New Friends

Hi Mrs. Amri's class!

I have read, you had snow day?
Enjoy your free time! Make snowmans!
Is there enough snow for skiing?
Here spring flowers start blossoming and blue tits are singing.

Guess, where I have been! :) 

I was in the town of donkey, dog, cat, cock and eagle - the five town musicians.

The animals are the landmark of a big town in the north of Germany.
We spent there two and a half days. I got a lot of new things to see and learn.
May I introduce Roland to you?

 

Roland is a giant. He himself is about 5,5 m high, 

the whole statue about 10 m.

Do you see ME? I am sitting on the fence. 

In the middle ages a lot of towns had a Roland figure on their market place. 

He was the symbol, that this towns were allowed to govern themselves, they were "free" and made their own laws and taxes, independantly from the will of dukes and earls, bishops and abbeys.

The statue you see on the photo was made 1404. It belongs to the world heritage of culture.   

In the city there are a lot of very impressing old churches and houses from the 16th and 17th century, decorated with beautyful sculptures and reliefs, even covered with golden layers. Here you see one of the few conserved streets, which show, how "normal" people lived. In  former times this was the quarter of fishermen and skippers. Nowadays there is a little shop in each of the houses. They sell very exclusive things here and a lot of the wares are handcrafted.    

There is a big river next to this quarter, called Weser. In the middle ages the town had a great harbour for the merchant ships of the hanseatic league. Now the harbour still is very important for Germany (although it looks very different from middleage's harbour now!). Most of the cocoa and coffee beans are handled there.     

I met a friendly alert cock. Do you see the blue light? It is a fire alarm lamp.

Hundred of years ago the country people used to say "the red cock sits on the roof" when they meant that a house was burning down.   

And they spoke of "putting someone the red cock on the roof", when they meant to set a blaze on someone's house. But if there is a red cock already on the roof, noone else can put one on - so the house with a red cock on must be safe from being burned by fire and lightnings! 

And they made red cocks of clay brick and put them on their roofs...

err....maybe no open fire in the houses and a good lightning rod could have helped, but this wasn't invented yet 

(mmh... who invented the lightning rod?? I hope you know!).    

Then I had a boat trip on my very own.

Just fits in size for me!

These old black boats were used to transport turf into the city.
Very poor seddlers lived in the north of the town in everglades. Their job was to drain the moor and to harvest the turf. Turf was very important in the north of Germany as burning material for the households, because there was no black coal or brown coal laying in the ground, just turf (which in some millions of years would become brown coal and black coal - but who wants to wait a million of years, when he is cold now??)  

Ok... the boat was NOT on a river but a model on the pavement.
But I COULD have sailed. I COULD do that, I am sure! Maybe you will take me with you on your next tour with the Kajak?

Then I found a very special shop:

They had oversized lollies with a diameter of more than 20 cm and candies, candies, candies of all tastes and colours, you can imagine.
I liked the Easter Rabbits best:

They are made of - candy!
I suppose, you would LOVE that shop.

I don't.

Mrs. Schicke bought me one of the candies - the bigger ones, because I begged her so much. And then... my beak glued together with the candy!!
I couldn't talk any more, just mumble!!
  
So w' w'nt f'rth'r 'n 'nt' uh str''t. Th'r' y m't th' f''r t'wn m's'c''ns uhguhn.
Th'y w'r' r''d'ng.

Y uhsk'd th'm t' l't m' r''d t'g'th'r w'th th'm.
Y f''nd uh c's' pluhc' t' st'y 'nd s'ck my c'ndy.

  F'nd'ly, 'd''rd' !