and help to prepare dinner. We made a potatoe salad.

We started with cooking the potatoes and preparing the mayonnaise. To make mayonnaise you need one egg yolk, 100 ml vegetable oil, a little bit mustard, (red) wine vinegar, salt and pepper. The potatoes were cooked in their skin.





First we had to beat the egg yolk, than oil had to be added very carefully while we kept on beating, first nearly dropwise, later in a thin flow.



We had to peel the potatoes and to them into pieces...



... as well as a piece of cucumber, two gherkins and some hard boiled eggs.



We mixed all the ingredients in a large bowl.



In the evening everyone was happy that dinner was ready.

Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
did I tell you that Katja is working as a secretary in a law firm? She had to pick up a Preliminary injunction from the district court in Wuppertal today. Wuppertal is a neighbour city of Remscheid with about 420.000 inhabitants, situated on the river Wupper. Of course we went with her

This is the district court, in this building they are working on private law matters. There is also a new building for criminal procedure.



Here you can see the "Schwebebahn", a suspended monorail. The suspension railway travels along a route about 13 kilometres long, about 12 metres above the surface of the river Wupper and approximately 8 m above the city streets. At one point the railway even crosses the A46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes. The Schwebabahn was completed in 1901.  Here you can see the station "Landgericht" (district court). We came here by Schwebebahn



When we finished our buisiness here at the court we walked back to the city centre. A train was coming by that moment.



Here you can see the skywalk of one of the shopping malls, a church tower is reflected in the windows.



In front of the city hall a farmer's market is taking place every day.



Behind the city hall you can find another mall, the "Rathaus-Galerie". This lion statue is situated in front of it, the lion is the heraldic animal in this region, "Bergisches Land". You can also find a lion in the coat of arms in most of the cities in this region, also Wuppertal.





Here you can see the city hall.



We wanted to take another ride with the Schwebebahn, so we walked to a nearby station.







Here you can see the station, a modern one this time.



Here you can see me inside the station. Our train was coming in right than.





Close to the central station houses are built close to the riverbanks.



That's all for today
Bart

Hi Mummy,
the weather was much better today, so we decided to take a walk with Katja's friend Kerstin who is living in Luettringhausen, a district of Remscheid close to the city border of Wuppertal-Ronsdorf. The two ladies wanted to walk to a nice restaurant with a beer garden and than back home.

We walked through a forest ...









Soon we reached the outskirts of Wuppertal-Ronsdorf. First we walked through a housing area.





Than we reached a rural area again.



From here it was not far to the restaurant. It is called "Sunshine Ranch"



We had "Nachos con chesa" and a salad - and a large beer.



We walked back the same way.





In the background you can see Luettringhausen.



Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
today we walked another section of the "Roentgenweg", we started exactly where we left the path some weeks ago.





We walked along a creek for some time. Can you see those mill stones which were worked into the bank reinforcement?







This wall is centuries-old, it once belonged to early industrial sites, probably built in 16th or 17th century.



Here you can see Schloss Burg in the background, a medieval castle, situated in Solingen-Burg. This castle was built by early reigns of this region. It was built over centuries, start of work was in 13th century.



Here you can also see a zoomed photo.

When we crossed a street we left the municipal area of Remscheid. We reached Solingen-Unterburg than, which is a very old district, situated at the river Wupper and Eschbach, a creek which is running into river Wupper here.

You can find nice old houses here.











We completed our map which we marked last month. Today we used lilac arrows to mark today's trip.



Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
Katja decided to try a wine-cooler with elderberry. Tomorrow she will meet a friend and than they want to enjoy it. It has to be prepared one day earlier.

First Katja went to the municipal park and plucked five elderberry umbels. The flowers will have to be put into water with sugar,  fresh mint, lemon juice and sliced lemon for about 24 hours.







Everything was prepared than ...



The bowl was closed than with a plate. The mixture has to rest at room temperature for 24 hours now.



Tomorrow the liquid will have to be filtered and cooled for a while. Than white wine and sparkling wine will be added.

I'm curious how it will taste

Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
today Katja visited her friend Karin. They often meet in the evening, than they are knitting socks. Katja filtered the elderberry base and filled it into an empty bottle. We took it with us to Karin, who already had cooled sparkling wine and white wine.



Elderberry base, wine and sparkling wine were fillled into the punch bowl.



Ready!



Cheers! Our elderberry drink is really delicious!

Bye
Bart

Hi Mummy,
when Katja finished work we took a walk in the city centre. At the entrance of the shopping street you can find those giant forceps as a symbol for the local tool producing industry.



We walked along the shopping street.



This is the entrance of the shopping mall.









When we walked home we went through a street with nice old houses.



This is the local court, the annex which was built a few years ago.



Here you can see the original building.



Bye
Bart