Travelog for: Barney

Hi Mummy,
we went to Cologne today. I asked Katja if we could visit Colongne Cathedral as long as I am still here. She said "Why not?" I was so excited! The weather was bad today so I did not believe that we would really go there today, but ....

When Katja finished work we went to the central station. Katja's daughter was also coming with Mister_Right and me. (Mister_Rights needs some distraction - his girlfriend left him in Paris). Soon we arrived in Cologne.



When you walk into the city centre, the first thing you'll 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.

Of course we went inside to have a look at the great architecture.






Outside again we tried to take a photo which would show the whole cathedral, but it was impossible - it is too large.







Alex asked if we would like to climb onto the North spire. Of course we wanted!  They have a separate entrance for those who want to climb the spire. You can see excarvations here.



Here are some facts about the spire:



Heigt: 157 m
Stairs: 533 (Fivehundredthirtythreeeeeeee)
Climb: 100 m
Climb and descent: about 30 minutes
No lift

That means hard work. We climbed and climbed and climbed ....

... and reached the bell room.



We had to climb more and more ...





... and finally we reached the outlook platform. Our legs were aching, it was windy as hell and we knew that we would have to climb downstairs soon. But the fantastic overview was worth it.





Walking downstairs was much more fun.

We saw a sign showing the different sections of the spire. You can see the height of each section and how many stairs you have to climb.



Outside again we tried to take the perfect photo once more.







Close to the cathedral you can find the Romano-Germanic-Museum. Already outside some excarvatons are displayed.



We wanted to see the River Rhine than.









We went back to the city centre. We walked through the shopping streets and reached Neumarkt than.







We also went to the old town, here we are at Heumarkt.



They have lovely pubs here. Katja and Alex enjoyed a beer in the pub on the left side. The old town has narrow streets and lovely houses.





Did you see when this house was built? In 1626 AD.



A lovely view, isn't it?



It started to rain than, we made our way back to the central station and went home. I'm sure I don't want to see any stairs for a few days.

Bye
Barney

Hi Mummy,
I'm on my way to Canada now.

Bye
Barney

Hello!

Guess what? I arrived here in Canada just in time for Halloween! Two other TV's, Ferda and Fiete were there to great me when I arrived. They even had lots of candy!





We didn't waste any time and decided to help Ren carve some pumpkins.



They were pretty small so it didn't take too long before they were empty!



While Ren cut out her pumpkin's face we helped to separate all of the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin goo so we could bake them.



Ren finished her pumpkin!



And the seeds were ready too!



Yum!



We went into a dark room to try out Ren's Jack o lantern.



Her mother made a silly face on the other pumpkin!



After all of that hard work it was time to sneak some candy!



Then we put the pumpkins on the front step.



There was a skeleton out there too! Yikes!



Ren's mother dressed up like a witch to answer the door but she couldn't find her hat! I hope that the rest of the people in Canada are not this scary looking!



We hung out with her for the rest of the evening waiting to give out candy.



Now all of the rest of the candy is left for us! Yay! Happy Halloween!



-Barney

Hello!

Today I went into Halifax to see some of the important buildings there.

I started out a place called Pier 21. Here it is:



In the old days when people from other countries moved to Canada they often arrived at this building. From here they would board trains like this one and travel west to start their new lives as Canadians.





Here are what some of the plaques read:







After that I went to city hall. On the way I saw this statue of Governor Edward Cornwallis. He was the founder of Halifax. A lot of people do not like this man because he was very cruel to the Mi’kmaq First Nations people in the area.



Here I am at City Hall!





City Hall is located on a piece of land called the Grand Parade. Here is what you see looking the other way:





From the Grand Parade you can see the Old Town Clock. It began keeping time in 1803.



In Canada November 11th is called Remembrance Day. It is the day to celebrate those who fought in war. This monument is one of the places where people celebrate it in the city. I was there a day early so there was only one poppy wreath to look at. There would be a lot more there now.

 

And this church is special because it is the oldest building in Halifax!





Interesting!

I wonder what I will see next?

-Barney

Hello Again!

Recently the city that I'm staying at experienced the first snow of the season. It was kind of yucky and depressing looking but then it it warmed up a lot and all the snow disappeared!



We decided to take advantage of the nice weather so Fiete, Ferda and I went to a place called Point Pleasant Park.



It is a great place to see the Atlantic Ocean. Too bad there was not one sail boat out today!



Facing the other way you can see the big cranes that load and unload cargo ships.



This area used to be a big military bastion. From here the soldiers could see any ship that was entering the Halifax harbour. There are remains of this all over the park.





There are also lots of monuments honouring the military along the water.









And there are lots of stories to read about different battles and events. Here is just one of them:



Us TV's discovered this little canon and made up our own battle story! (We won of course!)



After that we moved away from the water and climbed up a really really big hill!



At the top of the hill there is a tower!



(Whew my little legs were tired from the the hill!)





I wonder if there is a princess up there? I called out but didn't get an answer!



Next we walked to another place where the remains of the fort still stand.  On the way we met some seals!



Here it is!



There was a really big cannon here!



You really can see well from way up here! No one is attacking the city today!





It was starting to get dark so we made our way back down the hill to catch our bus but we missed it! It was okay though, we just sat on the beach and waited for the next one to come.



It was a really fun day!

-Fiete

Hi!

Recently I travelled to a place called the Shubenacadie Canal. It's located in Dartmouth, a nearby city that's full of lakes. The canals connect all these lakes together and they were very important for transportation before there was lots of roads. This part of the canal system is now a park.



Here's what is on the sign:



The lake that I started at was small but full of ducks!



Hello ducks!



There is a trail along the canal so I took it.



In the old days this water would have been full of canoes and busy people.



There used to be simple houses along the water too but there is not much left of them now.  The rocks behind me used to be a small house.





There were two bridges across the water. I stopped on this one to have my picture taken.



The trail is much higher up on this side!



There used to be a blacksmiths shop behind me here. But once again there is very little left of it today.





The trail went on forever!



Finally I reached the lake on the other side! It was much bigger and had a beach. I love beaches but it was much too cold for swimming. I sat on the life guard bench instead and rested. Then it was time to walk back!



I ended up back at the small lake but on the other side this time!



It was fun!

Bye for now!

-Barney

Hello!

It was quite chilly here but Fiete and I decided to explore the Halifax harbour together. We started at the Historic Properties.



The Historic Properties are a bunch of old buildings that are used for tourist shops now. But as you can see there are not many tourists this time of year!



Just past the Historic Properties is a boardwalk that goes along the water. You can see some of downtown Halifax in the background here.



Here is a statue of Samuel Cunard, a famous shipbuilder who was born here in 1787.



There is only one boat in today! Ren says that during warmer months this place is full of boats!



There are no sailboats to be seen!



There is a lighthouse though!



Fiete and I rested a bit and watched to see if any more boats came in, but none did. I think that I might not get to see a sailboat here afterall =(



You can see the open ocean behind me. No sailboats out there either!



We headed back after that.



I guess I will have to settle for seeing two huge tugboats!



Even though I did not get to see my sailboat it was still very pretty and I had a great time!



Bye for now!

-Barney

Hi
Today I caught the train into the city


and visited the QVB, which stands for Queen Victoria Building, in the centre of Sydney. It is a huge shopping complex inside a beautifully historic building.


I was very lucky to be able to visit at this time of year as they have the most spectacular Christmas tree on display there. It was huge!! It went from the ground floor, through the centre of the building and almost reached the top of the dome above the third floor. Making it even more impressive were the thousands of Swarovski crystals and over 60,000 lights! It is apparently the largest Swarovski tree in the world.

Here I am at the base of the tree. You can already tell that the tree is huge, right?


Going up to the next floor. Isn't the building beautiful?


This is the other wall, looking back the other way from the last photo.


This is the tree from the second floor, looking up to the top. It almost reaches the ceiling of the dome!




The QVB is also home to a huge hanging clock called the Australia clock. It is the world's largest hanging animated turret clock. It weighs 4 tonnes and is 10 metres tall. There are 32 clocks, 12 of which show international times. There are 33 paintings, and 138 hand carved figurines telling the story of Australia from both Aboriginal and European perspectives.






Being a beach dog, I certainly hope I get to visit some of these beaches one day!

After some window shopping and checking out the tree, we headed out onto the city streets so I could see some more sights, like Sydney (Centrepoint) Tower.




As you can see we had the perfect summer day - not too hot and clear blue skies.

Sydney is starting to look a little festive, but we were a little disappointed by the display on the Town Hall. They could have done a little more than one tiny tree, don't you think?


This is outside a pub called the Wise Monkeys. At least they know how to get into the Christmas spirit!


At the end of the day we ended up in Central Station, where even this old rail workers pay bus was dressed up for Christmas!

Ever wonder why teachers look so tired and grumpy at the end of the school year?
This is why - they spend all their time getting their classrooms packed up and moved to new rooms so they can unpack and get organised again. All while still having all their students in the room at the same time! After three days of helping out I'm totally exhausted!!

Bec's old desk half way through the move - the neatest its looked in a long time apparently!


Her new desk... wonder how long it will stay this neat!


This is her old classroom. Its nice and big, but gets a little bit hot in summer. At the moment it is looking a little bit sad and dreary without all the artwork on the walls and the desks pushed aside for the cleaners.


Here's the room we've been  moving everything into. I was a little confused - how was she going to fit a whole class into such a tiny space. Then she explained that next year she will be a specialist teacher, working with small groups of children who are having problems learning to read and write. I was very relieved.


And this all belongs to the teacher moving into Bec's old room. I'm glad I don't have to help sort this all out! Apparently Bec had had a mess like this last week!



But.... I've decided to make an escape from all this cleaning and packing! I heard Bec's sister, Stef, say she was going out on Friday night to look at Christmas lights, so I've stowed away with Bec's camera in Stef's handbag so that I can see them too!


I hope this is ok. I will report back in when I return 'home'

Barney.

Today I visited Stef's work. She works for Qantas, Australia's national airline.


I made some new friends


and checked out her stocking (Santa hasn't visited...  yet!)

After work Stef and her friend Mel fulfilled a yearly tradition of looking at Christmas lights. Maybe its the Financial Crisis, who knows, but apparently there were less lights up than normal. There were, however, still some beautiful displays.









1 week to Christmas!

Bec always gets lots of chocolate from her students for Christmas, and unfortunately she can't eat most of it thanks to a nut allergy 

As a good guest, I've been doing my best to help her with this predicament, like with this lovely box of Raffellos....

Some traditions are the same the world over, like the sending of Christmas cards. Bec wonders though if the brag letter, often included by her relatives in their cards, is something that happens in places where the cards are more like postcards, or is that just an Aussie thing?




This one was made by one of Bec's students, making it a little more special. My new friends here are from Santa's Office in Finland - Bec was very excited to have the opportunity to visit there last year. She got to meet Santa and see his special machine that slows time down on Christmas Eve, letting him get around the world in one night!

Having Christmas in the middle of summer means that it can be uncomfortable having a hot Christmas lunch. Nevertheless, while Bec's grandparents were alive her mum persisted in cooking a hot meal despite the hot weather. Now that they're gone, a cold lunch is the new tradition and so she can have a relaxing Christmas Day, it always gets cooked in advance.


On the menu for Christmas Day is:
Pork with crackling and apple sauce
Ham
Seasoned chicken
Salad
Pasta salad
Potato salad
Coleslaw
Pudding
Custard
and Fruit Cake.