Travelog for: Priscilla

I like this Christmas decoration on the window. It's on the same place each year. If you like it too and want the originals to cut them out for yourself, please send a note to Petra.
It's a nice place for us toyvoyagers, too. It is warm and you can see everything that's going on on the street






The first photo is without flash, just to show you, how dark it is outside although it is early midday. If Petra hasn't done a mistake, then there are 26 toyvoyagers sitting together. Some are her toyvoyagers, some her daughters and some are rescued toyvoyagers, which still are at her place and of course some are guests, who will move on again.

After the big group photo session we finished the stars.




The other toyvoyagers were really curious and came to take a look at the beautiful stars.







Later a group of starsingers visited our house, but we just had been too slow, so we aren't on this photo. Nevertheless we thougth, that it is a good idea to show you, how starsingers can look like. They don't carry one of our stars, though. They belong to the church region, were our hosts live, but our hosts go to another church, where they lived before. It's a bit complicated




In the afternoon we all helped our Petra to bake two cakes. She told us, that tomorrow isn't only Epiphany, but also her husbands 50th birthday and that we will go to the parish hall and carry cakes with us. At first we baked a Hermann cake. It is a cake like a round robin, that's how it seems for me. Petra told us, that she received a part of the cake a few days ago and that she had to stir it and to feed it and that now it is ready to get baken. Of course we added some more stuff like flour, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, chocolate pieces.

We read the recipe.




Then we had to get some more dishes for the "kids" of this cake.




We had been really busy.



























We also added some apple pieces.






We wondered, if this dish would be big enough and decided, that it wasn't. So we took a star for the dough of Hermann.

Today I went to school to help Petra, when she fixed new papers to the wall. At first we had to remove the flower paintings.




Then we fixed the selfcreated posters of the book presentations.

Today we drove to the Michaelsberg in Untergrombach. Untergrombach is one of Bruchsal's suburbs with about 6000 inhabitants.
3500 to 2600 BC there were frist human signs on the Michaelsberg, which gave this culture the name "Michaelsberger Kulturkreis"
1502 AD Joss Fritz from Untergrombach planned the "Bundschuhaufstand" during the time of Peasant's Wars.


In the far (right side) you see some houses, which belong to Bruchsal.




Bruchsal and also Untergrombach are located at the edge to the Kraichgau. Here you see the Rhine Valley. If the weather is sunny, you can see the Palatinate Forest in the far.








The chapel is on top of the Michaelsberg.

Karlsruhe is the third largest city of Baden-Württemberg. It is the main city of the Baden part. It is located close to the German - French border, only about 25 km from Bruchsal. We arrived at Karlsruhe after a drive of about 25 minutes.

We first tried to find a parking place and then crawled out of the car. Wow, was it cold outside. We all didn't have the right clothes for a walk, so we had to hurry.

Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states. The town surrounding the Palace became the seat of two of the highest courts in Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (Bundesverfassungsgericht) whose decisions have the force of a law in many cases, and the Federal Court of Justice of Germany (Bundesgerichtshof), the highest court of appeals in matters of civil law and criminal law. It therefore considers itself the home of justice in Germany, a role taken over from Leipzig after 1945.

Due to similarities to the United States capital city, it has been speculated that Karlsruhe was a model city for the cityscape of Washington, D.C.[4] Both cities have a center — in Karlsruhe the palace and in D.C. the Capitol Building — from which the streets radiate outward. L'Enfant, Washington's city planner, had been given the plans of Karlsruhe (among numerous other European cities) as an inspiration. (you can read this and more on wikipedia)


In 1715, Charles III William, Margrave of Baden-Durlach established Karlsruhe (Charles' repose), where he built his residence.






The city was planned with the palace tower (Schloss) at the center and 32 streets radiating out from it like the spokes of a wheel, or the ribs of a folding fan, so that one nickname for Karlsruhe in German is the "fan city" (Fächerstadt). Here's a photo of the palace.




We really wanted to see more, but it was so cold, that we hurried back to our car. When we looked out of the car window, we could see the State Art Gallery.

Durlach is a borough of the German city of Karlsruhe with a population of roughly 30,000.
It was chosen by the margrave Charles II in 1565 as residence of the rulers of Baden-Durlach, and retained this distinction though it was almost totally destroyed by the French in 1689.

Margrave Charles III William decided that he needed more space which led to the foundation of Karlsruhe, which in 1715 became the new capital until the state was merged into the grand-duchy of Baden.

We only drove through some narrow streets, because it wasn't far from sunset.

The Turmberg ('tower hill') is a vineyard-covered hill of the northern most part of the Black Forest. A castle ruin with watch-tower are located on top of the Turmberg. The watch-tower in particular offers fine views of Karlsruhe towards the west and the Rhine River valley. On very clear days even farther west the Vosges in France can be seen. The Rhine River is the border between Germany and Alsace area of France. The South and East offer nice views of the Black Forest, and since the Turmberg is the northern most tip of the Black Forest you have hills more than actual mountains.

Today we drove to Cologne. Petra's husband had to be there for a Trade Fair and Petra met olgamaus.

Here is some information about Cologne (wikipedia):


"Cologne (English pronunciation: /kəˈloʊn/, German: Köln [kœln], Kölsch: Kölle [ˈkœɫə]) is Germany's fourth-largest city (after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich), and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.

Cologne is located on both sides of the Rhine River. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. The University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln) is one of Europe's oldest and largest universities.

Cologne is a major cultural centre of the Rhineland and has a vibrant arts scene. Cologne is home to more than 30 museums and hundreds of galleries. Exhibitions range from local ancient Roman archeological sites to contemporary graphics and sculpture. The Cologne Trade Fair hosts a number of trade shows such as Art Cologne, imm Cologne, Gamescom and the Photokina."


Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom) is the city's most famous monument and the Cologne residents' most respected landmark. It is a Gothic church, started in 1248, and completed in 1880. In 1996, it was designated a World Heritage site; it houses the Shrine of the Three Kings that supposedly contains the relics of the Three Magi. Residents of Cologne sometimes refer to the cathedral as "the eternal construction site" (Dauerbaustelle).






Cologne Central Station: On an average day, about 280,000 travellers frequent the station, making it fifth busiest station in Germany.




Then we walked down to the Rhine.




We turned around and took a look back to the cathedral.




Here's the Hohenzollern Bridge.




Great St. Martin Churchis a Romanesque Catholic church. Its foundations (circa 960 AD) rest on remnants of a Roman chapel, built on what was then an island in the Rhine. The church was badly damaged in World War II, with restoration work completed in 1985.




We then walked around the Imhoff-Chocolate Museum. 




We took a look back to the Hohenzollern Bridge, cathedral and Great St. Martin.




The museum is run by the Schokoladenmuseum Köln GmbH. Since March 2006, the Swiss chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Sprüngli has been its partner in producing exhibits. Prior to that the partner was the Cologne chocolate producer Stollwerck, and the museum was formerly known as the Imhoff-Stollwerck-Museum.

On this photo you can see, how high the water was in 1995 and you can see, where we took the photo with the chocolate girl, where we stand for the view back to the churches and bridge. The yellow line shows the way we walked around the museum and the green line the way, where we came from.




Inside the museum we saw all the machines which are necessary to make delicious chocolate.




There is a real chocolate fountain! We all got wafers dipped into melted chocolate. Yummy!




This equestrian statue shows Frederick William III of Prussia. You can see here, who else is on the base of the statue.




The Heumarkt is beside the Alter Markt the biggest place in Cologne historic city.




There are several small breweries in Cologne. This one is located at the Heumarkt.




It started to rain and we walked back to the cathedral. We entered it and it was so so dark inside, that we had problems to take nice photos. So please excuse the quality.




So this was the last photo of Cologne and we drove back to Bruchsal again.

So this is my last update of Bruchsal. My envelope is already on the table, but Petra said, that she would like to show me the city today. The weather is sunny and the sky is all blue, so what else do we need.

Bruchsal was first named in 976, but it surely is older than that.


The baroque palace of Bruchsal is one of the most beautiful baroque palaces of Germany. In the park you can find statues of the four elements fire, water, air and earth and four statues of the four seasons. Here you see summer.




It is the only episcopal Baroque residence on the Upper Rhine. The foundation stone was laid in 1722 by Cardinal Damian Hugo von Schönborn, Prince Bishop of Speyer, who made the palace the centre of his absolutist dominion. Read more here.



After being almost completely destroyed in the final days of World War II, the main tract was painstakingly reconstructed according to the original design and work was completed in 1975, including the magnificent dome, Marble Hall and Prince's Hall. The staircase designed by Balthasar Neumann is considered to be an architectural tour-de-force and has been described as the "finest staircase in the world".

Here you see the church tower and the backside of the church St. Damian and Hugo.




From this place you have a good view to many different buildings as named on the photo.




This is the front of the palace with the main entrance. On the right is the building with the chamber music hall and on the left is the church. On this photo you can't see them.




We just turned around and took a photo of the county court and the fountain called Amalienbrunnen or Schnecklesbrunnen, how they say in Bruchsal, because there sit many snakes on the fountain edge.




Then we drove to the Andreasstaffel. You have a perfect view over Bruchsal from this place.



Sorry, that this photo is so bad, but the sun was already really low and we had no chance to get a better photo.








The Belvedere on the edge of the "Stadtgarten" was built by Leonhard Stahl in 1756 as a hunting lodge for Prince Bishop Franz Christoph von Hutten. Today, the Belvedere is used as a venue for concerts and theatre productions.

Hello!
I have arrived safe and sound in Minnesota, USA. It was quite a pleasant surprise for my host because I arrived on St. Patrick's Day!
I guess I was her present.



I met Alien Princes, and we decided that we needed to get into the St. Patrick's Day spirit. So, we searched for something green.

We also went searching for some water! That's very important to me, and we did find this small creek. It's rather bleak outside today......







My new host tells me that Minnesota is known as the "land of 10,000 lakes". 
That's a lot of lakes! I hope we can visit a few during my stay here.
Bye for now!

We visited the Minnesota State Capitol! It was pretty cool. We took the official tour with a class of Fourth Graders.





I read all the signs. 




The architecture was impressive! The man who built this building, also went on to build our Nation's Capitol in Washington D.C.! 






This is where they vote on Legislature. I liked the oil portrait of Abraham Lincoln! The walls have flecks of real gold painted into it, too! Whoa!


It was a great trip!

Hello! What a beautiful day here in Minnesota, USA.

We took a trip to find the Mississippi River. I was so excited to see this great river for myself!

We stopped at a small park on the way..... just so I didn't get too dried out. :P







Then, we finally got to the great Mississippi!







I got to read all about it.


This was a nice spot to sit and view the water, but I like being in it much better!


The sunset was just lovely!








Such a beautiful sight, and a wondrous memory for me.
Until next time! 

HAPPY EASTER!

We spent this holiday weekend over at Grandma's house with the whole family.



I made lots of new friends! The kids loved me.
We played on the trampoline in the backyard for most of the day.



We got a little silly. I got put on her head like a hat! :O



Then we decided to take a hike up the nearby hill.







The view is beautiful~!


Finally, we got to the top! Whew!

We had a free Friday afternoon, so we took a little trip back to the Mississippi River. I love this place~! The river is so beautiful.











I read another sign about the Mississippi's history. Fascinating!







We also stopped at the park to play for a bit!

We took a surprise trip today! Can you guess where we are going?



This is a typical Minnesotan Main Street.




Here we are! Daddy-O's Cafe is just the place to be: there's great food, and a wonderful surprise inside.




Bullseye and I shared a basket of fries. Yum Yum!


This place is a really cool old time diner. They serve ice cream, too!






The best part was...... The life-size Elvis! 



Oh, My Heart~! He's so amazing! I wish I could take him home with me. Hee hee hee! 


What a nice surprise!