To Stuttgart!

From Karlsruhe, I left Sabine and her aunt to head to Stuttgart. Stuttgart is the capital of the state of  Baden-Württemberg. It's famous for Swabian culture, and is a much larger city than the ones I have visited previously.  As the train from Karlsruhe pulled into the city, I was surprised at the number of sprawling hills and parks in the city.  There seemed to be a number of vineyards and small orchards too. Right off the bat this massive city seemed to have a strong connection with the outdoors. 






Stuttgart has an overwhelming number of attractions competing for tourist attention. Driven by my love of automobiles (ha ha ha), I was inclined to start visit at one of their famed manufacturers museums.  I ended up choosing Mercedes over Porsche, and though I wish I could have seen both, the Mercedes museum was awesome! The building itself had really impressive sleek lines like the cars it houses.   It was only  €8 to get in.  Once inside, it was a "barriers free" museum, so there was nothing behind glass or ropes.  The museum unconventional museum setup also featured a number of cool exhibits like full-size concept cars "driving" horizontally on the walls.  It was a really modern and creative atmosphere that lent a special sort of wonder to me as a visitor.  I ended my wandering self-tour with the racing car simulator.  It was an additional €4, but was the highlight of my visit.  Here is a link to a video I took while waiting for my turn in the exhilarating simulator:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjOpruFaISQ 

I found myself starving after my trip to the Mercedes-Benz museum. I made my way downtown to visit famed Cafe Stella.  Along the way, I got to see a plethora of amazing street art displays.  

This one in particular was in a parking garage I cut through. The attention to detail was phenomenal. 

A chalk artist right outside of Cafe Stella.

I arrived at Cafe Stella to find a warm little building with a noisy, bubbly atmosphere.  I sat with an older local couple, who proudly told me that they had been regulars at Cafe Stella for nearly 20 years (though the Cafe has been running for over 30). I told them about my trip so far and the neat things I had seen in Stuttgart that morning. As they shared my interest in art, they suggested a few more local attractions to visit.  


Cafe Stella is substantially fancier than the cafes I have been visiting so far on my trips.  They have a menu that changes daily, but features everything from traditional Swabian cuisine to Asian and Mediterranean dishes.  I ended up choosing to eat their Rindfleisch Gemüse Curry for €8,90 and treating myself to a few cups of much-needed coffee.  I thanked the couple I had shared the meal with and headed on to see more of the city.  





Fun fact: though I couldn't find any cat-related attractions in Stuttgart, there is a cat who has nearly 50,000 likes on the page her owner created.  Apparently the cat has suffered a litany of medical issues, but is really cute.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Feli-The-Cat/377642285597996

After such a fast paced day in the city, I decided to end my day on a more mellow note with a visit to Schloss Solitude.  It was completed in 1769 under Duke Karl Eugen and is in fact, not an actual castle.  It is definied as more of a palace (a grand residence) and is built in a Rococo style.  This means that the architects were heavily inclined to use pastel colors, intricate details, arches and asymmetrical lines.  The building gets its name from its original purpose - to be a secluded hunting lodge where the Duke could spend peaceful hours reflecting.  From the turn of the century to the 1960's, Schloss Solitude was a finishing point for hill races.  At the height of its popularity, the races would draw crowds of nearly 300,000 people. Currently, the building houses students.

I am exhausted from my adventures today... bis morgen!

Karlsruhe - Katze Kindergarten, Karlsruhe Schloss und ZKM

Hallo Alle!

A lot has happened since I last posted from Darmstadt.  At dinner, after visiting after the Wasserturn, I mentioned to my new friends that I was really interested in checking out Karlsruhe.  I was delighted when my friend Sabine told me she had an aunt there that we could go stay with for a few days while we explored the city.  Sabine accompanied me to Karlsruhe that night.

Karlsruhe is about 70 miles from Darmstadt, so we were able to drive there in less than 2 hours.  

The Kindergarten in Karlsruhe where Ingrid worked.  

Sabine's aunt, Ingrid, welcomed us with open arms.  She had prepared our room and after the long day we had spent in Darmstadt, we quickly fell asleep.  We awoke to Ingrid laying out the most incredible breakfast spread.  She had a few different types of rolls, seedy breaks, some fruit spreads, cheeses, fruits and an array of cold cuts.  It was INCREDIBLE!  After breakfast, Ingrid invited us to stop by her work.  Sabine laughed and agreed to come.  Slightly confused, but not wanting to offend my hosts, I agreed as well.  After a short walk from Ingrid's small apartment, we came upon the cutest building I have ever seen! Children were running and playing around a small building shaped like a cat! This was the Kindergarten where Ingrid worked. I was delighted by the creative and quirky architecture.  After a brief tour, Ingrid directed us to the nearest train stop and set Sabine and me free to explore Karlsruhe.

Our first train pulling into 

When Sabine and I arrived at train station we each purchased a Citykarte Solo for 4,90 €.  This was a day pass that allowed both of us unlimited access to any sort of public transportation in Karlsruhe (bus, train, tram, etc.). Though crowded, I was impressed at how cheap and effiecient the transportation system was.  Within a few brief minutes, we were on our way the heart of Karlsruhe.

Though Karlsruhe Schloss had a variety of statues
surrounding it, this one was my favorite.
The palace is in the background!

We made our way to Karlsruhe Schloss and joined in to a last minute tour.  Our guide told us that city plannes built Karlsruhe Schloss to be the center of the city.  From it, thirty-two streets radiate out to form a city like spokes on a wagon wheel or ribs on a fan. This made sense, because when Sabine's aunt had welcomed us, she told us she was glad we could come visit the "fan city".  The tour ended at the Bandische Ladesmuseum (where the admission was free because it was Friday - woohoo!). This just gave a little more explanation as to the history of the city, and the Karlsruhe Schloss's builder, Jakob Freidrich von Batzendorf.








From Karlsruhe Schloss we bought some cherries from a street vendor and took a stroll through the city. it was 11 degrees and sunny, so we took our time peeking into small shops and sampling snacks from vendors.We then headed to  the ZKM - or center for Arts and media.  They are open 10-6, so we arrived in plenty of time to catch a huge part of their silent film festival. The admission was  14 €  and included entry into both the galleries and the festival.  The film festival was extremely entertaining - it captured the history of cross-dressing in international films. Sabine and I stayed for two short black and white films before heading to check out the galleries.  

My favorite combination of art and technology within the museum was with their anniversary display.  Using touch technology, we were able to play with various ipad apps to create a holographic display of us.  This was then projected into one massive installation with the holographs of all of the other visitors.  The main hall was effectively transformed into one massive 3D gallery!  I even got to take a 3D printout of myself home. Such integration of art and technology is farily characteristic of the ZKM a curator told me.  Their goal is to transcend traditional art genre boundaries.

Karlsruhe ZKM!

Sabine and I are now headed to Cafe Palaver - it has Frühstück all day!  We are just going to walk there, as the weather is still quite warm. From what I can see online, the menu looks fantastic!

That's all for now!

Until next time,

Andrea