Travelog for: Fanti

hello mommy. yesterday i visited the east side gallery. it is the longest open air gallery in the world: nearly one mile. the paintings have been painted on the left overs of the berlin wall near the town centre. very interesting and funny paintings. the is how the artists have seen the changes that took place in those days.

i have made a couple of pictures. enjoy.
bye bye see you later, *fanti*

hello mommy.
since the wheather is too bad today ad i have been here for nearly two weeks, hannibal suggested to have a look into my to-do-list. ok let's see:


first page: three items are done:
- i have visited a capital city = berlin is doubtless a capital city.
- i have met another elephant = hannibal is one - and here is a whole of other elephants that i have met.
- i have started a collection of blue things = this biro is the first item.


ooops - yet nothing on page two ...
but learning an instrument is an option, such as exploring a castle and going to a flea market.


page three: does a ride on the underground count as a train ride?


last page: i put all the photos into my travelog! of course.

so, there are still some things to do! 

be curious, mommy ... *fanti*

@jethro: i will be first! 

Hey little Fanti !

I just want to show you this news from SuSi89 :-)



AND I want to tell you, that you are sooooo wrong, because I will be the first :-)

Many greetings from all people and plushies!

Jethro

hello jethro, my blue fiend, and all the others at home!

the wheather was not to good, so hannibal and i decided to go somewhere else.




so we went to eisleben.


there we met voltaire: napoleon's uncle ...


... and martin luther, the guy that translated the bible into german. he was born here.



eisleben is 28 miles away from berlin, 28 prussian miles, that means 28 houres on horseback.


aehm, i forgot who this was ... sorry ...


here voltaire and i thought we were lost ...


... but then we found a water castle.




before we explored this castle we found an insects' hostel.



this castle has got a café ...


... and a gaol, where thomas muentzer was arrested. you don't know who this was? he was the leader in the 16th century farmers' revolution



look: a frog ... i get hungry.


bye bye everyone at home ... see you tomorrow. 

hello friends at home! hello mommy!

today we (hannibal and voltaire) went to bad frankenhausen.





this town has the most leaning church tower in germany. it leans more than the famous campanile in pisa, italy.


and it has frogs on a fountain. i get hungry again.


but first i had to get an aperol spritz. very tasty.


and than i had a verrrrry dark beer.


later we had a tiny drop of this stuff ... urrrrgh 

bye bye see you tomorrow *fanti*

hi folks! this is fanti speaking.


today we left early to visit an old emperor, a very old one.


first we climbed a tower and enjoyed the panorama.


someone told us we would find our old emperor here.


but all we have found were the ruins of a castle.



really mommy, we haven't broken it. it was deserted before!


finally we found good old barbarossa, emperor of the holy roman empire of german nation. so long he must have sat there on his throne that he was petrified.




in the afternoon we reached gotha, a very nice little town ...


... with a big residential palace.





this is the old townhall.


then it was time to return to berlin.

cheerio mommy and everyone at home - see you! 

hello mommy.


after a strong coffee in the morning ...


... we (hannibal and me) went to ...



... see an old airport.


tempelhof airport was built in 1936, but hasn't been finished before worldwar two. but for its concept of a then modern international aiport it was called the mother of airports. it has been closed a couple of years ago.



the airport got world famous during the airlift in 1948/49 when american, british and french airforces brought food and other goods to the blocked city of west berlin. here you can see the airlift memorial monument.


and this was the man who organised the airlift: lucius d. clay.



it really is a huge building.


bye bye mommy! see you in a couple of days ...

ps: yesterday we have checked my to-do-list:



i am quite good with it. jethro, my brother, be aware: i will be first! 

hello mommy. hi jethro, old cookie crumbler!
today was the perfect day for something very special.


no perfect day should ever start without a perfect breakfast with friends.


... and jam!


then we went to the town centre.


perfect wheather for a DICE WALK!


all you need is a die, which would tell you were to go. so we marked a die: S for straight ahead, L for left and R for right turn. so you would be lead to areas where you normally would not come to. we have made a lot of photos of buildings, streets and other stuff. not every photo needs an explanation, some are just there to look at them.

ok, let's start! first corner, the die said "left".


so we started at the former postfuhramt. it is where all parcels and lettres came into town from abroad and had been packed to cars to be delivered to the people. now it is an art gallery.


on our way we have seen a lot of funny graffitis.


next corner: the die said "right".



sometimes when throwing the die it tells you to go through a backyard. well: dice walk is dice walk.





"claichens ballhaus" - an old beer garden and a ball room in a run down house. time for a little beer.




next corner: "straight".




"straight" again.





time for a coffee at "hackbarth's".


after the coffee we had to turn left.




oh, look: the television tower at alexander square.


next turn - left again.




what ever this would mean ...


hey, there is still an R on the die!



sometimes people see stars in this town.



left ...


... but first - a short break in the sun. thanks to who ever placed this sofa out here!




left again.




oooohoooo - spooky.





next corner: left ...


hm ... let's see.





this was a short cut to the next street.



have you ever heard of "toylets"? is it a restroom for toysvoyagers?





what an exquisite colour!


hey: "sopie's corner" - let's have a drink and continue.


left ...




saint sophie's church was closed for renovation.


berlin's smallest beergarden. time for another beer? yes, of course!


a chilled beer is a good base for a burger.


then: right turn.



the rules say: at each corner you haveto throw your die. this is to round for being called a corner, isn't it?





yes: me too!




next corner: S for straight ahead.


what a pity. left looks also interesting.


this is a little detour ...



... to a CTM - a cookies teller machine. yummy cookies.


this is "new synagogue". we were inside. but photos wre not allowed. well it is only the entrance left over. the prayer hall was destroyed in 1938.










"water for the dogs" - hey can't anybody imagine, that elephants are also thirsty sometimes?






"tacheles" - a riun of world war two, now an alternative art project, then a large shopping passage.

here we finished our dice walk. we have seen many unknown interesting places. it really was fun!
bye bye, see later!

hi mom.

yesterday i joined an elephant party. and guess whom i met: jethro, my old brother!
(see his travelog entry: jethro's travelog.)












we have had a lot of fun!


well, next morning was not that good. but hey! we had fun together.

bye bye - see you soon.

*fanti*

hello mommy.


today i was sitting with my new friends here and we were discussing about what to do this weekend.


suddenly the two big elephants brought a heavy parcel.


they placed it right in the middle.


then we opened it.


inside was a little fluffy bunny. he introduced himself as kuzma from russia.


hey, another toyvoyager and he brought chocolat from switzerland where he was staying before.


we talked the whole evening.

bye bye mommy, many kisses from your fanti

hello mommy. yesterday was an interesting day: we went to frankfurt on the oder.


but first: a good brealfast, you know!


we were there together with gwenelle and kuzma who are also staying at my host's.


we have made a sightseeing walk through the town.



this is the tower of saint mary's church.


and this is the door ... let's go inside.





it was fun to walk on the model of the church.


here you see the old townhall.


this is the river oder. on the other side is poland.




this is saint nicolai's church.


then we had the idea to cross the river ...



... and visit slubice in poland.



view back to frankfurt




not far away from frankfurt we found something very interesting: kostrzyn, a former german town, but totally destroyed in the last world war.


here you could only find some streets and some left overs of the buildings.






stairway to heaven?




very spooky!



on our way back to berlin we stopped at these beautiful sunflowers.

mommy, see you soon *fanti*

hello mommy.
today my host took me and hannibal to his office. it was so boring there. then we discovered the photo copier. hey it is not so easy to make photocopies of yourself ... but we made it!




hey jethro, this is number 94 of our 100 things to do! 

hello mommy. yesterday we have visited the citadel in spandau - hey jethro: this was my SECOND REAL CASTLE! hehehehe ...


but first: BREAKFAST!



the citadel is the best preserved renaissance fortress in germany.


this is albrecht the bear, the first german marquis of brandenburg many many years ago. when lived here, this fortress wasn't even built.


here they stored lots of counts, marquises and kings. they have got so old, that they were petrified. and now nobody knows were to put them.


some even have lost their head. poor guys. it is so sad if nobody wants you because you are old.


this is the old palace, the main building of the citadel. you can see, that it was refurbished a lot: some windows have been closed and removed, some have been added.



the citadel also had a secret little harbour.




and a smith's workshop.


this is the main tower of the citadel: julius's tower.


we decided this was a good time and place for a pic nic. (jethro: this is number 73 of my to-do-list.) 
gwenelle and kuzma joined us.




ok: plate is empty, let's move further.






look what we found: a pilory. an ancient punishment instrument: in the hole they put the hand of a delinquent, in the middle his head and in the right his foot. an uncomfortable position! good that we are too small for this.



the prussian eagle: FR stands for fridericus rex. every second of the prussian kings were called fridrich. the others were called wilhelm. some could not decide, they were called friedrich wilhelm.






mommy, see you soon *fanti* 

hello mommy.
yesterday after the heavy rain i have visited the town centre and the government district together with hannibal. he always knows where to go and what to explore. 


first station was the world famous brandenburg gate.



this was the viewfrom the gate down the boulevard "unter den linden" (under the linden trees). far behind you can see the television tower at alexander square.


many tourists. they all wanted to see the gate.



then we went to the reichstagsgebaeude, the building of the german federal paliament. many puddles were in front of it due to the rain this morning.


here we were at the new built berlin main station.


it is a very big station: some platforms are underground ...


... some are overground.


ooooooh ... this is deep!


view from the station to the government district.


here you see spree river. what looks like a giant washing machine there behind is the federal chancellory, where the chancellor works: "huhu, angy!"



then we found the "kongresshalle" (conference hall), built in the 1950s as a present of the u.s. american people to the city of berlin. very nice present.
the berliners call this building the "pregnant oyster" LOL! some say it looks like the smiling mouth of jimmy carter.


we have also seen bellevue castle, where the federal president resides. yes, germany also has a president.


next to bellevue (means "good view") we found the victory column withe golden angel on top.


then we reached the culture forum with the berlin philharmonic building.


ooops, how strange is this?



we ate a good dinner at sony centre.

bye bye mommy, see you soon *fanti* 

by the way: besides seeing all the sights of this big town i have had some other things to do:


my new friends taught me how to play the ukulele. ok, not alone, as a small elephant you need help from your friends.


here we have given a small concert.


i have also learnt to play the accordion.


the two strong green mammoths were to make the air for our music session.



when the weather was not too good we played board games. sometimes i won!


and i was allowed to cook yummy things - hmnjamnjamnjamnjamnjam ...


there was something else i have done during my time here:


i have writen a love lettre to my mommy.



i have put a nice little poem in it, which i have learnt the other day.




hannibal helped me to roll it ...


... and fasten it ...



... put it into a bottle to be sent to you mommy!



can you imagin how good it feels to write a love lettre to your mommy?

fanti loves you mommy!