Travelog for: Mandy Sheep

Hello mommy!

Well, that was a long journey. Finally I arrived at a new host and got to send you greetings from Thuringia.

Aruelius travelled with me and is finally back home. Now he can show all that is worth seeing in Thuringia and Mechterstädt.



I already had a look at the map to see where I am now.

Mechterstädt is a small village between Eisenach and Gotha, right in the middle. Can you see where I point?





More updates later.
CU, mommy!

My first trip in Thuringia led me to Gotha, which is about 15 km from the village.
We went there for shopping in the city center and I also got to see the town hall. Isn't it a nice building?





And this is the patron saint of Gotha, Saint Gothardus.

This weekend we went on a short trip to Dublin!

Before our flight we spent some time on the airport in Frankfurt.
And I used the time to look at the big 'birds'.



After we  had arrived in Dublin we started sightseeing straight away and went to  Trinity College, the oldest university in Ireland.










We went to see the exhibition in the old library, photos were not allowed inside

When I looked around the campus I found this sign and thought: what a strange language. But you have to know that in Ireland all the signs are  written in two languages: English and Gaelic, like here:

Today we took a city tour by bus and by foot in the morning.

We walked along the river Liffey and  went to St.Patrick's Church.














In the afternoon we went to the Guiness Store House to learn and see how the famous beer is made. Of course I also tried a pint myself!







And I had a great view over Dublin from the Gravity Bar on top.

Unfortuately it was very foggy and rainy when we went into the country today.
South  of Dublin you can find the Wicklow Mountains with a beautiful landscape... I guess...  if you can see the mountains in the sun.





First stop was Glendalough, the valley of two lakes.









After visiting the old monastery we went on to Powerscourt House and Gardens.





Don't you think the autumn coloured trees look great? We had a good time here though the weather was bad.

Hello mommy,

We are back home and look what happened:
Snow! for the first time this winter. Well, autumn....

Went for a walk in the autumn forest today and came to this lake and camping site.







As you see the snow has already melted and the trees look colourful in the sun.

Today I want to show you a little of the village that I am visiting right now. It is called Mechterstädt and there live about 1000 people.



They have 2 twin cities, one in France and one in Ireland.

Otherwise the village is really small with only a little square in the center and a church.

Dear mommy,

I know it has been a long time since I updates last. My host is quite busy and when she is back from work it is already too dark to go outside or take good pictures.

We mainly spend our evenings at home and do crafty things.

I help with scrapbooking, e.g. trimming the paper





and we also already prepare for Xmas and do some crafts like these stars.





So you see I am not bored!

Today we went into the town of Waltershausen, where my host works.

We walked along the market square with the church and the nice town hall.





Then we went to the library to borrow some books.

Pelly and I helped our host to bake Xmas cookies.

We made 3 different recipes: almond cookies, walnut cookies and shortbread hearts.

We went to the Christmas Market in Gotha and even though it is very small it was nice with the lights and smells.

Look, mommy, we had lots of new snow the other night!

Merry Christmas, Mommy!

For the holidays we went to my host's parents in Saxony and the little town Penig.

When we arrived in the morning of December 24th we went to the city center and the town hall with the large pyramide.




At home I had a look at all the Xmas decorations in the living room and of course there also was a Christmas tree.










And in the evening Santa Claus brought a lot of present. See me on the huge pile?

Dear mommy,

Over new year we went on a short trip to the Taunus Mountains in Hessen.

We stayed in a little town called Schlangenbad - Snake Bath. The name derives from the Aesculap snakes that supposedly exist here. I found all the explanation on this board.



The town is an old spa town whose times of prosperity are over. Nothing really happening there anymore, the new slogan in ' the town with time'.

Yes everything is slow and quiet here so we enjoyed a good time.

On the first day we took a walk in the area.

There is the old spa hotel in the spa park....



In the arcades you can drink from the natural fountain, and I tried the water.







You can also sit here and enjoy a book from the open library.



Then we went through the woods along the little stream. Nice beech tree alleys were there.







In former times the trees were tied together or to the ground to protect the fields. This was called 'Gebueck'. I found one old tree that dates back to this times of the 13 to 18th century.





Would you be able to tell from the bark which tree it is? There was a game in the woods to see how well one knows the tree barks. I was not very good in guessing.





And finally we reached the top of the hill and we had a nice view over the valley and the village.