Guten Tag

Location: Stuttgart, Germany
When: May 2008 (long weekend)
Weather Conditions / appropriate attire: Slightly chilly, but beautiful sunny weather
Where we stayed: With my friend’s uncle and aunt

What we did & where we went:
When my friend told me that she planned to go to Germany for a holiday and said that I could meet her I was all for it! It is so nice to see familiar faces. The beginning of the trip didn’t start off so well. My husband was unable to go with but he did drive me to the airport. Unfortunately, we missed the exit and I was 5 minutes late to check in and had to pay £100 (=$200) to change flights. I did get on the following flight to the Frankfurt Hann Airport. From there I had to take a bus to the train station. I was so worried that I was going to get off at the wrong stop. The language barrier was a bit intimidating but most people were as helpful as they could be. Once I made it to the train station where my friend was able to pick me up, with her aunt.

It was great to meet her family and to see her, her husband, and daughter. Our first day we went to Rothenburg which is a medieval walled town that now has many shops. It was very interesting and neat. (Pictured right: the wall that surrounds the town .)


That night we went to the Spring Festival which looked like a carnival with rides and games and beer tents. This was a fair on steroids. The prize booths seemed to go 20 to 25 feet into the air. They had about 5 – 10 beer gardens. We walked by one of the tents that was playing “Sweet Home Alabama” in German. Not something I was expecting. When we found the beer garden where we were meeting some of her uncle’s friends we walked through. Two German guys tried to obtain me from the group. Finally able to break away, we met up with the people we were looking for. Everyone was on the benches of picnic tables singing and cheering drinking maas's which are a liter of beer in a large mug. I have to say that I did drink 1 maas and it was a lot of work. First of all it was very heavy and I had to use 2 hands to hold it. Secondly, by the time I got to the bottom of the the mug it wasn't cold any longer. (Pictured to the left: My friend Kim and I in the beer garden drinking our maas.)

The next day we went to Ludwigsburg Palace. It has a family area for children and it was quite impressive. This photo of me at the bottom and it just shows how large the building is.

Where we ate: Honestly, I cannot say exactly where we ate. I can say that it was good and different. I also had a bratswurst at the fair. I had schnitzel which I’ve never had.

Left: Schnitzel
Right: White asparagus a seasonal delicacy

Overall Impressions: I had such a great time. It was nice to leave England to see some good friends and nice weather. I found it fun to try to speak the language, but I was not very good at it.