July 21- Europa Park!

Today we met my Swiss roommate Marina, her brother Fabio, and his girlfriend at Europa Park!  Cherish and I ate a delicious French breakfast at our hotel in Strasbourg then took a taxi to the Baggerrsee tram station.  (After difficulty finding our Holiday Inn Express last night, we didn't want to go through that again so we called a cab!)  The driver charged us 23 Euro though, because he charged for his trip to our hotel...  ridiculous!  But whatever.  We were able to get on the (only) bus going to Europa Park!  We left Strasbourg around 8:10 am.

We arrived at Europa Park just after opening, and it was crowded.  We didn't see Marina anywhere and she didn't answer when I called her cell.  Cherish and I started walking around and riding rides.  I texted Marina and told her to meet us at 11 at a EuropaMur in the Russia section.  We met up with her and Fabio and Sabrina and spent the whole day together!  Europa Park is like Disney, only newer, cleaner, and better.  They have their own version of Epcot, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, etc.  There are different areas in the park dedicated to countries in Europe, so it was really neat seeing all the country's displays.  

We had lunch at the Food Loop.  The food was brought to our table on a "rollercoaster" coming down from the ceiling.  Marina recommended a traditional Swiss dish, zurigschnatzlets.  Basically, veal in wine sauce.  So delicious!

It rained on us periodically, but the rides stayed open.  We left the park around closing and caught the last (and only) bus back to Strasbourg.  We have become experts at buying tickets at train stations, so we got everything taken care of for tomorrow.  I am so disappointed Marina isn't coming back to UT next year!  She is going to Florida International University.  I LOVE EUROPA PARK!