Aquapulco and the dark mystery of Captain Splash
You read that right; I didn’t misspell ‘Acapulco.’ Aquapulco Piratenwelt is part of a “therme” in Austria designed specifically for kids of all ages. Including water slides, a wave pool, and a multitude of squirts, splashes and dumps, Aquapulco was an indoor/outdoor water park paradise. We had a blast and our older son loved the slides and riding around on my shoulders in the deep water and waves.
The piratenwelt is also connected to two other thermen (that’s a good explainer article, and if you’re not subscribed to NYT click here instead). One of the thermen is a family-friendly series of pools, outdoor area, and swim-up pool bars. The other is a freikörperkultur (FKK, warning: nudity) therme with bathing clothes strictly forbidden. Put short, the last one is a nudist zone.
Interestingly, as odd as this notion of being nude around a stranger is, is to imagine the inverse. For Germans, Austrians, and many other people, it’s normal, and the odd ones out are the shy ones. Included in many of the sauna experiences are the aufguss, and even sometimes some schnapps or some other special drink or food.
Think you could ever do it? Hang up your robe and waltz right in with strangers, in nothing but a towel to sit on? In any case, I can definitely recommend you visit the Aquapulco Piratenwelt in Bad Schallenbach, Austria. It’s perfect for kids and if you go during the week, when Austrian kids aren’t on vacation, it won’t be too crowded.
Change and being you
No one wants to be manipulated by another, or change who they are. That would be a violation.
But who wouldn’t want to get different results by being more “you?” Or a greater version of yourself. Positive change is about unlocking, uncovering and discovering the real you that’s been dormant/afraid/unknown/etc. These are the changes that are normally more welcomed.
And change isn’t always easy. It can be quite painful at times. Friendships can be lost. ‘Decision’ at its root means to ‘cut away from,’ so when we decided to change, we are quite literally cutting ourselves away from the thing we no longer want. And what’s left after change is made, is the blade that results from hot steel being hammered and sharpened. A sword is fashioned from the raw iron. A useful tool, built for a more specific purpose.
Divided Berlin: subsidies ensue
I found out recently that the residents of West Berlin from the 1970’s to 1990 were highly incentivized to remain living there. And I had to ponder that a bit. I guess I always figured West Berliners lived in freedom, happy enough to stay there.
Imagine being a West German living in 1975 West Berlin, a free city completely encompassed by communist East Germany and East Berlin – the Berlin Wall surrounded, and isolated, West Berlin. You may have needed some incentive to stay there, given the option to migrate to another potentially lower-risk city well inside the security of West Germany. And as it turns out, the city itself was also heavily subsidized, mainly to show off the free world to the communists.
The recent history of Berlin, and Germany’s division-then-reunification is fascinating to say the least. Interestingly, after the end of WWII, Austria was also divided in similar fashion to Germany, and its capital Vienna was divided in similar fashion to Berlin (with Vienna also sitting well within the Russian-communist region). For several known and unknown reasons, the Russians eventually withdrew from Austria without instilling a communist regime to control remotely, which prompted the Allied France, Britain and USA to also pack up and leave. Austria declared neutral status, like Switzerland, in 1955. The wine they drank to celebrate independence, a Blauer Portugieser, is famously from Retz, Austria – a place I visited, and a wine I enjoyed this past week.
Bonus: a joke
This joke was the hit of the whole family this past weekend. All weekend long.
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