Travelog for: Michel

The final instalment of our mini break...

In my last update we were just about to get the bus from Cheltenham to Gloucester city centre. Here I am on the bus When we arrived we were glad we'd made the journey. The cathedral is so beautiful and calming. We were even allowed to take some pictures inside and it wasn't really dark like some cathedrals. We were messing about around the walls when a man went past saying 'what a good idea to take your teddies with you on a day out!' He didn't stop long enough for us to explain that we weren't any old teddies - we were teddies travelling the world! Ah well.


We managed to get some pictures in the centre grassed bit of the cathedral, just before the camera's battery died and signalled it was time to travel back to our host's home! We had lots of fun mum


Added trivia found online (My host likes visiting places where bits of the Harry Potter movies were filmed )

On our walk back from the library where my host had been studying, we went along a bridge. There wasn't much else to see on the walk apart from the Free-range chicken farm near to my host's house. I don't think we were meant to be on the land so we zoomed in a bit.

The next photo is us inspecting the exciting looking sequin glitter glue I was using to make mum's birthday banner - the others helped too though!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!!! A little bird (not Buzz ) told me that you were having a party - I hope you had a great time!

Pengy,  Buzz and Edelweiss helped me make the banner below so they wanted a photo with them in too And I have included some pics we took of me and the postcard we sent. Do you recognise the bear on the card?! I think the head is a slightly different shape to mine but ah well.

My host travelled to Durham for a meeting about her education, so us toys went along too. We had fun taking pictures from the back of the car I managed to get a photo of some windmills mum, before they flashed past! I don't know if you can spot them as they look small on the picture, but I liked them very much We're not sure what the landscape was that we passed, on the map it looks like we skimmed the top of the Yorkshire Dales.

We had a break to stretch our legs and met some sheep They wanted to talk to us I think but our host was wary about our safety.

When we reached our destination we didn't have much time to investigate as the journey is a long way to go there and back in a day. But we just about had time to walk along the river a bit and saw the cathedral in the distance. Since Edelweiss had seen it before she described to the rest of us what it looked like close up  We had parked in my host's college grounds which is on a hill next to the river Wear, so we had a quick look around there too.

(Sorry the pictures are a bit out of order towards the end!)

Hi Mum!

Today my host took us to a nearby city called Liverpool. We visited her favourite shop which is known as 'Quiggins'; it is full of gothic/retro/vintage/alternative clothing and objects. Sorry the indoor pictures are blurry; it is rather dimly lit and we suspected a flash may not be allowed!

The next pictures are of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, just up the hill from Quiggins. We waited for a group of tourists to move so we could get a group shot undisturbed From the other side of the cathedral we zoomed and could just about view the top the Liver Building, which has two liver bird statues on top. This building is situated next to the Docks and River Mersey. We will hopefully go to see that side of Liverpool another day.

P.s. I got fluff on my nose again! I'm not quite sure why, whether it is due to the material of the bag we travel in... We are gonna try to stick to a plastic type bag from now on and see if that solves the problem.

Today we went back to Liverpool!  But when we got there we realised there was someone missing... Edelweiss! There was a moth whizzing around the other day and since Edel is made of wool she had crawled into her plastic bag with the cedar wood for safety. When my host scooped us all off the shelf in a rush this morning, Edel was still in her bag on the other shelf! So sad. But when we got back she said she'd had a nice rest, and was happy to see our photos  


It was a day of typical English whether; dull sky and the constant threat of rain. We made our way past St George's Hall (the one with all the collumns) and through St John's gardens. These are part of the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City UNESCO world heritage site (gosh what a mouth full!), along with Pier Head and Albert Dock which we are making our way towards.


We reached Pier Head where the Royal Liver Building is. This is the main landmark in Liverpool and according to legend if the birds on top fly away, the city will no longer exist This is the building that I saw in the distance the other day when we visited the cathedral.


We wandered along a bit more to reach Albert Dock, where The Beatles music band museum is. THEN... we saw the Yellow Duck Marine! It is a site-seeing bus/boat created due to The Beatles 'Yellow submarine' song. It tours the main sights on land, then splashes into the river and turns into a boat. We heard the driver saying in a strong scouse accent 'The louder you scream, the bigger the splash!' LOL. Buzz, Michel, Pengy and I started singing 'we all live in a yellow submarine... a yellow submarine... a yellow submarine...' Because we're cool We got so carried away singing we didn't get the big splash on camera, but I managed to snap a photo of it sailing away just before it disappeared from site.

We also spotted some Superlambanana decendants The original one was much bigger and bright yellow, as you would imagine a bannana would be It was created for Liverpool due to its history of bananas and lambs being common cargo at the docks, and also to make a point about the dangers of genetic engineering. In 2008 125 small replicas were made, with lots of different designs and scattered throughout the city. The superlambananas you can see me with are part of a collection of 8 new ones which arrived in 2010.

Hello Mum! Today I jetted off to the USA! But before I went I organised these pictures that I wanted to show you.

The first are of BineHH's arrival, a relative of mine She jumped up to give me a hug which took me by surprise a bit and the other TVs laughed. But we are good friends She had brought with her a wonderful card from her previous host, with cool drawings on!

The next are of Pinky Bear's arrival. On this day two other toys joined us, having just come from the charity shop. They are going to become toy voyagers soon! They don't have names yet, but I got on really well with the monkey. She is similar to my size, so we felt on the same 'level'

Finally, it was time for me to jump into my envelope. It was sad to leave, and particularly sad to say goodbye to BineHH, but I am comfy and looking forward to my next adventure!

See you when I get there Mum
Love Michel

P.s. Oh, when I left another bear appeared on the scene, who had been sitting in the hall for months because someone in this house didn't want him My host rescued him and said he could take my place as 'Guardian bear of the TV visitors' 

Hello,

Today I arrived in Santa Paula California. I am excited to start a new adventure here and see what this place has. I just wanted to let you know that we are currently having internet problems at my hosts house so a friend let us use her computer today to let you know I have made it safely.

We walked around town today looking at statues and murals, but I will have to upload those pictures tomorrow and I am limited on time here on this computer.

I do have time to upload one picture of me and my host walking to where I will be staying from the post office where she picked me up today. She seems like a really nice girl and says she loves bears, so I know I will be treated right here. She says there are many bears at  home for me to meet along with 2 other TVs that are currently staying with her at this time.

Til tomorrow.

♥ Michel

Hi,
Today was a fun day. We went to the pumpkin patch to pick out some nice pumpkins. We saw many different kinds of pumpkins, corn, and gourd. We also saw a few animals there. It was quite windy so we didn't stay too long.

We got a picture with the scare crow. He seemed nice. We wanted a tractor ride but there was no rides today.

The goats were friendly and let me get a picture with them. I guess they were too busy eating to notice a picture was being taken.

I also saw three big pumpkins that were already carved. I think they were monsters. They were to advertise the pumpkin carving classes. I think that would be fun, but really messy.

We left without a pumpkin. Didn't find one we liked. We will try a different place later.

Hope you are well.

Michel

Today is Halloween and we decided to come get a few pictures with the tombstones and headstones. We wanted to come at night but this cemetery closes once it gets dark.  We had a good time looking at the stones. Some were really old and were a bit hard to read. We enjoyed being here. It was quiet and peaceful. We even stopped by to see my hosts grandmothers headstone. As I was walking along I fell into a hole. It was a bit scary, but my host helped my out. I'm glad we didn't see any ghosts while we were here.

Hello,

I hope you are well. Today we decided to go for a drive. We took the 126 freeway East to Interstate 5 North. We didn't really have a place that we were going to. Ut was just to have a nice drive and enjoy the scenery. We saw many pastures and a few animals. It was a bit cold and foggy in some areas as we kept going north. Good thing we were able to keep warm in the car.

Having a good time,
Michel

Today we started working on the christmas lights. My host used her phone to take pictures so I was able to upload some pictures and make an update. I am doing great and was told next week will be going to the oil museum.

First we had to get all the christmas lights out of the storage shed. After we did that we had to plug them in and make sure they all still lit up.

We got few new lights this year. We put up few and will finish the rest tomorrow. Then I will get a chance to get a picture at night with them all lit.

Til later,
Michel

Hi,
Here is a quick picture of me and what the Christmas lights look like at night. We are heading out to do some Christmas shopping. It is a bit cold out , but its not too bad.

Today is Christmas. It is a bit cold out, but I'm told its not as cold as other years. We had Posole and Spaghetti for dinner. It was hot and very tasty. I helped boil milk for some hot chocolate. It was also hot and tasty. All the gifts this year were just for the kids. It was a nice family time. I enjoyed watching them open their gifts and seeing the joy in their faces.

Happy Holidays!

Today i made a few new friends. I will only have a few more days to get to know them because i will be on my way to Germany at the start of the new year. I told them about the how i came to visit here and they think it is a wonderful idea. They would to travel and see the world as well.