Europapark

Oma and Opa (Claudia's parents) came to visit last week. On Saturday they took me and Oliver to a place called Europapark. I had no idea what it was, but Oli and Isabel both got very excited when it was mentioned, so I figured it was worth checking out. As we were on our way there i learned that it was, as the name suggests, a Europe themed amusement park and apparently quite popular throughout much of Europe as Disneyland is in the US.

Just as it was described each section of the park was in the theme of a different country. Each country had rides that were named for the country and decorated for the country. The employees were dressed in clothes matching the ride and country, the food was specialized in each "country" and even the languages matched, though German and often French and English translations were also provided. There were even shows loosely themed from each of the countries (often featuring good looking women) and Opa always insisted we stop and watch. In Germany there was a biergarten, in Russia they featured the Mir space-station training module, and in England they had the Globe Theater. Some of the rides were pretty cool as well including one whose cars spin while it travels the roller coaster track.

The only downside was that all of Europe was there. As it was a weekend during the summer, it seems that everyone else in Europe decided to show up to the park. Luckily we had Oli along to motivate us (or force us) to wait in the lines that were up to an hour long. We rode both of the big coasters with big lines 3 times. Everyone except Oli came home quite tired but very happy.