Hotel Weingartner Bad Wildbad

... cute little animals and feast on them, well at least I was. So, coming back from the Volksfest, the guard on duty spoke English. Turns out, it's a club where they raise little animals. So I asked if they ate them. His jaw almost dropped, "no!" So no, they don't eat the little animals. They show the little animals and have club meetings and events where they eat large animals that are decidedly not raised there. It's a Thumper safe zone.

... hotel is a big picture of the little prince AND apparently the rooms are decorated after different themes from the book. I didn't get to go in but someday I will definitely stay there.
I also saw my first movie in a German theatre which was really cool...I saw Up, I liked it but obviously didn't understand much. Anyway, I definitely recommend it...even just for a few hours!

... the first night but had to leave since it was the site of Stuttgarts Oktoberfest. We got a hotel room outside of town and decided to enjoy a lil more Oktoberfestivities! This time we didn't join a beer tent but decided to eat our way around. We got Sausuage in a currysauce, Beavertail Pizza, Corn on the Cob and Smoked Salmon sandwiches. It was fun since everything had a twist to it ...

We'd learned enough to say "zwei fur schloss, bitte," and enough to hear "nein." But we didn't understand a word of the lady's explanation after that . . .

For our second weekend in country, Jon bought 3-day passes for the trains and busses. We found our way by bus to the train station, up to Ludwigsburg by train, then on another bus to the schloss, pretty good! We even thought we found the castle, looked just like the picture on the ...

... 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!

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 ...

... sample the therapeutic waters..well Lauren did, she fell in the public fountain..alittle too enthusiastically reaching for a twig.

Then back to the caravan for pasta in a pan and of course Black Forest Gateaux...Frankfurt 5 star Hotel for Stu's birthday is on the cards next..hurrah!

One observation, Germans tend to decorate the gardens of their static caravans with gnomes and model deers, while the Italians opt for a yappy dog on a piece of string.

We attended a big birthday party this weekend in Stuttgart. It was my boyfriend's grandfather's (Opa, as I now know him) 80th birthday. We celebrated with the entire family in a nice little restaurant in a small town near Stuttgart. I have no idea the name of either of those places.

We had some free time to explore Stuttgart on Saturday morning so we went to the Wilhelma Zoological and Botanical Gardens. It is a massive ...

... do have some interesting cold meats with vegetables pressed into them (mushrooms, sliced carrots and olives, in particular) and a hundred and one ways to enjoy cooked shredded white cabbage. I picked up spare ribs for tomorrows lunch and potato salad and on the spur of the moment chose an innocent looking chorizo. At lunchtime this turned out to be a cleverly disguised Phal curry ...

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.

... four Aussies weren't wearing any Aussie colours but I was. When we tried to get in, they wouldn't let us in cause they thought we were English. Lucky I had my Aussie jersey and cap on which persuaded them. The club was called the Coyote Club which was like the ones in America and any girl could get up and dance on the bar as well as the staff setting the bar alight, was good craic. We left after a while and I headed back to the hotel.