Today we all headed to Bayreuth, the nearest small city to their home. We saw Wagner's impressive home and wandered through the nearby gardens that are now a city park. From here, we headed into town for some traditional hot chocolate and then through the pedestrian zone to see some of the cute shops. Most cities in Germany have pedestrian-friendly outdoor shopping areas with few or no cars. These almost always have activities for kids as families are highly valued. Here they had a carousel so we let the kids each take a ride.
With a low population and the need for future workers, Germany has some of the most family-friendly policies in the world. Some examples include 12 months of maternity leave, at least two months paternity leave, Kindergeld (money paid to families each month from the government for each child), free insurance and higher education (something that is in the process of changing with much protest), and kids' entertainment nearly everywhere. They highly value families, both socially and politically. You can't go to the bakery, butcher, pharmacy, etc with children in Bavaria and not receive some little gift for the kids.
After the carousel, we decided to get some dinner. In the winter, they set up some wooden stands with Christmas lights that sell gluh-wein (hot spiced wine), sausages, and crepes to the Christmas shoppers in the Bayreuth city center. We sampled the food. Our friends had arranged for us to stay in a cottage of our own at Conrad's parents house. I was thankful for the privacy as this night both Matthew and I got very ill. Let's just say that I won't be having sausages or gluhwein for a long time.
For our first trip to Costa Rica, Adventure Life designed a tour that meets the interests, ecological and adventure, of our party; but also takes into account our physical limitations sine we are all septuagenarian. We are looking forward to the trip.
John Zent
1 day ago
Adventure Life is my favorite travel company due to their genuine care for their customers. They make every effort to ensure a wonderful travel experience for you. Their personal touch really gives the customer a lot of confidence with their travel plans and the trip leaders are always outstanding. They are truly consistent and accountable with the great service they provide. I can't thank Adventure Life enough for the incredible trips I have enjoyed thanks to them and their attention to detail.
Tim Duffy
2 days ago
Kevin Moore working with me and providing very timely answers to all my questions.
Sharon Worsham
2 days ago
Adventure Life coordinated all our domestic air travel in Argentina as well as
Multiple tours in four cities. Every thing went perfectly smooth. All the local companies were on schedule and very professional. We will surely use Adventure Life on future travels.
customer
3 days ago
Franny helped us put together a great itinerary, was very responsive and so helpful. We ended up not being able to use Adventure Life for our trip, but would definitely use them in the future.