April 2009

We've been themeparked

27. April 2009 - 11:38

Yesterday, the BF and I went to Tripsdrill, a theme park very close to Stuttgart. It's the oldest amusement park in Germany, it was opened in 1929. It's not a very big park, but everything is done with love and everything fits into the theme of the park wich is "Swabia 1880". So everything looks like ancient and how it might have been in this area about 130 years ago, and since it's in a famous German wine region, very much is about wine somehow.

The village road at the entrance of the park showing some typical swabian houses.

A typical south German custom a long time a go was "Fensterln" (lit. translated "windowing"), where a boy climed up a ladder to his graceful maid to confess his love (and to bypass her parents). In the park there is a house with a ladder. And when you climb up different people apper at the window. E.g. the angry father. ;-)

This wooden roller coaster is less than one year old. It's big fun and the first part of a new themed area at the park.

This castle has a fast roller coaster and also a log flume with the highest and steepest decline in Europe (where I, by the way, got really wet)

The last dry spot on my clothes went away after riding this rapid rafting ride.

After the park had closed, we drove to a small city nearby to have dinner. We went to a very nice restaurant, sat outside at this street and had some great food. It didn't feel like just a weekend, it felt like a vacation. And especially during dinner I felt like being in France, while the BF insisted on feeling like being in Italy. A quarrel that couldn't be solved ;-)


What is Stuttgart?

9. April 2009 - 14:48

I could answer, that it's the capital of the German state Baden-Württemberg, or that it is a city with many baroque castles. I could answer that it's the hometown of philosophers like Hegel. Or the city where most inventions are registered, the city where the car was invented and Mercedes, Porsche and Bosch are founded and still headquartered. I could mention the many mineral wells.
I could say it's the city that had two (almost) openly gay Kings, or the city that had the first TV tower in the world. I could say it's the only big city that has a cog railway and could mention its cable car. I could talk about architectural unique and very famous neighbourhoods. I could speak about the many famous museums, the biggest three-divisions-theater (play, ballet and opera) in the world, the big green parks in the city, the wineyards and everything else that makes this town so lovely. Or I could just say: Watch this ...

Stuttgart