Germany 2019
In early 2019, I had a friend stationed at Stuttgart, Germany. My friend mentioned that if I had ever wanted to go to Germany, now would be the time to go before she returned to the States. So, with that in mind, I booked my flight. I book a flight with Air Portugal. The flight flew from Boston to Lisbon, and then Lisbon to Stuttgart. It was an easy flight, and I felt the airline did a great job.
I was only there for a short while, so the plan was to go as much as possible in the short time I had (only ten days). I rested the first day I got them to recover from the long flights. But, the next day, we hit the ground running. The first stop was the Porsche factory and museum. All I could say is Wow!
We had about an hour to wait until the tour started, so I decided to have the breakfast of champions...an authentic German pretzel and a Coca-Cola Lite (otherwise known as Diet Coke in the US). I will admit, once I sank my teeth into the pretzel, I was hooked. Absolutely so fresh and so delicious.
Once we were able to go on the tour, we got to see so many cars. I will include a few pictures here for you to see. We went to the showroom immediately after the tour, and while I did not come out as an owner of a new Porsche, I did come out with a greater appreciation of the brand and its history. Here is a little image carousel for you to enjoy. Keep scrolling down for more!
After visiting the Porsche factory and museum, we decided to hop on the bus and go to the Mercedes Benz museum. It was just as cool there as it was at Porsche. So many cars, so much history. What more can I say here? If you happen to be in the area, stop by and see what you think.
After the museums, we went over to the Stuttgart Television Tower where you could go to the top and see a scenic view of the city. That is where the banner picture is from on this page. We then headed to one of the local grocery stores, because I was curious about what kind of foods I would find and prices. I was quite surprised how cheap beer was here. I saw various brands for as little as 45 cents Euro.
The next day, we decided to buy a bus and train pass and just tour around the city where we could get off wherever we saw fit, walk around doing activities, and getting back on and moving on. The first stop of the day was Rosensteinpark, which is a large English garden. We did not spend much time there, as we were ready for lunch and there was nothing to eat there. We did walk around some and then moved on to Stuttgart-Hofen where we indulged in fresh pizza and played miniature golf.
After our delicious lunch and round of 18 holes, we hopped on the train and went to the very adorable wine-growing village of Stuttgart-Uhlbach where we visited the weinbaumuseum (Museum of Viniculture), housed in a historic wine-press facility. After viewing the various displays, we moved onto the wine tasting part of the tour and it was just magnificent. Lots of great tastes and aromas. I would like to go back, actually.
With still plenty of daylight hours left in the day, we got on a train and headed to Esslingen am Neckar, which is the 11th largest city in the state of Baden-Württenberg. The city suffered minimal damage during World War II, so the medieval charm was mostly preserved. Everything about it was fascinating. There were some really picturesque spots to fall in love with. Side note, I do enjoy walking through old churches and the one here did not let me down. After spending a couple of hours walking around, we determined it was time to get back to my friend's apartment and enjoy a light dinner and let our feet rest.
Up and at 'em again the next day! This time, we drove to Ludwigsburg to walk around the shopping mall (you know, just to look and all), and also visit the Ludwigsburg Residential Palace. Construction commenced in 1704 and finished in 1733. We only got to spend a couple of hours here, but could have probably used twice that much time to take everything in to its fullest. I only took a handful of pictures on the tour and they were not that great, so I am not posting any here. However, I did take a quick snap of the climate protesters we came across on our way out.
We took the train the next morning to Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden where we spent the majority of the day with the inhabitants. It was definitely a fun-filled day with lots of laughs and good food. While I enjoyed everything about the zoo, I think I enjoyed the bats, fish, and monkey exhibits the most. Even one monkey was caught by surprise when I took his picture as he had his hand out begging for food. The garden was so beautiful. Nearly everything was in full bloom. It was so colorful. Animals are so dang cute!
On the way back to the apartment, I noticed a sign at one of the train stops that indicated Alice Cooper was coming to town. This was for the "Ol' Black Eyes is Back Tour" for 2019. I happen to be a big Alice Cooper fan and had already seen I think three shows on this tour at various locations in the northeast US when I lived there. Anyway, I could not help but take a picture...or two.
Did I mention how much I love those cute little German towns and villages? Well, it just so happens that on my last day in town, we took the train to Tübingen. It is a small university town with a cute shopping district and the Neckar River. Aside from the cuteness of the town, there was this fascinating building that has all sorts of art on it. I did not investigate it since my friend was in a hurry to get to a soap shop. Just the same, I thought it was neat enough that I captured a couple of photographs to share.
For the most part, the weather on this trip was great. I think it might have lightly rained one day for a couple of hours (but not this day oddly enough). There were a couple of days of cloudiness, but otherwise, nice bright and clear skies above. I enjoyed this trip a lot. I did get to visit a sauna similar to the one we visited in Amsterdam. It, too, had similar facilities and was very relaxing.
Well, that basically wraps up this trip. Time to fly back to Boston in the morning.
Until next time...
