“Have I left Upstate NY? Okay, I must have. I am on a train, and they are speaking German over the PA. Oh and that town looks to compact.” The country side of southern Germany from Frankfurt to Stuttgart looks strikingly similar to that of upstate NY with rolling wooded hills and farm land. There are differences, but the environment is very similar.
I have desired to travel to Germany about the time my family hosted our first exchange student who was from Germany. At that same time my sister and I starting taking German lessons which we continued for 3 years. While at the end of the 3 years of study my German was okay, 4 subsequent years of college have left me with a very small vocabulary. Still I have wanted to explore the country and now, over 7 years later, I am finally here in Germany.
I arrive at the Stuttgart train station around 13:00 and meet Elske there. We take the city subway to the stop closest to her flat and then we walk the half mile or so to her place. I will be staying with some guys who live in the same apartment complex (house). As I learn more, I am excited about the house since it sounds so much like my college living arrangements. The housing is owned by one of the local churches and there are a group of girls on one side of the courtyard area, and a bunch of dudes on the other. They are about living in community with other believers! Sweet!
After dropping my bags off in her flat for the time being, I decide to roam the city instead of sleeping. (Jet lag is rough, but sleeping at 2 in the afternoon is not a good remedy) As we head out, I am given basic instructions on how to navigate my way through the city and how to get back to the house. I was then set loose at the city center. Queue sensory overload time.
The first thing that I notice on my way to the center of the city towards the old castle is all the people out walking, and the small number of cars. The closer to the center of the city the less vehicle roads there were to the point where a good portion of the city streets are pedestrian only. There were hundreds if not thousands of people out walking. The stream of people pouring in and out of the subway system tells of its effectiveness. Also, while there are no high rise buildings, most are 4-6 stories and stacked one up against another. There are shops all along the bottom of the buildings along the streets, and some have a basement and a second floor. After that the rest of the buildings are either work places or living accommodations. Cool! As I neared the center square, there start to be little temporary shops on the street. This is one of the reasons that I was excited to come during the Christmas season, the Christmas markets!
The stalls have unique stuff and are usually genre specific. Colorful candles and ornate candle holders, bees wax candles next to the honey stand, wood work in traditional Christmas themes, wool items like hats gloves and mittens, pottery for the kitchen, cookie supplies galore (they take Christmas cookies seriously!), colorful Christmas ornaments for both traditional and more modern, etc… and there are musicians scattered across the market through the streets playing festive Christmas music. Some soloing on cellos, violins, and guitars while others are small bands with multiple string, wind, and or brass instruments. Oh, and the best part, the food and sweet stands. The smell of caramelized sugar, roasted chestnuts, and glazed almonds wafts through the air. Mixed in is the smell of the bratwurst stands, bread and baked goods, various Christmas “cakes”, warm beer, hot chocolate, and gluhwein (pronounced “glue-vine”) which is warm spiced red wine. On a cold winter day gluhwein is the best for walking around the market. Thanks for the recomenndation KM.
While strolling through the winding streets I was also noticing all the normal shops along the street. Oh, and the massive churches which are kind of hard to miss. Pretty much every type of shop that you can think off you can find within easy walking distance of the town center. Also, some of the food shops are specialized like the bakery, delicatessen, fair trade, tea, chocolate and sweets. The food prices surpriseingly weren't that bad. For Europe being so expense, I had imagined that groceries would cost more then they do.
I should also mention some other things I noticed that were not so good. People smoke cigarettes, cigars, and pipes freely in public and a lot of people smoke! I guess I already knew that, but it was still a bit of a surprise. Also, the beggars appear more destitute and instead of driving by them, you walk.
Overall, I like this city better than any of the ones I have been to in the US. The same can even be said when I was in Paris this summer for work. However, despite how much I like the city, you still can't see the stars.
