MrSum1_55

^Or move almost anywhere in the Mountain West. Unless you live near Lagoon or Silverwood, you would probably give anything for Six Flags America. I would love to move, but I cannot yet move at this time. But hopefully I will in a few years.

No. DC already has plenty of parks within reasonable distance. If I wanted to build a new theme park, I would much rather invest in a large metro area with no large theme parks and one near several established ones. There are round 6 million people in the DC area. But the Phoenix area has around 4.5 million, and basically no competition for a theme park. Where would you rather build? Same question for Houston, Portland, etc...

I was trying to think of what Lagoon should add next, but the park is still small enough that they could add almost anything for it to be a major addition. (Except for a Eurofighter. This park has enough compact coasters with small trains).

I am not as much of a credit whore as I once was. I no longer go out of my way to ride kiddie coasters for credits, for example. Lately I was trying to come up with a complex flowchart of how I would count coasters as a credit. However I just say that if it feels like a coaster, it's a coaster. To me, water coasters are coasters. Alpine coasters are coasters. Powered coasters are not coasters. Superman at Magic Mountain is a coaster, but Intamin first gen freefalls are not. I was going to come up with some complex answer about how a water coaster needs to have at least two uphill sections with no water in between or how having a launch and an uphill section qualifies. But that is really just for fun. I count some coasters people do not, and I do not count some coasters people do. However anyone else wants to do their count, I do not care. I know what feels like a coaster and does not feel like a coaster to me.

Novgorod. This and Mystery Mine are the only two I have ridden. Mystery Mine slightly edges out Novgorod in terms of theming, but Novgorod gives a much better ride experience, no question. Aside from one good drop, Mystery Mine's entire first half felt very dull. I have ridden family coasters more intense than this. The second half is better, but also too short. Novgorod is awesome for the entire ride. It has plenty of high-G turns, a great inversion, and a few very good moments of airtime. Doing a beyond vertical drop in pitch black was also unique. Mystery Mine has some intense moments, but overall has far too many uninteresting parts. Novgorod is intense and relentless, exactly how a Eurofighter should be. Novgorod wins by far.

A launched flyer would really be something, but that would be a huge leap for Disney in terms of thrills. Keep in mind that Rock n Roller Coaster is Disney Florida's most intense coaster, and even this is nowhere near the intensity of most flying coasters. That being said, I would like to see Disney start adding more intense rides. Coasters are the one thing that Disney parks do not excel at. I understand that Disney is out there for a family market, but there are plenty of non-Disney parks out there with great theming that can also integrate intense coasters. (Phantasialand does the best job at this). I would love to see this happen, but I really have my doubts.

Except Twisted Colossus! This is their only coaster that regularly runs three trains and dispatches at a descent interval. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the coasters.

Wait...so was the park lying about the height this whole time? Also, does this mean El Toro has actually been the tallest operating wood coaster for the past several years? I always thought it was Colossos.

^This. You need at minimum two full days at Europa Park, especially if it is your first time. The park is much bigger than you might think, and there are plenty of little things to do that you may not notice when walking from ride to ride. I spent two days there, but I guarantee that I would still discover even more things if I went back.

And now...the moment you've all been waiting for! Europa Park! A short train and bus ride from Freiburg took me to Europa Park, where I spent two full days. And you need that many days at least to see this park! Europa is quite possibly the most beautiful park in the world. Imagine the world showcase of Epcot were an entire park. Then add every bit of amazing foliage you can imagine. That's basically Europa Park. My introduction to this park is much shorter, because Europa does not have any hot new attractions at this time (not that it desperately needs any). So, I will give my opinions on the individual aspects of this park down below! (And tell some of my unusual stories). This begins with Blue Fire, possibly Europa's most famous coaster. With maybe the weirdest overbank in existence. (Yes, I know it was shaped that way for a reason. It is to make the first hill the largest hill so a rollback is more likely than a valley) Largest loop on a launch coaster in Europe, or something like that. Overall, Blue Fire is a "fine" launch coaster. It is perfectly smooth, and it has amazing trains. But this coaster did not have any amazing forces or overly memorable moments except for the final inversion. The last heartline roll is one of my top five favorite inversions ever, but the rest of the ride was not insanely memorable. It is mostly just a big, fun launch coaster with amazing capacity. It also had just enough adrenaline to almost cure my headache. (I may or may not have drank too much German beer the night before). Next: Wodan! Like other GCI's Wodan has a fly through. Unlike other GCI's, the fly through actually adds something to the ride itself. On most GCI's the fly through is just a straight section. But on Wodan, the fly through banks to the right, serving as a sort of trick track. I liked how they were able to build this element without killing the pace of the ride. Wodan is actually one of my favorite GCI's. It might have the strongest laterals of any GCI I have ridden, even more so than Thunderhead and Gold Striker. However, those two coasters also have quite a bit more airtime than Wodan. Wodan also interacts well with pathways and other attractions. I do with Europa themed their other big coasters as well as this one. (I feel like this is the one thing Europa does not excel at. They theme the park well, but I wish they placed more theming on the coasters themselves, like what Phantasialand does).. Did I mention this park is beautiful? There is plenty in this park to see, especially when you want to ride fewer coasters because you may or may not have had one too many German beers the night before. Luckily, the Germans are also very friendly. I managed to find a group of very nice German girls who were carrying a cooler full of vegetables, and shared them with me to help with my said headache. (I'm not making this up!) Arthur (Excuse the horrible picture quality) This is a fantastic, and very unique dark ride. It feels like a much more modern take on the Peter Pan ride concept, which is very neat. I would love to see more inverted dark rides like this. Poseidon. This is a fine, family water coaster. The turns are really just okay, and the best part is the final two hills after the second lift. Largest drop. I did not notice that the Silver Star train snuck into my picture. I should have expected that though, given Europa's stellar operations. Gotta love how Silver Star is themed to F1 racing, while it is basically a parking lot coaster. Silver Star is also fine. It is standard for what you would expect from a B&M hyper, if not maybe a little less intense. I am also not the biggest fan of how it is essentially a parking lot coaster. But overall it is very fun and very floaty. I still think Silver Star is my favorite coaster at Europa Park, even though it does not stand-out too much in my coaster rankings. I would love to see Europa get that one A+ standout coaster it seems to lack. I'll just let these photos speak for themselves. The wild mouse. Only Europa could make a standard wild mouse look this good. Step it up Disney! The bobsled coaster. The first drop is pretty big for a bobsled coaster, but the rest of the ride is pretty standard. (Though the queue if pretty cool). Switzerland is one of the best themed areas of this park. They do have a real locomotive you can climb on. This one is for the train nerds, who might need a moment alone with this picture. Eurosat. This might be the most intense coaster in the park. (No, I'm not kidding). The back row on this thing whips around turns like mad! It is like a Space Mountain on steroids. Splash zone of Atlantica. The backwards section on this ride is surprisingly fun. I count this is a coaster, but I know that one is pretty disputable. Euro Mir Quite possibly the strangest coaster around. It is fun, but odd. That's really all I can say about it. I like how Europa just lets the rafts on their rapids ride get close enough to bump each other. Aplina Blitz. I rode it with and without VR. Up until this point, my only VR experience was Six Flags America. Needless to say, I have a much more positive view of VR now. (The VR or Pegasus is also well done). That's all from Europa Park! This is the last park on the trip, but the trip is not yet over. I still have several days in Munich to upload!

New update: The south German city of Freiburg! If you want to see a beautiful large(ish) city in Germany, this might be the city for you! One of the historic clock towers Streams. There are several of these running around Freiburg. Legend has it that if you step in one, you will find love in this city. (And that legend did come true, but that's not a story for TPR). The other historic clock tower. Naturally, this one has a McDonalds at the bottom. But I ate here! With my Schwarzwald Schnitzel! (Black Forest Schnitzel). It is a schnitzel with bacon sauce. At the streetcar stop to ride back to the main station. This was where I would go to my next park...It was...um...Europa Freaking Park!

^That might have to do with different tastes in intensity. As I said, the first two thirds of GeForce felt very much like Millennium Force to me. Both have great first drops, which are followed by two floater hills in between overbanks. GeForce's floater hills are much better though. However, I might have liked the ending better because I tend to prefer shorter bursts of intensity and quick direction changes over long drawn out moments of intensity. For example, I actually like Phantom's Revenge better than El Toro. El Toro is great, but there is rarely a quick direction change on that ride except for the S turns at the end. On the other hand Phantom's Revenge seemed to throw elements at me far more rapidly, especially at the end. This is probably why I like the end of GeForce the best; this is the part where the elements come most rapidly instead of the large hills in the beginning.

^ Thank you. Would you advise the same in Beijing/Shanghai as well?

Speaking of which... I will be in Xi’an in May of next year. However, I am a white guy who speaks no Chinese at this time. (Though I may take a Chinese course next semester). Is there any easy way to get to this park for an idiot like me? I know that the Happy Valley parks in Beijing and Shanghai (where I’m also going) have free shuttles to the metro stop, but what about Lewa Adventure? (Or whatever this park is called now).

^You are correct on that. Most of the big parks are in the west of the country, far from Berlin and Munich on the east side. However, there is plenty of culture to be found in the west of the country. From Europa Park you can visit Freiburg or Strasbourg (France). These are both beautiful cities. Strasbourg is the better of the two, but not as convienent to get to due to having to cross a boarder. Holiday Park is near Heidelberg, a city with one of the most famous castles in Europe. Then you have Cologne and Bonn near Phantasialand. Cologne is more modern looking than the other cities I listed. (It was leveled during WWII). If you want to add Berlin and Munich to the trip, you will need at least half a day of travel. At that point, you are looking at an entire trip in and of itself. (Which was how my European backpacking trip turned into three weeks in Germany only).

Small Holiday Park update! Holiday Park is a small park, and a strange one at that. While Hansa Park feels like a small park in transition to a big park, Holiday Park is pretty much just a small park with one large coaster. It is almost strange to see such a small neighborhood park have an Intamin mega coaster right in the middle. Aside from that, there is really not much to say about Holiday Park. The best rides besides GeForce are the SkyRocket II, the Intamin drop tower, and the Starflyer. However, I can ride all three of these ride types at my two respective home parks. (SFDK and CGA). So really the only thing drawing me to this park was GeForce. But that is more than enough to draw me in. It would be redundant to say that Expedition GeForce is an amazing ride. But why is it great? I like it because it reminds me of one of the most famous and polarizing roller coasters in the world: Millennium Force. Have you ever ridden Millennium Force and said, "that was fun, but I wish it had more airtime."? If you are on this site, I guarantee that you have read that on the internet or heard that from a fellow enthusiast. If you are one of my fellow enthusiasts who has said that, then I strongly suggest that you go out and ride Expedition GeForce. Most of the ride gives a very similar vibe to Millennium Force. The first two thirds are filled with large overbanks and large floater hills. Both coasters even spend a fair amount of time going over and through trees. However the difference is airtime. While Millennium Force has just two airtime hills, Expedition GeForce has no shortage of air, especially in the final four hills. These hills are unique, as they are strong, but larger in size than your typical bunny hill finale. I really wish more coasters ended like this, because I loved it. The ending was fantastic, and the best part of this ride. I would probably rank the rest of the ride as being slightly below an average RMC coaster, maybe even on par with a B&M hyper (dare I say). But the final hills really elevate this coaster to its world-class status. I would say that GeForce is overrated, if not for the insane ending. It does not have the intensity of a coaster like Skyrush, but it probably still belongs somewhere in my top five. This was an exciting moment. No! I don't care about an SRII! More GeForce please! There we go! It works well flying over the trees. Large floater hill. Overall, the coaster gave a very "Millennium Force" vibe, until it hit these last few hills. The ending really gives GeForce the airtime that Millennium Force lacks.

My first ride on Skyrush was in the back outside seat. I was absolutely blown away. I had just ended the previous night marathoning El Toro, so I thought I was prepared for anything. The back left seat on Skyrush made El Toro feel like a mine train. My rankings of 2-10 are a tossup between multiple RMC's, other Intamin's and a few other coasters like Phantom's Revenge or Kumba. But I know for sure Skyrush is #1.

^Yes! But come to think of it, I did find one flaw with Phantasialand: the spillover of theming. The theming itself is very well done, but the park is very compact. Because of this, many of the tallest structures are visible from around the park. While parks like Disney do a good job of making sure the structures that are visible blend in with the surrounding theming, Phantasialand seems to have a more difficult time at this. Being able to see Mystery Castle took me out of the atmosphere of Klugheim a bit, and seeing Black Mamba took me out of the Chiapas atmosphere a bit. However, this was literally the only flaw I could find with Phantasialand, and even this is a very tiny flaw. Otherwise, this is the most perfect park I can imagine. Every ride is well themed, and the operations were great. This is a solid 10/10 park. Small Holiday Park update next! (And my opinion on GeForce).

And now...Phantasialand! Ahh, how to start with Phantasialand? It is completely unlike any other park, in all the best ways! The thing that I admire most about Phantasialand is the amount of creativity that goes into this park. What I mean is, it felt so refreshing to see areas that are so uniquely themed. The big coasters of Taron, Winjas, and Black Mamba are unlike any other attractions. Colorado Adventure is a fantastic mine train as well. The theming at this park is incredible, but what I liked most about Phantasialand was the consistency of theming. What I mean by this is that there is no other park where you can ride such high thrill coasters with so much detail to theming. Yes, there are other well-themed parks that have big coasters. Disney is the king of theming all rides, but you will not find a coaster at any Disney park on the intensity level of a coaster like Black Mamba. Universal and Busch Parks also have big coasters, but at both of these chains the theming is mostly in the park and in the queue, as there is very little theming during the ride. The same can also be said for Herschend Parks, and even Europe Park to an extent. But Phantasialand themes all their coasters, from the smallest to largest. Many parks seem to be under the impression that a high thrill coaster can stand on its own, but this park understands how theming can really add to the experience of even their most famous coaster. Oh, what's that one coaster at this park everyone talks about again? Oh yeah... TARON! Taron is a fantastic looking coaster. I am usually not a fan of neutral colors on roller coasters, but the black track makes this ride look industrial and twisted all at the same time. None of my pictures could fully grasp just how impressive that mess of track looks. But how is this coaster, you may ask? I can answer that: AWESOME. But I say that it was awesome with a few caveats. The track layout is good. It is intense and filled with positive and lateral G's, but airtime is a little sparse. However, the layout alone is nowhere on the level of a coaster like Maverick. I would say it is more intense than Cheetah Hunt and Manta (San Diego). But where is coaster really shines is how well the layout is integrated in the area. If Taron were just another parking lot coaster, there is no way I would place it anywhere near my top ten. But the experience of diving under walkways, weaving between rocks, and the forced perspectives at the high points of this ride are what make this ride truly amazing. I also found this coaster to be very re-ridable. After fourteen rides throughout different times during the day (not at night sadly), I found that no ride seemed any better or worse than the last, which is very good. To summarize Taron: I loved it. However, if you ride it expecting the next Maverick or Skyrush, you may leave dissapointed. I would say Taron is like a more intense version of Manta at SWSD, another coaster I adore. CA's Manta is a low to the ground launch coaster which interacts with the surrounding theming very well (at least in the first half). If you like Manta for this, you would love Taron. Overall, I would say that Taron was my "favorite" coaster of the trip, but not the "best" coaster of the trip. I say this because Taron gave the best overall experience of any coaster I rode, with the theming and interactions. However, there is one other coaster not too far away that gives an objectively better ride in terms of airtime and forces (And I bet everyone knows which coaster I'm talking about). So on to the photos! (I placed my opinions of the other coasters in the captions as well). Phantasialand is near Cologne, where I would be staying. This is the famous cathedral, arguably one of the most impressive in Europe. WWII destruction. While there are some old sights in Cologne, most of the city actually looks very modern, especially for a European city. This is because the city was heavily destroyed during WWII. Had my great grandfather lived a littler longer, he might have helped destroy this city too. (But for a very justifiable reason!) Much of downtown Cologne looks more like this. But I know these are the photos you really want to see! Phantasialand! This is the main street, themed to 1920's Berlin. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years, you would know that this is Colorado Adventure. Testing! (German parks tend to open an hour before the rides actually do). China! This area is very well done. Much better than the pavilion at Epcot. Mystery Castle. To be completely honest, the queue for this ride is the best part. The ride itself is pretty "meh." While the queue rooms look great, the actual ride is just a giant frog hopper in a big room. This ride could benefit from a better drop sequence and more theming during the ride. But Chiapas looks great! This is one of the best log flumes in the world. My only criticism of it is that I would like to see more dark ride like effects and scenes during the ride. Other than that, it is an exceptional log ride. Taron Colorado Adventure is one of the best mine trains I have ridden. Actually, it might be my favorite mine train. It has plenty of high-banked turns, and I love how it has a long middle section in the dark. It is far more intense than Gatekeeper, no doubt. (But that's not saying much!) Winjas. This coaster is messed up in all the best ways. It is best experienced on the fear track starting backwards. (Those first few drops really get you going in reverse!) Taron is fantastic. The ride itself could be a little better, but the theming and interactions make this coaster a must ride. Black Mamba. I found this coaster to have plenty of intensity throughout, and the theming really goes a long way. The experience of weaving through the trenches and tunnels makes this one of the best inverts in the world, no doubt. These upper turns on Taron are surprisingly fun, due to the forced perspective provided by the theming. (It makes it seem like you are very high off the ground). A Tapa bar. Because Mexican food is (sadly) fairly unknown in Europe Bye to Phantasialand! I was consistently impressed with almost every aspect of this park, and I think it truly is one of the best in the world. I wish there were more parks like this out there! This might be my new favorite park.

Yes! Heide Park was skipped on this trip. With Colossus down, the best rides left over are Damonen, Desert Race, and Krake. I have already ridden all the dive machines in the US, so I did not feel like Krake would offer anything new. Damonen is somewhat unique, but I really have yet to be blown away by a wing coaster. So the only coaster I even somewhat regret missing was Desert Race, but a park is going to need more than a 30 second Intamin to bring me to it. Granted, if Heide Park had that same coaster collection with a great atmosphere like Europa Park, I would certainly go there. But as it stands, I had little desire to take a precious day out of a trip to go to a park without any truly outstanding coasters or atmosphere. As with any trip, there are things that I would have wanted to do that had to be cut out. And there are quite a few other things that I regret cutting out more than Heide Park. Phantasialand (A much better park) coming soon!

Before getting on to more parks, I have a short update from Lüneburg, quite possibly one of the cutest towns in Germany.

Yes. It is certainly a Paarl in transition. Hansa can’t really be compared to any other park, but the closest US equivalent I can think of is Silverwood. Silverwood is a smaller park, but with some theming and some larger rides. Lüneburg (quite possibly the cutest German town) coming up next. Then Phantasialand!

Hamburg and Miniatur Wunderland! The first of these pictures are of Hamburg. While much of Germany's second largest city was destroyed during WWII, there are still many old historic areas and buildings, particularly in the harbor area. But this city is definitely worth visiting, and one of Europe's more underrated cities IMO. This city also has plenty of cool churches. However, most pictures in this update are of Miniatur Wunderland! The world's largest model railway! (The pictures of this place should speak for themselves). The Rathaus. Rathaus means "town hall" in German. I remember the word because politicians=rats One of the oldest streets in the city Harbor area The tallest of the churches in the city. Most of the base was destroyed in WWII. Ruins of the base of said church Beautiful old building in the harbor area Miniatur Wunderland! Photos cannot do justice to how amazing this place is! It is even set on a day/night cycle. This is Las Vegas, a part of the "America" section. The Midwest The Old West The Grand Canyon Scandinavia Amusement park. (With a working drop tower!) They have model ICE trains. And they even move around the layout the fastest! This weird spiral thing helps get trains up to the upper level. Switzerland. (Yes, they built massive model mountains in this place). Italy! The big boy! Funnily enough, this was the only non-modern locomotive I saw in the entire place. I guess they had this on there because of how iconic it is. But I would love to see some more steam locomotives in the other exhibits (even if not the most consistent with our time). Overall, Miniatur Wunderland was amazing. Go there if you can!

Meanwhile, the courtyard to my own apartment is filled with litter and broken bottles. Meanwhile, in Germany people can take their dog into almost any restaurant, because German people are so much better that looking after their pets and basic upkeep. As an American, I will always love my country. But, I tend to like the culture of my country less the more I travel. Hamburg and Miniatur Wunderland are next! (All you model train enthusiasts might need a box of tissues).

Hansa Park! My opinion of this park is difficult to describe. While it does have some big, well known coasters like Kärnan and Novogrod, These attractions are more the exception than the rule. What I mean is, the rest of the park mostly feels like a small, quaint German park. It seems to be that this park is mostly a small park trying to become a big park along the likes of something like Phantasialand. Kärnan and Novgorod are well-done theming wise, but the rest of the park could be better in terms of this. Granted, this park is far better themed than most Six Flags parks, but it still very much feels like a small park in transition. Oh, and about Kärnan... I had heard some very good things about this coaster before riding. First off, the queue was very well done for a non-Disney park. There were also many cool elements to it, like the bag dumbwaiter and the roulette room. (For those unfamiliar, the roulette room is a round room that you walk in and pick your row. However, you do not actually pick your row. The doors light up randomly to tell you which row you actually get!) The presentation of this coaster was well done. Then the ride moves on to the vertical lift. Spoiler alert: The reverse drop was a fun element, but it did not do as much for me as I had hoped. However, I will say that it gave me a massive headrush, as I felt like I was in a horizontal position for far too long. While several of my favorite activities do involve being horizontal, that does not mean I want to be in that position on a roller coaster for too long. Then the coaster goes over the lift and down the drop. To say that the vertical drop was great would be obvious, because vertical drops are always wonderful. However, I would probably prefer an uncovered drop over this covered one, as I would rather see how high I am. Then the train goes into that weird non-inverting sea serpent. You do get some good pops of air at the two peaks of this element. They are not quite as intense as the non-inverting loop on Rip Ride Rockit, but I like this element for its uniqueness. A stengal dive follows it, which is quite abrupt and reminded me a bit of the similar element on Skyrush. However, my overall opinion of Kárnan was that it was just okay. The coaster does a lot of things well. It has a good first drop and plenty of unique elements. However, these elements would be easier to enjoy if not for the fact that this coaster is very rough. In spite of a few great moments and a couple good airtime hills, I still did not love the layout. Maybe this coaster was built on a budget, but I feel like a hyper coaster should do more than spend a majority of its run doing low to the ground snap turns. The two straight airtime hills it has are good, and I like the ending. But overall, the biggest problem with this coaster is its roughless. (I actually gave me a headache both times!) I am hoping to study in the Hamburg area in the summer of 2018. Will I be going back to ride Kärnan? Yes, I will, but Kärnan is nowhere near the top of my list of things I am most excited to do. If anything, I would compare it more to X2: fun in the sense of how unique it is, but rough to the point that it detracts from the enjoyment. Now onto the pictures (My opinions on the other rides are also below) Entrance! Looks nice so far. Kärnan! This coaster will always hold a special place in my heart for being my first coaster not in the US. But not going to lie, it was pretty rough and actually a bit of a letdown. I would prefer if Gerstlauer stuck to smaller, compact coasters and left hypers to the hands of Intamin, B&M, or Mack. Schwarzkopf! You do get a pop of air here Overall, I feel like Gerstlauer is the type of company that should stick to smaller compact rides. I did not really love the layout of this ride either (but it does have its moments). I just feel like Gerstaluer's design style is not the best fit for hyper coasters. Stengal dive. This reminded me of the similar element on Skyrush. Both are intense. You do get good air over this hill. What's in the shed? (On Kärnan, it's actually something cool!) Something just felt so right about riding a Schwarzkopf in Germany. Novgorod! (This was the only picture I got of the track). I actually liked this coaster more than Kärnan! This is a smaller, more compact coaster, which is a much better fit for Gerstlauer's style than a hyper coaster. While Novgorod is also not perfectly smooth, it is fast, action-packed, and unpredictable. However (like Kärnan) this coaster also has low capacity. In addition, I could see some of the projectors on the dark ride section. But overall this is a very fun coaster, and it is my favorite Gerstlauer so far. Reminds me of Texas... Speaking of which...This park has Old West and Old Mexico Themed areas. It was interesting and kind of funny to see a small German park's take on this. Still a better RCT game than RCT world. You won't see this in America! Yeah, I'm not going to comment on this. Weird bell pendulum ride. It looked fun, but it had a pretty big line and the capacity seemed atrocious Wild Maus with a wild west theme. This anamatromic band was singing old west songs. It was funny seeing this, as I grew up in a western state. I have gone to many theme parks, but it is strange seeing a foreign interpretation of the history of where I actually live. No, this is not another picture of the gate of Hansa Park. This is the real life gate just a few minutes over by train in Lübeck Random old street Tip: In the North of Germany, it is easy to go on walking tours of cities by identifying big pointy things and walking toward them. Bye to Lübeck! Now back to Hamburg.