Travelog for: Murph

Hi Mummy,
Katja's Mummy is celebrating her birthday today. On our way to her home we saw a special truck in the city centre. Have a look!





Later, when we had dinner in a restaurant, it was a bit boring for me, so I put the other ToyVoyagers up to play with the Christmas decoration





Bye
Murph

Hi Mummy,

we went to Essen today to join a ToyVoyager- and Postcrossing-Meeting there. Essen is  a city in the central part of the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia, one of 16 German states. Remscheid is also situated in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Essen was appointed European Capital of Culture for 2010 on behalf of the whole Ruhr Area. Essen is also well known for its fantastic Christmas illumination.

Eleven woman joined the meeting, ToyVoyagers was represented by Apperveilchen, BlackCat and olgamaus. We met on the Christmas market close to the central station.





Of course we had to wait until it was getting dark to see the beauty of the Christmas Illumination. Until than we wrote lots of postcards in a restaurant.

Here you can see all the ToyVoyagers which are travelling with Katja at the moment. They are Nala, Wieka, Murph and Sweetsy, who visited Katja already this year.



Than the TVs hosted by Apperveilchen joined us ...



and finally those hosted by BlackCat.



We took a walk through the city than. BlackCat showed us a carillon.





They even have a nostalgic ferris wheel on the Christmas market.



We decided to take a ride on the ferris wheel. It is 56 m high - 56 m closer to my home planet



We went high and higher ...



We had a fantastic overview across the city.

After we reached the ground we decided to have a look at the nearby cathedral. Essen Cathedral (Essener Münster) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Essen. The cathedral was formerly the collegiate church of Essen Abbey, founded in about 845.

First we had a look at the atrium with a graveyard.





In the cathedral itself there was a choir practice, so we decided to take no photos to avoid disturbing the singers.

In the meantime is was getting dark outside and we were able to enjoy the Christmas illumination.



We also saw a crib with life-sized figures and real sheep. Now the Ferris wheel was illuminated!



It was time to travel home than (to Remscheid, not to my home planet)

Bye
Murph

Hi Mummy,

today the sun was shining finally. So the other TVs and Katja wanted to go out while I preferred to spend the day in front of the television.

First we went to the municipal park with its pond.



This is the observatory. From there I should see my home planet.



They have pretty houses in the vicinity of the park.



Remscheid is situated on a hill. This means that we are walking downhill right now, which also means that I will have to walk uphill for hours later!!!



A museum is situated in this Patrizian villa, built in late 18. century.





18. century?! We don't have such a thing on my home planet.

We took a group photograph in front of the museum.



The German Tool Museum is also situated here. This machine also looks like it was built in 18. century.





In this district you can find industrial buildings and dwellings close together.



Those houses and narrow lanes also look like they were built in 18. century.





We walked downhill until we reached the bottom of the valley with a creek running through it.



I told you so! Now we have to walk uphill for hours. I knew why I wanted to stay at home *grmpf*

At least we reached our home before I starved.

Bye
Murph

Hi,
we made delicious cookies today, they are called "Florentiner" in German. The only reason why we made them was Katja reading travelogs from Austria. There she found good looking cookies and so she asked the TV-member for the receipe. We had to  try them immediately.

First we had to cook cream, butter and honey until the mass was thickening.



Than we added almonds, candied fruit and also some wheat flour. We made little piles of dough onto a baking tray. They had to bake for about 10 minutes than.



The result was already good-looking.



I had a closer look at the bottom side of the cookies. Maybe they got burned?

No,  they did not.



I told Katja that we could make some chocolate on top of the cookies. Than the upper side would be much prettier than the bottom side. And indeed, they are much prettier now.



I had at least 12 of those cookies, my stomach is hurting a bit now.

Bye
Murph

Hi Mummy,

we went with Katja's brother-in-law to buy a Christmas tree. We did not only buy it, we even wanted to fell it by ourselves. We went to a farm where Christmas trees are sold.



We had to drive further into a forest. There you can fell the tree you like.





It is so cooooooold .... now I know why Arnie is living in sunny California ... There you won't freeze your b***s off!



Katja's brother-in-law chose his tree.



He has brought a large saw with him ...





We had to choose our tree than. Katja did not want such a large tree. Soon we found one.



Here our tree is packed into a net.



We drove back to the farm than to pay for the trees. In the meantime we had a look at the farm. They also have horses here.



They also have a booth here where they sell currywurst, wafers and hot drinks.



When we were home again Katja took us to the attic to have a look out of the rooflight. In the background you can see the tower of the city hall and the water tower.







Bye
Murph

Hi Mummy,

I'm wishing you a very happy holiday.



Bye
Murph

Hi Mummy,
we were invited by Katja's sister-in-law to celebrate New Year's Eve.

First we had raclette for dinner with several sorts of cheese, potatoes, other vegetables and so on. It was delicious.

Later we played a nice board game: Cluedo.



I'm pretty sure you know this game: You have to find out who murded the victim, Dr. Schwarz in the German version. You also have to find out which weapon was used and in which room the offence was committed. We had a lot of fun playing this game.



Almost midnight ...





Happy New Year!



We went outside and enjoyed the fireworks.









Bye
Murph

Hi Mummy,

we took a walk today in one of the valley which are surrounding Remscheid.



I have never seen this part of the municipal are before, but it looks pretty.



OUr first stop ...



We crossed a creek here. Katja told me to be careful, otherwise I would fall into the creek and become completely wet and than I'd probably freeze to death.



... our second stop.





Bye
Murph

Hi Mummy,
I helped Katja's daughter to cook goulash today. Not only me, but also the lions Walter and Cyryl. I had to keep them from eating all the raw beef

For cooking goulash you need beef, sweet pepper, onions and some spices.





Ah, onions!



Ugh, they brought tears to my eyes!



We were waiting for the pressure cooker to open.



This smells delicious.



Bye
Murph

Hi Mummy,
we have a lot of snow here. Today we met Katja's friend Kerstin and her dog to take a walk in the snow.





Hey, I have been here before! It is this former army  training area!



The wind is blowing heavily on those open spaces.



It was already getting dark when we went back to the car.



Bye
Murph

Hi Mummy,

we went to Cologne today. First we had to appompany Katja's daughter to the airport. She went on a class trip to Prague in the Czech Republic today.

Afterwards we went to the city centre. When you leave the train station the first thing you see is Cologne Cathedral.





Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church, seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and is under the administration of the archdiocese of Cologne. The cathedral is a World Heritage Site.

Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 and took, with interruptions, until 1880 to complete; a period of over 600 years. The cathedral is he largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and one of the world's largest churches. Because of its enormous twin spires, it also presents the largest façade of any church in the world. Its medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings and fit its role as a place of worship of the Holy Roman Emperor.

It is so large that you cannot take any good photo from here.

We went to the shopping streets than. Here you can see the old brewhouse of "Früh", one of many "Kölsch"-breweries here. (Kölsch is a special sort of beer, only brewed in Cologne.)





Carnival season started on November, 11th. The residents of Cologne love carnival



This is Neumarkt. Can you see the large ice cream cone on one of the buildings?



This is one of the most famous buildings in the shopping street, the "whale" of Peek & Cloppenburg. You can see more of it here.



We went to the old town than. You can find old houses here which were built in 13th century. Not all of them, of course, but the old town still has this medieval character with its narrow lanes.





The remains of the old town are close to the river Rhine.





Opposite of those buildings there is the jetty of one of the excursion boats.



We walked along the rivr bank until we reached the old harbour. Nowadays several companies settled here and you can find extraordinarily expensive appartements here.



Two museums are also situated here on the Rhine peninsula, the Imhoff Schokoladenmuseum (Imhoff Chocolate museum) and the Deutsches Sport- and Olympia Museum (German sports- and olympics museum).





Those large buildings are partly still under construction.



We walked back to the city centre than.







From here you can see more Cologne Cathedral .



We went back to the train station and went home.

Bye
Murph

Hi Mummy, hi Rike,

I have spend about  three months here in Remscheid and I have seen lots of interesting places. Maybe Rike is feeling a bit lonely, so I'll return to her home now.



Let's see how much time I will spend there.

I said good-bye to Walter, Cyryl, Cilly and Katja.

Bye
Murph

Hi out there,

I am back home. Dicker Kumpel and RikeH were so happy to see me again. Of course they missed me a lot!



Dicker Kumpel showed me some of the other guests. I gave Twix greetings from his Mum, I visited her the last 3 months. Thanks Olgamaus!!!



After the long travel inside the envelope I wanted to explore the garden, of course not too much. Hey – who are you?



You are new in this garden!!!





Well, it seems to me that he didn’t want to talk to me, so I will go inside and tell the others of my adventures of the last 3 months.

Bye
Murph

Hello Mum,

a new guest arrived two days ago. She is called Agatha and came from Canada.
We talked a lot – and she showed a viewcard from her country.



Today we decided to drive to a nice small town. It is called Bad Oldesloe.
RikeH went to school there – many many years ago.

They have a nice river there. I liked it – and saw some funny ducks in the water and on the ice.





This is the townhall. It was not so easy to take this photo, because the ground was very icy.



Another nice place in Bad Oldesloe.



Greetings
Murph

Helau,

a new guest arrived – his name is Libbs and he is from Singapore.  We gave him a warm welcome – he is so small.



Today we will have a great time – it is Carnival Monday. So I searched for a nice hat. RikeH offered  three different ones.



I decided to take the green one.



Then I watched the parade in the TV.





The people in the parade threw sweets – called Kamelle... and I cought some.



I had so many...



I shared the sweets with my friends.



What a wonderful day!
yours Murph