Kids for a day on AmaCerto river cruise
Coming face-to-face with red piranhas on a trip along the Romantic Rhine was a surprise but it gave us some interesting dinner table conversation during our trip on Amacerto.
Rather than a trip to Strasbourg, where we had visited before, a few river cruise guests went off-piste and grabbed a cab from Mannenheimto find Luisenpark, probably Germany's largest public park.
What a find. It's a step back in time - so we were kids for a day, without the kids.
Luisenpark, all 100 acres, was full of surprises from a Chinese tearoom to Skylon Tower, a farm and tropical greenhouses with miniature caiman and geckos, an aquarium, avairies and a butterfly house.
The immaculate grounds, named after the Grand Duchess Luise von Baden, daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm, were created at the end of the 19th century and many of the original trees survive.
Planting near the park's entrance echoed the 1960s with flowerbed blocks of pansies and wallflowers but further in the landscape develops into beautiful, natural parkland dotted with sculpture and water features.
The temperate greenhouses (rebuilt are being lost in World War II) were full of cacti from central America as well as trees including pepper, coffee and bananas.
There were more birds than people across the park and we watched storks build nests on the top of trees, while the pinkest of pretty flamingos strutted their stuff.
After a long walk around the lake's curving paths, past acer and rhodendron walks, beds of iris and tree peonies, the Chinese teahouse - the biggest in Europe - offered an intriguing place to stop for a pot of orange blossom tea (although someone thought it was a dip and dunked their dim sum into the fragrant blend).
Cafes were dotted about the park and curry bratwurst went down well with a mug of local riesling. Really.
Families picnicked on the acres of grass, children played in the water fountains and vast playground and watched the ducks and geese teach their young to swim.
There were gondolas on the carp-filled lake and a Skylon Tower for a view over Mannenheim to see the Carl Benz Stadium and the F1 stadium.
Rose-tinted glasses?
No, just rose-chested parakeets and scarlet ibis to add even more colour to an extraordinary, yet delightful, day.
Admission 6 euros.
www.luisenpark.de
www.amawaterways.com
Rather than a trip to Strasbourg, where we had visited before, a few river cruise guests went off-piste and grabbed a cab from Mannenheimto find Luisenpark, probably Germany's largest public park.
What a find. It's a step back in time - so we were kids for a day, without the kids.
Luisenpark, all 100 acres, was full of surprises from a Chinese tearoom to Skylon Tower, a farm and tropical greenhouses with miniature caiman and geckos, an aquarium, avairies and a butterfly house.
The immaculate grounds, named after the Grand Duchess Luise von Baden, daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm, were created at the end of the 19th century and many of the original trees survive.
Planting near the park's entrance echoed the 1960s with flowerbed blocks of pansies and wallflowers but further in the landscape develops into beautiful, natural parkland dotted with sculpture and water features.
The temperate greenhouses (rebuilt are being lost in World War II) were full of cacti from central America as well as trees including pepper, coffee and bananas.
There were more birds than people across the park and we watched storks build nests on the top of trees, while the pinkest of pretty flamingos strutted their stuff.
After a long walk around the lake's curving paths, past acer and rhodendron walks, beds of iris and tree peonies, the Chinese teahouse - the biggest in Europe - offered an intriguing place to stop for a pot of orange blossom tea (although someone thought it was a dip and dunked their dim sum into the fragrant blend).
Cafes were dotted about the park and curry bratwurst went down well with a mug of local riesling. Really.
Families picnicked on the acres of grass, children played in the water fountains and vast playground and watched the ducks and geese teach their young to swim.
There were gondolas on the carp-filled lake and a Skylon Tower for a view over Mannenheim to see the Carl Benz Stadium and the F1 stadium.
Rose-tinted glasses?
No, just rose-chested parakeets and scarlet ibis to add even more colour to an extraordinary, yet delightful, day.
Admission 6 euros.
www.luisenpark.de
www.amawaterways.com
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