Team Germany Planning Meeting

Germany is MUCH bigger than Ireland or Switzerland, so even before the meeting our team really had their work cut out for them!  How can we get the Germany experience in only a few short days on a limited budget?  Well once again we had youth really step up to the challenge with a great presentation by Riley, and another one by Lex & Scouter Erica.  Armed with a detailed map of Germany and a map of the Europe Rail lines it was my job to figure out where everything is and how to work it in to our rail travel.  All in all a busy night with a lot of exciting ideas.

We started off with Baveria’s fairy tale castle, Neuschwanstein.  Neuschwanstein was the inspiration behind Disney’s fairy tale castles in Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, and is truly a must see!  Not far from Neuschwanstein, Riley and Lex’s presentation took us to Münich, the capital of the stunning Bavarian province.  Highlights in the capital include Linderhof Palace, the Museum Mensch und Natur, some incredible sights and amazing buildings!  A highlight for sure is the Deutsches Museum, which is the largest science and technology museum in the world!

Riley took us north to explore Berlin, the very famous capital city of Germany.  Highlights in Berlin included the Reichstag building and area, and “Zoo Berlin“, which is Germany’s oldest zoological garden and home to the world’s largest variety of species. Almost 20,000 animals of around 1,400 species live in the 33-hectare zoo. They include elephants, giraffes, gorillas, and Germany’s only giant pandas.

Both Riley and Lex discovered the wonders of Europa Park, which is an incredible theme park meant to give visitors the experience of the entire European continent in one place.  This is a short video to give you an idea, but if you are in to amusement parks, spend some quality time here for more details!  Europa Park is located in Rust along the famous Reine River, and is directly on the way from Kandersteg to the Netherlands.

Lex took us up a mountain to Hitler’s Tea House, Kehlsteinhaus – also known as the Eagle’s Nest.  To access the summit you need to use what was a secret cave into the base of the mountain and then ride an elevator INSIDE the mountain to the summit.  At an altitude of 1,834m the Kehlsteinhaus offers a truly stunning view.

Last stop on our German tour was to Frankfurt, a very popular tourist destination in Western Germany.  Here is a great video that sums up the Frankfurt experience nicely 🙂  Frankfurt is right on the way to the Netherlands, so very convenient for any German pre-camp.

Despite all the incredible things to do in Germany, by the end of the meeting the team was looking more towards a combined Switzerland/Germany experience, whereas we would start our adventure in Kandersteg, Switzerland, and then have the option to leave early and take in some sights in Germany.  The Münich area, Europa Park, and Frankfurt are all accessible from Switzerland “on the way” to the Netherlands (well Münich is not on the way, but it’s only 2-3hrs out of the way).

While thinking of this option, it occured to us that the Ireland, England and Lowlands teams could come up with a similar joined pre-camp on the West.  We’ll see how things go with Team England this weekend, but right now we are thinking it might be cool to offer two possible pre-camps – Italy/Switzerland/Germany to the Netherlands and Ireland/UK/France/Belgium to the Netherlands.

 


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