Freiburg and Europa Park

First Day at the gate - the mouse is the equivalent of 'Mickey'
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We were on our way to Strasbourg when we saw the signs to Freiburg and decided to stop in. We stopped in  a 'parkplatz' (a place to park with power and water and not much else) about 15 mins from the city and wandered in for a look around. Freiburg is a pretty city, at least the old town, and has a nice friendly atmosphere a little like Bern in Switzerland (Claire didnt think it was like Bern, but Im writing...). The munster (church) in Freiburg was impressive although covered in Scafolding and a lot of the other buildings, particularly the Rathouse (town hall).

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There were Christmas markets on in the Rathouseplatz so Gluewein was drunk and bratwursts were eaten ;-) There was also a traders market near the Munster which was worth a look. Freiburg has a interesting feature of small canals (between 20 and 60cm wide) cut into the streets which used to be used to provide water for livestock and for fire fighting. Now they provide amusement for 3 year olds and apparently keep the city cool in summer. Forgot the camera again. Damn.

Jay was in a rare daring mood so was especially upset that he was too short/young to be allowed on the Roller Coaster.

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Still on our way to Strasbourg we stopped again at Europa Park. A big amusement park for young and old alike. Im not exactly a veteran of amusement parks and nor is Claire. Adventure World in Perth, while pretty good fun, is not exactly causing the 'good ole boys' at Disney to lose sleep. It wont be causing the Herrs and Fraus at Europa to lose sleep either. Although we are amusement park virgins we both found Europa to be excellent and pretty cheap at 75 euros for us all for a two day pass, under 4s are free. The campsite is not such good value at 23 Euros a night with pretty basic facilities, but staying here does mean you can enjoy a few drinks to ward off the winter chill.

Before Roller Coaster
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Our first day at Europa was great fun but a little cold with temperatures around 7 or 8oC, OK thats pretty warm for this time of year but still cold to be outside most of the day. The park was virtually empty when we arrived and very quiet all day. We didnt queue for a single ride. We went on most of the smaller rides with Jay and Ella. Jay was in a rare daring mood so was especially upset that he was too short/young to be allowed on the Roller Coaster. We did go on a fairly realistic ride with Dinosaurs moving and roaring, we didnt realise it was so scary and Jay screamed most of the way round...

During Roller Coaster - there was screaming involved...
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The second day we did a few of the bigger rides and found a roller coaster Jay was allowed on, he screamed on this one too ;-) We watched th Ice Show which was pretty good and the circus which I thought was good and Claire thought was average. Overall it was an excellent place. Even though some of the bigger rides were closed for Winter the Christmas atmosphere and the lights after dark made up for it. I think about 3 days would be good to do most things at a relaxed pace, although yu could spend 4 or 5 if you were taking it easy. We didnt see the onsite hotel but I think that would be the place to stay if it isnt too expensive.