Travelog for: Alberto

Hello, World!
My mentors just got me from a cute little store in Granada and showed me around town as a start for what I feel will be a great adventure around the World!.
I'm very excited thinking about where I will travel and what places I will see.
Here are some pictures from my hometown: Granada!

What a wonderful day for going outside!
Here's me waking up still in my very confy pajamas:


A short car ride (my first one):


As you can see it was a very nice and sunny day... I <3 Granada, I'll surely miss the everclear skies:


I'll also miss the very tasty olives:


And the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains:


Look at all those dots!

Each one of those neatly arranged trees is an olive trees, they live to be very old, more than a hundred years!.

We had a very tasty outdoor Paella:

Courtesy of a nice Valencian friend... can't get any more authentic than that!.

I love the Sun!:


It was definitely a great day, going outside is always so much fun...

Today, just before my departure I got to see some really cool equipment!

Here's me standing next to a really weird and complex machinery:


I also snuck inside an open computer:

It was very fun... it's like a small jungle in there, good thing it was turned off.

And here's me with some toy helicopters...

they're so much fun!.

And finally, the most exciting part of the day,
Here I am getting ready to go on my first voyage, to England!:

I'm so happy I think I'll be leaving today!

Hello!

Today I arrived in Portsmouth! I am very excited for my adventures here to begin, but also tired after travelling for about a week!

When I arrived, I was welcomed by Jessie and her friend Bullseye. They are Toyvoyagers who are also staying with Frances, although they've been here for a few more days so they were able to tell me a bit more about what ther is to do in Portsmouth.

Jessie and Bullseye then showed me to the room they will be sharing with me. I was very pleased to find that they've kept the biggest bed for me!

Frances had planned to take me to see her Scout troop this evening, but her dad's car broke down so we had to stay home. I got to help Frances with her literature homework, and learnt all about a poem called "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".

Anyway, I'd best be off to bed now! Tomorrow, I get to go into college and learn about music, but it means I have to wake up very early!

Hello!

Today, Frances took me into college with her, and I had a very musical day!

We had to leave very early, so she could get in on time for her flute lesson. I enjoyed listening to her playing jazz pieces, but I found the scales a bit boring.

After that, we went to have breakfast in the canteen. We had mushrooms and hash browns, which were very yummy, and also warm which was good because it was very cold and rainy!

Then, Frances took me for a tour around the college. I found a climbing wall which I wanted to go up, but there was a class already on it. I also found an airplane, but it turns out it's only a section of an airplane, which is for the air cabin crew students to train in!

I helped Frances write a letter to one of her friends, and then we went to the gym. I was too small to use any of the equiptment, so I sat in the corner and watched people doing some very funny looking things!

After lunch, Frances let me come and listen to her flute group practice. They're preparing for a competition!

In the afternoon, I got to go to some music classes. The first one was listening skills, and the class seemed to spend a lot of the time dancing around the room and singing! The second one was modern music, where everyone played different pieces and then we all listened to Faure's Requiem, which it turns out Frances' choir is learning at the moment.

After the class, I got to meet Frances' moderm music lecturer, Geoff, who was very impressed by how far I had troubled, and said I was very cute!

I then went with her to 2 different wind band rehearsals, and listened to a lot of pieces including some music from James Bond, and the 1812 Overture which was quite exciting but very loud!

I'm worn out after such a long day, but I enjoyed listening to a lot of music!

Hello!

Today, Frances and her boyfriend Chris took me, Jessie and Bullseye into Southsea. We went to a place called Albert Road (it's almost got the same name as me!) where there are lots of cool vintage clothes shops, as well as a chocolate shop and a deli. In the chocolate shop, we bought some chocolate and tablet (which is like fudge but more crumbly) and in the deli we got some rose lemonade which was very refreshing. It started raining at one point, so we ducked into a fish and chip shops and shared a big plate of chips while we waited for the rain to stop.

Frances took a few photos of me, with the chocolate and with a plaque about Arthur Conan Doyle (who created Sherlock Holmes - he lived in Southsea!) but when I tried to upload them onto her laptop I found that her memory card was corrupt and had deleted most of her pictures. I was a bit sad, but I still had a nice day and she thinks she's fixed her camera so I can take more pictures another day!

Today I went to London! It was very exciting!

On the train in, I could see all of the landmarks like the London Eye, and when we were in the taxi I could see Big Ben and Buckingham Palace!

There wasn't very much time for sightseeing, as Frances wanted to look around the Royal College of Music, but I did get to travel on the Underground, and in a London taxi, and I did get to see lots of famous places.

The Royal College was very fun! We got to listen to a lot of music, and see lots of very old instruments in the museum.

Unfortunately, it was raining quite heavily for most of the time we were there, so I had to hide in Frances' rucksack for most of the time when we were outside. We will go back to London on the weekend, though, so hopefully it will be more sunny then and I can come out more and have my picture taken with all of the famous places!

Today I went back to London! It was very exciting to go back again, although at the start of the day it was raining a lot so I thought I would have to hide in a bag again.

I had a fun time on the train with Jessie and Bullseye - we sat at a place with a big table so there was room for Frances to do her homework and for us to play!

We spent a lot of time travelling on the underground, which was quite exciting! I liked watching the trains coming in and out of the station, but I found it very difficult to understand the maps as there are so many different lines going to loads of different stations!

We visited a massive art shop, where there were lots of different kinds of paint in every colour of the rainbow! There were also brushes in all shapes and sizes, and lots of other materials for artists.

Later on in the day, the sun came out so we got to visit Trafalgar Square! I hope Admiral Nelson isn't afraid of heights - he does stand very high up! I also had a little peak into the National Gallery before it was time to go for dinner.

Today was very exciting, because I got to travel back in time! Along with Jessie and Bullseye, and Frances and Chris, I went to an Iron Age settlement where they were celebrating the Pagan festival of Beltain (also sometimes spelt Beltane).

So we didn't actually go back in time, but it felt like it! Beforehand, we went on Frances' laptop to find out what happens at Beltain. It's a fertility festival, where they do certain things like burning a huge Wicker Man (a man made out of bits of wood). Originally, he would have been filled with live sacrifices but the website assured us that they don't do that anymore!

At the festival, the first thing we did was an African drumming workshop which was really fun, but also very noisy! After that, we went to a roundhouse where we listened some storytellers. The stories were very exciting! We then had a picnic whilst listening to some live music, and then we went off to see some big birds such as owls and falcons, and then to watch a man casting an axe head. We finished off by returning to the storytelling hut, where we enjoyed some more stories before going to watch the burning of the Wicker Man.

The Wicker Man burnt quite spectacularly! Everyone cheered whenever a new part of him caught fire, and when he eventually collapsed. I hope this means we're going to have good weather this year

Today it was sunny! It has been so rainy for the past few days that I was getting a bit sad, so it was nice to be able to go outside without worrying about getting wet! Sadly, Frances had to study for her exams, so instead of going off on an adventure we stayed home and explored her garden!

Jessie and I started off by climbing an apple tree, to see the whole garden in one go! We were then pretty exhausted, so we had a lie down on the grass, but Jessie started to worry about getting sunburnt so we set off in search of some shade and water to cool down.

We found a pond, which looked lovely and cool but we did not want to disturb the tadpoles swimming in it so we hid at the side and watched them for a while. I then got a bit hungry, and I saw some food so I started to eat it until Jessie laughed at me and told me it was bird food! I was very upset, so Frances let me have some of her crisps to make up for it.

As well as playing, we got a lot of work done! I read The Great Gatsby, which is a very exciting book that made me want to travel back in time to the 1920s!

Today something very exciting came in the post!

We were all lying in bed, because Frances had finished her English course so didn't have to go in to college as early, and we heard something coming through the letterbox. Frances ran downstairs, and brought it up saying that she thought it was for us.

It was hard work opening it - obviously it had been carefully packaged so no one would break into it while it travelled, but that made it hard for us toys to get in! We knew it couldn't be another toy, because it was the wrong shape, but we couldn't think what it could be.

Eventually we got it out. It is a beautiful notebook! Inside, there was a lovely letter, and the pictures of the toyvoyagers who are staying with mmm105. We had a lot of fun reading it!

Jessie and I are planning on writing in the notebook at some point on the weekend. We just need to work out where Frances keeps her crayons...

PS Hello out there other TVs! If you want to participate in this travelling notebook, get your host to visit this forum post: http://www.toyvoyagers.com/forum/index.php?a=topic&t=5555#p5

Today, Jessie, Bullseye and I came into college with Frances so we could see what an exam was like. It was really scary! There were rows and rows of people, all looking miserable, and at the front of the room a HUGE clock was projected onto the wall.

Anyway, after the exam Frances fancied some fresh air, so she announced that we were walking home. I thought that sounded like quite a nice idea, as it was a nice day and I wanted to enjoy the lack of rain.

It started out quite well. Next to her college, there is a field of horses who were all out enjoying the sun! I stopped to say hello to them. We then passed a rather nice looking golf course, and then walked through a tunnel of trees!

I was just begining to feel a bit tired, and wonder when we were going to get home, when we reached the top of the hill. From there you can see for miles! Frances pointed out at the view - "That's where I live!"... it was a very long way away!

So we kept on walking, and walking, and finally we came to a sign that said "Welcome to Portsmouth"! I was very glad to be home... until I found out that the sign wasn't actually even in Portsmouth, and even when we DID make it to Portsmouth we'd have to walk for a while before we got to Frances' home.

The road continued down the hill, and along the way we passed a fire station! I didn't see any fire engines though At one point we had to go through an underpass, which was scary at first, but half way along there is no ceiling and you can look up and the cars pass either side of the hole! It was quite cool!

Eventually, we got to the bridge that links Portsmouth from the mainland. The water looked cool and refreshing, but I could not stop for a swim because we had to keep walking!

Not long after the bridge, we came to the place where they print the local newspaper. It looked really big and impressive, and has a duck pond outside! Unfortunately, it started to rain a bit while we were looking at it.

After what seemed like FOREVER (but Frances says was more like an hour and 45 minutes) we came to a big stone that told us we had reached the old boundary of Portsmouth. Now we could relax, because we were only a few blocks away from collapsing in bed!

I enjoyed the nice views we got along our walk, but my short legs were very tired afterwards!

This is my last evening in Portsmouth, so I wanted to do something fun! Frances found us some postcards and crayons, and suggested that Jessie and I should write home to our mentors. This seemed like a fun idea, and it also meant that we had the crayons we needed to draw in the travelling notebook!

So first we worked on our postcards, and once they were done we got out the notebook! Jessie and I drew pictures of each other, and we wrote "Hello" in different languages! Bullseye drew a picture of himself as well.

I'm glad I got to have a nice evening with my friends, because tomorrow I am setting off for Germany! I am very excited, but I will miss Jessie and Bullseye.

I am now travelling to Germany! I am very excited, although I am also sad about leaving my friends here in Portsmouth.

I gave Jessie and Bullseye goodbye hugs. I will miss them a lot!

As well as sending me off, we sent the travelling notebook to Noisy, and the postcards to our mentors. I hope Frances didn't get the addresses the wrong way round!

So now I am travelling between one adventure and the next. I can't wait to find out what will happen next!

Hi Family,

I arrived in Remscheid at my new host Katja's home today. We have ugly weather here, it's rainy and cold ... brrrrrr.

The postman brought me to Katja's workplace, so I would not have to wait on the stairs forever.

When we came home Katja bgan to prepare elderflower wine cooler. This really sounds weird ...

Two other ToyVoyagers were there to meet me, Leopoldi and Rishu. There were already lots of elderflowers.



Katja showed us the ingredients we would need to prepare the wine cooler: elcerflowers, sugar, lemons, mint and water.



The lemons hat to be pressed, sugar and water were added, mint and elderflower were put into the liquid.







The mixture was covered with a plate, now it has to rest for 24 hours at room temperature.



Love
Alberto