Introducing the freibad, an outdoor public swimming park found in just about any German/Austrian city. Think water park + Olympic swimming pool + grassy picnic areas + playground + soccerfield, all for about $5 per person. Unlike American water parks which charge $20 and up per head, freibads are subsidized by the city, so you think nothing of packing up and taking the kids on a whim, perhaps even several days in a row if there's a heat wave on. Canada, are you listening?
The girls consider swimming just about the world's greatest treat. They've both recently learned to swim and are just in heaven in the water. For hours on end we play Capture-And-Escape, Throw-Daughters-Mile-High, and Dunk-The-Monster. (Guess who's always the monster.)
wow! My kids are so jealous about the playgrounds that they really want to make it to Austria when we go to Portugal. I'm still not quite sure - that's a lot of travelling time in our short little adventure - but we would so love to come and visit you guys!
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