Travelog for: Terry

I am Terry the Tiger and I am now activated and ready for my big adventure around the world.  I would love to come and visit your town and learn about how you live.  I do not need fancy places to visit, your house is just fine! I look forward to meeting you! Now I just need a host... if you are interested in me please send my mom a Private Message.  Thank you!!

Hi Mom!
I've arrived in London, England - pretty much safe and sound, although that postman is a real jerk! He really tried to SHOVE me through the mail slot! It's not that wide! Oh well, here I am, just after I arrived.

The weather isn't too great today though so we're not going out yet. Here I'm looking out at the grey and rainy garden...

So...we just had an hour in darkness for Earth Day...everyone around the world was meant to turn power off for an hour, between 8:30 - 9:30. It's to help the environment!
Here I am with lots of candles!

And reading with a flashlight!

Hmm, the neighbours aren't being environmental though!

Here's a bit more around the house and nearby...
we didn't get too far today either. Were going to go for a walk but the weather is really strange today...so didn't get very far!
Oh here i am meeting the house cat, Shaggy Marley! He looks like he's going to eat me here but actually he was very nice.

this is the street outside...

and here's the local post office...plus the traditional red mailbox

Well, haven't done a lot yet, but went for a nice little walk in Stoke Newington, which is just down the road from where my hostess lives. It's a little bit nicer than her actual area too.
There are two big churches there, both the church of St Mary, both Church of England. They are related but one's the old church and the other is the 'new' one.
Well here I am by the old one - it really is pretty old, maybe about 500 years!

there's the door

and the old churchyard (most graves seem to be newer than that though...mostly 19th century I think)

there's the new church..

There is a park right next to the churches too Clissold Park, it's very nice.


cool park benches there

Oh the other thing though...it's quite funny that my hostess took pics of me by the churches because actually she's Jewish! But her Jewish community is quite small and they actually meet in a hall belonging to the churches! They get on very well with the priest.
Now it's almost Passover...she's not allowed to eat bread then but only special crackers called Matzah. She got given a free box of them by the Chabad Lubavitch, they are a special group that would like to make all Jews turn Orthodox... My hostess is not Orthodox but she got the crackers anyway

Isn't it a nice box?
She also has kosher chocolate spread, yummy!

Well here I am! Hope Mom had a good Easter!
I've had quite a quiet time here - well it wasn't Easter for my hostess anyway, she had Passover, but anyway had a few days off work, but the weather was SOOOO bad this weekend!
It got a bit better today so we went to visit her grandmother, who lives in Barnes, in a really nice part of south west London. My hostess would love to live there but it's very expensive. Anyway...first of all we took the bus to Waterloo station.
(here's me on the bus!)

Here I am at the station! It's really big and busy!



Here I'm on the train!



Now I'm in Barnes!



Here's Barnes Pond, my hostess' Nana often sits here.


and some spring blossoms

More Barnes...

by Barnes church...

My hostess' uncle's favourite pub The Coach and Horses

And here's a house where a famous person lived - the composer Gustav Holst. When someone famous (who's now dead) lived in a house in London, they often put up these blue plaques on the houses.

Here's the Thames river...


and signs showing where we are

We had a really nice day there
On the way home...well Waterloo is right in the centre of London, and there's a nice place to walk along called Southbank, so we went there.
Here's the famous London Eye (I'm afraid we didn't go on it though!)

There's a Salvador Dali museum there so some Dali sculptures too


some more spring blossoms (they're everywhere in London!!!)

and nice views along the river (yes, it's the same river as in Barnes, this is just a different area!)


Here you can see the Houses of Parliament in the background...where the government of the UK meets.


a lamp post...

and that's about it for now.

Hi again!
Just been to the City of London - the oldest part of London - where my hostess works. She works at London Metropolitan Uni there.
It's interesting because most of it doesn't look very old now - it's also the financial centre, so there were a lot of new buildings put up recently - only now there's a recession, so maybe there won't be so many new buildings...!
But anyway...we walked over to the Tower of London, which is only about 10 minutes walk from her work. It's nearly 1000 years old!!! Not the whole building, but part of it. It has been a royal palace, a dungeon, a site of execution..now it's mostly a museum, but some people still live there, they work for the Queen. The Queen doesn't live there at all now though.
Just outside it - here's a bit of a wall that dates back to when the Romans were in Britain - with a statue of a Roman to go with it!

Found an interesting sign about the Tower (that's its wall behind)

...and...the Tower...


This is Traitor's Gate...a boat used to come in through this gate with a prisoner in it! :S

there's the river again!

Here's Tower Bridge! It's a lot newer than Tower of London though, I think it's maybe from the 19th century. It can open up in the centre for big ships to go through, but usually it's never opened now.



Oh I never quite saw what Dead Man's Hole is though!

Had a bit of a look nearer my hostess' workplace!
As you can see it's VERY BUSY around there!

But here are some nice flowers!

Here's the London Underground Station for Aldgate - we haven't been on the London Underground trains yet!


A sign showing where we are!

Here you can see the sign for London Metropolitan University (it's purple!) and also a kiosk where they sell jellied eels. Sounds really yucky to me, and my hostess would never eat them, but it's a traditional East End of London food.

Just a sign on a pub showing we are on Whitechapel Road

And now we're inside my hostess' office.

Hello!!!
It's been a little while I know...haven't had a chance to get out and about much.
But...was out today! Weather wasn't too bad either.
We thought we'd visit a few more famous sights in the centre.
First of all we visited Covent Garden market. Ok, it wasn't open yet, but the architecture there is nice.



We checked our directions...

and then went out to the famous street called The Strand!

It leads to Trafalgar Square, the most famous square in London. Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of scaffolding up around the square, we don't know what's going on there!!! But tried to take a few photos anyway.
Here's the statue of Admiral Lord Nelson, the hero of the Battle of Waterloo!

Here's the National Gallery...

This is the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields (don't know why it is called that when there aren't any fields!)

I guess you can see the weather was getting quite cloudy then but luckily it never rained!
Anyway here are two more views from the square...


Then we went for a walk down the road called the Mall...on Sunday no one drives on it...

It leads to Buckingham Palace, the Queen's main home!!!


Here are the fancy gardens just to the side of the palace...

A memorial to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the current Queen's parents

And this is St James' Park, a lovely park right by the palace. Also belongs to the Queen but anyone can walk there.



After that...went to a cafe for a cup of tea...

and then home on the bus!

At Anja's House

Hi Mommy,

I have arrived safe and well at Anja's house in Germany.

When I came out of my envelope, I was greeted by some other TV's:

Harold Giraffe, Wusch, Garry and Sweetsy (from left to right)



They said that they have seen a lot of nice things with Anja. I can't wait! 

And then Harold, Sweetsy and I waved goodbye to Garry and Wusch, who are going to Hong Kong.



Hong Kong, wow! 

But I am now looking forward to all the nice things to see in Germany.

Hugs
Terry

Medieval Market in Kronberg

Hi Mommy,

yesterday, Anja took us to the medieval market in the castle in Kronberg.

Source

First, we went to pick up Anja's friend Laura, and we smelled the wonderful roses in her garden



Then we drove to Kronberg, which has a lovely old city center with many timber houses



and we soon found signs for the medieval market at the castle Kronberg



Have you noticed Anja's new dress? 
She is very proud of it, and - in addition - people in medieval dress get free or discounted access to most medieval markets and fests.

We walked up to the castle, and soon we were there









From the castle walls, you have a beautiful view








This medieval knight was nice enough to have his picture taken with us



and this is "medieval lady" Anja



who had to fix her dress now and then 



Within the castle, there was music, songs and medieval dances













and we met the loveliest little princess



and her grandmother (who had made the beautiful dresses herself)



Now, I also wanted a medieval dress! And Anja was glad to oblige 



We wandered around the fairground, admiring a tent with weapons of the time



and doing some shopping and window shopping (or rather stall shopping  )







After a wonderful and exciting day, we went home and slept like babies!

Hugs
Terry

Wieka arrives!

Hi Mommy,

when Anja came home from work today, she brought an envelope with her. Of course, we all crowded around it, from the left: Harold Giraffe, Sweetsy and myself



Inside it was Wieka, a sweet little bat



She brought a lovely picture postcard with baby foxes



Anja has some bats in the house already, so Wieka felt right at home:





I showed her a picture postcard of Frankfurt and said that, with two visitors from overseas (myself and Harold), Anja was sure to go into Frankfurt to show us the sights.



Ooooh, I can't wait!

But first we got a train trip coming up.
Tomorrow, Anja will take us on the ICE (Inter City Express) to Hannover, where she will visit a friend. I am so excited!

Hugs
Terry

A Trip to Hannover

Hi Mommy,

today, Anja took me and her other TV guests on a train trip to Hannover.

Sweetsy and Harold Giraffe are seasoned travelers here in Germany, and they told me much about a train called ICE (Inter City Express) that looks like a rocket and travels at a speed of over 300 kilometers (190 miles) an hour.

I was all excited, so when we got to the train station



I was quite disappointed to see a boring old train



and another boring old train



"Those are not ICE trains" Sweetsy and Harold laughed. "THIS is an ICE train!"



Oh wow! 

The train is nice and comfortable inside



and you can see a lot of nice things through the window









In time, Anja unwrapped a big sandwich she had bought at Frankfurt train station, and we all had a nice snack



Soon, we arrived at Hannover train station, which looks like a palace



Right in front of the train station, there is a statue of King Ernst August of Hannover, on a horse





This is the favorite meeting point of the people of Hannover. They always meet "unter dem Schwanz" = under the tail (of the horse) 

Let's see what adventures I will have tomorrow 

Hugs
Terry

Hameln (Hamelin) - A lovely old City - with a Story!

Hi Mommy,

today, we got up early at Anja's friend's house and went to the train station in Hannover, where we met with a lot of nice people - all pet rat owners, like Anja is.

We all boarded a train - and Tamara, Anja's friend, took out a bag of curious snacks: marshmallow mice  Weird, but tasty...



From the train, we could see lots of wind wheels, which create electricity



Soon, we arrived at Hameln (Hamelin) train station



and all the rat owners got all excited. What the heck? 

Hameln is a beautiful old city with many lovely old timber houses, dating from 1500 A.D. or even before. The city is just celebrating 725 years of existence.
And somehow, this place is full of rats  And funny dressed men with pipes


























Look at the age of some of these houses! 













Hameln even has an old city wall with towers





Surely a very nice place. But what about all the rats? 

After a walk though the city, Anja sat us down to tell us all about it.

..... to be continued

Hameln (Hamelin) - The Story of the Pied Piper

Hi Mommy,

like I said, Anja finally sat us down to tell us the story of the Pied Piper of Hameln (Hamelin):

Source

Since that time, Hameln has been called the "Rattenfängerstadt" = literally "rat catcher city" or the city of the Pied Piper.

And references to this story are everywhere in Hameln.













In the "Hochzeitshaus" (wedding house), a lovely old building, there is even a mechanical display that shows this story several times a day.






First the Pied Piper comes out, leading the rats away





Then - after the town people refuse to pay him - he comes and leads the children away






Only the lame child and the blind child are not quick enough, so the mountain closes before they can reach it, and they return home to tell the story (in Anja's memory, it was a blind child, not a deaf child  )





After a long day of walking and seeing all these nice things, we had a surprise coming up in the train on the way home:

A small party of young ladies entered the train, one dressed as an angel and the others dressed as devils. They walked all through the train and sold little items. This was a bachelorette party. What fun! 



Well, Mommy, that was Hameln and the story of the Pied Piper. I hope you liked it. I certainly did 

Hugs
Terry

Us and KISS in Concert!

Hi Mommy,

would you believe we met the Rock band KISS and played a concert with them?



Afterwards, we all went to a big party together



I will write a better update about the great weekend we had as soon as I have recovered from all the s** and dr*** and Rock N Roll 

Hugs
Terry