On Thursday I ventured out for a ride on the roads. Equipped with ID and emergency money this time (unfortunately I did not think to bring those things on my last ride), I headed out into the woods on a paved road. I was optimistic that the road would go through to Stuttgart on the other side. Our landlord even told me about a path around the city of Stuttgart that I was hoping to be able to jump on. Unfortunately the paved road soon turned into brick and I was forced to head Southwest. I now realize the only way to get to the path around the city is to take my bike on the train with me two stops, a task which I am not yet ready to undertake. I kept riding on a narrow, two-lane "highway" in the country, with cars going at least 70 km/hr through Waldenbuch to Neuenhaus. The countryside was great and I passed numerous road cyclists. My round trip was about 25 miles and I made it back in time to shower and walk into downtown Boeblingen to study German in the park. My intention was to grab a beer, but the biergartens are not open yet and the patio tables of the cafes on the lake were packed. I settled with a pastry, my textbook, and people watching at the park.
Friday I spent quite a bit of time on the train. I went into the city to meet an American Bosch trainee's girlfriend who just arrived. We walked around the downtown shopping area and parks, and had lunch at a biergarten/cafe/italian restaurant on Schlossplatz. It is definitely great to be able to walk around and speak English. The best part of the afternoon was the sunshine. This was my first trip downtown since the weather has changed and the city is a completely different place. People are out and about, smiling and laughing, dining and relaxing outside. It was wonderful!
I spent a few hours downtown with Lauren and then took the train back to Boeblingen (25 minute ride) and then walked to our apartment (30 minute walk). Ryan came home from work about an hour later and we walked back to the train station and then took the train into the city, getting off at pretty much the same stop that I was at all afternoon. Fortunately I have a train pass so I can ride the trains as much as I want now. I probably should have planned it so that I could stay downtown all day but I had a large purse and camera with me and I bought a book while shopping that I did not want to carry around at the concert.
We met another couple for dinner at Weber and enjoyed a few beers and delicious German food. Tom, a Bosch Great Britain trainee from London is living in Stuttgart for a year and his Irish girlfriend Anna was in town visiting for the weekend. We had a great time at dinner and then literally ran to catch the train to the concert. We had tickets to see Two Door Cinema Club at the LKA Longhorn Concerthall and Disco. Since we had to walk a bit to the industrial area where the concerthall was we missed the opening act Dog is Dead and half of The 1975's performance. The main act was great though and it was definitely an experience to hear a British band in Germany. The concerthall was full of young people drinking, dancing, and singing along to the songs in English. The first thing the lead singer said when he addressed the audience after the first song was "Guten Morgen Stuttgart." It was 9 pm at night, definitely not morning, but I think the German crowd gave him points for his effort.
Friday night was our latest night out so far in Germany.
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