Our Thursday was spent relaxing around the magnificent house that we had rented, which included a hay loft filled with a trampoline, table tennis table, balance beam, dart board and balance beams...
Is this not the exact same cuckoo clock we had growing up?!
...before hitting Badeparadeis. I was not aware of this place before we arrived, and had I been I'd have dismissed it out of hand - why should we pay to swim indoors when it's sitting at 35+ degrees outside, even at 1,000m, and we'd just spent a week at a pool?!? - but boy it was worth it.
Originally we paid to all ride the 21 flumes, but very, very quickly (we did ride all the main flumes once) the Don and I were persuaded to pay the extra 5 euro that took us through the turnstyle to the over 16s area (very cunning marketing strategy)...
...and into an absolutely heavenly oasis: water at 32 degrees, swim up bar both inside and out, baja bubble shelves, infa-red lamp loungers, a steam room with salt scrub, a retractable roof, setting sun, and no under 16s. We could definitely have spent more than 4 hours there.
And then it was time to say goodbye to our Tiger.
Partly because I only booked a 5-berth cabin on the ferry home (in my defense at the time of booking neither girl had confirmed they were coming on holiday with us), and partly because she had two 18th birthday parties to attend over the weekend, and partly because she was heading off on holiday again just 36 hours after we were due to get home, Tiger flew home a couple of day early from Basel.
On the way we drove over Feldberg, the tallest mountain in the Black Forest, before winding our way down to Switzerland, forgetting that we actually needed Swiss Francs, might have needed our passports (there were a CRAZY number of police at each border entering and leaving Germany. We ended up crossing it 4 times over the 2 weeks and each time there were police stops), and not realising that Basel Airport is actually in France.
Anyway, Basel was really pretty, though eye wateringly expensive. And HOT. We were sad to say goodbye to Tiger, but happy to leave the city and heat behind for the (kinda slightly but not much) cooler and fresher air in the mountains.
Basel Muenster
If we'd known folks swam/floated down the Rhine at this point we'd have, for sure, brought our swimmers!
Crossing the Rhine on a passenger ferry attached to an overhead steel cable which move entirely using the natural power of the river's current
And finally, the day we'd all been waiting for....
Last time we were all here was 2018 and only Toots was over 1.4m, which meant we were very much restricted to 'family' fun. Don't get me wrong, we had a blast and the water rides and family coasters were fabulous, but this time... this time we were here to hit the Big 5:
1. Silver Star: A massiver steel hypercoaster in the Monaco zone, reaching 73 meters (239 feet) high, and speeds up to 130 km/h (81 mph).
2. Blue Fire Megacoaster: An intense launched coaster in the Icelandic area that shoots you from 0-100 km/h in 2.5 seconds and features four inversion.
3. Wodan Timbercoaster: A towering, fast-paced wooden coaster situated next to Iceland, clocking speeds of up to 100 km/h (62 mph) across more than a kilometer of track.
4. Euro-Mir: A distincy space-themed spinning roller coaster located in the Russian area known for it's slow spiral ascent up a mirrored tower and spinning cars.
5. Voltron Nevera: A state-of-the-art Stryker coaster in the Croatian area featuring four launches, seven inversions, and the world's steepest 105-degree launch.
But first up, we started with The Moulin Rouge themed Can Can coaster (which us oldies remember better as the Eurosat - a space theme coaster inside a massive moon), which we actually all loved so much we made it our last ride of the day too. It was just pure fun.
But then we moved quickly on to the big yins. First up, the Silver Star in Monaco - probably the one I enjoyed least. There were no inversion, just high speeds and lots of ups and downs, which meant there were no breaks from the stomach drops. Which actually didn't seem to bother the kids as much, maybe because they lifted a bit more in the seats as they were smaller so the stomach drops were less intense? I dunno, but there was no way I was going back on that one, though Tiger and Joey rushed for a final run as their second last coaster of the day.
Next up was the Voltron Nevera, which has the most intense queing zone of the park, full of loud music, flashing lights, and actual electricity flashing from the ceiling. This one was the most surprising start hands down: essentially taking you from a dark basement straight up beyond verticle to 105 degrees. Even crazier was the stop half way through that made you think you were finished, before it swooshed you unexpectedly backwards, to start all over again. It was one of the craziest roller coasters we've ever been on. Though both the Don and I did come out with the beginnings of a headache!
After Croatia we headed towards Iceland and tried out the Blue Fire Megacoaster. I was actually really, really nervous queuing for this one. Really nervous. Turns out it was one of my favourites. Yes it was fast - though nowhere near as sickening as the Formula Rossa at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi - but maybe because very quickly it went into an inversion, and another, and probably because it continuously slowed down during the rest of the ride and was never launched again, it was a lot of fun.
The fourth of our big five was the Euro-Mir. It wasn't great to look at; none of us were particularly excited about it, but it is due to be closed this Autumn for ever, so we figured we should probably experience it while we could. It was bumpy, you did spin around, and ended up backwards for quite a whack of it, and that's probably the most you can say!
And finally, it was time for the massive Wodan Timbercoaster. It was F-A-S-T. Waaaaaaay faster than any of us imagined, to the point that I was actually screaming, not just to make it all the more enjoyable, but in actual surprise (I mean you've got to scream anyway, right? Adds to the excitement! Or at least that's what I was telling the kids... a bit like the pantomime - you have to join in).
And then it was time to get wet.
Atlantica SuperSplash in Portugal (I took a video of that one on someone's phone, though I've yet to discover which child's!), Fjord rafting in Scandinavia, Tirolerl Log Flume in Austria, and finally the Poseidon in Greece...
They were fun. They were wet. Some were very, very rickety (the Poseidon which was part coaster and part log flume and one of the oldest attractions in the park), and all were welcome cool between the high's of heat and hitting the big five again.
And then it was time to leave the park :( I mean we were knackered, but all could probably have fitted in a few more belly rolls. Though I think other than the water slides, there wasn't a single coaster that we repeated from our previous visit, which just goes to show you could definitely spend more than one day here!
It was SUCH a fun day, and I have to say, visiting a theme park with teenage kids is definitely the BEST time to do it.
Today we chose to 'hike' Ravenna Gorge - though by hike I mean leisurely stroll up as far as we could be bothered while getting scathing looks for all passersby for not wearing hiking boots and walking trousers, or carrying backpacks and walking sticks.
The Hoellental valley is a popular excursion destination and the Ravenna gorge, a side valley, is part of the Black Forest Highlands heritage trail, which leads past many old sawmills, mills, and a ropery. The Ravenna stream flows through the gorge with several well preserved mills along the stream, while in the lower section, the gorge is crossed by the 37m high Ravenna bridge, the viaduct of the Hoellental railway. Apparently there are excellent Christmas Markets that take place under the viaduct each winter.
The top! Or at least as far as we would go of the multiple hiking routes
It was lovely, but the bottom was very touristy and the rest of it very much like many a walk in Scotland, but hotter and with more people!
To recuperate from all that excercise we spent the afternoon at the Badestelle on Lake Titisee. I think only four of us braved the stoney and busy waters - it was probably about the same temperature as the bagersee near Graben - but it was a fine way to spend a hot afternoon, until the call of ice cream proved too great and we headed into town in search of some.
Lake Titisee is probably the best-known and most popular destination in the Black Forest Highlands. The Seestrasse is described by many as the most beautiful promenade in the Black Forest, and every year up to 2 million visitors go on a voyage of discovery to the numerous souvenir shops in the area to stock up on gifts. Which I can admit we also did.
