It was still over 4 hours from Hoge Veluwe National Park to our next planned stop, Hamburg, so we found somewhere to stop on the way just outside Osnabruck and a swimming pool seemed like a good call as none of us had really had a proper wash since Brighton. It turned out to be pretty epic with 6 different slides and a massive outside toddler splash play area so it really hit the spot! Slides did include one verical starting one where the floor dropped beneath you that both of us were nearly too scared to go on but managed because we knew the other one would mock them if we didn’t. (Note to selves: It was called Nettebad and it also had proper Camper parking spaces for €10! Could be handy for another time!) We the got back on the road again for a bedtime drive to a park and ride station outside Hamburg.
On Thursday we recovered from our initial disappointment that Miniatur Wunderland was out of tickets online and reported 360 min queues if you wanted to wait to get in and got the train into town to have a wander. We started at Jungfernsteig but google photos having told us we’d been here on our last visit to the city 7 years ago we headed towards the docks.
We stopped en route for Adam to get his currywurst fix (he’s talked of little else since arriving in the country) and Eddie got his fish and chips fix (turns out Hamburg is well fixed for fish and chips, seems to be something of a local specialty). From there we decided to wander over to the Elbharmonie to have a look around the city from its viewing plaza.
En route we checked in a miniatur winderland just in case and were intrigued to see no sign of any queue, and were eventually rewarded for all the stairs to reach them by managing to get tickets for the following morning! A very much happier Adam left excited to blow Eddie’s mind when he sees it to continue our explorations.
The Elbharmonie was as promised- a magnificent building with free access to a 360 degree walkway halfway up giving awesome views over the city and docks. After all this hardcore touristing we decided we deserved and ice cream and a beer and found Eddie a nearby splash park to cool off in.
From there we got a river boat to the fish market, offering a vast selection of fast food where we stopped for beer and dinner before getting more exciting trains back to the van for an early night.
Friday we hit miniatur wunderland! Many small things, especially trains. Blew Eddie’s mind as expected. Eddie happily wandered around shouting Trains! More trains! For a good 6 hours without getting bored before we finally tore him away to get back on the road.
Parenting Responsibly 