Sunday, March 20, 2011

Germany: Auf wiedersehen!

The first solo trip the kids and I made out into the community after moving to Mannheim back in 2003 was to visit the lovely Luisenpark. It was also one of our last "field trips" after Fred returned from Iraq in 2005, when I took this photo, possibly my favorite one ever:



It felt great to cap off our European adventure by going back to the park on this beautiful day.

Caroline enjoyed eating hot pretzels with Janna and Annika:



Exploring the Chinese pavilion:



Pat and Elke at the Chinese garden:



Pellet and Cheezer took this picture to convince the rest of the rodents that they visited China over spring break:



I had been looking forward to seeing German squirrels again, but this is the only one I found:



We stopped at each and every play area, but the castle ruin was an especially big hit with the kids:



I even got in on the fun at one playground:



It took at least 3 people to get me into and out of that thing! (The video cuts off the tale end of my comment, which was: "This is cheaper than champagne!")

After we left the park, we went to our favorite Mannheim restaurant for a farewell dinner. I almost couldn't find the website for Zur Kurpfalz, because we just always called it "the schnitzel house." It felt so good to be back that I couldn't resist taking pictures of some of the food. This is Elke's salad:




I can't remember what Pat's dish was called, but it smelled wonderful:



And my beloved Schnitzel Wilddieb:



We stopped by an ice cream parlor on our way home where Annabelle attacked her apple strudel with great gusto:



Michelle got the Spaghetti Eiss she has been waiting 20 years for:



I had Spaghetti Eiss myself, which was the perfect end to a perfect vacation!

2 comments:

Dad said...

I love that "uni" pic of Mike and AB, too. That's possibly why I have an 8x10 of it in my office. What a great trip you had!

Unknown said...

My favorite pictures were AB surfing and the flock of Babushkas.