Cherry Blossom in Schwetzingen

On the first warm day of this spring we went to see the cherry blossom at the castle garden in Schwetzingen.
First we had to stand in line a bit to get tickets for the gardens

 Then we had to find the entry to the garden with the cherry trees

 Once inside we enjoyed the colors and wished we had brought a picnic blanket

Mia tried a handstand

Circus School

For four days after Easter Mia attended a "Circus School" the city run culture center offered in Mia's school just a five minute walk away. At the last day there was a big gala performance and of course we attended.
Mia's first choice would have been the trapeze act but she was still happy with the clown act for which she had to dress like a little dog.
Of course she was a bit shy and nervous just before the show

In the clown act  some legs disappeared as par of a magic trick

 All went well

She had another part later with a surprise appearance of a dog walker

At the end all artist appeared for a big final applause

Touring Hamburg

After a grey and rainy Fridday where we could only go for a walk on the Alste.

Saturday was a sunny with blue skies.
 First we headed to the Landungsbrücken for a little boat tour on the river Elbe

We got off at a little beach with nice restaurants

The next stop was the "Dom" a big fair with many rides that was running for the two weeks after Easter

Mia liked the "Fun Houses" where you had to navigate an obstacle course over different levels. At the end then was a long slide

Trip to Hamburg

Almost seven years after our last trip to Hamburg we went there again over the Easter Weekend to see some old friends of Ji.
The best and fastest way was to go by ICE - the high speed train took only 4.5 hours. We had reserved seats with a table and could play games and have a little snack

The next day Mia took a picture of he parents

 Then we headed to a Chinese restaurant to meet an old friend of Ji for lunch

Then we went to the old warehouses by the harbor to look at a new attraction in Hamburg the "Miniature world". A huge model landscape over many rooms with trains, ships and airplanes and may intersting details

One could discover details like a tunnel built for a bank robbery and many other things

The whole exhibition cycled through day and night views

There was also a winter landscape of Scandinavia

After the exhibition we walked back to the subway stop through some older parts of the city

Luckily we could stay at the grand place of Ji's friends that is more than 125 years old

Absteinach

On a grey Sunday we decided to check out yet another Alla Hop playground - this time in Absteinach, a tiny village in the Odenwald hills and already in Hesse which is the state just north.
There was a lot of climbing and balancing

 A wall to climb sideways was pretty challenging

After a few tries Mia made it

She also liked the zip line

 

 

 Mia also likes this kind of swing

Then we went for  little hike

It was a pretty nice and peaceful countryside

After some looking we foud an old border stone from 1822 for what is now the boarder between Hesse and Baden Würtemberg.