Travelog for: Cyryl

Hi! I'm Cyryl, little naughty lion from Poland. Now I'm making preparations to my first journey and I'm still searching for hosts. So I'm waiting for invitations Don't worry, i won't eat you... yet!

What for the god sake, I am doing in the middle of the desert... Expect the unexpected. Predatory Urge is growing inside of me... Let's begin the hunt. What's next...? GERMANY!! I'M COMING!

Hi Mummy,
I arrived in Germany today. That was a really fast trip 

I am not the only ToyVoyager here, there are already Murph, Wieka and  Nala.



We will go to a birthday party now, see you soon!

Bye
Cyryl

Hi Mummy,


we went to town in the afternoon. We saw a special truck here, have a look!





Later, when we had dinner in a restaurant, we played a bit with the christmas decoration.





Tomorrow we will join a ToyVoyagers meeting in Essen.

Bye
Cyryl

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, I was a little afraid, I must admit.



We went high and higher ...





We had a fantastic overview across the city.

After we reached the ground safe and sound 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.

Bye
Cyryl

Hi Mummy,

today the weather was a little bit better than the days before, at least it was not raining.

We took a walk with Katja's friend Kerstin and her dog Pepe. We went to Wuppertal, Scharpenacken, which is a former army training area. This area was used for military purposes, until 2004 A.D as a shooting range. Today there is a local recreation area with vast open areas.







Here you can always find people with their dogs. The dogs can run here and play with each other.



Yes, that face on the left side of the photo belongs to Pepe

Bye
Cyryl

Hi Mummy,
I am not the only predator here. I met Katja's pets today, two ferrets. Although they are not cats they are behaving like cats on drugs.

This is Shiva, she loves to play with a plush mouse which is attached to a handle-end with a rubber strap.







The mouse managed to escape from Shiva. Now I could play with it, but .... ugh .... it is wet with Shiva's slobber!



This is the other ferret, Brighty.



Katja was calling than "Ferrets! It's dinner time!"

That's looking delicious, chicken wings, a leg from some small animal, chicken intestines ... yummy!

I hope that Brighty will share her dinner with me.



Bye
Cyryl

Hi Mummy,
today the weather was fantastic, so we couldn't wait to go outside.

First we went to the municipal park which is only a few minutes to walk from my current home. I saw nice old houses in the vicinity.





Katja told us that you can only take photos of this church in winter when all the leaves have fallen down.



Soon we reached the park. Here they have a pond where ducks and turtles are living.



An observatory is also situated here.



This street is leading to the park, they have wonderful houses here.



Remscheid is situated on top of a hill, about 365 m high.



We went to the district "Hasten" than, one of the oldest districts of the city. In this Patrician villa built in late 18th century a museum is situated.





We took a group photograph in front of this beautiful house. You can see Murph, Cilly and Wieka with me.



The German Tool Museum is also situated in this complex.





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



In this part of the district the old houses are built close to each other with very narrow lanes.







Those houses are typical for this region: Covered with slate and green shutters. You can also often find half-timbered houses, also with green shutters.



We walked downhill until we reached the bottom of the valley, where a creek is running.



From here we had to walk all the way back uphill.



Today I have seen that Remscheid is a nice town, when there is no rain.

Later I relaxed on the windowsill with Cilly.



Bye
Cyryl

Hi Mummy,
the bad weather has come to an end - we have snow now and it is really cold, about -15°C.

In the morning we went to the farmer's market to buy some bread rolls. On our way to the market we had a look at the pond in the municipal park.



It looks so pretty!



Later 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 forrest. There you can fell the tree you like.





Playing in the snow was fun!



Katja's brother-in-law chose this tree, he was shaking it to make the snow fall off.



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.





It is so cold that I went in immediately.

Bye
Cyryl

Hi Mummy,
I'm wishing you a very happy holiday.



Bye
Cyryl

Hi Mummy,
we had very bad weather again this week. Today it is also not good, but although we took a walk through the city centre.

This is the city hall with an ice skating rink in front of it. It will be removed in about two weeks.





On the pillar you can see the heraldic animal of Remscheid, a lion.

Here you can see one of the entrances of the shopping mall.



This is the public library.



In this cute house a shop for flowers and decorating items was opened recently. Katja loves this shop.



Here you can see the shopping streets with its pedestrian area. Nothing special, Katja said. It looks like pedestrian areas all over the world.



We bought some fireworks today.

Bye
Cyryl

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.



Maybe you know this game, it is probably known all over the world: 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
Cyryl

Hi Mummy,
after we broght the ferrets back to our apartment we went to work with Katja. On our way to the office she showed us some places.

This is the street where I'm living at the moment.



This large intersection is close to my current home.



Here you can see the main entrance of the local court. Above the door you can see the coat of arms of the German state North Rhine-Westpahlia, in a sort of abstract version.



This is the extension of the local court, built about four or five years ago.



This is the  mailbox in front of the local court.



This is one of the beautiful old houses you can find here very often.



I think I already showed you the shopping mall,



This statue showing two giant forceps is a symbol for the tool producing industry which made Remscheid famous.



It's time to go to work now!

Bye
Cyryl

Hi,
I helped Katja's daughter to cook goulash today. Not only me, but also Murph and Walter.

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





We were waiting for the pressure cooker to open.



This smells delicious.



Bye
Walter

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.





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.





They have a lot of pubs here in the old town.



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).





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
Cyryl