After spending extended periods of time in Denmark, Italy and Switzerland I feel like I’m qualified to say that Europeans know how to ROCK outdoor spaces. Copenhagen has THE MOST amazing parks and children’s playgrounds, we even encountered trampolines on the streets, rock climbing structures, outdoor gyms, hammocks and ping-pong tables right along the sidewalks and in the parks– out for everyone to enjoy. In Bern, Switzerland where my parents used to live, there were picnic tables and tables with sandboxes built-in to them for the kids, just lined up along the sidewalks. In the summer they were packed with families eating lunches, kids playing, folks listening or making music, and yes–drinking beers (you gotta love Europe for that, too)! One of my favorite things about this outdoor fun in that it encourages physical activity in a way that my daily routine here in Cali does not usually make room for.
I was thinking about ways to bring the European summer feeling to my California summer experience and came across UK company The Range that has a lot of European-style outdoor goodness including garden furniture that I’m tempted to bring to the jungalow this season. They’ve got those very same picnic-tables sandboxes and the trampoline may not be built into the sidewalk, but at least it’ll bring my bounce back (I have wanted one of those in my backyard since I was seven). Fancy a game of skittle or cricket anyone?
Top Photos by J. Blakeney.
This post was created in partnership with The Range. All words and ideas are my own.
shannon says
Also pole tennis (- do you call it that there?) with the tennis ball…attached to a pole? Excellent multi-generational hilarity and the odd decapitation. It is a winner on many fronts – good for smallish spaces, can totally be played in a frock, cheap, minimal assembly required and usually you don’t wet your pants when you play it (which cannot always be said for post-baby trampolining)
Justina Blakeney says
hahaha!! Very true! And, no we don’t call it pole tennis here–at least I don’t think so :P
shannon says
swingball?