Remscheid-Lennep, Germany - 19th September 2015
By: olgamaus
Hi Mum,
today we went to Remscheid-Lennep. My host lived in Remscheid since late summer 2014, and she grew up in the district Lennep.
Lennep is the second largest district of Remscheid with about 25.000 inhabitants. Lennep once was one of the most important cities of the region Bergisches Land.
Lennep has an historical city core based on a medieval structure. There were several large city fires, the last one in the year 1746 which destroyed most of the city. It was rebuilt afterwards. Lennep received its town charter between the years 1259 and 1276- In 1929 Lennep was annexated to Remscheid.
Katja's parents are still living here; her father in his appartment, her Mum in a nursing home. First she showed us the school she attended.
Next we went to the historic old town. Most houses are framework houses or they are (partly) covered with slate, traditionally with green shutters and a green door.
This church once belonged to a convent, nowadays it is used as a place of cultural interest, there is also a well-known restaurant.
Isn't this a lovely view, all those picturesque houses?
Here you can see Anton Bär and me sitting on the remains of the original city wall. It was used until about 1790, than the population were growing too large for the small city core. The city had to be enlarged and parts of the city wall were pulled down.
We found this fountain showing the heraldic animal of Remscheid, the lion.
We strolled through the old town and its narrow lanes. Here we came closer to the market place, you can also find one of two churches here.
This is a cozy place, it seems to invite you to sit down and order coffee But it is a private house, so no coffee is offered
A famous person was born in Lennep. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, who produced and detected what is nowadays known as x-rays in 1895, was born in 1845 in Lennep. His birth house is still existent, but it was under construction and respectively hidden under a scaffolding. But they have a museum here dedicated to Roentgen.
The museum has a large new annex with a large ...
... X in front of it.
The building on the right side was an indoor swimming pool once, it was re-built to a youth center in the late 1970 years. When Katja moved to Lennep with her family in 1971, it was still a swimming pool, later she liked the youth center
We went to a nice park then.
As we had still enough time to spend until Katja could visit her Mum in the nursing home, she even took us to the outside of the city core. Here the houses were completely different, of course due to their later origin.
Soon we reached the end of the outskirt.
Behind those houses there just was green landscape waiting for us
Back to civilization.
Then it was time for Katja to meet her Mum and even later we met Katja's daughter who is living in Lennep with her boyfriend. That was a really exhausting day
Love
Mishuta
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Posted Sep 20, 2015, 12:42 pm
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Sylt, Germany - 4th October 2015
By: olgamaus
Hi Mum,
today we made a day trip to Sylt. We went by train to Germany's northernmost island, located in the North Sea. In 1927 a dam was built
Sylt is connected to the German mainland by the Hindenburgdamm, a causeway with a railway line on top. We left the train in Keitum. Keitum is located on the Wadden Sea side of the island.
Houses like this are traditional in Nordfriesland.
This is the Wadden sea side of the island, the eastern coast. The Wadden Sea is famous for its rich flora and fauna, especially birds. In many areas you can even find seals. The Eastern coast of the island is partly rather flat.
We found a map of Sylt.
We rested for a while in a Strandkorb. You can find them everywhere along the German coast.
In the dunes there were lots of roses bushes, all with rosehips now.
We reached another interesting area, heathlands this time.
Wooden paths were leading through this area, you were not allowed to leave them.
It must be a lovely view when all the heather is blooming.
We reached the town Kampen then.
Here we crossed to island to get to the opposite coast, the western coast. We saw broad dunes here, with lovely houses hidden in them.
We walked towards the beach then (through dunes forever, it seemed to me).
Finally the sea came into sight.
Here we found a broad sandy beach and a beautiful cliff line.
We decided to rest for a while in the beach bar you can see in the background.
Cheers!
We walked further towards Westerland, the most famous town on this island.
In Westerland a special event was taking place - the Windsurf World Cup Sylt 2015. The award ceremony was going on when we reached th is place.
The promenade was crowded with people, it was a bit difficult to get through.
I found this statue on the promenade of Westerland.
My host and her friend were starving, so they only thought of getting something to eat
Bye
_Mishuta_
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Posted Oct 25, 2015, 4:27 pm
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Wuppertal, Germany - 21st November 2015
By: olgamaus
Hi Mum,
we made a trip to Wuppertal-Barmen today, the second largest district of Wuppertal.
Of course we went there by Schwebebahn.
Here you can find the "Historic centre" with the house where Friedrich Engels grew up, a social scientist and journalist, one of "Marx and Engels", founder of Marxist Theory. He lived from 1820 till 1895. Nowadays the Museum for early industrialism is also located here, with an adjoining park along the main street.
This is old man Friedrich Engels.
We went to the city then and saw the opera house.
This is the central Schwebebahn station in Barmen.
Can you see the bridge in the background? Katja told me that this bridge belongs to "Nordbahntrasse", which I already visited in summer.
Nextwe visited the city hall of Barmen and the farmer's market which is held every Saturday on a space behind it.
The christmas market is waiting to be opened.
This is the farmer's market.
Afterwards we went to the Nordbahntrasse because Jasper wanted to see the city from above.
We walked just a few minutes there, then we strolled around a district called Rott, with lots of lovely old houses. We also found an architectural feature here, a residental area called "Waldhof", completed in 1928 with arcades and houses like "towers", nearly destroyed in World War II and re-built later.
This is one of several hospitals, having a lovely old building and lots of annex including a high-rise building.
Another highlight - the Lego Bridge!
The Lego Bridge is a concrete beam bridge of the Nordbahntrasse which crosses over the Schwesterstraße. In 2011, the bridge was repainted by a graffiti and street artist. The work was awarded the Deutscher Fassadenpreis Advancement Prize in 2012.
It looks incredibly real
From here we took the chance to visit a special market in Schwesterstraße, a mixture between flea market and farmer's market, mostly run by immigrants. We bought lots of vegetables here.
Bye for today
_Mishuta_
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Posted Nov 21, 2015, 5:27 pm
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Wuppertal, at home, Germany - 28th November 2015
By: olgamaus
Hi Mum,
outside it is raining cats and dogs, so Katja just went shopping. She bought a few things for preparing christmas presents. She bought a large piece of ginger, untreated lemons and a bottle of vodka. We prepared lemon-ginger-liqueur.
We had to remove a really thin layer of lemon peel, the lemons were pressed, a large piece of ginger was also peeled and cut into slices. Lemon peel, lemon juice, ginger and sugar had to cook for 10 minutes. This mixture had to cool down then and was filled into a large jar and finally the vodka were also added.
Now the mixture has to rest for two weeks and will be re-filled in smaller bottles then.
Katja said that this stuff was just wonderful!
Bye
_Mishuta_
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Posted Dec 1, 2015, 6:19 pm
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Wuppertal, at home, Germany - 21st February 2016
By: olgamaus
Hi Mum,
in two days we will go on a holiday trip! We will go to Tenerife.
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands. We will stay in Puerto de la Cruz, a city and municipality in the northern part of the island.
Bye
Mishuta
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Posted Feb 21, 2016, 1:55 pm
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Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain - 24th February 2016
By: olgamaus
Hi Mum,
Greetings from Tenerife!
Mishuta
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Posted Feb 24, 2016, 9:04 pm
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Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain - 24th February 2016
By: olgamaus
Hi Mum,
we travelled to Tenerife yesterday. Tenerife is one of the Canary Islands, the largest one of seven islands. Tenerife is a rugged and volcanic island sculpted by successive eruptions throughout its history. The island is located in the Atlantic ocean, about 300 km from the African coast, and approximately 1,000 km from the Spanish mainland.
We stayed in Puerto de la Cruz, a vivid city in the North-West of Tenerife. You can find lots of large hotel complexes here, but also a lovely old town with typical narrow streets and plazas.
Our hotel is situated at Playa de Martiánez, with a fantastic view across the beach and towards Orotava valley. Can you see the yellow spot? It is marking our balcony. Today we started a long walking trip in the Orotava valley.
First we had to walk uphill to leave the city area. The coasts of Tenerife are typically rugged and steep here in the North of the island, so you cannot just walk along the beaches.
Agriculture is centred on the northern slopes, tomatoes and bananas are cultivated, usually in plastic enclosures. In Orotava valley you can walk though banana plantations for hours.
There are overlook points everywhere, official ones are called "Mirador". The view across the coastline is always a spectecular one.
The North and South of Tenerife similarly have different climatic characteristics. While the South is mostly sunny, you have more rain in the North, due to the topography of the island. Today the weather was changing constantly, sunny on the last picture and a bit later the sky was full of clouds.
Our walking route took us high above the valley.
Later in the evening we took a walk in the city of Puerto de la Cruz.
Some houses are painted in vivid colors.
Katja enjoyed barbequed mussels.
In the evening we walked back to the Hotel, along the promenade with lots of historical buildings.
Bye for today
Mishuta
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Posted Jul 27, 2016, 5:54 pm
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