We started at Europa Park, a theme park in Germany about an hour away from Stras by bus. I wasn't originally going, seeing how I'm not a fan of roller coasters, but we were all going and since I hadn't put any other plans in motion (I was thinking about going to London to watch the Chelsea match, which ended up being an epic win 5-0) I "manned up" as Laura said. The group split along the lines of who likes roller coasters, and my group of 4 enjoyed our day. Katherine had never been on any sort of ride so we (Katherine, Clare, Taryn and myself) started slow and built our way up to a proper roller coaster at the end. We also went to "Halloween On Ice" which was more of just the Ice Capades with a few zombies thrown in for good measure. We figured it was a family show but the first act showed us that family shows are a bit different in Germany, the woman's outfit would have been at home on a beach instead of on ice... As the whole park was Halloween-ed, we were horribly disappointed that we hadn't heard Thriller yet (they were playing the halloween song from A Nightmare Before Christmas on repeat around the park) but Halloween On Ice fixed that by giving us a Michael Jackson tribute, featuring the Thriller dance (on skates!) and then broke into Billie Jean (The guy did back flips on ice skates, I was impressed) and finished with a zombified version of Beat It. There is a big geo-desic dome that houses a roller coater and it was made to look like a pumpkin, that was funny. The roller coaster inside was fun too! All in all it was a good trip, even if we were called "the wuss group" since we didn't want to go on the tallest roller coaster in Europe, or a gigantic one designed by Mercedes-Benz. We had our fun at our own pace, and had less time queueing than the other group, our longest was maybe 20 minutes, and they spent maybe 5 hour in lines during the course of the trip...
When we got home we relaxed for a bit then went to celebrate Adrian's birthday. We started at Paul Appel (one of the residences) and then hopped the tram to a different university residence. We ended the night at a club on a boat. It was certainly an entertaining evening, and we got an extra hour because of the time change, and I really love when that happens. And considering that had I not changed my watch it would have been 5 am when I got home, I was thankful for the extra hour... The night bus disappeared yesterday so I hung out with Clare as she waited for it, only for a 20 minute wait to turn into about an hour and a half. At least....
Today, Lee and I are going to watch the Man Utd game against Liverpool and then we'll be playing Risk at Pawels apartment. Pictures arriving in a moment!
What a day indeed! Caution was always your byword when it came to things like roller coasters. It harkens memories from Lake James when Uncle Lynn was hell-bent on getting you to water ski. There is a fine line that divides caution and reckless abandon. I learned early not to over-react when I felt you were being too cautious, all the time being grateful that your tendency was not to run into the street. (I, on the other hand, recall the day I dropped you, Michael Jackson-style, from our porch onto a shrub in a failed gymnastics feat.)
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I had to learn when to push, cajole and encourage a young man to engage his full potential. Your experience getting your license was a telling example. After getting your learner's permit, at my insistence, you agreed always to drive when we traveled together. (And I am grateful that you have faithfully adhered to that promise with only one exception.) What was telling, however, was that when you made the decision that you were ready to get your license, in the course of one week, you finished your driving course and took your exam which you passed with ease.
The Council is meeting tonight and they are voting on an ordinance to enact further restrictions on smoking. I should send you pictures of that.