STUTTGART
For the first full day of our guest's adventure in Germany, we took them to downtown Stuttgart. Ryan accompanied them on the train after running errands in the morning to meet with me at the Schlossplatz. We had lunch to-go from the cafe's on Konigstrasse near the Hauptbahnhof and then went our separate ways for adventure. The ladies and I went to Bad Canstatt for the Wilhelma Zoo and the men went to the Mercedes-Benz Museum. Wilhelma is easily accessible by foot from the Bad Canstatt S-Bahn stop so we walked to the entrance. It is more of a zoological botanical garden than a typical zoo. There are greenhouses and gardens on many levels with cages and animal exhibits throughout. Due to the large amount of stairs, uneven flooring, and many levels it is not exactly wheelchair or stroller accessible. It was definitely a good time though and I enjoyed the giraffes, birds, and polar bears.
Next we went up to Bopster or Bopsterwaldstrasse by train for a view of the valley of Stuttgart. I had the ladies walk up 100 plus stairs. They were not thrilled with me by the end but were satisfied with the view of the city. What goes up must come down! Then we headed back to the city center and for a cocktail before dinner. We found a biergarten in the center of the large yellow/orange building on the corner of a very busy intersection. It was great to sit down with a cold refreshing drink in the peace and quiet of the city. You could not hear the traffic from the street at all.
By 7:00 pm it was time for dinner so Ryan and I took our guests to Sophies, our favorite restaurant that I might have mentioned like four or five times before. We had absolutely the best service that we have ever had in a German restaurant and I enjoyed pork knuckle for the first time. My dinner was a giant piece of pork on the bone, skin-on, and cooked to perfection accompanied by a heaping mound of sauerkraut. Delicious!
ULM
We drove straight to the Old City area of Ulm with the goal of seeing the Ulm Muenster. The church is the largest Protestant Church in Germany and has the highest spire in the world. We climbed the nearly 800 steps to the top of the spire. For a minimal cost you climb stairs forever in a narrow stairwell that gets more narrow the higher you go. The view is spectacular though once you finally reach the top! After climbing back down we explored the interior of the massive church before heading outside into the sunshine.
We walked along the Danau (Danube) River and noticed evidence of some flooding. The water level was back down though and the damage was no where near what it currently is in many other German cities. Then we grabbed a bite to eat from Nordsee, the fast-food sea-food company. Our fishy sandwiches were pretty good and tied us over until dinner in Konstanz.
KONSTANZ and SWITZERLAND
So we drove down to the Southeast side of the Bodensee and then worked our way up North to get to Konstanz. As we got closer I noticed the ferry icon on the cars GPS across the lake where I thought there was a bridge and the panic set in. There is not a bridge and we took a risk driving to the pier and waiting in line for the ferry. Luckily the ferry comes every 12 minutes and it cost us only 21 Euros and 30 minutes to take our car across. That was my second "driving on a ferry" experience in Europe! After arriving in Konstanz we walked right across the border to Switzerland. The Seegarten Park in Kreuzlingen is beautiful and I would have loved to spend more time there but the sun was hot and our feet were tired so we headed back into Konstanz with the mission to find a place to sit for dinner.
We walked by the Schnetztor city gate. It is the most picturesque city gate in Konstanz but in my opinion not worth the walk to find it. Luckily I got some ice cream on the way. After doing some quick shopping, we found a fun Italian restaurant with indoor/outdoor seating. We sat inside but the exterior walls were all open giant glass doors so you felt like you were outside. We ordered drinks and pizza which were absolutely delicious. The challenge was eating the pizza that had super hard crust with a fork and knife. We tried to be good Germans and not use our hands but we caved when we saw numerous other people at the restaurant eating with their hands.After dinner we walked to Imperia, the statue that symbolizes the flourishing trade of the prostitutes who stayed in Konstanz during the Council of Konstanz. She balances the Emperor and the Pope on her hands. It was awesome to watch the sunset from the pier after a long day.
Konstanz is actually a pretty big city but we stayed on the southern end on the Switzerland side of the river. It would not be hard to spend more time there since there is plenty to do on the islands, by the river, and on the mainland.
LUDWIGSBURG PALACE
The Palace is not far from Stuttgart at all and offers beautiful interactive gardens for a stroll. We packed a lunch with the intention of eating in the gardens at the palace but the grounds are completely fenced off with an entrance fee so we ate at the park just across the street. I was thrilled to find out that the parking on the streets in Ludwigsburg is free until July. The park where we enjoyed our sandwiches, beer and wine was hosting the Sand World Exhibition. Although we did not enter the Exhibition, we were able to see the top of a giant sand castle over the fence while we ate.
The palace is beautiful and the grounds are filled with flowers in the front. We went around to the back and found the following things in the garden...
- shrubbery maize
- giant King that comes out of a fortress and speaks German
- vines, flowers, and trees
- really old carousel
- frog pond that spits water at you
- plants, plants, and more plants
ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER
Rothenburg is a medieval city surrounded by a wall northeast of Stuttgart. I cannot believe that Ryan and I had never heard of it before and I am very thankful that my dad read about it in a travelers book. Today the economy is tourism and tourism has saved the city numerous times in the past from war, destruction, and poverty. The city is surrounded by a wall, a low wall with a cliff on one side and a high wall on the other. When we arrived we visited the Medieval Crime Museum for about an hour. The museum was filled with information about laws, history of crime, and torture devices. They make it sound like all people did back then was punish and torture each other.
Our appetizer was schneeballen while we walked around the beautiful city of colorful houses and shopped. For dinner we ate at Braumeisterhaus near the market square. Most of us enjoyed spargel (asparagus) prepared with boiled potatoes, salmon, schnitzel, or sausage, and smothered in hollandaise. I do love spargelzeit. It is a great time of year.
After dinner we waited with 100 other people on the market square for the Night Watchman's Tour to begin. The "Night Watchman" is a tall German man dressed in Medieval black clothing with a lantern and intimidating weapon. His voice echoed through the buildings in town as the audience listened intently to the history of Rothenburg and the role of the Night Watchman. I highly recommend this tour!
We were directed by the Night Watchman to either "Walk the wall or go to Hell" so we decided to walk the wall. We headed to the North part of the city to walk the high wall which was destroyed during the war and reconstructed with donations. We walked along the East side of the city ducking to avoid the low beams while viewing the city from up high. It was a late night again and a long drive home but definitely a fantastic day trip.
BURG HOHENZOLLERN
This is a great castle to visit when you are not interested in driving for hours from Stuttgart. Ryan and I came here months ago in the cold, dark, and snowy March and were happy to come again when the sun was shining. Burg Hohenzollern sits on a hill surrounded by forest so the view from the road while driving up is great. Our guests enjoyed beer and french fries in the courtyard, the view from the castle, and the castle tour in English of the interior rooms on the second floor. We also found the entrance to the cellars and casemates with a secret passageway. This are was not open in the winter probably because visitors would freeze to death.
**Side note, drive only on the paved road and designated look-out places. The shoulders are quite muddy and not the place for off-roading in a Volvo hatchback. I found this out after I almost got stuck and plastered the front and side of our car with mud.
TUBINGEN
Tubingen is an awesome college town on the Neckar River conveniently located only 30 minutes from Burg Hohenzollern. We stopped here on our return to Boeblingen to walk around the city plaza, shop at the local stores, and check out the river. There was a small craft show and some streets were filled with vendors selling fun gifts. Our guests happily enjoyed pork steak sandwiches and a vegetable plate of carrot salad, potato fingers, tomatoes, and sauteed mushrooms with a dill yogurt sauce for dipping. The pork steak sandwich was definitely one of the most delicious things I have eaten in Germany.
BOEBLINGEN
To give our guests a taste of Boeblingen, we walked them through the city from the train station, visited local stores and the bank, drove them around the neighborhoods and lakes, enjoyed appetizers and drinks on our patio, and wandered through the fields with a tiergarden. Since we spent so much of our time traveling we did not get to enjoy all the local charms that Boeblingen has to offer.
I had a wonderful time being the hostess for fantastic guests. I feel like our adventures gave them a decent taste of Germany. We kept them very busy and hopefully did not wear them out for the next city in their three country vacation.
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