Travelog for: Kelly Bear

Hi Mummy,
we took a walk today to the district Hasten and to the outskirts of Remscheid. Hasten is one of the oldest districts of the town, dwellings and mostly old factories close together. This district was not destroyed in World War II, so most of the old houses remained.



Katja told me that she lived in this large, grey painted house when she was a toddler.



Hasten is surrounded by woodland.



We saw a hedge of holly, covered with snow. I liked it very much.



Isn't this house pretty?



We than went to pick up Katja's friend who wanted to walk with us. She is living in a district close to Hasten, it is called Rath, a housing area with mostly one-family-homes and terraced houses. From here you can see Hasten again, in the background.



From here we went into the forrest. First we had to cross a road in the valley, than we had to walk uphill again.



Katja told us that in summer many horses are grazing on these pastures. In the background you can see the hill with the town centre, unmistable the silhouette with the water tower and the tower of the town hall.





We were walking along the border of the neighbour town Wuppertal. Hidden in the forrest are a few more small hamlets like this.



We had so much fun in the snow!



On the way back it started to snow again. Can you see it?



Back home we all had to sit on the heating because our bums were wet

Bye
Kelly Bear

Hi Mummy,
we had a party tonight!

Do you know why?

Theodore is Voyager of the week, so he had a reason to celebrate. Fluffytail and Louis even made a medal for him.





We had delicious food: cheese, olives,  tiny tomatoes, sweet pepper and nachos with cheese dip.













We were even allowed to taste Katja's beer.



Maybe I will also become VOTW one day. Than I'll throw a party, too.

Bye
Kelly Bear

Hi Mummy,
I had a closer look at Katja's slippers today. It was a little bit disappointing, they were not as cosy as yours. No plush inside, only leather and a cork sole.



It seems I wasn't the only one who was interested in those slippers! Rat girl Karla also showed interest.



The rats were really curious.



Finally they went anway and I could sit in the slippers. Not very convenient, I like your's more.



Bye
Kelly Bear

Hi Mummy,
we visited the carnival procession in Lennep today. Lennep is one of the oldest districts of Remscheid. Katja's partens are living here and it's the only carnival processioin in town.

It is helt for about 30 years on Carnival Monday. There were about 25 floats and marching bands.

First we went to Katja's parents. They are living in the seventh floor, the top floor, of a multi-storey building in Lennep. From here you can overlook the whole old town. Many of those old houses are older than 250 years.





The carnival procession started on a fairground and made its way through the town. It came around the street where Katja's parents are living, so we only had to go down to the street to see it.

It was a rather small procession. In other regions of Germany, in Cologne, Duesseldorf and many parts more in the south of Germany, hell is breaking loose at carnival time, from  Thursday, called „Altweiber“ (insuffiently translated to Woman's Carnival Day) until Tuesday. Almost nobody is working than, schools are closed and almost the complete population is celebrating and drinking gallons of beer (that's the part Katja also loves )

We were waiting for the procession to come.



The procession was coming than. In front of it they usually have police men, shooing everybody fron the pavement.





They were throwing sweets into the crowd. We also collected some sweets and had lots of fun.



Bye
Kelly

Hi Mummy,
Katja showed me the front side of the town hall today. Actually we planned to wait until the weather is fine again, but Katja said that maybe I'd already be on my way when the sun will shine again.

There is a pillar in front of the town hall, showing a lion, the heraldic animal of Remscheid.



The next picture was taken on our way back to work, after Katja's lunch break.



Bye
Kelly

Hi Mummy,
we went to the post office today to buy stamps. Katja showed us a fountain close to the post office. She told us that mostly children love this fountain because  there are many funny things integrated. Some parts are rotating than with the flowing water, some parts are salivating water into different directions and there are sounds caused by the water.



From here we walked into the direction of the central train station to walk along the route of tools.

But where is the train station?

Oh dear, this building site is the central train station, or better, it will be there in about half a year.







Here we are at the entrance to the route of tools, which is a lane for pedestrians and cyclists through the town, made on a closed railway route. It was financed by many local industrial firms, most of them they produce tools. Along the lane you can find signs of those producers, also artwork made of tools or parts of them. The closer you are to the central station the more industrial areas you have, some still working, other only ruins.





Katja forgot to change the camera settings from "close" to the normal setting, so the backdrops of the following photos are a little bit blurred (while I am looking especially sharp and pretty ).

In summer you can sit here to rest for a while.



Here you can see some of the signs of the sponsoring companies.



This bench is made of the axis of an old water wheel and an original sleeper.



This is part of the former slaughterhouse. This complex is under preservation order. Nowadays these buildings are used by different companies.



Here we are close to our home again. I already showed you this church, I believe.



Opposite of the church you can find a playground. Nobody is playing outside, maybe because it's lunch time.



Enough for today!
Bye
Kelly

Hi Mummy,
the weather is horrible, no more snow and sunshine. Have a look!

This is the space in front of the town hall with the lion on its pillar.



To cheer us up Katja decided to take us to the public library and later bake a chocolate cake. I think chocolate cake is the perfect thing when the weather is so bad.

Here you can see us in the library.







Back home we made a chocolate cake.

For this cake you need

300 g dark chocolate
140 g butter
4 eggs
200 g sugar
pith of 1 vanilla bean
100 g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
50 g sour cream



First we had to melt 227 g chocolate with butter. The rest of the chocolate had to be chopped.



Than we had to stirr the eggs with sugar and vanilla to a tight foam, for at least 5 minutes. The melted chocolate and butter had to be mixed into eggs and sugar, than flour, baking powder and cocoa powder, than sour cream.  Finally we had to stir the hacked chocolate into the dough.



The cake had to bake for 20 minutes, 175 °C.

Ready!



It's really delicious

Bye
Kelly Bear

Hi Mummy,

today it was much warmer than this week and the sun was shining. So Katja took me, Louis, Womat, Fluffytail and Sweetsy out for a walk. When the weather is good Katja seems to be unstoppable

She decided to show us Germany's highest railway bridge, Muengsten Bridge. Of course we walked there through the forrest.

Here you can see allotment gardens in a district called "Gueldenwerth".



We walked through a really pastoral area, here are snowdrops on a pasture.



Doesn't it look nice here? Only a few kilometres apart from the town centre.



We went into the forrest than.



On the next photo you can see how steep it's going downhill here.



We saw a collection of nest boxes for several sorts of birds.





This is an information board which is showing local plants, mostly herbs.



We reached a viewpoint and saw Muengsten Bridge for the first time, at least a little piece of it.



We rested here on a bench, enjoying the sun.



At the next viewpoint we could see the bridge.



Muengsten Bridge is made of steel. It is 107 m high and  spans the valley of river Wupper, which is marking the border between Remscheid and the neighbour town Solingen.

The bridge is 465 m long and was completed in 1897 A.D.

Katja knows a not very common path which is leading through the bricked pillars . From here you have an fantastic view.



... and here the other side.



Just above my heads were the railway tracks.

We walked downhill than, heading for the valley. We walked under the bridge, this time clearly lower than before.





Here you can see the River Wupper, running underneath the bridge, which is almost invisible because of back light.



We reached the valley than and took the following photo on a small bridge.



Half an hour ago we walked along the cute pavilion you can see in the background.



Underneath the bridge a leisure park was established. You can find restaurants here, lawns for relaxing, playgrounds for the kids and more.



After more than two and a half hour walking we decided to go home by bus. Otherwise we would have had to walk uphill for rmore than an hour.





The bus stop is really close to Katja's home.



We saw more snowdrops just in front of the house.



I'll travel to Japan tomorrow!

Bye
Kelly

Hi Mummy,
I'm on my way to Japan now!

Bye
Kelly

Dear Mommy,
I have arrived safe and sound! And just in time it seems. As soon as I arrived I said hello to Etwas, cerise, and Bobbie. They told me we were on our way out on our first trip!

Here we are at the gate of Shurijo (or Shuri) Castle. Shuri Castle is the main seat of the King of the Ryukyan Islands. Of course, there hasn't been a king for many years so now it is preserved as a part of history. It has been destroyed and rebuilt 5 times, most recently during World War II. It is very beautiful and one of the biggest tourist spots on the island. Jayme went today to take some friends to see  who hadn't been there before.

Here is a view from the top looking down, you can see the city of Naha in the background a bit. That's the capital city.

Here is the entrance to the castle itself.

And this is the palace.

Jayme didn't have time for individual pictures (it was VERY crowded!) but this is the throne.

We also got to walk around the grounds a bit and found this shrine.

Hope we'll have more to tell you about soon! Its so good to be out of my envelope.
Kelly Bear

Everyone needs some fun time! Today it was rainy again so we stopped by a children's play area. Jayme says these areas keep her sane since they let the children play for a half hour or so for just a few hundred yen (a few dollars). Here is the structure.

We toys got in on the fun a bit. We found a fire truck to drive.

And we played some in the climbing area.

Finally we rested with Jayme, this playing is hard business. Isn't it nice they include these massage chairs in the play area where you can still keep an eye on the kids? Just perfect.

After play time we stopped to get some McDonald's on the way home. The kids love their chicken nuggets and fries, but Jayme says they're a rare treat. Yum!

More soon,
Kelly Bear

Dear Mommy,
It has been rainy rainy rainy! Today we tried to go for a walk on the beach, but two things went wrong. First, do you see how bad the sky looks? It started sprinkling...then down pouring! Second, there was a festival of some sort going on the beach! They had a band there playing and all. Jayme says she didn't know what it was for, but it sure looked fun.

So we gave up and instead went for some more indoor exercise. We arrived in this parking garage type area. Hmm. Here's the entrance sign. Jayme says we're going to the playground....

Oh wow what fun! Its an indoor play area. First we chilled out on this thing, it spins around and around. It hard hard to get a photo.

Then we took a ride in the car.

They also had a small area that was netted all around with fans blowing balloons around. Jayme said the kids really love it.

And they had ball pits! How fun!

More updates to come soon, I promise!
Kelly Bear

Dear Mommy,
The weather outside is still rather icky, so today we went to a place that is kind of indoors. Its the Okinawa aquarium. I say kind of indoors because while the aquarium itself is inside, most of it is lit by natural light and it has a large park to walk around outside. Unfortunately we didn't get to do the park today, but we had fun at the aquarium. On the way to the aquarium we stopped for a quick lunch near a bridge. Here's the bridge.

And here's the lunch. Yum! Jayme said these boxes are called bento boxes. Some of them can get very artistic, and usually they have some rice in them but Jayme says she doesn't like cold rice so she improvises.

Finally we arrived at the aquarium. Here I am at the entrance. Jayme says that statue is of a whale shark (full size) and I'll get to see one soon!

We went down into the aquarium entrance hall and could see there was a dolphin show going on. You can see the weather doesn't look nice at all.

Finally we made it inside. We stopped to see the fish. This is the largest live coral reef in the world that's lit only with natural light.

We saw some neat fish!

And even spotted a sea turtle!

Here's another view of the tank, it has about 5 viewing areas.

From there we walked down a long dark hallway to see some other small fish exhibits. Unfortunately its dark enough down here that pictures don't come out But we got to see some neat fish. Then we moved on to the show piece item of the aquarium, the whale sharks! This is the 2nd largest tank in the world, and the largest view-screen in the world. Here is me and the whale sharks.

They weren't behaving very well today for pictures. Jayme says usually they swim pretty serenly around, but today they were sticking to the top. We think it may've been almost feeding time, but we never saw them get fed.

Near the whale sharks is a place to eat and watch the sharks swim. We couldn't get a seat near the windows, but we stopped to have icecream anyway.

We went to the gift store then went on out. A dolphin show was about to start so we decided to stop by and see it. Here I am at the show.

The dolphins did some neat tricks.


After that it was looking really rainy and the kids were getting tired so we decided to head home. But we had lots of fun! Another update soon.
Kelly Bear

Dear Mommy,
Today I got to fulfill a life mission! I got invited to Jayme's birthday party! Here I am at the start of it relaxing with a strawberry daquiri.

We helped decorate, does it look nice?

We also put the candles on the cake!


We sang to Jayme and she blew out the candles and we all got to eat cake. We also played some wii and just hung out. It was a nice relaxing party.
Kelly Bear

Dear Mommy,
We've been very busy! Jayme has been trying to prepare for Easter. We should have lots of pictures of that this weekend! She said we're even dying eggs. hmm, I wonder what that's like? In the mean time we were all dying for some fresh air so we walked to a playground. There are big rocks like this one all over Okinawa, we took a little break on one.

We also found a nice statue.

And finally the playground!

We toys wanted to have fun too so I took a break to ride a whale.

And play on the monkey bars.

I'll have more updates soon I promise!
Kelly Bear