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All we knew is that we were going to the Ettlingen city Schwimmbad, which means public swimming pool (also "Freibad" which specifies that it's an outdoor one). Fine, fun for the kids, didn't think much else of it. Had to go into town to pick up a swimsuit and goggles for LG, since I told her not to bring hers, oops. :)

Yeah, OK, the Ettlingen public pool is not exactly what I expected.

Huge grassy picnic grounds with shade trees all around. Large outdoor area with dressing-cubicles and lockers. Snack bar and outdoor café tables.

Not one, not two, but at least four separate water features:

• Olympic-sized (50m long, 8-10 lanes wide) lap pool
  
• Separate diving pool with multiple springboards and tower platforms
  
• Vast, huge, sprawling family play pool with at least five different activity areas... four water slides, spouting water-volcano, water cannons, waterfalls and jacuzzi jets
  
• Kiddie pool and small slides for toddlers
  

And old guys in Speedos. Well, can't win 'em all. ;)

This place was amazing, obviously far and away better (and cleaner) than our indoor boxes of water we call municipal pools at home, but also much nicer and lots more fun than our outrageously expensive waterslide theme park in Seattle. Even the lines were much shorter. Here's the kicker: in Ettlingen, it's 4€ for adults, 2€ for kids, for the whole day. This is reason enough to move right now.

I managed to snap a whole bunch of pictures of the place before the Bademeister (lifeguard) came over to tell me that "Fotografieren ist nicht erlaubt" (not allowed). Oops. (Our German hosts were offended by the ban and couldn't figure out any reason for it, though.) Luckily, as you see here, I had already gotten all I wanted!

After another hot-afternoon siesta at home, Oma (grandma), who is the principal of the local Grundschule (elementary school) and therefore has keys to the place while it is closed for summer holidays, took the kids to the Turnhalle (gym) to wear them out thoroughly before bedtime. They had already made one trip earlier in the week, while I sat at home; this time, I decided to tag along and snag some photos of the action.

It's a tiny little gym, but once again the facilities are extensive and creative. I think they got out every single possible piece of equipment, and could probably have played all night without doing the same activity twice. Even Oma got in on some of the action. Lars and Anne showed off their unicycling skills... what is it with Germany and unicycles, anyway? LG pretty much swung a 2m arc on one piece of rope almost the entire time, but she described it as a lot of fun, so OK. :)

I'm just extremely impressed by the quality of public facilities here in this little town (no, the school gym is not open to "the public" during holidays, but it is still a public school the rest of the time). Also, things are kept nice, generally not all torn up.

Overall, one really noticeable thing about Germany is the concept of public spaces. I read a book a few years back about how "public" spaces in the USA don't really exist much any more... they've been replaced by artificially "public" spaces that are commercially owned and controlled, i.e., malls. That's not 100% true... Tukwila operates a large, fairly new community center, and beachfront city and state parks like Seahurst, Saltwater and Dash Point are pleasant and popular... but it still really rang true with me the idea that local governments are largely handing over responsibility for "public" space to corporations, so that "community" activity is more likely to revolve around consumption than relaxation. Germany hasn't given in to that yet, not by a long shot. :) Real community feels good!

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