What's new

Railing Across Europe

jayjay

Giga Poster
Day 8 - "Starting the Proper Theme Parks" (Mirabilandia)

We left the last day's report on the platform at Padua station, 5.30am. It's not the plan I originally had, but I'm good at leaving booking far too late, so the sensibly timed train to Florence was fully booked.

The Italian guy on the night train warned that Italy's trains were on the whole less punctual than Germany, which was true (though nothing managed to beat the Cologne-Vienna 145 minute delay). But Christ, Italy's trains are all over the place in quality. There's your standard super-comfortable 180 mph intercity services, but for the stopping services, you may not be in luck. Here's the one that carried me to Mirabilandia (shuttle bus from Lido di Classe/Lido di Savio)

djOdpLH.jpg

If you see a train that looks like this, run far away

aRfbVM7.jpg


Anyways, Mirabilandia. Being a day where I had all my luggage with me, there was faff involved. The security guards didn't speak English, so had to show me a box of confiscated knives to ask "do you have any" (if I did, wouldn't I just answer 'no' anyway?). Dumped all the bags in a locker, then first stop, iSpeed.

5IP7Lp7.jpg

Favourite new coaster of the trip, wish I'd taken some better pictures than this

It occured to me now that I'd filled the first half of this trip with consistently mediocre stuff, and iSpeed hit me with a strong reminder of what coasters could do. The launch and the top-hat are like Stealth but less so, but the highlight is the following burst of speed: the sudden flick under the launch track, the airtime hill and violent twists afterwards. It's pure adrenaline and I love it! The layout gets a little weaker towards the end, but holds up very well indeed.

The one major thing that stops it breaking the top 3 ranks is its restraints. Hanging from an old intamin lap bar is painful, and even with a little bracing, it still kills the mood in the second half. Still, number four is about right for me.

Kiddie cred: it had a cute vegetable garden.

I made my way around the back of the park for Master Thai, the strange dueling coaster. At some point, this will have VR, but not today.

1v8xaEa.jpg

Gee, this doesn't remind me of any animated feature film, especially not one by Dreamworks

THbTupL.jpg


It's a strange one. It doesn't ever build up a huge amount of speed, but it is incredibly jerky. You do get two laps though - one on each half of the track. It also seemed to be running alternate empty trains, so I didn't get to duel with anyone. Isn't that the point? And won't that be removed with VR? Answers on a postcard.

epEPrgn.jpg

Have you remembered to paint your elephant today?

And so to big coaster number 2! Got to admit, I didn't expect to be a huge fan of Katun. It's got its forces but I've never hugely warmed to the "big positive Gs" style. It offers buckets of that. It's a fantastic by-the-numbers B&M force machine. Just that sort of thing doesn't do it for me.

JdgcXga.jpg

It's not you, it's me

A Wild Mine ride is there because why be original. I mainly spent the ride trying to stop my bag from escaping and bracing for the very sharp brakes.

6LkLBvQ.jpg

BROMS!

HrQ0YpP.jpg

The area for the mine ride had this totally-not-Italian country band

Divertical, the water coaster, lies dominant at the back of the park. This being Italy, it felt warm enough to have a go, which is good because this thing is wet.

Vg5yZck.jpg

The lift is so weird

Apparently I didn't write any opinions of Divertical, which must mean the coaster section was forgettable. The splash was almost Tidal Wave levels though. I mean, it's Italy, it's allowed.

For a chance to dry off, I thought, best to just get high. So I got high.

dlmPNv1.jpg

I know a guy that can hook you up with some good Ferris wheels

jP2ZTeN.jpg

iSpeed <3

4AiOJgz.jpg


One roller coaster left to go, and it's one of the worst. Rexplorer was Mirabilandia's powered mine train and it doesn't distinguish itself in any particular way except leaving you hanging in weird angles on the long, long roll back to the station.

A few other rides were done during the day. The cadillac flume was unique and kinda fab, but the splash was disappointing

bhTP0Mf.jpg

Pictured: nobody getting wet

CHS7Bd2.jpg

Car flume

It was still mid afternoon, so more rerides were in order. Katun first, and I still couldn't get into it as much as I wanted, even in the front row.

FqTEHdO.jpg

We can still be friends

iSpeed was still Godlike, though my thighs were not having the best of times.

O2Mn9Np.jpg

But my brain was having the best of times

As a whole, Mirabilandia's a decent park. It's got some quite barren areas (the iSpeed theming felt particularly cheap) but some well made scenery, especially in the area around Katun and the Dinosaur themed area. Being a very quiet day didn't help, since crowds usually help liven the atmosphere. It's somewhere I'd like to go back to in the future with others.

Ride-wise, it doesn't have much of quality outside the two main stars, which is a shame. Operations were hard to judge: seemed sluggish, but the park wasn't busy enough to warrant more than one train operation on most things (even then, Katun and iSpeed were walk-on by mid-afternoon).

Y2dkiWm.jpg


Today, my overnight stop was in the Italian seaside town of Rimini, which seems to be their version of Blackpool.

IHCVi5p.jpg

*Establishing shot*

When I was originally looking for cheap hotels, the comparison website showed me a Best Western for £40. Not sure why, whether it was cheap last minute or just off-season because this place was worth far more.

iYC0CGL.jpg

Here is my balcony, that almost has a sea view

Turned on the TV to see what Italians watch and, look who it is!

nRIfLp1.jpg

He was dubbed in Italian, so I didn't actually know what he was talking about, but he did visit Wiener Prater and went on the big wheel
 

Coaster Hipster

Giga Poster
I admire your patience and determination to deal with travelling with such a tight schedule and loaded with luggage to carry even to the park! Things we do because we're enthusiasts... ^^

Mira is a place I plan to visit next year so I am always interested to hear about it. Shame they do not have a good family coaster to complete their lineup along with their fab Top 2. Good report again ;)
 

CookieCoasters

Giga Poster
iSpeed's restraints are rather annoying. The coaster is really great but those restraints do take the edge off a bit. Would love to do the version in Turkey with lap bars <3

Thanks for this report. I'm re-visiting Mirabilandia in a few days and it's been great to read one before I go. It's also good that Divertical seems to be running in more than just the summer months now. I've already gotten the cred but I'd like to ride it again.

Looking forward to the rest! :)
 

jayjay

Giga Poster
I admire your patience and determination to deal with travelling with such a tight schedule and loaded with luggage to carry even to the park! Things we do because we're enthusiasts... ^^
Much of the trip was surprisingly stress free, especially since a few of the early parks didn't have much of substance (I definitely could have done Legoland and Skyline together). It was only the occasional day where I had to have things with me.

iSpeed's restraints are rather annoying. The coaster is really great but those restraints do take the edge off a bit.
Yup. Though I never noticed the OTSR neck-chopping. Just the thigh crushers that were the lap bars.
 

jayjay

Giga Poster
Day 9 - "I Voluntarily Rerode a Pinfari" (Fiabilandia)

Italy is known for its hot weather and the Friday didn't disappoint. I was greeted by blazing sun as I stepped out from the hotel.

A short walk brought me to Fiabilandia. If Rimini is Italy's version of Blackpool, Fiabilandia is Italy's version of Blackpool Pleasure Beach (if it were family oriented). You arrive on the opposite side of the road to buy your ticket from a potentially long queue.

8Et7Hxe.jpg

Il castello

4GqUvbB.jpg


With no time stress today, I thought to start off with the train that circles the park, partly for cred-hunting, partly for a relaxing sit down, and partly because trains (it wasn't really faster than walking, and also uncomfortable, but why not).

The station near the entrance had a static steam train nearby, because apparently every European park has one.

B8i97uq.jpg

Il treno

The best way to attack this park is by wandering into whichever attractions take your fancy. I strolled into something that turned out to be a Chinese themed walkthrough and maze. There were bamboo sticks and neon murals, finishing with a floor fan for some reason.

Lv3x1pc.jpg

Certified: fab!

There's a spinning wild mouse at Fiabilandia. The only thing I wrote in my notebook for this one was "no."

07Ncuxq.jpg

No

Fortunately, that's by far the weakest thing at the park.

Now, has anyone wondered why the "Big Apple" style of kiddie coaster has become such a staple of theme parks? It seems oddly specific, but in 1976, Armando Tamagnini built a fab Pinfari coaster for Fiabilandia themed around a caterpillar coasting through some apples. It's lengthy and full of scenery for the kids, and so fab!

FOhPwT1.jpg

The original Big Apple, Valle Degli Gnomi (Valley of the gnomes)

nkghyp7.jpg

Off to chew through some apples, brb

There are corners of the park with little surprises. Nearby the spinning mouse is a large physical map of the world.

jU0jV5P.jpg

La mappa

ZrrbUbN.jpg

The important part of the UK is Big Ben, because according to the IT Crowd, that is where the internet lives

I didn't bother eating at the park, but I should have gone to the pizza place with the drunk gay chef

UmQAtw7.jpg

L'omosessuale

The Big Apple was pretty cool, but the real gem is the modern Pinfari at the back of the park, Miniero d'Oro del West.

CVAgIhk.jpg

The wooden support shrouding is a nice touch

During the ride, you'll experience neon cacti, bears and native indian campgrounds, before a drop that is not particularly exciting. This singular ride sums up the park as a whole: quirky, on a budget, but far better than it should have any right to be. Rides that could be plonked down are given life and identity.

zq200w0.jpg

For instance, here's an amazing merry-go-round

There's a show nearby which started going while I was in the area. Italy's version of the Wild West involved dancing, and murder, but lots of audience participation. They asked members of the audience to perform an entire short scene, which was a tedious. At the end, Mr Moustachio The Bad Guy threw a load of fake money at the audience for some reason

KphkRZT.jpg


It was right next door to the mine train, so went straight back on after the show. Still fab!

There's a Peter Pan walkthrough, with rope bridges and a pirate ship.

IixDEvb.jpg


Back near the entrance was a boat-train ride. Lots of Chinese themed parasols, dragons and fountains

SjKSU4a.jpg


bqyHN97.jpg

Om nom nom

So that's Fiabilandia. Definitely worth a visit to fill up a couple of hours if you're nearby for Mirabilandia. It's got charm and lots of unique attractions.

At this point, my original plan was to pop into San Marino, which is a short bus ride from Rimini, but after the bus ticket vendor disappeared for a while, I decided I couldn't be bothered.

One benefit of travelling by rail is I can hop out at any stations I happen to be passing through. With that said, here's some photos of Bologna, which I took a very quick walk through while changing trains.

3Dlfotn.jpg

I have no idea what any of these buildings are or their history. I just took photos of interesting looking things

ViZuLbz.jpg

Wandering down the main street from the station to the centre of town

UI0GkA0.jpg

And on your left is... a building... that is old

AHMsRTy.jpg

Narrow Italian side streets are always pretty

3tcmbU6.jpg

More European churches

After an hour or so of quickfire sightseeing, I continued onwards to Verona (which I'd visit the next day) and then to Peschiera del Garda, my final destination.

of3UrTP.jpg

Nice enough place

One place I have to recommend in Peschiera del Garda for lone travellers is the Meet Hostel. If you don't mind sleeping in dorms and like meeting people on holiday, it's dead cheap (€19 per night), it has friendly owners and they encourage socialising between guests. In the evening, the owner cooks a big bowl of pasta and offers as much as you want as long as you buy a drink at the bar (they sold G&Ts with generous amounts of G). My dorm also had a decent view of pretty Italian buildings from the balcony.

w7DIFET.jpg


Next up, knockoff Disney at Movieland and more Italian culture in Verona.

 

Coaster Hipster

Giga Poster
Oooh I didn't know at all about Fiabilandia! Good discovery there, it's nothing mindblowing, but there's some cute ideas such as the terrain Wacky Worm which looks so much better than the generic ones :D

Bologna looks gorgeous, especially under the sun. The bright architecture is lovely. Italy is my favourite part of your railing trip so far!
 

gavin

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
I though Fiabilandia was a bit of a dump to be honest. Valley of the Gnomes was fab though.
 

jayjay

Giga Poster
It kind of is tbh, but it's such an intriguing dump. It's the sort of place that has a small budget and does weird things with it.
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
Doesn't Bologna have the oldest university in the world? Maybe that's what some of the old buildings are.

Still loving your humorous reports. Completely disagree with your views on iSpeed (those disgusting restraints kill it) and Katun but looks like you enjoyed the park as a whole. I need to get back there as we had our day cut short by a giant thunderstorm. Did you say you'd done Reset? I remember it being fab.

Also, secretary love Portillo's show. How meta for you.
 

jayjay

Giga Poster
Day 10 - "Disanilandia" (Movieland & Verona)

The Meet Hostel is conveniently located a few minutes walk from the station, where buses await to take people to the two theme parks: Movieland and Gardaland. Today was Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday. I realise that Italy is a Catholic country, but I was still dreading the holiday weekend queues. My fears worsened when I saw the standing-room-only bus to Gardaland leave. The Movieland bus turned up. All fears disappeared.

oiKIkQC.jpg

I was literally the only person on this bus

bNyXIUp.jpg

Movieland!

BnzuoA0.jpg


The park makes a song and dance about opening its gates. No, literally.

5AqYtUY.jpg

One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just isn't the same...

Right, firstly let's get the elephant out the room. As any person who's been to Movieland knows, it's basically an Italian version of Disney's Hollywood Studios, on a budget of three cents and run by the mafia (I'm told). For instance, the word "Fantasmik" on the sign in the above photo. Also, there's the Tower of Terror

F4PfFdQ.jpg

Looking a little more bare than I remember

This was my first Intamin 1st gen tower, and it didn't disappoint. Lots of clanking and groaning as the car is carried back and up the tower. The Twilight Zone theme (definitely not Tower of Terror) plays over the slow shuffle forwards, before you plunge down the air-filled drop and flip onto your back in a very intense pull-out. It's a strange experience, but I kinda love it. It was the only thing that got a reride.

Another fantastic ride is Magma. Basically an off-roading adventure. Our driver was on steroids and the course has some crazy gradients and surprises (many involving water), so this was totally thrilling.

MAFLl3P.jpg

Aww yeah

Movieland has three rollercoasters, but I only counted two, since I draw the line at kiddie coasters with a twirly power cable. I made my way to the Flintst... ehm generic dinosaur themed area to do the Schwarzkopf Jet. Pretty forgettable.

Up to half an hour past park opening and still the park was dead. According to the peeps on the Facebook chat, it's more popular in the afternoons and later in the year when the waterpark is open.

VpmKvQL.jpg

This picture was literally taken after 10.30

Movieland is fond of its wet rides. Kitt from Knight Rider stood guard over the (empty) queue for the speedboat ride.

ZUcWROF.jpg

I don't think this ride had anything to do with Knight Rider, but I've never actually watched it so I dunno

An enthusiastic speedboat driver and a mid-ride jaunt into a shed where you get "shot at" make for an awesome experience.

Wet ride number 2: Submarines!

aqPettZ.jpg

So... am I playing the bad guys in this ride?

Such a strange ride, playing into the "Universal style disaster simulator" genre: sinking U Boat edition. It's uncomfortable and cramped, and very wet, but I found it memorable.

Still one more cred to do. Diabolik, my first inverted boomerang. Can't say I felt I was missing anything, though it was surpringly smooth.

YsCZ2ug.jpg

And Vekomas always photograph well

I did two other rides, neither particularly good. First, a Robot invasion simulator that proved screens are much less interesting than an enthusiastic costumed guy leaping around a set.

adDYHwP.jpg

The briefing room looks cool though

Lastly a Police chase simulator.

96W15R6.jpg

Much excitement!

CGTeXXW.jpg

Moviepark doesn't care about leaving the video player frame up

8DXb4m5.jpg

This was near the entrance and I didn't fancy it

I had most of the day left, so walked back to Peschiera del Garda along the lakefront. Make the most of the good weather before I left Italy

zgiRM0m.jpg

Serene

After a quick refresh at the hostel, I marched onwards to part two of the day: sightseeing in Verona, which is a fifteen minute train ride from Peschiera del Garda.

If you like your historic architecture or enjoy getting lost in mazes of backstreets with chapels, boutiques and cafes dotted around, Verona is a great place to soak up as much time as you want. I only visited the city centre, but there's a load more great stuff dotted around.

Walk down the main boulevard from the station to get to the historic stuff.

FSDOpsP.jpg

Verona has city walls with a big-ass clock

fRUELAo.jpg


Inside the walls is a huge square containing the Verona Area, a very well preserved 1st Roman amphetheatre.

MzbEI5T.jpg


FUJkxOF.jpg


Every city needs a main shopping street, and Verona goes for the rustic narrow corridor. It feels vibrant, and even convinced me to empty my wallet for gelato.

PCaKCb0.jpg

It's probably mostly chain brands, but it feels so intimate

Walk further to the Piazza della Erbe and all the important historical buildings turn up. There's also Juliet's balcony somewhere nearby but that was only installed in the 1930s because why not milk the Shakespeare pound.

Instead, there's Lomberti's Tower and more places to wander around. Apparently I spent so long wandering that I completely missed the fact that there's a river with good views.

RZzsJ83.jpg

My attempt at artsy. I like this photo

j57myK7.jpg


lV0zobd.jpg


5uH2F8t.jpg


WA4ivXr.jpg


oFXAIdJ.jpg


orkwwmD.jpg


WgbWfiT.jpg

I'm pretty sure this is a meme at the moment

That was it for Verona. Great city, great atmosphere and somewhere I could go back to (if I'm around Garda again, I probably would). We're still in Garda tomorrow, for the main event. Gardaland!
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
We didn't do Movieland Studios when I went to Lake Garda (back in 2009!), but I'm really quite tempted to go back at some point. The towns/cities and scenery in that area are lovely, and I need the new B&Ms at Gardaland, as well as Movieland. I just want that speedboat ride so badly.
 

Coaster Hipster

Giga Poster
Wow Verona looks gorgeous too! Warm colours and charming architecture. I really think Italy is a good place to combo sightseeing + credding with my GP friends now :D
 

jayjay

Giga Poster
I'm not dead! Trying to get through the last few reports, back on track *furious typing*

Day 11 - "Merlin: Episode 2" (Gardaland)


So to Gardaland. As I alluded to in the Movieland review, Gardaland's crowds were going to be much worse than the ones at Movieland. The bus was standing room only, like yesterday, delivering guests to the world's biggest bottleneck at the park entrance.

EHziao9.jpg


BAD6S1J.jpg

Oh no, no VR on Shaman... tragic.

First stop: Mammut, the mine train. It's fun but meandering, like most other mine train coasters. The helix after lift hill number 3 is my highlight, and the whole mountain structure looks great.

yr5Hc29.jpg

30 minute queue - 6.5/10

Oblivion: The Black Hole. Tbh, Oblivion tbh is decent. The tbh part of Oblivion tbh doesn't work for me visually tbh, but has a great punch on the drop and strong forces in other places. Draggy inversions but some fun forces. Overall, I'd rank it below Krake for my favourite Dive Machines.

Pgqg6dH.jpg

45 minute queue - 7.5/10

Also, here's where the operations started to bug me. Most other Dive Machines could manage a decent throughput, but Oblivion tbh was putting out only one train every two minutes. Italy also has a weird obsession with turnstiles on their rides, which served mostly to highglight how many of your queue spots were being sold to fast-trackers.

ZJywMgZ.jpg


Sequoi... oh god no.

It had to happen. I had to ride a Screamin' Squirrel. I got a lengthy half hour wait to watch the faces of people who probably didn't want this.

zNyry4w.jpg

These are the faces of people having a great time!

Oddly enough, not as bad as I feared. The headrush is gross, but it's only hanging for two seconds at a time. The worst parts are the uncomfortable righting manoeuvres. I'm intrigued by the separate track systems at work on this ride too.

2D67bov.jpg

Sequoia Adventure - 4/10

As briefly mentioned, the Vekoma looper, Shaman (formerly Magic Mountain) was running without VR today. As much as I was looking forward to being allowed an opinion on VR, I'm happy to get the +1 and not bother having to reride for the vanilla experience.

As a coaster, it's jerky but smoother than most of its kind, and very picturesque.

kBQ6aHm.jpg


6CAyUZR.jpg


At the back of the park is one of the more impressive wacky worms (Brucomela), which has a lengthy circuit and lots of foliage. Italy just do a good job in kiddie creds, I guess.

EN5TmhF.jpg

Vintage memes

hX7Yl71.jpg

Still just a kiddie cred though

I took a walk back to the main park (after seeing the hideous queue for Kung Fu Panda) and did Raptor. Now I understand why people say this demonstrates the strengths of Wing Riders best. It's not fast or thrilling, but it feels like an organic journey through landscapes with the footchoppers and interactions naturally falling out.

6JcJI7E.jpg

7.5/10

Lunch was had in the dining hall by Blue Tornado. Some kind of chicken and chips, I think. But this was distracting from actually doing Blue Tornado, because I just love SLCs.

8VQ88mb.jpg

<3 <3 <3

I spent the twenty minute queue standing behind a teenage couple sucking each other's face off. Lovely. The guy had a fantastic peach fuzz to top it off. Blue Tornado... Jesus. I think I braced myself for El Condor, the supposed worst SLC, but I found this just as bad. Just awful from start to end.

yXHJ9jp.jpg

</3 </3 </3

The next ride should have been the borderline cred (which I will maintain is not a cred), Fuga de Atlantide, but I was kind of spited. It's the first European ride I've come across with a "no bags whatsoever" policy, and the row of unguarded bags outside the entrance didn't give me much hope. Not wanting to pay for a locker or leave my passport and interrail pass unattended, I skipped it.

(In hindsight, I'm not sure why I never thought to put them in the hostel locker)

CRUZKMP.jpg

SPITE

ZMYRmCL.jpg

Cool dolphins though

lgduE8t.jpg

Here are some rapids I didn't bother with

On the way back to the final coaster, I dropped in to look at Ramses, the dark ride shooter. It suffered similar problems to the shooter at Legoland. Not enough immersion or interesting set pieces, I never felt there was good continuity of a theme and fails the "can be enjoyed without shooting" test.

Finally, the Kung-fu Panda spinning mouse coaster. Dear God, it holds a queue. Even by 5pm, I was queueing 75 minutes for it, in blazing sun with no shade. The ride itself was nothing to write home about but smooth at least.

LzELHNA.jpg

This might be the worst thing I've done for a cred

Overall, the park is well kept and mostly scenic. Operations leave something to be desired, with some rides running desperately under capacity.

And with that, Italy came to an end. The next part of the report has no creds, but lots of gorgeous general sightseeing through Switzerland and southern Germany.
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
I never understood the choice of a Fabbri for Kung Fu Panda. They don't have that many kiddie rides and if this was supposed to bridge the gap, then it is a bit too violent. I liked the queue though. Did you do the ridiculous boat ride under the park?
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
Oh no, it's fab and absolutely humongous. It wasn't even really signed, we just stumbled on it by accident. Garda does get busy but it opens really late in the summer so I've never felt in a rush before. Maybe the opening hours were shorter when you went.
 

jayjay

Giga Poster
Day 12/13 - "Ein Zug nach Zug" (Switzerland and Freiburg)

Upfront warning: no coasters in this part of the report. I had a couple of days to get from northern Italy to south-west Germany, and used this to sample some of the marvels of the Swiss landscape. If you like mountains, lakes and quiet wooden huts, this is where to get the best of it in Europe!

Early morning start to get the best of the sun through the Swiss mountains (definitely not because I forgot to book reservations for trains out of Milan on Easter Monday and could only get the 9am train).

erwgsSJ.jpg

I've said some bad things about Italian trains, but the high speed Freccia trains are pretty sweet

Changed at Milan for a Eurocities train through to Zug, near Lucerne in Switzerland. I'm a fan of Milan station. Stately and ornate.

ZLL3rYi.jpg

Also the first station since leaving the UK with ticket barriers

YSXOZTQ.jpg

Who's tired of trains yet?

cNd6wfr.jpg

Oh hey, it's the F1 place

As the train ambled its way leisurely through Switzerland, it became apparent that half of us on the train were tourists. As the mountains and lakes came out, so did all the cameras.

I mean, just... aaagh so pretty :D

Xi5svWB.jpg

Look!

qsD1xtY.jpg

Look how gorgeous!

lYxrmcv.jpg

Look look look (how badly this photographs on a phone camera)

Apart from the twenty minutes spent in the world's longest railway tunnel, it's about two hours of endless gawping at scenery. I alighted at Zug, a small town on the bank of lake Zug (10/10 for consistency), where I was staying the night in the world's most expensive hostel (it wasn't worth £40 for a dorm, just Swiss prices).

goshrF4.jpg

View of the town

9wxb1xn.jpg

Lake Zug

Rather than stick around, one of the Austrialian guys at the Garda hostel tipped me off about Luzern(/Lucerne), which was a whole fifteen minutes train away, so off I went. This was a very good call, Luzern is lovely.

r9szyoA.jpg

:emoji_trumpet: Trittst im Morgenrot daher,
Seh ich dich im Strahlenmeer, :emoji_trumpet:


CiPnbjV.jpg


ZG6LB02.jpg

Oh hey, it's that bridge from Legoland (the Kapellbrücke is the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe)

In the background is Mount Pilatus, which, in a warmer part of the year, I might have been tempted to climb (it would be fun, they said).

72McFXE.jpg

The bridge interior contains a number of 17th century paintings, some of which were destroyed in a fire in 1993

bGNID1m.jpg


There'd be more photos of old towns in Luzern and Zug if phone battery management was better, but hey ho. After a night's sleep in Zug, I set off for Freiburg, via Zurich.

A1vHkto.jpg

I didn't stop in Zurich, but the station had this... object

If you're looking for somewhere to stay near Europa Park and are using trains, Freiburg im Breisgau is a fabulous place with scenery, historic architecture and an easy route to the park. It makes a great place to stop over if you want to do some other things.

The old town is guarded by two remaining city gates. Can you spot the part of Martinstor that residents are not best pleased about?

rSJlzju.jpg

Wow, Medieval architects sure loved their Big Macs

fHeBmSd.jpg

And here's the other one, Schwabentor

To the north-east of the town is the Schlossberg, which is worth a walk up for some great views of the valley and the town.

hotJMCT.jpg


BYis2jz.jpg


3Yxdu74.jpg

More climbing

uX0u10K.jpg

Something really lovely about this secluded bench

Have we seen enough German Aldstadts and cathedrals yet? Cause Freiburg's got some more!

yZ7Z4uV.jpg

I love it when the pictures can do the captions for me

6iAqgou.jpg


ResMa6G.jpg

Disadvantage of huge old buildings: constantly falling apart. Very nice, though certainly no Ulm Minster

StTn2ww.jpg


Evp8BBD.jpg


JEqjYLd.jpg


sGDi4EJ.jpg


Next up is two days at the new park I was most excited for. A +13 and some big new hitters at Europa Park!
 

Coaster Hipster

Giga Poster
I have to say it again: this is such an awesome mix of credding and cultural sightseeing! I really enjoy reading this and looking at your pictures. It's so inspiring and makes me want to travel across Europe even more <3
 
Top