Travelog for: Matsya

Hello everybody!

I'm Matsya and I'm in the middle of my preparations to see the world! My passport is ready, now all I need is a nice person somewhere in this world who wants to be my host for a while 

Sadly the weather here in Basel isn't as great as it usually is in summer but we've planned a little photo session on Saturday to show you my home anyway 

Hope to find a host very soon.

Love,
Matsya

Yay! 

I just got told that I am allowed to visit Mareikingowicz in Berlin, Germany! I'm really excited, I've never been there and
heard one can see so many fantastic things there! Now I can't wait! 

Tonight we went for dinner at a restaurant in a small village. I had fantastic Käsespätzle. Spätzle are a type of egg noodle of soft texture found in the cuisine of Germany and of Austria and Switzerland. Yummy!

When we arrived back at home we found out that a guest has arrived: Muffmuff! And he brought along a little present for my mum and me  what a great surprise!




Thanks alot Muffmuff



As it was already way too dark to do anything outside...



...we've decided to have a little snack...



...and then make ourselves comfortable around a candle.



Soon it will be off to bed as we will be visiting Basel tomorrow.

Good night!

Today we've been positively surprised! The weather forecast said it would be raining all day but we woke up to beautiful sunshine. We took the opportunity to make a picture with the view out of my room. Behind me is the roman-catholic church. It's a very beautiful church, but they ring the bell every day at 6am!

Today we spent the day in Basel. It's only a 20 minute train drive from my home.

The very first we visited the Hammering Man.



This is the hardest-working of all of Basel's inhabitants. The 13.5 metre tall eight-tonne giant has been swinging his hammer on Aeschenplatz since 1989. The American artist Jonathan Borofsky, who created this imposing artwork, has also created similar kinetic sculptures in other key cities around the world, including Frankfurt and New York.

Then, we went to see the Münster. Fun fact: As the Münster's built of sandstone which wears out very quickly, it is constantly renovated. This makes it very expensive to maintain.



The Basel Münster is one of the main landmarks and tourist attractions of the Swiss city of Basel. It was built between 1019 and 1500 in Romanesque and Gothic styles. The late Romanesque building was destroyed by the 1356 Basel earthquake and rebuilt by Johannes Gmünd, who was at the same time employed for building the Freiburg Münster.



This is the view from the back of the Münster. You can see one of the main bridges of Basel - the Wettsteinbrücke - on it.



Between Basel's five bridges across the Rhine you will find the city's four ferries, “Wilde Maa”, “Leu”, “Vogel Gryff” und “Ueli” (Basel German: “Wild Man”, “Lion”, “Gryphon” and “Ueli” – a Swiss German nickname for Ullrich), with which you can cross the Rhine without motorised assistance, using only the natural power of the river's current. It is not only tourists that are thrilled by this mode of transport, the inhabitants of the city also regularly use this means of transport around the city.

When one enters this impressive piazza, the first thing that catches the eye is the colourful Town Hall (Rathaus). However this piazza still plays a key role in the lives of Basel's inhabitants today. The market that takes place here every day of the week is a welcome addition to the grocer's and greengrocer's shops elsewhere in the city centre. Lovers of good food can find delicious local produce on the market stalls, as well as many specialities from the region, Switzerland and the entire world.

The Mittlere Brücke was initially used for local traffic, in conjunction with the development of the route over the Gotthard Pass as an international trade route, in the 14th century it gained significance as a crossing over the Rhine for international trade. With the advent of electric trams, the old bridge had to make way for the new Mittlere Brücke in 1905. A copy of the old bridge chapel, the so-called “Käppelijoch”, where in the Middle Ages convicted criminals were sentenced to death, was erected as a  reminder of the original construction.



Next to it is "Les Trois Rois" (engl. "the tree kings" as the tree wise men are called in German and French). It's probably the most elegant and most expensive hotel you can find in all of Basel and around. Compared to it, the Hilton looks like a youth hostel 



The other side of the bridge. Here you can walk along the water for several kilometers, or, if you prefer, jump into it and let yourself float until the end of the walk (you don't want to go down to far, otherwise you can't get out anymore). My mum even told me that sometimes silly people jump from the bridges into the water. But that's very dangerous and forbidden.

After our long walk around Basel, we took the tram to the last stop and walked over the border to Germany to go shopping. As there were a lot of people and my mum was afraid she might loose us we only took a picture on the outside.

The Chêne des Bosses in Châtillon, a remarkable part of the natural heritage of the Jura, is protected as a historic monument by the Jura environment office. This exceptional tree, which owes its name to its old, twisted trunk full of bumps and bulges, is regarded as the largest and oldest pedunculate oak in Europe and also listed in the record books. Its trunk is so large, it would take seven or eight men with outstretched arms to reach around the base. Its age is hard to determine, though it is known to be many centuries old. According to legend, it may even be over a thousand years old. During the Second World War, soldiers tried to date it by core drilling, but without success.



You think it's not "that big"? Try to find us on this picture:



On our way back to the car we passed a lovely manmade lake with lots of waterlilies.



Watch out for this beautiful flower, it has lots of stingy thorns! 

Today I said goodbye to Muffmuff, my journey will take me to Berlin I can't wait to see Germanys capital!



Good bye, and enjoy the rest of your stay in Switzerland!

Hey Mommy,

after a long journey I arrived in Berlin finally. I´m very happy to be here because the envelope was really uncomfortable.

I was welcomed by host mommy´s plushies – Eli, Launebaer and even Garfield joined us. Can you see me?









I´ve got a warm hug from all plushies and after that I showed my passport. I brought my host mommy a tasty caramel chocolate and she was very happy about the small present.









Today another TV arrived in Berlin as well. It was Schäfchen and we could welcome her together. She is a lovely sheep girl. I like her very much.

We helped her to get out of her travel box. She brought us a lot of sweets and how at the last time as Jefferny arrived Launebaer tried to catch all the sweets. Hihi But we got some sweets as well.







Today it was very hot in Berlin and so Schäfchen and I decided to take a sunbath on our TV balcony. We could relax a bit and we drank a yummy Capri Sonne. A good refreshment.

But the best was our small bath which host mommy prepared for us. After a jump into the cold water we relaxed again and had an ice cold Cider.

After a long first day we went to our TV bed.









Tomorrow we will do our first trip to see some sights in Berlin.

See you soon mommy,
Yours Matsya

Dear Mommy,

here Matsya again. Today we made a small walk through Berlin.

You can see me in front of the Wall and in front of the river Spree. It was a nice walk and I enjoyed my first trip in Berlin.

The small boat you can see is a Hostel. Isn´t it cool?!

Unfortunately it started to rain heavily and we couldn´t go further. But I think that I will get the possibility to see more in Berlin.










Best greetings to you.
Matsya

Hello mommy,

after two busy weeks finally we could take some nice photos. I´m very well here in Berlin and I hope you are doing well too.

Today we planed a bike tour from Berlin to Potsdam around the Schwielow Lake and back to Berlin. We had so much luck with the weather. You will see that in the pictures.

We started at 10 o´clock in the morning in Berlin Charlottenburg. We went to Berlin Grunewald and further to Wannsee. There we did our first brake. As you can see we had some cookies with us, so we were as fit as a fiddle all the time. By the way I had a perfect view in my small bag. It was perfect.

We went along the water front and reached Potsdam very soon. You can see me at the Glienicker Bridge and in front of the Babelberg Park. Really beautiful.

From Potsdam we went to Ferch. We did a small stop in Caputh to eat some cookies. Yummy. In Ferch we drunk a nonalcoholic Weiss beer. On our way back home we saw some cows. hehe I choose the biggest one for my steak later.

Finally we reached the Park Sansouci. The first photo shows the New Palais. Then you can see me in front of a garden. It was so great. The flowers were smelling. Wow. Later we even saw the Roman bath. A man helped me to take the pictures with the statue. He asked me where I come from and I could tell him about my home country Switzerland.

The next building is the Castle Charlottenhof. The Castle Charlottenburg is located in Berlin. This one in Potsdam is much smaller but very beautiful as well. Our last stop was the best one. I could see the Castle Sansouci. It was just amazing.

Here mommy the last photo our evidence we went almost 100 km by bike. Isn´t cool?!

During the next days you will see some more photos of me. Host mommy promised me to show a lot of things in Berlin.

I miss you mommy.
See you soon Matsya