Imagine discovering that you have a racy, blonde cousin living on the other side of the world, who is the same age as you and who is just as keen to meet as you are. Lea is four months younger than the boys, and they were understandably excited to meet her upon arriving in Mannheim. From Lea’s point of view, things were even better: she had twin blonde cousins!

Her prospects seemed even rosier when it was revealed the boys would be sharing her bedroom, but alas that only meant she would be sleeping in Mama and Papa’s bed. Still, it was fun to show the boys around the garden and watch as they set about destroying everything.

This destruction was only fitting. There has been a town at Mannheim for at least 1200 years, but it was destroyed twice by foreign military forces in the 17th century. The semi-circular city centre was rebuilt in an intriguing pattern of square blocks, reminiscent of the silicon wafers used in making computer chips. Addresses in the area are specified by a letter and number combination to identify the block, rather than by street names. House numbers then run either clockwise (A-K blocks) or anti-clockwise (L-U) around the block. In typical Teutonic fashion, this system is stricly ordered, functional and carefully labelled, while still being unfathomable to anyone unfamiliar with it.

Marion’s sister, Sabine, lives about 8km outside the centre of Mannheim, in a suburb called Pfingstberg. Given the fleet of motorbikes, bicycles and bicycle trailers in their garage, it is no coincidence that this is only about 2km from Zweirad-Center Stadler, the largest bike shop in Germany. This 10,000 m² warehouse is packed full of every conceivable type of bike, and even has an asphalt test circuit in the middle with humps, gutters and scenery boards. The day after we arrived in Mannheim, we all cycled there, the twins getting their first ride in a bike trailer. Lea demonstrated her expertise on a Laufrad (pedal-less bike) around the test circuit — she has her own Laufrad at home — and Wiki donated some skin from his knee to the track while attempting to follow her. On the way home, the competition to ride beside Lea in the trailer was intense, until sustained persuasion convinced Wiki that the front-mounted childseat would afford better views.

The biggest surprise came when we later visited the Strandbad (a beach along the Rhine). Sabine opened her car boot to reveal two shiny new Laufräder, early third birthday presents for the twins. Within minutes, Loxon and Wiki were bouncing their way along the beachfront, crashing every few metres as they tried to keep up with Lea. When they finally tired of the bumps and bruises, they tried their hands at skimming stones on the river (that was when we realised that our container would have to pass this
spot at some point on its way up to Basel).

It took several more weeks before the twins got the hang of their new rides. But it wasn’t too much longer before they were wheeling expertly along the Rhine in Basel, as seen here. We also scooped some grainy videos (Wiki, his coasting technique, Loxon and his encounter with trees), once their skills were up to scratch.

Almost directly opposite Zweirad-Center Stadler was the Budget office from which we rented our car. We had booked a Passat station wagon, or similar. Similar turned out to be an almost new swanky black Peugeot 407 SW estate. The side mirrors swivelled in automatically when you pressed the lock button on the remote, and the on-board computer knew everything, so long as you could understand its German. The 2 litre turbo-diesel engine was versatile and powerful enough, while using just 4.7 l/100km on the highway. For comparison, a 2003 Toyota Prius hybrid uses about 4.5 l/100km on the highway, while being a much smaller car. The Peugeot’s range of over 1400km made it seem like you never had to put fuel in it. Also, I drove it for over a week (admittedly in city areas of Mannheim, and with plenty
of other things on my mind, such as keeping right) before noticing that it had a sixth gear. It was a wonderfully competent vehicle.

One of the great attractions of Mannheim is Luisenpark. Covering 41 hectares, this park cum zoo cum botanic garden cum amusement park contains a fascinating array of zones, each with its own features and atmosphere. From the exotic butterfly enclosure to the gigantic climbing castle, from the chinese teahouse to the penguin pool, from the gondoletta on the lake to the peaceful meadow tucked in a quiet corner, it has something for everyone. For the travel-weary adults, just lying back and gazing over the broad swathes of soft green grass felt like paradise. The futuristic form of Mannheim’s television tower hovered on the horizon, hinting at a science-fiction utopia of perfectly controlled environments.

The boys’ favourite area was the children’s mud pits, where they ran screaming in circles, covered from head to toe in a thick layer of muck. They also enjoyed the nearby sand bowl, where chain pulleys allowed the deft to lift sand by the bucket-load up to a two-metre high platform. From there, it could be dropped through chutes to drive sand-wheels as it slid back down to the ground. Lea continued to string the twins along with her charm. And somehow — we can only speculate, of course — they ended up convinced that the park’s name was “Lea’s own park”.