Prehistoric Cave and Bob Bahn!

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First, a quick shout out to a great hike leader and musical mastermind. A German student who is a loyal reader of this blog, Hello Phillip!

We met today at a spot we thought would be pretty quiet. Last time we were there, we were basically the only cars in the parking lot. We expected much the same today at the nearby prehistoric caves. The positive reviews published on this blog two years ago must have really done a lot for the popularity of this site (uhh huh), as when we arrived, it looked more like Europa Park. The lot was full, the sides of the drive leading to the parking lot were full, and there were guys with radios parking cars in a nearby field. We ended up having to walk about a kilometer to reach the entrance.

The cave system is really quite something with its large rooms connected with tight, low ceilinged walkways. There were stalactites and stalagmites tens of feet tall, some actually connecting the ceiling to the ground to form a full column. Considering how slowly these grow, it was incredible indeed! The average rate of growth is about 1.5cm per year. It has taken hundreds of thousands of years to create the cave scene that we enjoyed today.

In addition, there have been full fossil skeletons found there. Many have been humans, as villagers dumped plague ridden bodies into a hole above during the Middle Ages. On display today was a prehistoric bear. It stood 11.5 feet tall, and weighed about 3,500 pounds. It was about twice the size of a polar bear.

When our English tour was complete, we emerged to stories of Saturday's pursuits and also of excitement for our next group destination. We were off to the bob bahn. The alpine slide consists of a windy, banked turn smooth metal track running down the side of a hill. It's basically like a summer time bobsled course. Students hopped on a cart, on which they could control the brakes, and off they went, winched up the hill to the start just like a rope tow ski lift.

Down the hill they flew with excited screams and a few words that will not be mentioned here in print. Once at the bottom, they hurriedly got back in line for another go 'round. It was a lot of fun for all involved for sure!

Tomorrow we will meet in the morning to complete our masks. In the afternoon will be the big canoeing adventure on the mighty Neckar River. Boats have been assigned, names and themes have been selected. It promises to be a fun and memorable event!

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