Strike a pose. Vogue-ing in Erfurt & Leipzig

Since we've been struck down by some kind of family viral lurgy, it's been difficult to blog. Not so much because I have lacked the energy or the mood (though I have in a way), but because with Stevie off work, he's been rather annoying every time I even look at the laptop, in a "Is that you on the internet again?", and I swear, I have barely even logged on. A glance is all it takes to set him off.

The issue has been sparked by Hamish who in earshot of his father clocked me huddled furtively in the corner, and asked innocently enough what I was buying off the internet, and could I get him something. This is the kind of thing that Stevie hates. His feeling is that if a 3 year old (nearly 4 year old actually) knows what you are doing on the internet then it's indicative of oft-seen behaviour by dear old me.

Curse those pesky kids! I'm having to become increasingly careful about all my regular little habits. The ones which seem to drive Stevie nuts in particular relate to (a) the internet CRIME: using from dawn till dusk (supposedly) and (b) photography CRIME: documenting every second of every day. One thing he can't complain about is that he buys me new lenses and then I don't use them; I'm pretty sure that would annoy him too. But while we were away on out regular little Legoland/Playmobil Funpark jaunt he became utterly riled by things like this:

I hear you. "What?" you're saying. The thing that he finds so awful is that the kids when they see things like Der Maus and Bernd Brot in the street they automatically run up and start posing in front of them, which in my mind only looks really embarrassing (for me) when I don't have my camera with me, and they still do it. It happens whenever they see anything which they consider a 'photo opportunity'. Giant strawberries, 4 foot high polar bears holding ice creams, bronze hippos, Berlin Buddy Bears, barely known German tv characters...they spot them, run forward and start blathering on about cheese.

This crime is compounded by things like Stevie saying "Come on Hamish, what's taking you so long?", and him responding "Oh well, you know, Mummy likes to take a few photos". It's like a red rag to a bull. In my defence I have also trained the two of them to stay absolutely stock still by my side when I am taking photos of buildings and things. That way I don't lose them and they don't risk getting run over, so that's something, right?

Anyway, I won't bore you to death with yet another bunch of Legoland/Playmobil photos, we had a great time at both places though I was coming down with the lurgy at the Playmobil Funpark, and felt like I was getting the flu because everything ached. Apart from the obvious highlights (no wasps, no queues, kids having a fabulous time) we also visited a couple of places we hadn't previously been to. Leipzig was the first. I don't know why, but we both had had a much different picture in our minds of Leipzig. Stevie was somewhat disappointed that it wasn't desperately communist and eastern looking (I know, prettiness is so old hat), and I'm not sure what I thought. I knew about it's role in the fall of the GDR, where the first important demonstrations took place, but not much else.

Leipzig

What I didn't know was that it was the hometown of Bach, or that it would be so pretty, with a different style of architecture to other German cities we've visited. It has previously been on the New York Times list of top ten cities to visit.

Erfurt

The other place we stopped off for a break was Erfurt, which had been recommended to Stevie by his work colleagues, and it was lovely. I would highly recommend a visit to Erfurt. Our prior knowledge of Erfurt was phenomenal: basically we both know it as the place in our very first German book where people like to hitchhike and strangers chat about getting a light for their cigarettes. And certainly there were a lot of people there, and quite a lot of them were smoking. But what we liked about it best were the little narrow streets with utterly gorgeous fachwerk buildings. Not that I got to take photos of them all, because what I realised on this trip was that it's not the kids who inhibit my enjoyment of visiting new places, but my beloved Stevie, who practically races through them, no lingering and lazy wandering allowed. Now what he really needs is a camera in order to slow down and really enjoy the sights...

Postcards from Germany: Playmobil Funpark

One thing we realised shortly after our first travels around Germany with pesky kids was that we needed to include quite a few stops, and ideally, if we wanted to see anything of interest to us we had to broker a deal with Orla & Hamish whereby their displeasure at being dragged round lovely architecture was offset by visits to places that they would like.

And so on our way down to the Bodensee, we made our first stop at Nürnberg, which is nice and handy for the Playmobil Funpark. I'd seen this advertised inside the Playmobil catalogue, but had made the assumption that it was for slightly older kids than mine, possibly around 6 or 8 years old. But we decided to try it anyway, and I am so glad we did.

Talk about FANTASTIC!? I loved it. The kids loved it. And I loved it even more. Admittedly, it should be noted that I do have a bit of a Playmobil addiction, and played with Playmobil myself when I was a child, so other visitors may experience different levels of exuberant enthusiasm. But by the same token, please also note, that this is not a sponsored..um...(slightly lengthy, rambling) postcard (I must be turning into my mother), I just thought it was brilliant.

Where to start. Well, the price for starters: It's only 10 Euros per person with under 3's going free, which is quite a bargain compared with other marvellous places like Legoland, Disneyland, etc, etc. And if you don't go in the peak season it's only 8 Euros. So even better.

But of course the best bit about the Playmobil Funpark is all the toys. That's what it's all about. And there are tons of them. Outdoor toys and indoor toys, so it doesn't really matter if it rains. Hamish particularly like the construction vehicles and diggers that they have in an area filled with gravel and sand. There were also swings and climbing frames and spades and all sorts of other things for the kids to do at this bit. But the best bit was that there were enough toys for everybody, so no squabbling, and the ability in Hamish's case to wander around with a digger in each hand.

Orla loved the water play areas. There were a few 'watery bits' and I would probably recommend taking either some swimwear for the kids (if it's nice and hot) or a change of clothes. I forgot and Hamish got soaked and had to wander around in his pants while his shorts dried off. Nonetheless, he didn't care one bit as they had a canal system set up at perfect Hamish height with all the Playmobil 1.2.3. water toys such as little boats, loads of arks, and dolphins and so on.

There was also a bigger canal type thing set up near by with lots of pirate ships, car ferries, various sail boats and dolphins, whales, and loads of other sea creatures and other things that float. But the best watery bit as far as my kids were concerned were the big clams. These were fenced off and children were let in in groups of around 12 at a time. The aim of the big clams is that water flows through them and tiny little Playmobil toys, such as starfish, shells, seahorses, seals and so on appear inside the clam and the children have to reach in and try to collect them. They pretty much have to lie on the ground to get their arms in to reach, and the assistants will 'help' the younger ones find little toys which is great. You can buy a little clam shell for 1 Euro to collect all the little toys you find which you get to keep for free. Yay!

Oh and how could I forget the rafts?! Beside a giant pirate ship you can sail (or rather, punt) a raft around the water with your children. I have never seen so many terrified parents aboard rafts. It was quite funny. Especially as I didn't go on one. But Stevie took the kids on one and seeing Orla stepping rather perilously close to the edge of the raft with her paddle about 5 times before Stevie made her sit down was enough to give me the same frightened look as those parents aboard.

I could go on and on about how great the Playmobil Funpark is. But I'll try to keep it (slightly) brief. The indoor play areas were also fantastic. There's a massive one in the food area which has all the big Playmobil houses, schools, castles, hospitals, safari, etc, etc, and a smaller one near the entrance that has more of the Playmobil 1.2.3. indoor toys and pirate ships, farms, and equestrian centres for the older ones. Frankly we could have stayed for days.

I had never heard of the Playmobil Funpark before I moved to Germany. It's not advertised in the same way as Legoland or Disneyland, but it should be, and I would highly recommend it to British parents as an excellent place to take Playmobil-loving kids. There are also Playmobil Funparks in Paris, Malta, Athens and the USA. Who knew??