Our Swiss Summer: Maerchen Paradies

On Sunday morning we enjoyed a delicious hotel breakfast and then headed to the pool. Josh wouldn't swim, but Layla had fun. And both kids did a great job staying out of the way of the folks there to exercise.

After that, it was back to the funicular, this time for a trip to the top. I had read vague descriptions about a place called Maerchen Paradies (translates to fairy paradise). I knew that there were fairy-tale themed rides and play areas but I couldn't get a good sense of exactly what it was. To get there, we had to switch funiculars half-way up. We transferred to what is the oldest funicular in Germany and at one point it made its way up the hill at a 40 degree angle.

Stopped for a lion ride on the way to the old city.

Nice views of the city and the Neckar River.

When we got off at the top, there were no signs directing us to Maerchen Paradies. In fact, when I asked the train operator which way to go, she was unsure and didn't know much about it. I was feeling dubious at this point! However, it didn't take long for us to get pointed in the right direction and as soon as we glimpsed the park through the woods, I knew this would be a great outing for us! It cost a few Euros to get into the park and then we purchased some tokens for rides. As the day progressed we discovered that there was lots of free fun to be had as well. I had foolishly been concerned about how we would fill all of the time until our 6:15 train. I needn't worry!

The kids found the giant climbing structure first.
My German was good enough to decipher the sign that explained that the kids must wear socks.
Lucky for Layla, we had a pair of Josh's dirty, stinky socks for her to wear :).

There were lots of these little fairy-tale scenes that moved
and told the stories (in German) of various stories.

On his way to hear the story of Rumplestiltskin....auf Deutsch.

Time for a train ride!

Choo choo!

This is what their faces looked like in the dark tunnel.

Eventually the kids stopped long enough to get lunch.
I managed to order wienerlis (hot dogs) for the kids and sausages for us.
Chris tried a Radler, which is half beer and half lemonade. It was.....interesting.

For certain rides there was no line to dictate whose turn was next.
It was basically a push other little kids out of the way kind of arrangement.
Eventually Chris joined in and Layla got a turn!