dollsoutofthebox

The second week of the holiday started with a really stressful day. The journey to Bilbao took much longer than we thought because of a few detours and the many toll stations. We crossed the Pyrenees…

… and arrived in Bilbao quite late. I didn’t like the quarters of the location first – too many high buildings and very little green spaces – and we also had a few problems finding everything because of the confusing instructions of the landlady.

But I thought the view from the kitchen and bedroom windows into the inner yard was quite funny. The umbrellas were menat to protect the freshly washed laundry from rain.

Later, during a walk in the area, I found the surroundings to be quite interesting though. Clean and surprisingly green despite of the dry weather.

We were very tired that evening so we didn’t do anything but eat, drink red wine and go to bed.

The next day we went to the city centre by Metro. This was quite funny because there were many quite long escalators. We got of at Abando and walked along the Gran Via – a big shopping street.

up to the Plaza Eliptikoa.

We walked about the new city, across the railways and to the old part of the city – Las Siete Calles.

There was also Art – you know how I like that 😉

Las Meninas.

There is a city district called San Francisco and it really gave me that vibe – the style of the buildings and the steep streets.

The River Nervión with its many bridges was quite nice.

We had lunch in the Areatzako Park. I thought I had made it quite clear what I wanted to eat on that day – look at my T-shirt! But Mommy said that we were not in Italy and I could only get a more hispanic kind of food. Burrito or Taco ?- that was the question – I ate both 🙂

The next day we went to the city centre again and I insisted on taking pictures at the Metro station.

We went up a hill in a cable car (San Francisco vibes again!) – the Funicular- to have a nice view of the city.

It was quite funny.

In the late afternoon our humans went to the Guggenheim Museum. Batty and I decided to stay in the appartment – art museums where you have to behave well are not my kind of thing.

The humans stayed in the city until the total eclipse of the sun that they watched in front of the museum.

Lots of people on the bridge in front of the museum came together to watch the eclipse.

Batty and I stayed at home and played computer games. I am not patient enough to stare at the sun through special glasses for such a long time until it gets dark . Boring… But humans seem to be very impressed by that phenomenon.

On Thursday we drove back to France. It took very long again. We had many traffic jams due to the many toll stations – Not funny!

The Pyrenees again – from the Spanish side.

So we arrived quite late in La Rochelle – our next stop. We were tired so …. well same as in bilbao only with beer instead of wine.

The next day we went to town. There was a huge globe in the port of La Rochelle. .. nice place to sit.

There were also 3 towers.

We had breakfast in the park – I was very hungry.

Then we visited Le Gabut – there are many interesting murals on the walls of the buildings.

Scandinavinan vibes.

We visited a ship museum.

There were lots of interesting thing to see and do.

I really wanted to try many things alone.

Uups …

I got quite hungry but the food in the kitchen was all fake.

In the evening our humans went out to eat something -while we stayed in the hotel room. We played cards and ate fries. And no … I didn’t cheat.

Today we went on a boat tour. so, of course, I had to wear my captain’s hat again (well it’s not really a hat – it’s a Harley special cap). Batty and I wore twinning striped shirts – sailor style. Chic – don’t you think?

We sailed past Ford Boyard…

… to the le of Aix.

Even Napoleon lived here for some time – before they sent him to St Helena .

You know Batty has some binoculars, but I have the bigger ones. Let’s look at Ford Boyard from the island.

We went back and … in La Rochelle.

I ate an ice cream. Hmmm Dady’s cup is bigger – That’s not fair!

So … that’s all for today. I have to go to bed. tomorrow we are off to our next destination. Hope the trip is as exciting as it was up to now. Good Night!

Summer Holiday Time – Yippee!!!

Mommy decided to spend time in France this year ( Psss! she has started to learn French and wants to practice)

Our holiday started on Monday …. without breakfast. So, when we finally had our first stop, I was really hungry …

This time my companion is Batty – she wanted a huge cup of coffee. If you ask me … she was quite sleepy, so she really needed it.

Our first stop was Besançon – a quiet little place.

Our humans went out to get some food. We preferred to stay in the hotel with baguette and cheese and wine – all French style.

The most interestig thing in this little town is the big citadelle built by Vauban – the architect of Luis XIV – you all know him – the King with the sun obsession. So on Tuesday we had to visit it . The way up was quite steep.

So we needed many breaks.

But the view was great.

That’s the guy – Vauban – looks very competent. So let’s visit his fortress…

There was a mill – of course I had to try it out, but …. it didn’t work. Crap – would have been a lot of fun.

There was a zoo.

We had our lunch break near the turtle pond.

This is the Porte Rivotte – an old city gate.

But much more interesting was the tunnel under the river Doubs.

On Wednesday we had a petit-déjeuner. After that we went to the Musée du Temps – The Time Museum because, apparently, Besançon is famous for its clocks and watches. The Museum is in an old Rennaissance Palace inside which it was surprisingly hot that day so that the 3rd floor was closed – they call this heat „canicule“.

Disappointment 🙁 – this is not a canon but binoculars.

After the museum we went directly to Clermont- Ferrand. It is a bigger town and we stayed in a bigger hotel.

In the evening we went to the Place Jaude – the central place of the town to get something to eat.

The next day we went by tram – public transport in another country is always an adventure- but it was quite easy to manage.

The destination was the Michelin museum where we had a lot of fun.

The funniest experience was when Mommy put me inside the profile of the biggest tyre in the wold.

We had a break in a little park – Jardin Lecoq.

Behind the Scenes.

It was so hot that I had to take my shoes off and put my feet in one of the fountains. Batty said it was not allowed,but …. who cares.

In the evening our humans went out to eat … again. We stayed in the hotel and played games, ate macarons and drank wine. Batty said I cheated, but I think she just drank too much wine and that’s why she kept loosing.

On Friday our journey continued. We went to Carcassonne, but on the way we had a stop by the Garabit-Viaduc. Well, not the Eiffel Tower but at least built by the same architekt.

In the evening we arrived at Carcassonne – the biggest fortified medieval city in Europe.

So of course the first thing we did the next day was to visit the Cité. It was very full of people and very hot but we still had a lot of fun.

There was a torture museum, but we didn’t go inside.

But finally… a real canon.

Today we went on a walk around the town…

… explored a little park…

… an saw the Canal du Midi – a famous channel built at the time of old King Louis XIV

We saw works of art and of course, I had to do my own interpretation of them – this is always a lot of fun – bringing the works of art to life, you know.

Because it got hotter we decided to go back to the hotel…

… across Pont Neuf so that we could take a picture of Pont Vieux and the river Aude.

Fun fact: Mommy lost the bag of her mobile phone while taking pictures of me with the works of art – so she had to walk all the way back in the heat to look for it and luckily she found in again.

Well, that was the first part of my adventure. Tomorrow we are off to a new destination.

The Elf – Quest goes on:

It’s been over a year since we had news from our Elves on their Quest to find a solution to the weather problems. Nothing has changed since then – the weather is still crazy and extreme. We had a long cold period this year and now, in May, the weather is extremely hot and dry.

The Astronomer’s white owl flew to the Day and Night sisters and told them that the Wizard needed their help.

The sisters were happy to help. They welcomed the Wizard and accompanied her part of the way to the Misty Mountains, where the White Seer lived.

But the Wizard had to go the last part of the way alone. It was a tedious journey.

Up in the mountains were the ruins of a castle. People said that the White Seer – a very wise Elf – lived there in seclusion guarded by her magical white dragon.

Her companion was a Mushroom Gnome. The gnome was the Elf’s only connection to the outer world. It brought her everything she needed and, what was more important – it collected the mushrooms the elf needed to eat to bring about her visions.

The Mushroom Gnome saw the Wizard in the distance. It was very excited because life in the Misty Mountains and in the ruins was quite boring.

The Gnome welcomed the Wizard who told it about the Elf Quest and its purpose. The Gnome had also noticed the changes in the weather. The precious mushrooms had become very hard to find as the weather was often too dry for them to grow properly.

The Mushroom Gnome accompanied the Wizard to see its Mistress – The White Seer.

The Seer had the explanation for all the crazy weather phenomena. The four elements were angry and not in harmony any more. The Elves had to find the Elements and convince them to come together and be friends again. They all had to got to the castle of the Queen of the Elves and dance there together. The Seer also gave the Wizard some advice.

It was not easy to find the Elements as they did not show to unknown people. The Quest would be very long and difficult. On the way to each Element they would find 3 magical creatures to help them on the way.

Each Element had a companion. They must bribe the companion with a gift because this was the only way they could get through to the hiding place of the Element. The bribe was very essential as the little companions were quite cunning but also greedy – they liked presents.

The Wizard’s next stop should be a good Witch that lived in a nearby forest. The witch would provide the presents for the companions and also advise the Wizard how she and the other Elves should act best to find the Elements.

This is Lunnula Moonbeams – the Witch.

The witch applied her magic to provide the necessary information and the gifts.

So stay tuned for more elvish adventures.

…. Behind the scenes.

It was FedCon in Bonn again. I always enjoy this event – it is a wonderful time to spend with people who are as crazy as me. This time it was really all about Star Trek, but of course other SciFi fandoms were welcome as well.

We started on Friday with a nice little breakfast in a nearby bakery. The girls were hungry, too and enjoyed the food.

Costumes are always an important part of FedCon.

There were many presentations on different SciFi topics and panels from different actors.

I think the girls were very tired at the end of the day – we were …

We all wore different costumes on day 2.

There were even more panels and presentations.

But we still had time for a little twinning.

Day 3

Before we drove home we still had a little time to walk about Bonn.

As the weather was finally good and sunny at the beginning of this week, we decided to go out on a little trip and take some nice photos. We visited Burg Hornberg. A great castle ruin located not far away from the place we live. The famous Knight, Götz of Berlichingen, lived there a long time ago but now of course there are only ruins left.

The warm and sunny weather was very suitable for this little outing. And the old ruins turned out to be more magical than expected.

We were welcomed by a little Elf. She told us that her name was Ophelia – she was a Flower Elf and she showed us around.

She was very proud of the herb garden- although not many things were growing so early in the spring, she still showed us the different plants that would grow there in the course of the year and explained what they could be used for.

Ophelia brought us to the Lady of the Castle – an Elf called Willow.

Willow told us a few things about the history of the castle and how the Elves had started living there after it had been left by humans and become a ruin.

Finally, when we were about to leave, we met Pixie. Pixies are little elvish creatures who like to play tricks on humans – remember Puck from „A Midsummer Night’s Dream“ by W. Shakespeare? So, I suppose we were lucky that she was in a good mood on that day and only threw her little glittery shoes at us to make us pay attention to her. Because, as you can see, she likes to sit high up on beams and trees , so you do not easily notice her.

The three Elves allowed us to take a photo of all of them together before leaving.

We asked if there were other Elves in the castle. They did not answer. They told us to come back again another time and find out for ourselves. So … see you again during our next visit little Elves.

P.S. Just some Behind the Scenes images.

It’s Easter again and everything in Dollietown is about Easter Bunnies and presents and eating. So, let’s see what’s going on.

First I cleaned the house and decorated it with Easter Eggs and Bunnies – the girls helped me a lot.

Although it was still quite cold during the last few days, it was very clear spring was coming and everything started to bloom. Inside the porch ….

… and outside.

To decorate the house you can buy flowers from a shop …

… or directly from the field.

The Easter Bunny is a must, but finding him can be quite a challenge.

Sometimes it is misleading …

.. and he is not easy to catch.

Lambs and sheep are also typical at Easter.

Good Friday is a bank holiday in Germany. So we went for a walk. The weather was chilly, but not bad. Some of the girls enjoyed the little outing.

Easter Sunday started with an Egg Hunt.

Later we went for a walk. The weather was quite windy so taking photos was a little challenging.

But we enjoyed the beautifully decorated market place.

There is always time for Easter Coffee.

And of course there is a new Easter Doll.

I finally did it – went to my first immersive experience. I must say I still prefer real paintings, but it was an interesting experience, a great addition to the real works of ar that I was so lucky as to see a few years ago.

Of course my Frida Kahlo collector Barbie accompanied me.

After the exhibition we had lunch. it was not really Mexican, but had a few elements …

… the Tijuana bowl.

I’m not much into Carnival myself anymore, but my girl always like to dress up and have a great time. Here are some of this year’s costumes.

Surprisingly we had a lot of snow this year in the real world. So here are a few impressions.