Travelog for: Rafael

¡Hola a tod@s! I am Rafael, the monkey. My friends call me Rafa. I come from sunny Spain and I can't wait to start to travel. This is going to be the first time I travel alone, so my Mum asked me to keep in mind the following things:

1.) I should always be polite with my hosts.
2.) In order to be a good guest I cannot stay too long at the same host, so every 3-4 weeks I should move on.
3.) As I am so young, I should stay in Europe. I can visit other continents when I get older.
4.) As Mum is very worried for me I should ask my hosts regularly to let me update my travelog.


I am very excited because I can start traveling soon. I will travel to Germany first and then... maybe to You? Mum is looking for trustworthy people who would like to host me.

Today Mum took me to the old center of Toledo. What a beautiful place! We walked around and Mum showed me the most important sights. Look!

Here in the background you can see the Alcazar which now houses the Castilla-La Mancha Regional Library and the Museum of the Army. It also has a cafetería in one of the towers. Mum says you have a great view from there.



We went on and reached this beautiful gate, Puerta de Bisagra. Isn't it beautiful?



Then came the hard part, we had to go up to the hill but I'm glad we did it because we arrived to a very nice square called Zocodover:



And here Mum showed me what everybody wants to try in Toledo: the mazapan! It is a typical sweet at Christmastime, but here in Toledo you can buy it any time of the year.



But there were other delicious things in the centre of Toledo! Lots of cheese and ham. Mum says jamón ibérico is the best!



Finally we arrived to the Cathedral. It is really huge. Inside there are lots of paintings from a painter who is called El Greco. He must be very famous because there were a lot of people wishing to see his paintings.



By this time we were really tired so we stopped to take something in a bar. Mum says it is called to take tapas y cañas. however it is called I enjoyed very much sitting under the trees and drinking and eating.



On the way home we saw some olive trees and I climbed on one of them to see if I can find some olives. Of course my favorite is the banana, but olives are very delicious as well.

I also want to tell you that I like football very much. One of my life missions is to have my photo taken in front of/inside football (soccer) stadiums. Today is the final of the Copa del Rey and Mum is very excited And this summer is the World Cup! I hope I will be able to follow the games of Spain during my travels.

Here you can see me with the Spanish flag:


And here are all my friends. Pandi Panda, Milou and Osito (which means Little Bear in Spanish):


I am very excited because I can start traveling soon. I will travel to Germany first and then... maybe to You? Mum is looking for trustworthy people who would like to host me.

Today we could not go for a walk, so my friends and me decided to have some fun in the flat. First we did a crossword called sopa de letras. We had to look for words related to the heart (corazón in Spanish). Pandi Panda helped me a lot in this:



Then we found something great, a puzzle! Mum likes puzzles a lot and the next one is going to be this, an old map of the World. As Osito is from England I asked him to show me where it is.

The big day has arrived! Yesterday I said good bye to my friends, then Mum put me to an envelope, and today morning she has taken me to the post office, or Correos, as it is called here. At this moment I am on my way to Germany. I am very excited and I look forward to all the adventures I will have there.

Mum gave me some postcards and Spanish sweets to take with me to Germany:


And my friends were all there to say good bye:

Hi Mummy,
I arrived in Remscheid today. My host Katja picked me up at the post office and brought me home to introduce me to some more ToyVoyagers.



They are Bart, Squirt, Roderich, Bilica and Belka.

Katja is saying "thank you" for the sweets and postcards .

When she had to back to work after her lunch break she showed me around the city centre. We started our tour at the city hall, which was built in 1906, than it was nearly destroyed in World War II and later rebuilt in a more modern style. Its tower is 48 m high.



There is a large open space in front of the city hall with a pillar on it, showing a lion, the heraldic animal of Remscheid. In the background you can see the shopping mall "Allee-Center".



We continued our walk and came to the public library.



Here you can see the shopping mall and the city hall once more, a large bus stop is situated here.



This is the central bus station where almost all busses have a stop.





Only a few steps apart from this modern building you can find the music school in this pretty old building.



This is one of the churches in the city centre, an evangelic church.



In summer you can cool your feet here or let your dog have a drink or kids are playing in the water.



That was enough for today, we were in a hurry to get back to work than.

Bye
Rafael

Hi Mummy,
we said goodbye to Roderich today. He is traveling to Canada now. We accompanied him to the post office in the district Hasten. Hasten is one of the oldest districts of Remscheid. You can find a lot of those houses here, which are typical for this region. They are often covered with slate, you can also find many half-timbered houses here. They usually have green shutters.





Katja showed us this Patrician villa. A museum is situated here, the so-called "historical centre". This building was built in 1778,







In Hasten you can also find old industrial buildings close to dwellings.



We walked through this very narrow lane.



Of course there is a small centre point with shops, the post office and so on.



On our way back home we walked through the municipal park.





Here is a pond. Ducks and turtles are living here.



Katja told me that we would have to walk only a few minutes more to reach our home.



This is the police headquarter with a little park in front of it.



Katja told me that the city centre of Remscheid was nearly destroyed in World War II, in a bomb raid in only one night. But here, although not far from the city centre, almost everything remained.





Later, already home, we took a few photos from the roof lights. You can see the tower of the city hall and the water tower.



Here you can see that they have a lot of green in the city.



Bye
Rafael

Hi Mummy,
we had planned a trip to Muengsten Bridge, Germany's highest railway bridge, today. Outside it was so hot, that we decided to take only a shorter walk to the municipal park.

We needed a first rest after a few minutes walking.



This is the police station which I already showed you.



We went to the little park in front of the police station.



Beautiful flowers are blooming here.



This column is dedicated to the twinning with Quimper in Brittany/France. You can see the coat of arms of Remscheid on top of it.



We went to the municipal park than, to the pond first.





The observatory is situated in the municipal park. Can you see that the roof is opened?





Here is a stage in the park, in summer concerts are taking place here, also theatre and all sorts of amusement for kids.

We all needed a little bit refreshment.





This is a memorial dedicated to the dead of several wars before World War I.



We took a short walk through the city than. In this part of the city you can find a lot of pretty old houses.











Katja showed us the local court, also close to my current home. This is the annex, built a few years ago.



This is the main entrance with the stylized coat of arms of the German state North Rhine-Westphalia.





We went home than, it was too warm for walking any longer.



Bye
Rafael

Hi Mummy,
did I tell you that Katja is working as a secretary in a law firm? She had to pick up a Preliminary injunction from the district court in Wuppertal today. Wuppertal is a neighbour city of Remscheid with about 420.000 inhabitants, situated on the river Wupper. Of course we went with her

This is the district court, in this building they are working on private law matters. There is also a new building for criminal procedure.



Here you can see the "Schwebebahn", a suspended monorail. The suspension railway travels along a route about 13 kilometres long, about 12 metres above the surface of the river Wupper and approximately 8 m above the city streets. At one point the railway even crosses the A46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes. The Schwebabahn was completed in 1901.  Here you can see the station "Landgericht" (district court). We came here by Schwebebahn



When we finished our buisiness here at the court we walked back to the city centre.



Here you can see the skywalk of one of the shopping malls, a church tower is reflected in the windows.



In front of the city hall a farmer's market is taking place every day.



Behind the city hall you can find another mall, the "Rathaus-Galerie". This lion statue is situated in front of it, the lion is the heraldic animal in this region, "Bergisches Land". You can also find a lion in the coat of arms in most of the cities in this region, also Wuppertal.





Here you can see the city hall.



We wanted to take another ride with the Schwebebahn, so we walked to a nearby station.





Here you can see the station, a modern one this time.



Here you can see me inside the station. A train was coming in right than.





Close to the central station houses are built close to the riverbanks.



That's all for today
Rafael

Hi Mummy,
the weather was much better today, so we decided to take a walk with Katja's friend Kerstin who is living in Luettringhausen, a district of Remscheid close to the city border of Wuppertal-Ronsdorf. The two ladies wanted to walk to a nice restaurant with a beer garden and than back home.

We walked through a forest ...









Soon we reached the outskirts of Wuppertal-Ronsdorf. First we walked through a housing area.





Than we reached a rural area again.



From here it was not far to the restaurant. It is called "Sunshine Ranch"



We had "Nachos con chesa" and a salad - and a large beer.



We walked back the same way.





In the background you can see Luettringhausen.



Bye
Rafael

Hi Mummy,
today we walked along the "Roentgenweg", a walking path which is 65 km long, following the city limits of Remscheid. Of course we only walked part of it. We had to follow the route marking showing an encircled “R”.





We walked along a creek for some time. Can you see those mill stones which were worked into the bank reinforcement?







This wall is centuries-old, it once belonged to early industrial sites, probably built in 16th or 17th century.



Here you can see Schloss Burg in the background, a medieval castle, situated in Solingen-Burg. This castle was built by early reigns of this region. It was built over centuries, start of work was in 13th century.



Here you can also see a zoomed photo.

When we crossed a street we left the municipal area of Remscheid. We reached Solingen-Unterburg than, which is a very old district, situated at the river Wupper and Eschbach, a creek which is running into river Wupper here.

You can find nice old houses here.







Bye
Rafael

Hi Mummy,
Katja decided to try a wine-cooler with elderberry. Tomorrow she will meet a friend and than they want to enjoy it. It has to be prepared one day earlier.

First Katja went to the municipal park and plucked five elderberry umbels. The flowers will have to be put into water with sugar,  fresh mint, lemon juice and sliced lemon for about 24 hours.







Everything was prepared than ...



The bowl was closed than with a plate. The mixture has to rest at room temperature for 24 hours now.



Tomorrow the liquid will have to be filtered and cooled for a while. Than white wine and sparkling wine will be added.

I'm curious how it will taste

Bye
Rafaeö

Hi Mummy,
today Katja visited her friend Karin. They often meet in the evening, than they are knitting socks. Katja filtered the elderberry base and filled it into an empty bottle. We took it with us to Karin, who already had cooled sparkling wine and white wine.



Elderberry base, wine and sparkling wine were fillled into the punch bowl.



Ready!



Cheers! Our elderberry drink is really delicious!

Bye
Rafael

Hi Mummy,
we took a walk in the city centre today.

At the entrance of the shopping street you can find those giant forceps as a symbol for the tool producing industry here.



This is the entrance area of the shopping mall.





We went down the shopping street.





Greetings from home (almost home)



When we walked home we went through a street with nice old houses.



This is the annex of the local court. They are working on the gas pipes everywhere in the city - we couldn't take a nicer picture.



Bye
Rafael