Sunday, April 30, 2023
We arrived in Frankfurt on Sunday morning and immediately boarded a train for a 30 minute ride to Mannheim, where we were basing our stay for the Germany portion of the trip. Our hotel in Mannheim was the Hilton Garden Inn, conveniently right next to the main train station. It was too early, of course, to check in when we arrived, so we stowed our bags and headed out to find something to eat.
I had scouted a nearby pizza place ahead of time, but it was, unfortunately closed, but we managed to find another one around the corner. We shared a salami pie (although LS refused to eat any of it…parents of picky eaters will understand) and a bottle of water.
Afterwards, we wandered around the city a bit, up to the water tower, where LS enjoyed dragging her feet around in the rocks. We were exhausted and glad when 3pm finally rolled around so that we could check into our room.
We napped for a bit, then headed out to find a playground for LS. She managed to commandeer some German kids into doing her bidding to collect leaves to pretend to eat in a little house in the corner of the playground. We ate dinner at McDonald’s, too tired to find anything local and wanting LS to eat something.
Monday, May 1, 2023
On Monday, the plan was to go to a little festival in Weinheim, recommended by one of Mr. Strange’s family members. We took the train there and wandered up to the Schlosspark, where there was a little carousel, some people on stilts, and some large bubble making. LS had fun, especially around the trees in the park where you could hide inside.
We then continued onto Salzburg where we met up with several of Mr. Strange’s aunts and uncles, as well as his grandmother. LS was feeling shy at first and napped on me for awhile while we conversed awkwardly in half-English, half-German. We went out to eat dinner with them before returning to the hotel for the night.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
On Tuesday, we had planned to go check out BUGA23, the flower show that was being held over multiple parks in Mannheim, but LS had started throwing up overnight, so we relaxed at the hotel instead. I went for a run to Luisenpark, where I found a dirt track to run around.
That evening, LS was feeling better, so we joined up with Mr. Strange’s aunt and uncle for a concert at the Schlosspark back in Weinheim.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
In the morning, we took a train down to Heidelberg and then a bus over to the Rathaus station. We bought tickets for the lower and upper funiculars, and headed up to the castle.
We walked around the castle grounds for a bit, and I asked LS if she wanted to tour the castle. I explained what a guided tour meant, and she said she wanted to do it, so we bought tickets for the next English tour. LS did great on the tour! It was about an hour long, but she never acted bored and enjoyed seeing different parts of the castle.
Afterwards, we grabbed some currywurst before getting back on the funicular to head up to the top to Marchenparadies. This is a little amusement park for kids. It has a few rides that you purchase tokens for, but also lots of other play areas that are covered just by the entrance fee. They will even refund you for any tokens that you don’t use.
LS liked bouncing and the area with the little play houses the best. She was also enjoying driving a motorcycle around, until she crashed and bumped her head.
We left right before closing and headed back down the funicular. We grabbed some pizza at a place in the Marktplatz and enjoyed some people watching before heading back to Mannheim.
Thursday, May 4, 2023
We spent all day Thursday with family, since it was our last day. It was wonderful getting to see everyone again!
We packed up that night and prepared to head to Austria.