Some days, I really wish I had kids to entertain.  I am myself a bit a of a big kid, so having a kid to play with would give me a good excuse to visit kid friendly museums and attractions.  Bill and I didn’t actually plan to do anything kid friendly today.  We stumbled across our fun, just like we always do.  And now I’m going to pass along our good fortune to readers who have kids and enjoy science.

We had absolutely perfect weather today.  Bill wanted to know what we should do today.  We went looking for a fest.  I remembered that next weekend, Freudenstadt would be hosting a fish market.  Then I remembered that next weekend is the weekend before my birthday and we’ll probably be out of town.  I’ve always been intrigued by Freudenstadt.  It’s a decent sized city not too far from where I live, in Unterjettingen.  We always drive through it when we go to France.  One time, we stopped and had lunch at the Turmbrau.  I remembered that lunch with fondness, so we decided to visit there today and wander around…

It turns out Freudenstadt is undergoing a lot of major road work.

It’s a bit of a mess in some parts of the city.

I noticed the name of this store and it made me laugh.  “To Crazy”, huh?  I think they meant “Too Crazy.”  But that’s no worse than Der Wienerschnitzel in the United States, which is also incorrect.

There is an art fair and flea market going on today and tomorrow.

And someone was getting married.  I took this right after withdrawing money from an ATM.  While I was doing that, a couple was changing their baby next to the machine.  I guess the baby left a deposit.

We didn’t linger too long at the market.  We wanted food and beer.

Bill checks the menu.

We enjoyed housemade beers.  Bill had a Maibock and I had a Hefeweizen.

For lunch, I had Schweinshaxe, which I couldn’t finish.  It wasn’t as big as some I’ve had.  At the Turmbrau, this dish comes with sauerkraut.  I have to be careful with that or else it’ll be a very windy night at my house.  

Bill had roasted pork with fried potatoes.  This was served with a beer gravy that was very good.  The pork was also tender and flavorful.  I think I liked Bill’s dish better than mine.  My pork knuckle was a trifle overdone.

But it did come with beer bread.

Turmbrau has live entertainment, too.

And a really excellent looking Biergarten.  We probably should have sat out there, since I wore plenty of sunscreen.

Brewing!

This is a great place for lunch.  Both times we’ve been, it’s been busy.  Service is friendly and efficient and prices are fair.  We had a couple of weizens for dessert.  With the extra round of beer, the bill came to just under 35 euros.  We made the waitress smile when we topped it up to 40.  

Because Bill didn’t want to drive so soon after our second round, he wanted to walk around Freudenstadt.  I had a better idea.  On the way into town, I noticed a sign for a museum.  After looking up the word “Erlebnis”, I determined a visit to Experimenta might be a fun way to sober up… even if it was kind of a kid oriented place.  Like I said, despite last week’s fun, I really am a big kid.  Experimenta turned out to be a no frills kind of science museum, but it was surprisingly fun for us!  We did, however, get curious looks from other visitors.

Experimenta is open daily from 10-6.  Tickets cost 6 euros for adults and 5 euros for kids.  A young guy was manning the desk.  It looked like the building was once a music school.  

The first exhibit was about time zones.  I noticed the signage was all in German, but with a little effort, I could understand a lot of it.  A lot of the exhibits are very intuitive anyway.

Here’s an exhibit about size perception.

Bill has fun with balls.  That silver thing was blowing air

I never did figure this out… it involved a marble.  Edited to add, my German friend Susanne says there is a bigger Experimenta in Heilbronn and she shared a picture that shows how this activity works.  I want to also mention that a lot of the activities had step stools for little ones.  

Spyrograph.

This was the room I really got into.  Bill and I built a bridge.

And we learned how holes affect the speed of cylinders.

I brushed up on my terrible geometry skills.

Bill loved this activity…

Pictured above is a logic activity involving a man who has to move a goat, a wolf, and food across a river.  He only has room on the boat to move one at a time.  Bill really got into telling me how the man could move each.  I giggled at him because it was fun watching him turn into a little boy, much like the young kids who were enjoying the activities.

Next, we made a bridge out of magnets.  This was a very interesting exhibit because it forced us to learn the logistics of building a bridge and what you have to do to make it work.  I am still a confirmed former English major, though, and couldn’t explain this if my life depended on it.

Next, I saw how water can propel a boat…

I learned about human organs.

And bones.

And the tongue!  

 

I think my favorite room was the last one we entered.  On the main floor, there’s an exhibit about electricity…

I played with these for a long time…

And then I discovered the black light.  Sorry for the ugly photos but…

You can’t see it in this picture, but in person, it was really obvious which of my teeth is an implant.  Hard to believe I’ve had it for a year now!

I may never have teeth this white again.

 

I made a short video of our fun today…  It offers an example of what you can expect at Experimenta!

 

Like I said, I wish I’d managed to have kids.  We live in an area that’s really great for kid friendly activities.  If I had a kid, I’d make of a day out of Freudenstadt and its environs.  You can stop at the awesome Barefoot Park in Dornstetten, which is on the way.  After that, head to Freudenstadt and have a good lunch at one of the many restaurants in the town.  Then visit the science museum.  By the time you’re done, you’ve killed a few hours.  And… as you can see below, the countryside is BEAUTIFUL!  God bless Germany!

Look closely and you can see a glider…