Playgrounds / Spielplätze

Over the last few days we have visited three playgrounds, all of which have been absolutely amazing. Our local park is about a ten minute walk from our apartment, and is the biggest of the three. The playgrounds are so different from playgrounds back in the USA, and most of the play areas here would never be allowed in a public park there ever. Maybe that's what makes the playgrounds so interesting to me is that everything is so dangerously fun instead of being so safely boring.

For example, one of Nikolas' favorite things at our park is this hugely long and high zipline. You hike up a small hill on one end, climb on, and it races (at quite a high speed) about 50 yards to the other end. He couldn't get enough of it, and had to keep stretching out his hands which were cramping from holding on so tightly! In this photo, Peter is sprinting after Nikolas hoping that he doesn't fall off (which he didn't).

A giant slide built into a hill proved to be another great adventure. There are two ways up - either on a steep path or by hauling yourself up a wooden log ramp with a rope. Then down a steep silver tube slide you go!

At another park this morning, Nikolas rode on one of the most interesting swings I've ever seen. We call them Spider Web Swings. There was a little version of this at our park with an enormous basket seat made out of stiff rope. Today's swing was a double swing set hanging from this enormous structure that linked the two swings together. One swing could get the other swing going, and if you were trying to, you could really go flying!
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A final noteworthy playground feature was a little calmer, but incredibly captivating. To look at it, it simply looks like tiles set into a grate in the ground. But the tiles are really linked to bells of some kind underneath so that each step or jump results in music! As Nikolas was first discovering the cause and effect of these bells, the churches around the city were all ringing their bells for noontime and you can hear it faintly in the background.
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