Gengenbach, Germany
Woke up early (for Vix), ate breakfast at the hotel.
Went back upstairs to prepare for a long day at the amusement park -Europa Park
Drove the 40 minutes or so south to the town of Rust, which is where we’d had dinner the night before. The signs to get to parking were a little confusing since we couldn’t read them, but the organization was impeccable. Germans know organization!
Sylvia had done some research the day before, so we had a battle plan that included hitting as many of the big coasters as possible.
While we didn’t stick to the plan, we did hit the big rides. Europa Park is like a mashup of Disneyland, Magic Mountain, and Universal Studios. It is big and every “land” is themed as different countries in Europe. The themeing doesn’t always make perfect sense, but exploring is an adventure. We did a lot in the day we spent there, but could easily do another day if we had one to spare. Guess we’ll have to come back! Below is the list of activities we did:
- Silver Star (Mercedes racing themed coaster)
- Adventure Atlantis – Toy Story-like kid’s ride with shooting
- Sylvia and Vix got Gelatos
- Voltron – super fast and smooth new coaster. The best.
- Vix climbed into a gap in a wall
- Pirates of Batavvia – a Pirate of the Caribbean clone with more Asian and indigenous representation
- Sylvia tracked down her smoked salmon stand
- Wodan – Viking themed wooden coaster that was incredibly fast
- Blue Fire Megacoaster – tall and fast, but not as smooth as the others
- Ate at the Food Loop – Orders were automated, delivered on roller coaster trays.
- Vix re-did the gap (have it on video this time)
- Atlantica Super splash – a splashdown ride with a very long wait in the heat. Everyone wanted to get wet at that time of the day.
- The park has a number of “green areas” which are just open grass and trees. We stopped at one to rest and drink water.
- Madame Freudenreich Curiosites – dark ride featuring dinosaurs living among us.
- Castello dei Medici – a bizzaro world version of Disney’s Haunted Mansion.
- Vix got a pretzel
- Voletarium – Glider ride akin to Soarin’ over California, but covering European locations.
- Vix bought us slushies (trying to rid the Euros in her purse)
Back to hotel to shower, change.
Dinner at hotel restaurant was great. It was crowded as we hit the “dinner hour”, but we were able to sit out in the courtyard, enjoying the shade, and our waiter was super sweet as we asked him to refrain from speaking to us in English so that Vix could practice her German. Did I have an Aperol Spritz? You bet!
Walk through the quiet streets of Gengenbach.
Back to hotel for sleep.
(20,195 steps)