Bayern Park & Prague

Day Nine - Bayern Park

I forgot to mention how much fun it has been to be in a country with an amazing soccer team during the World Cup. It seems like all German people are excited. After Germany beat Brazil, the horns and racket in the streets went on and on! We were in a very small town so I'm sure the celebrations were even louder and bigger in larger cities.

We were all especially excited for a fun day at a smallish German amusement park. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great but we didn't let it stop us from having a ball. There were no lines for any rides and we could continue riding the same ride over and over again without exiting. DD#1 is fearless and would have liked to go on every ride by herself. DD#2 is more cautious but warmed up to some of the more daring rides. The wet log ride was a favorite today. The park was nearly empty and felt like a ghost town. Most of the park employees were senior citizens who seemed friendly and patient. The girls went on a little roller coaster around 15 times without getting off! Sadly, the park closed two hours early due to the cruddy weather. We couldn't understand the announcement and didn't see the written explanation at the entrance. DD#1 and I were saving the best roller coaster for last and struck out when the park closed without warning. Darn it! It was such a low-key, inexpensive (relatively) park that I wouldn't be surprised if we return someday.

Notice how we are the ONLY ones on the ride. This was the norm for the day.

There were very few staff members or warnings before getting on a ride. These cool frog pendulums had zero staff around. Completely self-operated!

They even had an enormous rock climbing wall.

A few more pictures from our fun, rainy day:

Day 10 - Drive from Germany to Prague!

We tried to get up sort of early so we could make a couple of stops on the way to Prague. The weather was still cool and rainy. The big bummer about the rain is that luges and bobsleds are unable to run. The tracks must be dry so that the brakes can operate. Both the luge and bobsled track were closed at Bayern Park yesterday. We would encounter the same problem at Zilverberg mountain on the way to Prague today. Drat!

However, we were able to stop at an amazing glass blowing operation called Joska Glass. The forested area between Germany and the Czech Republic has been known for its glass for hundreds of years. The tradition goes back to having access to all the trees for burning hot fires required for making glass. Joska is unique because they allow kids to blow their own glass for 5 Euros - and they get to keep their creation! The girls were so proud of their beautiful creations. Now I wonder how we will get them home in one piece...

As always, another cool German playground:

We made our way into the Czech Republic and stopped at Karlstejn Castle. The drive was less than three hours but we were still ready to stretch our legs.

We stopped on the outskirts of town at a grocery store. We spent less than $30 on two bags of fun grocery items! We would finally have a kitchen in our new digs. After some serious old city driving, we made it to our apartment for the next 5 nights right near the famous Charles Bridge in Mala Strana. DH was happy to have a private courtyard to park the new wheels.

We found a neat basement restaurant with typical Czech food.

The rain had finally stopped so we took a quick stroll and decided to climb the tower on our end of the Charles Bridge. We were the only ones up there!

The girls couldn't resist a big smooch by all those love locks near the Charles Bridge. Cracked me up!