Today was one of few warm days that we have had since we moved here! Now that we are finally settled in we are able to enjoy the outdoors on these warm days! So today I took the kids to the Hohenfriebad ( the swimming pool ). Now coming from the land of lakes, I am not to familiar with community swimming pools, but this place is amazing. First of all it only cost 2€ a person for the entire day, and you can bring picnic! When you have paid and finally enter you walk up a small hill to lay eyes on the adult pool(mainly kids over 15) an Olympic size pool with 8 lap lanes, a swim area and a 18 foot diving board. Than there is a restaurant and tons of rolling grassy hills to lay on or picnic on. Once you have moved past this main area there are a couple of volleyball courts, and table tennis areas before you head down a large hill to the kinderplatz (kids play area). This is a huge area with a pool 3x the size of Davison Athletic Club, a zip line, a play ground, swings, and a massive sand area. It also has a splash pool!
Now this pool is unlike anything I have ever seen, it is organic in it's shape, not really any particular shape. It has a textured metal bottom, so as the afternoon sun comes up it will reflect and heat the pool in an energy efficient way! It's depth is never more than a 4 feet, so Abby was able to swim freely! The pool also has a slide and these amazing rafts that the kids walk on and jump off of!
When we got there in the morning it was warm but it wasn't quite hot! We found a spot in the shade and sun under a tree! It was very busy so this spot was an awesome find! We on packed our grandma cart(a pink polka-dotted grocery bag on wheels) laid out our picnic blankets and pool towels, and went to test the water! It was way to cold, I am thinking 20 degrees! The kids decided to temporally bail on the pool and head to the splash pond till the sun came in! We played! Than we ate! Then the kids took off to dig in the sand! They love the sand here because there are typically water pumps and damns to build moats, and water holes with! They played so well helping a group of German boys fill a pond for a baby to play in! The engineer in Ethan comes out during these times as he tries for efficiency and structure and support for the sand! Abigail still just likes to be messy! They played, and splashed, and we all went for a couple cool down swims! Four hours later we were tired, red, and ready for home!
However, there is still changing out of your swim clothes! This only applies to those wearing swim clothes! Yes there actually are those in the buff! They rest pretty far from the pool, but it still grabs your attention! Now I have been noticing that Germans hate to be wet, so when the kids are swimming every time they get out the strip! Yes this means there is a lot of naked babies running around the pools. Some childre even have multiple suits! Some parents even fall under this and change right there! Now for us Americans or the more modest German they have changing pods shaped like mushrooms! They are a hoot! Now my kids are embracing alittle German I noticed because today they changed under a towel outside because they didn't want to wait in line at the mushroom!
The pool is a great place for a social experiment, for culture submersion, and for a family day out!
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