Hotel Garni Kernen Esslingen am Neckar

We stayed in town this weekend, figured we'd catch Stuttgart's version of Oktoberfest (the second largest in Germany) before it ended. And by now, we know how to buy a day ticket from the bus driver and get ourselves around town. We're probably slaughtering everything we say, but we're starting to be understood and at least get what we need. Frau Montes made sure we learned to say please and thank you every time, excuse me helps too . . .<br ...

... lustig und entspannend.<br>Zum Schluss sind wir in Urspring noch zum Abendessen eingekehrt.<br>Katja geht brav in ihren Kindi, kommt kurz zum Mittagessen und ist dann meistens nicht mehr viel zu sehen - immer unterwegs.<br>Mati hat in Deutsch endlich mal nicht die uralt Schinken zu lesen bekommen. Sie behandeln "Das Parfüm", was er in glaube ich drei Tagen ausgelesen hat. Jetzt fährt ...

... und die Geduld, um mir Teilzeittourist ihre Heimatstadt zu zeigen. Total überwältig war ich allerdings am Wartberg, als wir die abendliche Aussicht über Heilbronn genießen konnten. Nach der hochinteressanten abendlichen Stadtrundfahrt gab es für mich einen Gaumenschmaus mit traditionellen schwäbsichen Spezialitäten. Und eines habe ich an diesem Abend hinzugelernt: Spätzle schmecken nirgendwo besser als im Schwoobeländle, heiligs Blechle.

It was a quick drive from Nuremberg to Stuttgart so we decided to spend a few nights there. Stuttgart is famous for being the home of Porsche and Mercedes Benz. We decided to visit the Mercedes Benz museum and although Im not a big car person it was very fun seeing the evolution of the car. It was kinda frightening to learn how much involvemnet they had in World War II making planes ...

... fault because I'd ask for one and hold up my index finger. Inevitably, we'd get two. But the later is, he held on to one phrase in particular from the head start class, "ich aus," me too - cheater! <br><br>We wanted to get a view of the city and had heard of the state tomb up on a hill. The helpful guide listed the train and bus routes to take, but not the stop. To make a long story short, we're on this bus ride through the countryside ...

... of the Mercedesturm to get a nice view of the city, for free!<br><br>On our drive back we spotted a castle ruin high above the autobahn and tried to find it. We climbed up a steep and winding hill through wine fields to the castle gates, which were locked. A sign posted on the gates stated that the castle is private property and trespassers will be fined. Unfortunately this is the only thing I took pictures of from our entire trip.

Caught a night train from Vienna and arrived in Stuttgardt in the morning. Had a great day wandering and seeing the sights. Yet another map from yet another tourist info place. More statues and old buildings (Boring right? Not by a long shot). Still walking around wide-eyed like kids at Disneyland.

... Noam as I snapped the photo and friendly man came out of the shop and asked if we would like to take Noam´s friend with us on our journey. Mmmm, maybe not this time. On hearing that Noam was a Canadian the man went back into his shop and returned with two tiny travelling companions. We continued to the square, took loads of photos, stopped in a local apotheke to pick up some homeopathic remedies and carried on ...

I had all intentions of posting the rest of my trip across Eastern and Southern Europe, but to be honest it would be a slap together job that wouldn't be worth your time to read. Instead I am going to post a video that Phillip and I made from the trip, sorry the quality is a not so great due to the fact its online. I will have to show you all the rest later. I just finished reading the blog of Jesus Torres, a good friend of mine who ...