A short walk from our campground through a forested path (a path we shared with dog walkers and, to Henna’s great delight, a lot of slugs) and a twenty minute train ride brought us to the world’s second oldest amusement park.  

 First opened in 1843, Tivoli Garden reportedly was favored by King Christian VIII as a way to distract the people from the messy business of politics. Given all of Chicago’s worries, I can see King Rham soon creating his own amusement park.

   Tivoli Gardens is really a whole lot of fun and a must stop for amusement park aficionados (among other things it was Walt Disney’s inspiration for his own parks).  Key attractions include the Rutschebanen roller coaster which has been operating since 1914 . To keep the car at a safe speed the coaster includes ride operators that apply hand brakes at key junctions. This was Henna’s first and, judging from her reaction, maybe last ever roller coaster ride. 

 Besides the thrilling, Tivoli also includes gardens that are lit up at night, concerts (like Snoop Dog who is rapping there in two weeks), carnival games, and the occasional firework display. You are also welcome to do what we did which was stand under the wilder rides to gawk at the riders being twisted upside down and then back again. Maybe next time that will be us.