Well lets set this up first, we have found a theme park, the mascot is a mouse, the centerpiece of the park is a giant silver dome, there’s attractions representing different countries of the world and plenty of rides and fun for all. Well you have probably guessed where I’m talking of, well you are wrong, its not in the heart of Florida its in Germany! Europa Park is a park in Rust which is in the south western part of Germany between Freiburg and Strasbourg. The park is home to nine rollercoasters, some great shows including a very popular gladiator show, a 4d cinema and has a few other familiar attractions like jungle rafts, a Mississippi steamer and even a dwarf city and fairy tale alley. It still sounds a bit familiar doesn;t it, but there’s more- there’s a puppet boat ride, a ghost castle ride, even a pirate boat ride and they have a monorail and a castle too. The park is Europe’s second most popular park, guess what is the most popular, it has a mouse and pretty much most of the above- it’s just outside of Paris.
Posts Tagged ‘Germany’
Hitler’s Prora Spa
While you could describe Hitler as not one of the nicest people about, in fact he was one of the worst, but while in power he did start huge and lavish projects to try and win over the support of the German people. His Kraft durch Freude (strength through joy) program gave the German worker holidays on cruise ships and other leisure activities to keep the people happy and in turn working hard.
One such project was the Prora Spa complex on the island Rugen in north eastern Germany. The massive building was built between 1936 and 1939. Hitler planed that the huge resort would have space for 20,000 beds, theatres and all sorts of leisure activities. With the onset of the war the building was never completed and apart for part of it been used by the East Germans for a time the huge building sits mostly derelict along the shore of Rugen. Today the Prora complex has a formal heritage listing as a particularly striking example of Third Reich architecture. A visitors center is at the site with an exhibition about the sites history.
Tropical island in a Blimp hanger
Well we thought we had seen it all but this takes the cake and it is in Germany of all places. It is a huge airship hanger which has been transformed into an amazing tropical island. Germany was the world leader of Airships during the first part of last century and built many huge hangers, but after the war and the horrific Hindenburg Zeppelin disaster, airships fell from popularity and development of planes took over. The country had quiet a few huge hangers, this one is monstrous, it is infact the second largest indoor space in the world, after the Boeing Factory. Inside there is a forest, pools, walking tracks and everything you would expect to see on a Polynesian Island. The centre has bars, restaurants and even special shows. Being just 60km South of Berlin Tropical Island is a very popular weekend get away where it is 25 degrees all year round and 28 in the ’sea’. Weekdays are cheaper and less crowded, ticket prices are around the 20 Euros for general admission and yes you can get a suntan there- the dome is UV penetratable.
There’s no service at this restaurant
At this restaurant known as ’s Baggers in Nurnberg Germany you wont find any waiters to take your order or to bring drinks to the table, instead you will find a touch screen computer and something that looks like a food rollercoaster that bring food directly to your table. When you get a table at this futuristic restaurant you make your order via the computer at your table, your meals is then prepared by humans (not robots) in the upstairs kitchen and sent on a ride to your table. The restaurant claims that the system cuts costs and improves efficiency making for an overall better dining experience. The food served is called Franconian Style which is an old German style of cooking the name baggers comes from a potato fritter style dish. Read the rest of this entry »
King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein Castle
King Ludwig II was known as a bit of a nutter, but he had a lot of good things going for him, he was the guy who’s wedding celebration grew into Oktoberfest and he liked making grand and over the top castles for himself. His most famous is Neuschwanstein which is about 2 hours drive out of Munich and was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Disneyland castles. The castle is open to the public and well worth the effort to visit. The castle is straight out of a fairy tale with gold, jewels and murals and King Ludwig’s signature swans prominent throughout the building. Poor King Ludwig didn’t get to see his finished work he and he nearly bankrupted the state, he ended up going a going over the edge and drowned with his friend in the nearby lake.
Concorde on display
The Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum is the home to the F-BVFB Air France Concorde which proudly sits upon their museum roof and is open to the public. This Concorde made its maiden flight in March of 1976 and had its final flight in June of 2003. Over this time it had made 5473 landings and flown 14771 hours. The last flight was from Paris’s CDG airport to Karlsruhe-Baden Baden where it was disassembled and put on a barge for a trip up the Rhine and then trucked the rest of the journey to the Sinsheim museum. The museum also has Russia’s version of the Concorde the Tupolev TU-144 this sits beside the Air France Concorde. Sinsheim is about an hour’s drive south of Frankfurt and a little longer from Stuttgart and Munich, it opens 265 days a year.
747 Jumbo up a pole
This 747 Jumbo jet is on display at the Technik Museum in Speyer which is about an hours drive from Stuttgart. It part of one of a few great automotive and aeronautic museums found throughout Germany. The 747 is the real thing it is a Lufthansa aircraft which has been decommissioned. You can climb the stairs and inspect the whole plane including the cargo hold which is quiet interesting. The museum has hundreds of other displays including submarines, trains, planes, cars, boats you name it- if it moves they will have one. There is also a Imax theatre, a really good cafe which serves good food and drinks including some of the regions best beer and wine and of course a gift shop which has got some great things to purchase. Read the rest of this entry »
