Tripsdrill

On Sunday, we had originally planned to visit the old Roman town of Trier. However, the thought of driving for two hours and convincing the kids to look at ruins and walk through museums did not seem that appealing. So instead, we headed an hour south to the kids amusement park called Tripsdrill.

This park was a perfect place to spend a day for kids about this age. The themes and rides were geared towards younger kids and families. However, there were a few differences from such parks in the USA...

Firstly, as soon as we got in, there was a huge, mechanical figure sitting on the toilet reading the paper and taking care of his business. We thought this was quite strange so it deserved a closer look. A few other people were gathered looking at what was going on as well. Well, I guess it would help to speak the local language as he then shouted a few words in German and "spat" a jet of water out at the crowd. Mindy was standing in exactly the right place to catch it perfectly in her face...I only wish I had the camera rolling!

There were a few rides that were comparable to kids' rides in the USA but then we started to notice that the ride attendants did not really seem to be paying too much attention to the ages and heights of the children who were riding. Also, many of the rides were more "intense" than would be allowed for young kids in the USA. As a result, the girls were able to ride their first ever roller coaster which was actually reasonably fast as well as many other "spinning" rides.

After a few too many spinning rides combined with a couple of bratwursts that I had for lunch, I needed a little break from getting dizzy so we went on a water-barrel "rapids" ride. I thought we did well saying the right German numbers for how old Fiona was as well as how many people were in our group but the guy still yelled at us in German about something we had done wrong I guess. In any case, we jumped on the ride and Mindy especially got soaked.

Later in the day, Naomi had a lolly-pop and was happily enjoying it when all of a sudden she dropped it and started screaming. Apparently, a bumble bee had landed on it and ended up in her mouth stinging her a couple of times. With some ice cream to soothe her mouth and some sympathy she was OK, but it was obviously not a fun time for her.

One of the highlights of the day for the kids was the driving ride where you got to control your own car. Fiona especially really had a blast on this. Naomi enjoyed it but said that the roller coaster was her favourite ride of the day.

One more interesting display...there was a scene showing the Garden of Eden, complete with naked Adam and Eve, each with 1 strategically placed fig leaf for cover. Not that there was anything wrong with this but it seeemed a little strange for a kids theme park.

After this, back to the hotel for Indian food and some rest after what was a good day with the family.