EuroLife: Day 49

Today will be the first installment of my German Playground Expose. Well, more like my German Playground Exhibit, or some other not-so-risquee equivalent, but here goes.

On our many walks, Michael and I have seen quite the variety of playgrounds and, I have to tell you, they are very cool. Some have mini climbing walls, complete with child-size holds for little hands and feet. As I said, they are very cool. Today I will share some pictures from the playground that we walk past nearly every day on our way to the Mensa.

The first picture captures roughly half of the playground, maybe a bit more. Note the cool rope bridge off to the right, and the flags tauntingly placed at the top of an enormous, almost-climbable wooden pole. Some friends of ours tell us that this is the favorite playground of their children. They also tell us that the kids "catch air" at the hitch in the slide, so they always stand nearby in case the kids go flying off. They are Americans as well; this came up when we were comparing the apparent difference in safety standards between American and German playgrounds.

Here's a close-up of the slide: I have to tell you, I think it's pretty cool. Were I sending a child down it, I would probably also stand right next to the crazy bend, but I still think it looks like a lot of fun.

The next picture shows the other half of the playground. I realize that, at first glance, this side looks a lot less cool. However, if you look closely (or just look at the close-up in the last picture) you will see a very neat little contraption.

Two button-seats hang on poles from a single beam, which itself is supported by ropes in the larger structure. It's kind of like a swing/seesaw combination. I imagine it's intended for two children, but when I've seen it in use it's been on parent bouncing a kid all over the place. It looks awesome. I would have lived on this thing as a child.

So there you have it. With a slide that threatens to eject kids a good 6 feet above the ground (and over some rickety wooden stairs), and a contraption for launching children left and right, it's possible that this playground is a bit less safe than the average playground back home. Then again, it seems like most of the fun parts are disappearing from the playgrounds back home--things like seesaws and tall, slick slides. (Perhaps this is just an urban legend, I don't know for sure.)

That's it for today. Someday soon, or maybe not so soon, I'll post some pictures of some of the other cool playgrounds around Jena. For now, I'm going to bed.