Travelog for: Emma Squirrel

Hello, mum!
Today I had an amazing time in Klaipėda, Lithuania. This city was celebrating SEA FESTIVAL 2012! We woke up very early and spent 3 hours in the car. Firstly, we went to the beach in the morning:



The Baltic Sea looks great!!



Can you see a big ship behind me? It's huge!



After realxing in Melnragė's beach, we went to the city centre where we saw really old cars driving - it was an Old Cars exposition! I got a chance to take a picture with some of them:





Here is a beautiful ship made of flowers:



I saw a lot of wonderful decorations and fountains:





There also was a big fair, where people were selling fish, kvass, wooden things, handmade jewelry and so on:



Here I am with the ferry:



What a spooky decoration! Brr... It's like a ghost from the water!



In Germany, there are also some houses like this, which I've found in Klaipėda:



Street artist gave us a nice performance:



Wow, what a day! I had so much fun near the sea! I got really tired when we came back to Vilnius, so I guess I'll take a nap now.

Love,
Emma Squirrel

Hi, mum!
This morning I ate big blueberries that Karolina gave me - in Lithuania it's šilauogės. They are so delicious!



After that, I tried to read the book that my host mum is reading right now - it's "Altorių šešėly" by Vincas Mykolaitis Putinas. It was hard to understand Lithuanian, but Karolina helped me and we read one chapter together!



Today Lithuania's basketball team is playing against Russia. We are going to watch it on a bigger screen in the city restaurant, but first - something for Lithuania! This bracelet will be my little support for the basketball players!



Have to go, don't want to be late! Wait for other updates
Love,
Emma Squirrel

Heyy!
Here is a part 2 updates for this day - we arrived safely to the city centre and we waited for some Karolina's friends at Vincas Kudirka square. Vincas Kudirka was a Lithuanian poet and physician, and the author of both the music and lyrics of the Lithuanian National Anthem, Tautiška giesmė. Here I am near his statue:



And this is a very interesting knitted tree! It's a one project of an idea, called "urban knitting":



We went to the restaurant, but it was so crowded, that we hardly found a place where to sit! We ordered some light snacks (no peanuts, huh..) and got ready for the Olympic games!



Here it goes, everyone is watching the basketball games, where plays Russia's and Lithuania's teams...



Well, what I have to say - too bad that it all finished soon and Lithuanian team lost. But they still played very well and, as Karolina says, they are still the winners in Lithuania's heart!

Hugs,
Emma Squirrel

Hello!
This Saturday we went to a big mall called "Panorama". It looked really interesting!



And look, how many nice shops with all the autumn collections and warm clothes



There was a contest going on to win this baby! Too bad that squirrels can't participate in that one...



We went back home by car and Karolina decided to take some quick photos of me and nice views from the window! First picture - me and Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. It's closed for the summer, but will be opened again for a new season starting September!



Here is Vilnius Neris river embankment with planted flowers - they form the words "I love you" ("Aš tave myliu") and a heart. Isn't that romantic?



Buildings in the Old Town...



And here you can see Gediminas' castle!



That was a nice day, though the weather was tricky and sun didn't want to come out - guess autumn is really soon...

Love,
Emma Squirrel

Hi there!
Today we've visited Karolina's best friend and decided to cook something delicious at her house! I was very pleased to find my friends - cool toys! They told me some interesting stories about this beautiful town Vilnius...



First of all - summer salads...



Then - tasty roasted chicken!



And "London Olympics 2012" closing ceremony. Wasn't that great? I was very happy to see so many cool artists and singers like "Spice Girls" or listen to the "Queen" music once again!



Well, see you soon, mum!
Emma Squirrel

Hello!
Today Karolina had to go to the Old Town and meet one friend there, so I came with her!

We waited for a friend near the beautiful building - St. Kotryna's church. I took a picture of it, look:



We went to a cafe called "YOGIS" to eat frozen yogurt. Yummy! Karolina chose natural flavor with waffles (I would choose peanuts, but it's okay, too) and she gave me a bite - that was very delicious!



When we came back home, there was a package, waiting for us! Maybe it's a new voyager?...
Nope, it's just sunglasses for my host mum! She waited for them really much:



Seems like my face is too small to wear them...



The weather is not so good outside, so maybe Karolina won't need the glasses soon... Maybe it will be better soon?

Bye,
Emma Squirrel

Hi there!
Today was a great day, because a new toy voyager arrived - it's Diddl-Maus! I gave him a big friendly hug:



We went for a walk in Žirmūnai, a district where we are living, and we saw this amazing fountain not far from our house!



Also, we decided to rest for a while on the meadow...



... and then to have fun - we wanted to swing!



These are the houses in Šiaurės Miestelis, another area in Vilnius:



What a great experience and a cosy evening with a cup of tea
Love,
Emma Squirrel

Hi!
Today me and Diddl-Maus went on a mini trip on a bike!



We went to the Old Town from Žirmūnai and we saw some interesting buildings like this nice white house near Tuskulėnai Rimties Park:



Here is Tuskulėnai Rimties Park entrance. This memorial museum is a chapel - columbarium where remains of the victims of the Soviet totalitarian regime rest in peace:



You can see The Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports (Koncertų ir sporto rūmai), it was built in 1971 in the southernmost part of Žirmūnai in the middle of the former cemetery. The Palace was, until the 1990s, a major venue for sporting events, especially local and international basketball matches, as well as concerts and shows. Now it's closed:



Once again I saw The Cathedral of Vilnius and, again, it really amazed me!



I had so much fun during this journey! And I saw a bit more of Vilnius... I like this city!

Love,
Emma Squirrel

Hey, mum!
Guess what we did this Friday - we went to the forest near Pabradė where we picked some berries and mushrooms!



We will make whortleberry jam from these berries:



And these orange little mushrooms are Cantharellus in english. In lithuanian it's "voveraitės" which means "small squirrels"



We came back home quite tired after all the mushroom searching, but we were surprised, too - Karolina bought some Lithuanian sweets which she will send to other country via postcrossing. Oh, they all looked so good - coconut, coffee, peanut flavor! Too bad we couldn't taste them, but we got something very delicious instead - cupcakes!



Love,
Emma Squirrel

Hiii!
This morning was a bit sad - I had to say goodbye to Karolina, my host mum, and Diddl-Maus, my new friend. He gave me a big hug:



It was so great to know Lithuania more - I enjoyed Vilnius and Klaipėda very much! Maybe I'll come back here one day, who knows?..

Thank you, Karolina, for showing me your country and your home, thank you all the toy voyagers, that I've met while being here, for being so friendly to me! I'm going to miss you very much!
But I have to go. My next stop is... GERMANY! Hope the journey won't take long...



Hugs,
Emma Squirrel

Hi Mummy,
I arrived in Germany today, in a city called "Remscheid" in North Rhine-Westphalia. I am not the only "new" guest" here, HolgiHH also arrived today.

MuhKuh, Orkku Orava, another squirrel and my new host Katja gave us a warm welcome.



I brought a chocolate bar from Lithuania with me and also a lovely postcard - thanks to coraline

Now we are tired and will go to bed early.

Bye
Emma Squirrel

Hi Mummy,
today we visited my host's daughter. She is living in a district called Luettringhausen, half an hour's walk from my current home. We took a walk with her in the surroundings of Luettringhausen.

We walked along a lovely valley. Katja's daughter is living in one of the houses you can see in the background.



We saw meadows with horses here.



Katja loves to cook jams, elderberries and blackberries are already looking great.



We found a fantastic place in the forest - a hammer mill. Iron and steel was produced here since 15th century.

Katja toldl us that the signs was saying something like "Hosts are responsible for curious squirrels".







This water wheel was not working.



A large millwheel was lying on the ground.



We had a closer look at it - a great place to enjoy the nice weather





Later I found mushrooms - it seemed that someone had taken a bit of them



When we walked towards Luettringhausen, we went along a parkway. Some dozen apple trees were planted here, some of them sponsored by citizens of the city, some to commemorate celebrated public characters.





From here we had to walk about ten minutes to reach the town centre of Luettringhausen. Here we saw lovely old houses and narrow lanes.





We had an ice cream as a reward for our long walk

Yummy - raspberry ice-cream!



Good-bye and greetings from the forest



Love
Emma Squirrel

Hi Mummy,
in the late afternoon we took a short walk in the city. We walked through the municipal park to the district Hasten. Here in the park you can find several allotment garden areas, that's why there are parked cars.





Hasten is one of the historic districts of Remscheid, here you can find old factory buildings between dewellings, also many on the traditional houses with green shutters.





For getting home we walked along the Route of Tools (Trasse des Werkzeugs) for some time. The Route of Tools is a lane for pedestrians and cyclists which was built on a former, now closed track for freight trains. It was sponsoed by local companies, most of them producing tools. So it was called Route of Tools. Along the route you can find informations about the factories, prominent buildings and life in general in ancient times.



The Route of Tools is following the former track from the central station to Hasten, about 5 km long, running through industrial complexes close to the central station, along woodland areas and dwellings.

Here are distance data, painted to the ground. 3 km from here to walk to the central station.



Can you see the pattern in the tarmac, stamped with wrenches?







There are signs with the logos of the sponsoring companies, also one showing the coat of arms of Remscheid.



That's all for today
Emma Squirrel

Hi Mummy,
as long as we are having wonderful weather we would take a long walk every day, Katja promised. And she is keeping word! Today we picked up a friend at her work place in Lennep and took a longer walk in the surroundings. We started in Lennep and soon we left the city to reach rural areas.







I had a snack



We reached the Eschbach dam than, Germany's oldest drinking water dam. Here you can find a nature trail, telling you facts about fauna and flora.



Isn't this a lovely place?



Here you can see the rear side of the concrete dam.





In Eschbach valley we walked along the open air bath. It looks at it was closed already.



Or course there were several creeks running towards the valley.



Too soon we reached the outskirts of Remscheid ...



We walked along the company complex of a famous company. The historic factory building was preserved among the new buildings.



From here we took the bus back home.

Bye
Emma Squirrel

Hi Mummy,
we visited Wuppertal today. Wuppertal is one of the neighbour cities of Remscheid. Katja's daughter is working here as a cook. We picked her up when she finished work in the afternoon to take a walk to the botanical garden.

One of the city’s greatest attractions is the suspended monorail (Schwebebahn), which was established in 1901. The tracks are 8 m above the streets and 12 m above the Wupper River. There are 20 stations, each of them built in another style. There are modern ones and also historic ones.









Like every city with a river running through it you can find lots of bridges in Wuppertal, here is one of them.



This big fountain is situated in front of the city hall (which is hidden behind a scaffolding).



On our way to the botanical garden, which is situated on a hill we came across several smaller parks.



There is a large area on a ridge, called "Hardtberg". Here you can find a fantastic landscape park.



Everywhere people were enjoying the sunshine.











We reached the botanical garden than. You can find more than 5.000 intercontinental plants here!





This is a Styrax tree, originally from Anatolia.



Here is a moor bed, I had to keep away from lots of carnivorous plants.



Finally we reached part with millions of flowers.





Sunflowers are so beautiful.



Here you can see Elise Tower, built in early 19th century by a local factory owner, together with a beautiful villa with an orangerie. The tower is about 21 m high, originally built as an observatory, nowadays used as an outlook tower. We would have climbed it to enjoy the spectacular view, but it was closed due to a wedding party taking place there.





In the villa I found an exhibition about cones.





We went to another part of the botanical garden, with this basin where lots of kids were playing - and the and the bridal couple was leaving!





We also visited the greenhouses with tropical plants.



We rested on giant leaves for a while.



We found banana trees here ...



... and also oranges.



Walking back steep downhill we reached the city centre, close to the local court and district court.





At the left side of the next photo you can see the station "Landgericht". It was rebuilt two years ago in its original style.



Here we are inside the station.





Our train was coming than!



We went to the central station to get home by train.

Bye
Emma Squirrel