Hope you are all feeling well, Just wanted to let you know that me and Algernon visited Barcelona together. Here are some pictures I made during our trip.
We started in Parc Guell to get a good view of the city
Algernon admiring the view. The Sagrada Familia pops out and in the back you can see the sea
The famous lizard in Parc Guell
Next we went to the city centre for something to eat and enjoy the spanish way of life.
The fountain at Placa de Catalunya, close to the famous Ramblas street
And obviously, we just had to see the famous church the Sagrada Familia from the most well known architect of the Catelan Modernism movement; mister Gaudi.
Whoah! that's big!! And the Sagrada Familia isn't even finished yet
Inside the Sagrada Familia
Mister Gaudi intended to give you the feeling that you were in a big forest once you were inside his church. In his view, going back to nature was a spiritual experience. I think he succeeded very well in doing this.
Light falling through the ceiling, just like in the forest
And finally, we said goodbye to eachother at the harbour in Barcelonetta :'-(
The setting sun..
And that, my dear piggies, were my pictures of Algernon Rat in Barcelona, Spain.
Today Miss Wilma visited us for some herbal tea and she asked if we knew where Algernon Rat was. She hadn't heard from him after she went to Barcelona with him and was kinda worried.
We were very surprised, we didnt know he went to Barcelona, all we knew is that he's enjoying the nice weather and granny Glynis' cooking in Oz right now (granny Glynis is awfully nice, we don't blame him ;-))
So guys, help us out; were is (and was) Algernon??
Miss Wilma promised to send us the Barcelona pictures so we'll post them soon.
It's me Igor. I forgot to post this; a while ago me, Yaya, Chico and Woopy went to Flappiepop in Mickey and Jimmy's house.
Igor and Mickey@ Flappiepop
Algernon was staying with us at the time, but he disappeared for quite a while and we were wondering were he went so I did a little crowdsourcing on twitter, Facebook etc. and several online friends sent me pictures of him at Pinkpop, a Dutch festival located near Flappiepop (see here for the line-up).
Algernon with the Pinkpop logo ('pop' is dutch for doll)
Algernon on the phone?... Who is he calling? Maybe miss Wilma? Or pigs for a future destination?
Algernon dancing during the Skunk Anansie performance
What is Algernon doing with beer? Maybe they served carrot beer..
Apparantly they served an excellent cheese fondue at Pinkpop, Algernon was seen eating this on more than one occasion.
Algernon dancing to the music of the Prodigy
Algernon crowdsurfing! Teeheee.. that rat sure is full of surprises!
C'est moi, Monsieur Souris, Professeur in Mousology and I have a message for you from mon ami Algernon. He asked me to tell you that he has enjoyed the stay in your house very much but that now the time has come to move on.
Algernon visited moi when I was doing research in la Bushuis Bibliotheque (that is where your mademoiselle goes to make money so she can afford your chicory, he told moi that he hitched a ride in her bagage)
Les livres* are located at le third floor of the Buishuis building and that is where mon ami wanted to go. We had to be very careful, the staff is not terribly fond of mice (when I was just a petit enfant.. a long long time ago.. they even had a kitty kat, named bibelot). But Algernon came to le bibliotheque for a special livre.
He didn't want to tell me why he wanted to see that livre, but as you know, but I can tell you we were in the Anthropology section *winkwink*.
Monsieur Igor, before I forget, Algernon wanted you to know that he has not forgotten about your surprise pour Mickey la belle.
Hi All,
Look what just arrived in the mail!!
Grtz
Igor and Yaya
Dearest Algernon,
Thank you for the lovely time in Haarlem, I sure enjoyed being your guide.
If you ever happen to drop by in the Netherlands again, be sure to give me a call.
I'm back! So where were we? Ah yes, Miss Wilma showed us the Frans Hals museum, with paintings from the most famous painter that lived in Haarlem during the Dutch Golden Age. The rats went on a tour inside and I waited outside (I don't care that much for art). When they came back, they sat with me outside on the little benches and enjoyed the sun for a bit.
Sitting there, we got the idea to go to the city park Haarlemmerhout and just relax a bit more. It was such a nice day (and yes okay.. the prospect of a huge lawn appealed to me)
Wilma told us that the Haarlemmerhout park is the oldest public park in the Netherlands and that Napoleon's army carved their initials into a tree.
When I was full, Algernon and Wilma also wanted something to eat, so we rode back into the centre and I dropped Algernon and Wilma off at a restaurant (aka a cheese store). When I got home and took a good look at the photo's I made... *giggle*.. can you see the two of them holding tails??
It was not until much much later Algernon got home and crawled right into his hammock. When Igor went up to him and asked how the dinner was, all Algernon said was; 'Very nice, dutch cheese is superb' and then he fell asleep.
It is me, Yaya. I promised Igor I'd tell you guys about our day in Haarlem last weekend. So here it goes. I invited a special guide to show us around Haarlem, her name is Miss Wilma and she is a girl rat and lives in the church where the Noord-Hollands Archives are located. When she showed up at our cage Algernon went all red and ran into our wooden house *giggle*.
After Igor gave him a peptalk (I swear I saw him showing Algernon how to rumblestrut) they came out of the wooden house and we went downstairs where another surprise was waiting..
Wilma brought her special bike! After Igor told me about Algernon's excitement about the bikes at Amsterdam Central station, I thought he would appreciate a real bike ride (gathering from his response, I think he did). So.. Wilma and Algernon crawled in the little basket, and I worked the pedals ;-).
The first thing we saw when we were riding along the river Spaarne was the former Droste Chocolate factory. Wilma explained that humans were very interested in that factory, we were slightly bored, so we kept on going along the riverside.
When we arrived in the city centre, there appeared to be a Mechanical Organ festival. The centre was littered with mechanical organs and you could hear their music everywhere. Wilma also told us that the St. Bavochurch on the market square houses the famous Müller organ, which was played by Mendelssohn, Händel and even Mozart when he was only 10 years old.
Next to the church, Wilma explained, was a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster, the alleged inventor of the printing press. The dutchies long thought he invented the printing press, but there is some evidence that Gutenberg in Germany invented it, and there is other evidence that the chinese invented it, several hundred years before they started printing in Europe. Ah well, at least it makes a very interesting story.
Another interesting building on the market square is the city town hall. On nice days you can see newlyweds coming out of the building (Wilma blushed when she said this.. hmmm.. ) To be continued..
So.. after seeing the Arena sports stadium, me and Algernon decided that we wanted to go downtown and see a bit of the city centre. I also promised you a while ago that I would follow up on that tip you got from your slave about Amsterdam's most delicious food. So I made sure we checked that out for you ;-)
We got out at Waterloo station and the first stop was to take a look at the 'Magere Brug' (skinny bridge). The human spy James Bond shot his movie 'Diamonds are forever' at this location, so that was a must-see (tuh.. showoff.. real spies err.. blog).
Then we walked towards Rembrandt square to further investigate the tip from your slave about Amsterdam's yummiest food.
Well.. I think I have to disappoint you, buddy (you can see mister Rembrandt in the picture, which is proof we really did investigate). I did not find an exclusive vegetable shop and Algernon tried to find a cheese store, but he had no luck with that either. Needless to say, we were VERY disappointed. Food is not something to joke about.
Ow, I have to tell you a secret, but you have to promise not to tell Mickey. Me and Algernon came up with a plan when we were passing the flower market. It took us a while to get the shop assistant's attention (can you spot Algernon in the basket? I cannot believe humans have trouble seeing us) But in the end it all worked out. I cannot wait until Mickey gets her surprise, my beautiful little flower deserves only the best..
After that, we were thirsty, so we went to this cute little alley 'Gebed zonder end' (prayer without an end) to have a carrot beer and a platter of cheese at 'Captain Zeppos'
At 'Captain Zeppos' we accidently ran into one of Algernons friends. Dennis was just grabbing a bite during his break (Dennis is spokesrat for the Dutch Society for Replacement of Animal Testing). After our lunch we joined Dennis at Dam square and tried to help him raise awareness of the plight of laboratory animals.
After all of this, we were terribly tired so we went back to Amsterdam Central station to catch the train back to Haarlem.
Yaya is gonna show Algernon around Haarlem this weekend and she has a surprise planned for him. I do not know what it is but since she likes him, I don't think he has anything to worry about *winkwink*.
Lots of manly wheeks!
Your buddy Igor
p.s. Ghaaaaaaaahhhhh.. my slave just told me what the so called 'yummiest food was'. Apparently it was icecream. WHY?? Humans are weird.
This blog is dedicated to Alge, slave to Captain Jack, Barnacle Bill, and the Jolly Rodents. She went to join her boys (and other loved ones) on the Rainbow Bridge. We loved her spirit, sense of humor and most of all her kindness especially regarding guinea pigs. She will be sorely missed..
