2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - Westward Ho!

It is time to bid a sad farewell to Vienna. We could have easily stayed another day but there are more places to visit before the end of our fortnight break. Breakfasted, packed and loaded, the Guzzi taken off her centre stand, sounding like a family of mice had stowed away. The rear suspension is certainly on its way out. Looks like the motorways then. Bummer.
Travelling across Austria we started to meet up with groups of motorcycles. We had caught up with people returning home from the European Bike Week at Faak am See, organised by Harley Davidson and attended by 50,000 people.
There were many motorcyclists stopping at the various service stations along the way. At one we caught up with this Valkyre that appeared to have a personality disorder!

And here is a rose amongst the thorns.


Getting bored of our own company we rode along with a group of BMWs for a while. On the motorway there appeared to be as many trailered Harleys as those being ridden. Making good progress we had an overnight stop at Jettingen - Scheppach. The hotel was situated about half a mile from the village, but there was not much to see. Next morning at breakfast we got talking to a family that had been over to the Bike Week and they were surprised that we had not been there. We tried to explain that we do rallies back home in Britain and that when travelling abroad we enjoy visiting places and seeing different things. Our motorcycle is an enjoyable way of doing these things.
Back on the road and we have less than 200 miles to reach our next destination. Ian remarked that he was going to take it easy. Well he did for a while, tucking in behind a British plated Norton, travelling along at a steady 75-80 mph. Then in his own words "My head went". Due to us being on the autobahn we were able to cruise at 85-95mph on a quarter throttle and average 48mpg! Unheard of before and since. We did have a close call with a bird that must have been slip streaming and every time we changed lanes it did the same.
At 13:00 we reached our destination, Europa Park. A post on our previous visit can be seen here.
We were informed that the park hotels were all fully booked, but they did have one room for that evening. Guzzisue then went to work as we put on our best sad expressions, explaining that we had visited before and that we had returned because we had enjoyed ourselves previously. The receptionist then rechecked her computer screen, disappeared into the back office, came back and having checked that we had indeed visited previously, informed us that we could have a room in the hotel for two nights and then proceeded to apologise that the room was next to the swimming pool. As if we cared, we were in!
As we could not gain admittance to our room for a couple of hours what could we do but head straight to the bar with our books and settle down.
At 15:00, key in hand we relocate all our gear into our room and then discover that the German children were still on their summer holidays and the park is open until 19:00. This gives us plenty of time to look around the park again and go on some of the rides.
Back in our room Guzzisue decided to slip over whilst having a shower, resulting in a bruised elbow and an impression of Australia on her backside! More trouble was to come with Guzzisue's arm as she got bit during the night and despite using antiseptic cream it had swollen a fair amount. This resulted in a couple of trips to the first aid centre. Ian and myself are concerned as we have more riding to do in 24 hours.
In Europa Park some of the rides are designed to run alongside each over, with a walkway made to look like a cavern with miners digging for gems.

These miners have to be wary of the mechanical dragon,


the runaway train

and a log flume.
Whenever Euro Mouse was not on stage helping out jugglers and acrobats

he could be seen meeting up with visitors.

Throughout our visit, we were once again able to go on many of the rides. Guzzisue plucked up the courage to ride the Silver Star roller coaster

and we all managed to get a couple of goes on the new Atlantica water ride in between its teething problems.

Once again we were treated to an entertaining gladiator show in the main arena with a good mixture of comedy,

trick horse riding

and action.


Question. What do you do when there is a man with a pole on one side and the Karate Kid on the other?

Answer. You push the Kid out of the way and stick the boot in on the other.

Here is a film with some highlights of the 30 minute show.



One day we might see some of the theme parks back home giving more choice for visitors instead of the signs displaying "120 minutes to the ride from here".

All too soon we were back on the road again heading for our final destination. Ian is having to redress Guzzisue's arm, although it is still swollen she can just get her leather jacket on with a squeeze.

A final Bon Voyage from Europa Park from these people.

2004 Within These Walls - Mistaken Identity At Theme Park

Today we are heading across country and avoiding the autobahn as much as possible, aiming for Rust, a small town about 30 miles south of Stuttgart close to the French boarder. We are having problems with the relays on the Guzzi and have to stop at a service station as Ian changes another one. I get a little concerned when Guzzisue notices the sign below
with me being so small and securely strapped onto my travelling position I hope there are no hungry eagles around.
The area surrounding Rust is very flat and we can see our destination several miles away, it being Europa Park. The original idea was to find a bed and breakfast close to the park but all expense was thrown out of the window and it was decided to book into one of the hotels.
Riding into the car park there was a sculpture of some Spanish men with music coming from a speaker.
In the reception area there is a large chandelier above a water feature.
Then the weird happening of the holiday occurred. The majority of the park had German and French visitors but when Guzzisue went to collect our key she was nearly given the one for another visitor from England with the same first name and surname who are staying in the same hotel! Only the Sues' partners were different so I kept on calling Ian David to wind him up a little. Unfortunately we did not meet the other couple from England during our stay.
Walking down the authentic corridor
we arrive at our room for the next two nights. Inside the room comes with two double beds, cable TV, a writing desk complete with complimentary writing paper and a washing line in the bathroom.
As we unpack we are greeted with Queen's We Will Rock You coming from somewhere in the park. We must investigate tomorrow.
Europa Park closes at 18:00 but we were permitted into the grounds for the last couple of hours, which gave us a chance to try a few rides and get our bearings for the day ahead.
The mascot for Europa Park is Euro Mouse and he can be found at various meeting points around the park.
It was necessary to book a table for our evening meal with a choice of Spanish or Italian food. We opted for the Spanish buffet, plenty of choice very well presented and tasty. We could not see the price anywhere but discovered the cost was 23 euro each.
Hunger killed we walked over to the Hotel Colosseo, based on the Colosseum in Rome, to watch the musical water fountain, only to arrive too late for the main display.
The Colosseo is a larger complex with more activity around its central area whilst El Andaluz where we are staying is set around an enclosed garden with a small swimming pool and feels much more relaxed.
The next morning arrives warm and cloudy and having eaten a hearty breakfast it is time to hit the rides. Being residents in the park hotel meant that we were entitled to some time before day trippers were let in. Another bonus we discovered as the day progressed was that the children were back at school so we never had to wait more than 10 minutes before getting on a ride.
As with Gardaland there are several different shows during the day. We managed to watch a 4D film, an Ice Show, a Laser Show, The House Of Mystery and the highlight of the day the Gladiator Show. This was an action packed production based on the story of Spartacus. At the start of the show a male and female member of the audience are chosen to be the guests of honour and are dressed in Togas befit of their status.
In the show there was horse riding tricks
and staged fights with the guests of honour deciding if the defeated combatants lived or died. Not surprising but all defeated parties got the thumbs down.
The finale was played out on a bridge over the arena to Queen's "We Will Rock You", which explained where the music was coming from as we unpacked yesterday.
The shows were a rest bite from the rides which included a monorail, log flume, water rapids, bobsleigh,
the Matterhorn Roller Coaster which can be seen in the foreground of the picture below,
while in the background you can see part of the Poseidon ride, a combination of a roller coaster and water ride combined. On this Ian had a flashback to a motorcycle accident that he and Guzzisue had several years ago. As the roller coaster was going down a dip and into a tunnel, a red monorail came across our path in a similar vain to the accident. This did not stop us from going on again a little later in the day.
In amongst the excitement of the rides there are areas of tranquility including this stave church.

The total count for rides and shows was 20, an impressive number and all for 26euros each! As Wallace would say "A Grand Day Out".
After the park had closed for the evening we had intended to book the Italian Restaurant but were unable to get a table, so back to the Spanish cuisine it was. Later we returned to the Colosseo, climbed some steps and watched the storm clouds gather.
Around the courtyard there were some street entertainers going through their paces
ans a large fairground organ piping out its music.
A Legionaire offered to have his photo taken with Ian and was puzzled as to how Guzzisue knew he was English. She left him bemused at this and didn't bother to explain that she had heard him talking earlier on.
To conclude, Euro Park is well worth a visit. The room and food were both excellent, shows entertaining and the rides enjoyable. The only negative we can draw from our visit was that there was no bottled water for sale in the park! Will we return? Definately!