Just so you know that I haven’t fallen off the face of the planet, here’s a quick update of my recent exploits.
Thursday we headed over to Stuttgart where Rainer hung with a bunch of lymphoma doctors and Oliver and I spent the day chilling and sightseeing with Ann. I really enjoyed myself, although I see why many people asked why in the world I wanted to go to Stuttgart. If you’re planning on making a two week whirlwind tour of Germany, it probably shouldn’t be on your must-see list, but I’m here for life, so I figure I gotta go some time.
Anyways, Ann and I had lunch at Vapiano, then coffee at Academie der Schönsten Künste. They’ve got good coffee and a nice outdoor seating area in the back, but Oliver got a little rabid during our stay.
We spent the night in Hotel Dachswald. It’s out in the woods near the university, and is decorated like a hunting lodge, but it had the best hotel bed I’ve ever slept in. I wish we could have stayed longer, it was that good. The rooms are great: clean, wood furnishings, laminate floors; the family who run the place are super nice; but if animal heads in the hallway scare you, you might want to keep looking.
The next day, we headed out early for a weekend visit with the in-laws. On the way, we stopped to have lunch and see the cathedral in Speyer.
The little man does not think I should write any more, so that’s it. We had a nice weekend visit, and now I am busy planning the weekend meet up and dealing with a teething toddler. Tooth number 4 is just peeking through. Later!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
thanks for the photo of the speyer cathedral. it’s been nearl 15 years that i visited it. it’s such a beautiful place!
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Animal heads in the hall only scare me if they’re still attached to the animal. And even then, it depends on the animal: complete dogs and cats are okay. Wildebeest less so.
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I used to live near Stuttgart and always loved going there for shopping or to hand out. I didn’t think it was such a dreadful city myself.
I admit though there are nicer places such as Munich. I think it’s great how you journal your life there in Germany for others to see.
Thanks for introducing me to Vapiano and to Oliver (what a charmer!). Speyer is beautiful, although it was _freezing_ when I went there with my sister a few years back. Wishing you (and everyone else) lots of fun at the meet-up this weekend!
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@rita: It was really cool. I wish we’d had time to take a guided tour.
@ed: There were two heads attached to living animals, dogs in this case. They belong to the family that run the hotel and they freely wander. No wildebeests, at least not that I saw
@monika: I didn’t mean to sound like it was dreadful! That’s what happens when Oliver starts crying and I push publish without reading through a second time! I liked Stuttgart and I think it’s great for shopping and hanging out. It just didn’t seem to have as many sights as other cities (due to the bombings in WWII).
@ann: Thanks for spending the day with us and showing us around! Speyer is really beautiful, but we were only there for an hour. I’ll have to go back some time and explore!