Moevenpick Hotel Stuttgart Airport

... tent was still fairly full, had a band in full swing, happy Germans raising their glasses to prost, and hundreds of chickens and one cow roasting on spits. Our current favorite dance involves several moves, one being the schwim, must learn. Our meals even came with a free beer, which we tried and acknowledge that yes, it is better than American beer, but it's still beer. And neither of us have gotten over not liking beer. It really is too bad ...

... 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.

... and the gardens are really nice. I think the Basel zoo is better as far as animals go, but this one isn't bad for variety. I did not like the small areas where the animals are kept though. It seemed much too small for large wild animals.<br><br>After the zoo we walked around the city center and stopped in a beer garden for a little relaxation. We managed to walk around the New Palace and Palace Square and then went to the ...

... the shop was a whole four stories down using the lift and back up again &#8211; there&#8217;s actually a door on the ground floor that says restaurant but I went outside the building and used the front door just in case). We had the 'spezial&#8217; pizza &#8211; I think it had ham, cheese, tomato, mushroom, onion, and possibly peppers. (Amy) I wasn&#8217;t sure what I was getting but it was something on the menu I could pronounce!

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.

... In addition, southern Germany has beautiful, beautiful countryside and the food is AMAZING. I gorged myself on Schnitzel, Spaetzle, Wurst, Pizza (italian style), Broetchen, Marmalade, Quark, Brezel, and Kartoffelsalat, and I drank my share of Radler. So yummi!

... and it is the birthplace of Volkswagen. And while I won't be around in time, Stuttgart holds Volksfest, an annual festival, second only in size to Berlin's Oktoberfest. It also has the largest Christkindlesmarkt in all of Europe. So as with my journey, my $860 flight took off at 4:00pm, stopped in New York, London, and landed on 6:30 the next day. Upon arriving I checked in to the Hotel Hansa in Stuttgart for only $54 for my stay. I will begin seeing the city in the morning.

... and satelite dishes) it was easy to imagine the middle ages scenes. In the town was a museum to a bloke named Keppler. In the late 1500's he was the first to prove that the earth orbits the sun, as do all the other astral bodies (except stars of course). I was saved from the curator's rambling by my lack of German, it appears he was somehow related to Keppler and took this way too seriously. Anyway, that was the last few days. I ...

... fruits, g*mes (J*ckie is not * sh*rp shooter), popcorn, rides, f*milies etc etc etc. H*ving extended my 3 d*y pit-stop into * week-long excursion, I, *nd prob*bly J*ckie *s well, w*s re*dy to move on *nd m*ke my w*y down to B*rcelon*. I h*d been through the tr*in st*tion *nd knew there w*s *n overnight tr*in through Zurich th*t left *t 4 in the *fternoon. My pl*n w*s to he*d to the st*tion *nd buy my ticket e*rly in the d*y, spend the d*y uplo*ding some photos *nd then hop ...