Geee(rman) Whizz

Who wants to stay at home when there are so many great adventures to be had, just a short flight away.

End of September I honoured my birthday presents of 5 years ago and this year and got treated by Manu and Kathrin to a trip to the Europapark Rust.

We left Frankfurt on Sunday morning at 6:30, these early mornings seem to become a habit, but certainly not one I particularly enjoy. Thankfully the Autobahn was nice and empty and the stretch down towards Baden Baden and Freiburg doesn't have too many speed restrictions, so Manu could put her foot down and her little BMW cruised (sped) nicely at 200 km/h.

whoopee, Rust, here we come...






Upon arrival in Rust we checked into the "Colosseo" Hotel, a huge Italian style complex, and left the bags there. The hotel has a great courtyard, shaped like an amphitheatre and lit beautifully at night. The room was a family room with a double bed and two bunk beds with Leonardo da Vinci style murals and a bright, clean bathroom.

Well, the park itself had just opened (after ll, it was only 9:00) and the first thing we did was looking for a place to have a coffee and breakfast, which we did at the "Kaffi Hus" in the Iceland section, facing the Blue Fire Megacoaster. This wet our appetite for the thrill of fast and crazy rides and we worked out way through the park all day long, possibly managing 60-70% of all rides, including slow kiddy's ones.

Most memorable are:

- Silver Star: a roller coaster with a high speed of 130 km/h (that's usually the speed limit on German motorways), length of 1.6 km, height of 73 m and enormous centrifugal forces of up to 4 G, this ride surely makes your palms sweat and stomach twist

- Blue Fire Megacoaster: a roller coaster that catapults you from 1 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds and then sports a 32 m high loop, three 360 rolls and a few more twists and turns on a 1056 m long track
- Eurosat: a roller coaster in the dark, not knowing what to expect makes it all the more exciting
Also great fun are the water-rides and the Swiss bob-run.


The whole park is built with great attention to detail and every country section lets you imagine you're actually travelling Europe without having to show you passport and lengthy train or plane rides. The food is good, diversified and surprisingly not overpriced and staff is really friendly and helpful, yet not over the top cheesy as American theme park personnel can appear.
At the moment there are hundreds of thousands of pumpkins decoreated all over, even the Eurosat globe is covered in orange sheeting, making it Europe's largest pumpkin.


When the rides closed at around 18:30 we went back to the hotel to freshen up and change for dinner, which we decided to have at the hotel next door, directly adjacent to the park, the Spanish themed "El Andaluz". There as well the food was delicious and reasonably priced and we felt like we could not move afterwards, just about managing the 5 minute walk back to our hotel's penthouse bar for a nightcap.


Monday morning at breakfast (a huge varied buffet) we met the Euromaus, the park's mascot. Does anybody know why a mouse seems to be the leading character for fun-/theme-parks? After packing our bags we went into the park again, hotel guests have early access from 8:30 already. This gave us another opportunity to go on the Silver Star and Blue Fire once more and sample some more rides. All in all I suppose we managed to try 90% of all rides/attractions.

We left about 13:30, heading back to Frankfurt, in order for me to catch the 18:00 flight back to London City airport.



It was such a fun-tastic weekend, a wonderful birthday present and well worth the 5 year wait, otherwise we would have missed out on the Blue Fire coaster, which only opened this year.

Thank you, Manu and Kathrin, so much for this present, and your time and continuous great ideas. I appreciate and value our friendship very much. Vielen lieben Dank!

Bella Roma, September 2009

Mid September I flew to Rome for a long weekend, foremost for Laura & Michele's wedding in Abruzzo but also to meet up with my friends from the Rome office whom I had met last year when I supported them while a colleague was out on long term sick leave.

Because my flight left London's Heathrow at 9:00 and I live in London's East I had to get up at the crack of dawn at 5:00 on Friday morning in order to leave the house 5:45 to allow for enough time for London transport's regular morning delays. Those of you regularly travelling on London's public transport understand what I mean.

British Airways didn't let me down and we got to Rome on time. Already at Fiumicino airport you get the sense of Italian craziness: people talking very loudly and animatedly, baggage belts being loaded really slowly, a muggy claustrophobic arrivals hall, mediocre signage and train ticket machines being dismantled, therefore long queues at the ticket counters.

Still, Rome oozes charm and historic glamour and one immediately falls in love with the 'Eternal City'. Have you seen William Wyler's "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck? I think this movie gives a great impression of this beautiful city, even though it's from 1953 and filmed in black and white, it perfectly captures Rome's essence and still feels current.

From Termini (Rome's main train station) I walked to the office which is beautifully located at Piazza di Spagna, right next to the Spanish Steps, to drop my bags and sample some tasty strong Italian caffè (it's an espresso for us Northern Europeans). I then went off idly wandering through the streets and alleys of sunny Rome and naturally I had to have some ice cream, so I went to 'Giolitti', a gelateria founded in 1900 and oh so very famous for their ice cream. There are about 40 different flavours and Giolitti is so popular with both Romans and tourists that one actually has to fight one's way to the counter. If you're ever in Rome, do go to Via Uffici del Vicario, 40 and see and taste it for yourself.

However, this was only the start of my culinary weekend in Italy. In the evening Nadia took me to a lovely restaurant in Riano, where she lives. There we enjoyed a wonderful selection of starters and the best pizza I have ever had in my life so far, followed by a gorgeous homemade panna cotta. My, had this been my last supper, I would have died an extremely happy (and very filled up) girl.

Saturday morning Nadia took me to Laura's house where everyone met and we all drove to the church in Abruzzo (a 2 hour drive from Rome) together. The Roman catholic ceremony in Italian, with a small part in Spanish, lasted a good 90 minutes and felt like an eternity for someone not speaking Italian and only beginner's knowledge of Spanish. Also, being protestant (evangelisch reformiert in Germany) I am painfully unfamiliar with the catholic ordinance of standing, sitting, praying silently or speaking up, I just copied what everyone around me was doing and quietly mumbled along. Fortunately the Lord's prayer has the same rhythm in all languages, so I could just pray that in German. It's amazing how one doesn't seem to ever forget this prayer. The church -Abbazia Santa Maria di Ronzano- dates back to 1181 (that's the year that Saint Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order, was born).

The reception was then held at "Country Club Villa Nerina" in Miano with lots and lots of gorgeous Italian delicacies and then some more, followed by dance and the couple's dip into the club's pool. Yes, the bride went in still dressed in her wedding gown, only the tulle underskirts removed.

Sunday afternoon, back in Rome, Nadia and I chilled out and in the evening went out with some of Nadia's friends to have Aperitivi at "Gusto" in central Rome. A bargain at €9 for a cocktail and a buffet full of various kinds of antipasti, salads, breads etc. It was a great fun-filled evening with lots of banter and laughter.

Unfortunately on Monday it was time again to pack my bags and bid a very fond farewell to Rome, my Italian friends and feasting on delicious meals. But, not before I met a few Roman colleagues for lunch at 'La Boccaccia' and home-made chocolate birthday cake in the office afterwards.

Unlike my very first visit to Rome almost 4 years ago, this time I didn't toss a coin into the Fontana di Trevi, because I am very certain that I will return to Roma - La città eterna.