Spending HALLOWEEN in the EUROPARK RUST, GERMANY

Last autumn we decided to visit the EUROPAPARK in Rust, Germany. 

If you don't know it, it's a huuuuuuuge amusement Park. You can almost compare it to the big US theme parks like Disney World or Universal Studios. Although I love theme parks, I had never been to Europapark before. It wasn't really on my radar... not until my sister's boyfriend suggested to go there for Halloween.

I have been in love with theme parks ever since I visited Disney World, the Universal Studios and even Sea World in Orlando when I spent three weeks in Florida with my family. So naturally I jumped at the chance to visit another theme park!

We went there for the Halloween weekend of 2015. We started our journey on Saturday morning from Munich. And when I say morning I mean early early morning. You know, that time you usually think doesn't exist. ;)

From Munich, it took us about 4 hours to get to Rust. Rust is situated in county Baden-Württemberg near the French border. The closest french city is Straßburg.

WELCOME TO EUROPAPARK

TICKETS & OPENING HOURS

SUMMER |9am - 6pm|
WINTER  |11am - 7pm|


Summer; 1-Day-Pass |Adult|: 44,50 €
Summer; 1-Day-Pass |Children|: 38,50 €

Summer; 2-Day-Pass |Adult|:  84,00 €
Summer; 2-Day-Pass |Children|: 72,50 €

Winter; 1-Day-Pass |Adult|: 38,50 €
Winter; 1-Day-Pass |Children|: 32,50 €

Winter; 2-Day-Pass |Adult|: 65,00 €
Winter; 2-Day-Pass |Children|: 55,00 €

HALLOWEEN DECOR EVERYWHERE

As soon as you enter the park, it is pretty noticable that Halloween is around the corner. There are hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins in all imaginable sizes and shapes decorated all around the park. It's an amazing sight. If you haven't already been in a halloweeny-mood before, you will be now for sure. But it's not just the pumpkins that give the park its' spooky look! Here and there you will find spooky skeletons and spiders and all kinds of dark magic ;) Even the huge rollercoaster Eurostar has been turned into a giant evil pumpkin!

HALLOWEEN THEMED SHOWS AND PARADE

Iceskating Show: Surp'Ice in the Haunted Castle

The different sections of Europapark are divided into european countries. The greek section for example has a rather spacious iceskating rink. During Halloween celebrations they put on a spooky ice show in full costumes. As I enjoy ice skating myself very much, I really liked the show. It was definitely a highlight within the theme park experience.

Europapark Musical

The park has its' own little theatre in the italian section in which they put on plays and musicals. During the Halloween weeks they put on a musical called "Spook Me!". To be honest it wasn't my cup of tea because the story was seriously lacking but still it was entertaining enough. And don't worry that it takes up too much of your time in the park, the musical only takes about 45 minutes.

Europapark Halloween Parade

Another event you shouldn't miss while visiting the Halloween weeks at Europapark is the Halloween parade. The parade passes through all of the bigger streets of the park. We had a very good spot watching it in the English section. 

HALLOWEEN FACE PAINT (not only for children ;) )

To complete the halloween experience, my sister and I had our faces painted. Our guys on the other hand apparently were too grown up for that kind of shenanigans ;) There were a lot of designs to choose from and we could even decide on colours. And just so you know, we weren't the only adults with paint on their faces^^

FAVOURITE RIDES AND ATTRACTIONS

As I am kind of prone to motion sickness, I can only go on certain rides that are not too shaky or spinny. These were the ones I really liked and didn't make me sick.

• "Schweizer Bobbahn" in Switzerland
• "Poseidon" water rollercoaster in Greece
• "Piraten in Batavia" in the Netherlands (calm pirate ride)
• "Atlantica Supersplash" waterride in Portugal
• "Arthur, the ride" in the Kingdom of the Minimoys

My more thrill-ride enthusiastic company however couldn't get enough of these rides:

• "Silver Star" rollercoaster in France
• "Matterhorn Blitz" rollercoaster in Switzerland
• "Euro Mir" rollercoaster in Russia
• "Blue Fire" rollercoaster in Iceland
• "Wodan" wooden rollercoaster in Iceland

Poseidon water ride

Euro Mir

Wodan, wooden rollercoaster

Arthur and the Minimoys ride

HOW WE LOST OUR CAR TWICE!

Be sure to remember where you park your car so you will find it again when leaving the park in the dark of night. Because we didn't.
We were soooo excited for the park that we jumped out of the car completely oblivious to the fact that the parking lot was huge and we should maybe remember our parking space. Oh well, when we left the park it was already dark and none of us had an idea where we were parked^^. Fun times, right? 
We did find our car after a while but we did not learn from our mistake. Same thing happened again on our second day in the park. But hey, we had a good laugh at our stupidity but we definitely learned from the second time. ;)

Great city view over Verona - Castel San Pietro

The Castel San Pietro is situated on a hill in the north-west of Verona. It towers directly above the Teatro Romano di Verona, which is a half open amphitheater that is still used to stage theatrical performances. 

on the right: Castel San Pietro Hill

Getting there is rather easy. When coming from the city centre, cross the Ponte Pietra (Pietra Bridge), cross the little street on the other side and you will find the foot of the stairs that will lead you up the hill. I have to admit, it is quite the hike and there are a loooot of steps. The italian sun doesn't help either and it can get a little bit exhausting. So in case you aren't sporty Spice, just take it easy ;) I can usually deal with a lot of steps, but the sun just wore me down this time! 

Ponte Pietra

Once we arrived at the Castel on top of the hill, it was all worth it. We had the most beautiful view over the whole city. And if you time your visit right, I suggest you go for the golden hour when the buildings and the river are lit on fire by the evening sun. 

It's not only tourists who enjoy the scenic view from up here, but also locals who sit down with a couple of friends and open a bottle of wine and chat. It was a really nice atmosphere sitting up here enjoying this thing we call life ;)

Also it is a very romantic spot, wink, wink ;)

Attached to the Castel is a rather fancy restaurant with Bar. We wanted to stay for the sunset, but didn't have anything with us to drink. Not even a bottle of water, so we decided to make a nice evening even nicer and have a drink or two at the TeodoricoRe Restaurant. We sat on their terrasse overlooking the northern part of the city and enjoyed the beautiful evening.

It was the PERFECT spot to watch the sunset, it was plain gorgeous! I had never seen a sunset as colourful and bright orange-red before! My boyfriend and I swore, that when we come back to Verona someday, we will have the most scenic dinner date ever up on the Castel San Pietro Hill.

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STAR WARS Identities Exhibit in MUNICH

Yesterday my boyfriend and I finally visited the Stars Wars Identities Exhibit that is currently being hosted in the Kleine Olympiahalle (small Olympia hall) in Munich. We are both major Star Wars fans and I've been meaning to visit the exhibition ever since it arrived here in Munich in May (2016) but we just never had the time. So I was more than thrilled that we finally got to visit this epic Star Wars universe. 

Once we got inside, we were each given a rubber wristband with a chip inside and a small audio guide that had both languages german and english. 

HOW IT ALL WORKS

The rubber WRISTBAND enables you to participate in an interactive journey to build your own identity in the Star Wars universe. Throughout the exhibit there are 10 stations where you can hold your wristband to one of several connecting points in order to choose which species your character is, which planet you come from, what your personality trades are, your occupation (jedi, farmer, fighter pilot, bounty hunter and many more) and you also choose a person from the Star Wars universe that you look up to or that your personality resembles most. 

With the AUDIO GUIDE you can listen in to the audio of several short clips playing on Screens throughout the exhibit. Your audio guide receives the audio as soon as you step into the marked circles in front of the screens. The audio will be gone once you step out of the marked areas. Pretty cool concept if you ask me!

The exhibit is divided into the various stages that create or shape our identities and are explained on the basis of our beloved Star Wars characters. For example how come Anakin Skywalker chose the dark side in the end, while Luke, confronted with the same situation, chose to fight for good. Their journey through life is being analysed by comparing their personality trades, their upbringing, their surroundings. What shaped their identities? Why do they act the way they do? Star Wars has a lot of very complex characters and I never thought it would be so much fun learning about their different identities.

The exhibit definitely has a very interesting psychological and social science aspect. But at the same time it is not as abstract as it may sound right now. Children are very well able to understand and enjoy the exhibit too. And they will have a lot of fun creating their own Star Wars identity. 

Apart from the informative clips on the screens and the different stages of building your own character, the exhibit shows a loooooot of original customes worn by the actors. They have all the droids (even BB8 can be found in there), stormtroopers, the original Darth Vader costume and many many more! Right at the beginning of the exhibit you can marvel at an original sized pod-racer with which Anakin Skywalker flew races as a kid on Tatooine.

At the end of the exhibit you can once again touch your wristband to one of many connection points underneath huge screens and they will show you the character / identity you created along the way. It's really fun seeing who you created and who other people created.

So... this is us!

| JULES |

Species: TWI'LEK (female)

Homeplanet: NABOO

Mentor: OBI-WAN KENOBI

Most important personality trade: CREATIVE

Occupation: JEDI KNIGHT

The Force in me is: VERY STRONG

Which side am I on: GOOD SIDE

Check out my whole Star Wars Profile here!

| SIMON |

Species: EWOK (male)

Homeplanet: ENDOR

Mentor: YODA

Most important personality trade: EXCELLENCE DESERVES RECOGNITION AND RESPECT

Occupation: BOUNTY HUNTER

The Force in me is: STRONG

Which side am I on: DARK SIDE

OPENING TIMES

Monday - Sunday: 10am - 6pm

PRICES

Monday - Friday

Adults - 21,95€

Children - 15,95€

Families - 17,95€ per Person

Saturday & Sunday

Adults - 24,95€

Children - 17,95€

Families - 19,50€ per Person

The exhibit will be in Munich until 17th of October! If you are a fan of the Star Wars Universe I can only recommend visiting it. It is unlike anything I have ever been to before and it's a whole lot of fun ;)

For more information check out the official websites:

http://www.starwarsidentities.de/en/

http://www.starwarsidentities.com/

Cobh Town, The RMS Titanic & Fota House and Gardens

The town of Cobh (pronounced /kouf/) is a little port situated at the south coast of the irish county Cork. It is only a 40-minute trainride from Cork city. 

The bay Cobh sits at, is one of the worlds' natural harbours. Even huge cruise ships can easily berth right at the foot of the town center.

Apart from the fact that Cobh is a very charming little coastal town, it is also known to be the last port of call the RMS TITANIC made, before leaving for her fateful maiden voyage in 1912. Back in those days Cobh was still known as Queenstown (from 1850 until 1920).

     

THE COBH HERITAGE CENTRE

At the Heritage Centre you don't only learn more about the RMS Titanic and its' last port of call, but also about the huge emigration wave during the 19th century. 

Over 3 million irish people emigrated from the port of Queenstown. Either fleeing from the great irish famine or in search of a new life on new land. Also many slave ships left the port of Queenstown and embarked on their journeys (i.e. to Australia) which were quite literally struggles of life and death.

The Centre is a very visual experience. It is located in an old victorian railway station. The second you enter, you feel like you've been transferred into a long gone century. All the different exhibts (Titanic, Lusitania, emigration from Queenstown) are staged as though you were on a ship. The centre did a really great job at capturing each particular atmosphere. 

The exhibit about emigration, for example, is a dark room with huge wooden parts of ships, different scenes staged by mannequins and a few screens showing informative videos.  

The Cobh Heritage Centre is a great experience to learn about irish maritime history! I recommend it to anybody who is interested in the Titanic and its' passengers, the tragedy of the Lusitania or naval history in general.

Opening times and prices as stated on the official Website:

Summer opening hours
9.30 am to 6 pm from March 30th
(last admission 5 pm)

Winter opening hours
9.30 am to 5 pm from October 31st
(last admission 4 pm)

PRICES 2016
Adult: €9.50
Seniors & Students: €7.50
Children: €5.00
Families: €25.00

visit: http://www.cobhheritage.com/

A WALK AROUND COBH TOWN

The actual town centre is quite small. Directly on the waterside, there is a large green park with a cute gazebo. From here you can enjoy the view out over the bay. In the streets all around you'll find a variety of pubs, restaurants, cafes and shops. In one of the little cafes directly by the waterside, I had THE BEST panini sandwich ever! Shame on me though for not remembering its' name^^. 

The contrast of the colourful waterfront houses and the dark gothic St. Coleman's Cathedral situated directly above, makes for a very picturesque view! 

If you should decide to walk up the steep hill all the way to Cobhs Cathedral, you get rewarded with an even greater view! I can tell you, it's worth every step ;) From up here, you can look out over the whole bay with its' two little islands and you can even see as far as the open Atlantic Ocean!

Cobh is not just pretty, but really pretty! Like pretty pretty, if you know what I mean ;). If you stay in Cork City, go jump on that train and visit Cobh. Make a day of it! Take in the history, the beauty and the sea air of former Queenstown and on the way back to Cork, make one more stop at the Fota House & Gardens.

THE FOTA HOUSE & GARDENS 

The Fota House is situated just 10 minutes outside of Cobh. You can go there by the same train that takes you back to Cork City. It has got its' own train station so you won't miss it (Fota Railway Station). 

Fota House is a great regency style country house. It belonged to the Smith-Barry family and was originally used as a hunting lodge until the family decided to move there perminantly. Nowadays, it belongs to the Irish Heritage Trust who restored it and opened it to the public. The House is surrounded by a huge garden area which includes many rare and exotic trees and plants. 

When I visited Cobh, the friend I was with, who knew the area better than me, suggested this little stop at Fota before we went back to Cork. And it was a great suggestion! We leisurely strolled through the vast garden area and sat in the grass enjoying the sun and the view of the grand Fota House. We didn't go inside though as it was already closed for the day. But nevertheless we had a great time on Fota Island. It is unbelievably beautiful!

PS: As you can see from the pictures, the weather changed quite a bit throughout the day. But hey, that's Ireland in late autumn ;)

 Have you been to Cobh? If not, maybe I was able to inspire you to plan a trip down there if you should ever find yourself in the south of Ireland ;)

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