Stuttgart, Germany
Trip Start
Apr 11, 2006
1
17
26
Trip End
??? ??, 2007
Stuttgart,
Germany
Monday, July 10, 2006
As I mentioned in the previous Stuttgart posting, we found a cheap round-trip flight and we were fortunate enough to have two excellent friends living here, Sonja and Wolfi. This time we were there for a few days, long enough to see the city itself and a couple more sights outside.
Sonja picked us up at the train station mid-afternoon and we went straight downtown after stowing our bags in her car. Stuttgart is another German city that was almost completely demolished in WWII, and this is apparent in the high percentage of post-'40s buildings downtown. Nonetheless, there are some great spaces here, both modern and, well, old. Some of the newer buildings were constructed around very functional and appealing public squares, probably the most interesting being the new and beautiful modern art museum, whose façade is made entirely out of glass.
Stuttgart's Fan Fest was set up in a very, very large space outside a beautiful old building whose name and function completely evade me. I liked the setup of this one probably better than all the others we saw - it was wide-open, almost square, as opposed to Berlin's gigantic-but-long version or Cologne's smaller take. This also happened to be the day of Germany's consolation match against Portugal, which would provide Deutschland a chance for 3rd place in the tournament, so this place was busy! It was great to see so many Germans happy, dressed-up, and really not minding very much that they were fighting for third instead of first.
01 Fan Fest/Stuttgart
Everywhere you could hear chants such as "Stuttgart is much nicer than Berlin" - Berlin being the location of the championship match and Stuttgart hosting the consolation game, or the slightly less polite "Berlin, Berlin, wir scheissen auf Berlin", which I won't translate.We stopped into one of what seemed like hundreds of temporary cafés or bars set up near this area (in what is usually the market) for some strudel with vanilla sauce, which is something more countries need to adopt. Sonja was a bit upset at the waiter for taking my money instead of hers - she and Wolfi had assured us when we first arrived that everything in Germany was free and that we were not to spend our money. After we left, we checked out a pretty old church and then the old rathaus, city hall, which I think had also been used as the residence of some nobleman. It is a very nice-looking and also somewhat imposing building with three levels and some very elaborate stone work, and a great courtyard in the middle.
We then went back to Sonja and Wolfi's house, which is actually where his grandparents lived and right next door to where he grew up, to get ready for the Germany-Portugal match. Wolfi and I put on our Deutschland shirts and Sonja painted all our faces with the black, red, and yellow. Sonja, Meredith, and I were off to a fantastic biergärten in a nearby park, while Wolfi decided he would try to catch a glimpse of the German team, especially their manager "Klinsi", when they returned to their hotel after the match.
02 New Modern Art Museum
The game was great, with Germany putting in three goals and receiving a very solid last-ever performance (and first of this Cup) by long-time goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. We again were able to leave with our glasses, and we went home to have some more beer and await Wolfi's return hopeful of stories of handshaking and beer drinking with the team. On the way back to the house, Sonja taught me a song about Bavarians and their lederhosen, which I sang very loudly out the windows to anyone who I could tell was happy about the German victory: "Zieht den Bayern die lederhosen aus, Lederhosen aus!" Loosely translated, this means that people from Bavaria are going to have their lederhosen (leather shorts) removed by their rivals, but I think it's just another way for other Germans to poke fun at their much-abased, more rural brethren.
Anyway, we found out the next morning that Wolfi only caught a glimpse or two of the team on their way into the hotel and then again briefly when they stood at the windows. What's worse, the crowd waited around for about two hours after the last appearance before the police said the team had finished for the evening.
Later on, we all drove to Schloss Ludwigsburg, a former palace turned park that is equal parts garden, theme park, and petting zoo. We had a great time here walking around the beautiful grounds, running in the cool rain, riding in a small boat, learning about German fairy tales (most English stories of this kind come from Germany anyway), and trying some vegetarian schnitzel, which seems to be quite different from the real thing.
03 Before the Game
The part that stands out most is the series of trouble that little Max and Moritz get into, displayed in small houses and very well detailed. As far as I remember, they basically terrorize an entire village, especially their teacher, an old widow, and their uncle, but there are a lot more specifics on these exploits that I can't recall - that's what I get for waiting three weeks to write this.After Ludwigsburg, Wolfi the teacher had to correct some tests and write up another, so Sonja took Meredith and me to Esslingen, another medieval town not far from Stuttgart. (When we first arrived in Stuttgart almost two weeks before, we found Wolfi's comment concerning "just another medieval village" very funny; he likened it to us saying "just another skyscraper" if they had been visiting the US.) Esslingen was great - and we just happened to get there right in the middle of their annual summer festival.
So, in addition to all of the excellent and fantastic buildings and public spaces, we got to see some traditional music and dancing, and lots of people having a really good time outside. After seeing a very cool church that I'm pretty sure was among the oldest we've been to so far, we walked up the hill to the old fortress. Not only was this basically a super public park and garden, but it had some magnificent views of town and the other communities occupying the valley. Though it wasn't open while we were there, a biergärten/pub was also part of the complex.
Realizing that it was getting late, we drove home.
04 The Biergarten
Sonja made some really excellent spaetzel (sp?) with cheese and onions, of which I ate way too much, and the four of us left for another biergärten to watch the Italy/France final. Not being able to decide my alliances, I wore a France jersey and an Italy hat, carried the US and Italian flags, and for good measure, wore a little Germany bear that said something completely unintelligible (to me). Due to the funny hat and green/white/yellow flag, I kind of looked like a very confused Mexican cowboy. Meredith wore the French flag and had no trouble deciding who she was supporting. As the game started, since she, Sonja, Wolfi, and basically everyone at the biergärten was rooting for France, I had to provide some support to my ancestral Italia, but what a rotten game! Both sides really stunk (probably the worst game I'd seen either play), the officiating was terrible, and the players were doing more acting than dribbling. The most memorable part was the up-to-then-amiable and heroic French captain Zinedine Zidane in his last-ever match being red-carded (sent off) for his caveman-like head-butting of an opponent. The game ended with an Italy win thanks to a shootout in which the third French shooter failed to put the ball on net, and nobody really happy about the outcome. I'll say it again: this is THE WORST way to end a game, especially such an important one.
Having seen much, eaten and drank well, and had a universally excellent time with our kind hosts, we departed Stuttgart for Toulouse the next morning. This was an amazing trip, the kind that you never forget. Between two countries, we saw eight really spectacular cities (some among my favorite in the world), learned a few words in two languages, had several fantastically smooth beers, took1,220 pictures, and hung out with some truly excellent people, chief among them Sonja, Wolfi, Lukas, Judith, and Aaron. I can't recommend Germany enough as a tourist destination, and it seemed like somewhere that would be really easy to live as well; the Czech Republic was slightly less accommodating but very interesting nonetheless. We are very happy for being able to have experienced so many great things and to have such great friends as hosts.
