Travelog for: Synapse

Our first stop was the Palais de Justice, outside which stood a very grand memorial to the Belgian foot soldiers who died during the first and second world wars.

Next we made out way to the Grand Place, the central market square, which is surrounded by ancient guild houses and the town hall. At one end we found a nativity scene where two bored sheep munched straw next to the carved human figures.

Moving on, we saw the Manneken Pis, who is the subject of many fables, but who struck me as a rather unimpressive little chap. Heading back towards the Palais de Justice I stopped to examine one of the many murals for which Brussels is famous. Our last stop before we made our way to the railway station was the more impressive Porte de Hal, the last remaining gate of the medieval city wall. Built in the 14th Century, it later served as a prison - a duty that saved it from the demolition that befell the rest of the surrounding wall.

From Brussels we took the train to Antwerp, arriving at its glorious station which was built in 1905 and which is recognised to be one of the most stunning works of the Belgian architect Louis Delacenserie.

Further explorations took us to the Cathedral of our Lady, which is very strange because one of its towers is taller than the other one. Apparently they ran out of money (which Travel Ted says happens to him a lot) but the one they did manage to finish is the highest spire in Benelux.

A little further on we saw a big ferris wheel by the river. Close by there was a medieval castle, 'Het Steen',  which is Antwerp's oldest building and which now houses its maritime museum.

Belgium was fun but it's about time I got out and saw a bit of London. I started my tour on the south bank of the Thames by the London Eye. This big wheel looked a little bit more robust than the one I saw in Antwerp!

Walking along the side of the Thames I saw many interesting things, from the strange sculptures outside the Salvador Dali exhibition to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

I finished my excursion with a visit to Trafalgar Square where I saw Nelson's Column and the lovely big Christmas tree.

It's Christmas Day! This is the day that the English have their main celebration, unlike many countries in Europe who can't wait that long and make their celebrations the night before.

The main thing we did was eat an awful lot of food. I started my lunch with some soup. It was so nice I ate another bowl. When I saw how many other things there were to follow I started to get slighly worried that my slim figure might not have enough space to allow me to try every dish. Luckily I just managed it. There was turkey, sage and onion stuffing, nut roast, roasted potatoes, roasted parsnips, roasted onions, roasted peppers, brussels sprouts, broccoli and gravy. There was wine too but I didn't have any as it might have killed me.

Hello!

I arrived safely some days ago in Hamburg at Jenny's place. She was very busy so I can make this update a little late... I was really happy to get out of the envelope and breathe some fresh air again. First I had a look at my new surroundings and then I came out totally.


The first thing I saw were two fellow TVs who are just visiting here. They are Nanu the cub and TagAlong Rocket. They were looking carefully at me but soon they came near to greet me.


But the most amazing thing happened just after, I met another brain cell just like me!! She is living right here with my new host and seems very happy with it.

We connected right away and I will enjoy the time we will have together although I still want to go on with my travels! But for now I want to see some more of Hamburg and I hope this will happen soon.

Bye,
Synapse

Hello!

Two new TVs arrived at Jenny's house in the last days. First there was Finja from Germany. Nanu and I were really excited to meet her.


And today arrived Super Grover from Australia. Now we are four TVs at Jenny's house and we have a lot of fun together.


After we welcomed Super Grover we went to the harbour. I will tell you about it in the next entry.

Bye,
Synapse

Hello again!

Today we went to see the harbour of Hamburg. This is perhaps the most famous part of Hamburg and was really excited to visit it. We went there by public traffic and when we left the station we had a great view over the harbour. There was some snow in Hamburg these days which is really untypical. And we had grey weather with some more snow and rain which is typical for Hamburg.

There were some bridges down to the ships and we went along one of them.

But it started to rain heavier by then and Jenny decided to show us the old tunnel underneath the river Elbe and the harbour from the other side of it.


As the rain had stopped then we had a little picknick in the snow and watched some ships going by. The yellow one is the ferry to the musical "The Lion King" which is located in the harbour. But the ferries are used for normal trips when they are not needed to carry visitors to the theater.





As it was really cold I was glad when we arrived home. I enjoyed the trip to the harbour and I hope I will see more of Hamburg soon!

Bye,
Synapse

Hello!
Jenny took us out to show us some more of Hamburg. We went to the city centre and then we saw the town hall of Hamburg.

We went on to see the Alster and come along the "Alsterarkaden". There were many birds there and at the Alster.

I hope to see some more of Hamburg before I have to move on but next week the university starts again for Jenny and she isn't sure if she will find the time to take me around soon.

Bye,
Synapse

Hallo!
I am still in Germany but way further south now. Bertie the duck is also saying here. I will write more when I've seen something around here.
Synapse

Today was a wonderful day and we decided to visit the wolf-park after work. There's a man who hand raises wolves and joins them in their habitats regularly.

He also studies their behaviour. This shows some of the signs of anger or fear, wanting to explore, be imposing or attack...

Here's an arctic wolf:

and a Lithuanian one (on the platform behind the warter), more are hiding around it. They were probably really warm today.


There are several observation towers.

From this one we couldn't see wolves, because of reconstruction of the fences but we saw nisting boxes for birds. Those are loud during this time of the year.




What a beautiful day! There are premium hiking paths around here and a way where plants are explained.



Here's a rosa canina (Heckenrose):