Mineral Freibad
The Brötchen run on this occasion was massive and the shop assistant didn't blink when I ordered 20. We also got some toys as is the tradition; A plastic helicopter disk launcher and a frisbee. After much buttering and packing we set off. We went round the Berliner while Westy went through town so naturally we got there first. It was a warm sunny Sunday so the whole town had turned up and the car park was packed. Dad came in for a short while but went out again to purchase barbecue goodies.
We have no pictures from the Freibad. It wasn't the right place to leave cameras and we weren't sure if Germany had the same fear about mixing cameras and kids that the Daily Mail has. So here is an aerial photo that I found at http://www.vvs.de/freizeitportal/detail.php?ID_FZ=501&ukat_id=93 .
The baths had been pretty much entirely rebuilt and to a very high standard. It was once a rectangular main pool and paddling pool with optional table tennis. Now it was a main pool with fountains and small water slides, a paddling pool with a shaded sand play area and a water pumping toy. Another pool for lane swimming and diving. Finally a pair of big waterslides and their own plunge pool completed the inventory.
Gone was the shallow channel that surrounded the pool in the old days. It was an excellent game to march around it to create a bow wave. Stepping into the water as an adult I immediately noticed how clean and fresh the water actually was. I had forgotten that Mineral Freibad actually meant that it was like mineral water. Chlorine played no part in this pool making it so much more pleasant.
Rosie especially loved the sand area and spent most of her time there. Turning a wheel pumped water into a series of wooden channels. Sand could be heaped up to make dams and then broken down again and the kids didn't seem to get tired of this.
We spent most of the day in and out of the water and my favourite was the big slide. We also had a game of volleyball. We stayed pretty much until the place was closing. On the way out we saw two British motor homes parked up. A guy was shaving using the wing mirror. A couple of crates of British beer were set outside the vans. This is the poor man's version of Centerparc.
In the evening back in Allmersbach was the barbecue. Herr Spörl's all stainless steel and very heavy industrial grade barbecue was assembled. The engineering was impressive as was the lavish use of expensive materials. We worked out how the tubes, cables, chains and bolts went together and we were ready to add the coals.
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| From holiday blog |
We had no firelighters, so that meant more fun for us. Paper and cardboard were artfully crumpled up and a mound of charcoal placed on top. An empty cornflakes packet was used to fan the flames and somehow the fire caught and after half an hour we were ready to cook.
The marinated pieces of chicken, ribs and steaks went on. Rosé was now chilled and ready to serve. Marshmallows were arranged as the sun set. Sliced vegetables roasted slowly on foil. Salad was laid out on the table.
The kids sat around the grill and threw pistachio shells onto the fire.
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| From Backnang 2008 |
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