Kelter 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 ...

Hallo Tonia,<br>wir freuen uns, dass Du Dich so gut eingelebt hast und so viele nette Leute kennengelernt hast.<br>Hoffentlich klappt alles weiterhin wie am Schnürchen. Deine Berichte sind wirklich interessant und lese sie mit Begeisterung. <br>Uns geht es auch gut. Zur Zeit ist es etwas stressig. Der Garten nimmt viel Zeit in Anspruch, von der Obstwiese in Amstetten ganz zu schweigen ...

... als den Faden zu verlieren während der Vorstellung kann ich auch nicht. So übermannte mich das immergleiche Gefühl der Neugier und Spannung, als ich das Klassenzimmer betrat. Alles lief nach Plan ... bis ich die ersten Töne zu Mainecoon erklingen ließ. Zunächst waren natürlich alle Schüler darauf gespannt, wie sich dieser Song anhört. So weit, so gut. Nachdem die erste Strophe vorbei war, begannen die Schüler lauthals zu klatschen ...

... 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 ...

... get off early to wait by a cemetery until the bus comes back, and the driver can chuckle at us. The bus goes right up the hill, good to know. We got off the bus and started walking, looking for signs. We finally turned around and saw the tomb right behind us. The bus drops off right at the base of the tomb, also good to know. Anyway, it's a nice walk to the top and a welcome breeze when you get there. And the view was totally worth it.<br><br>

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.<br><br>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 ...

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.

... s really Germany. But America is still the land of large food portions, that's for sure. We worked a lot on grammar in school today, and with various jobs in Germany, which is what we worked on a little bit when I was in Martin's class, but this time it was more detailed and straightforward. I'm such a nerd, I really like the grammar stuff. In the afternoon we played a game in which we wrote a type of job on a sticker and put it on the back of the person next to ...

... I got the youth hostel, which looks just about like a hospital... clean, big and very boring. I had a large dorm with 4 beds to myself, so crawled into bed early and hoped I hadn't made a terrible mistake with coming to Heidelberg. Woke up today to glorious sunshine and the most spectacular view from my bedroom window. I didn't realise last night, but my room overlooks the zoo next door, so I woke up to elephants splashing around ...