Finally it is sunny in Germany! So, we are out and about!!!
Thursday was actually kind of cold, so we went to the local history museum to learn all about Neanderthals, and cave man times, and Roman occupation. The museum was very classy, but had a super fun kids area that focused on cave-man life. There were clothes to try on, spears to throw, and a giant play table to pretend to hunt.
The kids and I took a local bus out to a big forest park called Waldau on Friday. The highlight was a giant playground, and it seemed all the locals were there with the same idea. All the stores and even most restaurants were closed Friday for good Friday. The kids played and romped in the playground for hours, and there were, thankfully, enough other kids to let them have fun apart. I think they are getting tired of being together 24/7…. fighting and arguing. So, Zoe found a pack of girls to pal around with for a while and Avi played with another boy at the sand-dumper for a long time.
Eventually, Zoe noticed some goings-on over the fence and crawled over to join other kids making forts and shelters with some recently felled huge pine trees. She was so focused and spent a long time on this shelter, only asking me to help her carry some of the larger logs. It was fun to see her in her element.
After that we ate our packed lunch and wandered over to the forest animals enclosure. Well, we attempted to go over there. Avi had a complete tired-man breakdown over this. He did not want to walk, his feet “hurt”, his legs were ‘bung’, all of it. He even sat on the trail and screamed! The Germans were kind of in awe, I’m sure. It was a fantastical performance, and when we finally got to the not-far wild boars he thought they were super cool. There were even stripey little babies! The bus ride home was nice and relaxing, and we all took a long nappy nap.
On Saturday, we took a walk to the big local toy store. 4 floors of toy gloriousness. I gave each kid 5 Euro to spend, and they took an hour to explore every nook and cranny and make a choice. Zoe picked a playmobil girl with kitties. Avi chose a cool matchbox-style city tram like the ones we’ve been riding.
In the afternoon, after the rain dissipated, Walter drove us all to a super neat living-history museum. It was laid out like tiny villages with real old homes to walk around and explore. The oldest was from around 1400! The villages represented different Rhineland regional styles and walking between them, through the forest felt like going around the deep dark woods of a Grimm tale. I loved examining the fireplaces, while the kids liked just running around the place and seeing chickens and horses and pigs. It was so enjoyable! A bit cold, but sunny and nice. It was also a fun time to hang out with Walter and Bethany!
Other than that, we’ve been enjoying the local playground and had a fun German food evening out at a local restaurant downtown. Bethany lives in the Altstadt – the old town – near the old walking-only streets full of shops and restaurants and the outdoor markets. It’s lovely.
