Europa Park in Germany

Today we went to an amusement park in Germany. We crossed the Rhine river and were there this morning. The boarder between France and Germany, as with many European countries, is open--they don't check passports or anything. Fun was had by all today. I myself rode the newest roller coaster in the park: the Blue Flame. It goes from 0 to 100 mph in 2.5 seconds. That's how the ride begins--shooting you off like a rocket up this 120 foot drop, where you go down and into a 360 degree turn. There are some corkscrew turns and everything in the ride. It's crazy. It's weird to think that we will be leaving France in a few days. On the way to the park, we saw the Hotel Ibis that was burned in the anti-Nato riots last week. I wanted to get a picture, but I couldn't. We returned this evening, and the teachers got together for dinner and France's favorite past time: soccer. I've reflected a lot today about this experience. We worked so hard to get here, and the kids have seemed to enjoy their time here and have learned many new things. I'm looking forward to the next trip already...