Luna Park

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So yesterday I had found in my book of Rome, that there was an amusement park, called Luna Park or LUNEUR. It's in the EUR, which is the fascist district of Rome. It's really ugly actually (it's where that big building that Musolini built like the Coloseum is) and everything is huge and angular. Anyways, Tyler, Grant, Jinny, Amanda and I had all worked ourselves up to go to this park. It was kind of a long ride for us. Grant and I took the tram over to Jinny, Tyler, and Amanda's and then we all took a bus to the Coloseum metro, and then took that subway over to the EUR Magliana stop and then walked about 1.5 kM there. Anyways, we finally found the park and I was running up to it. Needless to say I don't usually run, so you can imagine how excited I was. 😊
But as we approach the gates, we learn that it was closed. 😞 It had all of the hours posted and then in tiny print at the bottom it said "Closed TUESDAY". Grrr. So I was a big grump.

But we went back today, after Amanda, Jinny, and I got done with ballet. We've been taking ballet at Spazio Danza here and I love it! It's so good to return to something I really like. I had just signed up for the beginning class so I could take it with Jinny and Amanda, even though I have taken ballet for 6 year, and then (yea!) my teacher, Sylvia,told me to stop coming to that class and please move up. Yes. Good!
So after ballet we headed back to the EUR and to Luna Park, this time sans Tyler b/c he had class. Anyways, it was open, I was happy! The place was deserted and it's like a state fair meets KnottsBerry Park or something. It's whimsical, but a little old. Anyways, we started on this ride called the Flipper. We paid our 2 euros b/c you have to pay per ride, and we got on. It's likea big disc with tea-cup type seats in them and it raises up and rotates to flip you around. That was really fun! Probably my most favorite ride. And they played Shakira too. More reason to like that one.

The we went on the Shooting Loop which was a small roller coaster with a loop. We paid for our ticket at the booth,and the man showed us where to get on. So we take our seats and watch him hop on a bike, with a cigarette in his mouth to ride the 10 feet over to start the ride. Believe me, he was in no rush. He got over there, honked the horn, and started the ride. It was a good one, but much too short.

Then we rode this ride called "Russian Roulette". It looked just like a Russian roulette board, and you got on a big circle, the inside perimeter lined with benches. We thought that a bar would come over us and maybe it would spin us really fast and the centrifical force would hold us in. Uhm, no. There were only metal bars behind us to hold on to, and Grant, being the smart one, told us to hold on just in case. It starts up and starts spinning... then tilting. Next thing I know I bounch up about a foot in the air! The ride had hydrolics! I hated it. I was really scared and it wasn't very safe. There were two other boys, about 16, on the ride with us and they got up in the middle and started play-wrestling. The ride slowed down a little, so I thought, surely he will stop this. Nope! The guy controlling the ride spinned it the other direction! I hate Russian Roulette now. 😞

We rode a few other rides. We rode one of those boat rides that swings back and forth and that was fun and then a ride with swings that just twirls.

Overall: NONE of Luna Park's rides would meet U.S. safety codes. But don't panic Mom. I'm fine! I'm safe and it gave me a really good laugh. 😊

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