We love it so far, it’s a city and the country together.
It is annoyingly cold. 50 Degrees Fahrenheit in August.
The 2 week anticipated shipping of our “expedited” items including more warm clothes isn’t coming now for at least another month. The car also won’t be here for another 45 days. Shopping for more sweaters is definitely happening now.
Koningstrasse is the shopping street which consists of about 6 H&M’s in a row or across from each other (not joking), Zara (yeah!), 2 Mango stores, United Colors of Benetton, Louis Vuitton, Escada, Wolford etc. and Breuninger Department store (looks like a Bloomingdale’s).
The city (Mitte, mit-ah) is a big Central Park with shopping, businesses and residences along side. Amazing when the weather is good. There are 2 parks; in the main Square and just behind the Castle (Government Building) by the Opera and Stuttgart Ballet. The Park area extends over a few miles long for concerts and festivals. There are biking and running trails that go through the Botanical Gardens, with of course 2 places to stop for beer along the way.
Small things:
- We missed the train once because to open the doors to the subway car, you have to
U Bahn Train Green Door Open Button push a button on the door. It doesn’t open when the train arrives like New York.
- Subway Bahn tickets are more expensive than New York. About 4 dollars per way per person or more. We are looking into a monthly or yearly options.
- Stuttgart is a more expansive city than we thought. Driving in traffic or commuting even with the efficient and smooth running train system is bad. Count on at least an hour to get anywhere. Walking a mile or 2 may almost be faster sometimes.
- Similar to other places in Europe, you have to flag down a waiter to order or to get your bill. Menu’s are in German only unless you ask for another language, almost all staff speaks English but we have tried to speak as much in German as we can to start learning.
A Story: First attempt at ordering dinner all in German, much thanks to Google translate on the iPhone, the waitress was Canadian, not German at all.
The Food: So far, the discovery of German egg noodle gnocchi style macaroni and cheese is the best thing ever. Challenge: trying to avoid the inevitable European 15 (lbs).
Prost!
Travels Through Europe 
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