- – - translation in progress – - -

Hello my friends,

after my first few weeks in Dublin and with this wonderful sunshine over my teddybear head I thought now was the time to go exploring the region beyond the city. As y travel guides I chose the black sheep Murphy and his friend Finn. Originally they are Austrian but they’ve been living here for a while and they know all the nice spots around here.

So first of all they took me to a place with a wonderful panoramic view of the Blessington Lake. There is only a very narrow road up that hill and you can see for miles and miles into the countryside.

As the sun continued to burn down on my fluffy head I felt rather warm in my jacket. Somebody had told me that Ireland was a rather cool place but that appears to be a mighty big lie. I felt too hot and in the end I decided to take off my jacket as I did not want to end as a steamed teddy bear.

We drove on deeper into the mountains – they’re called Wicklow Mountains, by the way – because Murphy and Finn wanted to show me a very special picknick spot with a magnificent view. BUt we decided to have picknick first and the view after that so we had Frankfurters, bread, cake and lemonade. I was really impressed how much little Finn could eat away, but, well, he’s got to grow, hasn’t he?

My full tummy decided that the view would have to wait and together with the sun he whispered in my ear “Sleep, Spiky, sleep!” Obviously the other two had heard that as well because when I sank back onto the ground Murphy and Finn were already snoring away happily.

Half an hour later they were still sleeping and I did not want to wake them up, so I decided ot have a look at the view from up there. I climbed a big rock and looked down on Lough Tay and into the distance. That was sooooo beautiful.

On the way back we went over the Wicklow Gap mountain road, past an old mining village were humans searched for lead and zinc more than one hundred years ago. Today only a few walls and big heaps of rubble tell the story of the valley’s mining history. Down the valley flows a little river and we had another break there. Unfortunately I had not brought my swimming trunks because I would have loved to dive into that cool water. It would have been big fun.

In the end we went back home to Murphy#s and Finn’s place and had a little chat about that winderful day, looked at the pictures we had taken and of course we decided to go on another trip very soon. I will let you know about that, too!

Kind Regards
Yours Spiky

Ahem, well….yes…Hiiiii all!

I knew there was something I had forgotten. Long time ago I started telling you about the International Fluffy Convention in Vienna I attended last July. Yeees, yeeees, I know – July! But so many things have happened in the meantime, I am living in Ireland now and so I somehow forgot to continue with the story, sorry!

After our first night and a delicious breakfast at Mr. Blumi’s hotel some of the fluffy convention participants met in the lobby for a short chat. Paul was there and Bruce Held, the famous writer-bear, and Carlo von Bremen, Fred, Knut, Finnie, Myself and many other fluffies – I am sorry if I did not mention YOU in particular.

We then arranged a group photo to be taken on the refreshingly cool stairs of the hotel . So we could cool down before stepping out into the heat of another blazingly hot Vienna day. My humans wanted to do some shight seeing and photo shooting with me – despite the heat!

Together with my humans I walked to the “Ringstraßen-Tram”. That is a tram that goes round in circles always along the famous Ringstrasse. Thats how the Viennese people call the street that Emperor Francis Joseph II. had built where once the townwall stood. And all along the Ringstraße are all the famous buildings such as the Opera, the Bearlament ord the Hofburg Palace.

When we arrived at the Hofburg Palace, we got off the tram and walked through the main gate on to the Heldenplatz (Heroes’ Square). Well I saw a lot of tourists but no heroes. Oh, wait, yes, I remember there was a hero. My Dad took a picture of him…. look!

Maybe that guy on his horsey is a hero? He was called Prince Eugene of Savoyen. He lived from sixteenhundredsomething to seventeenhundredanything and was a famous field commander. His proplem was that he was realted to so many royal families in Europe that whenever he came home from one his big battles there was mighty big trouble with all his relations. *hihihi*

In the inner courtyard of the Hofburg Palace I had to sit down and rest a while. My humans were also sweating because it was soooo hot but they promised me we would get something to eat after we had seen the Hofburg Palace. Over there behind me you can see the entrance to the Imperial apartements where the emperor and the emperess…but well, you all know the story.

I have to admit, that I liked the other side of the palace best, the one facin the Michaeler Square where als the Fiaker carriages with all the nice horseys are waiting for customers. Oh and then there ist the Griensteidl Café. I do not know what a “Griensteidl” is but I saw a sign in their window saying “air-conditioned”. So I pointed in the direction of the cfé and I think the humans knew what I wanted to tell them. I believe they were hungry, too.

It was so nice in there, really cool. I got myself a menu straightaway and checked what I would like to eat. I went for “Sacherwürstel” (Sacher sausages) because I wanted to know how they would manage to bring together sausages and the choclate and apricotjam of the acher gateaux. When I got my order I realised that the Sacherwürstel were only long Frankfurters at a Sacher price.

But then I got my chocolate and apricot jam with the Sacher gateaux for dessert. Chooooocooooolaaate! And Schlagobers as they call the whipped cream over here. Oh I really dug in… one for me, one for Daddy, one for Mummy …..

… and one for….. Hey,wait a second! Where’s my cake gone? I can’t have eaten it up all by myself. I am sure Daddy had some while I was not looking. I think there#s some chocolate round his mouth. HUMANS!

Ater lunch we walked on, back through the Hofburg Palace into the Volksgarten or People’s garden. Mum went to look at all the different types of roses there and I went to meet HER. Can you see her in the background. Her imperial Highness, Elisabeth Emperess of Austria-Hungary, or as we call her…. “Sissiiiiii!”

From the people’s garden we walked back to the Ringstrasse and just guess where we got to? The Autrian Bearliament. Well, I did not see any bears lamenting and most of the humans looked happy too, especially when they took refuge in the climatized lobby of the Bearliament. I preferred to sit down next to the fountain in front of the Bearliament.

Suddenly I discovered that it had become pretty late and I had to get back to the hotel as soon as possible for the opening ceremony of he IFC. So I asked one of the dragons guarding the fountain, if he could fly me back to the hotel. “Sure I can, my dear Spiky, jump on my back and off we go”, the dragon roared and swooooosh we were back at the hotel.

Oh, well, yes, I guess that was a lie. We went back to the hotel by tram but we arrived in time for the opening. Next time I will tell you about the opening ceremony, ok?

Bye, see you soon
Yours Spiky

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

*** Translation under construction – please check back soon ***

Hallo Freunde,

nachdem ich meine große Sommerreise über Wien, Bremen, Hamburg, Oslo, Le Havre, Dover und Amsterdam erfolgreich abgeschlossen, und noch ein Praktikum im Reisebüro absolviert habe, kann ich jetzt endlich vom absoluten Highlight des Jahres berichten, der International Fluffy Convention in Wien.

Der Mr. Blumi, Hotelchef vom Austria Classic Hotel Wien, hat das Treffen organisiert und ich bin mit dem Zug nach Wien gereist. Meine Zweibeiner habe ich als Begleitung mitgenommen, weil sie dieses Jahr eigentlich recht brav waren.

Nach fünf Stunden im Zug und eine halben Stunde in der U-Bahn, sind wir alle ganz geschafft im Hotel angekommen. Während sich Herrchen und Frauchen erstmal frisch gemacht haben, habe ich meinen Koffer ausgepackt und meine Klamotten in den Schrank sortiert. Meine Gitarre hatte ich auch dabei, man weiß ja nie ob Musik gewünscht wird.

Als die Klamotten verstaut waren, habe ich mich dem Begrüßungspaket gewidmet, das auf dem Tisch im Zimmer stand. Eine riesige Tüte mit “Wien”-Aufschrift stand da und eine Mappe mit allerhand Papierkram. Stadtplan von Wien, Infos über das Hotel und ein superlanger Fragebogen für eine Schnitzeljagd durch Wien. Das sollen mal meine Zweibeiner erledigen – die jagen das Schnitzel, ich esse es!

Ja schau mal einer an, da ist ja ein Kollege in der Tüte, mein ganz bärsönlicher Wien-Führer. Wiennie heißt er und er legt gleich los und erklärt mir die Geschichte der Stadt. Ich höre aber nur mit einem Ohr zu, denn da ist noch mehr in der Tüte, das ausgepackt werden will.

Du meine Güte, da hat sich Mr. Blumi aber richtig viel Mühe gegeben, denn in der Tüte steckte neben dem bärsönlichen Reiseführer auch eine große Picknickdecke, eine IFC-Tasse und jede Menge Süßigkeiten. Ich habe mir gleich mal ein Stück Schokolade in den Mund gestopft – herrlich. So kann ein Plüschitreffen stilecht beginnen.

Mit meinen Zweibeinern sind wir dann auf die Hotelterrasse gegangen, wo schon die ersten Gäste saßen. Beddy Bear aus Irland (links) und Mr. Blumi (neben mir) und der japanische Teilnehmer Kuma Kichi (der ganz klitzekleine vorne in der Mitte) waren schon da. und während wir da so saßen, kamen die größten Teilnehmer des Treffens an. Anton und Finn Steiff sind ganz schön imposant, aber, wie wir Plüschis so sind, ganz leibe, sanfte Gesellen.

Am ersten Abend haben wir uns alle schon angereisten Plüschis geschnappt und sind dann Essen gegangen. Was es gab? Na ihr könnt aber komische Fragen stellen. Schnitzel natürlich! Echtes Wiener Schnitzel! Lecker sage ich Euch.

Weil die offizielle IFC-Eröffnung erst am Freitagabend war, sind wir am Freitagmorgen mit einer großen Plüschigruppe nach Schönbrunn gefahren. Das ist das Schloss, wo der Kaiser Franz Joseph mit seiner Sissi gewohnt hat. Vor dem Schloss haben wir Plüschis und zum Gruppenbild in Pose geworfen. Bruci musste natürlich mal wieder aus der Reihe tanzen, äh liegen.

Nach dem Gruppenbild haben wir uns aufgeteilt, weil ein paar Zweibeiner das Schloss angucken wollten, wieder andere sind durch den Park spaziert und wir, also Paul, Fred, Björne Bär, Sven, das Schweinchen und ich wollten den Zoo unsicher machen. Aber um dahin zu kommen mussten wir erst einmal an einem großen Brunnen vorbei durch den Park spazieren. Weil es so heiß war, haben wir am Brunnen eine kurze Rast eingelegt.

Mit der Hitze hatten aber auch die Tiere im Zoo so ihre Probleme. Wer konnte lag im Schatten und hat sich nicht gerührt. Herrchen, der sich so aufs Tiere fotografieren gefreut hat, war richtig enttäuscht. Und wir Plüschis, wir haben uns nach einer Alternativbeschäftigung umgesehen. Gut, dass gerade der Schönbrunn-Zug vorbeigefahren ist, da sind wir doch gleich mal aufgesprungen.

In einem großen Gebäude waren die Affen untergebracht, und weil es da drin klimatisiert war, sind wir da alle zusammen reinspaziert. Ihr werdet nicht glauben, was ich da entdeckt habe. Es war wirklich unglaublich!

Am Ende haben wir dann doch noch Tiere entdeckt, die nicht in der Ecke gelegen sind. War aber auch kein Wunder, weil die ja einen Schwimming Puhl voll mit kühlem Wasser hatten. Ich hätte gerne mitgebadet, aber Herrchen wollte mich nicht ins Wasser springen lassen. Wie gemein!

Aber ich bin dann doch auch noch zu meiner Abkühlung gekommen. Gegenüber vom Schloss Schönbrunn gab es einen riesengroßen Brunnen mit Wasserfall und da hing ein wunderbar Kühler Schleier aus Wasserdampf in der Luft. Und das Foto ist auch sehr schön geworden.

Und weil ich dann doch sogar ein bissl sehr angefeuchtet war, musste ich mich doch glatt noch ein paar Minuten in die Sonne setzen um meinen Plüsch zu trocknen. Aber mehr als ein paar Minuten war nicht drin, weil wir ja dringend ins Hotel zurückmussten. Schließlich begann ja um 17 Uhr die offizielle Eröffnung der International Fluffy Convention. Und die wollten wir ja auch keinen Fall verpassen.

Und was es da auf der Eröffnung so alles gab, das erzähle ich Euch in der nächsten Geschichte.

Bis dann liebe Grüße
Euer Spiky ;bye_tb:

Hi Folks,

this week I’ll go an a big teddy bear adventure. I’ll be going to take a train to see my friend Mr Blumi in Vienna, wo is working as a hotel manager there. The first International Fluffy Convention will take place in Vienna and I’ll be there to meet with teddy bears and fluffies from all over the world.

For weeks I’ve been looking forward to that event where I will meet with old friends again and I’ve also been thinking what to take with me in my suitcase. Yesterday I heard my Mum say something to Dad. “Spiky is so dirty, We cannot allow him to go to Vienna that dirty!” DIRTY? ME? How dare she? My fur is immaculately clean, absolutely and brilliantly….ahem….well…grey.

Any resistance was futile so I grabbed my towel and my duckie and climbed town the stairs into the basement where the washing machine lives. Washing machine – what a horrible word.

Duckie watched with her eyes wide open when I put my towel on the floor but she didn’t help me with it. in the distance I could already see the big box with the teddy bear bathing powder. I could smell it all the way from my towel.

Oh, I almost forgot my t-shirt. Of course I have to take that off before having a bath. It was pretty difficult this time getting my head through it – my ears got stuck. I think I was a bit nervous. Then I folded my shirt and put it next to my towel – tidy bear is my second name

Teddy bear bathing powder – Mum keeps it for me in a very nice coloured box. I had to check, if there was enough powder left for today, but I had to lean over pretty far before I could touch the powder. I think Mum’s got to stock up on bathing powder again. Ok, ready to go – take a deep breath, Spiky!

O.k., here I am, there’s no chance of getting round it. *sigh*. My duckie has decided do leave me. She is afraid of the washning machine, she says. But a bear’s git to do what a bear’s got to do! Fare thee well, see you later, bye bye – I am on a beary important mission!

ALL CLEAR – LET’S ROLL!
COUNTDOWN…10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…washing sequence started…1… roll-off, we have a roll-off!

Thank God my humans remembered to throw in a few clothes as well so I could hide inside them to protect myself from banging against the metal drum. I may be made of plush but that’s not nice anyway. For a few seconds I got the chance to play “dead bear” in the water – can you see me?

Yeaaaah – I survived it. Enough splashing bathing turning – ENOUGH! And I am my cleanest self again, perfectly polar bear white. But all that turning made my teddy bear head go a bit , ahem… so…dizzy. I think I’ll lie down for a moment to let my head relax.

Hihihi. I like beargonomically shaped washing machine doors. So I did not have to look too long for a place where I could rest for a second. It’s really comfortable here – better than expected. I think I’ll have to be careful not to fall asleep.*chrrrphew*

Brrr, it became rather chilly now with my wet fur. Good thing I left my towel ready before I went in. I’ll give myself a good rub to warm up again, and duckie who cowardly stayed behind is coming back again, too. *phh* That’s rubber ducks for you!

O.k. here I am freshly bathed, perfectly white fur – IFC Vienna here I come.

Of course I will tell you everything that happened in Vienna – promise!
See you soon
Yours Spiky

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.