German

WITH my face contorted by G-force and hands gripping white-knuckle tight to the grab rail, I wondered what on earth I’d let myself in for.

Beside me, my 12-year-old son was grinning from ear to ear as he yelled: “I told you being at the front was the best seat to be in, Mummy!”

Europa-Park has just been voted Europe’s best theme park and boy, does it live up to the title.

We were rocked, flung, hung upside-down and rattled at speed over more loop-the-loops than I could count as we gasped, laughed and threw our hands in the air.

Close to the borders of France and Switzerland in the town of Rust, it’s Germany’s answer to Walt Disney World with 20 European-themed lands and 14 rip-roaring rollercoasters.

Visiting during the festive season adds even more magic as the whole site is festooned with lights ­— more than 3,000 trees are draped with fairy lights and baubles.

WAIL OF A TIME

I drove Irish Route 66 with deserted golden beaches and pirate-like islands

TEMPTED?

Tiny ‘Bali of Europe’ town with stunning beaches, €3 cocktails and £20 flights

Add a dusting of snow (real and fake) and a Christmas market complete with mulled wine and open fires and it is the ultimate pre-Christmas break.

Navigating the park itself was very easy with the dedicated mobile app that shows where all the rides are, the waiting times and the distance from each.

For tired little legs, a monorail runs straight through the park and the on-site hotels, offering a bird’s-eye view of the action.

We made our way round the miniature countries, each carefully themed with authentic food, drinks and world-class rides.

The Christmas market in mini Germany was a standout for me due to the many stalls selling festive treats.

The boy was much more interested in the Croatian zone, where the latest high-octane ride was drawing a crowd.

Voltron Nevera is a terrifying, record-breaking coaster that catapults riders at a 105-degree angle.

Despite the winter crowds, queues rarely topped 30 minutes, and outdoor patio heaters helped keep chilly fingers warm while we waited.

If you need a breather, the hour-long circus show — featuring world-class acrobats, clowns, and a live orchestra — is a festive must-see.

Also worth a trip is the 55m-high giant wheel, Bellevue, that graces the Portuguese area each winter with enclosed, heated gondolas to keep you cosy as you enjoy panoramic views across the park.

With temperatures dipping, a turn around the Nordic fjord lake that serves as a huge outdoor ice-skating rink is a winner — as is a reviving schnapps poured from bottles frozen in ice at Bar Glaciar.

Whatever the weather, you aren’t far from the warmth of one of Europa-Park’s six 4H hotels that come with the added advantage of early park admission for guests.

We checked into Spanish-themed Hotel El Andaluz and our room came complete with terracotta tiling, a huge double bed plus bunk beds and even a matador’s hat on the coat peg.

There was plenty of storage, the usual flat-screen telly and decent fluffy towels.

The only thing missing for this English mum was a kettle for a cuppa.

But there was plenty of tea and coffee on tap every morning in the hotel’s Don Quichotte restaurant alongside a hearty breakfast buffet.

My son was particularly impressed with the pastry selection while I stuck to the cheese and amazing bread selection on offer.

The staff were all incredibly attentive and the food was constantly replenished.

I would definitely recommend filling up here as the chilly temperatures and outside walking require sustenance.

One other top tip would be to book your evening meals when you reserve your room.

Festive breaks are hugely popular, and family-friendly hotel buffets fill up fast.

In contrast, the outside heated pool was empty after dark so we enjoyed an evening swim in warm water in the chilly air watching the fireworks from our hotel. It was really magical.

We saved the best wind-down for last: a short five-minute shuttle to Rulantica, the resort’s colossal indoor water kingdom packed with wild flumes, lazy rivers and an Icelandic-style heated outdoor lagoon.

To avoid the busiest spots, we treated ourselves to a private relaxation suite, complete with its own sauna, bubbly whirlpool, sofa, and TV.

Leaving my son to conquer the waterslides, I enjoyed a blissful lie-down, soaking up the heat to my favourite playlist via the sauna’s Bluetooth speakers.

It was the ultimate warm-up — and the perfect finish to an adrenaline-packed mother-and-son escape.

Berlin, Germany – Thousands of people are gathering in Berlin and more than 30 other German cities as the nation becomes the latest European country to be hit by a wave of student protests sweeping the continent.

Gathering at the Platz des 18 Maerz, on the west side of the capital’s iconic Brandenburg Gate on a sunny but chilly Saturday afternoon, there was support for the young people within a mixed demographic crowd.

Anti-fascist activists smoking hand-rolled cigarettes and wearing keffiyehs waited patiently alongside students dressed in Halloween outfits, smartly dressed grandmothers donning “omas gegen rechts” (grandmothers against the right) badges, and camera crews, ahead of the 2pm (13:00 GMT) rally start.

The protests were organised by a loose alliance called Gen Z Regelt (Gen Z sorts it), and by Saturday morning, nearly 180,000 people across 34 cities had signed up to participate – with the main host cities including Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich and the capital Berlin.

Nearly 12,000 people had signed up to join in the German capital, and people were continuing to stream into the square well into the demonstration to listen to speakers in what was so far a calm afternoon in the capital.

However, at a rally in the western city of Cologne, scuffles broke out between protesters and police, who moved in to contain a march there.

The protest organisers had outlined six key issues that took them to the streets on Saturday, including the rising cost of living, education cuts and military conscription.

‘Political failure’ of government

Students told Al Jazeera that they are both angry and frustrated by ongoing funding cuts, even as the government invests heavily in the military.

Yet they also said they feel a sense of hope after seeing student protests in different parts of Europe in recent weeks.

Veronika Dinter travelled to Berlin on Friday night from Hannover to participate in the protest.

The 23-year-old political science student said that due to high living costs, she had to take on a part-time job to fund her studies.

“I wanted to start studying to develop critical thinking and learn something new, but I didn’t realise how much it would cost to do so. I think this is something a lot of people in my generation are experiencing right now,” she said.

“Funding for education and social services are being cut, while the cost of living keeps rising. Universities are struggling, institutes are closing, teachers are losing their jobs and education facilities are literally falling apart.

“This crisis is the political failure of our government. And instead of solving it, Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his rich friends are funding the military with billions of euros.”

This is a sentiment that Emma Heymann, a 24-year-old student living in Berlin, resonated with.

“Our generation feels very angry at the government because they are making these huge cuts that are affecting our quality of life here. And at the same time, they are spending billions on the military and spending money to fund the genocide in Gaza,” she said.

Protesters should be ‘listened to’

Phil Tziartzianis travelled eight hours from his hometown of Kassel to join his friend Jan Chrominski and other young people at the demonstration.

“It feels important for me to be here among other young people who feel the same way,” he said.

The protesters join a wave of demonstrations that have swept across Europe in recent weeks, including in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Serbia.

Kilian Hampel is a senior research fellow at the Future of Work Lab at the University of Konstanz. He says other demonstrations are having an impact on young Germans.

“The frustration itself has been building for years, but this is definitely part of a wave we are seeing across Europe, and young people here are feeling that they can actually take their worries and problems to the streets,” he said. “Many of their concerns, in particular around poor educational infrastructure, are legitimate, and it’s important that they are listened to.”

The Berlin demonstration is expected to last two hours, with another one planned at 5:30pm (16:30 GMT) in a different part of the German capital.

In the past week, political figures have raised concerns about the protests turning violent.

Yet demonstrators say they see the narrative of violence distracting from the issues they want to raise.

“We urge the police to not confront our demonstrations with any kind of violence,” Dinter, the student from Hannover, said.

“We stand in solidarity with all the people around the world who are fighting for an affordable life, for more investment in the education system, and against wars and military buildup.”

No injuries were reported at the building, known locally as the Kehlsteinhaus, while police said a ‘suspicious person’ has been taken into custody.

German police have detained a suspect after a fire engulfed the Eagle’s Nest, Adolf Hitler’s notorious Nazi-era mountain retreat in Bavaria, prompting an overnight emergency operation involving about 200 firefighters.

No injuries were reported at the building, known locally as the Kehlsteinhaus. Police said investigators were examining whether a “suspicious person” taken into temporary custody was connected to the blaze.

The fire alarm was triggered by a smoke detector at about 9:50pm (19:50 GMT) on Friday. Emergency crews could see flames rising above the building as they approached and found it “completely ablaze”, according to police.

The retreat’s remote Alpine location, at an altitude of more than 1,800 metres (about 6,000 feet), complicated efforts to extinguish the fire, police spokesperson Lisa Maier said.

While authorities have not announced a cause, German media reported that investigators suspected arson.

The newspaper Bild said emergency responders had encountered a motorcyclist travelling towards them on their way to the scene and that he was subsequently detained. His possible involvement remained under investigation.

Maier said inquiries were continuing, with police planning a news conference later on Saturday.

Built between 1937 and 1938, the stone-and-granite retreat stands on the Kehlstein mountain above Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden in southern Germany.

Designed as a monument to Hitler’s rule and a setting for receiving foreign diplomats, it offers sweeping views across the Bavarian Alps. Hitler himself visited the resort.

The site, which remains part of the legacy of Nazi Germany, survived World War II undamaged. It has operated as a restaurant since 1952 and also houses an exhibition examining its Nazi history.

Tehran summons envoy in tit-for-tat move after Berlin summoned ambassador to Iran.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Germany’s ambassador after a court in Hamburg found two men guilty of plotting to kill two leaders of Jewish organisations at Tehran’s behest, accusing Berlin of leveling “baseless political allegations”.

The decision to summon envoy Axel Dittmann came after Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador, Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, on Monday over allegations that Tehran was behind the plot to assassinate the two pro-Israel public figures.

“Levelling security-related accusations against Iran has long been a tactic employed by the Zionist regime and certain Western nations,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement broadcast by official news agency IRNA.

“Attempting to provide a judicial face to baseless political claims not only fails to lend any credibility to such allegations but also undermines the standing of the German judiciary itself,” the statement added.

Hamburg conviction

Berlin’s allegations stem from a court case involving two men, a Danish national and an Afghan national, who were convicted in a Hamburg court on Thursday for planning to target the president of Germany’s main group representing the Jewish community and the head of the German-Israeli society.

The German Foreign Ministry said on X that the Iranian ambassador had been summoned, adding Tehran would not be allowed to “threaten our free society”.

“The malicious assassination attempts against Josef Schuster and Volker Beck will have legal consequences,” it added.

“We do not tolerate attacks on Jewish life and on those who defend it anywhere, and certainly not in Germany.”

The Dane, partially identified as Ali Hassan S, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years. The Afghan, who was recruited as his accomplice, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years.

Iran’s intelligence service steered the two men, the court said. The pair were arrested in Denmark last year and extradited.

In sentencing the men, the judge said they were guilty of “terrorist activities orchestrated by Iran”.

At the time they were charged, the Iranian embassy in Berlin released a statement rejecting what it called “unfounded allegations made at the behest of Iran’s enemies”.